Adventures of Supergirl #1

 

  It's been a strange week for Supergirl. First, it's announced that CBS is canceling the show. Then it's not cancelled- but only if changes to the show format is made. Then DC announces the publication of this book which dropped Wednesday. Since the show's fate was up in the air, I figured it would be extremely important to support this series in order to seen DC and CBS that I want Supergirl to be renewed I even went on social media and started a hashtag called #Savesupergirl!

   Well, imagine my surprise on Thursday that it was announced that the CW will pick up Supergirl for a second season. I honestly thought it would take a little while for an agreement to be made and that this comic would be the measuring stick for a second season. Well, DC and CBS kept their end of the deal and I kept mine.

   Based on the hit CBS series, issue #1 of the Adventures of Supergirl has the Girl of Steel assisting the DEO in capturing yet another alien escapee from Fort Rozz. Only, this takedown takes a more personal note as Kara discovers that her adoptive human sister, Alex Danvers killed the alien's sister years prior. When the alien, known as Rampage, discovers that Supergirl and Danvers are sisters, she takes Kara hostage seeking revenge. With Alex and the DEO on the hunt, can Supergirl mend fences before another sister's life is unfortunately lost?

   I don't know if DC knows how much of a big deal is it for me to buy a book new. Money is an option to me and so to maintain my collection, it's bargain bin city all the way. But Supergirl grew on me and I was so pumped for a second season. It took a little while to gain steam and by the cliffhanger of season one, I was hooked!

   The storyline was like reading a missing adventure from season one. Writer Sterling Gates captured the voice of Supergirl actress, Melissa Benoist, quite well here as she's the narrator as like on the show. The overall formula was just like the show too! Cover art by Cat Staggs was freakin' awesome and I hope her photorealistic touch will continue on here.

   The only thing I wasn't such a fan of was some of the interior art. Artist Bengal (Batgirl: Endgame) does a reasonable job on the renderings of Alex Danvers and DEO head Hank Henshaw. But Supergirl looks, well like Supergirl- just not this Supergirl. Let me explain, the Supergirl portrayed in this comic has pixie-like looks and platinum blonde hair just like the comic book version. Other that the costume, Bengal's Supergirl looks nothing like actress Benoist. I'm sorry but that oversight has got to be fixed. It's inexcusable.

   Despite my misgivings with Bengal's rendering of Supergirl, I enjoyed this comic. I liked it so much, I will make a commitment to at least buy the next issue over the rack too! That's how much I love the character, adore the show, and appreciate the efforts of DC/CBS/and the CW to give us a season 2!

   #SupergirlSaved

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

(Also available in a digital format, but hey, comics were meant to be read on paper!)

A Sad, Sad Day...

                                                           Nov. 11, 1962- May 14, 2016

Captain America: Civil War

   After the devastating events in the Age of Ultron, the world has begun to lose faith it the heroes of the Avengers. As a result, the United Nations issues a set of accords that would place Earth's Mightiest Heroes under their command. Tony Stark is all for the venture while Captain America feels that this loss of autonomy will eventually mean that the Avengers would become puppets of the UN. 

   As representatives from across the globe gather to sign the proclamation into law, a terrorist blows up the proceedings, killing the king of Wakanda. The suspect is reported to be the Winter Soldier and global law enforcement is instructed to kill on sight. Steve Rogers believes that his old buddy Bucky is being framed and risks everything to save the Winter Soldier and clear his name. But it won't be easy as the Black Panther of Wakanda is on Bucky's trail and swears vengeance for the death of his father.

   Captain America: Civil War starts off like Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. There's a great action scene at the beginning and then some talk of diplomacy- a lot of talk about diplomacy. I was getting a bit disappointed as Civil War wasn't starting out as good as Captain America: the First Avenger or Winter Soldier did. I actually was feeling a little ho-hum about the picture until thankfully, someone came to save the day.

   Enter: Spider-Man and welcome to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Web-slinger. Young Peter Parker and his guardian Aunt May actually saved the movie. Both characters, played by Tom Holland and Marisa Tomei, had heart, soul, and humor, something lacking from the first 45-minutes of Civil War- I can't wait to see more of their quirky chemistry in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming feature. 

Paul Rudd's Ant-Man also helps to salvage the film, adding an extra dose of humor, but really the film's savior is Spidey! Billy Elliot's Tom Holland brings something to Spider-Man that's never been done in live-action before- he brings youth. All of the previous actors to play Spidey in live action, including the Electric Company, were well into their 20s. Holland was 18 when filming began and his age brings a level naivete to the character that has been missing from the characters. Plus, Holland's star-struck quality of being on Iron Man's team organized to incarcerate the Winter Soldier and Capt, was perfect. Spider-Man is known for being a wiseacre when he fights villains and this Spidey is just like in the comics and it was about time.

   About just over 2.5 hours, this is a lengthy film. But once Iron Man and Captain America's ranks start filling out, Civil War becomes much more fast paced. Some of this is due to the lightening quick wit of the superheroes (Marvel exceeds at banter!) But, the tempo is also due to much more dynamic action scenes that take place in the last half of the film. 

    Though not my favorite Captain America picture, I did like this film somewhat more than Avengers: Age of Ultron. I honestly have no idea where Marvel is going to take these characters next after everything transpires, but the two bonus scenes during the credits give a good hint at some the fun that awaits. I just hope that the writers lay-off the swears. There were much more in this Marvel film than just about any movie prior and it's just a tad unsettling to this old-school Marvelite to have his beloved heroes talking like sailors on leave.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Boadicca: Queen of the Britons by Sara T. (Family Comic Friday)

   During last Saturday's Free Comic Book Day events, I met a trio of young aspiring comic book artists at Chapel Hill Comics. These three artists were from a local girl scout troop and they had decided to create some mini comics and sell them to achieve various awards and raise some funds for their troop. I thought this was a genius idea and I purchased a copy of both of their books. Today, I review the first of the pair:  Boadicca: Queen of the Britons by Sara T. (The second book will be getting reviewed in next week's Family Comic Friday)

   Sara T., I am told, was the first in her girl scout troop to have the idea to create a comic for her Silver Award. Her group leader got in touch with the great guys at Chapel Hill Comics and they paired Sara T. up with Invader Zim's Warren Wucinich, who acted as a mentor. Together, Sara T. and Warren came up with the idea for this book!

   Boadicca: Queen of the Britons is the true account of Boadicca's last fight against the Roman Invaders of Britain. Set around 60AD, Boadicca (also referred to as Boudica or Boudicca) becomes the leader of her tribe after the death of her husband. With her two daughters and her people, Boadicca mounts guerilla attacks at the Roman Army to the point that Emperor Nero almost decided to withdrawal from Britain altogether. Imagine how different world history would have been had this happened.

    Sara T. did a great job on her first work. The cover featuring Boadicca is a warrior pose with her fiery red hair and green plaid garb is one of the best covers I've seen this year! The flow of the story was a little uneven at times but hey, how many of us have published their own comic book before the age of 16?!  Plus, the author included a factoid sheet about the heroine at the end of the comic that helped me to better understand Boadicca and her struggles as a warrior queen.

    From what I was told last week, Chapel Hill Comics was going to carry a few copies of the books the girl scouts artists created in their store. CHC is legendary for being an outlet to help aspiring comics creators get their works not just published but seen and they kept the tradition alive with this project. To see about order a copy check out their website or email them at mail@chapelhillcomics.com. Oh, and check out this book's listing on Stashmycomics.com here!

    As for Sara T., I see great things in her future. I was very impressed with her determination, level of detail, and hard work getting this book out. I hope you parents of aspiring cartoonists will pick up a copy of this book (and my selection for next week) as inspiration for helping the next generation of creators get practicing! The future of comic books is going to be in independent publishing, I think, what with the big two of DC/MARVEL going to be focusing their efforts of strictly superhero stuff for a while. Take inspiration from these young ladies and grab a copy of Boadicca ASAP!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury

While this is a biography of legendary Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, a majority of this tome focuses on the band as a whole. That actually doesn’t bother me as I am a huge Queen fan and I’ve always wanted to read a history of the group.

