Shuri and T'Challa: Into the Heartlands (Family Comic Friday)

Marvel might have overtaken DC Comics in the movie department. But DC has the clear advantage in graphic novels for teens and young adults. However, in the past year, Marvel has been making some strides in that deficiency. One of the House of Ideas most recent additions for readers aged 8-12 is the original Black Panther graphic novel Into the Heartlands. 

Shuri is the youngest member of the Wakandan royal family. Her half brother T'Challa, is being trained to become both the ruling king and next Black Panther. Uncle S'Yan is the current protector of Wakanda and mother Ramonda is the queen regent. That all leaves very little for Shuri to do except work on her inventions and hopefully stay out of trouble. However, when Shuri and T'Challa get in a fight during an important ceremony, a sacred site is damaged. Even worse, Ramonda and several others who attending the event have become sickened by a mysterious virus. Could Shuri and her brothers actions have brought a curse down among her people?

Finding record of a special stone that was believed to have special healing properties, Shuri and T'Challa sneak off in order to help their ailing parent. The clock is ticking and the siblings must act fast. A lot is riding on the search for an artifact and an untraveled area of Wakanda; both of which might not even exist!

I think Marvel was super smart to make Shuri the focus of this graphic novel instead of T'Challa. With the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman, Marvel is going to focus mostly on the women of Wakanda in the new live-action film Wakanda Forever. Producers are staying pretty quiet about the specifics of the film, only that it will deal with the African nation after the unexpected death of King T'Challa. Personally, I think Shuri will become the next Black Panther. So, to have a book that has her as the main focus for younger readers is a good introduction/re-acquaintance to Shuri.

Not only is this a great adventure story, it also has a lot of elements of mystery to it. Keen eyed readers need to really pay attention to the first act in order to solve some of the mysteries uncovered by Shuri and her brother. 

The story is split into 3 sections with a different artist for each act. I understand why the art changes from act 1 to the second. After the children enter the Heartlands, the setting is more of a fantasy spirit world that the ghosts of Wakanda dwell. I wasn't quite so sure why the art changes again in act 3. Though now as I write this review, I think the art changes again as it reflects the different way Shuri sees her homeland and maybe her place in it after her time in the Heartlands. 

I must say, even though the artwork is different, it's really hard to tell if you don't really look at it. I think that's because of the seamless storytelling by Roseanne A. Brown (Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting). Cris Peter's (Astronauta Magnetar) palette mix of traditional African tones blending with more futuristic darker pastels throughout the book helps those transitions almost unnoticeable.

This book also includes a bonus chapter into the forth-coming Captain America: The Ghost Army (2023). It too is for readers aged 8-12. I'm a huge fan of Cap and the Howling Commandos, some of which appear in the extra segment. Thus, I am so psyched for that book. But there's also an ad for the Black Panther Legends miniseries in the back of this book and if you ask me, I'd think a sneak peak of it would be more of draw to perspective readers than a Captain America book set during World War II.

Alas, I don't work for Marvel's advertising department.

An enjoyable starting point for perspective new fans of this holiday season's Black Panther sequel and a fun place for established fans to get refreshed with a majority of the film's major players. It's completely full of Wakandan history and lore and a great tale about moving forward with healing in the light of past wrongdoings instead of resorting to cancel culture.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #139

For the past two issues, Wolverine has had his tropical island vacation ruined by some pesky aliens, a navy blue gorilla and a seemingly possessed islander. In the past 16 pages of story, Wolverine has had this notion that he knows who the islander is. This chapter reveals that yes, Logan does know who that fella is- Hulk psychiatrist Doc Samson! Now we've got a Wolverine team-up!

The Ghost Rider/Masters of Silence story is a pretty good kung-fu caper. It has a lot of Bruce Lee movie type elements to it. 

I really don't know what to think about the Spellbounder story. The lead character at the point can't really tell what's real and what is illusion. In my bones, I also feel like this story steals a lot from Rainbow Brite. I don't know why. That's just the vibe I get. 

Our one-shot story stars that Captain America foil, Batroc the Leaper. When a bank is robbed by a diminutive goon with psychic powers and his gang, a desperate bank manager hires Batroc to recover the stolen cash. For a fee, of course!

