Guns of the Dragon #1

 

Essentially this comic is a prequel to the DC universe. Taking place in 1928 Shanghai, this miniseries pits an elderly Bat Lash, an aging Enemy Ace, and a complete unknown named Biff Bradley together. It appears that this Bradley is related in some way to another obscure DC hero, Slam Bradley.

The trio are summoned to help the Chinese Nationalist government recover a pair of mystical swords that are rumored to unite a warring China in times of need. It’s a kind of Arthurian legend essentially that these explorers are on the hunt for. Adding to the excitement, the trio must  bring back a dragon! It seems that the clout of these swords can only reach its apex if there’s proof that they can slay dragons. Now, there are race against time as the Communist Chinese, some Japanese Ninja, and even Vandal Savage are also on the hunt for these swords.

This is a really neat series. It pits some of the more colorful non-super powered heroes of the 70s together in a Jurassic Park type adventure. Yes, there’s even some added dashes of Indiana Jones and the art looks like it was rendered by that legendary DC artist of war comics fame, Joe Kubert. The book is written and drawn by Timothy Truman. I’ve never heard of him, but I wonder if he was a student of the Joe Kubert School of Art or was just a fan of his art. Regardless, it’s got that gritty quality 70s drawing style Kubert that I just adore. This first chapter starts off a little slow but by the cliffhanger, the pace is so fast that I raced to break into issue #2 in record time.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

FF, Volume 2: Family Freakout

WARNING: SERIOUS SPOILERS ARE REVEALED IN THIS REVIEW!

I waited and my library finally got in volume 2 of Matt Fraction and Mike Allred’s run of FF. In this volume the Freedom Foundation, led by Scott “Ant-Man” Lang, Medusa, Ms. Thing, and She-Hulk continue their search for the missing Fantastic Four, who have seriously overshot their 4-minute time traveling absence from the present timeline. After being invited to a pool party by a wealthy industrialist, the FF meets an ageless alien time traveler who not only posed of Mighty Caesar, but also befriended the Fantastic Four during their recent time travels.

 

Through the new ally, it is discover that Doctor Doom is behind the Fantastic Four’s inability to return to 2013. SHOCKER!!!! Actually, if something bad was to happen to the Fantastic Four and you didn’t assume Victor Von doom had anything to do with it then I’d be surprised. Anyway, this revelation brings up some really bad memories for Scott Lang, seeing as Doom is responsible for the death of his daughter, Cassie.

Now armed with a target- and a vendetta- the FF take a field trip to the Moon and hold the Watcher hostage. It’s really a ruse for Ant-man to search through Uatu’s personal records on Doom and what happens is completely awesome! Doctor Doom gets his butt handed to him in epic fashion. That’s right, for once; Doom doesn’t get to used his diplomatic immunity, nor fake out everyone with a Doombot or make a deal with some cosmic entity for safety. No, for once Doom gets everything and more that he deserves.

Other than the Red Skull, Doctor Doom is my least favorite villain. He’s not like the Joker or Venom, you know, a person you love to hate. I hate that guy. I’m so glad to finally get an issue where Doom loses. True, you couldn’t have Reed Richards do it; he’s got too much of a conscience. So, by having chippy Scott Lang give the leader of Latveria the what-not is totally acceptable. Now, if only the Red Skull could finally get his rear end whooped once and for all by Captain America.

This series was awesome. I love Fraction’s writing and I am such a fan of the Allred’s artwork. I think they are in my top five artists. What is a real crime is that this series is currently cancelled. No more FF! Hopefully this will be an oversight corrected real soon and it will involve not just Fraction and Allred, but star Ant-man, She-Hulk, Ms. Thing, and those loveable genius scamps who learn at the Freedom Foundation.

(PS- if you haven’t read the first FF publication, be in for a little confusion about certain plot mysteries, such as “why do one of the moloids just a floating head in a jar?” You can enjoy this entire series without reading that book. But, feel free to go back and seek out that series like I plan on doing.)

