DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #4

In this issue Rock and Easy Co. locate Hitler's personal physician after having destroyed the facility being used to make the Nazi army of the undead. Up next, track the doctor to Hitler's hidden lair.

Finally, an issue that really moves things forward. Well, actually, last issue saw the destruction of the zombie making facility. It's complete destruction wasn't made totally clear until this issue. I kept wondering why Sgt. Rock was so intent on tracking Doctor Morell when his primary mission was to eliminate the Nazi's ability to make resurrected troops. Turns out that Hitler only had the one place to create his own army of darkness. Thus objective #1 is complete.

Other than the gore, I've been wondering why this series has been rated for readers aged 17 and up. In this issue, the swears start being added to Easy Co.'s vocabulary. I haven't seen the big one yet. But this is a Bruce Campbell venture and I expect it's singular appearance to be a doozy.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #3

Issue #3 sees Sgt. Rock and his troops back at headquarters. They've located Dr. Morrell, the personal physician of Hitler's. That means the Further can't be too far away. Armed with a new set of hi-tech (well, hi-tech for 1944) weapons and a plan, Easy Company must re-locate the Nazi doctor, follow him to the site where the undead are being produced and destroy it. Then, possibly kill Hitler if the chance arises. 

Basically, we're back where we were at the end of the first issue. The only thing that has progressed is that the US Army knows what city/region the factory making the zombies is. The only thing that has changed is the tech now being welded by Rock's regiment of soldiers. Plus, by issue's end, Easy Co. will have split into 2 groups; one led by Sgt. Rock and one by his second-in-command, Bulldozer. After another run-in with some Nazi ghouls, Rock's group have uniforms to disguise themselves. So if we're lucky, issue #4 will actually start going somewhere. 

This really isn't a bad story. It just keeps going around in circles. It reminds me of the classic Doctor Who TV series where episode one would set everything up, episode 2-5 would see the Doctor and his companions doing the same thing, over and over and over, and then the final episode of the story arc wraps everything up. If that's the way Bruce Campbell is doing things with this story, no wonder publishers like DC Comics are in trouble. Stop stretching things out in order to make a buck. Clean and concise is much more appreciated than a story with too many chapters that do nothing except repeat what happened up until that point. 

More than anything, I just feel a little cheated having bought each issue new. But at least I supported my favorite LCS in the process. Supporting small businesses. That's something to cheer about even though it doesn't exactly help my wallet.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #2

Issue #2 sees Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. on reconnaissance. Yes- there's several encounters with undead Nazis. Lots of gore. Lots of combat. There's even a scene at a bier haus in which we see a bunch of zombie soldiers drinking beer and having antics. 

It all feels very unnecessary. 

The undead Nazis at a bar seemed very out of place. I'm sure it was part of Bruce Campbell's quirky sense of humor. I was reminded of that scene in Gremlins where those little green boogers took over a local watering hole and went wild. 

The combat scenes used almost all of the tech introduced in the last issue up already. Generally, when this would happen to an action character like James Bond, the hero wouldn't go through his entire arsenal until the final act. What a waste!

There was 1 thing that did advance the plot: Rock and his troops do locate Hitler's personal physician. That means that the fuehrer can't be very far away. However, instead of capturing the doctor, the boys end this issue by heading back to base. 

Nothing in this issue pushed the plot line any forward. Any progress made by locating Dr. Theodor Morell was walked back with Sgt. Rock not doing anything. I'm a little bit miffed. I paid $3.99 new, for this issue. I feel a little bit cheated. No, not cheated. I did enjoy a lot of segments in this book. I just wish I had gotten this issue for less than cover at a bargain bin. Very glad I didn't pay the extra dollar for the variant cover. That's okay. The Gary Frank covers have been awesome!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Garlic and the Vampire (Family Comic Friday)

Garlic and the Vampire is an adorable graphic novel that families will delight in kicking off their Halloween reading season with. Garlic is just one of a group of magical vegetable folk who grow and sell fresh produce for the humans in their village. One day, the enchanted edibles notice smoke coming from the nearby castle overlooking the town. It's supposed to be abandoned. It's also fabled to house a vampire!

As garlic is known to ward off a Vampire, the vegetable people elect little Garlic to scout out just who is living in the scary old fortress. Armed with an assortment of items known to fight off a nosferatu, brave Garlic makes it to the castle and comes face to face with the Count! Only, he's not such a bad guy. In fact he's nice and he's been trying to cut himself off from his regular diet of Type A-negative. 

Can Garlic trust the word of the Vampire? If not, does she have what it takes to save her village from the Count?

