Boris Karloff's Gold Key Mysteries #1

This revival title is something that was on my pull list as soon as I found out about it earlier this summer. In 1960, Boris Karloff, you know, the guy who played Frankenstein's monster and the Mummy in those old Universal films, hosted a horror anthology series on NBC from 1960-1962 known as Thriller. Gold Key released 2 issues based on Thriller, but it wasn't enough to save the show from cancellation. 

In a strange twist of fate, those 2 issues were big, big hits for Gold Key. Not wanting to let a good thing pass, Gold Key signed an agreement with Karloff to continue to use his name and likeness. Starting with issue #3, the comic became Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery. The anthology ran for an impressive 97 issues, ending in early 1980; 11 years after the death of the film legend!

The Gold Key and Whitman books have a cult following. If there's a comic book based on a TV show or movie from the 1950s-70s, there's a good chance, one of these publishers was behind its release. Reprinted editions have been hot sellers with older collectors and good condition first runs are prized finds that bring about coveted likes and jealous comments on social media. 

Gold Key folded in 1984 after Western Publishing was sold off by Mattel. The only way to get Gold Key comic books now was through searching or revivals of popular titles in which someone still owned a trademark. Public domain titles were brought back to life by indy publishers such as Gwandanaland Comics. Then in 2021, comics creator Robert Willis obtained the copyright to the original Gold Key logo and began to work with talent to bring some of those fan favorite titles back.

Boris Karloff's Gold Key Mysteries is the first title to be released by the revitalized Gold Key publisher. After several months of anticipation, plus an extra week of waiting for my LCS to get my copy in, I must say that I was rather disappointed with the end result. 

The book starts off with a rather boorish agent from some unknown government bureau investigating the appearance of a mysterious house that suddenly appears in the deserts of Arizona. This house was last seen in 1980. Now with its unexpected return, the spook wants to know what's inside this haunted house of legend. But he'll have to hurry as the mansion is known to disappear to parts unknown when the sun rises.

At this point, we are introduced to 2 tales. One about a woman whose plastic surgeries impacts her doppelganger in a way similar to Dorian Gray. Then an up-and-coming chef takes advantage of his mentor's unexpected death to cash in on the celebrity chef's name and reputation to a disastrous opening night bathed in blood. After those two stories, we meet the government guy again who is now in Texas with that mysterious house having appeared just recently. Law enforcement, dressed in tactical gear, search the domicile only to run into Boris Karloff.

End Issue #1 with a dreaded To Be Continued!

I don't mind that this series has a running story. I kinda like the idea of Boris Karloff and his Thriller mansion wandering through time and space. Introducing that agent playing Fox Mulder in search of the secret of the old house is a cool way to frame the disappearance of Tales of Mystery the comic into the real world with its 2023 revival. Elvira's House of Mystery and Vertigo's House of Mystery were both horror anthologies that had running story lines involving the hosts interconnected with various stories. I liked both series and thought that integration was great. My problem is how little Boris Karloff there is for a comic book bearing his name. 

Karloff's character only appears on the last page. He says only a single sentence. Then a 'To Be Continued!' I hate cliffhangers. But I hate a bait-and-switch even more. If Karloff had at least appeared in more pages than he did, I would probably be okay with the cliffhanger. But they don't even have Karloff narrating the stories or introducing them. This was not Boris Karloff's Gold Key Mysteries. Instead, the book should be called The Gold Key Mystery is Where is Boris Karloff?

I want to support the new Gold Key. The storytelling was uneven. The artwork was too dynamic to really understand what was going on. Especially that culinary thriller. Yet I can overlook those sorts of technical flaws you'd expect with a TV pilot. It's just based on how little Boris Karloff was in this issue, I'm not sure I would want to keep getting individual issues. Not for $5.99 each. Now I would still be interested in the collected edition and I'm planning on signing up for Gold Key's newsletter. But in terms of budget, I'm going save my money for one of the rebooted publisher's other revival titles.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Life With Archie #118

I bought this issue in August at a used book store. I knew that this 1972 comic wasn't a Halloween themed book. But with it's creepy cover, I thought it would make a good read for the month of October.

