Monster Fun Christmas Special 2022

Rebellion's revival of the classic 1970s UK horror humor title celebrates the season of giving. From 2022, if this feels like a British version of The Nightmare Before Christmas, you'd be right. Here you've got vampires, devils and Frankenstein's monster taking part in Christmas festivities.

Not every segment was Christmas themed. The android Steel Commando story was a continuation from the previous issue. Since it was playing off a cliffhanger, I was okay that it wasn't a set during the holidays. However, the Leopard From Lime Street was working off of a continuous plotline and they managed to celebrate Christmas. True, the amount of Christmas detrimental to the plotline was about as debatable to if Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not.

The main title of this book is Monster Fun and I had a lot of fun reading this tabloid sized read. Despite being heavy on creatures of the night, there's a healthy dose of Santa Claus. Being a British comic, I was surprised that Krampus only appears in 1 story. As for the primary punchline, it was Brussel sprouts! I didn't realize until after reading this issue and later doing some research, but Brussels are an English Christmas dinner staple. But why all the hate? The once hated vegetable has undergone a revolution in the States. I wonder if the Brussels across the pond haven't been hybridized to remove their bitterness...

I didn't plan it, but my holiday readings for this year have been very heavy on books from Europe. Since it's turning out this way, I'm getting a pretty good idea of what titles are on task for my upcoming 2024 Christmas comic book reads. If anything, I got inspiration as well as a few laughs out of this international read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

True Believers: The Other Hulks #1

Marvel's True Believers comics were an amazing assortment of one-shot reprints of great moments in Marvel history. And they were only $1! The House of Ideas released a slew of them, typically about 3-4 a week, usually to coincide with the debut of a more expensive trade paperback. They were great previews of the more vast material on the market. An excellent way to introduce kids to comics affordably. And for a bargain hunter like myself, cheap ways to own more expensive and harder to find back issues. 

And then 2020 hit. Comic book publishers, like just about everything else, shut down. And we never heard from True Believers ever again!

This 2019 one-shot looks at some other characters to carry the moniker of The Hulk. We're not talking about Gen. Thunderbolt Ross as the Red Hulk or Jennifer Walters as She-Hulk. No Hulkling or Totally Awesome (but really not) Amadeus Cho. In fact, both of the Hulks in this book pre-date the Bruce Banner real-deal by almost 2 full years!

The first story taken from 1960's Journey Into Mystery #62 doesn't really introduce us to a character known as Hulk. Instead, we meet for the first time the cybernetic behemoth and eventual Incredible Hulk foe, Xemnu! His debut story is titled 'I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk' and it's told from the perspective of small town electrician Joe Harper who stumbles across Xemnu's crashed space ship on the way to a repair job. 

Harper notices the electronic attachments on the unconscious 'hulk's' body in a nearby swamp and figures that if he can repair those parts, it might save the alien and potentially benefit mankind. Only the alien, now referring to himself as Xemnu, promises to destroy the earth in efforts to escape back to the stars. Using hypnosis, Xemnu's plot almost works as the populace builds the creature with a new spaceship with enough nuclear power to rip Earth in half upon liftoff. That is until Joe Harper reveals that he wasn't really hypnotized and saves humanity by....

Oh, no you don't! I'm not going to spoil it! You'll just have to read JITM #62 for yourselves to find out what happens.

The second story is from Strange Tales #75. Also from 1960, this story is about a mad scientist who plans revenge on the world by creating a massive robotic 'hulk.' Once inside the robot shell, the scientist will have unlimited power and strength to become the ruler of Earth. All of this just because some guy accidentally broke one of the professor's experiments. 

Like many odd and eerie tales of the era, this story has a great twist ending. In the vein of EC Comics. Just not as gory or violent. But definitely a vindictive comeuppance against a bitter villain!

I love these old stories from when Atlas comics was just transitioning into Marvel Comics. Featuring artwork by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, and potentially scripts by Stan Lee, I've never comic across a bad story from this era. I'd really love to know what collections these 2 stories are a part of. They'd make great additions to my comic book collection and I assume the bigger works would make great reads just like this comparatively small 30-pager.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Not All Robots #1

With 10 days until Thanksgiving, last night began my countdown to the holiday with a decent size stack of comics devoted to Turkey Day! 

