Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for August 11, 2021

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

JUN211563    ADV OF BAILEY SCHOOL KIDS GN VOL 01 VAMPIRES DONT WEAR POLKA    $7.99
MAY211978    AKASHIC RECORDS OF BASTARD MAGICAL INSTRUCTOR GN VOL 12    $12.99
JUN211555    AMELIA ERROWAY GN VOL 01 CASTAWAY COMMANDER    $14.99
JUN211556    AMELIA ERROWAY HC GN VOL 01 CASTAWAY COMMANDER    $26.99
JUN211275    ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #322    $7.99
MAY211815    ASCENCIA #7    $3.99
JUN211634    BATTLECATS VOL 3 #2    $3.99
JUN211740    BIG APPLE DIARIES GN    $14.99
JUN211741    BIG APPLE DIARIES HC GN    $22.99
MAY211669    BLACK COTTON #4 (OF 6)    $3.99
JUN211213    BLACKS MYTH #2 CVR A KANGAS (MR)    $3.99
MAY211692    BLOOD SKULLS AND CHROME #2 (OF 5) CVR A RUIZ    $3.99
MAY211693    BLOOD SKULLS AND CHROME #2 (OF 5) CVR B KIVELA    $3.99
JUN212086    BOARDING SCHOOL JULIET GN VOL 16 (RES)    $10.99
MAY211694    BOOK OF LYAXIA #3 (OF 6) CVR A BASQUERIZO    $3.99
MAY211695    BOOK OF LYAXIA #3 (OF 6) CVR B COLLETE TURNER    $3.99
MAY211376    BUG CLUB HC    $17.95
JUN211201    BUNNY MASK #3    $4.99
MAY211670    BY THE HORNS #4 (OF 7) CVR A MUHR (MR)    $3.99
JUN211967    CALL OF THE NIGHT GN VOL 03    $9.99
JUN211195    CAMPISI #1 CVR A GALAN    $4.99
APR211831    CHEER UP LOVE & POM POMS TP    $14.99
JUN212117    CHRONICLES OF ARISTOCRAT REBORN IN ANOTHER WORLD GN VOL 01 (    $12.99
MAY211280    CINNAMON #1 (OF 3) CVR A DOUGLAS    $3.99
MAY211281    CINNAMON #1 (OF 3) CVR B DOUGLAS    $3.99
MAY211282    CINNAMON #1 (OF 3) CVR C DOUGLAS    $3.99
JUN211200    CLANS OF BELARI #2    $4.99
JUN218274    COMPLETE THE QUEST THE POISONOUS LIBRARY GN    $12.99
MAY211672    COUNT DRACO KNUCKLEDUSTER #1    $3.99
JUN212118    DAYS OF LOVE AT SEAGULL VILLA GN VOL 03 (MR)    $12.99
JUN211328    DEAD LEGENDS II PREMIER EDITION CVR A GAVIN SMITH    $3.99
JUN211410    DEATH PLAYS A MEAN HARMONICA GN (MR)    $12.99
DEC201441    DF CROSSOVER #1 STEGMAN SGN    $49.99
JAN211319    DF KING IN BLACK #4 STEGMAN SGN    $49.99
FEB211259    DF KING IN BLACK #5 STEGMAN SGN    $49.99
DEC201415    DF VENOM #32 STEGMAN SGN    $49.99
JAN211317    DF VENOM #33 STEGMAN SGN    $49.99
FEB211261    DF VENOM #34 STEGMAN SGN    $49.99
MAR211241    DF VENOM LEGACY #200 CATES SGN    $49.99
MAY211405    DF WOLVERINE #13 PERCY SGN    $29.99
MAY211127    DID YOU HEAR WHAT EDDIE GEIN DONE GN (MR)    $29.99
MAY211301    DJINN HUNTER #1    $3.99
MAY211986    DOUGHNUTS UNDER CRESCENT MOON GN VOL 02 (MR)    $13.99
MAY211987    FAILURE FRAME GN VOL 02    $12.99
APR211667    FAREWELL BRINDAVOINE HC    $19.99
MAY211530    FARTNITE VS. MINECRAPT #1 CVR A MOKHTAR    $5.99
MAY211531    FARTNITE VS. MINECRAPT #1 CVR B BLANK SKETCH    $9.99
MAY211532    FARTNITE VS. MINECRAPT #1 CVR C ROSENZWEIG    $5.99
MAY211533    FARTNITE VS. MINECRAPT #1 CVR D JOSECO    $5.99
JUN211323    FIGHT GIRLS #2    $3.99
APR211923    FUHRER AND THE TRAMP TP    $19.99
JUN211973    FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST FULLMETAL EDITION HC VOL 14    $19.99
MAY212026    GLASS SYNDROME GN (MR)    $12.99
JUN211192    HELLO NEIGHBOR GN VOL 02 RAVEN BROOKS DISASTER    $12.99
JUN211732    HERSHEY DISEASE TP    $17.99
JUN212153    HI SCORE GIRL GN VOL 07 (RES)    $12.99