There are only 2 stories in this issue. The first story is from which the cover image was taken. It shows a terrifying monster standing in front of a set of miniature coffins, each bearing the name of one of the Archie gang. The reason Archie and his friends are faced with such a situation is because the Archies have been summoned to the home of a promoter who wants the garage band to perform at a popular disco. The house the Archies arrive at is all dilapidated and the promoter is nowhere to be found. As the teens look for someone, anyone, they run into those coffins. If that's not scary enough, that menacing ghoul appears and threatens them with death!

Pretty tough stuff for an all-ages comic from the 70s. The ending was typical Archie, especially as the gang all seemed okay with what was behind all the scares. But then there's the eerie finale that made for this to be a great autumn tale that would be appropriate for a round of camp fire ghost stories. 

The back-up featured wasn't scary. Instead, it was a comedic yarn that proved that Archie Comics could successfully navigate the choppy waters of the generation gap. Mr. Andrews thinks the outfit Archie is wearing is straight up ridiculous. Archie just thinks his old man is being an old fuddy-duddy, where in reality, Grandpa Andrews probably thought Mr. Andrews dressed like a clown when he was Archie's age. Archie later meets up with Betty, ranting about how out of touch an old man his pop is, only to have a couple of kids to almost knock Betty on her butt. Archie stops the kids and berates them for being rude. In return, the kids call Archie old. The story ends with a gag about how Archie needed to get his foot out of his mouth. 

This was all-around classic Archie. There's a dramatic story that gets the heart racing. It's got a ludicrous ending that you'd only find in a family sitcom with a great twist ending. The second story was predictable, but such a fun read to experience getting to the closing gag. For less than $2 and spent using trade credit, I felt like it was money well spent.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Full Throttle: Stories by Joe Hill

I've been in the mood to read Joe Hill lately. 

This 2019 collection of Joe Hill stories is a baker's dozen of short stories that have seen print previously in anthologies or magazine form. The two stories that Hill co-wrote with his famous father, Stephen King were my least favorite as they lacked the voice of the younger author which I have become a fan of over the past decade. But overall, this was a great read filled with excitement and a whole lot of chills for someone who is interested in reading Halloween themed stuff but couldn't yet because it wasn't October yet. 

My favorite stories were the tragic 'By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain', which later became the focus of an episode of the Creepshow series on Shudder, 'Dark Carousel' with it's perfectly eerie ending set across the pond, and 'Mums' which may or may not be about a young boy who grows a menacing plant-like version of his late mother. My absolute favorite was 'Late Returns', which along with 'Mums', was published for the first time ever in this book. It's about a young man who takes a part-time job driving his hometown's bookmobile and discovers that he can recommend great final reads to dearly departed members of the local library. I so very much did not want this story to end and I would love for it to be a movie or even a mini-series.

Another story that I would like seen put on film is 'You Are Released'. It's about the early hours of a nuclear holocaust as experienced by the passengers on a jumbo jet. Although I really want this story to be longer as well, with everything that has been happening in Israel in the past week, I think I could wait for the movie as I get this eerie feeling that right now, life is imitating art. 

Don't skip out on Hill's foreword nor his afterword. Both are amazing non-fiction reads. The foreword talks about how having 2 famous writers for parents influenced him to become a writer. There's also a great story about Hill when he was a little fella starring in the framing sequences of the original Creepshow movie. Hill's afterword discusses where you might have come across many of the stories collected in this book, along with sources of inspiration for those tales. Hill claims he's not a story teller but I would love to read a collection of his thoughts. He's that good a writer!

I think I am done with Joe Hill novels for a little bit. Not because I'm tired of him. Nor is it because I'm scared crapless; though Joe Hill is the only author that can write about non-demonic things and scare me cleaner than Ex-lax. It's just that as we are now in October, I am burning through a bunch of those Halloween reads that I've been saving up to read. Thanksgiving and Christmas are up next and I really want to dip into those reads too. Maybe when it's time to spend the holidays in St. Louis this Christmas, I'll bring another Joe Hill work that I haven't read yet with me. Hopefully, the author will have something new on the horizon as I am running out of things of his that I haven't read yet.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong

Yu-Jin wakes up covered in blood and without any memory of the night before. He vaguely thinks he heard his mother crying out his name at some point. But he really isn't certain. When he goes downstairs to check on her, Yu-Jin finds his mother dead on the floor. Her throat have been slit straight across by a sharp object. 

