#IReadsYou Review: KING SPAWN #1

KING SPAWN #1
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Sean Lewis; Todd McFarlane (additional dialogue and back-up stories)
PENCILS: Javi Fernandez (King Spawn); Stephen Segovia (Haunt); Marcio Takara (Nightmare); Philip Tan (The Hero); Brett Booth (Gunslinger)
INKS: Javi Fernandez; Adelso Corona; Daniel Henriques
COLORS: FCO Plascencia (King Spawn); Andrew Dalhouse; Marcelo Maiolo; Peter Steigerwald; Dave McCaig
LETTERS: Andworld Design (King Spawn): Tom Orzechowski
EDITOR: Thomas Healy
COVER:  Puppeteer Lee
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; David Finch with FCO Plascencia; Sean Gordon Murphy; Brett Booth and Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; Greg Capullo and Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; Donny Cates and Todd McFarlane
56pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (August 2021)

Rated: “T/ Teen”

Spawn created by Todd McFarlane

Spawn is a superhero/antihero character that stars in the long-running comic book series, Spawn.  Created by writer-artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1 (cover dated: May 1992).

Spawn was Albert Francis “Al” Simmons.  A career military man who becomes a highly capable assassin and dies a violent death.  He makes a deal with the devil, Malebolgia, in order to return to the living realm to see his wife one last time.  However, Al returns with almost no memories accept that his name is Al Simmons, and he learns that he is now a “Hellspawn” in service of Malebolgia.  Rebelling, Al Simmons, now “Spawn,” finds a new purpose in stopping evil.

Back in February (2021), Todd McFarlane announced his plans to build a larger, multi-character, interconnected, comic book universe based around his Spawn comic book – a “Spawn Universe.”  McFarlane also announced four new comic book titles coming out in 2021, with three of them continuing as regular monthly titles.  The first of the three titles, King Spawn, has arrived.

King Spawn is written by Sean Lewis; drawn by Javi Fernandez; colored by FCO Plascencia; lettered by Andworld Design.  King Spawn finds Spawn battling one of his old adversaries, but it is someone only Spawn knows that exists.

King Spawn #1 opens at an elementary school in Seattle, Washington.  There, a bombing kills sixteen people, including fourteen children aged five and six years old.  Spawn and Jessica Priest (She-Spawn) surreptitiously attend the funeral of one of the children, and Spawn, enraged, tells Priest that he knows who committed this crime and that he is going after them.

The suspects include a legendary angel, Metatron, and perhaps, an underground religious group, “Psalms 137.”  Or maybe, the people behind the bombing are fans...

THE LOWDOWN:  I read Spawn #1 back in 1992, and I had mixed feelings about it.  Yet I was a fan and followed the series for another five or six years.

2021 finds me reading my a Spawn title first-issue for the first time since I read Curse of the Spawn #1 back in 1996.  I like the main story in King Spawn #1.  In fact, Sean Lewis has written the best first issue for an ongoing Spawn comic that I have read to date.  His dialogue is sharp and natural-like, which I can't say for Spawn creator Todd McFarlane's dialogue and exposition, which often describes things that we can see in the art.  Lewis' script is lean and mean, and Lewis does something at which McFarlane is quite good – make the reader feel for the victims.

I've always preferred my Spawn comic books to be drawn by McFarlane, but as a businessman from the beginning of Spawn, he really could not commit to drawing Spawn on a regular basis past the first two years of the original series.  However, Javi Fernandez's art and storytelling shares a sensibility with McFarlane's art that will satisfy me.

So far, I find that King Spawn #1 is the closest to what I will get to those early days of Spawn.  Also, the ending makes me want to come back for more.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Spawn will want to read King Spawn.

[This comic book includes four back-up stories and “Spawning Ground” Presents “The Breakdown,” in which Todd McFarlane and Sean Lewis interview each other.]

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


https://twitter.com/Todd_McFarlane
https://mcfarlane.com/
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 affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Review: LEGEND OF THE MANTAMAJI: Book One

LEGEND OF THE MANTAMAJI: BOOK ONE
“AND... ACTION” ENTERTAINMENT

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Eric Dean Seaton
ART: Brandon Palas
COLORS: Andrew Dalhouse
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
ISBN: 978-1-930315-34-1; paperback (October 4, 2014)
216pp, Color, $14.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN

The Legend of the Mantamaji is a three-volume graphic novel series created by Eric Dean Seaton.  Seaton has directed numerous episodes of television series for Disney Channel (including “That's So Raven” and “Jessie”) and Nickelodeon (including “The Thundermans” and “True Jackson, VP”).

