MARVEL COMICS
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Monday, May 17, 2021
Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for May 19, 2021
Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for May 19, 2021
DEC201642 2000 AD FEB 2021 PROG PACK $21.00
AUG201519 ACG COLL WORKS ADV INTO UNKNOWN SOFTEE VOL 13 $24.99
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OCT192159 AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES HC 1950S $46.95
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MAR211212 COMIC SHOP NEWS [90CT BUNDLE] #1761 $PI
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JAN211578 STAR WARS MANDALORIAN GUIDE TO SEASON 1 HC $19.99
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BOOKS
MAR211864 BANISHED HEROES PARTY QUIET LIFE COUNTRYSIDE NOVEL SC VOL 03 $15.00
OCT201260 BISLEY SKETCHES PRELIMS & DOODLES SC STANDARD $40.00
AUG201416 DARK SHADOWS PAPERBACK LIB NOVEL VOL 15 BARNABAS & GYPSY WI $14.99
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OCT201440 DARK SHADOWS PB LIB NOVEL VOL 17 BARNABAS QUENTIN AVENGING G $14.99
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MAR211321 ILLUMINATIONS SING LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK $5.99
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MAR211518 WONDER WOMAN UNIVERSAL KINDNESS PICTUREBOOK $5.99
MAR211435 WORLD OF READING THIS IS SHANG CHI SC $4.99
DC Comics from Lunar Distributors for May 18, 2021
Batman Fortnite Zero Point #3 (Of 6)(Cover A Mikel Janin), 4.99
Batman Fortnite Zero Point #3 (Of 6)(Cover B Jim Lee & Scott Williams Card Stock Variant), AR
Batman Fortnite Zero Point #3 (Of 6)(Cover C Donald Mustard Premium Card Stock Variant C), AR
Catwoman #31 (Cover A Robson Rocha), $3.99
Catwoman #31 (Cover B Jenny Frison Card Stock Variant), AR
Dark Nights Death Metal War Of The Multiverses TP, $19.99
Flash #770 (Cover A Brandon Peterson), $3.99
Flash #770 (Cover B Brett Booth Card Stock Variant), AR
Harley Quinn And Poison Ivy TP, $16.99
Joker #2 (Francesco Mattina 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $5.99
Joker #2 (Trevor Hairsine 2nd Printing Variant Cover), AR
Justice League #61 (Cover A David Marquez), $4.99
Justice League #61 (Cover B Kael Ngu Card Stock Variant), AR
Justice League Galaxy Of Terrors TP, $16.99
Legends Of The Dark Knight #1 (Cover A Darick Robertson), $3.99
Legends Of The Dark Knight #1 (Cover B David Marquez Card Stock Variant), AR
Legends Of The Dark Knight #1 (Cover C Francesco Francavilla Card Stock Team Variant), AR
Legends Of The Dark Knight #1 (Cover D Riccardo Federici Card Stock Variant), AR
Looney Tunes #260 (Cover A Walter Carzon), $2.99
Nightwing #80 (Cover A Bruno Redondo), $3.99
Nightwing #80 (Cover B Jamal Campbell Card Stock Variant), AR
Shazam The World’s Mightiest Mortal Volume 3 HC, $49.99
Superman Red And Blue #3 (Of 6)(Cover A Paul Pope), $5.99
Superman Red And Blue #3 (Of 6)(Cover B John Paul Leon), AR
Superman Red And Blue #3 (Of 6)(Cover C Derrick Chew), AR
Truth And Justice #4 (Cover A Rob Guillory), $4.99
Truth And Justice #4 (Cover B Sanford Greene Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover A Joelle Jones), $3.99
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover B Bilquis Evely Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover C Blank Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover D J. Scott Campbell Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover E Joelle Jones Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover F Rafael Grampa Team Spot Foil Card Stock Variant), AR
Young Justice Book 2 Growing Up TP, $24.99
Saturday, May 15, 2021
#IReadsYou Review: SURFACING #4
SURFACING #4
APPROBATION COMICS
STORY: B. Alex Thompson – @ApproBAT
ART: Kevin Richardson
COLORS: Santtos
LETTERS: Krugos
EDITOR: Denise Thompson
MISC. ART: Kevin Richardson
COVER/BACK COVER: Cesar Grego and Alivon Ortiz
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (2019)
Rated: “M” for Mature
“The Milkmaids and the Mermaid”
Surfacing is a comic book franchise created by B. Alex Thompson and published by Approbation Comics. The four-issue miniseries, Surfacing: Depth Perceptions, focuses on a series encounters, sometimes violent, between humans and mermaid-like creatures. The eponymous Surfacing is an anthology series in which each issue offers a story in which a mermaid finds herself trapped in the world of humans. Besides Thompson, artist Kevin Richardson; colorist Santtos; letterer Krugos, and cover artists Cesar Grego and Alivon Ortiz currently comprise Surfacing's creative team.
