Marvel Comics Presents #9

There's 2 one-and-done stories in this issue. The first has Cloak, from Cloak and Dagger, on a solo adventure. A youngster has disappeared in a cave and the reason for the disappearance has sinister origins. Or does it? Mole Man's Moloids are behind the kidnapping. When it comes to many of their actions, its often due to a sort of culture clash kinda confusion and almost always comical... Not here! 

Writer Marcus McLaurin (The Punisher) has this what should be lighthearted adventure go quite dark.  It just wasn't necessary. Yet, that's the gritty late 80s Marvel for you. DC went light and offbeat. The House of Ideas wanted to be more mature with a social relevance slant. With a story like this, it just doesn't work.

Thankfully, in story #2, the writers do go light! X-Men's Scott Lobdell, who is known for having a bit of a funny bone, spins a yarn about a Marvel superhero so obscure, I've never even heard of him. The Spaniard El Aguila, is a mix of Zorro, Captain America and The Tick. In Lobdell's story, El Aguila returns to his home town, only to find it overrun by a mutant crime lord whose powers are derived from contact with the earth. El Aguila, despite being a mutant himself, is grossly outmatched. But the hero is far from outwitted. This was such a great story. I hated to see it end. I hate even more to find out that Lobdell and El Aguila never got a chance to reteam in some sort of humor action comedy series. 

That's the gritty 80s Marvel for you!

No real changes occur in the very interesting Man-Thing story (that has very little Man-Thing). There's only 1 chapter left in the Wolverine story. Can't wait for something new to take it's place. But I love the cover from Brian Murray. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #8

The Shang-Chi story comics to a merciful end in this issue. Of course, it finally gets good right when everything ends. I truly think that if this story was set in the 1970s, when kung-fu ruled instead of the karate 80s, this would have been a much better story. But what do I know? I've only been reading comic books since I was 3...

The Man-Thing story still continues to be the best story of the 4 features. But it did have some competition with the Master of Kung-Fu conclusion.

I really don't feel very much connection to the Wolverine tale. At least when it comes to the hero. The sexy villainess, Sapphire Styx, is alluring but deadly. The mercenary Razorfist is pretty cool looking. But a bad guy who has his hands replaced with retractable swords makes very little sense. I mean, when it comes to the bathroom how does he wipe? How does he get his pants back up? How does he aim without becoming a soprano? 

Truly, the mind boggles at these mysteries.

The one-and-done story stars Iron Man. It's written by one of my favorite writers, Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up). While it involves Tony Stark's battle with the bottle, it's got that nostalgic positive slant that is prevalent in all of Fisch's stories. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable chapter in the early days of this anthology series. The past couple of issues had been duds, as the stories had been 80s era downers. Great to see things perk up a bit.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Futurama: The Time Bender Trilogy (Vol. 4)

A bargain bin issue of The Simpsons is rather hard to find. At the used books stores, I can occasionally strike gold with a collection of funnies from Bongo Comics. But finding anything from Simpsons sister series, Futurama, is just about as rare as a thing as stumbling upon a gold nugget!

In this collection of 4 stories- in yes, what is called 'The Time Bender Trilogy', Fry, Leela, and Bender are tasked with finding Dr. Farnsworth's son Cubert a boarding school. Of course, it's an intergalactic boarding school! No earth bound fluff for Dr. Farnsworth's genius clone! 

After several school tours, The Planet Express team find the perfect school for Cubert; a real institute of higher learning of which the youth absolutely hates. Tricked into attending school with Cubert, Fry and friends try to adjust to life as high school students. Bender becomes a nerd. Fry, a jock. And Leela finds the popularity denied her as a mutant orphan; mostly because she owns the delivery ship.

Leela's newfound fame results in a round of playing hooky with some other popular students. In an attempt to rectify their truancy, Leela is peer pressured into going back in time by making a slingshot around a star. But as this is a very dangerous maneuver, Leela accidentally triggers a supernova resulting in the school needing to be evacuated- literally!

Safely back on planet Earth, the delivery team finds the world completely abandoned. Well, except for that pesky alien couple from Omicron Persei 8 who've claimed Terra as their new fixer-upper home. Thus begins a zany romp to regain the planet for the human race and then trek through time to rescue the time trapped populace of the year 3000!

