It only took 2 issues for the Riddler to return after his debut in 1948. Yet, it was almost 20 years before the man born as Edward Nigma would return to perplex Batman and Robin. Just in time for being the first villain to appear on the live-action Batman series from 1966!
This is a fantastic collection of Riddler stories. Many of which I've never read before. A lot of folks think that The Joker is the best Batman villain. And while the Clown Prince of Crime is his most deadliest rival, I think that it's the Riddler who is Batman's most cunning, most cerebral and most infuriating.
I think that Batman looks at Joker as a side project. Someone to try and cure. I feel that it's Riddler who really gets up in Batman's crawl because the two are just so much alike. Both are detectives. Batman uses his brains to solve the crimes. It's Riddler who uses his intellect to craft those crimes. And for a very brief, but fun time, Riddler was also a real deal detective, playing private investigator for cash and glory.
There's two amazing stories in which Batman and Riddler are forced to team-up. While I thought that ending to both stories was contrived, the build-up was this awesome buddy-cop thing that had some great one-liners. (It's here where you really see E.Nigma rubbing the Dark Knight the wrong way, like a wedgie from Hell.)
I loved this collection of stories that feature art and stories from a fantastic line-up of talent including Bill Finger, Dick Sprang, Gardner Fox, Jim Aparo, Paul Dini and Scott Snyder. Featuring stories from every era of Batman comics, you get a perfect, yet incomplete glimpse into the psyche of one of the greatest Batman foes of all-time.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
Explore the world of technology through the eyes of Archie and the Gang in this week's Family Comic Friday!
Archie & Friends: Geeks and Games #1
Written by: Francis Bonnet
Art by: Pat and Tim Kennedy
Published by Archie Comics
Retail: $2.99
Need a Summer time pick-me-up? Check out Archie & Friends: Geeks and Games #1. In this hi-tech one-shot, the kids from Riverdale explore the impact technology has had on all out lives in a trio of tales.
First up, Archie and Jughead have developed a fever to the new video game Forknite! As a result, Archie has been ignoring Veronica. Out of spite or revenge (or both), Veronica decides to learn just what this new game is all about. Will Archie and Jughead have meet their match? Knowing the lengths Veronica will go to in order to be the best, the guys probably have.
Then Archie brings home his latest tech project: a robotic dog. But during the test run, things don't go as smoothly as Archie thought it would. Turns out android dogs are as much of a hassle as the real McCoy.
Lastly, Archie has an important report due. But will miss Grundy believe him when the redhead's real dog, Vegas, eats his flash drive homework?
This was a very fun but fast read. The artwork by Archie vets, Pat and Tim Kennedy was spot-on classic style Archie. It might have been a little too classic as I thought Veronica looked a lot like her 1940s counterpart, Veronica Lake. I almost thought I was reading a reprint from the Golden Age of Comics. Then I remembered that they didn't have video games in the post-World War II era!
I really enjoyed the stories by Suburban Fairy Tales author, Francis Bonnet. All three stories were creative and helped me forget about how awful 2020 has been. With Archie being a 75 year old plus property, it's easy for the stories to get repetitive. But all 3 tales felt really fresh. Even the homework story seemed new despite the telegraphed punchline ending.
The only real problem with this comic is the length. At only 24 pages, Geeks and Games is just way too darn short! But the $2.99 cover price is rather nice. It's something the whole family will enjoy!
Archie & Friends: Geeks and Games #1 debuted in print and digital formats on Wednesday June 24th, 2020!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
Based on the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon, this black and white edition collects the first 24 issues of Super Friends.
The cartoon and the comics started off with the teens Marvin and Wendy and their pooch Wonder Dog all learning to become crime fighters. Marvin was a sort of Shaggy arch-type. Wendy could kick serious butt like Daphne, but nowhere near as clumsy. And Wonder Dog was like Scooby-Doo in that he could talk. But Wonder Dog was much more braver.
Like the Super Friends cartoon, Wendy and Marvin left only to be replaced by alien siblings, Jan and Zan: The Wonder Twins and their space-monkey Gleek. Unlike the TV show, the comics explained why Wendy and Marvin left. And it was done properly having the earthling kids graduate from their training instead of just being replaced without a word like what happened to Tiger on The Brady Bunch.
DC's Super Friends had one more thing going for it than the Hanna-Barbera version. The comic book had legitimate villains. The Penguin, Poison Ivy, Chronos, and Cheetah all rear their ugly heads to make life miserable for the Super Friends. We also get heroes chipping in to help like The Atom, and The Flash.
Another interesting element involves Aquaman. He's often been the butt of decades of jokes as being the most worthless Super Friend. Well, in this book, Aquaman often wonders why he's been chosen as part of the team. And in issue #24 he must overcome his own inadequacies of a water-bound hero when a mystery requires the heroes to head to the deserts of Egypt.
In some ways I like the comic book version better because it really rounded out the series with better explanations as to why characters disappeared and it had more guest stars and it even tackled the Aquaman problem.
Sadly, while this is considered Volume 1, this is the only volume of Super Friends as done as a Showcase Presents. DC Comics shortly shelved these treasuries shortly after this volume was published. The series ran until 1981 for a grand total of 47 issues. Thus, there's a whole another volume's worth of issues out there to collect and read... someday.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
Of the several editions of Big Books that I am reading during social distancing, The Big Book of the Unexplained was the one I was looking forward to the most. And it was the most disappointing.
