Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: 'The Son of the Sun'- The Don Rosa Library, Vol. 1

I was so enthralled by Don Rosa's epic undertaking of making a cohesive structure of the how of Scrooge McDuck made his fortune. Rosa poured over the countless stories of Uncle Scrooge created by the good duck artist Carl Barks and wrote and illustrated what is considered by many to be one of the greatest comic book miniseries ever made. Needless to say, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck turned me from a Don Rosa admirer into a Don Rosa fanatic.

This past holiday season, I decided to add this book to my Christmas wishlist. I was very fortunate to have my bride get it for me, this beginning my opening foray into Don Rosa's portfolio as the second best good duck artist. 

The Don Rosa Library is a chronological omnibus of Rosa's career as an employee of Gladstone Comics. In this volume roughly covering the years 1986-1987, Rosa has returned to creating comics after having to quit for several years to run his family construction business. A chance encounter with an issue of Gladstone's run of Donald Duck inspired him to take a huge gamble and offer his services as a creator of Uncle Scrooge stories. Having passed his audition, Gladstone hires Rosa to craft a full story. 

Using an old script he wrote years ago, Rosa decides to set his story firmly in the universe established by Barks. 'The Son of the Sun' has a dateline of the 1950s, right around the sweet spot era when Barks was crafting some of his best Uncle Scrooge adventures and when a young Keno Rosa was experiencing those tales his older sister had collected over the years. The main antagonist would be the Scrooge antithesis, Flintheart Glomgold, who challenges McDuck in a race to see who can find a fabled horde of fabled Incan treasure in Peru.

This volume contains about 2 dozen other works starring Scrooge along with nephews Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie and the uber-lucky Gladstone. Not every story was written by Rosa, but it's all of his handiwork as Gladstone Comics quickly began to rely on Rosa as their go-to artist. 

I love the Complete Carl Barks volumes of Disney Duck stories. But what makes this book superior to them is the commentary. In the Barks volumes, the commentary is by a number of scholars who try to equate a can of soup in the background of a single panel to the artist's opinion on social economics in Communist countries. I don't care for that sort of exposition. But I do love learning about the backstory and history of how and why a story or character was created. By having Don Rosa narrate his personal commentary, it's almost 100% the type of facts and figures I want to learn about. Plus, it's where I learned that Gladstone Comics was named after the character of Gladstone Gander!

Being his earliest Disney works, Rosa is a bit harsh on himself here. Well, they do say that we're our own harshest critic. I just wish Rosa could see his brilliance even in his rawest forms. There's a panel of Glomgold pointing a gun at off panel Scrooge while he's escaping a crashing plane that I kept coming back to again and again. So powerful. So much movement. So full of anger and emotion. Got to be one of my top 10 comic book images all time.

I've long wondered how to classify Don Rosa's art style. He puts so much detail into his work like a George Perez. But he also puts tiny jokes into the background like a Harvey Kurtzman. In the words of the master, he considers himself a student of the school of underground comix. That's fine with me.

I'm looking forward to volume 2! Can't wait to see Rosa's evolution and learn more inside information about one of my favorite characters ever!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space, Volume 1

Clocking in at 454 pages, there is a ton of adventures from a galaxy far, far away. However, if you happened to own Star Wars: The Marvel UK Collection already, then you already have over 250 pages of material already. If you're like me, you've also already read it as well.

Now you might think that being the case, I'll be selling this book. Or I'll be taking the UK Collection to the used book store. However, when it comes to the latter, there's still over 500 pages of material that wasn't published in this book. And when it comes to this omnibus, there's nearly 200 pages of stories that are darn near impossible on the wallet and wish list to locate easily.

Along with material previously printed in various British Star Wars publications, there's material from Star Wars #0, Star Wars 3-D, an American all-ages periodical called Star Wars Kids, and mini comics that were packaged with Kenner Shadows of the Empire action figures and Kellogg's breakfast cereals. Again, due to scarcity and exorbitant prices of the Star Wars action figure sets and Star Wars 3-D back issues alone, I really don't think I can complain about how things overlap. Besides, I didn't pay anywhere near the original MSRP of $100 for the UK Collection and I'm pretty sure I either got this book for my birthday or with trade credit. 

