Marvel Comics Presents #31

A new series starring Excalibur, the British mutant superhero team, begins in this issue! I am so excited! I've have the complete first series run. To have an all-new (to me) story to read is such a treat. And such a treat the first chapter was!

The team gets attacked on their home turf by a group of cartoony characters called the Loonies! Based on those beloved Looney Tunes characters from Warner Bros., these Loonies are a little bit psycho and a lot bit deadly!

Adding to my enjoyment of this issue, Coldblood gets ever more closer to a final confrontation with the Big Boss. The Havok story starring Wolverine, thankfully comes to an end. And Black Panther gets a big ole gut punch when he is given a handwritten letter by his mother!

After a couple of very poorly produced issues, quality has returned to MCP with all 4 stories!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #30

We've made it to 30 issues of Marvel Comics Presents. To celebrate the milestone, Marvel went completely hoo-hum.

The Havok story continues to be the WOLVERINE & Havok story. 

Black Panther gets the tar beat out of him and spends almost the entire chapter recuperating in his invisible Quinjet while South African talking heads brand the Avenger a war criminal.

This issue has a uptick with the Coldblood story as the Cyborg solider continues to find out about his erased past as well as get closer to the scumbag who betrayed him.

Lastly in the one-and-done story, we've got a character named Leir. He's an ancient Irish god that I know nothing about. It's a standard Dungeons & Dragons type tale. Nothing impressive. Nothing memorable.

Hopefully things in this anthology series will pick up quickly!

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #29

When the Havok story started a couple of issues ago, I noted that Wolverine was a part of that intro. I said in my review that I doubted that was the last of Logan we'd see in this story. This segment proved my prediction true! And he takes over the story!

Havok has been captured by that Egyptian death cult and is slated for death. Somehow sensing something is wrong, Wolverine goes to rescue his pal. I know that Wolverine can track people by smell. But can he really smell when someone gets into trouble 3 continents away? 

This just didn't seem that plausible. It also doesn't seem fair to Havok to have Wolverine steal his thunder. It's not like in 1989 that Wolverine didn't already steal the show in X-Men, have his own series and had already been the cover star focus on this book or anything.

Is Alex Summers that weak of a character?!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Charlton Triple Threat: The Peacemaker, Sarge Steel & Judomaster (Gwandanaland Comics #2881-A)

I love Gwandanaland Comics. They find lost and forgotten properties that are in the public domain. Then they publish collections that a collector might never have a chance to complete otherwise. I know that if I tried to buy all of the issues that Charlton's Peacemaker, Sarge Steel and Judomaster starred in, I'd probably have to pay a couple thousand dollars in order to do it. Especially since James Gunn has made Peacemaker such a hot property with the latest Suicide Squad movie and recent HBO/Max series.

Let's start with Peacemaker. Billed as a man who is willing to fight for peace; by day, the Peacemaker is a United Nations peace envoy named Christopher Smith. But when talks break down, the ambassador utilizes his vast arsenal and makes peace happen by force as the Peacekeeper!

Peacemaker has to be one of the wildest creations in all of comics. This guy has more gadgets than Batman. But how can this guy afford it? Surely, the UN doesn't pay that good!

I really thought this book wasn't going to get any better than with Peacemaker. But then I got into the Sarge Steel stories and I was proved wrong. 

With Sarge Steel, he's a former member of Army intelligence who served in Vietnam. Thanks to a run-in with a communist warlord, Steel lost his hand. Armed with a solid steel left hand, Sarge Steel now operates as a private investigator. Eventually, Sarge Steel becomes a member of the CIA. With stories full of fast cars and even faster women, this was a series that was very much in the vein of James Bond, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and the James Coburn Derek Flint movies. There was also some very heavy sprinkles of Dashiell Hammett with how Sarge Steel narrates all of his cases.

While I didn't quite understand why Sarge Steel would continuously let the dangerous dames he knew were villains stay so close to him, I was convinced that this book couldn't get any better than Sarge Steel. But then I got into the Judomaster stories and I was proved wrong again.

American GI Rip Jagger is stationed in the Pacific Campaign during World War II. On a small island off the coast of Japan, Jagger is injured. But instead of being captured by the Imperial Japanese, Jagger is rescued by island guerrillas. 

These freedom fighters are masters of martial arts. And while Jagger recoups, they teach him the art of Judo, to which Rip becomes a black belt. With a color yellow and red costume, Jagger becomes the Judomaster, the US Army's secret weapon against the Axis powers. 

A modernist comic book reader would probably hate these stories. They'd call Peacemaker a hypocrite or a shill for American imperialism. They'd call Sarge Steel a sexist. They'd probably flip with that one instance when Sarge backhanded a female assault victim. And with Judomaster- there would be some sort of clamor about 'white savior syndrome' or whatever it is that 21st intellectuals would deem it...

I read comic books as fan AND a historian. I know that some of the concepts are outdated. But I'm not going to chuck this book out of my collection. I very mush so did enjoy the stories. They might not have been perfect. But they entertained. 

I too loved the artwork. Dick Giordano is a personal favorite. And the art of Frank McLaughlin and Pat Boyette was amazing. Some of those judo practice fight scenes from the first Judomaster story belong in a museum. They're that good!

One main reason I asked for this book for Christmas was that I wanted to see where all of these characters got their start. John Cena's portrayal of Peacemaker really piqued my interest. And I've heard rumblings that Sarge and Judomaster might be popping up in some future DC live-action projects in the near future. So I wanted to get in on their origin stories ASAP. 

Yes, the Charlton Triple Threat of the late 1960s have some flaws. But so does a lot of the stuff being published in comics in the 2020s. I wanted to read these characters origin stories and that's what I got with this volume. And I loved it- warts and all!