JUN212122    HOW HEAVY ARE DUMBBELLS YOU LIFT GN VOL 07 (MR)    $12.99
JUN212110    I BELONG TO BADDEST GIRL AT SCHOOL GN VOL 01    $12.95
JUN212124    I GOT CAUGHT UP IN A HERO SUMMONS GN VOL 01    $12.99
JUN211557    I SURVIVED GN VOL 04 ATTACKS OF SEPT 11 2001    $10.99
MAY211896    ID INVADED BRAKE-BROKEN GN VOL 02 (MR)    $13.00
APR211832    JONNA & THE UNPOSSIBLE MONSTER TP VOL 01    $12.99
FEB211194    JUNGLE FANTASY FAUNA #0 CENTURY VAR (RES) (MR)    $19.99
MAY211284    JUNKY CABLE #3    $3.99
APR211787    KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #285 (RES)    $6.99
APR211788    KODT BUNDLE OF TROUBLE TP VOL 65 (RES)    $15.99
APR211789    KODT BUNDLE OF TROUBLE TP VOL 66 (RES)    $15.99
JUN211966    KOMI CANT COMMUNICATE GN VOL 14    $9.99
APR211403    LAUREL & HARDY MEETS THREE STOOGES #1 EX CGC 9.8 ED    $125.00
JUN211909    LILLY VAN HELSING GRAPHIC NOVEL ADV HC    $22.99
MAY211899    LOVE OF KILL GN VOL 03    $13.00
JUN211945    MADK GN VOL 02 (MR)    $12.99
MAY211995    MAGICAL ANGEL CREAMY MAMI & SPOILED PRINCESS GN VOL 02    $12.99
JUN211559    MAKING FRIENDS GN VOL 03 THIRD TIMES CHARM    $12.99
JUN211560    MAKING FRIENDS HC GN VOL 03 THIRD TIMES CHARM    $24.99
MAY211678    MIDNIGHT WESTERN THEATRE #3 (OF 5)    $3.99
MAY211897    MINT CHOCOLATE GN VOL 03    $13.00
JUN211577    NEVER NEVER #2 (OF 5)    $3.99
APR211395    OGGY & THE COCKROACHES #1 KICKSTARTER LTD ED CVR    $24.99
JUN211667    ORCS IN SPACE #3 CVR A VIGNEAULT    $3.99
JUN211668    ORCS IN SPACE #3 CVR B WARD & SHEEAN    $3.99
MAY211876    PERSONA 5 GN VOL 07    $9.99
MAY211877    POKEMON ADV BLACK & WHITE 2 GN VOL 04    $9.99
JUN211965    POKEMON ADV COLLECTORS ED GN VOL 09    $17.99
JUN211964    POKEMON SWORD & SHIELD GN VOL 01    $4.99
JUN211975    RADIANT GN VOL 14    $9.99
JUN211194    RAINBOW BRIDGE GN    $16.99
JUN212111    REPRISE OF THE SPEAR HERO GN VOL 05    $11.95
MAY211073    RESILIENT #1 CVR A TABANAS    $4.99
JUN211154    RUN GN BOOK 01 (RES)    $24.99
MAY211893    SASAKI & MIYANO GN VOL 03    $13.00
DEC201510    SAVAGE CIRCUS #5 (OF 10) (MR)    $2.99
APR212213    SIGN OF AFFECTION GN VOL 03    $12.99
JUN212136    SKIP AND LOAFER GN VOL 01    $12.99
JUN211968    SLEEPY PRINCESS IN DEMON CASTLE GN VOL 15    $9.99
JUN211136    SPACE PIRATE CAPT HARLOCK #3 CVR A CHEW    $3.99
JUN211137    SPACE PIRATE CAPT HARLOCK #3 CVR B LEIRIX    $3.99
JUN211138    SPACE PIRATE CAPT HARLOCK #3 CVR C LEE    $3.99
JUN211139    SPACE PIRATE CAPT HARLOCK #3 CVR D TORMEY    $3.99
JUN211140    SPACE PIRATE CAPT HARLOCK #3 CVR E ALQUIE    $3.99
JUN212072    SUNDOME MILKY WAY GN VOL 01 (MR)    $14.99
JUN212141    TAMAMO CHANS A FOX GN VOL 03    $12.99
APR211570    TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #128 COSPLAY PHOTO CVR ED (MR)    $19.99
APR211744    THE RISE #2 (OF 6) (MR)    $2.99
APR211926    THOMPSON HELLER DETECTIVE INTERSTELLAR TP    $12.99
MAR211051    THREE STOOGES SHEMPTASTIC SET W PROMO CARD    $19.99
MAR211239    WENDY SC GN    $22.95
MAR211240    WENDYS REVENGE SC GN    $22.95
MAR211155    WHITE #2 (MR)    $3.99
MAY211689    WHITE ASH MAGAZINE    $9.99
JUN212049    WILD WILD WILDLIFE GN (MR)    $12.95
MAY211524    ZO ZO ZOMBIE GN VOL 11    $12.00
FEB210977    ZOMBIE TRAMP TP VOL 22 BLOOD DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (MR)    $14.99

