Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 24, 2018

IMAGE COMICS

AUG180121    BLOODSTRIKE BRUTALISTS TP (MR)    $9.99
AUG180211    BURNOUTS #2 CVR A BURNHAM (MR)    $3.99
JUL189036    BURNOUTS #2 CVR B GEOFFO (MR)    $3.99
JUL189037    BURNOUTS #2 CVR C FLEECS (MR)    $3.99
AUG180213    COLD SPOTS #3 (OF 5) CVR A TORRES (MR)    $3.99
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AUG180220    DAYS OF HATE #9 (OF 12) (MR)    $3.99
AUG180151    GASOLINA TP VOL 02 (MR)    $16.99
JUL180153    ISOLA TP VOL 01    $9.99
AUG180265    RAT QUEENS #12 CVR A GIENI (MR)    $3.99
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AUG188636    RAT QUEENS #12 CVR C VIRGIN (MR)    $3.99
AUG180273    REDNECK #16 (MR)    $3.99
AUG180274    REGRESSION #12 (MR)    $3.99
AUG180191    ROYALBOILER BRANDON GRAHAM DRAWN OUT COLL TP (MR)    $24.99

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 24, 2018

MARVEL COMICS

AUG180975    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #8    $3.99
AUG188288    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #8 JG JONES BLACK CAT VAR    $3.99
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MAY180955    CABLE SOLDIER X HC    $75.00
JUL181189    DEADPOOL ASSASSIN TP    $17.99
JUL181169    HUNT FOR WOLVERINE HC    $50.00
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AUG180880    INFINITY WARS SLEEPWALKER #2 (OF 4)    $3.99
AUG180885    INFINITY WARS SOLDIER SUPREME #2 (OF 2)    $3.99
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JUL181168    MARVEL SUPERHERO ADVENTURES GN TP TO WAKANDA AND BEYOND    $9.99
AUG181028    MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #36    $3.99
AUG181016    MOON KNIGHT #200    $4.99
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AUG180935    TRUE BELIEVERS WHAT IF KRAVEN HUNTER KILLED SPIDER-MAN #1    $1.00
AUG180936    TRUE BELIEVERS WHAT IF SILVER SURFER POSSESSED GAUNTLET #1    $1.00
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AUG181054    X-MEN RED #9    $3.99
AUG181055    X-MEN RED #9 MAXX LIM KIM MARVEL BATTLE LINES VAR    $3.99

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for October 24, 2018

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

AUG181997    ADVENTURE VAN #3 (OF 5)    $3.99
AUG181999    AMULET 1-8 BOX SET    $103.92
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AUG181478    HIGH HEAVEN #2 (MR)    $3.99
AUG182190    HP LOVECRAFT FOUR CLASSIC HORROR STORIES HC GN    $35.00
JUL182459    IF ITS FOR MY DAUGHTER DEFEAT DEMON LORD GN VOL 02    $12.99
JUL182152    JOHN CARPENTER TALES OF SCI FI STANDOFF #4 (OF 5) (MR)    $3.99
AUG181786    LADY DEATH PIN UPS #1 LADY DEATH RIDER DAMAGED ED    $20.00
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JUL182098    2000 AD PACK SEPTEMBER 2018    $27.00
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BOOKS
SEP182074    ALISON BECHDEL CONVERSATIONS SC    $25.00
JUN182302    ANCIENT MAGUS BRIDE SUPPLEMENT SC    $13.99
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AUG182170    BATMAN CHRONICLES OF THE DARK KNIGHT HC    $20.00
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Review: GANGSTA: Cursed Volume 1

GANGSTA: CURSED, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Kohske
ART: Syuhei Kamo
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: Eric Erbes
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9054-7; paperback (December 2016); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

The edgy crime manga, Gangta, has a prequel.  It is entitled Gangsta: Cursed, and it explores the dark and violent past of key characters from Gangsta.  Cursed is written by the creator-writer-artist of Gangsta, Kohske, and is drawn by Syuhei Kamo.