Surfacing #4 (“The Milkmaids and the Mermaid”) opens in the 1400s in Holland (then, a western province of The Netherlands). In the town of Edam, in West Friesland (a region in North Holland) resides the Ruis family: Papa, Mama, and sisters, Berna and Gisla. A recent heavy storm raised the waters of the North Sea and destroyed the dykes, flooding the nearby lands.
Berna and Gisla (the “milkmaids” of the story's title) are in a small canoe rescuing the family's dairy cows when they spot a human hand sticking out of the water. Upon investigation, the girls find and rescue a mermaid, and bring her back to their farm.
Papa Ruis, despite objections from Mama Ruis, tends to the mermaid's injuries. Eventually, they take the mermaid into the family – like an indentured servant and prisoner – and name her “Elin.” After several years, Elin becomes a local curiosity, “Elin the Zeewijf.” But what is “Elin's” real story? Where does she come from, and how does she view her stay in the human world? Is this a heaven or a hell, and what does her future hold?
THE LOWDOWN: As much as I enjoyed the miniseries, Surfacing: Depth Perceptions, I did not know what to expect of the Surfacing anthology, which was apparently intended to be a three-issue miniseries. However, I can always rely on writer B. Alex Thompson's imagination.
Initially, Thompson presented Surfacing in a way that reminded me of dark fantasy, anthology television series like the classic “The Twilight Zone” (1959 to 1964) and the 1980s “Tales from the Darkside.” The third issue of the series even offered a tale set in the “old West, “A Promise of Home,” that reminded me of American “Western” films.
“The Milkmaids and the Mermaid” reveals a different side of Thompson. His best known work includes horror, comedy, relationship drama, horror-comedy, and contemporary drama. However, Thompson sometimes reveals a side of his writing the skews toward fantasy and fairy tales. That is what “The Milkmaids and the Mermaid” is, a fairy tail, albeit a melancholy one. This story is not so much about plot, character, or setting as it is simply a story. It is the kind of tale of the supernatural that pops up from time to time in one book of fairy tails or another. Once it comes into existence, it never dies. It just waits to be rediscovered or told again. [There is a Dutch folktale, “Meermin van Edam,” of which there are a number of variations, that may have inspired “The Milkmaids and the Mermaid.”]
Artist Kevin Richardson presents an imaginative take on the deep waters world of the mermaids. However, Richardson also conveys the banal evil of slavery and the dishonesty of those who insist that they can do anything in the name of bringing god to the savages and heathens. The coloring by Santtos eschews pretty hues less this fairy tale becomes a lie, and Krugos makes the art feel like a narrative told on tapestry.
I am glad that there is a Surfacing #4, and “The Milkmaids and the Mermaid” is the kind of surprising and wonderful story that justifies more Surfacing. So I hope more issues of this series … surface.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of fantasy comic books published by DC Comics' late imprint, Vertigo, will want to read Surfacing.
A+
10 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://twitter.com/ApproBAT
www.ApprobationComics.com
www.AlexThompsonWriter.com
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
-------------
Friday, May 14, 2021
#IReadsYou Review: THE BATMAN'S GRAVE #1
THE BATMAN'S GRAVE No. 1 (OF 12)
DC COMICS – @DCComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
WRITER: Warren Ellis
PENCILS: Bryan Hitch
INKS: Kevin Nowlan
COLORS: Alex Sinclair
LETTERS: Richard Starkings
EDITOR: Marie Javins
COVER: Bryan Hitch with Alex Sinclair
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jeehyung Lee
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2019)
Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”
Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger
The Batman's Grave is a new twelve-issue, comic book maxi-series. It is written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Bryan Hitch (pencils) and Kevin Nowlan (inks). Ellis and Hitch worked together on the comic book, StormWatch (1997), and are best known as a team for their run on the hit comic book, The Authority (1999), which the two created. Colorist Alex Sinclair and letterer Richard Starkings complete the creative team. The Batman's Grave finds Batman a.k.a. “The World's Great Detective” forced to inhabit the mind of a murder victim with a half-eaten face in order to solve the crime.
The Batman's Grave #1 opens at Wayne Manor, the stately home of Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman. We find Bruce's butler and Batman's brother-in-arms, Alfred Pennyworth, tending to the graves of Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. There is a third grave. It is empty, and Bruce will one day fill it.
In Gotham City, Batman saves a young couple and their child the way no one saved young Bruce and his slain parents. Alerted to an unanswered 911 call, Batman finds himself at a rundown apartment building. There, he finds the corpse of Vincent William Stannik. By his own admission to Alfred, Batman can only think like a victim. And this almost psychotic identification with murder victims causes him to immerse himself in the lives the victims and to obsess over every detail of their deaths. But will this focus on the victim as he approached death lead Batman to his own grave?
