Droopy #1

From 1995, Dark Horse Comics gave tribute to the legendary cartoon creator Tex Avery! To do that Dark Horse presented a 3-issue miniseries starring the sad sack pooch, Droopy.

The main story is a parody of Universal's Frankenstein, Dr. Droopy has created a mighty monster as a companion for his creation known as 'The Beauty'. Unfortunately, the behemoth doesn't work because it doesn't have a brain. But where can a mad scientist find a brain in the dead of night? Thankfully, a weary traveler has just knocked on the door looking for dry clothes and a phone!

The backup story stars a character called Screwball Squirrel. In his yarn, he's decided to befriend a fellow passenger on a train. Sadly for the traveler, Screwball Squirrel is the world's worst best friend!

I wasn't familiar with Screwball Squirrel. But I love Droopy. He always manages to make me laugh with his wah-wah voice and funny little waddle. And no matter what, he just always comes out on top. But in the numerous shorts I've seen Droopy in, he was always the hero. Technically, as a mad scientist, Droopy is the villain.

Though not taking place during Halloween, I counted this as part of my holiday reads because of the other 2 books in the series. Issue #2 is a Thanksgiving set adventure and #3 is Christmas. I happened to get all 3 issues earlier this year just to read them for the 2024 holidays. So expect to see Droopy and friends again real soon.

With an essay on his short stint working with Tex Avery, Scott Shaw! gives readers a glimpse at a forgotten part of the animation legends time at Hanna-Barbera during the twilight years of Avery's life and career. It's an interesting read that proves Shaw! is a gifted storyteller. I'd love to read an autobiography of his 50 plus years in television and comics.

Lots of fun! Though I would have liked 2 Droopy stories instead of the very hyper Screwball Squirrel story that frankly tired me out a little bit.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Junior High Horrors Halloween Special #1 (Halloween ComicFest Edition)

Imagine if you will all of your favorite slasher movie characters going to the same Junior High together. We're talking costumed killers and final girls all navigating the perils of becoming a teenager together. This 2019 parody sees Jason and Michael Myers as friends Mickey and JV along with Laurie Strode and Nancy. You know Nancy; the girl who lives over there on Elm Street.? Yes, Freddy is here too. Only now he's a stuffed animal cat that Nancy imagines as a kinda sadistic version of Hobbes the tiger. 

With only a few days left until Halloween, the gang are going to go costume shopping. Everyone has an idea what they want to be for trick or treating, except for Mickey. His past couple of costumes haven't had that wow factor and he's sworn off dressing up for good. Hopefully a trip to the mall will inspire him to reconsider and go out in disguise with his pals.

I thought that this was a fun concept. What life was like for some of film's greatest psycho killers when they were teens. In reality, Michael Myers was in a sanitarium. Jason was 'dead'. Freddy was probably abusing and murdering children. But here in this far-fetched parody from Keenspot, the big three stars of 80s horror are innocent teens trying to find their way in the world. 

One thing that I was struck by in this book was how different it looks from most comic books. That's because the fonts are designed especially for readers with dyslexia. Even the scenes themselves are bigger to keep the words from getting lost on the page. While I do not have the word and letters version of dyslexia, I've been diagnosed with the numerical version of dyslexia. I think if I had had math books designed like this, I might have done better in those classes. 

I really like the cover with the characters stylized as the Peanuts gang. I will admit, I was a little disappointed to learn that the characters inside don't look like they came from the mind of a demented Charles Schulz. But the story inside and especially the closing gag were great fun. When you need the icons of horror to be a little more family friendly, this is a read I suggest you pick up. It's just wicked enough to be creepy without having to look over your shoulder while you give it a read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Looney Tunes #272

A while back when I reviewed an all-Stupor Duck issue of Looney Tunes, I closed my post asking DC for an all-Duck Dodgers issue. Well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad!

Derek Fridolfs penned an all-new Duck Dodgers epic with the semi-heroic mallard being sent on a mission to the future to find a rare element. However, the time machine has a glitch and instead of sending Dodgers to the future, it sends him to medieval times. As Duck Dodgers keeps tinkering with the faulty time machine, our hero risks changing the time line; thus potentially preventing the existence of Earth's defense forces from alien invaders!

The reprint story at the end of the book, also by Fridolfs, sees Duck Dodger's sidekick, the Eager Young Space Cadet, getting promoted. Now he's Duck Dodger's superior! Of course, our 24 and 1/2th Century hero is NOT happy about this!

Sandwiched between the two Duck Dodgers stories is a classic Looney Tunes parody of Star Trek. From 1994, this Ivan Cohen story is a riff on everyone's favorite Star Trek movie, The Wraith of Khan! Seeing your favorite Looney Tunes characters dressed in the maroon uniforms was great and I loved the flashback scene of characters in those TOS tunics. 

