Ambush Bug Year None #2

When Ambush Bug tries to explain anything, the facts get jumbled and weird things are summarized, mostly because the guy is nuts. But when he tries to explain his origin by ripping off Marvel legends, it get maddening. I’m not sure if Keith Giffen was asleep when he wrote this, most of the words didn’t make any sense. At one point, I was about ready to throw this book across the room when I got to the really excellent cliff-hanger. So, it wasn’t entirely all bad.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Ambush Bug Year None #1

In the midst of the craziness that is Countdown, Keith Giffen and Dan DiDio have brought back The Ambush Bug! It appears that with a new 52-earth multi-verse, someone’s killed the DC’s universes continuity cop, Joanie DC. So, the part-time PI, full-time nut case is on the job to bring the killer to justice, or to at least slap him on the wrist with a sock filled with anchovy paste and pickled whipped cream. (The insanity is contagious!)

Expect a madcap riot that’s so far in left field, it somehow ends up in shallow right.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Gyro Gearloose - Free Comic Book Day 2008

The zany mad scientist/ inventor of Duckburg finally gets his own comic- though it’s a one-shot Free Comic Book Day edition. Sorry!

This book features several stories involving Gyro Gearloose and the residents of Duckburg, like when he helps Uncle Scrooge hide his money from the Beagle Boys. The best stories are the ones taken from 1980s Ducktales comics in which Gyro is trying to help Launchpad not crash anymore. Hir inventions never work, but it’s Scrooge’s pilot and his “eh? What can you do? At least we didn’t die!” attitude that makes those stories so gosh darn funny.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

World's Most Dangerous Animals FCBD Edition 2012

This free comic from 2011 presents tales of man versus the biggest baddest predators on the planet. From a rampaging bear to a ruthless crocodile, these tales aren’t cute and cuddly. People get mauled and in one story, somebody buys the farm.

 

Published by the cable channel Animal Planet, it’s nothing worse than what you’d see on TV. However, if you have small kids and you’re not letting them watch shows like “When Sharks Attack”, then this probably isn’t the show for them.

Bravo for the publication of an intelligent educational comic book that doesn’t dumb down the facts. But, if you don’t let your kids watch blood and gore, then you may want to hold off on this book for a while.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Zombie Kid Free Comic Book Day 2012

Just because it’s published on the same sized type of comic book paper and has 2 staples down the spine, but there’s no sequential art, is it really a comic book?

 

This Free Comic Book Day issue is actually an excerpt from the children’s book 'Zombie Kid', in which a student and his mother try to live like normal people after being stricken with the plague of the undead. The story is actually kinda original for a zombie genre that’s been done to death. Some scenes are funny, not just kids funny, but humorous for all ages.

However, I stress that though this looks like a comic book, it’s really not. Is it a gyp? Probably not, since it was given away free. However, this selection just doesn’t find the definition of a comic or a graphic novel. You can’t really call this an experimental underground comic either. And I doubt you’ll find this is at a comic book store and not in the children’s section of a Barnes & Noble, instead. Buyer Beware.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (The New 52)

My first foray into the New 52! and I love it! Batman was one of the few characters to not see a major overhaul during the reboot and it was a smart move. The Dark Knight is such a hot DC property that to mess with the formula now would be a big fiscal blunder.

Here, the Batman family are threatened by the Court of Owls, a Gotham City Illuminati. With tons of twists and turns, you question both Batman’s sanity and the alliegance of some of his most trusted allies AND dangerous enemies! I was a little confused at first. I expected Batman to run into his Earth 2 criminal alter-ego, Owlman and for some reason, I thought Knight & Squire were members of the Court of Owls.

The art was spectacular. I’ve never seen the Joker look more demented. I love the warm faces of the Waynes and their gritty masks as the Batman family. Writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo are the next Generation Batman’s team of Morrison and Quietly and I hope they are here to stay.

Bring on volume 2. 

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Moomin Valley Turns Jungle / Anna & Froga FCBD 2012

Free Comic Book Day went a little high-brown with this unique collection of European comics. Moomin is Norwegian (I think) and it involves a group of strange looking animals who wake up to find their tiny valley turned into a ferocious jungle. Then there’s the bizarre pairing of a little girl named Anna and her frog friend, Froga.

Both stories are full of unique abstract art, curious plotlines, and experimental angles and color palettes. If you are used to strictly American comics, these can be a little odd. There’s a lot of direct correlation between emotion and the way the scenes are drawn, similarly to action scenes in Japanese Manga.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars