The Human Target, Vol 2

Christopher Chance solves the mystery of who killed him. Posing as Lex Luthor, the Human Target ingested a slow acting poison. His fate is sealed. Chance is literally a member of the walking dead. With only 12 days left, he spends his remaining time trying to solve his murder while enjoying some fantastic scotch and time by the beach, his favorite place. But as his life comes to an end, Chance must confront his own demons.

This Tom King maxi-series from 2022-23 is very much a noir mystery with the Human Target providing the internal dialogue, heroes who are secretly villains and forbidden romance. As with just about any noir whodunnit, the solution is crystal clear while the motivations are the real enigma. For some reason, when the murderer confesses, they have no problem admitting their guilt and yet you need a thesaurus to understand what drove them to kill. 

That's okay however. I'm still a big fan of crime noir.

When I reviewed volume 1, I stated that Greg Smallwood's art looked familiar. I just couldn't put my finger on what it reminded me of. I managed to solve that mystery about a third into this book. With the sharp pencil angles and soft charcoal shading of the subjects, Smallwood's artwork reminds me of that set of Childcraft Encyclopedia books my mom ordered me sometime in the late70s. Published originally in the 1930s by W.F. Quarrie & Co, the volumes of 'the How and Why Library' I had had shiny modern covers. But the internal artwork hadn't been updated since the Kennedy administration. The artwork here gave the story the look of a more innocent time and yet there are no saints to be found.

A fantastic mystery with a great ending. It was awesome visiting some characters that I hadn't thought about in years. Thankfully, being a Black Label imprint work, this is not a canonical book. Yet I would not be surprised in the least to find out DC decided to make this story the official swan song of the Human Target.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Human Target, Vol. 1

I like Tom King. But he's got this annoying little habit of taking those more obscure, fan favorite DC characters that I grew up reading from my dad's comic book collection and deconstructing them. Even to the point of killing off the character.

This time, Tom King decides to strip bare the character Christopher Chance, the Human Target. Trained to be a master mimic with skills in various martial arts and proficient in countless weapons, Chance becomes the target of people who have a death wish against them. All you have to do for the Human Target to take a bullet for you is to pay him his asking fee of 10% of your yearly income. So when multi-billionaire Lex Luthor approaches Chance to discover who's planning to kill him at an annual technology conference, the Human Target sees nothing but dollar signs. 

Christopher not only takes the bullet for Lex Luthor, he also drinks the hemlock. It seems that more than one person wanted to kill Luthor. An seemingly innocent cup of coffee was laced with a slow acting poison. Now with 12 days left to live, the Human Target will investigate his own murder. But it's not going to be easy because the prime suspect in the case is the entire lineup of the original Justice League International!

This maxi-series is a superhero populated version of the noir classic D.O.A.. Readers go into this work knowing that the Human Target will die by story's end. We just don't know who killed him and what was the motive. That's the mystery being solved. Christopher Chance's fate is sealed.

Thankfully, this is a Black Label story. Those stories aren't canon. Still, that doesn't mean that I'm not hoping for a happy ending here. Plus, it doesn't mean that this story might not actually happen later on in the future. A bunch of Marvel What If... stories have been made into canon and DC is no different. Several of their Elseworlds tales were made into official alternate Earths populating the multiverse. What's not to say that some future crisis that occurs in the DC universe will not someday make this story along with the rest of Tom King's Black Label works from becoming real; killing off a bunch of my favorite B-list characters for realsies? That prospect scares the DC fanatic in me!

The first half of the story has been near perfect. I did think that the chapter involving the Martian Manhunter was unnecessarily chaotic. But it's been an engrossing read and a visual delight. Generally,it doesn't feel like a legitimate Tom King story without the artwork of frequent collaborator Mitch Gerad's. However Greg Smallwood has this style that looks and feels quintessential 1950s and very early 60s corporate art. I can't quite put my finger on just what Smallwood's artwork reminds me of just yet. However, if you told me that the artist used to draw the storyboards for Don Draper's ad pitches, I would believe it.

