Showing posts with label 2025. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2025. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: VATICAN CITY #1

VATICAN CITY #1 (OF 3)
DARK HORSE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Per Berg
COLORS: Per Berg
LETTERS: Per Berg
EDITOR: Daniel Chabon
EDITORIAL: Sarah Unwin
COVER: Per Berg
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Per Berg; John McCrea
40pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (April 2025)

Rating: 18+

Vatican City created by Mark Millar at Netflix

Vatican City is a new Millarworld miniseries from Dark Horse Comics.  It is created and written by Mark Millar and drawn, colored, and lettered by Per Berg.  Vatican City is set in a world overrun by vampires, except for Vatican City, which is the main target of the vampires.

Vatican City #1 opens in Princeton, New Jersey.  There, Professor Derrida is about to discover that he is to play a key role in a vampire plot that is steadily taking over the world.

A few hours later, Guido Cavelti, recently of the Swiss Air Force, is in Vatican City, the independent city-state within Rome, Italy that is the government of the “Holy See” (the Pope and the Papacy).  Cavelti is there to be interviewed about a position with the Swiss Guard, the security that protects the Pope and the Apostolic Palace.

Before he knows it, however, Cavelti is in the middle of a rescue operation, trying to save everyone inside Vatican City.  There is an invasion of monsters just outside its borders.

THE LOWDOWN:  This is the second time that I have been on any kind of list that provides PDF copies of titles published by Dark Horse Comics.  The latest received is Vatican City #1.

While reading this, I thought of a few apocalyptic and vampire films to which Vatican City #1 has at least a passing resemblance – in one way or another.  That includes 28 Days Later (2002), I Am Legend (2007), Daybreakers (2009), to name a few.  Of course, Vatican City's writer, Mark Millar, has dealt with vampires before, as he has did when he launched his wonderful vampire-as-superheroes franchise with Night Club #1.

Millar throws the readers right into the action, and as always, Millar action is bracing action – filled with equal parts thrills and chills.  I don't want to spoil anything, but, of course, there is a shocking surprise to close out this first issue.

The art, colors, and letters by Per Berg (also known as Per Darwin Berg or by the pen name, “Narwhal”) are both representational and impressionistic, possibly because Berg is depicting a world that is rapidly shifting from the natural to the supernatural.  One thing that Berg's storytelling certainly does is create the sense of rapid breakdown and hopelessness, which are perfect modes for apocalyptic fiction.  Berg wants the reader to guess at what is happening more than know what is happening.

Well, Millar and Berg have certainly given readers a reason to come back for the second issue.  I suggest that you do so, dear readers.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mark Millar, of vampire comic books, and of horror apocalypse will want to read Vatican City.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

The VATICAN CITY trade paperback edition is available at Amazon.

https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/
https://x.com/mrmarkmillar
https://x.com/netflix
http://www.millarworld.tv/
https://www.darkhorse.com/


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

----------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).


Tuesday, September 23, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: BETTY & VERONICA: Summer Fun in the Sun #1

BETTY & VERONICA: SUMMER FUN IN THE SUN, NO. 1
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Holly G!; Tania del Rio; Dan Parent, Goldie Chan; Bill Golliher; Frank Doyle
PENCILS: Holly G! Bill Golliher; Dan Parent; Dan DeCarlo
INKS: Jim Amash; Bob Smith; Bill Golliher; Rudy Lapick
LETTERS: Jack Morelli; Vincent DeCarlo
EDITORS: Jamie Lee Rotante, Vincent Lavallo, and Stephen Oswald
EiC: Mike Pellerito
COVER: Holly G! with Rosario “Tito” Peña
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Dan Parent with Rosario “Tito” Peña
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (October 2025); On sale: August 6, 2025

Rating: All-Ages

Betty and Veronica in “H2-OH!!”

Eternal high school student and teenage boy, Archie Andrews, and his friends made their debut in M.L.J. Magazines' Pep Comics #22 (cover dated: December 1941), and before long, Archie was the publisher's headliner character.  In 1946, the company changed its named to Archie Comic Publications, also known as “Archie Comics.” Two of Archie Comics' main characters are Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, best friends and also rivals in their love for Archie.

Archie Comics frequently publishes themed one-shot comic books featuring Betty and Veronica.  The latest is Betty & Veronica: Summer Fun in the Sun No. 1.  It features one new story and five reprint stories.  Entitled “H2-OH!!,” the new story is written by Holly G!; drawn by Holly G! (pencils) and Jim Amash (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.

Betty and Veronica in “H2-OH!!”:
As the story opens, Archie has just won the “Riverdale Waterpark Adventure Giveaway,” an exclusive private day for Archie and five friends at the brand-new “Riverdale Waterpark.”  So Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Toni (Topaz), and Hot Dog (Jughead's dog) join Archie for two-hours of fun.  For someone like Veronica, however, a trip to the water park isn't just a day of fun.  It is a chance to make a huge splash with social media influencers.

THE LOWDOWN:  Archie Comics often sends me PDF copies of their titles for review.  While I don't get to review all of them, I enjoy these single issue titles like Betty & Veronica: Summer Fun in the Sun, No. 1.

In addition to the “Betty and Veronica” lead story, “H2-OH!!,” this issue also includes “All the Same,” a Betty and Veronica story from Archie Giant Series Magazine #34 (cover dated: November 1965), which was drawn by classic Archie Comics' artist, the late Dan DeCarlo.  There are two stories starring Fran Frazer, the young investigator who hosts a true crime podcast.  There is one story starring “Young Dr. Masters” (David Masters), the Riverdale physician who puts himself in danger to help others.  There is also one “Sabrina, the Teen-Age Witch” (Sabrina Spellman) story.  Both Fran Frazer stories and the Sabrina story involve supernatural elements.