The three volumes of The Legend of the Mantamaji were published in October 2014 (Book One), December 2014 (Book Two), and February 2015 (Book Three).  The Legend of the Mantamaji focuses on a young man who learns that he is the last of a race of mystical knights, called the Mantamaji, that once protected the world.  The Legend of the Mantamaji is written by Seaton; drawn by Brandon Palas; colored by Andrew Dalhouse; and lettered by Deron Bennett.  I purchased a copy of the first book a few years ago, and having recently found it, I decided to read and review it.

The Legend of the Mantamaji Book One introduces Elijah Alexander.  He is New York City's hottest and cockiest assistant district attorney (A.D.A.).  He has big plans to leave the district attorney's office for the world of big business.  What he does not know is that he is “The Last Mantamanji?”

The Mantamaji were mystical knights who once protected humanity, but they were made practically extinct by an ageless enemy.  Now, that ancient evil has returned, and Elijah's destiny bluntly confronts him.  His mother, Mariah, hides an astonishing secret.  Her friend, Noah, wants to train Elijah.  His girlfriend, Detective Sydney Spencer, is involved in an investigation that may be tied to Elijah destiny.  And even if Elijah accepts his destiny, will it be as a hero or as someone out for himself?

Writer Eric Dean Seaton and artist Brandon Palas may not be seasoned veterans at creating comic books.  Seaton works in cable network television.  Palas shows a lack of polish in figure drawing and composition.  Still, their storytelling is clean and clear.  Thematically, Seaton and Palas focus on the struggle between selflessness and selfishness, and the fate of mankind rests on which side Elijah Alexander chooses and how long it takes him to choose.  Besides, colorist Andrew Dalhouse and letterer Deron Bennett add that veteran's touch that gives The Legend of the Mantamaji Book One some polish and professional sheen.  This is not an off-the-wall comic book; it is a snazzy graphic novel package worthy of being of the shelves with big comic book corporations' publications.

I consider The Legend of the Mantamaji Book One to be an easy graphic novel to recommend because it is so fun to read.  Its internal mythology is edgy, with complications that seem to cause real hardships for the heroes.  The obstacles in front of the heroes are interesting, and the villain is shameless in his self-aggrandizing and in his singular vision that his violence will lead to a better world.

I also think that it is a good idea to publish The Legend of the Mantamaji as a series of graphic novels, which allows the narrative to stretch out and feel its way around the plot lines, characters, settings, and back story.  If this had been published as a miniseries, I think the story would have struggled to make sense.  It has been about three-and-half years since The Legend of the Mantamaji Book One debuted, but time has nothing to do with the fact that this is a good comic book.  It is not a great work, but the writer and the illustrator are striving to keep getting better as the story gets more exciting.

7 out of 10

LegendoftheMantamaji.com
AndActionEntertainment.com
twitter.com/ericdeanseaton
instagram.com/ericdeanseaton
facebook.com/legendofthemantamaji
ericdeanseaton.tumblr.com

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


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

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

I Reads You Review: SUICIDE SQUAD: Amanda Waller #1

SUICIDE SQUAD: AMANDA WALLER #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

WRITER: Jim Zub
PENCILS: André Coelho
INKS: Scott Hanna
COLORS: Andrew Dalhouse
LETTERS: Carlos M. Mangual
COVER: Giuseppe Camuncoli with Blond
48pp, Color, $4.99 U.S.

Rating “T+” Teen Plus

Amanda Waller created by John Ostrander and John Byrne

“Sacrifice in the Storm”

Dr. Amanda Blake Waller, or simply, “Amanda Waller,” is a DC Comics character.  Waller first appeared in Legends #1 (1986) and was created by John Ostrander and John Byrne.  [Ostrander plotted the series, while Len Wein wrote the script.]  Waller does not possess super-powers, but she has been and is a powerful ally/antagonist of the DC Comics superheroes, as well as being an antihero.