I checked this out at the library and now I am kicking myself! for some reason, I decided to only pick up volume 1! I've gotta rush to the library and hope nobody snagged up the follow up before I did!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Otis & Peanut Find A Way (Family Comic Friday)

Peanut the naked mole rat and Otis the guinea pig are back in another volume full of fun, adventures and a little bit of sadness. As with the other books in the series, there's a trio of tales in this 2025 offering.

First, Otis wishes to travel somewhere. Anywhere! He's never traveled before and he's a little bit scared about taking the journey by himself. So Peanut offers to help her best friend to learn how to prepare for a trek. After learning what to and not to pack, Peanut turns Otis' house into a hotel complete with very bumpy mattress!

Then Otis confides in his pal that he's concerned that he's forgetting his late friend and Peanut's sister, Pearl. Otis has been healing since Pearl passed away in book 1 and is scared that his lessening grief means that he doesn't miss his late friend anymore. But thankfully, Peanut is there to show that time can possibly heal all wounds.

Finally, Otis' sister is coming to town for a super short visit. Otis makes a list in hopes of making the most of his sister's 22 minute stop before the train she's been riding on starts back up. With Peanut's, hopefully Otis can create the perfect schedule.

I really enjoyed this book. But it's a bit less funnier than volume 2. This volume is rather heartfelt. But as least it's nowhere near as heartbreaking as the previous volume was. In book 2, Peanut was having a really hard time with her sister's passing. So I was very glad to see that she was healing and able to help her friend. 

The first story was funny and the final act has some funny moments. But I felt like I enjoyed the previous book more because of the silliness factor being really ramped up. I think writer Naseem Hrab and illustrator Kelly Collier planned it to be more slapstick in nature because of how really deep the segment of Peanut missing her sister was. Comic relief in the light of tragedy. With this volume not being so emotional, I think less zaniness was put into the bookending stories.

 If there's a volume 4, and I hope there is, I hope Hrab and Collier tone down the sorrow and really focus on the laughs because Peanut and Otis really deserve a break in the gloomy clouds. And can we please get an Otis & Peanut animated series??? If we could, I nominate Andy Sandberg for Otis. But if Kate Micucci isn't Peanut, I say us fans of this series riot!!! Or at least write a sternly worded letter to whomever is producing the series.

A good read. It's just not my favorite in the series.

Worth Consuming! Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 25

A couple weeks ago, I was reading a collection of Mike Hammer comic strips from the early 80s when I made a wondrous discovery. Listed in the volume were a slew of other news strip collections available from the publisher. I was beyond thrilled to learn that there was not one but three volumes devoted to a 6-day per week collection of The Spirit comic strips. 

As any established Will Eisner aficionado knows, The Spirit got it's start as an 8-page color insert in the Sunday edition of many national newspapers. But did you know that for about 2 years, readers were treated to 7-days of adventures starring the Spirit, his assistant Ebony and the Central City police force? I sure as heck didn't!

The next day I went on Amazon to try and purchase those volumes. All 3 were available. But at really expensive prices that I just wasn't willing to pay. Then I got the idea that maybe, JUST MAYBE, DC released the dailies as part of the complete Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives. Lo and behold, a volume was produced. The penultimate book in the library has the whole scoop on the Spirit dailies along with a foreword by Tom Spurgeon and a brief introduction from one of those early 80s strip collections by the master himself on the art team behind this version of The Spirit. And I just happened to have this book in my 'to-read' pile and didn't even know that I was sitting on a gold mine!

Will Eisner only got to work on about the first 6 weeks of stories as both the writer, artist and inker before being drafted by the Army. Like a few others in the industry, Eisner attempted to moonlight as the strips artist and inker. But his military responsibilities grew to be too much and he had to go on an indefinite hiatus for the remainder of World War II.