I enjoyed “H2-OH!!” because I am a fan of the work of modern Archie Comics creator, Holly G!  However, I am also a fan of supernatural-themed Archie Comics stories, so I am happy about this comic book because of these stories.

As usual, I must warn you, dear readers.  I will always recommend classic-style Archie Comics titles.  Betty & Veronica: Summer Fun in the Sun, No. 1 has a new story in the classic Archie vein and is also classically fun.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want Betty & Veronica: Summer Fun in the Sun, No. 1.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

A Kindle edition of BETTY AND VERONICA: SUMMER FUN IN THE SUN NO.1 is available at Amazon.

https://archiecomics.com/
https://x.com/archiecomics
https://www.instagram.com/archiecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/ArchieComicsOfficial?ref=tn_tnmn
https://www.youtube.com/user/ArchieComicsOfficial
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8914136-archie-comics


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).


Wednesday, September 17, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: ECTYRON V ROJO GALLO

ECTYRON V ROJO GALLO
CANDLE LIGHT PRESS/Warning Comics

STORY: Carter Allen
SCRIPT: John Ira Thomas
ART: Carter Allen
COLORS: Carter Allen
LETTERS: John Ira Thomas
COVER: Carter Allen
BACK COVER: Will Grant
32pp, Color, $5.00 U.S. (2025)

Comic book writer-artist and graphic novelist, Carter Allen, has been publishing a series of comic books and graphic novels featuring a “kaiju” character known as “Ectyron! The Radioactive Chicken!”  Candle Light Press and Allen's Warning Comics have previously published several Ectyron comic books:  Ectyron Against Lagaxtu (2017), Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss (2018), and Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula (2019), the Ectyron Omnibus Vol. 1 (2022), and Ectyron vs. Des Moines (2023).

Ectyron is back on the attack in the recently released comic book, Ectyron v Rojo Gallo.  It is written by Allen (story) and John Ira Thomas (script); drawn and colored by Allen; and lettered by Thomas.  Ectyron comics employ particular elements of various Japanese science fiction sub-genres, in particular “Kaiju.”  This is a term used to describe the giant monsters and the fiction in which they appear.  Godzilla is an example of a kaiju, and Ectyron, a giant-sized chicken, is also a kaiju.

Ectyron v Rojo Gallo opens somewhere Iowa.  There, the sinister forces of Lord Gar-Lahk have summoned the monstrous rooster and demonic kaiju, “Rojo Gallo.”  With the Parademon-like “Tactighouls” right behind, Rojo Gallo begins a brutal campaign built on fear, pain, and terror that affects the entire regions.  Now, Madam Madamn (of “Sustenatione Stabilitas”) and that wonder of science, “AtomI.K.E.,” add their power to the might and majesty of Ectyron.  But can our heroes save the locals who seem to have invited this campaign of fear and hate on their own town?

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been receiving review copies of Carter Allen's comic books and graphic novels for almost two decades.  He always sends me review copies of his Ectyron titles, including Ectyron v Rojo Gallo.  We also collaborated on the 2024 original graphic novel, The Wrath of Karapace: A Big Spirits Epic.

Once again, Allen uses lush watercolors to produce his art and storytelling.  That gives Ectyron v Rojo Gallo an almost surreal sensibility.  The story is literally a firestorm, a raging inferno that rides the winds of prejudice and bigotry to the point where no one is safe from the sh*t they started.  Allen's art is really graphical storytelling, wild and crazy, full of big panels that recall classic “Silver Age” monster comics and “Space Age” monster movies.  Reading the story is like entering a fun madhouse of perfectly weird comic book ideas

I have to admit that I was surprised that Carter and his co-conspirator, writer John Ira Thomas, offers some sharp political and social commentary in this comic book. There is not a lot of it, but what appears is merciless and timely.  I don't want to spoil Allen and Thomas' savory barbs, but yes, some of you did not vote for this, but then again, you kinda did...  In Ectyron v. Rojo Gallo, the citizenry reaps what it sowed, and as always, now they want the people whom they tried to own to help them.

Ectyron v Rojo Gallo is a double-bladed delight.  Find the Candle Light Press gang at a convention and snag a copy.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of kaiju and of Carter Allen's kaiju comic books will want Ectyron v Rojo Gallo.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


http://www.warningcomics.com/
http://candlelightpress.tumblr.com/
https://x.com/attila71
https://x.com/candlelightpres
https://www.facebook.com/Warning-Comics-194471080646766/
https://www.deviantart.com/vectorattila


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------


Tuesday, August 12, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: COSMIC CENSORSHIP Volume 1

COSMIC CENSORSHIP VOL. 1
TITAN COMICS/Titan Manga

WRITER-ARTIST: Ryu-ichi Sadamatsu
TRANSLATION: Molly Rabbitt
LETTERS: Tom Williams
DESIGN: David Colderley
EDITOR: Louis Yamani
ISBN: 978-1787745704; paperback (July 1, 2025)
256pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Rating: Age 15+

Uchuu Kenetsukan is a five-volume sci-fi, mecha, and action manga written and drawn by Ryu-ichi Sadamatsu.  It was serialized over 39 chapters in the online platform, LINE Manga, from 2020 to 2023.  Titan Manga is publishing an English-language edition of Uchuu Kenetsukan as a paperback graphic novel series under the title, Cosmic Censorship.  The first volume debuted July 1, 2025.

Cosmic Censorship Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 8, and “Intermission”) opens in the year 2019.  It introduces Maki Makino, a high school student and former track and field club member.  She was once a track star in middle school, but a horrible leg injury ended that.

One day, Maki meets a mysterious man wearing sunglasses on her way to school.  He saves her life, but he starts acting like a stalker.  His name may be “Roger Penrose,” or is that the name Maki gave him?  He is apparently a part-time janitor at her high school... and something called a “cosmic censor” – whatever that is!  What Maki does not know is that this encounter connects to her past and future.  Maki is going to die soon.. or is she?  The future cannot be changed!  Or can it?  And now, Maki has to learn to navigate new powers...

