Avengers: Volume 3: Prelude to Infinity (Marvel NOW!)

 

Continuing from the “Last White Event” storyline, the earth is in great peril thanks to several biological attacks from some extraterrestrial foe. The possibly right but more than likely crazy Captain Universe sees the end of the world unless the Avengers line-up gets bigger. In the beginning of the membership drive to end all membership drives, expect heroes, villains, and the occasional wild card to be offered a chance to become an Avenger.

 

I waited a little too long to read this follow-up to the Last White Event. There were a few plotlines that I had forgotten. So, this was a tougher read for me. Thankfully, I have the sequel, Avengers: Infinity, on hand so I should be in decent shape. Believe me, the mystery behind this threat to the earth is so vast and complex, binge reading of the first four volumes of the Marvel NOW! Avengers is required and essential.

 

The art was fantastic. I really liked the cover gallery. Fantastic kudos to artists Mike DeDato, Stefano Caselli, and Leinil Francis Yu.  The art in this entire volume is noteworthy.

 

Worth Consuming.

 

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Batman: The Dark Knight, volume 3: Mad (the New 52)

 

I’ve never seen the Mad Hatter more insane than in this storyline from the New 52 series, Batman: The Dark Knight. The Hatter is kidnapping Gotham citizens left and right while setting up dummy accounts and selling hats with mind-controlling devices inside. His reason? It’s not world dominance or to find out just who is underneath that cowl of Batman’s. Instead, demented Jervis Tetch is hoping to recreate a perfect date he had when a girl name Alice was a boy.

 

In all my reading of Batman comics, I don’t remember ever reading about the origin of the Mad Hatter. It’s pretty sad. The real tragedy is how Tetch became the Mad Hatter by no real fault of his own. Puny as a child, he fell in love with the first girl to flash him a smile. But when that love becomes unrequited, Tetch and his parents seeks out a specialist in hormone therapy in hopes of the boy growing a little taller. Sadly, the pills that could cure him have the same effect on patients as mercury did on hatters in the 1800s. The chemicals turn people homicidal, delusional, and just plain mad with no hope of recovery.

 

This series also brings out the worst in Batman unlike I’ve ever seen any other villain in the Dark Knight’s Rogue gallery. See, Bruce Wayne’s fallen in love and when The Mad Hatter sets his sights on Wayne’s lady fair, the Caped Crusader will tether the edge of reason and almost fall into the abyss of madness himself.

 

It’s really strange to have the Mad Hatter be the one to send Batman into a rage. You’d think The Joker with the number of horrible things he’s done to members of the Batman family over the years would be the villain to make Batman break his vow to never kill. When Batman fought back against Bane for breaking his spine, it was tame and when the Dark Knight was targeted during the Batman: RIP storyline, no matter how loopy Bruce Wayne became, he still knew that killing was a line he couldn’t cross. That does not apply here.

 

With these powerful but disturbing events that occur in this volume, I must say that this is the best Batman story I have read in a very long time. The art is fantastic as well. But it is the storytelling that makes this book worth owning. Included in this volume is Annual #1 of this series. It involves the Hatter, Penguin, and Scarecrow being summoned to an abandoned mental asylum with the promise of a lucrative business proposal. But when the trio of near-do-wells realizes they’ve been set up, their twisted imaginations run wild fearing that the Batman is behind the whole thing. It was a welcome change of pace from the brutal drama of the “Mad” storyline and I laughed out loud several times at this Halloween themed romp.

 

Worth Consuming.

 

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Showcase Presents: Sea Devils, Volume 1

This cover is an example of the beautifully painted covers that
adorned every issue.

The Sea Devils is a series that I remember as a kid- not because I was around when the series was originally published in the early 60s but as I remember reading some of these that my dad had as a kid. I also remember liking the Sea Devils so much that I went out and found a copy of my own (Issue #6 for which I paid $6) at a used book store.

The Sea Devils are four professional skin divers who tour the world putting on charity diving events while saving the seven seas from danger ranging from gigantic oceanic terrors of the deep to water breathing UFOs to a raging Neptune, god of the sea. The archetype of the characters are the leader Dane, whose a sort of master skin diver, his unrequited love, Judy, a former actress and model, her kid brother whose a man under the water, and Biff, the clumsy galoot on land but agile as a sea horse in the water. If this line-up seems to resemble a certain team of adventurers who wear the number “4” on their chests, you’re not far off. However, Sea Devil made on to paper a good year before the Fantastic Four did.