Now Yu-Jin must piece together what happened the night before. All he can remember is his mother calling his name- maybe. If she did scream his name, was it because she was crying for his help or begging him for her life?

I first heard about The Good Son a couple of weeks ago on The Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon was just about to go on Summer vacation and he wanted something to read. Fallon had selected 5 books. It was up to the audience to vote on which. While The Good Son was not the winner (The Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi was the overwhelming victor) it was this Korean thriller that interested me the most of the quintet of novels.

The Good Son's author, You-Jeong Jeong, is supposedly considered the Asian Stephen King. At least, that's according to Jimmy Fallon. That plus the premise I previously mentioned were what sold me on finding this book. I must tell you, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would. 

I went to my local library and discovered on a computer that the book was on the new book shelf. However, due to a glitch in the database's programming, the author's name was recorded as Chong. Apparently, Chong is the Americanized version of Jeong. Thus, it was catalogued and shelved in error. Thus, if you are looking for this book at your local library and you can't find it in the J's, check under C for Chong.

At just over 300 pages and written/translated in a very smooth and engaging pace, this was a quick read. It was very deceptive at times. Though the novel was not as scary as I was expecting from the South Korean version of Stephen King, The Good Son did have a couple of eerie moments. 

The book was translated by award winning translator, Chi-Young Kim. I would be very interested by someone who has read The Good Son in it's native language to tell me how it differed from the English interpretation. There's a very legitimate question here- did I enjoy the creativity of You-Jeong Jeong? Or was it the choice of words by Chi-Young Kim that won me over? Either way, I would be more than willing to read more from either the author or translator!

Going on a quick vacay? Or want a summer read for a rainy evening? The Good Son will fit the bill. 

It's a bloody mystery without being gory. It's a sensual thriller without being overtly sexual. And it was this close to being what Jimmy Fallon was going to read while on his summer hiatus. Just don't do what he did and miss out on this international chiller from Penguin Books.

Written by You-Jeong Jeong
Translated by Chi-Young Kim
Publisher: Penguin Books
US Release: June, 2018

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

This review was published concurrently on Outrightgeekery.com.

Retcon #1

Writer: Matt Nixon
Art and Cover: Toby Cypress
Published by Image Comics

Everything you know about the invasion of Iraq is a lie.

Instead of trying to find weapons of mass destruction, the US military was attempting to stop Saddam Hussein from utilizing genies! Every time a dictator uses the supernatural to take over the world, our government sends in a special unit of paranormal operatives to end the threat. Then the Pentagon retcons the events to the media as military actions!

When a retired alcoholic member of these paranormal forces, suffering from PTSD, falls off the wagon, he threatens to expose the whole operation. That’s where Brandon Ross, a former member of the Paranormal Ops, comic in. Ross accepts the mission to bring the rogue agent down in hopes of expunging his criminal record. But when civilian lives are to be used as collateral damage without thought to perpetuate the retcon lie, Ross too goes rogue. And that’s when things start to go pear-shaped…

The first issue of Retcon is one that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Writer Matt Nixon (Motel Hell) crafts a story that I was hooked as soon as they mentioned genies. That was like page 3 or 4. But with a name like Retcon, I know that the history changes of the government is just the tip of the iceberg. I expect future issues to dive deep into the conspiracy of that the American history we believe in so dearly didn’t really occur as we were told.

The artwork was a different story. It’s very, very rough stuff. The illustrations of Blue Estate’s Toby Cypress are dirty as art can be. There’s nothing clean here. Part of that works because the story itself is a about the mess of lies made by conspirators and generals. However, it’s also done in such a way, that I’m not fully convinced what I was supposed to see is what actually happens. If I’m right, then I think I’ve got a problem with Retcon.