The Batroc story was a laugh riot. Such a romp by Silver Surfer scribe Mike Lackey. The artwork is by someone referred to as Pedi. Whoever this person is, they're a complete unknown. The Marvel Wiki has nothing about this artist other than listing the work on this story. Not even a place of birth! Google searches just take me to pedicure artists. So if I had to describe the style, I would compare it to that of 'Mazing Man's Stephen DeStefano. It's vibrant. It's impressionistic. And it's kinda wacky. 

A good offering of segments. Though, I really think the Spellbounder tale has turned into something I'd expect from a girl-centric weekday cartoon series from the 80s. If the creators of it didn't steal some element from Rainbow Brite, I'll eat my hat.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

X-Men Noir

In 1940s New York, Eric Magnus is the chief of police. In the pocket of several crime bosses, Magnus let crime take over the Big Apple while putting on a show in front of the press with his war against the X Men. As for the X Men, they aren't heroes. Instead, they're a bunch of former juvenile delinquents who were 'reformed' into the ways of crime by the noted psychiatrist Charles Xavier.

Our story opens on the first day of Eric's son Peter's first day as a detective. Peter and his partner have been called to the docks to investigate a death- that of Jean Grey. Meanwhile, a reporter is snooping around into the history of the X Men. His investigation seems personal. But what those motivations are just aren't clear. But upon an interview with an incarcerated Xavier, the journal is given an urgent tip- 'Find Marie Rankin'- the rogue X Man!

X-Men Noir is an interesting take on the Marvel mutants. I've seen medieval X-Men. Fairy tale X-Men. I've even encountered X-Men Babies. While this may not be my favorite incarnation of the group, I much preferred these gritty heroes to the Noir version of Daredevil that I read previously. There was an air of Batman: The Animated Series to this book. Plus, Daredevil was set in the 1930s. X-Men Noir was in the post-war 1940s and since technology has always been an important element to the Children of the Atom, I think that change of time period was a key element to my enjoyment of this book.

In the Daredevil Noir review, I complained how I didn't like that there were a few characters added that did not have modern comics counterparts. This book includes a character from when Marvel was known as Timely Comics and I loved that touch of nostalgia! While this character isn't an X-Man staple, I did appreciate the addition.

One element of sentimentality that I wasn't such a fan of was the inclusion of a prose story set as a sci-fi pulp multi-parter. While that tale allows for more of the vast cast of X-Men characters to appear in this book, it just felt a little unnecessary. Plus, the story was supposed to be written by a eugenics advocate and entertaining that little bit of prejudice and bigotry felt outdated.

X-Men Noir wasn't prefect. But it was an entertaining mystery. If you enjoy films like Rudolph Mate's D.O.A. or the Bogart classic The Maltese Falcon, then this is the sequential art story you've been looking for. If you decide to skip the prose story at the end of each chapter, you won't be missing anything. But don't skip the BTS stuff at the end of this hardback. They're visually stunning pages!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Daredevil Noir

The idea behind the Marvel Noir books is that instead of coming to being in the early 1960s, the Marvel Universe explodes in the 1930s or 40s. My first experience with the Noir universe was Nicolas Cage's voice over of the gumshoe Spider-Man from Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. Thanks to that occurrence, I know that the Marvel Noir books are supposed to be more edgy, sexier and deadlier than what you'd expect from an Earth-616 based comic.

Daredevil Noir was given an Parental Advisory rating. While it wasn't as tawdry as a Vertigo Comic, there was definitely an edge to this story. Probably because there was such a huge body count. 

Instead of being doused with radioactive chemicals, the Noir Matt Murdock was born blind but always imbued with his radar-like abilities. Known for being fearless and a bit of a daredevil as a child, Murdock works for attorney Foggy Nelson as his private detective. Nobody suspects a blind guy as being a snitch. 

Nelson and Murdock are hired by the girlfriend of an up-and-coming gangster. She's been abused by this thug and seeks revenge by having the guy brought down a peg or two. The fact that the crime boss is also the man who killed Matt's father in cold blood is just the icing on the cake to take the assignment.