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Civil Wardrobe: 1 Shot

This one shot attempts to skewer the comic book industry during Marvel’s Civil War storyline. That controversial storyline resulted in publishing delays that angered fans,  heroes fighting heroes and more culturally noted, the death of Captain America. While this book tries to reflect the angst of fans, super heroes, and pop culture, it wasn’t a very cohesive effort.

The book starts off when some geeky friends rallying together to show their disgust at Marvel’s epic publishing delays. Then a literal bomb goes off and no more nerds. The book then shifts to the White House and a presidential edict to make super heroes and comic books more cohesive and fan friendly.

Called the “Decompression Act” the industry, notably Marvel, and is forced to publish all story arcs in 6 issue bites making for easier collection in trade paperbacks. Crossovers between titles is also forbidden. While deep down I like this idea, what happens next is completely out of left field.

Marvel is forced to retool all of their heroes in order to meet the demands of this new law of the land. For about 25 pages, we get a variety of one page spreads that both reshape and parody some of Marvel’s most popular characters. Thor, Hulk, Spider-man, even fan favorite Wolverine and the X-Men are not safe from these “changes.” Each redesign is supposed to parody the creations of the House of Ideas. Some are very funny, but most are lame. The most impressive part of this section of the book is the variety of artists used. A different artist is used for each reboot. So at least there is some variety instead of a flat leveled attempt by one single artist or group of artists looking to stick it to the man that is Marvel Comics.

I really liked the variety of art. I like the first segment of the book. I approve of some of the ideas tossed around in order to fix comics. Some of the gags are funny- most are lame. But it’s the sweeping lack of cohesion from plot point to plot point that makes this an amusing comic parody but not an instant classic like “Not Brand Ecch” or “Fred Hembreck Destroys the Marvel Universe.”

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Robotix #1

 

This Marvel comic is based on the toy line of the same name. The premise was that you could make this robot and then if you got really creative, there were all these attachments and hooks and appendages that could turn the Robotix into all sorts of things. So, if the machine was supposed to resemble a T-Rex, you could switch things around and turn it into a flying predator or add a dome apparatus and make it a submersible. Needless to say, the possibilities were marketed as “limitless.” In reality, you make could make 3 or 4 variations on the creature and that was it.

 

I suppose if you bought all of the Robotix vehicles you’d have an unlimited assortment of parts to work with. But, these things weren’t cheap. They were like $30 apiece- and that was in 1985! Plus, if you were like me, your parents could only afford one and that one robot was so lame that you didn’t care to get another one.

 

Anyway, let’s jump to 2013. I was at a comic book show in Raleigh went I came across this book in a bargain bin. I think I spent a quarter or 50 cents on this. I remember hating this toy so much, but I didn’t really know what it’s deal was. So, I decided to grab this in order to find out what the hoopla was all about.

 

Robotix is about this ship that crashes on an alien planet. The planet is a barren waste with very little food or water. The human crew find themselves in the middle of a war between the good Robotix and the evil Terrokors. It seems that these two groups used to be warring humanoids that essentially fought their planet into extinction. Rather than die, the two factions teamed together to invent the Robotix to act as cultivators terraforming their planet back to health while the aliens were safely nestled in suspended animation.

 

When a comet hits the computer responsible for protecting these warring tribes, most of the aliens die and those that survive have their souls placed into these robot terraformers. When the castaways have a similar split amongst their ranks some join the good guys and the rest align with the Terrokors. Amazingly, having a human pilot makes these robots work at peak performance and thus humans and Robotix continue this age old struggle for survival on this desolate planet.

 

That’s the premise behind the Robotix toy line. Man is that a mouthful. In my case, that’s a ton of typing, but I digress. Anyway, the idea behind this was lost to me when I asked for this for Christmas at age 8. Transformers was huge back then and all the toy companies tried to cash in. I guess I got caught up in that hype. The toy, like this comic book is just that- hype.