I really enjoyed this treasury of the Sea Devils first couple of dozens issues. They art is in the classic 1960s DC style that I enjoy and there’s evidence of the legendary editor Julius Schwartz’ influence in a trio of issues that team the divers with the artists who draw their exploits for DC Comics. However, the action in the tales is so jammed packed that the writers seem to have trouble pacing themselves thus the conflict resolution is rushed and usually left to only the last couple of panels.

Besides that, the biggest problem I have with this series is how the team communicates under water. In every issue, these four explorers seem to know exactly what their teammates is saying. It’s almost as if they communicate underwater. However, they spoke with thought clouds (a designate comics device to symbolize the thoughts of a character), so how is this possible for Dane to think something and Judy to reply to him? In a couple of issues, the team is given the powers of telepathy by aliens- so that’s excusable. In one issue, the team has underwater microphones in their masks, but their communication is assigned with a word balloon that looks jagged like static. So, there are about 18 issues in which the team is underwater, talking to themselves by thought and there’s no reason given as to why the other 3 Sea Devils know what’s being communicated. Talk about a nit that size of a whirlpool.

Despite my problems with this series, the book brought back great memories of my childhood experiences with comics. That alone was worth the price of the book. The series isn’t bad; it’s just got some plot flaws that were seriously overlooked. I enjoyed this book enough that if they ever publish a volume 2, I will buy it. I just don’t expect that issue to be perfect. I’m not saying this is a comic to be avoided. Not at all, it’s just that this book is the equivalent of a 1960s B-movie in which it’s a classic but due to budget constraints (and probably a rushed schedule to the printers) some technical errors got past the editors.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

May the 4th Be With You!

Happy Star Wars Day!!!

#FCBD2014 Aftermath

Free Comic Book Day 2014 was a blast. Sadly, I', battling a cold and taking it easy after a fun filled day of getting free comics- and a bunch of great deals! I'll post a new review tomorrow...

Free Comic Book Day is Tomorrow.

Know someone who likes superheroes but doesn't know how to get started? Parents, wanting an opportunity to help introduce your kids to comics? Want to know where your community comic book store is? Like to help small businesses? Then tomorrow is your day.

Every year on the first Saturday in May, comic book shops around the nation give away free comic books! There's no catch- these books are absolutely free! Some stores may limit a customer to 2-5 books per person while some stories may let you take a copy of every freebie available.

For more info or to find a comic book store near you: check out the official FCBD site!

Happy hunting!!!!!

Justice Society, Volume 1

After several decades, the Justice Society were rewarded with their own title in 1976-78. The numbering continued from where DC left off in the 1940s but this Justice Society isn’t what is once was. It’s been 30 years and the JSA has gotten a little wiser and a lot older. Most of their teammates have gone on to bigger and better things. Black Canary, for instance, decided to live on Earth Prime after a cross-dimensional episode with the Justice League of America.

The Society gets back together after encountering a trio of up-and-coming super heroes struggling to battle a global crisis. Seeing a chance to get back in the game, the JSA decides to mentor these new heroes, which include a grown up Robin, the out-of-his-own-time Star Spangled Kid, and Power  Girl- Earth 2’s version of Supergirl, only older and much more buxom.

The premise as a training ground for heroes is training is brilliant and DC will continue the formula for decades with more Justice Society titles published after the Crisis on Infinite Earths from 1985. My biggest problem isn’t with the comics themselves- it’s the reprint’s cover! The cover touts Robin as being a major player in this series, as well as Superman. Yet, with the exception of about 8 panels in the next to last issue collected here, the Man Wonder only appears in the first 2-part story. As for Superman, he doesn’t pop up until the last third of the volume. I understand the editors at DC had their reasons for using these characters sparsely. Just don’t hype me on their paltry contributors as main reasons to buy this book.

As for the quality of the comics- it’s about par for the course. The art is typical 1970s DC Comics second-tier stuff. This isn’t Dick Giordano or Neal Adams. But it’s not bad either. The stories are very good and the plots are well thought out. The biggest problem is the dialogue. The generation gap between the old Justice Society members and the Young All-Stars is directly proportional to the gap both DC and Marvel have had to overcome as generations of readers got older and a new wave of readers came on scene. But I like to think that some of the corny “granddad” speak was intentional as two generations of super heroes worked together as one.

There’s a second volume and I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on it. I inherited this book from my late friend Todd. He loved the Justice Society and I enjoyed pouring over the same pages he did. However, volume 2 isn’t a priority at this time. It’s a good read but it’s hasn’t lit a fire under me to finish the series anytime soon.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.