THE LOWDOWN:  Since October 2023, Titan Manga has provided me with print and PDF copies of their manga publications for review.  One of the latest is Cosmic Censorship Volume 1.

I came across a description of Cosmic Censorship as being in the same vein as the classic mecha Japanese media franchise, Neon Genesis Evangelion.  I have to admit that I have never watched the anime, but I did read several volumes of the manga.  I suggest the Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 Edition Volume 1 as a good way to start on the manga version.

Cosmic Censorship Graphic Novel Volume 1 does indeed offer some mecha fun and alien monsters, but this first volume is more fight comic than anything else.  That is not a bad thing.  The duels and battles here had me flipping through the pages to see more.  That is because the beautiful it yields bracing, fast-paced, engaging storytelling.

For all its kinetic energy, however, this series is lightly humorous and teases a “boy meets girls” relationship, with a macabre spin, of course.  Maki and Roger have the potential to be a couple that really captures the reader's interest because she is so inquisitive and he is so determined to protect her from the disasters that her nature may bring.

Cosmic Censorship's sense of mystery also draws me deeper into the series.  I am already curious about the next volume, and I am ready to see what befalls Maki and Roger next.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of mecha manga and of science fiction-action manga will want to try Cosmic Censorship.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

COSMIC CENSORSHIP VOL. 1 is available in print and digital editions from booksellers, including from Amazon.

SAMPLE PAGES FROM VOLUME 1:


https://titan-comics.com/
https://x.com/ComicsTitan
https://www.instagram.com/titancomics/
https://www.facebook.com/ComicsTitan


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).


Wednesday, August 6, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: ARCHIE MEETS JAY & SILENT BOB

ARCHIE MEETS JAY & SILENT BOB
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Kevin Smith
PENCILS: Fernando Ruiz
INKS: Rich Koslowski
COLORS: Matt Herms
LETTERS: Jack Morelli
EDITORS: Jamie Lee Rotante; Vincent Lovallo; Stephen Oswald
EiC: Mike Pellerito
COVER: Fernando Ruiz and Rich Koslowski with Rosario “Tito” Peña
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Francesco Francavilla; Phil Hester; Dan Parent; Ty Templeton; Dan Panosian; Michael Allred; Fernando Ruiz and Rich Koslowski with Rosario “Tito” Peña
48pp, Color, $7.99 U.S. (regular covers), $11.99 (foil variants) (September 2025); on sale in comic book shops July 9, 2025

Rating: Teen+/Mature

Eternal high school student and teenage boy, Archie Andrews, and his friends made their debut in M.L.J. Magazines' Pep Comics #22 (cover dated: December 1941), and before long, Archie was the publisher's headliner character.  In 1946, the company changed its named to Archie Comic Publications, also known as “Archie Comics.”

“Archie Meets” is a series of mostly one-shot comic books which features the cast of the Archie comic book franchise meeting other fictional pop culture characters or real-life figures.  The first was Archie Meets the Punisher from Archie Comics and The Punisher Meets Archie from Marvel Comics.  The latest is Archie Meets Jay and Silent Bob.  Film fans know that the characters, “Jay and Silent Bob,” appear in some of the films from writer-director Kevin Smith.  Jay, played by actor Jason Mewes, and Silent Bob, played by Kevin Smith, himself, first appeared in the film, Clerks (1994), and went on to appear in several of Smith's film, including their own Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001).

Archie Meets Jay and Silent Bob is written by Kevin Smith, drawn by Fernando Ruiz (pencils) and Rich Koslowski (inks); colored by Matt Herms; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.  In this new one-shot, a summer job turns into so much more when Archie meets Jay and Silent Bob.

Archie Comics & Secret Stash Press Present “Jay & Silent Bob: Chasing Archie”:

“Jay & Silent Bob: Chasing Archie” opens at “Quick Stop Groceries” where Randal Graves is thinking about the recent passing of his friend, Dante Hicks (as seen in 2022's Clerks III).  He also thinks that he and his coworker, Elias Grover, should not work as hard as they are, although Randal doesn't really work hard.  Enter Archie Andrews – out of Riverdale and in New Jersey looking for a job.

Our All-American boy has entered the world of profanity, scatological conversation, and weed, but there is even more.  Before long, Archie has met Jay & Silent Bob and has entered “RST THC” (formerly “RST Video”), their small business, a legal marijuana dispensary.  Archie's new Jersey acquaintances all think he is square.  Then, they learn that he is in a rock 'n' roll band, “The Archies.”

As luck would have it, The Archies are opening for “Josie and the Pussycats” on the power trio's Riverdale stop of their current concert series, “The Ersatz Tour,” at the “Riverdale Arena.”  Jay's daughter, Millennium “Milley” Faulken,” loves Josie and the Pussycats.  So, now, Randal, Jay & Silent Bob, Millie, Elias, and tag-along Blockchain are heading to Riverdale for the concert.  But when one of the visitors decides to crash one of the bands' set, who knows just how crazy it will get.

THE LOWDOWN:   For several years, Archie's marketing department has been sending me PDF copies of some of their titles for review.  One of the most recent is Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob.

Right from the start, I have to say that I love Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob, and I do mean love.  As for as celebrity-written Archie comics one-shots go, Kevin Smith's turn here works out much better than October 2024's mildly disappointing and slightly over-hyped Archie: The Decision, written by DC Comics superstar writer, Tom King.

Kevin Smith makes Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob read like genuine Archie Comics, even with all the profanity (the F-bomb, among them), sexual innuendo, and drug references.  In fact, the adult, or at least, older-teen elements don't seem all that out of place simply because this comic book is such a fun read.  The happy ending makes me think that Kevin Smith, Jay & Silent Bob, and the “View Askewniverse” should make regular visits to Riverdale and vice versa.