This was a fun story. I've been reading the complete run of Marvel Comic Presents. I've enjoyed it. But for the most part, its grim and gritty. Truly a product of late 80s, early 90s superhero comics. So, I've felt like I need a laugh or two. Thankfully, on a recent, but very brief vacation, I found a couple of volumes of Bongo Comics classics (1 Simpsons, 1 Futurama). It's been a welcome reprieve.

I loved Futurama. I wish it was back on TV in a reboot- and I hate reboots!!! Full of sly one-liners and funny Easter eggs, this volume was enjoyable. A few of the jokes were dated. But this was like finding a few new never-before-seen episodes of Futurama. Too bad it ended too soon, as I've zero clue when I'll find another vein of Matt Groening comic book gold!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #7

The best story thus far is a very convoluted tale involving Iran-Contra, drug dealers and devil worshipers. Oh, and Man-Thing. But he's nowhere to be found. 

It's almost like somebody at Marvel wanted to do a story based on the Ollie North/Reagan Administration scandal and got the okay to do it. But in order to do it (and not get hit with a lawsuit), the creative team were told to add a Marvel character to the story. Man-Thing got selected. But in order to keep the nature of the story as in tact as possible, Man-Thing's presence is minimal. Ultra minimal!

The Master of Kung-Fu story also has an Iran Contra type scandal in the mix. But it's the reverse of the Man-Thing story as the political espionage is minuscule and Shang Chi's presence is rather large. Yet, this tale is rather lame. The Master of Kung-Fu was a great series during the 1970s, when it reflected the hugely popular trend of kung-fu movies. Now in the late 80s, with the trend being ninjas and karate, this story just doesn't resonate so very well.

The Wolverine story is okay. But I'm not really big on the whole 'I'm the best there is at what I do and what I do isn't very nice' 80s mentality of Wolverine. I'm more of a Hugh Jackman Wolverine era fan. But that one-and-done Sub-Mariner story involving Prince Namor and a submarine was rather fun. It reflected that classic 40s and 60s Atlantean anti-hero vibe. Too bad that wasn't a multi-parter...

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

The Three Stooges: Shemptastic Shemptacular

There's 2 stories in this Shemp-tacular; one is an all-new romp. The other is a classic farce. 

The opener answers an age-old question that has plagued Stooges fans for decades: did Shemp and Curly know each other? The answer is: they sure did!

Here, Shemp is sent a package intended for the guys by mistake. When Shemp heads over to Casa Stooge, he finds the house in shambles. A mysterious message scrawled on a notepad leads Shemp to search for his friends while daydreaming he's secret agent, Shemp Suavely. Upon getting mistaken as a G-man by real spies, Shemp does everything in his power to protect the misdelivered mail and save his friends!

The classic story involves the guys getting swindled by  con man Benedict Bogus as they try to raise funds for a family in need. The fellas decide to go diving for sunken treasure. But they're gonna need a diving bell to do it. Tricked into buying a real bell, the guys might not realize that they're sitting on a literal gold mine as their new antique is revealed to be worth millions!

The story where Shemp gets mistaken for a secret agent was pure gold. It was quite different from your typical Three Stooges short. It wasn't formulaic. Plus, despite being a tad aloof about things, the otherwise scaredy cat Shemp was rather heroic in this adventure. He just didn’t know he was ever in danger!

The classic tale was pretty good too. This is the second time I've encountered this con man character. I don't remember him from the shorts. So he must have been just for the comics. He reminds me of Brer Fox, always trying to get Brer Rabbit into becoming the fox's next meal through some kind of swindle. He's really one-note and honestly isn't really needed. In fact, I feel like he detracts from the real stars of the story. But since this was a classic story, I can't fault American Mythology for the baddie's inclusion.

But why did the editors pick this story for this special? While Larry and Moe select Shemp to be the diver for the sunken treasure, this really isn't a Shemp centered comedy. Like I have hinted to prior, I know that other American Mythology specials carry reprints of classic Three Stooges comics. So maybe all of the good Shemp stories had already been republished?