Lou Fine and Jack Cole replaced Eisner in his absence in subsequent order. Both tried extremely hard to make the transition of creators as seamless as possible. While they managed to capture the artwork fairly well (I didn't notice a definite lacking in that quality until about the last third of the book), neither talent could match the genius of Will Eisner. For one thing, their story plotting seems to go in circles. There's a definite lack of creativity. Plus neither Fine nor Cole could portray Ebony White with any sort of dignity. His faces are exaggerated to the standards of the Jim Crow minstrel. His English is severely broken. And instead of being a reluctant hero, Ebony's portrayed more as a buffoon whose fate hinges on pure dumb luck.

The Spirit dailies were a victim of World War II. While popular with readers, a lack of talent willing to take on the assignment, spelled doom for the strip. Jack Cole's Plastic Man had become a hit and he was too busy to continue with the tight deadlines for a daily. So with paper at a premium due to rationing, and other titles more than willing to take Denny Colt's place, The Spirit was cancelled; reduced to merely appearing in newsprint every Sunday.

I think what I liked the best about this collection were the two lost Christmas stories, plus a handful of holiday themed strips. As an owner and reader of The Christmas Spirit, I thought I had read all of the character's holiday offerings. But thanks to this volume, I not only got those untold Christmas tales but at least 1 Thanksgiving and a Halloween haunt to read and enjoy as well!

If there is a lesson to be learned from all of this, it's that if you plan on making a very expensive purchase for an addition to a large comic book collection, be sure to do your research and make sure that you don't own the work in another format. I'm so glad that I didn't make an impulsive purchase without checking my books because I would have spent a lot of money on something that I already had and I would have been furious about it.

Worth Consuming!

Rating:8 out of 10 stars.

Savage Tales #3

The first volume of Marvel's Savage Tales was a black and white magazine edition that was slanted more towards fantasy adventure. Characters such as Conan the Barbarian and Kazar fit it's mold perfectly. Though there were a few exceptions, like the Man-Thing who's first ever appearance in the premiere issue, was rooted deeply in science fiction horror. 

In the mid-1980s, Larry Hama sought to revive the title. The second volume was a black and white magazine just like it's predecessor. But instead of sword and sorcery type adventures, this edition was geared towards war and conflicts from the past, present and near future. It's from this comic mag that we get a pair of stories set during the Vietnam War that the amazing comic book The 'Nam would come into fruition. 

In this issue alone, we see a episode set during the Bolshevik revolution of a forgotten police action carried out by American and Canadian troops to keep the Czar in power. A moonshiner takes revenge on a rival responsible for the death of his dog and the destruction of his impressive collection of Elvis vinyls. Desperate women seek military protection during an uprising set in 19th century colonial India. Airplane flying rebels seek to scavenge a crashed Soviet bomber in the aftermath of a nuclear Holocaust while in another different story set in a similar apocalypse, friends see medical attention for their critically injured mentor. A Nazi courier crosses enemy lines and angry live ammunition to deliver important top secret documents during the Watch on the Rhine. Lastly, The American Calvary tracks a legendary American Indian throughout the Sonoran Desert.

Unfortunately, this 1986 offering isn't one of the issues that features a The 'Nam precursor. I have that entire series run, plus a couple of Punisher tie-ins. So I would love to have those 2 issues to round out the full run. That means I'll be on the lookout for issues #1 and 4! Incidentally, a third story set in South Indochina was scheduled to appear in volume 2 of Savage Tales. Alas, the series was cancelled with issue #8. However, that story actually is not lost as it was retooled and saw print as The 'Nam #8!

Along with the editing talents of Larry Hama, there's a slew of Marvel greats including Dick Ayers, Herb Trimpe, Chuck Dixon (going by his Christian name Charles) and the fantastic John Severin. I've been a fan of his work ever since I was cutting my teeth on Cracked Magazine. Severin was the first artist I could recognize by his art style alone. He does double duty penciling the Russian Revolution and the American Calvary adventures. The cover art was by Mitch O'Connell.

An interesting read. I'm definitely wanting those The 'Nam forerunner stories but I don't think I'm in it for the entire 8 issue run.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Fire-Breathing Duckling (Family Comic Friday)

I was very surprised to find today's Family Comic Friday selection at my public library. It debuted in stores just a couple of days ago and with budget cuts, I wasn't expecting my library to be getting a copy of it. But I am very glad they did!

