Tiny Titans #2

   Being such a fan of the Tiny Titans, I can't believe I haven't read this one yet. Looking back on the series, I've discovered a lot of issues in this series I've not explored yet. So, I guess one day I'm going to have to break down and buy the entire run of this fantastic series and give it another go. Repeats or not!

   In this issue, the girls of the Tiny Titan Treehouse decide to make a cake and use Cyborg as their oven. Meanwhile, the boys of the team face their greatest enemy- the Fearsome Five. Their battleground: Sidekick's Elementary's playground. The contest: a variety of schoolyard games. The prize: rights to use the swings! Let the battle begin.

   Included in this issue are several 1-2 page gags that involve puppy love, dressing up like the Man of Steel, and much, much more. It's another winner by the creative duo of Baltazar & Franco.

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Amazing Spider-Man: Family Business

   This original graphic novel pits Peter Parker with two of his oldest foes- the Kingpin and Parker's family history. When commandos ransack his apartment, Peter finds himself on the run only to be saved by a mysterious secret agent claiming to be his long-lost sister. Now Peter and possibly sister Teresa Parker go on a globe-trotting adventure in search for the truth about 'Sis' and hopefully uncover why Kingpin is after him.
    The opening act of this graphic novel was weak. Some of it was disjointed and most of the pages were just a whirlwind of action that was short on plot. Once Peter and Teresa finally make it to a safe house, the story slows down enough to explain why this CIA operative thinks she's Peter's sister. The intermission also sheds light on why the Kingpin and the CIA are both on the hunt for Parker.
    Spinning out of the pages of 1960s 'Tales to Astonish' and issues 100-104 of 'Captain America', the second act reveals that Peter's parents (secret agents themselves) assisted the good Captain to defeat one of the Red Skull's Sleepers. Mr. Parker used his DNA and a facial recognition program to bind the colossus into  a sleep mode. Should  Richard Parker look-alike Peter gaze into and touch the safety lock, he could unleash this sleeper on an unsuspecting Cairo. So, the CIA wants to bury the Sleeper under 50 worth of rock while Kingpin wants the Nazi robot to help him conquer the world.
     I really enjoyed the second act as well as the killer ending and intriguing epilogue. I'm hoping there's more to this story to come soon! With exotic locales, suave tuxedos, and more secret gadgets than a weekend of James Bond movies, this was an exciting Spider-Man story with a fresh take on America's favorite wall-crawler. However, you might feel like you've haven't received your Spider-Man quotient as Peter appears and battles more without his costume and mask than possibly any other Spidey story ever written.
     With fantastic art and a great script by Mark Waid (that guy has been popping up on my blog a lot lately), Marvel continues to amaze with its original graphic novel series.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
 
 

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers, Volume 2

 

When the original Guardians of the Galaxy were cancelled in 1977 with issue #12 of Marvel Presents, many assumed that was the last of the team. I was one of those when I finished Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers, Volume 1. I should have known if there's a volume 1 then there must a volume 2. But that's not always the case as some Marvel Essentials such as Marvel Super-Villain Team-Up were issued as a volume 1 without there ever being any material for a second volume. A couple of weeks ago I finally got my answer as I found volume 2 at my local library.
 
  Volume 2 is a cornucopia of different series and issues. It starts with an annual from the first series of Mighty Thor. That tale begins with a prequel of sorts to the Korvac Saga. In this issue, a man in the year 3000 is turned into a living computer and has his sights on conquering the world. Thor is transported to the future and ends up teaming with the Guardians.

    With the prequel to the Korvac Saga comes the complete Korvac Saga from the pages of the Avengers. Fans of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, take note, if you own this book and you're looking for the Complete Korvac Saga- stop right there! It's in this volume and you will not need to buy that series as the trade-only epilogue and the complete set of Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe entries regarding the Guardians and Korvac from that edition are included as well! Plus, every variant cover to the Korvac Saga trade and some cool sketch pages are added as well.

    In addition to the Korvac Saga ( sometimes referred to as the Michael Saga) are several issues from Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In-One. Most of those tales wrap up the end of the Adam Warlock Saga, exploring what happened to his body and the final fate of Counter-Earth. The art in those issues, especially of Warlock's potential mate, Her, and the High Evolutionary are some of the best of the late Silver Age I've ever seen. Yes, the artwork has been remastered but with it's vibrant colors and high-quality paper stock, this is museum level stuff. Then the Guardians re-team with the Thing in a two-parter that explores Lance Astro taking a risk with all of space-time by trying to prevent his teenage self from becoming an astronaut. It's probably my favorite story in this massive volume.

    These final tales wrap up the last of the Guardians appearances in the Marvel Universe until 1990. Well, there was a one-panel appearance of the team in the pages of Sensational She-Hulk. Fret not, that's included in this definitive guide to the second half of the Guardians first trip through the Marvel Universe.

     Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Batman: Arkham Unhinged, Volume 4

 The closing chapter to the digital comic series based on the hit game Batman: Arkham City. In this volume, the Mayor of Gotham has rounded up the worst Gotham has to offer but that's still not enough. Thus, he's finding every way possible to incarcerate anyone who doesn't agree with his agenda. The hired police of the Arkham City project are rounding up the city's poor, political protestors, even city councilmen. Thinking they've a right to life, liberty, and freedom of speech, these new 'felons' find that they've now become Arkham City's newest batch of prisoners. Angered by this abuse of power in the corrupt corridors of City Hall, a new villain named the Bookbinder arises, quoting John Bunyan and punishing the morally bankrupt of Gotham. Now Batman must hunt down a serial do-gooder while getting to the hidden truth behind the Arkham project.