Gangsta: Cursed, Vol. 1 (Chapters 0 to 3) introduces Marco Adriano, when he was young.  Before he was a loyal and beloved member of the Cristiano Family, Marco was “Spas.”  He belonged to the Destroyers Second Group, a five-member squad that hunts and brutally kills “Twilights,” humans born with power and abilities that normal humans do not have.  Marco kills and kills, slaughtering and cutting Twilights as if they were meat, but then, he is confronted by a horrifying truth.

If I understand correctly, the Gangsta: Cursed manga is a spin-off series from the original Gangsta that focuses on the origins and back stories of several of the main characters of the main series.  I like that because the flashbacks are some of the best story lines in Gangsta.  [I'm a sucka for flashbacks in manga, in general.]  Artist Syuhei Kamo does an uncanny impersonation of Kohske's drawing style, so that is so more continuity in this new series' favor.

In terms of the violence, Gangsta: Cursed Graphic Novel Volume 1, the opening salvo, looks and plays out like a regular volume of Gangsta, but with a slight difference.  I don't remember any one volume of Gangsta depicting as much carnage as Gangsta: Cursed Volume 1 does, and the original can be pretty graphic when depicting mayhem.  When I first heard about this manga spin-off prequel, I didn't think that we needed more Gangsta, but the gory horror fan in me does indeed want more Gangsta: Cursed.  I recommend it to Gangsta fans who want to swim in more blood.

B+
7 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Review: AMERICAN GODS #5

AMERICAN GODS No. 5
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Neil Gaiman
SCRIPT: P. Craig Russell
LAYOUTS: P. Craig Russell
ART: Scott Hampton
COLORS: Scott Hampton
LETTERS: Rick Parker
COVER: Glenn Fabry with Adam Brown
VARIANT COVER: David Mack
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2017)

American Gods, written by Neil Gaiman, is an award-winning, fantasy novel first published in 2001.  The novel won several fantasy-literary awards, and there is currently a hit television series adapted from the novel and televised on the cable network, Starz Media.  American Gods blends Americana and also ancient and modern mythology to tell the story of a man caught in a war between the gods of the Old World and the new American gods.

It is currently being adapted into a comic book by frequent Gaiman collaborator, P. Craig Russell, and publisher, Dark Horse Comics.  Russell is the guiding hand behind the American Gods comic book.  Russell writes the script adaptation of Gaiman's novel and provides the layouts for the art.  American Gods the comic book is drawn and colored by Scott Hampton and lettered by Rick Parker.

American Gods #5 finds the protagonist, Shadow Moon, and his mysterious employer, Mr. Wednesday departing Chicago, leaving behind Czernobog and his eccentric family (with whom they stayed as guests).  Shadow still has the gift, a silver dollar, given to him by Zorya Polunochnaya.  They need money for traveling, and Wednesday comes up with a rather novel plan to get it.  Then, it is on to Wisconsin and “The House on the Rock.”

I will inform you again, dear reader:  I am a big fan of American Gods, although I did not read it upon its original release in 2001.  I read the tenth anniversary edition which featured a longer text – the author's preferred edition.  I also feel that I must admit that I loved that book, and that “love” is not a strong enough word in this case.  American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition is one of my favorite books, and I consider the reading that edition of American Gods to be life-changing event for me in terms of my life as a writer.

This adaptation begins its move into the central plot of the overall narrative.  That is good, because the longer it takes to get to the central action, more of the story starts to look like padding.  A reader can take American Gods the novel and read the entire story at his or her own pace.  American Gods the comic book is a monthly release, so readers have to take the narrative in small chucks and cannot tackle its entirety at once the way they could with a novel.  It's about time; as good as this comic book has been, it is also time to get to the “nitty gritty.”

So for the fifth time, I implore you to set aside your four dollars each month so that you can buy this lovely comic book, dear reader.  American Gods may end up being on the short list of great comic book adaptations of a prose novel.