MAGAZINES

JUN211425    COMIC SHOP NEWS [90CT BUNDLE] #1773    $PI
MAY219422    STAR WARS INSIDER #204 FOC VAR    $9.99
JUN211866    STAR WARS INSIDER #204 NEWSSTAND ED    $9.99
JUN211867    STAR WARS INSIDER #204 PX ED    $9.99

BOOKS

JUN212078    ASCENDANCE OF BOOKWORM LIGHT NOVEL PT 3 VOL 2    $14.99
JUN212079    BY THE GRACE OF GODS LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 05    $14.99
JUN212145    DRUGSTORE IN ANOTHER WORLD LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 02 (MR)    $13.99
JUN212074    FARAWAY PALADIN OMNIBUS GN VOL 01    $19.99
JUN211543    FRANK CHO PENCIL AND INK HC (MR)    $39.95
JUN211542    FRANK CHO PENCIL AND INK SC (MR)    $24.95
APR211751    GALAXY QUEST INSIDE STORY HC    $34.95
MAY211667    HARLEY QUINN TALKING FIGURE & ILLUS BOOK KIT    $13.95
APR213050    HARRY POTTER CROCHET WIZARDRY    $24.99
MAY211668    HARRY POTTER HOGWARTS TRUNK COLLECTIBLE SET    $35.00
MAY211068    IRON MAN MY MIGHTY MARVEL FIRST BOOK BOARD BOOK    $10.99
JUN211544    NAUGHTY & NICE GOOD GIRL ART BRUCE TIMM SC REVISED ED (MR) (    $44.95
JUN212080    OTHERSIDE PICNIC LIGHT NOVEL OMNIBUS VOL 02 (MR)    $22.99
JUN211742    ROBIN & MAKING OF AMERICAN ADOLESCENCE SC    $29.95
JUN211715    STAR TREK PICARD ROGUE ELEMENTS HC NOVEL    $25.00
APR211752    STAR TREK SHIPYARDS DELTA QUADRANT HC LEDOSIAN TO ZAHL    $34.95
JUN212081    UNWANTED UNDEAD ADVENTURER LIGHT NOVEL VOL 01    $14.99

DC Comics from Lunar Distributors for August 10, 2021

DC COMICS:

Batman ’89 #1 (Of 6) (Cover A Joe Quinones), $3.99
Batman ’89 #1 (Of 6) (Cover B Jerry Ordway Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Batman ’89 #1 (Of 6) (Cover C Ken Taylor & Taurin Clarke Team Card Stock Variant), AR
Batman ’89 #1 (Of 6) (Cover D Joe Quinones Design Card Stock Variant), AR
Batman And Scooby-Doo Mysteries #5 (Of 12) (Cover A Randy Elliott), $2.99
Batman The Adventures Continue Season Two #3 (Of 7) (Cover A Stephanie Pepper), $3.99
Batman The Adventures Continue Season Two #3 (Of 7) (Cover B Chan Chau Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Batman Urban Legends #6 (Cover A Nicola Scott), $7.99
Batman Urban Legends #6 (Cover B Jay Anacleto), $7.99
Batman Urban Legends #6 (Cover C Ejikure), $7.99
Challenge Of The Super Sons #5 (Of 7) (Cover A Simone Di Meo), $3.99
Challenge Of The Super Sons #5 (Of 7) (Cover B Jamal Campbell Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Dark Nights Death Metal Soundtrack (Lunar Distribution Exclusive Edition), AR
Detective Comics #1041 (Cover A Dan Mora), $4.99
Detective Comics #1041 (Cover B Lee Bermejo Card Stock Variant), $5.99
Fourth World By John Byrne Omnibus HC, $75.00
Future State Gotham #4 (Cover A Simone Di Meo), $3.99
Future State Gotham #4 (Cover B Simone Di Meo Punchline Connecting Variant), $3.99
Future State Gotham #4 (Cover C Dima Ivanov The Suicide Squad Movie Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Hardware Season One #1 (Of 6) (Cover A Mateus Manhanini), $3.99
Hardware Season One #1 (Of 6) (Cover B Denys Cowan Old School Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Hardware Season One #1 (Of 6) (Cover C Bill Sienkiewicz New School Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Hardware Season One #1 (Of 6) (Cover D Ricardo Lopez Ortiz Card Stock Variant), AR
Hellblazer Volume 25 Another Season TP, $34.99
I Am Batman #0 (Cover A Travel Foreman), $4.99
I Am Batman #0 (Cover B Derrick Chew Card Stock Variant), $5.99
I Am Batman #0 (Cover C Dave Wilkins Card Stock Variant), $5.99
I Am Batman #0 (Cover D Riccardo Federici Card Stock Variant), AR
Infinite Frontier #4 (Of 6) (Cover A Mitch Gerads), $4.99
Infinite Frontier #4 (Of 6) (Cover B Bryan Hitch Card Stock Variant), $5.99
Infinite Frontier #4 (Of 6) (Cover C John K Snyder III The Suicide Squad Movie Card Stock Variant), $5.99
Infinite Frontier #4 (Of 6) (Cover D Puppeteer Lee Card Stock Variant), AR
Joker #6 (Cover A Guillem March), $5.99
Joker #6 (Cover B Tony Harris), $5.99
Joker #6 (Cover C Terry Dodson), $5.99
Joker #6 (Cover D Jonboy Meyers The Suicide Squad Movie Variant), $5.99
Joker #6 (Cover E Riccardo Federici), AR
Justice League #64 (2nd Printing David Marquez Cover), $4.99
Justice League Last Ride #4 (Of 7)(Cover A Darick Robertson), $3.99
Justice League Last Ride #4 (Of 7)(Cover B Tiago Da Silva Card Stock Variant), $4.99
New 52 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition HC, $29.99
Nice House On The Lake #1 (Of 12) (3rd Printing Cover A Alvaro Martinez Bueno), $3.99
Nice House On The Lake #1 (Of 12) (3rd Printing Cover B Alvaro Martinez Bueno), AR
Pennyworth #1 (Of 7) (Cover A Jorge Fornes), $3.99
Pennyworth #1 (Of 7) (Cover B Juan Gedeon Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Rorschach #11 (Of 12) (Cover A Jorge Fornes), $4.99
Rorschach #11 (Of 12) (Cover B Arthur Adams), $4.99
Wonder Woman #777 (Cover A Travis Moore), $4.99
Wonder Woman #777 (Cover B Sebastian Fiumara Card Stock Variant), $5.99
Wonder Woman #777 (Cover C Will Murai The Suicide Squad Movie Card Stock Variant), $5.99

#IReadsYou Movie Review: THE SUICIDE SQUAD

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Running time:  132 minutes
MPAA – PG-13 for strong violence and gore, language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and brief graphic nudity
DIRECTOR:  James Gunn
WRITER:  James Gunn (based on characters appearing in DC Comics)
PRODUCERS:  Charles Roven and Peter Safran
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Henry Braham (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner
COMPOSER:  John Murphy

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION and COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring:  Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, Storm Reid, Sylvester Stallone (voice), Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Nathan Fillion, Flula Borg, Mayling Ng, Pete Davidson, Sean Gunn, Peter Capaldi, Juan Diego Botto, Joaquin Cosio, Lynne Ashe, Taika Waititi, and Viola Davis

The Suicide Squad is a 2021 superhero and action-fantasy film from writer-director James Gunn.  It is a sequel to the 2016 film, Suicide Squad, and is based on the DC Comics team of antiheroes, Suicide Squad.  The Suicide Squad the film focuses on a team of imprisoned super-villains who are forced to invade a South American island where a deadly creature supposedly resides.