While I want to stick with this series, I’m going to wait until the trade before I go further. There's an extensive interview in the back of the comic. There,  the series creators Nixon and Cyrpess promise to reboot the story often in a sense that Retcon is like a gritty version of Groundhog Day. I really fear that I am going to miss out on so much if I wait every month for the next chapter.This comic is going to require re-reading previous issues to keep details, which I expect to be retconned frequently, straight. Truly, this series might work best as a multi-volume graphic novel, released quarterly in larger chunks than a 32-page monthly.

Retcon is a series that has great promise.

But it’s going to be such a head trip that the monthly format might hurt sales. I wouldn’t even get attached to any of these characters as by next month, they might not really existed anymore. By having chunks of this story be retconned monthly might anger some to readers. I foresee it get to to the point that the readers might just not only lost in the plot. They may up and lose interest in the book over time. We shall see...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Article originally published September 14, 2017 on outrightgeekery.com.

The Woods, Volume 2: The Swarm

   Still stranded on a planet God knows where, the students of Bay Point Prep continue their fight to survive. A group of several students went to explore the woods that surround the school and run into inhabitants. But can these fellow displaced earthlings be trusted? Meanwhile, back at the school, things have turned deadly as one of the instructors has declared martial law. Yeah, putting the football team in charge of law and order- that's a great idea! It's another example of how humans can sometimes be the worse monsters of all.

       Batman Eternal's James Tynion IV digs deeper into the backstory of the students of Bay Point. These scenes don't explain why the students got kidnapped. But the do offer layers of character development and provides motive for the character's actions in the wild.

      The art is by Michael Dialynas Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dimension X. It's a unique balance of modern American, colonial era British, and never-before-seen flora and fauna. A little rugged, it's engaging enough to be creepy without scaring the hell out of you.

      An unpredictable series that is very well executed and it's constantly getting better with each issue.

      Worth Consuming!

      Rating: 10 out 10 stars.

The Woods, Volume 1: The Arrow

    In 2013 over 500 over students and teachers from a Milwaukee high school disappear without a trace. Who am I kidding, the whole freakin' school vanished as well! The student body finds themselves light years away from earth with very little supplies and even less hope. 
      
    The planet the students find themselves on is full of unusual plant life, deadly fauna, and a glowing mysterious rock. When one of the students claims to have communicated with the rock, a group forms in hopes of discovering a way home. 

     Meanwhile, back at the school, factions have developed in a horrible display of survival of the fittest. With a spineless principal being influenced by a very slimy football coach, there's worse monsters in the school than what is out in the woods.

    The Woods is one of the most compelling and interesting series that I have read in a very long time. Batman Eternal's James Tynion IV crafts a story that really tricks the reader. You think at first that this is going to be your typical youngsters surviving by any means possible adventure. I was ready for your normal normal teen-angst schlock. Thankfully, the Woods is anything but normal. 

    One part Degrassi Junior High. One part LOST. One part alien abduction tale. This Boom Studios series is an unpredictable of the forests that surround our mysterious planet's newest public school. 

     I've just got to get my hands on volume 2 quick!

    Worth Consuming!

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Last Hunt #1 (of 4)

 Anything But Routine

    Centuries in the future, radiation has rendered the earth a barren wasteland. As a result, the human race has begun colonization of the milky way galaxy. The transportation of supplies by use of massive cargo ships is vital to ensuring the success of these colonies. But a direct path isn’t always the most feasible. Thus the earth is now used as a sort of hub for one ship to drop off supplies as an another is used to retrieve the goods.

     That’s the mission for the cargo freighter Ragzon: a relatively routine pick-up from mother earth and then it’s back to colony base. However, when the Ragzon crash lands during a radiation storm, the mission becomes anything but routine. It will be several days before repairs can be made. Thankfully, the ship is stocked with plenty of water, food, and air. It even has some protection from the outside radiation. What the crew doesn’t have is a prayer against an ancient evil that has come into the Ragzon’s cargo hold.