Okay, so we didn't get 3 stories starring Duck Dodgers. Instead, we got an all-space parody issue and I am completely okay with that! That Star Trek send-up was hilarious! I guess if DC is paying any attention to my blog, I'm going to make another wish. I want an over-sized 80 or 100 page special of nothing but all-Christmas themed Looney Tunes stories (No reprints, if possible!) If DC isn't reading my Madman rants, then I guess I can dream, right?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather

Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather is Ron Zimmerman's 2003 retooling of the Rawhide Kid legend. The big controversy behind this book was that through all the thinly veiled hints and innuendo, it's supposed to be implied that the Rawhide Kid was gay. Here's the thing, I don't think Rawhide is really gay. I think it's one big joke that fans of Marvel Westerns are in on and the prank was pulled on the House of Ideas.

The late Ron Zimmerman was among things besides a comic book writer, he was also a stand-up comedian and satirist. I think Zimmerman took the idea of homo-eroticism in Western lore, especially with cowboys, got Marvel on board and took a chance to make his version of Blazing Saddles. 

The entire story was a comedic farce. There's absolutely nothing serious here. The mayor of the town is an ancestor of the Bush family (He looks like W too!). There are also ancestors of some of your favorite funny men from 60s and 70s sitcoms. Icons of the classic TV Westerns such as Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Cartwrights of Bonanza and many more guest star as well. Only the spelling of the characters is changed slightly; probably to avoid copyright issues. Slap Leather is satire. Slap Leather is parody. 

The addition of comic book legend John Severin on artwork added some gravitas to this project. It's probably why Marvel to this day still claims the Rawhide Kid as an LGBTQ+ icon. Severin was an artist on the original Rawhide Kid series. Yet I am telling you, this 5 issue miniseries is anything but serious. If this book was published in the 70s or 80s, today's readers would probably criticize it today as being unsympathetic or homophobic. But Zimmerman pulled the wool over everybody's eyes and was able to take a whole lot of stereotype and humor about gays and somehow fooled everyone into thinking that this was a book full of pride. But I think it's really a secret thumb-nose to any and everyone on both sides of the issue. 

That's not to say that this wasn't a funny read. The gang of outlaws who seek to 'rape and pillage the town' of Wells Junction are hilarious. They're totally incompetent and yet their wordplay is so clever. Catastrophe Jen is one of the best Western comics characters to be introduced in the past 40 years!  The banter between the inept Sheriff and his son who is embarrassed by the lawman's lily-liver was so brilliant. I thought Rawhide was great too in how he interacted with the Sheriff's bratty child. The scene where the Kid wants the townsfolk to leave before high noon and they all get insulted by not being recruited to help save their homes. Such great irony! I just felt that the part that everyone circles the wagons around, Rawhide's sexuality, was actually the joke and not some big step in helping the homosexual community become less marginalized.

If you are a fan of Westerns. If you can overlook the change to Marvel canon. If you can laugh at humor that is far from P.C., you will like this book. You might think I am wrong and decide that Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather really is pro-LGBTQ+. That's okay if you do. Just as it's appropriate for me to think that the joke is on you!

No matter what, this is an essential classic of modern comics. It's just up to the reader to decide what merits of this work make it a paradigm of sequential art.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Looney Tunes #262

Daffy Duck is the star of this issue. More importantly, the focus is on Daffy's amazing superhero character Stupor Duck! Starring in a trio of stories!

Based on a 1956 Looney Tunes short of the same name, Stupor Duck is a parody of Superman, The Man of Steel. By day, Stupor Duck is Cluck Trent, a mild mannered reporter for a Large Metropolitan Newspaper, whose nose for news is questionable at best. In fact, that spotty track record is what kicks off our 3-story tribute to the Mallard of Steel.

In an all-new story by Derek Fridolfs, Cluck Trent finds himself out of a job. With the paper going digital due to a lack of sales, the managing editor sends Trent packing. With no employment, this means more time to be Stupor Duck. Only, the superhero makes a gigantic mess of everything along the way. 

The second adventure is a reprint story in which Stupor Duck attempts to help a citizen, played by Porky Pig, with the washing machine that took his money! Reprint story #2 (story #3 overall) is a tribute to legendary DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz who firmly believed that putting monkeys on the cover of his books resulted in massive sales. Here, Stupor Duck takes on a giant gorilla that is terrorizing the fair city. 

The two reprint adventures told more cohesive stories. The first adventure is an awful lot like that 1956 cartoon in which we see more of an array of super-heroic feats that end in hysterically bad ways. Like for instance, at one point, Stupor Duck comes across some bank robbers. But instead of seeing them as bad guys, the hero thinks the criminals are bank patrons who are having trouble accessing their funds. In the end, Stupor Duck helps the crooks rob the bank, feeling like he's a hero who just helped out a bunch of stand-up townsfolk. Add about 3-4 mishaps and Cluck Trent's job search has been all but forgotten while the city reels from the destructive good intentions of Stupor Duck!