As The Suicide Squad opens, intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has activated her “Task Force X,” a team composed of dangerous criminals.  Imprisoned in Louisiana's Belle Reve penitentiary, these individuals either possess super-powers, have special abilities, or are some kind of meta-human, humanoid, animal hybrid, or mutant.  All of them are “super-villains.”  Waller chooses thirteen of these inmates and divides them into two teams (unbeknownst to the inmates) and sends them to the small island nation of Corto Maltese, off the coast of South America.

The first team is led by Army Special Forces Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and is comprised of  former psychiatrist and Joker boy toy, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie); Australian thief and super-boomerang thrower, Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney); animal hybrid and child killer, Weasel (James Gunn), meta-human, T.D.K. (Nathan Fillion); long-haired computer hacker, Savant (Michael Rooker); overeager mercenary, Blackguard (Pete Davidson); possessor of a special javelin ... Javelin (Flula Borg); and the alien warrior, Mongal (Mayling Ng).

The second more serious team is comprised of five super-villains.  It is lead by a mercenary and hit man with an advanced technological suit and weapons, Bloodsport (Idris Elba), and is comprised of the former military officer who kills for peace, Peacemaker (John Cena); a man who can emit polka-dots, Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian); a female thief who controls rats, Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior); and a man-eating, human-shark hybrid, Nanaue a.k.a. “King Shark” (Sylvester Stallone).

Once on Corto Maltese, Task Force X has to reach a structure called “Jötunheim.”  It houses a laboratory built on the island decades ago by exiled Nazi scientists so that they could continue their monstrous experiments.  Now, Jötunheim apparently houses a secret program known as “Project Starfish.”  At the heart of this project is something referred to as “the beast,” and to destroy this project, the members of this squad will show why the nickname for Task Force X is “The Suicide Squad.”

First, I can say that The Suicide Squad is a much better film than its predecessor, Suicide Squad (2016), which was probably made problematic by Warner Bros. Pictures executives making bad decisions about it.  In The Suicide Squad, writer-director James Gunn offer his audience gleeful and extreme violence, insane set pieces, and snappy dialogue.  However, Gunn is also very good at creating engaging character drama that allows even the most troubling characters to have a journey in which he or she experiences a poignant or uplifting heroic arc.  In this case, Bloodsport (kinda) transforms from selfish, killer asshole into an anti-hero who cares … about a few things and people … and a rat.

Other characters more or less have a similar arc, although Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is as crazy, as homicidal, and as sweet as ever.  Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag, a holdover from the first film, is a much more interesting and likable character.  Viola Davis' Amanda Waller is darker, maybe even more … evil than ever, and Storm Reid delivers a surprisingly deft turn in a small role as Tyla, Bloodsport's daughter, who appears in two scenes.  David Dastmalchian steals a few scenes as the surprisingly endearing Polka-Dot Man.  Overall, the characters are both more interesting and much more appealing and fun than the characters in the first film.  I say that although in the new film, the Suicide Squad is much more homicidal.

Gunn makes sure The Suicide Squad feels irreverent and outrageous and pours on the ultra-violence, and most of the time, it works.  Sometimes, however, it feels like Gunn is trying too hard, and the violence is either gross or is so over the top as to come across as lame.  Gunn is known for writing and directing Disney/Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy films.  However, I think Gunn was trying to make The Suicide Squad like 20th Century Fox's Deadpool films, which are gleefully violent and shameless and infused with droll humor.  However, the Deadpool movies have Ryan Reynolds, who has mastered his own brand of (sometimes) endearing comedy that is witty, sarcastic, sardonic, silly, and stupid.  There is no Ryan Reynolds om The Suicide Squad, so the film can seem a little desperate in its bid to be crazy and cool.