The Chills Take Time

     The Last Hunt, written by Hannu Kesola and Ken Janssens, is a 4-issue miniseries by independent publisher, Amigo Comics. It’s a sci-fi thriller that doesn’t quite start off as a typical story about the future. With quite a number of F-bombs and nostalgic sexual innuendo, I first thought I was reading a Tarantino-style script. There’s one character that just can’t keep his manhood in his spacesuit and he’s quite frank about it. I also thought that I might be reading a cosmic soap opera version of Melrose Place. It’s a story that does it’s best to show what colonial space life would really be like. If the first dozen pages are true, then sex and boredom are the two biggest attractions to interplanetary travel. 

The Last Hunt starts off very slow like John Carpenter’s Dark Star. Yet at the halfway mark, the Last Hunt morphs into a hybrid of Alien and Event Horizon. Once the crew of the Ragzon learn that the earth might not be abandoned after all, the tone of the book changed from insipid oversexed drama to a bone-chilling shocker.

A lived-In Universe

     Though I had some initial misgivings with this first issue, I was in love with the artwork from the first panel. Artist Paul Moore’s futuristic universe is a lot like that of the Star Wars universe in that it’s been lived in. The cargo ship Ragzon is dirty, cluttered, and dank. Earth is an eerie tomb shrouded in swirling radioactive sand storms and crumbling apart due to centuries of neglect. Colorist Beth Varni’s use of moldy greens and browns add to the creepiness of this horror series. The way Moore and Varni reveal the source of the evil on the Ragzon on the very last page, I was hooked. I must know what happens next.

    I really would love to talk more about this book. But I am afraid that if I go much further, I will spoil the major twist in this issue’s cliffhanger. What I will say is that the ending is one that will make you exclaim ‘How did I miss that?’ Then you’ll do like I did and go back and read the Last Hunt again. Hopefully, you’ll be able to capture all the clues behind the sinister forces lurking in The Last Hunt.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

This review was originally published June 26, 2017 onoutrightgeekery.com

Ian Fleming’s James Bond: Service Special One-Shot

 Great Britain Has Been Insulted!

   When a high ranking American official goes on record proclaiming England’s lack of usefulness as an ally to the U.S., a terrorist cell makes it their mission to silence this enemy of the Crown. Working on a series of coded communiques, sent to MI6, as his only clues, secret agent James Bond is tasked with infiltrating the nationalist extremists and shutting it down permanently before they can enact revenge. And if 007 can win back the affection of the United States in the process, even better.

   Star Wars: Darth Vader’s Kieron Gillen pens an interesting James Bond adventure in this one-shot from Dynamite. The author does a masterful job capturing the wit of Sean Connery’s 007 throughout the book. He also follows the basic plot of a Bond film pretty well. Gadgets, M, Q, and Moneypenny all make their appointed rounds. It’s just a little odd to encounter a 007 story that’s not filled with femme fatales christened with names that have naughty double meanings.

   The artwork was fair. Artist Antonio Fuso’s (Torchwood) pencils didn’t really wow me. I’m not sure if rendering 007 as normal looking guy, and not in the style of one of the many actors to have portrayed the character in film, was a great idea. I felt more disconnected to this version of James Bond because of his generic every-man look. Thankfully, the writing was good enough to make up for some of this slack. The art deco style of the cover, credits, and establishing pages were stunning. They made me feel like I was looking at the opening credits of a real life Bond flick. Major kudos to the design team on this.

   James Bond: Service Special was an entertaining read that seems almost ripped from today’s headlines. It was a tiny bit confusing at times in the beginning. But I felt that the overall story was very fresh as was the concept of a MI5, acting in concordance with MI6. That was completely new to me. Upon further research, it turns out there’s actually been an MI1 all the way to MI19. Only MI5 and MI6 remain in the present day. But I was able to follow this caper quite well without that prior knowledge of British Intelligence.

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The EC Archives: Crime SuspenStories, Volume 3

   Dangerous dames, cunning con men, scorned lovers, and murderous psychos fill panel and page of Crime SuspenStories, Volume 3. Reprinting issues 13-18 of EC Comics’ classic crime thriller comic, this book is lovingly reprinted by Dark Horse Comics.

    I consider myself someone of an expert on EC books. I’ve been reading and collecting them since I was about 10. So, I have seen a variety publisher’s efforts to reprint this stories in so many different styles. In my opinion, I can officially declare that Dark Horse’s efforts are clearly best.