I like the Looney Tunes comic book very much. It captures the spirit of the original cartoons very well. Knowing that this was an all-Stupor Duck issue is why I wanted it. This issue did not disappoint. There's just so much going on in that first story. I feel like maybe 10% of the antics of Stupor Duck could have been trimmed back in order to circle around back to a closing gag that would have again featured Cluck Trent's job search woes. I think that would have made for a better ending than the one we get. But the two reprint stories were masterpieces and I understand why DC decided to reissue them in this tribute to Stupor Duck. 

Now, could we get an all-Duck Dodgers issue as well?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Stupid #1 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

It's not a rare thing for comic book publishers to make fun of themselves. Marvel Comics roasted not just their Distinguished Competition, but themselves in 1967-69's Not Brand Ecch. Many of those characters, including the title's unofficial mascot Forbush Man, would return in the self-parodying volumes of What The--?! that ran from 1988-1993. 

DC Comics is more subtle when it comes mocking themselves. The House of Superman tends to let characters such as The Ambush Bug or Lobo make fun of the very comic universes that they operate out of. The comic book turned magazine known as MAD, turned self-parody into an art form. From calling it's team of writers and illustrators 'the Usual Gang of Idiots' to lampooning the magazine's buck-toothed mascot, Alfred E. Newman on every cover, nobody does self-deprecating better than William Gaines and Harvey Kurtzman's MAD Magazine. MAD is currently part of DC Entertainment.

In 1993, just a year after it formed, Image Comics put out this one-shot comedic issue. Stupid was written and illustrated by Hilary Barta; who was no slouch to self-parody, having worked on What The--?! previously. Along with co-writer Doug Rice (Plastic Man), Barta created a 26-page parody of Image's biggest ever star, Spawn.

The satire begins with failed comics artist Al Persimmon awaking on a stormy rooftop trying to remember just why he is in a spandex costume with a ridiculously long cape. Now known as Spewn, the character begins to recall that he sold his soul in order to get another chance to make his failed comic book a success. Only, he can't remember just what his comic book was about. A chance encounter at his old publishing company pits him with his arch-enemy, the Vile-ator! Maybe this demon knows what Al Persimmon's comic book was all about!

Along with the story of Spewn, this issue includes a 2-page Where's Waldo? parody called Where's Aldo?, also drawn by Hilary Barta. The comic concludes with a faux-letters page that promises that the Savage Dragon and Sam Keith's The Maxx would be the stars of issue #2. This however could have all been a part of the letters page joke as no further issues of Stupid would ever be forth-coming. In 2002, Image would release Stupid Comics, a 3-issue miniseries. Based on Jim Mafood's newspaper strip of the same name, Stupid Comics was not a follow-up to this work.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Completing this review completes Task #46 (with a 1-word title) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Sham Comics #3

Years ago, I remember a 30 minute program where HBO or some other premium movie channel would regularly show an abridged version of Night of the Living Dead. Only the voices of the actors were replaced and a humorously dubbed version was overlapped in its place. Source Point Press' Sham Comics is a lot like that comedy special, only in comic book form!

Sham Comics selects a monthly theme. In the case of this issue, it's funny animals. Then Sham takes comic book stories in the public domain, replaces the dialogue, including the captions, and crafts a parody of the original tale. There are even vintage comic book ads that are given a comedic retool. In 2007, BOOM! Studios issued a trio of similar comics. The only difference is that this 2022 comic book uses quite a bit of four letter words, including the big bad one. There's numerous sexual references that would make a priest sweat. And potty humor. Okay. I take that last one back. I think the BOOM! books had those kinds of jokes as well.

Even though the material got rather blue and the language was R-rated, I really enjoyed this comic. It made me laugh; which was needed during a very dark time in my life. I liked Sham Comics so much, I very much would like to read some of the other books in this 6-issue series and the first volume produced in 2019. 

Horror. Sci-fi. Crime. Romance. These are all themes that are skewered by Sham Comics and the team at Source Point Press. Kudos to the editors for having the insight to given credit to the original source materials from the late 40s and early 50s!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham- The Complete Collection, Vol. 2

Yesterday, I reviewed volume 1. With that reflection, I argued that both Marvel and Amazon had rated the book incorrectly. Marvel put a Teen label on the back cover. Amazon said the first book was appropriate for preschool readers. I stated that since the original publishing imprint, Star Comics, was geared for readers aged 6-10, that both ratings weren't correct. 