However, The Suicide Squad does have Idris Elba, and if not for him, James Gunn would have ended up with a Suicide Squad film that works about as well as David Ayers' Suicide Squad film.  Elba, as the world-weary, but supernaturally skilled killer, Bloodsport, plays the complicated anti-hero turned action hero with his usual understated grace and commanding screen presence.  The Suicide Squad is bonkers, inventive, and imaginative – thanks to James Gunn.  However, it is a superhero fantasy and action thrill machine because of Idris Elba.

A-

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


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou review: HOME SICK PILOTS #3

HOME SICK PILOTS NO. 3
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Watters
ART: Caspar Wijngaard
COLORS: Caspar Wijngaard
LETTERS: Aditya Bidikar
DESIGN: Tom Muller
COVER: Caspar Wijngaard
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Paulina Ganucheau; Declan Shalvey
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (February 2021)

Rated “M/Mature”

Home Sick Pilots created by Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard

Home Sick Pilots is a new comic book series created by writer Dan Watters and artist Caspar Wijngaard, the creative team of the comic book, Limbo.  Home Sick Pilots apparently focuses on a group of teens and a haunted house with an evil mind of its own.  Letterer Aditya Bidikar and designer Tom Muller complete the series' creative team.

Home Sick Pilots opens in Santa Manos, California, July 18, 1994.  A haunted house known as “the old James house” walks across California, and inside is Ami, the lead singer of the high school punk band, “Home Sick Pilots.”  Ami has been missing for weeks, so how did she get in the old James house?  It has ghosts, and Ami has to find them.  But can Ami's band mates, Buzz and Rip, find her?

Home Sick Pilots #3 opens in Santa Manos, September 1994.  Buzz is dreaming of Ami, but Ami is searching for ghosts that need to be returned to the old James house.  Meanwhile, Buzz learns that his school and the authorities are looking for their fellow schoolmates who are also the band, “Nuclear Bastards.”  Rip is also considered missing, but Buzz knows that Rip has checked out.  Meanwhile, Ami and Buzz both end up in search mode and discover something … unexpected.

THE LOWDOWN:  After reading the first issue of Home Sick Pilots, I wanted to be careful and not provide spoilers from that debut issue in my review.  After reading the second issue, I thought that I might be able to describe the series without spoiling the story … too much.  With this third issue, dear readers, I just want to do whatever it takes for you to try Home Sick Pilots … which might mean spoilers.

Home Sick Pilots #1 showed that the series had potential, and Home Sick Pilots #2 started delivering on that potential.  Home Sick Pilots #3 throws the proverbial curve ball.  Dan Watters and Caspar Wijngaard won't settle for merely delivering the unexpected; they want to fry your imagination.

Caspar Wijngaard's art and colors for the first two issues were both haunting and alluring, but this third issue reveals an emphasis on going deeper into story and mythology.  Wijngaard delivers the frights of horror, but also offers the invention of horror rather than its violence.  He and Watters seem to be working as one weird unit of comic book storytelling, and they are pushing the boundaries of the imagination in a way that classic Vertigo Comics did in the 1990s.

So, I will once again heartily recommend Home Sick Pilots.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of offbeat and imaginative supernatural comic books will want to fly with the Home Sick Pilots.

9 out of 10

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


https://twitter.com/DanPGWatters
https://twitter.com/Casparnova
https://twitter.com/adityab
https://twitter.com/hellomuller
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/


The text is copyright © 2021 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).

#IReadsYou Review: GREEN ARROW: The Longbow Hunters: Book One

GREEN ARROW: THE LONGBOW HUNTERS: BOOK ONE (OF THREE)
DC COMICS

WRITER/ARTIST: Mike Grell
ASSIST: Lurene Haines
COLORS: Julia Lacquement
LETTERS: Ken Bruzenak
EDITOR: Mike Gold
COVER: Mike Grell
48pp, Color, $2.95 U.S., $3.95 CAN (1987)

Green Arrow is a DC Comics superhero.  Created by Mort Weisinger and designed by George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 (cover dated: November 1941).  Green Arrow is Oliver Jonas Queen, a wealthy businessman and owner of Queen Industries.