This book was a delight! Garlic and the Vampire was the solo first work of writer and illustrator Bree Paulsen. Every page was magical. The water-colored effects of the art. The enchanted dialogue. The warmth of every character. I didn't just want to read this book. I wanted to live in it. 

Amazon suggests that Garlic and the Vampire is appropriate for readers age 8-12. I think the only reason some aged 6 might not be able to read this book is because some of the words are rather advanced. There's a slight creepiness to the book as the vegetable people speculate as to whether a vampire does reside in that old castle upon the hill. But I don't think there's really anything parents and guardians should object to. There is a vampire in the story. And there is a witch. How else do you think those walking vegetables turned into people? If monsters on the level of what you might see on Sesame Street or an old-fashioned Disney cartoon, then this book is sure to become a classic for the whole family!

Garlic and the Vampire came out in 2021. Not sure why my local library just picked this up as a new book, but I am sure glad they did. Thankfully, the story of Garlic and her magical friends is far from over. Last year Bree Paulsen released a sequel, Garlic and the Witch! I'm hoping my library has this book as well. If not, I'll be ordering myself of copy of it for sure!

A fantastic read full of magic and wonder!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock Vs. The Army of the Undead #1

Bruce Campbell has made a career out of over the top macho characters that have a smarmy sense of humor. Not afraid to step on anybody's toes, his works are terrifying, insensitive and kinda gross and I love it! When I found out last year that the Chin was writing a 6-issue horror themed Sgt. Rock miniseries, I immediately contacted my LCS and pre-ordered it. 

The first couple of issues were released in time for Halloween 2022. I was hoping that I would have the complete run in order to read it for last season's spooky reads. Unfortunately it wasn't until the Spring of this year that the 6th and final issue debuted in stores. That's okay. I get to enjoy the spooky offbeat fun this season!

It's 1944 and things are going really bad for the Nazis. Running out of resources, fuel and especially conscripts, Hitler has a plan to build up an army of the undead! To stop the zombie goose-steppers, the Army recruits their top non-com, Sgt. Rock and his boys of Easy Co.! The mission won't be easy though as Rock and his men will have to dive deep into Nazi territory to find where the ghouls are being manufactured. Added to the complexity of the assignment, these low-budget Deadites cannot be killed by normal means. You've got to take them out with a head shot and not just any head wound will do as there is a special device in each corpses' head that keeps them going. 

At least if they bite you, you won't turn into one of them. Right???

Issue #1 was a good start up. You get Hitler. You get Sgt. Rock. You know what the mission is and you're introduced to an assortment of tech that Easy Co. will use to go up against this army of the undead. It almost felt like the first 20 minutes of a James Bond film. Not exactly oozing with Bruce Campbell's humor and charm, but it's a very good first chapter.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Wolverine: First Class, Vol. 4: Ninjas, Gods and Divas

A couple of weeks ago, I was wanting to read something fun. Something light. Only, I'd select a book, head to the bedroom to read it and discover that a Halloween themed story is inside. I don't know about you but a personal rule of mine is that you can't read Halloween comics unless it's October. So I held on to that book and went to find another. Wouldn't you know it, it too had a Halloween time set story inside. I went through this like 4 times before I finally gave up. It was like I was cursed or something.

On Saturday, I went ahead and began reading this book. The debut issue of the X-Men/Power Pack miniseries, which is the Halloween tale, was the last story in this volume. I didn't see it as breaking the rules of I didn't read that story until October 1st. I also didn't expect this series to turn out how it did.

Based on the title of 'First Class', I thought that this was going to be a series of untold origin tales starring everyone's favorite Canadian mutant, Wolverine either before Weapon X or during his time as a member of Alpha Flight. That's kinda how X-Men: First Class turned out. Instead, the majority of the stories are set during the early days of the Uncanny X-Men, when Kitty Pryde was the only adolescent student at Xavier's School for Gifted Students. 

Professor X sees that Kitty Pryde needs to toughen up a bit, least she never make it as an X-Man. Xavier also thinks that the hard travelling Logan needs to lighten up a bit and learn some empathy. Thus a classic team-up is born. Only don't expect these stories to just involve Sprite and Wolverine. There are a ton of cameos representing the mutant race as well as pairings with a slew of superstars from the Marvel Universe.

Together Wolverine and Kitty Pryde take on Red Hand ninjas with Daredevil and Elektra, stop a troll invasion with Thor and go on tour with Dazzler, who recently received a death threat in her private dressing room. Even though Wolverine is known to be very good at doing some very un-nice, he's like a grumpy uncle who always acts like he hates kids, but secretly is a softie to them. 