Kinda like when listening to a Queen song. Even the bad ones are good. This wasn't a terrible Shemp tribute. But it didn't seem to be 100% about the greatest Stooge of them all either. But I enjoyed it because it was devoted to my guy! Now here's hoping for a Curly Joe retrospective!!!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Welcome Back, Kotter #2

Epstein's practical jokes are getting out of hand. We're not talking about his famous excuse notes signed by his 'mother'. This time, the Sweathog managed to move Mr. Woodman's car from the staff parking lot into his office. And if Buchanan High's vice principal can prove he did it, Epstein will find himself expelled.

Mr. Kotter and the rest of the Sweathogs decide enough is enough. But their timing couldn't be worse as a family emergency has Juan Epstein in a panic unlike ever before. With his kid brother in the hospital, can Mr. Kotter and his students be there when Epstein needs them most?

This issue from January, 1977 felt like I was reading a lost episode from the iconic 1970s sitcom. From the lyrics of John Sebastian's catchy theme to one of Mr. Kotter's stories about his assortment of odd relatives to some pretty impressive artwork of the cast by Jack Sparling (Strange Adventures), I was in heaven. ( If you count how many times I inhaled that fabled aroma of 43-year old comic, I really was in nirvana!)

The neat thing about this issue was despite feeling like an episode, it didn't feel stale. That's saying something for a show that relied on the same old catch phrases and jokes every 30 minutes. All of the characters seemed unrestricted by the bounds of their regular series writers. So did the plot.

I think that with the story not being bound by the show's limited amount of set pieces helped keep this story fresh. Epstein never would have been able to fit Woodman's car into his office on broadcast television. The flashback scene and the hospital scene probably would have been scraped for budget reasons. But thanks to the affordability of ink and paper, the Sweathogs had free reign over the entire borough of Brooklyn! I wish I could say that this classic issue was perfect. There were a few flaws. Mainly with Kotter and his wife. Julie Kotter looked nothing like actress Marsha Straussman. And the banter between the husband and wife seemed like it wasn't a reflection of the characters from the TV, but more like the introductory page of a MAD Magazine send up of the show.

Okay, so Welcome Back Kotter wasn't a comic masterpiece on the same level of anything written by Lee and Kirby. But I loved watching the show as a kid and an occasional episode now is a special treat. This series was on my top 10 list of comic book TV adaptations to watch. And I was really blessed to find an issue right before the lock-down hit. Finding this book in a dollar bin recently, was just gravy and a fun diversion during a rough time physically for me.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 of of 10 stars.

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #1

 

As a huge fan of DC's previous all-ages team-up title Scooby-Doo Team-Up, I was first in line when I found out about this new miniseries. While extraordinary author Sholly Fisch doesn't seem to be attached to this project, fan-favorite artist Dario Brizuela is back!

In the first issue, Batman summons the Mystery Inc. gang to the Gotham City Museum when he discovers that an artifact from the Dark Knight's early days has been stolen. To get to the bottom of this mystery, the sleuths, along with Robin will split-up, naturally. But in a twist, Scooby, Shaggy and Velma will travel back in time!

Sadly, I was kinda torn with this issue. I loved the nostalgic nature of this comic what with the  appearance by Professor Nichols as well as seeing Bruce Wayne in his earliest attempt as a vigilante (which looks an awful lot like the millionaire's first crime fighting get-up in Mask of the Phantasm.) But as with many stories involving time travel, the perils of paradoxes cause, uh well, a paradox...

I had to read this story twice. Not out of love for the comic and wanting to relive it. Instead, I really felt like I missed something. And believe me, I am pretty sure I did. 

Don't get me wrong. I didn't hate this book. But Ivan Cohen (Beware The Batman) is no Sholly Fisch. However, I will say that I do very much enjoy Cohen's writing of Batman, like with his adaptation of BTB. He does seem to dig deep into the annals of Dark Knight lore. I mean Professor Nichols is pretty obscure if you've not familiar with Batman from the 40s and 50s. It's that I really can't connect all those dots...

There's also a big plot point that seems unneeded with Batman, Daphne and Fred going underwater into Gotham harbor. But I don't want to dig into that too deeper here without spoiling a surprise. (A surprise that seems rather superfluous) This mystery is filled with a couple red herrings. Maybe that scene was another turn to keep readers guessing.

There are 11 issues left. And low and behold, guess whose coming for dinner next month?! It's Sholly Fisch in a caper that promises a ghost haunting the Batcave! Zoinks! I can't wait for issue #2! It's gonna be epic!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.