Written by the creator of Deathlok, Doug Moench, I was really excited to read this collection of accounts of the strange and unknown. I love UFOs, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and all that paranormal stuff that has us stymied. I'm the type of person that feels that there's got to big a hint of truth to these accounts. They may not be what we think they are or happened how we might recall the events occurred. But I am sure a lot of it was real events.
The host of this book is Charles Fort, a research of the paranormal and macabre around the turn of the 20th century. Had I not read within the past year or so a book about the Fortean Times, I probably wouldn't have any idea who he was. But I did and I appreciated his appearances throughout the book. Well, at first.
However, Moench keeps having Charles Fort talking about this cosmic trickster. And he keeps getting all whimsical and philosophical about this being. Maybe he's talking about God or gods. But that's beside the point. Moench devotes a lot of his time to this powerful being instead of focusing on what I was hoping for- lots and lots of accounts of the unexplained.
While I appreciate the use of a narrator or host, they haven't seemed to really work in the Big Books. The 70s book had a host and it was the weakest part of that entire volume. I feel the same about Fort here. But unlike in the 70s book where the host was only at the beginning of each chapter, Charles Fort is at the beginning and ending of each section. Rod Sterling or even Jack Palance, he is not!
When it focuses on the unusual, it's good. But it goes off on tangents a lot!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
This miniseries comics to a thankful close. Power Girl confronts the 'weaver' on his turf of a dying realm of magic. Aiding her in this quest is a mischievous little imp called Ghy. I don't know if we ever see this character ever again. But from what issues of various Justice League titles featuring Power Girl that I've read, I don't think so. But he was such a great character.
Our mysterious 'stranger' returns to mostly observe. Power Girl asks why don't he help her and he claims it's only his job to observe. Since when did our mystery character become a member of Marvel's Watchers?
Another inconsistency I noticed right off the bat is that Power Girl refers to herself throughout this issue as Kara. But in the 3 previous issues, she's Karen. Not only that but everyone else in this final issue now calls her Kara, which was Power Girl's name before the Altantis origin reboot. So why the sudden return to Kara?
The story ends with a nice, cheerful ending. It's a little too clean of an ending. Besides Spider-Man, Power Girl is one of the most dumped on characters in comic book history. So for everything to come up roses in such a 30 minutes or less sitcom fashion is rather unfashionable for her.
Issue #4 did not disappoint. Disappoint in being as bad as the majority of the issues in this miniseries. I came into this chapter expecting nothing and with the exception of this single one-and-apparently-done character, there was very little to enjoy.
Even the art, which to this point had been phenomenal, was a big letdown. It's like the artist, Rick Hoberg, kinda realized that this mini was a stinker and just gave up trying.
Not one of DC's finest moments.
Not Worth Consuming!
Rating: 2 out of 10 stars.
Power Girl finally decides to stop bar hopping and get to the matter of just who is behind all of these villains trying to kill her.
Her quest will put her in touch with other Atlanteans once thought dead, former worshipers of Arion and perhaps a mysterious stranger. One character that would have made a great addition to this chapter that explores Power Girl's origins would have been Aquaman. But I understand that DC probably wanted to keep such a big name away in order to not detract from this storyline. I think that's why there's been no Superman. But believe me folks, a major guest star is a needed shot in the arm.
The 'stranger' cameo was a good touch. But he wasn't there long enough to move the story along.
Plus, I loved this scene where Karen goes to an antique book store and asks for a book on Atlantean magic. The shop keepers response was classic. He gives her the book for free as long as she promises to not read any of the spells anywhere near him or his bookshop.
Issue #3 got a little better. It's building up for the climatic final chapter which couldn't come quick enough for me. You know, with the still exceptional artwork by Rick Hoberg and the great Giordano cover, this book is actually worth reading. But just barely!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
An assortment of villains based on the elements of the earth has been attacking Power Girl. Kara knows that these assaults are clearly not coincidence. So what does she do? Why, go out for drinks with her girlfriends at a local singles bar!
This isn't the sort of thing Blue Beetle or Booster Gold, stars of two similar series of the time period, would be doing. For mid-1980s DC, the dialogue for all three examples were bad. But you didn't have the guys going for drinks and discussing their feelings.
Yeah, there's some sexism showing. As a big fan of Supergirl (to which Power Girl is a version of the character), I am quite disappointed. I obtained all 4 issues of this miniseries for free on Facebook. I was really looking forward to this thinking is was going to be full of action and adventure. Instead, this miniseries has turned into a precursor to Sex and the City only without the breasts of Kim Cattrall. It's been such a disappointment.
Uh, the lack of action not breasts I mean.
I should be thankful. I didn't spend any money on it. And the Rick Hoberg art still has been amazing. But this issue has gotten worse because of the coloring.
There's a detective whose helping Power Girl figure out who these villains are. Last issue he looked liked an African American male. In this issue, his skin tone is much lighter and his hair is now sky blue. Maybe in 1988 this print error wasn't as noticeable as about a month or so amount of time passed into between the release of issues 1 and 2. I went from finishing issue #1 to starting up the second issue in like 30 seconds flat. So I noticed...
Not Worth Consuming!
Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.