Peter David wrote the 3 stories collected from Wolverine: First Class. David is one of those writers who can write serious as well as lighthearted and both are equally great. Plus, Peter David puts the fun into everything he touches and from what I read, this book was capital F- U-N!

What about that Halloween story? It was a lot of fun too. When Power Pack came out in the 80s, I wasn't a big fan. I thought it was kinda dumb having kid superheroes. As I've gotten older, I have kinda grown to like them a little more. I see now how a group of 4 kids becoming heroes could expand the imagination of a fellow youngster to dream of becoming something fantastic. Plus, since the whole secret identity thing is out the window because Mom and dad both know, a lot of the implausibles that plague kid superheroes are eliminated.

The Halloween story is mostly a Power Pack adventure. One of the kids dresses up like Wolverine in hopes of winning the local costume contest. Getting separated from his siblings, the preteen Wolvie runs smack dab into Sabertooth while his family meets the real deal X-Man.

That story had great banter and was a perfect way to start off my October themed reads. As for Wolverine: First Class, I'm hooked. I want to know how many total issues were in the series and I want to add it to my wishlist. I kinda feel like I should give 2 ratings. One of the team-ups and and for the holiday special. Good thing both reads were flawless.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Stop Making Sense

David Byrne has taken the stage. Then Tina Weymouth (my favorite) and then her husband Chris Frantz arrive. Finally, it's the one everybody forgets about, utility man Jerry Harrison. The Talking Heads are back live. At least in film. 

I love the Talking Heads. Their first album was in 1977. Being born in 1977, I am obsessed with any and everything that happened during my birth year. The band hasn't gotten back together to perform since 1991 when they officially disbanded. There's the one-off of when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame which I don't count as I'd never be able to have gotten tickets for that. At least once a month, I get onto social media requesting the band reform for a concert tour, just so I can see them in person before I die or any of them do. Whichever comes first. This 40th anniversary re-release might be the closest I ever get to seeing them perform live.

Stop Making Sense was released in 1984. Filmed by Jonatham Demme, several years away from making his Best Picture Oscar winning Silence of the Lambs, the movie has been considered the 'greatest concert film of all-time.' The film was a combination of sets over 4 nights in December of 1983. I had seen bits and pieces of it whenever it would appear on HBO or whatever premium movie channel was on at my grandparents. But never in its entirety. 

I had read a couple of months ago that Stop Making Sense was going to be shown in a limited market run. As much as I wanted to see it, I thought that the odds of getting to see it were very slim. I had sorta put the movie out of my mind until I saw a trailer for it a couple of weeks ago. Enthralled by the cinematography as well as the music, I started checking local theaters to see if any in my area were going to be showing it. I got lucky with the Chelsea Theater in Chapel Hill, NC; a cute little independent cinema that seems to worship film history. 

Stop Making Sense is only 90 minutes long. But it feels longer. There are a total of 16 songs and yet with very little to no pause between any of them, it's a rapid fire of Talking Heads early standards, David Bryne solos and a Tom Tom Club classic. My wife commented that it's no wonder David Bryne was so thin considering the workout he puts in through quick costume changes, gyrations and the running of laps!

I found myself having a new-found respect for Jerry Harrison. As I mentioned earlier, he's often the forgotten fourth member of the band. Yet, he does everything from lead guitar to synthesizers and keyboards. Plus, along with Chris Frantz, he always looks like he's having a ton of fun. Speaking of Frantz, he looks like a typical 1980s dad. Wearing a polo shirt and khakis while playing the drums, he could have been my dad goofing around with a garage band instead of a rock star.. For a drummer with such an explosive sound, Frantz' kit is really stripped down. And then there's Tina Weymouth. 

Most everyone says that David Byrne is their favorite Talking Head. I say that if you are a really Heads fan, Tina Weymouth is your favorite member. What she does with 4 bass strings is unlike any artist of the last 50 years. Tina's bass-lines are what give each song their energy. I just wish Psycho Killer, which opens the film, was done like the original recording and not acoustic. With only Byrne, a standard non-electric guitar and a hidden drum machine, that magic beat of a stalking murdering maniac is missing. It's just not something that I could dance to with my goat. 

Stop Making Sense was also released in IMAX. The closest IMAX from my home town is like an hour or more away. I didn't feel like I was missing anything by going to a smaller screen as I don't need to know how many nose hairs David Byrne has. However, I've heard that  Rhino Records is re-issuing the film's soundtrack. Now that is something I will need to find!

And yes, I do dance to Psycho Killer with my adopted goat. Doesn't everyone?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.