I often lament that comic books featuring the world's greatest (comic book) detective are more often than not more superhero-action comics than they are mystery comics. After reading this first issue's 24 (not 20) pages, I think that The Batman's Grave will be a mystery comic book that will have Batman play detective to solve murder cases. At the same time, The Batman's Grave's creative team will investigate the minds of both Batman/Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth.
In fact, I love (and yes that is the word I want to use) Warren Ellis' depiction of Alfred Pennyworth as a tired, old friend, exhausted by a war on crime of which he wishes Batman was also exhausted. Ellis presents Bruce Wayne and Batman as one in the same – psychotic. I am especially curious to see where Ellis takes this series.
The artists of The Batman's Grave, Bryan Hitch on pencils and Kevin Nowlan on inks, are a dream team. Hitch's eccentric, stylish pencils can only be inked by a veteran and/or supremely talented inker, and of course, that is Nowlan. The resulting art is beautiful, mysterious, and haunting – the perfect graphical storytelling for a tale of murder, obsession, and graves. Alex Sinclair, as usual, colors the crap out of the art and embellishes this story with a perfect mood that recalls Edgar Allen Poe. Letterer Richard Starkings, as usual, does standout work; I guess if you have Ellis, Hitch, Nowlan, and Sinclair, you have to have Starkings on the team, also.
So I am ready for more, and truthfully, this is the only Batman comic book I feel like I have to read right now. I recommend that you try at least The Batman's Grave #1.
8 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Thursday, May 13, 2021
#IReadsYou Review: THE SCUMBAG #3
THE SCUMBAG No. 3
IMAGE COMICS/Giant Generator
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Rick Remender
ART: Eric Powell
COLORS: Moreno Dinisio
LETTERS: Rus Wooton
DESIGN: Erika Schnatz
EDITOR: Will Dennis
COVER: Eric Powell
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Dave Guertin; Joelle Jones with Moreno Dinisio
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(December 2020)
Rated “M/ Mature”
“Snowblower Indemnity” Part 3
The Scumbag is a new comic book series from writer Rick Remender. Described as a “comedy espionage series” by publisher Image Comics, The Scumbag's tagline reads, “The fate of the world rests in the hands of the worst person on it!” The series features a rotating crew of illustrators. Thus, artist Eric Powell; colorist Moreno Dinisio; and letterer Rus Wooton complete the current creative team.
The Scumbag introduces Ernie Ray Clementine. He is a rundown, raggedy, filthy man. He is a profane, illiterate, drug-addicted biker and ne'er-do-well with a fifth-grade education. However, he meets Sister Mary and “Central Authority” and inadvertently absorbs the power-imbuing serum called “the Formula Maxima.” Now, Ernie is the only thing standing between humanity and total Armageddon... because he has suddenly become the world's most powerful super-spy.
The Scumbag #3 opens on the roof the Sipkin Building. There, “The Prosoma,” leader of reactionary cabal, Scorpionus, speechifies about his “Gold Bomb.” When it detonates, this “alchemy bomb” will turn everyone in and around the Sipkin into solid gold – a bid to create enough gold to crash the world economy. While super-agent, Sister Mary, fights Scorpionus' big white asshole, “The Ultra-Nationalist,” our hero, Ernie Ray, of course, struggles with golden temptation.
THE LOWDOWN: I didn't have a lot to say about The Scumbag #1. I had a little more to say about The Scumbag #2. What I have to say about The Scumbag #3 is that the series has hit its stride; this third issue is the funniest issue, yet.
Eric Powell, creator, writer, and artist of The Goon comic books, is the artist for The Scumbag #3, but it makes no never mind – as the saying goes. Don't get me wrong; Eric Powell is good at what he does. Still, he does not distinguish himself from the series' previous two artists: Lewis Larosa (#1) and Andrew Robinson (#2). These artists have done good work, with Robinson and Powell managing to draw in a graphical style similar to Larosa's.
The star here is Rick Remender. As I said before, I have enjoyed what few Rick Remender comic books I have read, and I have not read much. However, his mix of political commentary and witty asides and his dialogue peppered with acerbic observations about our current social and cultural climate are … well, golden. Plus, his super-spy/secret agent set pieces are as good as anything readers will find in one of the Kingsman movies.
Yeah, I could say that Remender is “killing it,” but I want to wait on that. I will say that if the fourth issue is as good as or better than The Scumbag #3, then, no comic book readers looking for really “good comics” will be able to skip The Scumbag.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Rick Remender, of mature comedy, and of reprobate-type anti-hero lead characters will want The Scumbag.