    Up until Dark Horse took over the license, I would have rated the Russ Cochran editions the best. These hardcover collections from 1986-1988, are considered by many to be the standard for EC Comics reprints. They were printed on prestige acid-free paper with beautifully bright covers. Unfortunately, the Cochran interiors were printed only in black and white. The decision  was in an effort to cut costs down, but ultimately it was disappointment to readers. That’s not the case with the Dark Horse volumes. Every dismembered victim is brought to gruesome life in vibrant 4-colors on shiny, hi-stock paper.

    Dark Horse’s collections are little paper time capsules. This era of EC Comics lore is just as the publisher was beginning to overtake DC Comics as the industry leader. With EC’s popularity, new titles were being developed. Initial advertisements for MAD, originally published as a comic book, are highlighted throughout the run of these books. There’s also a number of stories written by Ray Bradbury. Just  prior to issue #13’s release, Bradbury signed an exclusive contract with EC to publish comic adaptations of his works. Also highlighted are masters such as Johnny Craig and Jack Kamen who spin original yarns of revenge gone wrong. Volume 3 also collects the first ever EC works by Al Williamson.

    Another thing that I appreciate with this collection is that the original letters pages are restored. These pages contained Bill Gaines insightful editorial commentary. The Russ Cochran volumes reprinted the original pages as well. Yet when Gladstone took over the licence, they were replaced with a letters page composed of modern readers opinions. That’s all well and good for Gladstone. But the new letters don’t reflect the irreverent tone that would inspire Stan Lee with his letter pages at Marvel.

    The book retails for $49.99. For many, this collection isn’t cheap. But it’s a superior omnibus of reprints that rival anything currently on the market. Collectors of 1950s shock comics will love this book.

    Book will arrive in stores on June 27th, 2017.

    Worth Consuming!

    Rating: 9 out of 10 Stars.

  (This review originally was posted on Outrightgeekery.com on 5/24/17.)

Troubled Waters

    

   This graphic novel is perhaps the rarest book I have. Not because it's old or that only a handful of copies exist. Troubled Waters is rare because it was originally published or released in the 15 or so member states of the European Union. That's right, this graphic novel was designed Office for Official Publications of the European Communities of the European Parliament specifically for the peoples of the EU!

    This Belgium book was released in 2003 to help (mostly) students to understand the ins and outs of the European Union. Apparently, it got the job done as this book won the 30th Annual International Comic Stip Festival's Alph-Art for 'best campaign using the comic strip medium.' So, with all that said, how did this book end up here in North Carolina?

   I found Troubled Waters at the monthly Dollar Book Sale in Raleigh. I love to collect comics, of course. But one of my favorite type of comics to collect are publications sponsored by organizations and corporations as a sort of tie-in to teach and inform about some sort of concept. Whether it be a blatant 32-page ad for Subway subs or a Supergirl adventure about the importance of using seat belts, if it's a freebie comic used to educate or advertise, I want it in my collection. And that's why I grab this book when I saw it!

   Along with being an educational tool about how bills become law in the European Parliament, Troubled Waters is also a little bit of a spy thriller. Irina Vega is a member of the Parlament and she's just brought forth a clean water bill. But someone isn't happy with her sweeping measures and is making threats to her and some of her environmental activist friends. When a mystery man presents her with some vials of polluted water to test, Irina will need her wits and luck to make sure her bill gets passed and that no one gets hurt or worse.

    This was an interesting read, mostly because of its country of origin. But I think that also caused a bit of disconnect with me. The book contains a number of signs and artwork in French. While the dialogue is written in English, I think this book was originally written in French. That being said, I don't think the transcription was that very good. It's like a poor game of Telephone in which a Japanese spoken Godzilla movie was translated into Spanish and then dubbed in English. Something just got lost in translation.

   Sadly, the art's not all that good either. The characters hardly look the same from panel to panel. I'm not one to talk, I am not a great artist. But when you have dozens of characters in a story, you need to be able to keep them straight. On the flip side, this artwork is very similar to another Belgian work, Herge's Tintin, in both color palette and inking.