Volume 2 collects all of the Spider-Ham stories that appeared in the back pages of Marvel Tales, a primarily Spider-Man reprint series that ran from 1964-1994. The Spider-Ham stories periodically ran from 1987 through 1991. That level of lunacy and silliness are still present in these later tales. Unlike the Star Comics stories, these shorts are a bit more grown-up.

Peter Porker's relationship with Mary Jane Waterbuffalo was a main focus in many of the Marvel Tales stories. When Mary Jane gets mad at her beau, Spider-Ham starts a love triangle with the cat burglar, Black Catfish. Plus, an old flame makes a couple of appearances in Peter's life, causing strife with Mary Jane. The female characters are dressed very scantily and drawn in sultry positions. And there's innuendo galore! Definitely not the sort of stuff preschoolers need to be reading.

The Spider-Ham shorts only account for about half of this book. The other half is comprised of an assortment of stories from the past 30 years. All of Spider-Ham's appearances in the pages of the Marvel humor book What The--?! along with a novella set during the third Secret Wars add to the wacky history of the character. Then Peter Porker suffers an identity crisis and later celebrates his 25th anniversary with family and friends. Readers then get a glimpse at Spider-Ham's future with daughter Swiney-Girl as well as meet ancestor Piguel O'Malley who swings through the streets of New York City as Spider-Ham 2099 before things wrap up with a metaphysical discourse on reboots between Spider-Ham and Howard the Duck!

Amazon rates this book as being for readers 9 and up. I have to side with Marvel on this one and put things at Teen. Everything in this book is much more mature than the material in Volume 1. No nudity or curse words or anything like that. It's more about the edginess of the jokes, vampiness of the female characters and more PG-13 level violence that parents and guardians might need to pay attention to. 

This is a volume that would result in having to collect almost 2 dozen assorted Marvel Tales issues and these books are part of a complete run. Spider-Ham would have to wait several issues to resolve his cliffhangers due to the length of the Spider-Man reprints contained. As for the specials and What The--?! stories, I've read some of them before. But it's been a long time. Definitely worth owning even if you got a few of these works if just for the ability to shave some time off of your search for everything. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Peter Porker: The Spectacular Spider-Ham- The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 (Family Comic Friday)

I gave up. Instead of trying to buy the complete 17 issue run of Marvel's Star Comics imprint devoted to the funny animals of the Marble Universe, I gave it and purchased this massive collection. 

I was missing about a dozen issues of Spectacular Spider-Ham and each one was running about $5-7 per issue. In fact, there was 1 issue that I couldn't find selling for less than $125. So I gave in and bought this book for less than $30, used. (It also helped that I had Amazon gift cards.)

Resting in May Porker's basement is a tiny spider named Peter. While working on an atomic hairdryer, May receives a large dose of radiation. This turns her temporarily rabid and May bites Peter as a result! 

The bite turns Peter the Spider into Peter Porker, a bi-pedaled swine with an eye for photography. While working as the main photographer for the Daily Beagle, Peter Porker makes a living selling photos of himself as the Spectacular Spider-Ham. These antics as a costumed hero brings Spider-Ham face-to-face with a myriad of super villains including Duktor Doom, The King-Pig and the mysterious Bee-Yonder. 

Don't feel too bad for Spider-Ham. Helping him out against these villains are allies such as Captain Americat, Nick Furry, Agent of SHEEP and heroic psychiatrist Doc Clamson. When the heroes of the Marble Universe aren't able to give Spider-Ham a hand, our friendly Neighborhood Spider-Ham can rely on his non-super-powered friends like girlfriend Mary Jane Water-Buffalo and the junior newspaper reporters of the Daily Beagle!

The stories are extremely fun. They can also be funny. However, this is a work of parody and some of the gags just don't cut the mustard. But the creativity of co-creator Tom DeFalco (Archie Christmas Spectacular 2022) and assists by writers such as Fred Hembeck and Mike Carlin (Star Trek) are unmatched. 

The artwork is all quite good. But the work of Steve Mellor and brother Mike in the debut story is perhaps the most striking. There's a hint of art deco to the first issue that was originally published as Marvel Tails. Everyone looks like they are drawn with italics. In fact, Captain Americat looks like he's walking on a ramp throughout the whole thing! But I love it!

I've shared works starring Spider-Ham in several Family Comic Friday postings before. But the reason I share this book in particular is mainly because of the rating Marvel gave this work and it's dead wrong. Marvel has this book rated for readers aged teen (and higher). Yet, with exception of that first story, which was released as a Marvel title, issues #1-17 of Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham were originally released as part of Star Comics, an imprint for readers aged 10 and under! 

Unless Star Comics readers in 1984-1989 were much more mature than the Gen Z readers of today, I don't see a reason this book should have been rated for Teens. In fact, Amazon grades this book as suitable for those in preschool and higher. Now, I think that's a bit young as there are some decent sized words in these books and the scripts are a tad wordy. But at least that recommended age range is closer to whom these comics were originally geared towards.