If you're looking to get your hands on this out of print collection from Dark Horse Comics for a great deal- forget it! Amazon's cheapest print copy is priced at almost $65 right now. You could get a Kindle version for less than $20. However, if your a true old school comic collector, why on Earth would you want to go digital?

A lot of enjoyable Star Wars action that is a cheaper alternative to shopping for all the original material. However, this book in of itself isn't all that affordable on the back issue market these days either.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Jingle Belle: The Whole Package!

Jingle Belle and DC's Mistress of Mayhem, Harley Quinn, are cut from the same cloth. Both are the non-conformist bad girl creations of Paul Dini. But as Harley got a bit more crude and more sexualized, the daughter of Santa mellowed out. 

Inspired by a Christmas card from Stephen Spielberg, Paul Dini created Jingle Belle in the late 90s. Debuting in the #13 issue of Oni Double Feature, readers are shown a family therapy session between rebellious teen Jingle Belle and her stern but loving parents, Santa and Mrs. Claus. The first appearances of Jingle Belle were hilarious but a bit shocking. Jingle Belle was slutty, mixing it up with the local Eskimo boys and getting into all sorts of mischief. As the artwork of the various Jingle Belle specials got more refined, so did Santa's little girl. I think her friends Sheriff Ida Red of Mutant, Texas, Halloween witch Polly Girl and frenemy Tashi Ounce helped give the character some balance. Thankfully, Jingle Belle never lost her spirit. She remains a dreaming slacker who when she gets inspiration for something, she goes a bit overboard to the point of utter chaos. Plus, if you tick her off or you mess with her friends, she will destroy you! Man, she really does sound like a certain ex-girlfriend of the Clown Prince of Crime...

Every Jingle Belle story ever told up to 2016 is included in this IDW Publishing Omnibus with 2 exceptions. 'Jingle Belle's Christmas Party' which was published on Dini's website in 2017, is not here. Although some of the preview artwork minus the narrative from that story does appear in gallery in the back of this book. Jingle Belle: The Homemades' Tale was published later on in 2018. (Whew... Good thing I already have this one-shot!)

After 2018, either IDW or Paul Dini lost interest in the character. There haven't been any new comics starring Jingle Belle in almost 6 years. On his website, Dini posted a Dave Alvarez penned work of Belle surfing atop a narwhal on the shores of Hawaii. This was just 3 days ago. And Dini hinted we'd see Jingle Belle again next fall. I hope we'll see more of Jingle Belle soon and not just as a pin-up. I'd like very much to encounter more hi-jinx from her. I'd LOVE it if Dini would have her team-up with Harley Quinn. That would be such an epic Hanukkah/Christmas crossover that I'd buy extra issues to give out to friends and family as my Christmas card for the year!

If Paul Dini, DC Comics and IDW Publishing (if they still own the rights) could make this happen, it would be the best Chrismukkah ever!!!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror Ominous Omnibus, Vol. 2: Deadtime Stories For Boos & Ghouls HC

The second of 3 omnibuses that will collect all of the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Halloween annuals. 

Unfortunately, the editors didn't follow my request to have the stories reprinted in order. (Like Harry N. Abrams Books was going to scrap their format to put the stories in chronological order of printing.) 

Along with material from the 23 annuals, there's material from previous collections and other issues that are Halloween themed or at least spooky in nature. 

Gotta say that I wasn't such a fan of this one. I know with a massive volume, clocking in at around 400 pages of material, it's kinda hard to rate based on material; especially since everything has been cut and pasted into themed chapters. One chapter was about surviving the end of the world. It had a story in which it appears that Flanders doesn't get taken in the Rapture. But it turns out that in reality, Flanders' left-handedness is what keeps him from being abducted by aliens. 

I did like the Old Sea Captain's high seas tales of terror that are anything but. Though I have read them before, I thought both of them were oddball classics. Plus Lisa, Bart, Homer and Grandpa play a round of Mad Libs to varying degrees of success. Another all-time great that I've read before but got a kick out of reading again.

There's one more volume to go and yes, I am going to buy it. 3 volumes at $40 each is still cheaper than trying to get all 23 annuals. Plus once I get volume 3, I'll be able to free up a little bit of shelf space. 

I got to read Simpsons Halloween comics leading up to Halloween. In my opinion, a Simpsons comic book is like a Queen song. Even the worst of either is better than none at all.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars. 