The pencil art by Fernando Ruiz is classic Archie Comics storytelling and conveys a sense of spry, slightly edgy comedy that Kevin Smith brings to this and that frequently yields surprises – some of them shameless.  Rich Koslowski, a frequent Archie Comics contributor, uses his solid inking on Ruiz's pencil art to sharpen the storytelling's focus.  The colors by Matt Herms and the letters by the great Jack Morelli put the finishing touches that make Kevin Smith's characters and situations feel right at home in the world of Archie.

Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob is really a big deal.  It is a classic-style Archie Comics comic book, so I automatically love it.  However, dear readers, Kevin Smith and the creative team so completely pull off this crossover slash mashup that I think anyone who has ever enjoyed an Archie comic book will certainly enjoy Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics and of Kevin Smith will want to find a copy of Archie Meets Jay & Silent Bob.

A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

EXTRAS:
-- This comic book includes a “Special Feature, an essay by Fernando Ruiz entitled, “Notes from New Jersey … and Riverdale!.” in which Ruiz writes about his collaboration on this comic book with writer Kevin Smith.  This piece also includes preliminary art and a color sketch.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

The Kindle edition of ARCHIE MEETS JAY & SILENT BOB is available at Amazon.

https://archiecomics.com/
https://x.com/archiecomics
https://www.instagram.com/archiecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/ArchieComicsOfficial?ref=tn_tnmn
https://www.youtube.com/user/ArchieComicsOfficial
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/8914136-archie-comics


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).


Wednesday, July 30, 2025

#IReadsYou Movie Review: "THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS"

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Running time:  115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
Rating:  MPA – PG-13 for action/violence and some language
DIRECTOR:  Matt Shakman
WRITERS:  Josh Friedman, Eric Person, and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer; from a story by Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer, and Kat Wood (based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)
PRODUCER:  Kevin Feige
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jess Hall (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Nona Khodai and Tim Roche
COMPOSER:  Michael Giacchino

SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION and FANTASY/DRAMA

Starring:  Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn, Ralph Ineson, Julia Garner, Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, Sarah Niles, Mark Gatiss, and Matthew Wood (voice)

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a 2025 American superhero movie and science fiction film from director Matt Shakman and Marvel Studios.  The film is based on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, which was created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee and first appeared in the comic book, The Fantastic Four #1 (cover dated: November 1961).  It is also the 37th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second reboot of the Fantastic Four film franchise.  In First Steps, the Fantastic Four is forced to balance their family life and their superhero life as never before when a god-like space being and his enigmatic herald arrive and mark Earth for destruction.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens on Earth-828  in the year 1960.  It introduces “The Fantastic Four,” a quartet of astronauts turned superheroes.  First is the highly intelligent scientist, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), who as “Mr. Fantastic” can stretch any part of his body to great lengths.  Next is Reed's wife, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), the founder of the “Future Foundation,” a global demilitarization and world peace organization.  As the “Invisible Woman” Sue can generate force fields and turn invisible.  Then, there is the brilliant pilot, former astronaut, and Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), a.k.a. “The Thing,” whose skin has been transformed into a layer of orange rock, which grants him super-human strength and durability.  Finally, there is Sue's younger brother, Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), who as the “Human Torch,” can engulf his body in flames, control fire, and fly.

The world honors The Fantastic Four for what they have given humanity, so when Reed and Sue reveal that they are expecting a child, the world celebrates and prepares for the new arrival, while also wondering if the child will also have super-powers.  However, the celebrating is short-lived.  A metallic-skinned, seemingly-female alien arrives from space, riding a surfboard.  This “Silver Surfer” (Julia Garner) is the herald of Galactus (Ralph Ineson), a planet-devouring cosmic being, and he is coming to devour Earth.  Now, the members of The Fantastic Four face their toughest test ever, and the price they must pay to save the Earth may be too high for even them to pay.

I actually enjoyed Tim Story's two Fantastic Four films the aughts, Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007).  Director Josh Trank's 2015 reboot of the franchise, Fantastic Four, had a lot of good ideas, but alleged studio interference turned the film into a wreck.  The Fantastic Four: First Steps is not at all a wreck.  Its intense action sequences had me gripping the armrests of my seat at the local movie theater.  The villains are great.  Galactus is awesome and even scarier than the gargantuan “Celestials” of Marvel Studios' 2021 epic, Eternals; he seemed unbeatable.  Julia Garner's Silver Surfer is 10 times the herald the one in Rise of the Silver Surfer is.  This Silver Surfer, whose original name was “Shalla Bal,” is like a velociraptor on a surfboard.  She chases our heroes with the unrelenting hellish fury of the “Headless Horseman” that chases Ichabod Crane in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” segment of Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).

On the other hand, the heroes of The Fantastic Four: First Steps come across as too mild-mannered.  They are so accomplished that everything seems to come too easy for them.  Even when they are angry with one another, that anger lacks passion.  In fact, I'd call the cast and characters dispassionate.  It is as if the film's director, Matt Shakman, who does an excellent job overall, wants his leads to be inoffensive.  I like the casting of the leads, but they need to breath a little more fire.

In the end, I like that Disney and Marvel Studios finally take the opportunity to honor the late Jack Kirby (1917-1994), the comic book writer-artist who created the Fantastic Four with the late Stan Lee (1922-2018).  There are several nods to Kirby, and this is long overdue.  That makes me love First Steps even more.  It is almost a great film, and its special effects and inventive and imaginative retro-futuristic elements endlessly fascinate me.  The Fantastic Four: First Steps is hugely entertaining, and these are the right first steps to bring the Fantastic Four into the cinematic prominence they deserve.