Over 400 pages with tons of inside jokes and Easter eggs. This is definitely a work that the parents and grandparents who grew up with Spider-Ham will enjoy perusing with the young readers in their lives!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Captain Nice 10211-711 (#1)

Captain Nice is one of those TV shows I remember from my childhood. Seeing it in rerun in the late 80s, Captain Nice was something that aired on Friday nights on WGN or Nick at Nite. I can't remember which. But I do recall that it was something I only would get to watch during the summers as it aired late at night like 10pm or later. 

As a kid, I loved Captain Nice. I thought it was goofy fun even though my mother swore that it was a stupid show. (Though why she'd keep watching it if it was so insipid is a mystery to me.) The William Daniels (Kitt from Knight Rider) series aired on NBC for only 15 episodes in 1967. Obviously, the American public thought this attempt to collect on the Batman TV series craze was pretty moronic. But for a 10-year old Madman, it was pretty funny.

Probably 30 years or so passed before I even thought of this show again. With the occasional appearance of Daniels on some TV show, I honestly never gave Captain Nice another thought. But then about 6 months ago, I started seeing people around the country on Facebook posting pics of finding this rare comic and adding it to their collection. With this revelation that there was a Captain Nice comic book, I immediately became intrigued and added the title to my wish list. 

Jump to early August. I got a tip on some really affordable Dark Shadows comics. That title was on my top 10 list of TV adaptations to add to my collection, so I went shopping. Needing to spend a few more dollars to achieve free shipping, I took a shot at seeing if I could add Captain Nice to my collection as well. The store had one in stock. The price was right. And in a few days, it was in my possession. 

That first night, I gave Captain Nice a read. Immediately, I am struck by a couple of things thanks to the photo cover and a number of stills from the show inside. One, William Daniels looks a heck of a lot older than you would think a young man just out of college would appear. (In reality, Daniels was 40 when the show aired). Second, the actress who played Captain Nice's mother isn't old enough to be a mother. (With that, technically, I am right. Alice Ghostly (Bewitched) was only 4 years older than Daniels in real life.)

As for the comics themselves, what is there to say that wouldn't prove my mother right. There are 4 shorts which are roughly 8 pages apiece. All of them are pretty goofy with Captain Nice bumbling about for 6 pages and then saving the day, mostly by accident, at the end. One story has Nice attempting to stop a rampaging flood. Another has the hero accidentally helping the very arch-villain he's sworn to stop! The best story involves a love triangle with Captain Nice, his sometime girlfriend meter-main Sgt. Kandy Kane and a slinky cat burglar. I cannot for the life of me remember what transpired in the fourth story. But I do know that every story was formulaic.

In every story, Nice as his alter ego Carter Nash is berated by his mother for not trying hard enough to be a better crime fighter. Kandy Kane tries to get Nash to woe her. Then a crime wave occurs. Ma Carter gets even more snarky, prompting Carter to act. Then, Kandy gets romantically frustrated being cast aside by Nash, now acting as Captain Nice, as he tries to save the day. Then the hero goofs frequently. But at least once, he lucks out and saves the day and though things don't turn out ideal, it's good enough for the citizens of whatever town Captain Nice operates out of.

The best story, that love triangle, at least doesn't follow that formula completely. Mom is mostly absent from that yarn and Nice ends up in the dumps. Literally!

This was a fun trip back to the 1980s. Sure, this book was down right goofy. But it was an entertaining goof. I don't feel like I wasted money on a dud. This was a parody of superhero stories. Maybe not perfect. But from the mind of the legendary humorist, Buck Henry (Saturday Night Live), the whole project has a little gravitas to it. 

I can't imagine many of these are still out there on the market. Like I said, it's rare. But rare doesn't always mean valuable and the few I've seen online aren't too expensive. So if you are looking to add a book to your Dell/Gold Key collections, this one shouldn't wipe out your bank account. 

Now ain't that nice?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Archie Comics Presents… The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.

The 1960s was the decade of free love, hippies, Vietnam and super spies! President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 recommendation of Ian Fleming’s From Russia, With Love sparked the world’s interest in smooth secret agents, fast cars and even faster femme fatales. With America in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the public turned to the likes of James Bond, Our Man Flynn and a host of others to provide some heroic insight into some otherwise very private dealings between the East and West. One unlikely hero during this time of international strife was a red-headed high schooler named Archie Andrews; The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.!

From 1966-1967, Archie and his pals were agents of P.O.P. (Protect Our Planet) in the pages of Life With Archie. Almost two dozen stories starring The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. were written by Frank Doyle with art by Archie fan favs such as Bob White and Dan DeCarlo. The P.O.P. agents secret headquarters was operated out of Pop Chocklit’ Shoppe. Though it seemed that all of the enemy agents of C.R.U.S.H. knew this as Pop’s was often bombed, ransacked or vandalized. And if the bad guys weren’t attacking the malt shop, they were doing their best to infiltrate Lodge Enterprises.