As Green Arrow, Queen wears a Robin Hood-like costume and is an archer who uses his skills to fight crime in the cities where he has lived.  Once upon a time, Green Arrow used a range of trick arrows or “specialty arrows” (explosive-tipped arrows, grappling hook arrows, and tear gas arrows, for instance).  The character has also been depicted differently over eight decades of existence by numerous creators.

Comic book writer-artist, Mike Grell, was first associated with Green Arrow over the period of 1974 to 1978.  First, Green Arrow was a back-up feature in Action Comics (1974-76) that Grell drew.  From 1976-78, Arrow was Green Lantern's partner in the comic book, Green Lantern, although the cover was titled "Green Lantern/Green Arrow."

Grell returned to the character in the 1987, three-issue, “prestige” comic book miniseries, Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters.  The Longbow Hunters began Grell's second association with the character, which ran for a little more than six years and which included an 80-issue run as writer of the Green Arrow (1988) ongoing series.  The Longbow Hunters finds an aging Oliver Queen haunted by both the life he has led and by the choices he did not make.  He is also hunting two brutal killers stalking the streets of his new hometown, Seattle.  The entire Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters series is written by Grell; drawn by Grell with his assistant, Lurene Haines; colored by Julia Lacquement; and lettered by the great Ken Bruzenak.

As Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters Book One: The Hunters opens, the city of Seattle, Washington is being plagued by a serial killer, known as the “Seattle Slasher,” who has been killing prostitutes.  As the story begins, the Slasher claims his eighteenth victim.  Meanwhile, Ollie Queen/Green Arrow relocates from Star City to Seattle, the home of his girlfriend, Dinah Lance, who is also the superhero Black Canary.

Queen is 43-years-old, and he has changed his Green Arrow costume and has abandoned the use of his trademark trick arrows for more traditional archery equipment.  Queen wants to make another change in his life.  He is suffering something of a mid-life crisis, and he ruminates on the life he has led and the paths in life he did not take.  He and Dinah are opening a flower shop, “Sherwood Florist,” but he would also like to have a baby with Dinah.  As Black Canary, Dinah is working undercover to investigate a drug racket, and she believes that she and Oliver live too dangerous a life to consider becoming parents when their activities could leave a child an orphan.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow is also trying to track down the Seattle Slasher.  During his investigation, Queen encounters a mysterious young female archer named, Shado.  She has an elaborate dragon tattoo on her left arm, and she may have ties to the Yakuza.  Shado is also executing a group of elderly men who would have been of age for service during World War II.  Oliver cannot figure out what connects these men that Shado is killing, but some of her victims may have something to do with Dinah's case.  And these connections could get them all killed.

THE LOWDOWN:  Three and half decades later, when people speak or write about Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, they still talk about the gritty turn Mike Grell gave the character.  The truth is that from the year 1986 forward, DC Comics published science fiction and fantasy comics that were darker and edgier than any of their previous comics in those genres.  DC Comics titles took on more mature and adult themes, and some superheroes were grim, gritty, or grim and gritty or, in the case of Batman, grimmer than ever.

What Grell did with Green Arrow was different.  In Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, he began the process of making Green Arrow an urban hunter – a vigilante who stalked violent criminals from the streets to the suites.  Arrow became a hunter and his prey was the worst of male humanity.  On the civilian side, Grell made Oliver face his mortality, be thoughtful about the choices he made and did not make, and think back on the important moments of his youth.

The two women in Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters essentially reflect or represent what Oliver can have and what he could have become.  Dinah Lance/Black Canary is his future, if Oliver accepts certain realities.  Shado, had certain moments in his past turned out differently, is what Oliver could have become … or might become, given the right circumstances.

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters is certainly one of the most beautiful miniseries that DC Comics published in the 1980s.  Mike Grell, with the assistance of Lurene Haines, drew the story in illustrative textures that have a Film-Noir quality that is perfect for both the narrative's thoughtful, moody moments and for its violence.  The hints of realism and fantasy are balanced by Julia Lacquement's coloring, which is perfectly fashioned for each moment of the narrative.  Of course, letterer Ken Bruzenak is in top form.  His lettering conveys the tone and pace of the story, perfectly, every step of the way.

This recent reading is at least the third time that I have read Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, but this is the first time in over twenty years.  Still, it never disappoints, so I plan to read it again … even if it takes me awhile to get back to it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mike Grell and of Green Arrow will want to read Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters.

A
9 out of 10

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


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