This is one of those series that I have to blame my qualms on the inker or the colorist. Or both. The story by Alexander Irvine (Iron Man: Rapture) was pretty good. And the artwork by Tomm Coker (Black Monday Murders) was absolutely brilliant. But the coloring of this story is so dark that I had trouble making out characters. I'd know who were the main characters. But you throw in some smaller roles and with that constant addition of rain and shadow, this made it impossible for me to figure things out from time to time. 

Being published in a slightly larger format than that of a digest didn't help the visuals either.

Don't get me wrong. The ending was great. Open-ended but tremendously well choreographed. The big reveal towards the end was jaw-dropping. However, I wasn't such a big fan of including characters that had zero parallel to a modern Marvel counterpart. But I guess if you did that, then that major twist would've been ruined. 

When you add everything up, I think the pluses and minuses equal each other out. I was entertained. But it's not something I will consider keeping in my collection.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #138

Readers are introduced to the character of Spellbounder in this issue. According to the Marvel Wiki, the character has been around since 1987. But other than a 6-issue miniseries (Spellbound), Spellbinder had never made an appearance in any other series until now. Not even a cameo. 

Right now all I know is that Erica Fortune became Spellbounder. She has telekinetic powers which are amplified by a pair of power bands that are of alien nature. In this opening chapter, the owner of those rings, the alien Zxaxz, has returned and wants them back. With this first chapter basically introducing me to all the main characters, the jury is still out on this one.

Wolverine is still on his tropical island holiday. One that is filled with aliens, a navy blue gorilla and a seemingly random slave to the extraterrestrials that Logan thinks he knows from somewhere. As things are still getting sorted out, the jury is still out on this one.

The samurai clad Masters of Silence have determined that Ghost Rider isn't such a bad egg. Yes, he's got some evil in him. He is fused with the demon of vengeance, ya know. But all parties have agreed to team up against the monster who has been killing native Chinese in an immigration smuggling scam for money. Things are starting to come together; however the jury is still out on this one.

The one-and-done story has Spider-Man trying to protect a hospital full of patients from an evil entity called Deathurge. As I've said before, I'm several months behind on the reviewing of these comics. I really can't recall anything about this story. So, I think the jury is out on this one- guilty of being a forgettable story!

A relatively tame issue in which all of the multi-parters are still trying to gain their footing. The single issue Spidey story was apparently not worth my time.

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Sensational She-Hulk #1 (2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Thanks to the popularity of the live-action Incredible Hulk TV series; along with The Bionic Woman starring Lindsay Wagner; Marvel Comics created the character of She-Hulk in 1979. Created by the team of Stan Lee and John Buscema, the character debuted as the Savage She-Hulk. 

In her first issue, young lawyer Jennifer Walters is visited by her cousin, Bruce Banner. Banner is seeking legal help due to the massive amount of destruction his old half, the Hulk, has created over the years. While going out to lunch, Walters is attacked by mobsters involved with a case she is handling. Needing a life-saving transfusion, Bruce gives his cousin some of his blood and the rest is history. 

For 25 issues, Jennifer Walters fought crime by day as an attorney. When things got rough, she'd go all big and green as She Hulk. Not quite 100% mindless as Bruce's Hulk, over time, She-Hulk was able to maintain Walters mental capacities while in her hulked out form. After cancellation in 1982, She-Hulk moved to the Big Apple, becoming members of the Avengers and Fantastic Four. While with the FF, an extra dose of radiation caused Jennifer to become She-Hulk permanently. 

John Byrne was heading the Fantastic Four during She-Hulk's tenure as the team's strong body. But Byrne was far from through with the character after Ben Grimm returned to the team. Bryne crafted a pair of prestige format issues starring She-Hulk and then boyfriend Wyatt Wingfoot. After an 8-pager in the holiday themed issue of Marvel Comics Presents #18, the House of Ideas announced the creation of an all-new series to based of the character; penned by Bryne.

The new series debuted with a May, 1989 cover date. No longer was the character savage; now she was the Sensational She-Hulk. In her new comic, She-Hulk was involved in much more zanier adventures. Some of the story lines were satires of famous TV shows and films. Many of She-Hulk's adversaries were parodies of popular comic book characters from Marvel and DC. Perhaps the most lasting mark to the She-Hulk character made by John Byrne was Jen's new found ability to break the fourth wall with her readers. 