The artwork of Archie and his friends was pretty standard for 1960s Archie Comics. But the designs of those C.R.U.S.H. baddies was pretty darn sleek. Most of these villains were illustrated like a costumed villain from the pages of Marvel or DC. But they were so very good. The fire-tressed Flametrower was positioned to take over the world in some of the most dynamic poses this side of Jack Kirby. Whereas, the Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.’s Sandman screamed the influence of EC’s Jack Davis and Wally Wood. 

The title of the Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. was clearly a parody of the popular spy TV series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. Other than the extensive use of acronyms and being about spies, that pretty much was the only real comparison between the comic book and the TV series. That is until the popularity of both properties began to wane.

By the Fall of 1966, the Archie lead series began to focus on one of his girlfriends. Betty Cooper became the Girl from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. This was in response to a Stefanie Powers led spin-off called The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,  that had debuted just a few months prior. Both female led series were revolutionary for their time. But the effects of a glut of spy lead franchises was beginning to take its toll on the populace. By the Spring of ‘67, Life with Archie would move on to the awakenings of the Summer of Love and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. was unemployed. It’s parent series would be promptly cancelled mid season the following year. 

Instead of U.N.C.L.E., it could be said that much of the Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. was based off of James Bond. All of the agents of P.O.P. utilized gadgets from drugged lollipops to gas filled lipsticks. But sometimes, the team managed to get the job done with everyday household objects, such as the common vacuum cleaner. And yes- Archie and his cohorts carried guns. But they had about as much accuracy as an entire squadron of Storm Troopers!

Just as James Bond was keen to use tricked out automobiles to save the day, the Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. had a vehicle filled with gadgets. Archie’s jalopy, Betsy, was the vehicle of choice for P.O.P. Though the car was much more reliable in this fantasy series than in Archie’s everyday life. In this series, Betsy could do an assortment of neat tricks, like fly, float and even split right down the middle to avoid guided missiles. 

The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. was a great way for Archie Comics to kick off it’s Archie Comics Presents life of reprints. These stories might have been silly at times. But they were fun and thrilling. Plus, it was a great distraction in this time of social distancing and self isolation. 

If you are a fan of classic Archie and you in need of a pick-me-up that combines espionage and humor, order yourself a copy now! Along with print copies, Amazon and Comixology have this book available in digital formats. Or help out your struggling LCS and arrange for a copy via curbside pick-up or possible delivery! Now is the time to help out struggling small businesses while keeping yourself healthy and sane. I think any of these actions would make any of the agents of P.O.P. and the Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. proud that you are doing your part to help in times of crisis!

Archie Comics Presents… The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.
Written by Frank Doyle
Art by Bob White, Dan DeCarlo, Various
Published by Archie Comics
Pages: 224
MSRP: $10.99

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

After spending several years in Ankh-Morpork training to become an assassin, Teppic is summoned back to his homeland of Djelibeybi. His father, the Pharaoh, has died. It's now time for Teppic to become the king. Having become enamored with Ankh-Morpork's 'modern' amenities, such as indoor plumbing, Teppic has big plans for his kingdom. But he runs afoul of Dios, the chief high priest who insists on following 7,000 years of tradition. 

Meanwhile, the kingdom is preparing for the burial of Teppic's father. There's the embalmers. The miniature makers. And then there's the architects tasked with building the largest, most modern pyramid ever constructed in the land. It threatens to bankrupt an already cash-strapped kingdom. But with anything so massive and magical, this great pyramid Djelibeybi's very plane of existence!

I had mixed feelings about this volume of the Discworld series. I normally prefer the Ankh-Morpork stories the best. But the segments that take place in the 'big city' were my least favorite. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the Assassin's Guild. 

When Teppic gets to Djelibeybi, about 80 pages in, the story gets really good. Pyramids is a fantastic parody of Ancient history and lore. I enjoyed the satire on polytheistic religion and warfare. But when the story starts to delve into physics and math, I kinda glazed over. I understand not enjoying the parts about math. But I usually am in love with physics. I guess I just can't understand magical physics very well. 

Some segments of this book seemed really familiar. Have I read this one before? If so, it was before I started tracking books on this blog. I for one am not big on re-reading books as there are so many volumes to enjoy and so little time. But if I had read this one prior, I didn't really mind a repeat.

A funny book that gets quite technical at times. Times that for the most part, felt unnecessary.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Spoof #2

Parody has been a regular staple of Marvel Comics. These funny books usually haven't been met with much success. However titles like Not Brand Ecch and What The?! are considered cult classic fan favorites. This title is not one of them.