 

Reading the book as an adult, I see this thing as a 32-page commercial. The Robotix each explain their great features and honestly, that’s about the only substance of this product. I see that somebody at Marvel tried to make this a story about the horrors of war and what it could do to ecology. Thus, this is a hidden allegory for nuclear disarmament. The average 8-year old isn’t going to get that and I think the average adult (in 1985) wasn’t the targeted audience for this book.

 

In other words, the toy line was probably thrown together quickly to cash in on the Transformers craze. The comic was intended to introduce kids to the toy line, but wound up being a little too cerebral. Thus, the audience that this book targets overlooked it, assuming it was fodder for kiddies. How epic comics based on toy lines such as GI Joe, Micronauts, and Rom: Space Knight became cult hits is beyond me. They obviously had a creative spark that spanned generations. Sadly, the only generations this comic transverse are the decades it has spent in the bargain bin.

 

Not Worth Consuming.

 

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

 

Essential Marvel: The Rampaging Hulk, Volume 1

The Hulk's face looks like my grandmother's when she'd get mad.
She'd get mad a lot!

Think about popular super heroes and the volume of titles out about them. Superman has Action Comics, Superman, Superman/ Batman, Superman/ Wonder Woman, and appears in the pages of Justice League of America. Spider-man, Batman, Wolverine, and countless other fan favorites appear in several different titles every month. Now think about the Hulk. He’s been a pretty popular dude for a very long time, but until very recently, he only appeared in the pages of Incredible Hulk and the occasional mini-series.

I remember reading Incredible Hulk as a kid and I thought that was really the only series to star the Green Goliath (brief membership in the Avengers and his quasi-membership status in the Defenders excluded.) I’ve been reading comics for 33 years now and I’ve come to be considered to friends and family as an expert on the subject. So imagine my surprise when I came across a used copy of this book a few months back. Rampaging Hulk- what is that?

My first thought was that these was a collection of the Hulks greatest rampages. Instead, this was a magazine format black and white edition published in the late 70s. The idea for the book was in relation to the live action Hulk series starring the late Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. These adventures of the Hulk take place during the first 6 issues of the Hulk published all the way back in 1963. It was meant to be a slightly more adult reader for people who loved the TV show but had never read the comic before. The only difference was the addition of a 3-fingered alien artist named Bereet and her bag of assorted gizmos, who enlisted the Hulks aid in defeating her alien brethren who sought to conquer the earth.

Apparently, the mag was more popular with comic book fans than new readers and after 9 issues the title and the format of the publication changed. Instead of providing an altered history of the Hulk and the early days of the Marvel Age of Comics, fans clamored for a comic that was similar to the live action series. Gone was the word “Rampaging,” as was Bereet, her brutal alien race, and one time sidekick to the Hulk, Rick Jones. Now, Robert Bruce Banner travelled the by-ways of the US, seeking solitude and solace from the one thing he can never outrun- the Hulk!

These new format tales have Banner finding work where he can find it, and usually he ends up finding corruption too. Thus as he tries to make things right, he ends up becoming the Hulk and doing a lot of destruction. Why nobody wonders why this wanderer comes to town and winds up shirtless and in purple pants after the Hulk rampages is beyond me. If I was to track down the Hulk, I would put an APB out for stores that have recently sold a large quantity of stretchable purple pants. Find the guy buying the purple pants, find the Hulk. Problem solved!

Anyway, I liked this series- both formats. I think the reboot was imaginative and I liked the newer tales that reflected the TV show. Some of those tales tackle child abuse, nuclear waste, and race. It’s like Marvel’s answer to the relevant comics of DC, such as Green Arrow/ Green Lantern, just about 7 years too late. There’s a second volume and I am on the hunt for it. I liked what I read and saw. Though I think the Ramping Hulk artwork is far more superior than that of the later issues. The early stuff has fantastic shading and looks very artistic. The later stuff is very clean but is what I would expect out of the comic book. Either way, the entire series is a fantastic read and very much worth consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Dial H, Volume 2: Exchange (New 52!)