When it comes to Christmas comic books, if a book has a holiday looking cover but there's nothing Christmasy inside, I call it a Scrooge! So what do I need to call a book that I thought was set during the fourth Thursday of November but probably was really set during the month of July? I want to call it a Turducken. That sounds really funny. But that's probably more of a comic book without a Thanksgiving cover but has a food feast inside! So I guess I am calling this book a 'Tofurky'!

Set in a dystopian future of 2056, lucky citizens occupy city domes while millions struggle to survive the outdoors in a toxic wasteland. In the domes, humans live a life of luxury, while their family robot works and brings home the bacon. With a slew of murders and assaults being made by malfunctioning machines, the population of the Atlanta dome in particular is beginning to worry of a robot uprising. 

In the Atlanta dome, the Walters family is getting a tad suspicious of their automaton. As soon as Razorball returns home from his factory job, he slinks off into the garage and does God knows what. The Walters thinks Razorball is designing something to kill them with. And when a malfunction eliminates the entire population of the Orlando dome, the Walters' fears and that of humans everywhere might have come true! 

Has the revolution begun?

Even though there wasn't anything Thanksgiving about this comic, except for a 21st century twist on that iconic Norman Rockwell painting of a family serving a roast turkey, I was digging this first issue. That was until I read writer and series creator Mark Russell's soapbox article at the end of this issue. 

Instead of citing inspiration on how humans are becoming too reliant technology or how automation could literally destroy our economy or cause millions to lose their jobs, their livelihoods, The Prez reboot writer cites toxic masculinity as the root of all evil in this book. Primarily, WHITE masculinity. I'm not normally one to question a writer's motivations or creative license. But I rolled my eyes that of all the things Russell could blame for an ill wind between humans and robots, blaming white men for the problem would have been 50th on my list.

And then I realized who the editor for AWA (Artists, Writers & Artisans) was- Axel Alonso. During Alonso's time at Marvel as the EIC, he nearly brought the House of Ideas to its knees. Alonso alienated fans and retailers, telling everyone that he was in charge and didn't care about the feelings of those who had disposable income. There's nothing wrong with wanting to promote diversity in the storylines and voices of their creative team. But to blame a lack of sales on comics on white fragility is a complete cop out. Plain and simple, the stuff Alonso promoted just wasn't on par with the quality stories overseen by Stan Lee, Jim Shooter or even Joe Quesada. 

So I carry a bit of a grudge against Axel Alonso. And knowing that he's got a hand in this recipe has put a bad taste in my mouth. I really want to read this rest of the story. I'm just not willing to spend my hand earned money on something produced by somebody who claims that they can live without it. So if I find this book at my local library or maybe for trade credit at a used book store, I'll find out how it all ends. But until then, I can blissfully wait and use my money to buy something from someone who appreciates my voting dollars.

Maybe tonight's read will be more about the holidays...

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Footnote- I teach high school culinary. So it is my job to educate the next generation of chefs and cooks. Unfortunately, I see how my industry is in danger of losing the human element with strides in robotics and automation. As food workers request higher pay, owners and operators are looking to save money by replacing employees with robots. Such an issue troubles me to no end and for Mark Russell to completely gloss over this controversial and industry threatening issue for an axe to grind with Trump supporters and the like was just irksome to me. My apologies for allowing politics to seep deeply into my review.

 

Sea Devils #19

This was a book that I was so delighted to read. In my first comics collection, I owned 2 copies of DC's 1960s water adventure series Sea Devils. I had one of my dad's Showcase Presents issues that introduced the team and then I bought a battered but much loved copy of issue #6 from my then favorite comics shop, Tales Resold in Raleigh, NC. 

As an overweight and asthmatic kid, I wasn't the best athlete on land. But in water, I rivaled Prince Namor and Arthur Curry in my swimming prowess. I loved the water. I just couldn't get enough pool time, ocean time or lake time. And my reading interests as a kid reflected that love. 

Thus when I found this copy of the 1961-67 DC title, I actually shouted 'Mine!' at the store and promptly added it to my stack of books I was planning to buy that day. Needless to say, I was overjoyed!