   I'm gonna keep this book even though I had trouble with it. I just did an Amazon search for this book and I can't even find it there. It's a hard one to find. But it is an interesting case study that I recommend you check out if you get the chance. Just don't pay more than I did for this- about a buck.

   Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Bizarre Adventures #34

  

The cover says that this book isn't for kids and for 1983- they're right. 

   First of all- look at the cover- it's a skeleton Santa. Or maybe it's dad dressed as Santa coming to surprise his kiddies but he got stuck in the chimney and died. It looks kinda gruesome and kinda wicked awesome and man was I all over this!

   I didn't even know this book existed until probably 6 months ago and someone posted the cover on social media as a sort of Christmas in July motif. At that point, Bizarre Adventures #34 went on my wish list because A) It was a Christmas Themed book and B) it was a scary book or, at least, a weird one.

   So let us look at the stories contained inside:

• A homeless teen discovers that he's the Son of Santa and must take over the role when Jolly Ol' Saint Nick is brutally murdered by the Anti-Claus.
• Howard the Duck is shown by an angel that if he wasn't born his friends would've turned out a-okay!
• In an apocalyptic wasteland, a young renegade and his buxom sidekicks rescue a kidnapped tyke on Christmas Eve.
• When Santa accidently kills his father, a young boy murders the fat man's helpers one-by-one until he finally meets the real Father Christmas in his living room with a sackful of toys and one mean can of whoop ass.
• Santa's trip to the Big Apple doesn't go as planned when he's arrested for breaking and entering by New York's Finest.
• Finally, in a tribute to the classic EC Comics of the 1950s, a time traveller arrives in Victorian England in hopes of witnessing a more peaceful Christmas and gets stuck in the middle of some brutal class warfare between the Little Match Girl and her fat-cat employer.

    These Bizarre Adventures were completely off the wall and totally insane. Only the third and fourth story is really gory. But just about every tale has its fair share of sex, greed, and violence. In 1983, this book wouldn't have been deemed suitable for readers under the age of 16. Hence, the book is published without the Comics Code stamp on the cover. 

   For 2016, I would say parents of those under the age of 13 should be advised about this books contents. And for goodness sake, don't let them take this comic to school unless you'd enjoy seeing your child's place of higher learning on the 6 pm news for being under lockdown because some teacher took issue to the book's treatment of kids with weapons.

   Featuring art and stories by Al Milgrom, Denny O'Neil, Alan Kuppenburg, Mike Carlin, Larry Hama, and many more, this is a hard to find holiday themed Marvel comic. As the last book in the series, it's also the rarest. A little violent, a bit shocking as well. But it was a fun campy B-movie trek through the genres of horror, sci-fi, parody, and whatever the heck Howard the Duck is considered...

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Astro City, Volume 2: Confession

  Volume 2 of Kurt Busiek's award-winning series stars the Confessor and his new sidekick, Altar Boy. The duo is the Astro City equivalent of Batman and Robin. So I thought I would be reading a sort of tribute to the Dynamic Duo but with a Catholic slant to their personas. Instead, Confession is the Astro City version of Watchmen. 

    A serial killer is on the loose in the poor neighborhood of Silent Hill and the carefree superheroes of the metropolitan marvel seem unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Along with several destructive episodes of careless heroics, the inaction of the city's heroes has allowed the Mayor to sway public opinion and opened the city up to an alien invasion. Added to the chaos is the Confessor's strange behavior as he the only hero who conducts searches for the Silent Hill killer. But why does even the burg's mystical protector, the Hanged Man, shy away from this troubled Man of God in his pursuit of justice and what is the horrible secret that keeps the Confessor awake at night?

    With Halloween almost here, I thought this would be an eerie (but fun) little jaunt through Astro City. I was not disappointed. Busiek crafted not one but two great mysteries in this story. The main one about the Confessor- just who or what is he? Since this is technically the second volume of the franchise, if you view all of the comics published under different publishers as a whole and I've read all of these out of order, I already knew his secret. But I was completely unawares of the whole alien invasion plotline and so my a priori knowledge of Astro City didn't detract from enjoying this story. Also, the intimidating presence of the Hanged Man throughout this book just deepens my level of interest in wanting to know more about his origin, which after 20-years of publication, Busiek has just scratched the surface with him.

