First X-Men

 In the ever changing/ adapting/ retconning origin of the X-Men, we have Wolverine and Victor Creed playing the role of political advocate/ frontline warrior in the coming war on mutant-kind. Having a kinder, gentler Wolverine is kinda odd and despite his protests, he’s really like a teddy bear for most of this book. We also see some of Prof. X’s earliest forays into his discovery of becoming a mutant. But, for the most part, this book is Wolverine’s show.

  I was having trouble placing where in the X-Men’s history this takes place. By miniseries end, you could say this is what the final act of Wolverine Origins would be like.

  My biggest problem was the art. I love Neal Adams and think he drew the definitive Batman. But, his work in this looks more embellished, like that of EC Comics artist, Jack Davis. I’m not sure if the art was intentional in this style or if Adams in his later years just isn’t able to draw in that crisp, commercial style of his of the early 70s.

  Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Justice League International #67

In this, the penultimate issue of Justice League International, the Justice League is this close to reemerging as a full-fledged team after the betrayal of Max Lord and the UN and the death of Ice, when it appears that Max’s League Busters have come to finish the job they attempted to do on Mount Everest, during the Overmaster debacle.

The ending is very shocking on two very different fronts and sets up for both the final issue of this series and a 3-part Zero Hour tie-in that begins in Justice League America #92.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Tick: The Naked City

 

The Naked City is a collection of the earliest Tick comics ever published. Now reprinted in startling color, marvel at how Tick escaped his mental institution hum-dum existence and became the hero he is today. From meeting with a certain reporter who looks an awful lot like George Reeves to teaming with a samurai named Paul and eventually gaining a side-kick named Arthur, who looks like a moth, a comic legend is born!

  The best part has to be the Ninja shrubbery (Nothing to see here. Yes, I’m a shrub) I so want that T-shirt.

  Classic stuff, very hard to find, but worth every minute of searching.

  Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

DirtPony Presents: Cap-Gun Cavalcade

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I'm not sure where I found this mini comic. But I'm glad I did. It's funny, it's fun, it's bizarre. As far as I know this is the only issue but that's okay. It's got a charm that works in small doses. I think if this book was any longer or if I had further issues it might get a little repetitive and dull.

  Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Fanfare #60

   Here it is- the final issue of Marvel Fanfare Volume 1. Filled with 3 awesome tales, this issue starts out with a Black Panther tale that involves a strange store clerk and the mysterious apples he refuses to sell to anyone! Then Rogue and Mystique team up with Pyro to free a young mutant from genetic testing that would render his powers null.

   Finally, the series come full circle with a Daredevil tale that is actually a sequel to the Daredevil story found in the back pages of Fanfare #1. Using the same writer/ artist, this final story is a heartwarming Christmas-themed tale that reminds the reader that after 60 issues and 10-years of publication that something old is new again.
 
    A great ending to a really good series.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Fanfare #59

   

   Shanna’s multi-issue arc concludes with a thrilling conclusion that involves the She Devil being some sort of reincarnated Egyptian animal goddess. 

   Ok, the action is thrilling, but the story is just plain silly. It’s also a big 180-degree turn from the B-list Hollywood assassins plot of the past 3 issues. Turns out that this story’s writer had the first 3-chapters in the bag in 1977, but it was 10+ years later before he got the green light to finish it. What a difference a decade makes. 

   The second story is a very good romantic romp involving Patsy Hellcat Walker and her return to her hometown having gone from teen dream to superhero. It’s a great (and intentional) tribute to Marvel’s romance books of the 50s and 60s.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Fanfare #58

There’s plenty good and bad about this issue of Fanfare. In part 3 of the Shanna the She-Devil story, Shanna keeps failing at saving people from assassination. Yet, each victim mysteriously turns up alive with no signs of trauma. Even the blood has disappeared! It’s pretty captivating up till the writer decides to turn this chapter into his crusade against porn. I’m not arguing pro or con, it’s just all of a sudden the story shifts from these botched murders to having the villains mount a soap box in a thinly veiled attack on Larry Flynt.

The same goes for the backup feature. It starts off as a good story about a neighborhood’s prejudice against the interspecies marriage of Scarlet Witch and the Vision. Then it changes course into this weird zombie tale in which the center of the town’s evil is a church. Plus, the villain starting off as an alien and then becoming a malevolent spirit comes straight from left field.

Great starts to both tales, they both just have awful second acts.


Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.