I really enjoyed the first volume. A down on his luck every man finds a rotary dial that turns him into an unlimited assortment of super heroes. Added to the mix is a former user of the dial, whose taken upon herself to train the newcomer into becoming a superhero while reliving her glory days during an every-other day use agreement.

That formula continues in this volume for a brief season. A villain whose got the dial in his sights, a clandestine military project that’s seeking to create an army of dialers, and a new dial that turns the user into a sidekick continue the fantastic story from volume 1. However once we get the sidekick dial out of our system, the story takes a downward spiral involving the origin of the dials.

I’m glad to have finally found out where the dial came from. I’d been reading Dial H for Hero stories since I was a little kid. I was ecstatic when DC decided to include this series in their New 52 format. The origin of the dials and how some of them wound up on earth as well as other planets was awesome. The ethical question as to whether the dials steal power from the super heroes they call up is admirable. But the changing scenery of wasteland dimension is nauseating. There’s even one hero whose dial is stuck and they change identities almost every panel. It makes for some very hard to follow reading.

Adding to the confusion is that I thought we had a decent conclusion to the series only to have the insertion of Justice League of America #23.3. This story has a group of kids who come across a dial of their own on the run from some quasi-cops/drug dealer amalgam. It’s hard to tell who these baddies are. I’ve never encountered them before and they keep changing costumes from what look like cops to rejects from Miami Vice. It’s only in the last 3 or 4 pages do we finally get a tie-in from that issue to the Dial H series do things seem to fall into place. That is until the sudden shock ending that reveals a new character I’ve never even heard of? Is it the every man of his elderly mentor? I’m not sure, it’s never revealed. I guess it’s an open ended ending.

The art was very good. It continued the high standards of volume 1. Sadly, the story-lines of this volume are nowhere near as superior as they are in their predecessor. A good conclusion to a classic DC story, but it’s not fantastic.

I give it an “eh?!”

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

The A-Team #1

Good Ole Mr. T (center) pitying the fool who don't buy this comic.

This is the very first comic book based on the hit action series from the 1980s. Only 3 issues were published by Marvel and I remember for the longest time it was easy to find these issues at Tons O’ Toys in grab bags. I think you got 3 books for a dollar and in almost every pack, one of these 3 issues were in the grab bags. So, it wasn’t hard to collect the whole set. I’m not sure why the book didn’t take off. I mean I know that poor sales had something to do with it. But,  from what I’ve read (having already read issues #2 and 3 weeks ago before finding this issues in a dollar box) the series was pretty good.

The art was pure caricature. Yet, I am sure a lot of that probably had to do with licensing. I’ve heard that Mr. T demanded a share of anything produced that bared his likeness  in regards to the A-Team show. Since Mr. T was the star of the show, he probably raked it millions and knowing  Marvel they didn’t want to pony up too much in licensing fees.

In terms of the stories themselves, they’re pretty good. All three stories capture the characters very well and the action is good. It might even be too good since it’s easier to draw things blowing up than doing for real in front of the cameras. This issue has B.A. going back to his old neighborhood where he catches up with an old friend. Later, we discover that this childhood pal might be involved in some dirty dealings with a crooked diamond dealer out to ruin a legitimate business.

The story was full of lots of twists and turns and humor. But, I gotta ask- if you are on the run from the feds for escaping a military prison, why on earth would you go back to your home town and plan a meeting with an old chum? Wouldn’t the feds be staking out all known and perceived acquaintances? (Spoiler coming) We later find out this buddy of B.A.’s is really an undercover FBI agent, so why didn’t he turn the A-Team in? Does every G-man who befriends a known felon from their grade school automatically have to keep quiet about their whereabouts? I t just doesn’t make sense and this happens all the time in movies and TV!

That plot point is the only thing I didn’t like about this comic and is perhaps the only thing I disliked about the whole series. Sorry to rant there but things like that really irk me. You might feel differently, but I pity the fool who disagrees.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.