     With completing Confession, my historic tours of Astro City is now complete. Thankfully, there's an all-new series being published monthly by Vertigo. So, I'll get to make some return trips from time to time. But with the inclusion of the rare Wizard issued mini-comic #1/2 added at the end of this volume, I am all caught up on all of the classic Astro City stories. 

     This really is one of the best franchises in all of the modern age of comics. With it's timeless approach to honoring all genres and levels of comics and pop culture history, my trips to Astro City is always fresh and never do I see the same thing twice. Plus, with the very rare exception of a fill-in artist or guest writer, it's rare to have the same trio of writers and artists working on the same project for as long as Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross have. To put the trio's 20-year run into perspective, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's longest continuing collaboration on a title, which was Fantastic Four, was only 9 years. 

     That's dedication not just to the craft but to the level of pride and care Busiek, Anderson, and Ross put into every issue of Astro City.

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

    

Battling Boy: The Rise of Aurora West

 

  I love Paul Pope's work. Ever since the day I first came across Batman: Year 100 at my local library many years ago, I've been a fan. So, when on Goodreads.com, I saw a drawing to win a free copy of this graphic novel, I gladly entered my name. With great luck, I won this book and within about a week, I was taking my first journey into the world of Battling Boy. 

    I really thought I was going to be lost reading this book as I've not read Battling Boy. But, upon further research, I discover that the Rise of Aurora West is a very good place to start because this book is actually the prequel to Battling Boy, Volume 1!

    The Battling Boy books are set in the future during a monster apocalypse in the city of Arcopolis. Young Aurora West is the sidekick to hero adventurer inventor father turned vigilante, Haggard West. Aurora is literally in training for her very life because the monsters of Arcopolis steal children for an unknown purpose. (It's postulated that the kids are stolen for food, but there are clues to another more sinister purpose for their kidnappings.)

   On a patrol with her father, Aurora sees a symbol that looks very familiar to her. When she shows it to her nanny, Aurora learns that she used to draw the symbol all the time as a little girl, saying it was in reference to her imaginary friend, Mr. Wurple. This revelation brings back memories to the time when her mother was alive before the monsters came. 

   Using her training, smarts, and her handy Kenpo sticks, the girl secretly begins an investigation in her mother's mysterious murder. But will the answers she finds be the ones she's really looking for and how does it involve the shadowy Mr. Wurple who disappeared on the night of Mrs. West's death?

    I really enjoyed this graphic novel. Yes- the family's last name is West. Dad drives the West-mobile and is a vigilante. Plus, Aurora uses similar weapons and training as one young Mindy McCready. So even though this story borrows heavily from Batman and Hitgirl (from the Kick-Ass franchise), this book was fresh and exciting. 

The mystery of just who killed Aurora West's mother is one of the reason's I liked this book so much. The spooky monster villains are another unique perk that this graphic novel has to offer. But it's the art-style that really made this edition seem so different than just about anything on the market today.

    Though this book was illustrated by David Rubin (The Fiction), the Rise of Aurora West really emanates primary author, Paul Pope and his iconic style. Pope's works are heavily influenced by German neo-classicalism. The style takes the gritty and often absurd scenery of avant-garde films such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Robert Weine's Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and is infused with the Imperialist splendor of great civilization's such as Rome and Athens. A prime example of this type of work is in the 1938 Olympics posters of the Nazi regime. (Interestingly enough, Pope crafted an Elseworlds story based on if Batman operated as a Jewish sympathizer in Nazi Germany in the pages of The Batman Chronicles (issue #11, Winter, 1998.))

     With great writing by Pope and co-author JT Petty, superb artwork, and an eclectic cast of characters, The Rise of Aurora West was a fantastic sci-fi/horror thriller that will keep the reader guessing and since this is the first of two volumes- wanting more. (The sequel: Battling Boy: the Fall of the House of West is due in stores October 13th.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.