A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, July 30, 2025


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------------------


Tuesday, July 29, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: YAN VOLUME 1

YAN VOL. 1
TITAN COMICS/Titan Manga

WRITER-ARTIST: Chang Sheng
TRANSLATION: Vanessa Liu
LETTERS: Tom Williams
DESIGN: David Colderley
EDITOR: Louis Yamani
ISBN: 978-1787744424; paperback with French flaps (June 24, 2025)
352pp, B&W, $24.99 U.S., $33.99 CAN, £19.99 UK

Yan Tieh Hua is a Taiwanese manga (manhua) created by writer-artist Chang Sheng.  It was originally published in Taiwan in three volumes 2020.  Titan Manga is publishing an English-language paperback edition under the title, Yan.  Each volume will have “French flaps,” which are extended sections of a paperback book's cover that fold inward, similar to a dust jacket on a hardcover book.

Yan, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 9, plus an “Epilogue”) opens with a viral video starring Yan Tieh Hua... and her intended victim – the Counselor's son.  Who is Yan Tieh Hua?

Once upon a time, Tieh Hua was a member of “Yan's Opera Troupe,” know for its “Peking Opera” performances.  However, 30 years ago, all the members of the troupe were found murdered – except 15-year-old Tieh Hua, who was blamed, convicted, and sent to prison for these crimes.  Twenty years later, Tieh Hua allegedly died in prison.

So how is it that 10 years later, Yan Tieh Hua is back in Taipei, Taiwan?  As she carves a bloody path toward vengeance, she has also reignited an investigation into the decades-old massacre of her family.  Detective Lei Ming Zhi, who investigated the original case, has been coerced into coming out of retirement.  It doesn't take him long to discover that he has as many questions about the place where Yan was imprisoned as he does about Yan.  When Lei finds Yan, he learns that she is a young woman like no other he has ever seen.  Add in Higa Miku, the missing young Go prodigy with the uncanny gift of precognition, and you have a hard to unravel mystery.  It is all presented as a tale of stylish brutality with that unique Taiwanese swagger.

THE LOWDOWN:  Since October 2023, Titan Manga has provided me with print and PDF copies of their manga publications for review.  One of the latest is Yan Volume 1.

By any name:  manga, manhua, or Taiwanese comics, Yan Graphic Novel Volume 1 is an incredible work of book design and construction and also a breathtaking read that will blow minds just about every page.  Yan Vol. 1 is like the first John Wick film, except that with Yan, the reader can enjoy each panel of an fight sequence by examining the lovely art.  I don't think that watching John Wick even in slow motion would allow the viewer to appreciate the beauty of simulated motion of a fight that well choreographed in manga graphics.

Before I go to far into this review, I want to say that the cover, with its French flaps, looks so sharp that I was reluctant to touch it – at first.  This book's 7.13 x 10.24 inches trim size perfectly captures the operatic and balletic aesthetic that defines Chang Sheng's breathless graphical storytelling with its grand elegance and depictions of swift lethal moves.

Readers will find that the nine chapters that comprise Yan Vol. 1 recalls unusual tales of vengeance, for instance director Park Chan-wook's Oldboy.  Stylistically, Sheng's spectacular action and fight scenes resembles (to one extent or another) films like The Crow (1994) and The Matrix (1999).  Most of all, the larger publication format gives the story a cinematic feel that is similar to that in which Katsuhiro Otomo infused his seminal manga, Akira.

For all that the flashy art seems to fly off the page, I think what Chang Sheng uses to drive this narrative is the depiction of the characters.  Yan Tieh Hua, Detective Lei, and Higa Miku are all engaging and intriguing, and they are always surprising in the things that they do and say.  Yan Vol. 1 seems to delight in making me make assumptions about what the characters will do only for me to realize how wrong I am.  My assumptions might be close to the truth, but there are twists and turns that always keep me on edge.  The characters are about more than a story of ultra-violence and vengeance.  They are about what lies beneath their choices and their actions, even their violence or the assumptions of their violent act.

Dear readers, I had a blast reading Yan Vol. 1, and I couldn't put this first volume down until I finished it.  I can't wait for more because this is the most fun I have had in reading manga in at least half a decade or so.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of manga from Taiwan and of manga that blends science fiction, action and intrigue will want to try Yan.

A+
10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

YAN VOLUME 1 is available for purchase at Amazon.


PAGE SAMPLES FROM YAN VOLUME 1:



--------------------


https://titan-comics.com/
https://x.com/ComicsTitan
https://www.instagram.com/titancomics/
https://www.facebook.com/ComicsTitan


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------



-----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).


Thursday, July 24, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: OUTSIDERS VOLUME 1

OUTSIDERS VOL. 1
TITAN COMICS/Titan Manga

WRITER-ARTIST: Akira Kanou
TRANSLATION: Molly Rabbit
LETTERS: Bendidi Ayoub
DESIGN: Matt Bookman
EDITOR: Louis Yamani
ISBN: 978-1787745711; paperback (June 17, 2025)
176pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Age: 12+

Outsiders is a manga created by writer-artist Akira Kanou.  It was originally published in France by French manga publisher, Ki-oon, in 2021.  Titan Manga, the British manga imprint of Titan Publishing, is publishing an English-language edition under the series title, Outsiders, beginning June 2025.

Outsiders, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 4, plus a “Prologue”) opens nearly two decades ago in West Germany near the French border where an important battle between “demihumans” comes to a close.  The threads of that incident carry over to present day Tokyo, Japan.

Meet 16-year-old Ema Asano, a high school student who is about to discover that her older sister, Yuko, is involved in something both dangerous and fantastic.  She discovers that her sister's boss, Tamaki Utsunomiya, CEO and chief designer of the interior design firm, Topos, is a 300-year-old vampire or “Aeternitas,” as they prefer to be called.  One of his employees, 33-year-old Taiga Wakaki, is a craftsman for Topos... and also a werewolf.