Enough backstory about me. So just what was issue #19 about? Titled 'The Sea Devil Robots!', a mad scientist named Doctor Deep has plans to become the ultimate ruler of the seven seas. In order to do that, he'll need to replace the Sea Devils with robot duplicates. (Apparently, this guy hasn't heard of a sea dweller named Aquaman...) 

Doctor Deep manages to transplant the brains of Sea Devils Biff and Nicky into their robot counterparts. But Sea Devil leader Dane and his girlfriend Judy elude the sinister researcher. That is until the Deep manages to hit Dane with his ray gun and now the expert skin diver's mind is trapped in the body of a thresher shark!

This is an issue fraught with plot holes. For one, if you put the brain of a hero into that of a robot, why would the protagonist all of a sudden start listening to that mad scientist? Shouldn't Biff and Nicky be rebelling against their captor? Obviously, Doctor Deep threatened the captive Sea Devils with something to make them do his bidding. But it's never revealed just what that blackmail is used for their compliance. 

Another problem I have with this issue is how the Doctor Deep is taken down. This is a nearly 60 year old comic, so I think I can spoil things a little. Judy saves the day by allowing herself to get captured. And we see Judy with her blonde hair and purple outfit taken in by the evil scientist. But then all of a sudden, Judy's robot starts to move on its own accord, taking control of that dastardly ray gun and restoring her friends to their correct bodies.

It turns out Judy was hiding in the Judy robot all along. So when did she do this? Didn't Doctor Deep realize she was missing for a while? Or do all of the Sea Devils have mannequins aboard their home base cruise ship and that was what was captured earlier? 

Okay. So a beloved comic book from my childhood has plot holes the size of what that iceberg did to the Titanic. DC wasn't really known for quality checking their storylines during the early to mid-60s. These things were written mostly to kids and if something didn't make sense, well hopefully the youngsters reading this weren't wise enough to figure out the mistakes. 

I'm okay with that if not just for nostalgia sake. But I did have issue with was illustrator Howard Purcell's (Doom Patrol) thresher shark. I Googled what a thresher shark looked like. And while yes, the tail fin really is that long; it's dorsal fin and side flippers are nowhere near as flowy as they are in this comic. That sort of artistic license is just something I can't overlook.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Classic Toys from a Madman's Youth: Advent 2019 Day 11

For today's advent, we're continuing with the inflatables theme. Thanks to the popularity of Star Wars, Buck Rogers, and other sci-fi films featuring androids, anything involving robots was a big deal. So many kids wanted robots of their own that a number of companies starting producing inflatable remote-controlled robots! And I was one of them.

There were literally dozens of different RC robots on the market by 1979-80. The most popular was the Radio Shack exclusive Radio-Controlled Robot. Made by Tandy, this model came in red and later blue variants. Both used the same inflatable shape; standing at an impressive 3ft tall. The red model was basically an advertisement for radio shack, with the store logo on his chest. The blue one looked more stream-lined with a magnetic tape chest and the letters TC on his chest. 

As a result, many of us wanted a TC for Christmas. I remember a friend of mine or maybe a relative had this and I wanted one for myself. But I don't think I ever got one of these. But, I did however get an RC robot of my own.

The one I received was even taller than TC. It was called Starman80. He stood at 3 and a half feet tall and had a wheeled base that looked like actual robot feet! He also looked a bit more menacing than TC did. But that was cool for me as I thought that Starman looked a lot like the cult classic action figure (FAIL) of ROM Spaceknight. 

I remember how I got this gift. It was Christmas Eve at my Grandmama's. My parents and grandparents took me into the kitchen. At which point, my Grandmama opened up her walk-in pantry door and out rolled Starman80! 

It was so cool!

Sadly, that's about all I remember of this toy. But it was a gift that was often mentioned, especially around Christmas time. I wanted to share my Advent present for you, a commercial for Starman80. But I could not find one. So, I decided to share with you a video of another robot toy I got sometime for Christmas in the early 90s. I did not take this vid, but I hope you will enjoy!

Debian Perl, Digital Detective: The Memory Thief (Family Comic Friday)

Learning is great when it can be fun! And that’s what young readers who love computers and comics books will have in this week’s edition of Family Comic Friday. Journey to the future in a caper that combines robots, computer coding and a thrilling mystery in Debian Perl, Digital Detective: The Memory Thief!

Debian Perl, Digital Detective: The Memory Thief
Written by Melanie Hilario and Lauren Davis
Art by Katie Longua
Published by Lion Forge
Pages: 208
Retail: $12.99

Debian Perl in a technomancer. That means that she has an uncanny ability to speak to computers of all shapes and sizes. Especially very old models. In the very distant future biology and technology have merged, making the need for most large programmable robots an unnecessary if not forgotten skill. So when Debian and the social media superstar, Digits, come across a rampaging robot, the duo uncover a mystery of epic proportions: who stole Ray-Bot the Robot’s memory?

Using her knowledge of ‘old school’ computer coding and programming, Debian Perl will teach Digits how to reprogram Ray-Bot’s CPU. But they’ll have to act fast as the city police are eager to have Ray-Bot shutdown; least he goes on a rampage again. With time running out, what is the sinister secret behind Ray-Bot’s strange behavior?

I was a big fan of the futuristic setting of this book. It reminded me of the movie Blade Runner of which I am a diehard devotee. If ever there was going to be a graphic novel for younger readers set in the Philip K. Dick/Ridley Scott universe; Debian Perl is what I would expect it to look like! It was totally awesome!

My favorite part about this book was that it was an enjoyable book in which children can learn while not feeling like a textbook. That being said, I am not a ‘computer person.’ I am very much like the character of Digits. I know enough to find what I need on the internet to get things done. Like just earlier today, I found a website to help me come up with culinary math questions for my cooking students. But try to develop a way to create such a website from scratch like Debian? Forget it! I do not have those types of skills!

The Memory Thief starts off with some basic code commands. But by the middle of this book, it got very technical. Conversations between Debian and Digits and Ray-Bot were told entirely in computer speak. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I glossed over those pages. But without a computer in front of me to possibly execute some of the commands the technomancers are trying to do while reprogramming Ray-Bot, those sections had very little tangible meaning to me.

The creative team of Melanie Hilario and Lauren Davis, along with Katie Longua have plans to produce more Debian Perl adventures. I would like to propose that next time around, the creators make the book more interactive. Possibly create some activities online in which kids can code Ray-Bot to do some cool stuff themselves. I think I would have learned quite a bit more about the world of coding and computer programming if I had had something to do in which my commands moved Ray-Bot through a maze or something. And I am sure young readers would love it too!

I’m going to recommend that this book be read by readers 12 and up. Not that parents and guardians should be concerned of anything offensive. It’s just that there’s quite a bit of technical stuff about coding that unless the young reader in your life has experience (or a passing interest) in computer programming, this might be a little too advanced stuff for them.

Hey, I read A Brief History of Time when I was in the fifth grade. Kids show interest in advanced things at different stages in life. You might buy this book for your youngster and they’ll not understand any of it. That’s okay! Just set the book aside for now! Give them time. Learning must be entertaining, as it is educational, if it’s too have any true meaning.
And grown-ups- you might just learn some cool skills here too!

Debian Perl, Digital Detective: The Memory Thief debuted in print on September 3rd, 2019!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

This review was concurrently published on Outrightgeekery.com.

Blip! (Family Comic Friday)

 Blip is an adorable early reader graphic novel about an adventurous but lonely robot searching for a friend that he can talk to. Along the way, he'll meet up with hungry alien fish, mischievous creatures and even a human astronaut. But alas, none of them understand his 'blips.’

   Another success by Toon Books! I love that they support up-and-coming cartoonists as well as little known but in no ways inferior international authors like book creator Barnaby Richards. This is the Londoner’s first book, but his robot creation has been a pet project for years. I hope we’ll see more of him.

   One more thing I love about Toon Books is their commitment to raising up the next generation of graphic novel and comics readers through their different levels of reading difficulty. (Check out back for the primer for parents on how to read a graphic novel!) With the simple words and bright colors, this is a perfect book for getting Kindergarten aged and younger children reading.

   So check your local library for this book like I did. Or go to Amazon where you can check out the first few pages of this amazing book.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.