Much is made of Mercury’s sexuality. But thankfully, it’s not full of very sordid details. I’m not questioning Freddie being gay nor am I being homophobic. It’s just that I remember trying to read Steven Tyler’s biography and giving up after chapter 2 because it read like a letter to Penthouse.

Strangely enough, what shocked me about Mercury’s sexuality was that he had several sexual relationships with women after coming to terms with being gay. Pretty much, Mercury was attracted to anything. If the earth had made contact with aliens, I think he would have tried to boink them too. It’s like he was omnisexual with strong homosexual preferences, very much like Torchwood’s Capt. Jack Harkness.

The book was very well written, though the Brit slang is sometimes hard to decipher. Also, there are several characters in this history of the same name that makes for some confusing reading as you try to get everyone’s role understood. I counted at least 4 of the singer’s associates with the first name of Peter.

Alas, this exhaustive recount of the superstar’s life, loves, music, and antics prove that there is only 1 Freddie Mercury.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Strange Sports Stories #1 (of 3)

Issue #1 with the trading cards attached.

   Welcome to the Strange Sports Hall of Fame. Based out of Canton, Ohio it's run by the aged Hall O. Fame. Fame has the personal claim to having been involved with every American sport invented in the past 200 years! In his museum are exhibits to not only every sport imaginable but some that are out of this world and everywhere in between.

   Hall O. Fame, along with his robot hostess Miss Sullivan and resident alien sports expert, Bob the Blob, takes his guests on a whirlwind tour of several adventures including a story about a high school running back that happens to be a werewolf, a brave young man with leukemia's dream of being a radical skateboarder, and some strange but true stories of happenings in the world of baseball and boxing.

   I enjoyed this book, thought the art was a little rough. But I happily remember the original Strange Sports Stories that DC put out in the 70s and how fun they were. That's what I expected with this book and that's what I got. But I'm wondering how Adventure Comics, which in no way is affiliated with DC, was able to name this comic STRANGE SPORTS STORIES.

   I would've thought there would be some sort of copyright against that. Maybe that's why this series was limited to only 3 issues. I'm guessing Adventure Comics couldn't pass on the title and so they figured that they bolt and run before DC found out...

   I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I just can't find anything about this series online other than some listings of back issues for sale. If anyone has any further info on this, please drop me a line. I'm very interested in learning more about this little-known series.

   BTW- if you are interested in collecting this book, complete issues come with a pair of really cool trading cards based on characters from this series.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Star Blecch: Generation Gap #1

  

    A dollar comic? Yes, please!
    A Star Trek comic? Absolutely!
    A Star Trek parody comic? Shut the front door! I'm all in!!!

   Star Blecch: Generation Gap is a collection of stories that skewer every facet of the Star Trek from the original series to Deep Space Nine- and everything in between.

    The title story, based on the Star Trek: Generations film that introduced Captains Kirk and Picard to each other, was the worst story. When I first started reading this, I wondered why it kept jumping all over the place. I finally realized that this story was set-up like a MAD Magazine parody in which it's more about roasting the conventional norms than trying to tell a cohesive story. Thankfully, that's not the case with the rest of the book.

    My favorite story was the Deep Space Nine adventure. Maybe I was a little biased as DS9 is my favorite of the Trek shows. But it really was the cream of the crop.

   Trek Teens, a yarn in which the crew of the Enterprise is portrayed as 50s high schoolers and Trek Babies which combines the original series with the classic 80s cartoon Muppet Babies, rounded out the top three. 

   The oddest thing about this issue is how it was packaged. You'd think that this was a collection of all new material. Well, it's not. Except for the Generations feature, the rest of the book is comprised of parodies reprinted from other Parody Press offerings. In the back is a reprinting of all the covers of the other PP Trek spoofs. Since I was pleased with a majority of this comic, I figured I would add those books to my wish list.

    Well, my curiosity got the best of me and I'm glad it did. I went online prior to this review and discovered that most of the Trek material found in all of those books are comprised in this volume. Only the DS9 parody, Deep Space Diner seems to have more original Trek material within. (Thank you, mycomicshop.com for coming to the rescue and helping me save some cash on this!)

   Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.