(Gwandanaland Comics #2881-A was the economic B&W edition)

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Bug Bites (Family Comic Friday)

About once or twice a year, Source Point Press offers comic book readers a chance at free comics. All you have to do is pay shipping. This time around I opted for the all ages bundle. Only one book came. But it was a delight.

Bug Bites is about a young girl named Jolene. She is new to her neighborhood. But thanks to her grandmother's old recipe book, she makes a new friend pretty instantly. 

The cookbook is all about grubs. And snails. And other creepy crawlies. Legend has it that Jolene's nana created the book after a giant nasty bug kidnapped her as a little girl. According to Jolene, grandma escaped the bug by blinding it in one eye. And then once free, she developed a taste for insects. 

One day when Jolene goes to visit her new BFF, Peter, she learns that something huge destroyed his garden. Whatever it was left a trail. As the two children track the fiend, they run across it. It's a giant bug and it just kidnapped Peter!

Now Jolene, armed with her cookbook must take not just one giant insect but an entire community of bugs! And they've captured 3 other kids whom they plan to cook for the bug queen. And one of these creature chefs happens to be missing an eye!

Maybe Jolene's grandma really was kidnapped by giant bugs!

Originally a 3-issue web series, Bug Bites is the creation of Corinne Roberts. As far as I can tell, this is Roberts' first work. And what a debut it was!

Bug Bites was an imaginative story that combines fantasy, horror and my personal professional favorite- culinary! The characters are really well written. And funny! I really didn't want this clever tale to end.

Let's not forget the artwork. It was so detailed with a great color palette! With the wistful design of the bug town and it's inhabitants, I think Corinne Roberts might be a graduate from the school of Tim Burton. 

Being a story about food, I would have liked a couple of recipes attached as a sort of extra. But that's a personal preference thing. One thing I might want to advise parents on is the fear factor. 

Bug Bites is considered by Source Point Press to be all ages. But with the kidnapping of some kids with the intention of eating them and a little bit of violence, this book might be a tad intense for some. I'd say that this book would be appropriate for most readers 9 and up! 

A must for young readers who enjoy cooking, bugs and weird fun like James and the Giant Peach. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point

Prior to reading this book, the amount of information I know about the video game Fortnite probably couldn't fill a thimble. It's a multi-player video. Players dressed in a array of crazy costumes are dropped onto an island. Last person standing wins and the victory nets big awards like customizable skins, power ups and weapons!

The amount of information I know about Batman could fill a web page. Like this one!

When a mysterious storm hits Gotham City, Batman is called to investigate. Sucked into the storm, Batman finds himself trapped on a seemingly deserted island. That is until some madman with a funky looking axe attacks him!

Unable to speak and without a memory as to who he is, Batman must rely on his ingrained instincts in order to survive. But every 22 minutes, time resets and the Dark Knight finds himself back at square one. Being stuck in a time loop is a challenge in on itself. Sometimes Batman explores the island. Sometimes, he fights for his life in a battle royale. 

Hmmm... That female warrior in the catsuit with the whip looks oddly familiar. If only the Batman could forge an alliance with her.

Wow. Just, wow! I've never played Fortnite before. But I wanna! Thanks to the special code included in this book, I might have a great start if I do become a player! But, I also want to know the rest of the story. 

I'm not going to spoil how this story ends. But a whole DC Comics/Fortnite series of comics is set up with this 6-issue series. Plus, there just might be some superstars from other franchises that show up on the island. You'll just have to read for yourself. 

I've seen that Spider-Man has just become a playable Fortnite character. Comics fans have been clamoring for a new Marvel/DC crossover. Could Zero Point be laying the foundation to that much desired reunion of the Big Two publishers? 

We'll see!

A fantastic mystery story by Christos Gage (Netflix's Daredevil). It's quintessential Batman. Yet it is also a Fortnite story that is perfect for the uninitiated. Epics Games made the wise decision to partner with DC Comics and Batman in order to reach out to those of use who otherwise might have looked the other way with a third-person shooter game.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Lazarus, Volume One

Wonder Woman's Greg Rucka pens a futuristic tale that takes the idea of a dystopia and skewers it just a little bit. Instead of a structured government,or a miltia faction order is maintained by powerful crime families. They control the limited amount of resources. Their most trusted 'employees' have privilege status of rations, clothes and shelter. All other citizens are considered waste.

To protect their interest, each family funnel a large portion of their resources into a single family member known as a Lazarus. Genetically modified with cybernetics, these family champions are the pinnacles of medical science. And this means a lot of rebuilds and a little bit of playing God.

The Carlyle Family's Lazarus is named Forever.  But something is off with 'Eve'. She's got a conscious. Everyone knows that a Lazarus cannot think for themselves because of their programming. With a coup brewing in the Carlyle household, Eve is an unknown factor. She may be loyal to father now. But that very well may change when the family feud formally begins.

I think my wife got me this. I love grab bags and I think this was a part of monthly subscription service called Comic Bento; which is sadly now defunct. I added this book to my collection and then it sat for several years. Man, was I a fool.

This opening volume was phenomenal! Rucka's story had hints of The Godfather, The Terminator and a futuristic medical drama. I've got a lot of questions that remain unanswered. Like what was responsible for the fall of the world governments? How did these crime families rise to power? Yes, I have questions. But they weren't questions that had to be answered in order to enjoy this introduction to the world of Lazarus. If anything, wanted to know those answers are what will bring me back to the series again for volume 2.

Not sure when I will get to visit the family Carlyle any time soon. I'm hoping my local library has the rest. Fingers crossed.

A unique look at the dystopia trope that seems to dominant 21st century comics and graphic novels.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.