In The New 52, the restart of the DC Comics Universe, Waller is the commander of the Suicide Squad (or “Task Force X”), a team of super-villains.  Members of the squad take on risky missions in exchange for time served.  The team’s base of operations is Belle Reve Penitentiary, a special prison for meta-humans and super-villains located in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana.  Waller chooses the Suicide Squad’s membership and basically has the power of life and death over those members.  The New 52 Amanda Waller is a slim, attractive young woman, whereas the original version of her was a portly, older African-American woman.

Suicide Squad: Amanda Waller #1 is a one-shot comic book set after the events depicted in Suicide Squad #24 (The New 52 series, of course).  Entitled “Sacrifice in the Storm,” the story finds Amanda Waller confronting a super-powered attacker and focuses on the decisions she has to make in order to save some lives.

The story opens with Waller traveling aboard a U.S. Air Force plane with a military escort.  She is negotiating the cooperation of Dr. Algot Issen, who has developed genetic testing equipment that not only classifies super-powered beings, but also offers the opportunity to control them.  However, an entity from Dr. Issen’s past, called Kriger-3, has come back for some payback.  Now, Waller has to make the tough decisions that will decide who dies and who survives … if anyone survives.

When a young actor is hot… well, let’s be honest… When a young white male actor starts getting hot, the major Hollywood studios/corporations (Warner Bros., FOX, Universal, etc.) will find a “star vehicle” for this hot stuff.  A “star vehicle” is some kind of action movie or comedy with an uncomplicated plot, but has an interesting idea (once called a “high concept”).  Basically, it’s a chance for YWM (young white male) to showcase whatever it is about him that might make him a movie star.

The movie will feature a young (usually) white actress as a sidekick slash arm candy slash girl who probably gives him some booty (off-screen or on-screen, depending on the rating).  This film will have a mixture of respected older actors, venerable character actors, and actors (regardless of age) who specialize in playing such supporting characters as best friends, sassy friend-girls, kooky coworkers, etc.

Disturbia was a star vehicle for Shia LaBeouf.  Most of the films in Channing Tatum’s filmography of the last six or seven years are star vehicles.  Enemy of the State was a star vehicle for Will Smith (one of the Negro exceptions in Hollywood).

Suicide Squad: Amanda Waller #1 could be seen as a star vehicle for a fictional character.  To be honest, I only picked up this comic book because I am a fan of writer Jim Zub’s work on IDW Publishing’s Samurai Jack comic book.  [And Black Jesus knows DC Comics acts as if it would kill them to hire a Black writer to write about a Black character.]

Anyway, I think Amanda Waller makes an excellent choice to star in her own series or occasional miniseries, one-shot, or original graphic novel, especially if Jim Zub were the writer.  Zub’s story focuses on Waller, but is also told in the context of Suicide Squad’s central idea – imprisoning super-villains and sending them on deadly missions no one else would take and Waller’s part in that.

Zub sends Waller on a mission that is dangerous in every sense of the word.  To live, she has to make some brutal choices, and no, I won’t spoil the story by listing them.  I can say that to stay alive, Waller has to go to the heart of darkness and his cousin, ugly.  I am not saying that this is great work.  In some ways, it is merely professionally executed – nothing particularly special.  However, this story does mix internal character conflict and explosive superhero action quite well.

The art by André Coelho (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks) and Andrew Dalhouse (colors) is good.  The colors heighten the drama and beauty of the compositions with its clean line and “exacto” inking.  The storytelling, however, rests on Jim Zub’s efforts, so I hope we get more Suicide Squad: Amanda Waller, with the right storyteller.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

The New 52 Review: TEEN TITANS #1

"Not your or your father's Teen Titans"

TEEN TITANS #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Scott Lobdell
PENCILS: Brett Booth
INKS: Norm Rapmund
COLORS: Andrew Dalhouse
LETTERS: Carlos M. Mangual
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

The Teen Titans is a DC Comics superhero team that has existed in several different incarnations. The first incarnation of the Teen Titans unofficially debuted in The Brave and the Bold #54 (cover July 1964) as a sort of “junior Justice League,” when Robin (Dick Grayson), Kid Flash (Wally West), and Aqualad, the sidekicks of Justice League members, Batman, the Flash, and Aquaman respectively, teamed up to defeat a villain.