Now, Ema, who is a curious and brave girl, has found herself in a side of Tokyo that she did not know existed.  She has stepped into the city's shadows where she has started to uncover the secrets behind the ancient feud between Aeternitas and werewolf.  Full of energy and determination, Ema will navigate this dark fantasy world, a perilous path that will challenge her beliefs and reshape her destiny.  In the meantime, Ema has informed Tamaki and Taiga that she will keep them from killing each other, even if it might lead to her demise...

THE LOWDOWN:  Since October 2023, Titan Manga started providing me with print and PDF copies of their manga publications for review.  One of the latest is Outsiders Volume 1.

Outsiders Graphic Novel Volume 1 is deep inside my wheelhouse.  I am a huge fan the 2003 vampire vs. werewolf film, Underworld, and its sequels (although most of the sequels are inferior to the original film).  Whereas Underworld features a gun-wielding assassin, Outsiders' female protagonist, Ema Asano, is a plucky, determined girl right out of shojo manga.  So, Outsiders is probably closer to the much more popular vampire-werewolf film coupling that began with 2008's surprise hit film, Twilight, and that was adapted from Twilight, the 2005 novel that was the first of Stephenie Meyer's blockbuster series of novels.

As for Outsiders, readers can pour themselves into Ema and follow her into the world of the supernatural.  Like her, the readers will find themselves caught between the arrogant Tamaki and the sullen Taiga, whom I believe is the one of the two males leads to whom Ema is most attracted.  I find myself drawn to this dynamic, a kind of awkward love triangle that will both take us into a world that I love – the world of vampires and werewolves – and into the realm of young romance.

Akira Kanou's art is slightly more impressionistic than it is representational, but it is pitch perfect for depicting the world he is creating – a world beyond the natural where conflict and chaos reign in the shadows of Tokyo.  Kanou's storytelling moves along quickly, with flourishes of comedy and violence, centered around a heroine ready to do battle, to save lives, and to do right by everyone.  This first taste of Outsiders has me wanting to be on the inside of this dark fantasy manga.  After all, I believe that many readers will want to experience this eclectic take on the creatures of the night.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of vampire comics and of shojo manga will want to try Outsiders.

A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

OUTSIDERS VOLUME 1 is available at Amazon.


SAMPLE PAGES FROM OUTSIDERS VOL. 1:



-------------------------------

https://titan-comics.com/
https://x.com/ComicsTitan
https://www.instagram.com/titancomics/
https://www.facebook.com/ComicsTitan


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).



Wednesday, July 16, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: DONALD DUCK: MAGIC AND MAYHEM (Graphic Novel)

DONALD DUCK: MAGIC AND MAYHEM
FANTAGRAPHICS/Disney

STORY: Alberto Savini
TRANSLATION: Daniele Mittica
DIALOGUE: Joe Torcivia
PENCILS: Vitale Mangiatordi; Mattia Surroz; Emilio Urbano; Libero Ermetti; Mario Ferracina
INKS: Tommaso Ronda; Mattia Surroz; Roberta Zanotta; Stefano Porcu; Mario Ferracina
COLORS: Francesca Vivaldi; Annalisa Ferrari; Francesca Dramis; Connie Daidone
LETTERS: Paul Baresh and Ben Horak with Arancia Studio
DESIGN: Justin Allan-Spencer; C. Hwang
COVER: Libero Ermetti with Arancia Studio
MISC. ART: Francesco D'Ippolito with Arancia Studio; Mirka Andolfo; Marco Mazzarello with Valeria De Sanctis
ISBN: 979-8-8750-0045-4; hardback; 6.9" × 9.3" (February 2025)
116pp, Color, $19.99 U.S.

Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem is a 2025 hardback graphic novel starring Walt Disney's classic character, Donald Duck.  This book was published in March by Fantagraphics under their line of “Disney Originals.”  I think that “Disney Originals” are collections of new and recent comics starring Disney characters, likely originating from Europe.  This line is different from Fantagraphics' other line, “Disney Masters,” which reprints Disney comic books produced by comic book writers and artists from North America and from around the world who are considered masters storytellers in the Disney comic book tradition.

2024 was the 90th anniversary of Donald Duck's first appearance, which occurred in the 1934 animated short film, The Wise Little Hen, which was part of Walt Disney's “Silly Symphonies” line of animated shorts.  1934 was also the debut of the black and white animated short film, Orphan's Benefit, which introduced Donald as the comic foil of Disney's headline character, Mickey Mouse.

In 2024. a quintet of European Disney modern comics masters (likely all Italian) produced a suite of Donald Duck stories to celebrate his anniversary.  The plots kicks off with Donald finding himself having a hard time, but fate downloads an unusual app onto his smartphone.  When activated, the app frees the “Smartphone XL-Genie,” and this genie tells Donald that he will grant him one wish (and only one wish) each day.  With the words “App-Racadabra!,” Donald can experience his fondest dreams and wackiest wishes.  Will Donald's own foibles and imperfections, however, turn these fondest dreams into one nightmare scenario after another?

The five stories included in Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem are as follows:

Chapter 1: “App-Racadabra!”
Chapter 2: “The Price of Fame”
Chapter 3: “Keep Perfectly Calm!”
Chapter 4: “How Hard Can It Be?”
Chapter 5: “The Luckiest Duck in the World”

Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem also stars Uncle Scrooge McDuck, Daisy Duck, Cousin Fethry Duck, and, of course, the nephews:  Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  [I have to add this note.  This graphic novel is my first encounter with “Fethry Duck,” a character that apparently debuted in 1964!]

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been reviewing various Disney comic books produced by American publisher, Dynamite Entertainment, most or all of which I assume are American originals.  I almost always get a lot of visits and even more hits on my blogs when I review Disney films and publications, which is also the case with the Dynamite titles.  I decided to see if I would have similar luck with a Fantagraphics Disney title.  After discovering the existence of Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem, I used some Amazon gift card credit and purchased it.

