Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for March 7, 2018

DARK HORSE COMICS

NOV170024    BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER OMNIBUS SEASON 8 TP VOL 02    $24.99
DEC160101    CHIMICHANGA HC SORROW OF WORLDS WORST FACE    $14.99
JAN180111    INCOGNEGRO RENAISSANCE #2 (MR)    $3.99
JAN180105    KOSHCHEI THE DEATHLESS #3 (OF 6)    $3.99
NOV170020    LOBSTER JOHNSON TP VOL 06 CHAIN FORGED IN LIFE    $19.99
OCT170113    PSYCHO PASS INSPECTOR SHINYA KOGAMI TP VOL 04    $11.99
JAN180106    RASPUTIN VOICE OF DRAGON #5 (OF 5)    $3.99
JAN180107    RASPUTIN VOICE OF DRAGON #5 (OF 5) KALUTA VAR    $3.99

Review: RED SONJA Volume 2 #1

RED SONJA, VOL. 2 #1
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT – @dynamitecomics

WRITER: Gail Simone – @GailSimone
ARTIST: Walter Geovani
COLORS: Adriano Lucas
LETTERS: Simon Bowland
COVER: Nicola Scott
VARIANT COVERS: Amanda Conner, Fiona Staples, Jenny Frison, Colleen Doran; Stephanie Buscema (subscription cover)
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

Rated T+

Based on the character created Robert E. Howard and Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith

For Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover dated February 1973), writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith created a high fantasy sword and sorcery heroine.  She was named Red Sonja and was loosely based on “Red Sonya of Rogatino,” a female character that appeared in the short story, “The Shadow of the Vulture,” written by Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Cimmerian.

Red Sonja has appeared in comic books for forty years, with the character spending the last decade at Dynamite Entertainment.  Dynamite Entertainment is re-launching their ongoing Red Sonja comic book series with Gail Simone as writer and Walter Geovani as artist on a new title, Red Sonja, Volume 2.

Red Sonja, Volume 2 #1 opens with a brief look into Red Sonja’s past.  Three years later, she is sleeping off a drunk, which is interrupted by thieves and by Nias and Ayla – her self-appointed bodyguards.  Now, a former benefactor (so to speak), King Dimath needs Sonja’s help.  Sonja agrees, and her reward is a ghost from her past.

In interviews she has given for Red Sonja, Volume 2, writer Gail Simone has spoken of taking the character in a direction that is different from past interpretations.  Simone is one of the few female writers who have broken into the white boys’ club that is comic book writing for Marvel and DC Comics in a way that has allowed her to be prolific and influential.  And she is not really like her male colleagues.

Simone’s Red Sonja is fiery and aggressive, not icy and reserved – as the character has been in the past.  She is not really an alpha female.  It’s like this: because it is a penis or royal penis does not mean Sonja has to submit or bow to it.  Simone’s Red Sonja is truly liberated from having her life defined by men being in control.  Simone’s presentation of the character makes this book worth a look, because the plot is merely standard sword and sorcery material.

Fans of Red Sonja and of Gail Simone will want to try Red Sonja, Volume 2.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

I Reads You Review: ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #3

ROCKETEER ADVENTURES #3
IDW PUBLISHING

WRITERS: Ryan Sook, Joe R. Lansdale, Bruce Timm, Jonathan Ross
ARTISTS: Ryan Sook, Bruce Timm, Tommy Lee Edwards
COLORS: Tommy Lee Edwards
LETTERS: Ryan Sook, John Workman
PIN-UPS: Stephanie Buscema, Joe Chiodo
EDITOR: Scott Dunbier
COVER: Alex Ross (alternate cover by Dave Stevens)
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

First appearing in 1982, The Rocketeer is a superhero created by the late writer/illustrator Dave Stevens. The Rocketeer takes inspiration from the Saturday movie heroes of the 1930s and 1940s, and his exploits are mainly set in Los Angeles in and after the year 1938. The Rocketeer is Cliff Secord, a stunt pilot who discovers a mysterious jet pack that allows him to fly, and Secord’s girlfriend, Bettie Page, is based upon real life, 1950s pin-up and fetish model, Bettie Page.

Over a 30 year period, The Rocketeer made infrequent comic book appearances in several publications from several publishers. The character debuted as a backup feature in the comic book, Starslayer, from the now-defunct Pacific Comics and made two appearances in Pacific's anthology, Pacific Presents. Afterwards, there was the Rocketeer Special Edition (Eclipse Comics), the Rocketeer Adventure Magazine (Comico Comics) and finally graphic novel collection from Dark Horse Comics

The Rocketeer is back in Rocketeer Adventures, a new anthology series from IDW Publishing. Edited by Scott Dunbier, Rocketeer Adventures features Rocketeer short stories (about 7 to 8 pages in length) from some of the premiere creators in American comic books.

Rocketeer Adventures #3 opens with “A Rocketeer Story” by Ryan Sook, which finds the Rocketeer taking on robbers at the premiere of a new film in which Bettie has a major speaking role. Writer Jonathan Ross and artist Tommy Lee Edwards introduce the “Junior Rocketeers” as girl power flexes its muscles. Stephanie Buscema and Joe Chiodo offer pin-ups. Writer and novelist Joe R. Lansdale and artist Bruce Timm present an illustrated prose short story and faux pulp tale, “Heaven’s Devils.”

“A Rocketeer Story” and “Junior Rocketeers” are nice, but nothing special. How does one follow up an issue that had a Darwyn Cooke Rocketeer story? Scott Dunbier somehow wrangled a Joe R. Lansdale/Bruce Timm joint – a short fiction piece with illustrations. I’ve always hated/dreaded finding a prose story in a comic book. I like short stories, but I don’t want to read one in a comic book. Am I obligated to read it, I always ask myself.

The seven-page story features a cover-like illustration and wide black and white illustrations by Timm, but Lansdale holds up his end. “Heaven’s Devils is a fun read with lots of salty language, and it features the subtly vivid prose that is a hallmark of the usually excellent Lansdale. Once again, the contributors to Rocketeer Adventures do right by Dave Stevens.

B+