The group was first called the “Teen Titans” in The Brave and the Bold #60 (cover July 1965), when they were joined by Wonder Girl (Donna Troy), the younger sister of Wonder Woman, who was also making her first appearance in a comic book. Teen Titans #1 (cover date February 1966) was the beginning of the Titans own series and was published until 1973. The series has a short revival in 1976-78.

The New Teen Titans #1 (cover date November 1980) re-launched the concept and ran for 16 years (during which there were two name changes and a second #1 issue). There was a second Teen Titans (1996-98) and a series called The Titans (1999-2002). Geoff Johns launched a third series called Teen Titans (2003-11), and there was a second series called Titans (2008-11).

With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” we have a fourth series entitled Teen Titans. Teen Titans #1 (“Teen Spirit”) opens with Kid Flash making an ass of himself. Next, Red Robin’s sanctum, a penthouse in Lex Towers, gets the invasion treatment from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Robin has uncovered some kind of conspiracy against metahuman youth, so he turns to Cassie Sandsmark, who insists that he not call her Wonder Girl.

This new Teen Titans seems to be one of “The New 52,” titles in which the writer has been allowed to ignore most of what has come before him. It would not be an exaggeration to say that what Scott Lobdell has wrought puts a lie to 47 years of Teen Titans comic book publishing history. Practically everything that is directly connected to The Brave and the Bold #54 is kaput.

That said, Teen Titans is an entertaining comic book, and I’d like to read future issues. If anything, this is the best art Brett Booth has delivered in ages. His art, sort of a retarded bastard child of Art Adams and Jim Lee’s styles, has grown more ridiculous looking with each passing year – until now. Credit Norm Rapmund’s inking.

Meanwhile, the new Kid Flash looks to be an excellent, perhaps even popular, supporting character – as long as he remains a supporting character. This isn’t the Teen Titans I remember, but I could read this.

B

September 28th
AQUAMAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/aquaman-1.html
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/batman-dark-knight-1.html
BLACKHAWKS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/blackhawks-1.html
FLASH #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/flash-1.html
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/justice-league-dark-1.html
SUPERMAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/superman-1.html
VOODOO #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/voodoo-1.html

The New 52 Review: GRIFTER #1

GRIFTER #1
DC COMICS

WRITER: Nathan Edmondson
PENCILS: CAFU
INKS: Jason Gorder
COLORS: Andrew Dalhouse
LETTERS: Wes Abbott
COVER: CAFU and Bit
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Grifter was one of the superhero characters that debuted in WildC.A.T.s #1 (cover date August 1992), Image Comics founding partner Jim Lee’s first work published by the then newly-launched company. Created by Lee and Brandon Choi, Grifter is Cole Cash, an incredibly adept fighter who is an expert in hand-to-hand combat and with most weapons, especially guns. Grifter also has mental powers, which he rarely uses.

With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” Grifter is the star of a new solo comic book series. As Grifter #1 (“17 Minutes”) opens, Cole Cash has arrived at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans for what should be an easy getaway from his most recent con. Then, why does he end up falling from the plane? Meanwhile, Cole’s brother, Max, gets a special assignment that will lead to an explosive family reunion.

First, I have to say that Grifter series artist, CAFU, has a drawing style that reminds me of the art of Paul Gulacy, which I consider a very good thing. CAFU has a good sense of both style and design in the way he poses figures and composes the content of a panel. His art both moves the story and also conveys a set of emotions and ideas within the panel.

Writer Nathan Edmondson has certainly presented a fast-moving story that grips you both with what it reveals and with the questions it raises. Still, I think CAFU brings a unique visual style and graphic narrative method that will make Grifter more than just another new series.

A-

September 14th
BATMAN AND ROBIN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batman-and-robin-1.html
BATWOMAN #1 2.99
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/batwoman-1.html
DEMON KNIGHTS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/demon-knights-1.html
FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/frankenstein-agent-of-shade-1.html
GREEN LANTERN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/green-lantern-1.html
LEGION LOST #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/legion-lost-1.html
MISTER TERRIFIC #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/mister-terrific-1.html
RED LANTERNS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/red-lanterns-1.html
RESURRECTION MAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/resurrection-man-1.html
SUPERBOY #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/09/superboy-1.html

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