8 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://twitter.com/Remender
http://www.giantgenerator.com/
https://twitter.com/lewislarosa
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Wednesday, May 12, 2021
#IReadsYou Review: DEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE
DC COMICS/DC Zoom – @DCComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Michael Northrop
ART: Gustavo Duarte
COLORS: Marcelo Maiolo
LETTERS: Wes Abbott
EDITOR: Sara Miller
ISBN: 978-1-4012-8413-8; paperback; (July 31, 2019 – Diamond / August 6, 2019)
176pp, Color, $9.99 U.S., $13.50 CAN
Age Range: 8 to 12
Dear Justice League is a 2019 original graphic novel staring DC Comics' marquee super-team, the Justice League. It is written by Michael Northrop; drawn by Gustavo Duarte; colored by Marcelo Mailol; and lettered by Wes Abbot. Dear Justice League features some of the greatest superheroes of all time answering questions sent to them by young fans via text, email, and letter.
Dear Justice League was originally published under DC Comics' “DC Zoom” imprint, which offered original graphic novels for readers that were 8 to 12-years-old or that were classified as “middle grade” (MG) readers. DC discontinued many of its imprints in 2019, so Dear Justice League would now fit under a new designation (“DC Graphic Novels for Young Readers”?).
Dear Justice League finds its members going about their usual business, but they occasionally take time to answer questions sent to them by young fans. In a “Dear Superman” letter, the Man of Steel is asked, “have you ever messed up?” In “Dear Hawkgirl,” the high-flying hero, who is also known as Kendra Saunders, is asked if she, as Hawkgirl, eats small animals. In “Dear Aquaman,” Black Manta has high-jacked a nuclear submarine, but Aquaman wonders if he smells like fish, as one fan has asked.
In “Dear Wonder Woman,” a young fan who is about to turn 11-years-old wants to know if Wonder Woman remembers her eleventh birthday. In “Dear Flash,” two envious boys, “T-Bone” and “J-Dawg,” pose a time-centered challenge to “the fastest man alive” via a dishonest question. In “Green Lantern,” the newest Lantern, Simon Baz, is asked if he has ever suffered a fashion faux pas.
In “Dear Cyborg,” a young fan asks for Cyborg's screen name so that the fan can challenge the hero in an online video game. Meanwhile, Cyborg/Victor Stone is monitoring a possible alien invasion. In “Dear Batman,” the new kid in town asks Batman if he has ever been the new kid in town. Finally, in “Dear Justice League,” eight of the world's greatest heroes, the Justice League, battle an invasion of “Insectoids” from the planet, “Molt-On.” So a fourth-grade class sends a letter asking the members of the League, “How do you always manage to show up just in time and save the day?”
Well, how do they do it? And have they done it this time in order to stop an Insectoid invasions?
I am slowly making my way through DC Comics's first wave of original “DC Zoom” and “DC Ink” titles. I still have a few to read before the lines were discontinued. I have to say that I am quite surprised by how much I like Dear Justice League. It is not a great work, because it has some missteps, but it is exceptional because there is nothing else like it on the superhero comic book market.
In Dear Justice League, Michael Northrop has written a funny comic book, and some of the fan questions are quite good. Asking Aquaman if he smells like fish falls flat, although asking Hawkgirl if she eats small animals seems just perfect. Asking Wonder Woman to recount her eleventh birthday strikes the right story notes, and that question carries over into “Dear Flash,” in a clever little bit about two jealous boys. Batman gets a great question – has he ever been the new kid in town – but Northrop doesn't execute the answer as well as he could have.
Gustavo Duarte's illustrations and graphical storytelling are perfect for a kids-oriented Justice League comic book like Dear Justice League. His stretchy drawing style, which recalls classic Looney Tunes cartoon shorts of the 1940s and 1950s, captures the funny side of the eight particular heroes of Dear Justice League.
Marcelo Mailol's colors on Duarte's art look as if he used color pencils and also recall classic four-color comic book coloring (but is better than most of it was back in the day). Letterer Wes Abbot turns on a symphony of lettering fonts that provide a colorful and varied graphical soundtrack for a story that offers a lot of different sounds, from the noise of battle to the rackets of errors and mistakes.
I highly recommend Dear Justice League to readers who want to share Justice League comic books with younger readers. It would also be nice as a semi-regular series.
B+
7 out of 10
- A six-page preview of the original graphic novel, Dear Super-Villains, by Michael Northrop and Gustavo Duarte
- A six-page preview of the original graphic novel, Superman of Smallville, by Art Baltazar and Franco
- the two-page, “Hall of Justice Top Secret Files”
- the one-page, “Auxiliary Members” (pets of the Justice League)
- biographies of Michael Northrop and Gustavo Duarte
- “Dear Michael Northrop,” a letter from younger Michael Northrop to older Michael
- a mock-up of a page of lined paper so that the reader can write a letter to the Justice League
- bonus illustrations
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
-----------------
Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).