Spoof ran sporadically over the course of 1970-1973, producing

a grand total of 5 issues! The biggest draw for those few who still

remember this series were the covers. Featuring art by the great

EC Comics legend John Severin, these covers had amazing

caricatures of 1970s icons such as Blacula, Marcus Welby and

Richard Nixon.

Ironically, this issue, which I happen to purchase over Father's

Day weekend, was the only one that featured a single property

- a parody of the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family. That

show starred Carrol O'Connor as the bigoted Archie Bunker.

Bunker would often tell people that he was through with them

with the send-off 'see you in the funny papers.' In this spoof, he

learns that life in the tumultuous 1970s might actually be better

than living in those Sunday Comics.

In this issue we've also got a glorious spoof on the anthology

horror film The Vault of Horror and the EC Comics that inspired

the movie. This one featured a story by future New Teen Titans

scribe Marv Wolfman and artwork by another EC alum, Marie

Severin (John's sister).

Lastly we've got a Tarzan spoof in which after years of living as

a domesticated lord, the King of the Jungle returns to deepest

darkest Africa. Only Tarzan finds that the continent has

modernized in his absence. This was the most political of the 3

stories. It was also my least favorite.

With artwork by both of the Severins, I feel that Spoof was

Marvel’s attempt to rival Cracked Magazine. But I know that isn’t

the case as both artists were frequent contributors to both

Marvel and Cracked at this time. Maybe this was just another of

Stan Lee’s flights of fancy that didn’t take off with the average

Marvel reader of the 1970s.

One thing is for sure, this book is about as borderline adult as you

can get in a Comics Code book. Look at Charlie Brown and

Nancy posed like Fritz the Cat and his girl on the top left corner.

Plus, there’s plenty of double entendres and blatant take about

sex, drugs and gettin’ naked.

Above all, this book was a flop because it couldn’t be produced

in a timely and consistent manner.

An interesting look at one of Marvel’s earliest duds. Not terrible

stuff. But definitely not ‘The Galactus Saga’ either. The art is

quite stunning however. I gotta say, I love those Severins!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Simpsons Comics Supernova

Another fantastic collection of Simpsons Comics!

The first story is a parody of that classic 80s cartoon (and most recent reboot) DuckTales! Smithers is unable to go on Mr. Burns' annual treasure hunt. Thus, Homer and the kids are hired to help Burns navigate a slew of obstacles such as a giant squid and underwater bandits. 

Next up, Lisa seeks to find a name for herself while Marge is hired to be the next weather girl on the local news. 

Fans then experience a number of parodies as we sit in on the latest meeting of the Springfield Book Club. 

Lastly, Bart, Milhouse and Martin tour the town dump on the hunt for a fabled horde of collectible garbage. 

As I continue to say, Simpsons Comics manages to be what The Simpsons TV show hasn't been in quite a while- funny. Well, this most recent season has been humorous. Maybe it's because all of the talent who used to work at the new defunct Bongo Comics are writing for the show now.

This collection of Simpsons Comics reiterates a pressing need in the comic book industry- namely more Simpsons Comics. Bongo went out of business because of the high cost of shipping and printing. Since Disney now owns The Simpsons, either IDW or Dark Horse needs to take on the role as the main supplier of Springfield hi-jinx. Someone needs to take over the imprint or the last 90 issues or so will never be released in collected form!

Not all of this book was pure comedy gold. For one thing, the table of contents lists a story called 'The Duffman Cometh.' However, that story is nowhere to be found. I'm not sure if Bongo made a publishing error here or not. Could it be that "Duffman' the true name of 'Lisa's Book Club' which I assume was instead published in the previous story's lieu? Or is this proof that another publisher was needed to better navigate the exploits of America's favorite dysfunctional family?

Come on, House of Mouse! You do this! Bring back Simpsons Comics! Do it well and I'll forgive you for the last 2 Star Wars episodes!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

They Made a Christmas Album?- Advent 2018: Day 16

For an artist who has written a song about everything, it was inevitable that at some point they would do a Christmas album. I'm talking about the Price of Parody, Weird Al. The accordion playing artist has skewered Michael Jackson, Madonna, Nirvana, Coolio and created his own songs about food, Star Wars and tons more subjects in his 5 decade spanning career. His lone holiday tune is one of his original recordings and also his most controversial.

The song is called Christmas at Ground Zero. When recorded and released in 1986, the term 'ground zero' meant the direct impact of a nuclear attack. In the mid-80s, we were all scared to death of a nuclear war between the US and the Soviets. So, in demented Weird Al fashion, the artist created a Phil Spector style song that really change the meaning of the phrase 'surviving the holidays." It was meant to both relieve a little bit of tension and to mock the silly educational videos that preached how hiding under a desk would save you from the H-bomb.