Flaming Carrot Comics Omnibus, Volume 1

Bob Burden's insane creation. The Flaming Carrot, is collected in this giant omnibus from Dark Horse Comics. 

Anything Flaming Carrot is darn near impossible to find in stores. A staple of the 80s and 90s Indy scene, not many issues were printed and what few fans have don't show up on the market that often. I know that I am a massive dollar bin picker and I'm not likely to find these books for cheap. But even when I go to shows and conventions, I cannot find Flaming Carrot anywhere. 

I am always looking for Flaming Carrot because for some reason, this series just happens to be my wife's favorite. The peppering of non-sequitur. The surrealism and the shear insanity. On paper, this shouldn't be something my wife enjoys. But she does! And that's even more odder as the Ben Stiller film, Mystery Men (in which my wife absolutely hates), is based on this series of comics. 

I wasn't disappointed by the comics reprinted in this collection. But for an omnibus, there are quite a few issues missing. This book reprints issues 1-2, 4-11 and 25-27. I understand why Dark Horse made sure to add books 25-27. Those 3 books guest star the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the crossovers are definitely fan favorites. I also assume that issues 12-24 are part of a massive storyline and the publisher didn't want to split it up. 

But where's issue #3? Even in earlier reprint editions, that issue is missing from them. Why? Honestly, I can't figure this one out.

As this is volume 1, I am sure that the next book is going to include many of those missing books. But I'm not holding my breath for that third issue. It just seems to have disappeared from existence like a McFly in a photograph from Back to the Future.

Let's talk about the book's cover. I love the image of FC with a pack of monsters. But it really has nothing to do with the comics reprinted within. However, there is a 4 page prose story that appears to be brand spanking new from Bob Burden. It does involve the Monster Party illustrated on the front. It was pretty funny. But it isn't as classic as all of the sequential art stories I read previously in this. 

Then there's the matter of the Easter egg that I couldn't find. According to foreword author, Kevin Eastman, the first issue of Flaming Carrot has the first ever appearance of the Ninja Turtles. I read and reread that issue and I could not locate them. Was it a red herring from the comic book legend? Or is there yet another issue that wasn't reprinted in this assemblage? 

I really enjoyed Bob Burden's absurdist humor. But the omnibus felt less like a complete collection and more like a scrapbook of the Flaming Carrot's earliest and best.

I am really hoping that volume 2 not only comes out soon, but also includes all of the missing gaps. A great book but clearly not absolute!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Just Imagine... Stan Lee Creating The DC Universe Omnibus

Right around 2001, this story took the comic book industry by storm.  Career Marvelite, Stan Lee was going over to DC Comics to create his take on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League of America!

I wasn't back into comics just yet. But even when I heard this story, I thought it was both awesome and strange. Turns out I wasn't the only one as some of DC's most legendary talents including Joe Kubert, Jim Lee, and Dan Jurgens thought that this was a bizarre pairing too. But every single one of these guys heartily said yes to being a part of this historic project. 

Stan Lee doesn't seek to fix the DC icons. No, he merely gets a chance to create them in the Marvel way he established in the 1960s. Thus, Stan would give his ideas to his artists, they would draw out the characters based on Stan's tutelage and then the Living Legend would fill in all the text bubbles and captions himself. 

The overall premise of this storyline was that the mystic tree of life Yggdrasil was threatened by a demonic menace lead by Reverend Dominic Darrk. So, the tree used it's green hued life force to craft a team of heroes to defend the earth. It would be up to these unlikely heroes to rise against growing threat in an entity known as Crisis...

This book is divided into 2 parts. The classic characters of Batman, Green Lantern and the Flash make up the first half with Robin, Shazam, and the Sandman starring in act two. I preferred the second act of characters a lot more than Stan's take on the founding members of his JLA. Their origins were just too similar to how Marvel legends such as Spider-Man, Thor, and Silver Surfer were laid out by Stan the Man in the early 60s. 

But the second string of heroes such as Aquaman and Catwoman were so different and unique to just about anything on the market. I really hate that Shazam was pretty much a one-and-done thing because that new take on the character was really that good! I want to see this as a live-action series on Syfy! 

My least favorite revamp was Superman. Maybe it's because I am biased as the Man of Steel is my all-time favorite character (though Captain America could reclaim that title at any moment...) But this version of Superman was too much of a butt-head instead of inspiration and he was made way too weak. 