Editor David Gerstein offers an excellent short “Foreword” to Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem.  In it, he talks about the way Disney has portrayed and depicted Donald for the majority of his existence.  Donald wants to lead a normal life, but finds himself involved with adventure that often becomes misadventure.  He is beset by bad luck, but he also usually seeks the easy way out.  He assumes that he can do anything, which inevitably leads to more dramatic disasters.  And as everyone who has ever seen him in film, television, and/or comic books knows, Donald is – as Gerstein puts it – “recklessly feisty and 'wreck-lessly' cranky.”

In the opening story, “App-Racadabra,” Donald gets in trouble merely because he wants to test his pancake-making meddle against the vlogger, “Doug Delish.”  The problem is that Donald is trying to make his magical recipe and Doug's at the same time.  Disaster ensues, and that's where the Smartphone XL-Genie comes into the story.  Afterwards, Donald uses the genie to fix things that he broke or to make himself better.  I am not spoiling things by telling you, dear readers, that this all leads to Donald learning that he really just needs to be himself.  This happens in this graphic novel's final tale, “The Luckiest Duck in the World,” the only one of the five tales that actually pits Donald against Uncle Scrooge.

I feel that I've spoiled enough.  What I want to tell you is that is if you love Donald Duck and/or Donald Duck comic books, this book is a treat that your imagination will want to have.  It's also a steal at the cover price of $19.99.  The creative teams that produced these five tales are true practitioners of the art and magic of Disney comics.  I found myself engrossed in these stories, especially the final one, and the art and colors are superb and look and feel like they belong in classic Disney comics.

I envy the readers in Europe who get to see these comics first, but I am glad that Fantagraphics is brings these “Disney Originals” to North American readers.  Please, support high-quality American graphic novels, and buy this or any of Fantagraphics' other Disney publications.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Fantagraphics Disney books and of Disney comic books in general will want to read Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem.

A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


DONALD DUCK: MAGIC AND MAYHEM is available at Amazon.


https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/disney-originals
https://www.fantagraphics.com/
https://x.com/fantagraphics
https://www.instagram.com/fantagraphics/
https://www.facebook.com/fantagraphics/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtLxEaspctVar287DtdsMww


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).


Friday, July 11, 2025

#IReadsYou Movie Review: SUPERMAN 2025

Superman (2025)

Running time:  129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)
Rating: MPA – PG for violence, action and language
DIRECTOR:  James Gunn
WRITER:  James Gunn (based characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)
PRODUCERS:  James Gunn and Peter Safran
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Henry Braham (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Craig Alpert and William Hoy
COMPOSERS:  David Fleming and John Murphy

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring:  David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Sara Sampaio, Wendell Pierce, Beck Bennett, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, Bradley Cooper, Angela Sarafyan, and Sean Gunn

Superman is a 2025 American superhero, fantasy, and action film from writer-director James Gunn.  It is the first film in the new DC Comics cinematic universe known as the “DC Universe.”  The character, Superman, first appeared in the comic book, Action Comics #1 (on-sale date of April 18, 1938), and was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, who also created other characters and situations related to Superman.  In Superman, the embodiment of truth, justice, and the human way must reconcile his desire to help humanity with a shocking revelation about his alien heritage.

Superman opens threes years after the metahuman, Superman (David Corenswet), revealed himself to the people of Metropolis.  His alter-ego, Clark Kent (David Corenswet), works as a reporter for “The Daily Planet,” where he has a relationship with fellow reporter, Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan).  Lois knows that Clark is Superman.  She knows that he is Kal-El, a baby sent from the planet, Krypton, by rocket ship to Earth.  Lois also knows that Clark was raised in Smallville, Kansas by his adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell), a fact he has kept secrets from others.

Superman recently stopped the country of Boravia, an ally of the United States, from invading its neighboring country, Jarhanpur.  As the film begins, Superman has just received a beat-down from Boravia's own metahuman, the Hammer of Boravia.  Things are not as they seem, however, as brilliant billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has launched a secret plot to destroy Superman, whom he sees not as a superhero, but as an existential alien threat to mankind.  With the help of his lackeys, Ultraman and The Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria), Luthor believes that he has the science and technology – the brain power – to beat Superman.

But Superman is not the only metahuman who is a superhero.  He occasionally gets help from the “Justice Gang”:  Michael Holt/Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), and Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced).  And Clark Kent will need all the friends he can get; a complete version of the broken message his Kryptonian parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Van (Angela Sarafyan), sent with him has come to light.  Now, some of the people of the world are starting to feel differently about Superman just when they need him the most.

Superman is a good film, but not a great film.  Overall, I like it, but I found myself rather cool to it as I watched it in a local theater last night.  I must admit that I felt the same way about the previous two attempts to reboot the Superman film franchise, director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) and director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel (2013).  Like Superman (2025), the plot and narratives of these earlier films are over-stuffed with subplots, settings, and characters that make the overall plot and narrative struggle to come together.  The over-stuffings are like roadblocks that force the central plot and narrative to veer off their most obvious and productive path.  I don't think the new Superman is as awkward in these areas as the aforementioned Superman reboots, but I do believe that the new film spends its first half bouncing around ideas, subplots, themes, relationships and conflicts.  To me, it is obvious that Superman 2025 borrows the big action set pieces of Man of Steel and also follows Superman Return's veneration of director Richard Donner and star Christopher Reeve's respective work on the Superman film franchise (1978-87).

There are things about the new Superman film that I really like.  I think the actors and the way they play the characters, for the most part, are nearly perfect.  The best thing about David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman is that he is the first actor that I have accepted as a true heir to the late Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), who is the gold standard when it comes to a cinematic Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman.  In a way, Superman 2025 offers its audience a vision of Superman as the quintessential nice guy the way Christopher Reeve and Superman: The Movie (1978) did.