Now jump to 2001 and the 9/11 attacks. Ground Zero has become the term for the World Trade Center. Many, including my wife, have thought that Weird Al's song was making fun of the events of that tragic day. But he's really not. Again, he wrote and recorded the song 15 years before the terrorist attacks. I'll let Al explain things a little more...

"The sad part is, I can’t really play the song live anymore because too many people misunderstand the connotations of Ground Zero. It’s not a reference to 9/11, obviously. It was written in 1987 when "ground zero" just meant the epicenter of a nuclear attack."

With that in mind, if you feel like the song will offend you, don't hit play. It's a very outdated song. It's also proof that good intentions turn out wrong as time goes by. Just think of all the controversy surrounding Baby, It's Cold Outside.  

So, enjoy the song if you'd like. I don't have advertisers and I don't make money off of this blog. So, there's not really anyone you can boycott if you don't like my selection for today's Advent. I'm posting the song as a sort of time capsule look at the fears and attempts to deal with the nightmare of nuclear war in the 80s. I understand that some may not agree with my decision to feature today's song. But I feel that to avoid the subject rather than brooch many sides of an argument would be just as wrong a choice. 

Try to enjoy...

Radioactive Man: A Radioactive Repository, Volume One

As a fan of the Simpsons comic books, I've come across a couple of single issues of Radioactive Man. I had noticed that some issues were numbered really high, like in the 6 and 700s. I thought it was quite odd as the Simpson title hadn't even hit the 200s yet (at the time.)

Well, at a recent library graphic novel rummage sale, I found this issue for just a few dollars and I ended up getting my answer about the high numbers. See in the Simpson universe, Radioactive Man has been going on since the 1940s. The books are published by Bongo Comics. In a unique art becomes life way, the real Bongo Comics issued several issues of Radioactive Man classic releases as they would have appeared on the shelf of the Kwik-E Mart.

The issues were from different decades of the history of Radioactive Man, going all the way to his 1940s origin to the swinging 60s and onto the grim 90s. To make the release of these books complete, Bongo went on to collect those issues as well as add in a few extras to create this compendium of the most important chapters in the life of Radioactive Man and his sidekick, Fallout Boy!

This book goes so far as to have the great Paul Dini (creator of Harley Quinn) to pen a forward about the history of how Radioactive Man came to be and his extensive run on stage, screen, and TV. 

It's all rather quite funny and silly. And to only pay $4, it was a freakin' steal. I can even overlook a few of the continuity errors, since I'm not really 100% sure if they were intentional or not. 

Bongo went on a few years later to put out a second set of classic issues. To my knowledge, there has never been a volume two. But that's okay. Because all of those issues are contained within as well! 2 whole series/ only $4 whole bucks. What a bargain!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Super Human Resources Season 1

There's a new trend in book-selling that I am completely on board with. It's the dollar used book store. All items, including games, DVDs, CDs, and even comic books are a dollar or less. With these type of stores, you can fill grocery bags with kids and young adult books for around $10. Every time I visit one of these places I find some great stuff and the book I am reviewing today just happens to be one of those gems!

Super Human Resources is a 4-issue series about office temp Tim. Tim has accepted a job in the HR department at Super Crises International. It's the corporate headquarters for the world's greatest superhero team, the Mighty Super Crises Squad! Only problem is, these heroes are a bunch of idiots! Tim learns that with great power comes a whole bunch of stupidity and that means liability.

Whenever a battle between good and evil occurs, property is damage occurs. That means that SCI is fiscally responsible for the mess the Squad makes. This team makes a ton of damage and that means it's going through a ton of cash to repaid for their faults. As a result, SCI and the Mighty Super Crises Squad is forced to shut down. Could Tim be the superhero's superhero and save the day with his amazing office skills?

This indie comic was extremely funny. In some ways this book succeeds in where the TV show Powerless failed. It had memorable characters. It was a clear satire of office life and a parody of the superhero genre. Plus most importantly, this book had superheroes! 

All the time, comic books put in characters into different titles that come out the same month in stories that do not really interlink. So, why would it have been a problem if Grant Gustin's Flash made a stop or two at Wayne Technologies on Powerless?! Yes- the superheroes in the comic are all-new to this series. But while HR's Tim was the star of the show, it was those with powers who made this plot line more relatable and relevant.

Ken Marcus and Justin Bleep do a really awesome job on this book. There's a Season Two and I really want to get my hands on it. Another cool thing is that one of the chapters is a holiday issue in which SCI has a hilarious office party that ends in complete disaster! 

If you are looking for a comic that combines the Avengers, The Tick and The Office, try Super Human Resources. I highly recommend this book because it's completely unexpected and thoroughly entertaining.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Individual issues and the collected first season can be found at Comixology.com.