9 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Review: FANTASTIC FOUR #1 Fascimile Edition

FANTASTIC FOUR #1 FACSIMILE EDITION (2018)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Stan Lee
PENCILS: Jack Kirby
INKS: George Klein (?); Sol Brodsky (?)
COLORS: Stan Goldberg
LETTERS: Artie Simek
EDITOR: Mark D. Beazley (collection editor)
COVER: Jack Kirby and George Klein with Stan Goldberg (?)
MISC. ART: John Buscema and Joe Sinnott; John Byrne and Terry Austin; John Byrne; Alex Ross; John Byrne with Gregory Wright; Scott Eaton with Richard Isanove; Eric Powell; Clayton Crain; Marcelo DiChiara; Ed McGuinness and Dexter Vines; Michael Wm Kaluta; Leinil Francis Yu; Arthur Adams with Justin Ponsor; Humberto Ramos with Edgar Delgado; Jack Kirby and George Klein with Dean White
48pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (October 2018)

Fantastic Four created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee

Afterword by Dan Slott

“The Fantastic Four!”

The Fantastic Four #1 (cover dated: November 1961) is the comic book that basically started what we know of today as Marvel Comics and the “Marvel Universe” of superheroes, comic books, stories, and fictional mythologies.  This comic book only credits two of the creative team, Fantastic Four creators, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  Lee wrote a two-page plot that Kirby drew, via pencil art, as a 25-page comic book story.  Lee, credited as the scriptwriter, wrote the exposition and dialogue for the 25 pages.  You can experience this history in Marvel Comics' recent release, Fantastic Four #1 Facsimile Edition.

Because comic books then did not provide contributor credits as they do today, there is some question as to the rest of the creative team of this first issue of The Fantastic Four (also known as “FF”).  George Klein and possibly Sol Brodsky provided inks over Kirby's pencils.  Stan Goldberg was the colorist, and Artie Simek was this comic book's letterer.

The Fantastic Four #1 (“The Fantastic Four!) opens in the FF's original home, Central City.  The ordinary citizens are in an uproar, as above them, someone has fired a flare gun that has unleashed a huge smoke cloud.  Like a silent beacon, the smoke is emblazoned with the words, “THE FANTASTIC FOUR!”  What does it all mean, the citizens of Central City wonder?

The one who fired the gun is Reed Richards a.k.a. “Mister Fantastic,” a scientific genius, who can stretch his body to incredible lengths and into endless shapes.  He is calling Susan “Sue” Storm a.k.a. “the Invisible Girl,” who can make herself invisible.  The call also goes out to Johnny Storm a.k.a. “the Human Torch,” Sue's younger brother, who can ignite his body with flames, generate more flames, and use the flames to give him the power of flight.  The final cast member is Ben Grimm a.k.a. “the Thing,” whose flesh has been turned stone-like, giving him tremendous superhuman strength, durability, and endurance.  Richards is the leader of this mysterious group, The Fantastic Four.  On the day of Reed's signal call, the team must save the planet from a strange underworld menace, and the world will never be the same.

The Fantastic Four, of course, is now simply known as Fantastic Four, a fantastic name either way one says it.  It is definitely one of the five most important individual issues of a comic book ever published, and there are several reasons why.  The modern language of superhero comic books and to a large extent, the graphical storytelling language of modern comic books is based on Jack Kirby's comic book storytelling, beginning with his illustrations and storytelling in Fantastic Four #1.

However, what I like about Fantastic Four #1 is its unabashed craziness.  Stan Lee does not pretend to be writing science fiction.  This landmark comic book is full of crazy, ridiculous, stupid, hair-brained, wild, weird, wonderful, wacky, surreal, and strange stuff, and sadly, in the intervening years, comic books have tried to become too smart.  It is as if comic books have been trying to make sense of the “wrongness” and “incorrectness” of Fantastic Four in the intervening decades since its release.  Comic books don't need to be literature to be taken seriously.  Comic book writers, artists, colorists, letterers, editors, publishers, etc. create storytelling that cannot be created in other mediums, and it is perfectly fine for the stories to be scientifically and practically non-nonsensical.