Also, Rachel Brosnahan is a true heir to my favorite cinematic Lois Lane, the late Margot Kidder (1948-2018), Christopher Reeve's co-star.  I also got a kick out of Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific.  I liked him in his early roles in such films as Twilight (2008) and X-Men: First Class (2011), and I'd like to see him play Mister Terrific as a lead in either film or television.  I like Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, but the character is played way too over-the-top, but I think Hoult as Luther will be a huge benefit to future DC Universe films.

I obviously don't like James Gunn's Superman as much as I enjoyed his work on Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, which ended with the fantastic Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023).  Still, the new Superman is both a fresh start and a start in the right direction.

B
★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, July 11, 2025


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------


Wednesday, May 21, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: SAVAGE TALES #1 (2025)

SAVAGE TALES #1 (2025)

COLORS: Jorge Sutil
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Liam Sharp; Rafael Kayanan; Arthur Suydam
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (February 2025)

Rated Teen+

Savage Tales is the title of an anthology comic book series that has been used by both Dynamite Entertainment and Marvel Comics (twice).  Dynamite recently brought its version back as a series of occasionally-published one-shots.

The 2025 edition of Savage Tales #1 has four short stories.  Three of them are new stories written by David Avallone.  These stories feature Gullivar of Mars (drawn by Hamish Cook); John Carter and Dejah Thoris of Mars (drawn by Eman Casallos); and Vampirella (drawn by Mariano Benitez Chapo).  All of Avallone's stories are colored by Jorge Sutil and lettered by Jeff Eckleberry.

The fourth entry is a Red Sonja story written by Kurt Busiek; drawn by Benjamin Dewey; and lettered by Simon Bowland.  This story was originally published in Red Sonja: Black, White, Red #1 (July 2021).

I will summarize and review each story individually.

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, the marketing department at Dynamite Entertainment has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is the 2025 edition of Savage Tales #1, but this is not the first time I have read a Dynamite Savage Tales comic book.

Gullivar of Mars: “His War Chapter Three” by Avallone and Cook:

Captain Gullivar Jones is based on the character, Lt. Gulllivar Jones, who first appeared in the novel, Lieut. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation, written by Edwin Lester Arnold and published in 1905.  Writer David Avallone has been reworking the character over the past few years.

“His War” chronicles Jones' life since he first left Mars and eventually fought in “the Great War” (World War I).  Now, Jones has returned to Mars twenty years after his original time on the planet.  What he discovers is that he might be the reason for the once lush planet's sorry state, and his reunion with his beloved “Heru” (a princess of Mars) is also off to a sorry state.

Avallone has a deft touch with vintage and classic characters, and because of author Edwin Lester Arnold's influence on the science fiction sub-genre, “planetary romance,” Gullivar Jones is both vintage and classic.  This may be the best chapter of Avallone's revival yet, primarily because he immediately puts Jones in a life or death situation.  Hamish Cook's art and storytelling captures the edgy mood and tense action of the story's first person narration.  Cook makes me wish that this story could be published as a graphic novel.

John Carter and Dejah Thoris of Mars: “A Mutiny on Mars” by Avallone and Casallos:

“A Mutiny on Mars” opens in the distant past on the planet of “Barsoom” (Mars”) and finds royal couple, John Carter and Dejah Thoris, on a scientific expedition.  Instead of science, they find betrayal and a plot to kidnap John.

Avallone weaves a nice tale that will entertain those familiar with the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs' “Barsoom” series.  Eman Casallos and Jorge Sutil's art and colors give this story the kind of exotic and esoteric aesthetic that at least I expect of comic book stories set in the world of Barsoom.

Vampirella: “The Real Thing” by Avallone and Chapo:

Avallone weaves a rather surprising and delightful tale featuring Vampirella, a truly classic character that often suffers from overexposure.  Vampirella is working as a lowly assistant on the television series, “Draculette.”  Among the production crew, there are some real doubters who are about to discover the truth about vampires.  The question is whether or not Vampirella will step in to save the day or let the blood flow.

Mariano Benitez Chapo proves to be perfectly capable of turning Avallone's humorous scripts into a fun comics story that pops on the page.  Avallone is really good at blending supernatural horror comics with humor comics, and Chapo's art captures the snappiness of Avallone's banter here.  They'd make a good pairing on an Elvira series.  As he does in the other two original stories, Jeff Eckleberry adds a stylish flair with his lettering for this story.

Red Sonja: “Seeing Red” by Busiek and Dewey:

“Seeing Red” opens in a place called the “Mountains of Night” where Red Sonja will enter a crypt as part of a deal she made with an ambitious wannabe ruler.  What she's finds is certain death at the hands or claws of a creature that moves too fast for her to see.  And that's got the “She-Devil with a Sword” seeing red.

I did read the 2021 Red Sonja: Black, White, Red series – every issue except the first, so “Seeing Red” is new to me.  Kurt Busiek delivers a tale that reads as if it is a Conan the Barbarian tale from Marvel Comics' classic black and white magazine, The Savage Sword of Conan.  Benjamin Dewey's art certainly sells this story's classic Marvel vibe with rock-solid compositions that are perfect for Red Sonja's comic book brand of sword and sorcery.  As always I love the pounding vibe Simon Bowland's lettering gives this story.

If I had to reluctantly pick a favorite comics story in Savage Tales #1 (2025), it would be a difficult choice.  So, I will instead suggest you get this comic book, dear readers, and decide for yourself.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of anthology comic books will want to read Savage Tales #1.

A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://x.com/DynamiteComics
https://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/
https://www.facebook.com/DynamiteComics/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNOH4PEsl8dyZ2Tj7XUlY7w
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dynamite-entertainment


The text is copyright © 2025 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).