Okay, weakness is a big flaw in most of these characters. DC's characters are known to be sources of limitless power and resolve. The Marvel characters fathered by Stan Lee had weaknesses to which endured to comic book readers. But Stan's DC Universe seems to have chronic fatigue syndrome. 

While I have picked up a couple of Just Imagine issues in my travels through the bargain bins of America, this miniseries wasn't really on my radar. But with Ollie's massive DC blowout, I found this massive 700 page plus edition for only $13 and I could not pass it up!

It was a good read both for entertainment and historical purposes. But it's not the greatest thing from either DC Comics or Stan Lee that I have ever read. The jury is still out on whether I will keep this omnibus or not. It takes up a lot of real estate. However, should you ever come across this collection like I did for such a dramatic discount- do not pass it up! It will keep you entertained for hours.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Black Science Premier Hardcover Edition, Volume 1: The Beginner's Guide to Entropy

  My wife won this book for me on Goodreads and I was so excited to get it. She won this back in November but due to production problems, it was delayed until late January. Man- was it worth the wait...  I love Black Science. I had only read volume 1 but I was hooked by the end of the first issue. I actually was about to grab volume 2 when my bride informed of winning this omnibus edition. (And with the official drop date of Feb 9th, I actually got this book before anyone else- HOW COOL!)

   When I last left this band of inter-dimensional travelers, they were dropping like flies. The main character had been left for dead, his children were left to fend for themselves and the group picked up a shaman healer, which I must say, if you're going to add a stranger to your group, this is the guy to add. The second and third storylines don't really deviate from this formula.

    With its fair share of twists, turns, and shocking deaths, this team seems destined to run out of team members. But, this book is about explorers lost in the multiverse- so there are infinite versions of characters running around and who you think might be of the original earth group ends up being a wolf in sheep's clothing. 

   Writer/creator Rick Remender kept me on my toes. The idea of Black Science is to breach the limits of physics and the universe using unorthodox methods. Thus, the rules of traditional science do not apply here. Featuring gritty art and dynamic covers by Mateo Scalera, I was transported to worlds unimaginable and I loved every minute of it. 

   Now to get my hands on the fourth storyline- unless my wife can hit the lottery twice and win the next omnibus edition of this fantastic Image series.

   Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

   

Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space, Volume 2

  I know I've been reading a lot of Star Wars stuff lately. Blame it on Episode VII.....

  I found this omnibus edition of Dark Horse titles on discount at a comic book in St. Louis. Titled 'Wild Space' it's a bizarre mix of stories that don't really fit anywhere else, either because the stories aren't canon or there just isn't enough material to make their own omnibus. 

   In this collection, Jabba and his majordomo Bibb Fortuna scour the universe wheelin', dealin', and schemin' their way through the Outer Rim. Then the concept artists of the new and original Star Wars trilogies create an assortment of stories based on their outstanding artwork. Next, Lando Calrissian must run a gambit of bounty hunters in order to save his life and find out where Boba Fett is hiding with Han Solo, frozen in Carbonite. Lastly, a pair of background characters named Tag & Bink end up causing much of the action of the original trilogy to go the Rebellion's way and legendary cartoonist Sergio Aragones gets sucked into the DVD restoration process at Lucasfilm, literally. 

   This was a great collection of stories. I really didn't have qualms with any of it, though I must say that some of the concept stories had me scratching my head- they were just a little too out there. However, one tale about Obi-Wan protecting the Lars homestead from a menacing Darth Maul was both thrilling and proof that the idea that having the Sith Lord survive Episode I was in the cards for quite some time. 

   I loved the Tag & Bink stories. I already owned them in another format and that almost caused me to overlook this book. But I decided I'll sell those books at a used bookstore and pulled the trigger on this collection. I'm really glad I did.

   By the way, this is volume 2 of Wild Space, so does that mean I have to have that volume to enjoy this one? Nope, it's just that there so much material out there that doesn't fit into other storylines to warrant putting them into another omnibus title other than Wild Space. Plus, volume 1 collects all of the Marvel UK stories and for that reason alone, it's worth putting on my wish list.

   Unfortunately, because of the scarcity of the Omnibuses due to Dark Horse no longer owning the rights to Star Wars, the price of those titles are very hit and miss. I got lucky to find this one as cheap as I did because some listings on eBay and Amazon are for prices more than original cover, way more...