    I've really enjoyed this series and the final volume doesn't nothing to dissuade me of any previous praise I've given it. The art was fantastic, but the real star of this book is the fantastic prose of novelist Karen Travvis. She does a masterful job crafting a tale that not only challenges the wisdom of the Bat, but the reader as well, with Bookbinder's riddles. This is even a tale in which the non-superhero aspects are just as good if not better than the scenes starring the Dark Knight and Catwoman.

    I only wish that this series ended with a finalized completion. I guess since this digital comic is based on a video game, it's now up to the reader to become the player and to finish all the loose ends themselves through the virtual avatar of Batman. Regardless of how that plays out, I hope that this isn't the end of the Bookbinder and that he'll show up in the pages of the New 52! He's perhaps the freshest villain to challenge the Caped Crusader in years and DC would be insane if they didn't keep him around to plague Gotham City for years to come.

  

  Lastly, I want to explore the overall theme of the abuse of power. It's really scary how much this book is reflecting the current societal issue of race and class discrimination and the militarization of our police forces. In this story, peaceful protesters are being rounded up for practicing their constitutional right to protest. The police are ordered by the Mayor to ramp up charges to get the protestors off the street because he considers them to be the dregs of society. 

   My wife and I recently watched a documentary about privatized prisons and how they look at prisoners as a commodity. That's how Mayor and the prison guards view the inhabitants of Arkham City. 

  

  It's funny that the average video gamer is playing a game thinking it's just that: something to escape from the troubles of the day. Yet secretly there's a hidden message with a moral in between leveling up! Remember that the next time someone says video games have no moral compass or benefit to society.

   Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Special #1 (2009)

 Well, here it is, the last review for Christmas 2014. 2009's Grimm Fairy Tales Holiday Special is based on the Grim Fairy Tales series by Zenescope. GFT isn't really a series I pay much attention to in large part to it's covers which depict scantily clad vixens acting out famous fairy tales along with some variant covers that lead very little to the imagination. But over the summer, I had inherited my late best friends comic book collection. He was a big fan of this series and pretty much had a complete run of the first 50 or so issues including annuals, specials, and various mini-series tie-ins.

   I donated most of his run with the exception of a few holiday specials. I'd already read and reviewed the 2009 Halloween special and it ended with a cliffhanger leading into this book. In the Halloween issue, we saw a bunch of sinister looking nutcrackers ready to do some damage. Since I had this follow-up issue, I decided to keep it and give it a read, even though I'm not a fan of this series.

   My moratorium on GFT was a wise decision. This special was actually quite good and quite tame compared to my previous experiences with the Zenescope property. Here, the lead character who is the living embodiment of Snow White is given a nutcracker during her employment's holiday party. When someone spikes her drink, she's whisked away to a mythical land of fairies, sprites, and some deadly rats. Here, she battles the Rat King  with the aid of the heroic Nutcracker of the classic holiday ballet.

   During the action scenes, I could hear Tchaikovsky's vivid score in my head. It was almost like the writer and artist collaborated for each scene to be read in accordance with the musical's soundtrack. (Think Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' playing while watching 'The Wizard of Oz.') 
  
  This story was really good and perfectly crafted. It was so well done, I was very tempted to forgive my previous qualms with this series and give it another go. That was until I reread it again and I noticed several gratuitous crotch shots of our lovely heroine. So much for that.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
    

Eek & Ack: Adventures From the Great Goo Galaxy (Family Comic Friday)

  This 2006 graphic novel is the first in a series of books from versatile child author Blake A. Hoeda. If your child has read any of the Sports Illustrated for Kids graphic novels or the DC Super Heroes Easy Readers, there's a pretty good chance they've read his work before.  In this graphic novel style kids book, Hoeda presents the alien brothers Eek & Ack. They're almost like your typical earth kids: they're sometimes gross, precocious, and they fight with each other and their older sister.

   When older sis challenges the boys that their spaceship can't even levitate, the brothers decide to not only gas it up but fly it to the Milky Way in hopes of conquering planet Earth. Unfortunately for the brothers, their ship looks a lot like a washing machine and when it gets accidentally moved to the local laundromat, Eek and Ack meet their worst enemy: the spin cycle.

     This out of the world tale has things kids love- aliens, slapstick, action, and gross humor. But it's not too over the top when it comes to gags. I actually found myself chuckling a couple of times. Some kids stories repeat the same tired joke over and over. It doesn't happen here. Now, I didn't read other books in the series, so jokes might repeat in those. But when it came to this graphic novel, every page was fresh and original.

   From what I can tell, there hasn't been a new book written in this series for at least 6 years. But many volumes can be found on Amazon for as low as a penny! (Shipping extra but usually no more than $3.99.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

JLA #60

 

  This adorable Christmas themed issue of JLA borrows a few pages from Princess Bride when Plastic Man tries to get his unruly nephew to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. The hero tells the story of how Santa Claus joined the League. It's clearly a rouse to get the tyke to sleep, but it makes for a comedy of errors. Of course, you know the real Santa is going to pop up by stories end.

   The story in general was written by Mark Waid, who've I've lately become a fan of thanks to his recent work on Daredevil. I'm also trying to collect the entire run of JLA. So it's very good to know that I'm going to have more great Mark Waid stories to look forward to when I get my run complete and ready to read it. The art is a little inconsistent but with the story teller being very fluid with the true, I think it works. Plastic Man goes back and forth on his tale and the varying artistic styles might be deliberate to reflect that aspect. Plus, with a character like Plas who can assume any shape, there will be times that the narrator or his characters will morph like he does.
 
 Individually, these story devices might not seem to work very well on their own. But when you put it all together, every aspect of this story worked together to form a great tale. I loved it.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.