Beating out Deadpool by several years, She-Hulk knew that she was a comic book character. The cover of issue #1 has Jen threatening to destroy readers' X-Men books if her new series doesn't sell. Over the course of Sensational She-Hulk's 60-issue run, Jen would battle it out with both the artists of her series as well as Bryne. In one issue, Walters kidnaps Bryne in order to find a new writer for her book. On another occasion, She-Hulk decided to skip through the ads in her comic book in order to not let a villain get away. 

Jen's fourth wall abilities are not too far explored past the cover image in the first issue. Instead, She-Hulk makes the mistake of getting tangled up with the very circus run by the nefarious Ring-Master. Hypnotized and smeared with flesh-colored paint, Jen is now advertised as the Glamazonia and used as part of Ring-Master's ploy to rob his audiences of their hard earned dough.

Behind the scenes is a mysterious duo of scientists. They've hired Ring-Master out in order to trap She-Hulk and learn of her abilities. However, those experiments must be put on hold when someone makes an attempt on the Glamazonia's life with a runaway circus wagon.

With Disney+'s very soon debut of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law live action series, a lot of interest has been renewed in the big green machine. One of the Facebook groups I am a member of posted the first issue of this series on their feed. Since one of my tasks for my reading challenge is to read a book featured on a group I take part in, and I own most of this series, I decided to give it a read. 

Along with the script, John Bryne drew the cover. I really thought he also did the interior artwork. But that job was by Bob Wiacek (Avengers). Many fans believe that super model Cindy Crawford was an inspiration for the Sensational She-Hulk. I can see that on the covers. But in the book, I think Wiacek was trying to evoke Raquel Welch and Marilyn Monroe. 

An entertaining issue that is inspiring me to complete my run. Though with the general public's renewed interest in She-Hulk, that might be easier said than done. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #33 (That you heard about from a comic book group) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge. 

Bizarre Adventures #1

Not happy with the website I use to catalog my comic book collection and wish list, I'm inventorying all 11,000 plus comic books. It's an arduous process, but it's helping me catch things that have slipped in the cracks. And that's where we come to this book. 

I bought this comic new in 2019. I read it within a day or so of purchasing. And then I filed it in my long boxes without neither a review nor adding it to my database. 

This one-shot is a tribute to the Bizarre Adventures anthologies series from 1981-83. Originally titled Marvel Preview, the name change occurred at issue #25. The book was originally a magazine format; which was code for containing material not encumbered by the Comics Code. Marvel kept the oversized magazine format for a couple of issues with the new name. However, the name change wasn't enough to win over new fans. So, some of the last few issues were released in comic book format. Even with forgoing the CCA, Marvel just couldn't make the series a hit and Bizarre Adventures ended with issue #34; a holiday horror classic!

Even though Bizarre Adventures wasn't a commercial success, the title became a cult classic. Thus the tribute release in 2019.

There are four stories in this issue. First up is an origin or early years story starring that eternal monster hunter, Ulysses Bloodstone. Set in his days as a caveman, it turns out that those pesky Skrulls have been visiting here a heck of a lot longer than we originally thought.

Story #2 involves Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung-Fu. I don't recall much of the plot. I do recall when I read this 3 years ago, my eyes were opened to a Communist Chinese concept of building new cities for the purpose of keeping unoccupied until the need for relocating citizens. In 2019, I couldn't believe such cities existed. But I think last year or maybe 2020, when China needed to divert a river or a dam, they moved their people to one of these brand spanking new metropolises. Therefore, in a weird sort of way, life imitated art!

Third story involves Dracula. Set in like the 20s or 30s, the Lord of the Vampires becomes enamored with a beauty. But of course, there's a twist!

Lastly, things are wrapped up with a Bill Foster Giant Man/Goliath story. It was a hot mess that was supposed to be the debut of some hot new talent. Maybe this cartoonist is some great player on the Indy comics circuit. But they just weren't Marvel material.

Like I said, it's been about 3 years since I read this book. And as you can tell from the Shang-Chi story, my memory isn't 100% clear. So I'm going to base my review on how I felt about the book in 2019. I hated the Bill Foster story. It's too psychedelic for my taste. Loved the two true horror stories that comprise this book. The Master of Kung-Fu story was good. But I apparently only remembered the wrong parts of this book.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.