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Welcome to Annihilation Week...

 A couple of weeks ago I found a copy of the Annihilation Omnibus at my local library. It was a massive 500-page plus volume that weighs a good 5lbs. It's huge! But I've been wanting to read this series for quite a while and I jumped at the chance to read it for free (SRP is $125.00!)
 
   But with this massive book I didn't think it was fair to rate the book as a whole. There are at least 7 different one-shots or mini-series that comprise this series. While Keith Giffen writes most of the books, he's not the author of all of these books. Also, there is a host of artists, inkers, and colorists involved in the visuals of this cross-over event. So, I've decided to break this book down and review it in chapters over this week.

  One thing I did quite differently was that instead of reviewing each issue individually, I'm reviewing by title. So if the series is just one issue, four, or seven, I'm grouping things together. It's not exactly a new thing. If I read a collection, I review the book as a whole. But like I said, I think it doesn't do this series justice to give it just one single judgment.

So with that... let Annihilation Week begin.

The Tick Omnibus, volume 2: Thvrsday Ad Infinitvm

Hey, don’t ask me what the title of this book means. Ask me how ecstatic I was to find this for a literally a song. I’ve seen Omnibuses of the Tick on Amazon and they are expensive. I found this at a comic book store in Chapel Hill on the used shelf. Yeah, the cover price was originally $10.95 and I paid $10. However, I’ve seen this thing list new for $30-50! So, this was a treat.

In this book, the Tick meets Chippendale Chairhead for the first time, becomes allies with the Man-Eating Cow and goes on the most convoluted road trip in the history of American travel. For once, I actually wanted Arthur to kill Tick for being so annoying and stupid travelling the open road. But I loved every minute of it, too! All this insanity and more awaits in the pages of this omnibus.

I love the Tick and the Ben Edlund stuff is just the best. It’s the crème de la crème and a pun was intented due to the Man-Eating Cow! I’ve not really found a lousy Tick comic, but the best is the works by character and series creator Edlund. Yes, the book is in black and white with occasional splashes of red. But that’s how the book was first published, so I don’t mind. What makes this book unique is that the original ads as well as editorial comments and letters pages are reprinted with the stories in their original formats. It’s really cool.

I love it and yes, I want more!

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

"Star Wars Omnibus: Droids and Ewoks"

 WORTH CONSUMING!

What a thrill it was to turn on the telly on a Saturday morning, pour yourself a huge bowl of 3po’s and milk and watch the animated adventures of Droids and Ewoks on ABC.

For the first time ever, the complete 8 issue run of Droids and 14 issue cycle of Ewoks is reprinted and collected in Omnibus form. For $24.99, having a full color account of these adventures isn’t a bad price. (It’s even better when you get it for 50 cents)

Along with a crossover story with the Ewoks, that somehow makes R2 and Threepio over 200 years old, there’s a reprint of a ROTJ color comic starring the Ewoks.

 

It’s a really fun read. The Ewoks stories are more childish (ages 5-8) and Droids is a for a little more older crowd (ages 9-13), but for a Star Wars junkie like myself, this is a trip down memory lane.

Superman/Doomsday Omnibus

WORTH CONSUMING!

The complete collection of Doomsday tales that take place after the Death of Superman. Great tales. The Doomsday War is the best story with Doomsday Year 1 annual a close second. Awesome origin and use of Doomsday in several key tales. Worth Consuming!

 

 

Superman: Our Worlds at War Omnibus

WORTH CONSUMING!

There’s a reason why DC does books about timeline crises and Marvel does books about wars amongst super heroes and villains. It’s their niche and they do it so well. This is what happens when the opposing company (in this case DC) tries to do what the other guy does best, finds out it’s not working and goes back to doing their niche.

Confusing? 

SO is this book, until the switch happens. DC tries to do a war title and it gets mired into a who’s who of anyone who happens to still be alive and kicking- and a few ghosts reappear. Then there’s the crisis- which involves the Big Bang and BOOM!!! it’s gets to be one of the best written and thought out story’s DC has ever done. 

Lesson here is stick to what your good and maybe you’ll get a full 10 star rating. Till then- Our Worlds at War is worth consuming and 8 stars tops.