The Fire-Breathing Duckling is a retooling of the Hans Christian Andersen legend of The Ugly Duckling. Instead of a swan's egg getting mixed in with a batch of baby ducks, it's a dragon egg!

Nort is different than his duckling siblings. He's big and red instead of yellow and fluffy. He doesn't quack. He kinda snorts. Instead of swimming and floating on the water, he just kinda sinks. 

Unfortunately that last act brings about a lot of laughter at his expense from other animals on the ducklings' farm. So Nort, aided by his blue jay friend, goes around the stead hoping to find out what type of duckling he might be and Nort might just become the hero of all his barnyard friends in the process...

I love Toon Books. They're like the A24 Studios of graphic novels for young readers. They always feature artists and writers with such unique visions and voices. Frank Cammuso has both! The artwork was so adorable. There were several panels where I thought that Nort looked like Bill Watterson's timeless character Calvin; like the scene when the tiny dragon tries hay to find out if he's really a cow in disguise. 

This was a fun read recommended for readers in first and second grade. At least, that's what the suggested readers chart at the back of the book. But I think that those that are just about to enter kindergarten will love this book as well. 

I know we've still got a few more months left in the year. But I think I've already found my pick for the all-ages graphic novel of the year. It's a take on an all-time classic that I think will become an all-time great with generations to come! Hopefully this will also be the book that makes the multiple Eisner nominated Cammuso a winner! 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler

Believe it or not, I first read this book about 35 years ago. I was somewhere between 11 or 12 when I read it. Nobody ever said that my parents had very good parental discretion. The Lady in the Lake has got sex, violence, dirty cops and several gristly murders. 

I remember being enamored by the title that was a reference to the Arthurian legend. I'm here to tell you, this Raymond Chandler classic has absolutely nothing to do with King Arthur and Merlin. It would have been neat had the main setting, a secluded cabin in the Californian San Gabriel Mountains, had the name of Camelot. But nobody ever said that a Philip Marlowe mystery had a lot of symbolism. 

There was one point where Marlowe provided false information. That lie really confused me. The private investigator states that a murder suspect wore a certain piece of clothing when in fact, it was Philip who wore the accessory. I spent a good half hour going back through the book, thinking that I had missed something. Instead, I should of followed my own personal rule when I read a Raymond Chandler classic: just follow along for the ride.

Being a re-read, despite it being decades since I first read this book, I still had some memories of my first interaction with it. But my memory was foggy enough to still be surprised from time to time. Plus I was just really shocked by the content of this 1943 work, both for the level of loose morals for a time period otherwise considered puritanical compared to today. Plus I still can't believe my mom let me read this book when I was barely in middle school!!!

Marlowe is hired to find a missing wife. Her husband is a high level executive who's more afraid of the scandal behind his wife's history of infidelity than he is concerned about her safety. The last time she was seen was about a month earlier when she went to summer at her mountain cottage. Added to the mix was a bizarre telegram win which the woman claims she's gone to Mexico for a quickie divorce and even quicker remarriage. Only the guy she claimed was going to marry her never took the plunge and hasn't seen her in weeks.

When the shamus visits the cabin, he learns that the caretaker's wife disappeared at about the same time as the missing socialite. When Marlowe discovers a body partially submerged in the water, it's identified that the victim is the caretaker. But could the murderer have been his client's missing bride? It's up to the detective to solve two mysteries that while seemingly unaffiliated; the clues keep entangling like a fast growing vine around each other.

One thing that readers need to understand about this book is that it was written during the height of World War II. There's a lot of situations that seem very unusual to modern day readers as those moments should. There was a very great fear of sabotage especially along the West Coast. Plus with priority going towards the war effort, shortages and rationing was a very real first world problem for Americans in the 1940s. Once you understand the impact the war made on everyday life in the United States, despite our country not becoming an active war zone, it will help you better enjoy this work.

A great read. Just remember to let Raymond Chandler guide you. Things might seem out of sorts at time. But it all circles back in the end.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.