Fantastic Four #1 is like a B-movie or monster movie, but only in the most superficial ways.  The imagination and inventiveness unique to comic books is unique to comic books because comic books are not like other mediums.  A couple of times in the text pieces for Fantastic Four #1 Facsimile Edition, the word “crude” is used.  On the surface, the illustrations in this sixty-seven year-old comic book story may appear to be crude, but the graphics and the graphical storytelling are beautiful, almost beyond words.

The combination of imagination, the uniqueness of the comics medium, and the innate weirdness of comic books flowed (and still flows) through what Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created so long ago.  The Fantastic Four #1 is not quaint, charming, or crude; it was a new dawn, and it is still visionary.  I have been reading The Fantastic Four #1 in reprint form, on and off, for over 30 years, and I never stop being excited while reading it.  I really enjoyed Fantastic Four #1 Facsimile Edition.

[This comic book features previously published text pieces by Stan Lee, Tom DeFalco, and Walter Mosley.]


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.


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Review: STAR WARS Adventures #1

STAR WARS ADVENTURES No. 1
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Cavan Scott
ART: Derek Charm
LETTERS: Tom B. Long
COVER: Derek Charm
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Elsa Charretier with Tamra Bonvillain; Eric Jones; Jon Sommariva; Chris Samnee with Matt Wilson; Tim Lim; Chris Uminga; Craig Rousseau; Mike Maihack; Tim Levins
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (September 2017)

“Better the Devil You Know” Part 1

Star Wars Adventures is a new all-ages Star Wars comic book from IDW Publishing – yes, IDW and not current Star Wars comic book publisher, Marvel Comics.  Announced at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida this past April, the series is geared toward readers ages 7 to 10 and will reportedly feature one and two part stories that are not steeped in continuity.

Shortly before the recent launch of Star Wars Adventures, IDW published a graphic novel adaptation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, also geared towards readers of all ages.  The art for Star Wars Adventures is also intended to “bridge the gap” between Star Wars and traditional Disney animation.  Star Wars Adventures is written by Cavan Scott; drawn and colored by Derek Charm; and lettered by Tom B. Long.

Star Wars Adventures #1 (“Better the Devil You Know” Part 1) opens on the planet of Jakku and focuses on Rey, the hero of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  She is a scavenger of Imperial war ships that are now wrecks on the desert planet.  Rey discovers that her “junkboss,” Unkar Plutt, has been taken prisoner, and the reason is something she found.

Star Wars Adventures may be geared towards elementary school age readers, but I, who was in elementary school a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, love it.  In fact, I adore Derek Charm's art because I have been a fan of animation-style comic book art for a long time.  [ I think that love goes back to the early issues of DC Comics' Batman Adventures comic book, which was the comic book tie in to the classic early 1990s animated television series, “Batman: The Animated Series.”]

I think this comic book is closer to traditional, classic comic books with its striking visuals and clear, effective, adventure storytelling – that does not have to run six issues.  I think writer Cavan Scott and Derek Charm are going to do in 30 pages what many comic book creators cannot do in 100+ pages – give readers a comic book story that reminds us of why we first came to love comic books.

I can't wait for the second issue.

Tales from Wild Space – “Stop, Thief!”
STORY: Cavan Scott
PENCILS: Jon Sommariva
INKS: Sean Parsons
COLORS: Charlie Kirchoff
LETTERS: Tom B. Long

The back-up, “Tales from Wild Space,” looks to be an anthology feature which will star various Star Wars characters from different eras and which will be narrated by an explorer named Emil Graf.  It does not “Wow!” me as much as the lead feature, but this could be good.  Besides, I like the surprising mix of Star Wars characters that it offers.

“Tales from Wild Space” just makes me more certain that Star Wars Adventures will be one of my favorite comic books.

9.5 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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