IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for April 12, 2023

IDW PUBLISHING

JUN221631 BEAUTY OF HORROR COLORING BOOK VOL 06 FAMOUS MONSTERPIECES ( $16.99

NOV221569 BLOOM COUNTY LIBRARY SC BOOK 02 (C: 0-1-2) $34.99

OCT221769 KEVIN NOWLAN MARVEL HEROES ARTIST ED HC $150.00

JAN231618 STAR TREK #6 CVR A ROSANAS $4.99

JAN231619 STAR TREK #6 CVR B FEEHAN $4.99

JAN231620 STAR TREK #6 CVR C BARTOK $4.99

FEB231491 STAR TREK DEFIANT #2 CVR A UNZUETA $4.99

FEB231492 STAR TREK DEFIANT #2 CVR B SHERMAN $4.99

FEB231493 STAR TREK DEFIANT #2 CVR C WARD $4.99

JAN231644 TMNT USAGI YOJIMBO WHEREWHEN #1 CVR A SAKAI $4.99

JAN231645 TMNT USAGI YOJIMBO WHEREWHEN #1 CVR B EASTMAN $4.99

JAN231646 TMNT USAGI YOJIMBO WHEREWHEN #1 CVR C SKETCH $4.99

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#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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#IReadsYou Review: MARVEL COMICS #1000

MARVEL COMICS No. 1000
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Al Ewing and various
PENCILS: Various
INKS: Various
COLORS: Various
LETTERS: Various
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
EiC: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Alex Ross
VARIANT COVERS: Various
96pp, Color, $9.99 U.S. (October 2019)

Rated T

Marvel Comics #1 (with a cover date of October 1939) was first published on Aug. 31, 1939.  It was the first comic book published by the company known as Timely Comics, a division of Timely Publications and a precursor of Marvel Comics.  Marvel Comics would eventually take on the title, Marvel Mystery Comics.

Using the publication date of Marvel Comics #1, Marvel Comics has been celebrating its 80th anniversary throughout 2019.  The biggest event of that celebration is a special comic book, Marvel Comics #1000.  This massive collaborative effort features 80 different creative teams and showcases classic Marvel Comics characters and some brand new ones.

Each page of Marvel Comics #1000 is a single-page vignette that is the contribution of one of the 80 creative teams.  The creative teams are a mixture of Marvel Comics luminaries (Roy Thomas, Chris Claremont, Alex Ross, to name a few), recent Marvel star creators (Jason Aaron, Joe Quesada), some rising Marvel creators (David F. Walker, Saladin Ahmed), some celebrities (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Neil Gaiman), and some inexplicable choices (J. Scott Campbell?!)

The guiding hand behind the story in this issue is Al Ewing, writer of the critically-acclaimed Hulk comic book series, Immortal Hulk.  The very first panel of Marvel Comics #1000 is based on a panel from Marvel Comics #1, and it is the beginning of this comic book's first one-pager, which is entitled “Eight Bells.”  It is written by Ewing; drawn by Steve Epting; colored by Frank D'Armata; and lettered by VC's Clayton Cowles.  And while many of the one-pagers in Marvel Comics #1000 are about pivotal moments in Marvel Comics' past, the first one-page hints at an ancient conspiracy that runs through the history of the Marvel Universe.

“Eight Bells” recounts the introduction of the original Human Torch, an android by Professor Horton.  From there, Ewing unveils a mystery in the Marvel Universe, one centered around an enigmatic artifact known as the “Eternity Mask.”  Secret threads, secret connections, secret histories, and synchronicity, what is the mystery behind the Eternity Mask, an item that can take down both the powerful and weak  Who will wear the mask now?

In the Diamond Previews online write-up for Marvel Comics #1000, Marvel declares it features “The Greatest Talent Ever Assembled for One Story.”  Another line reads “...we have gathered together the greatest array of talent ever to be assembled between the covers of a single comic book!”  Marvel has also described the creative line-ups for this Marvel Comics #1000 as “some Marvel icons, some first-timers” and “80 luminary creative teams.”

I understand hype, but I also believe that whoever wrote this does not quite understand the actual meaning of the world “luminary.”  As for “the greatest talent ever assembled,” that is eye-rolling hype.  Most of the contributors to Marvel Comics #1000 are solid professions, but for the most part have not produced enough work or any work that would justify them being called “great talents” and certainly not luminary.  Also, the comic books that most of these new icons and “new luminaries” produce have contributed to the continued plummeting sales of comic books.  Neil Gaiman is obviously a luminary, and after a few puffs of burning bush, I might grudgingly call Jason Aaron a luminary.  But Matthew Rosenberg? – bitch, puh-lease.

For the record, here is a list of artists and writer-artists that have contributed substantially to Marvel Comics, but do not contribute to Marvel Comics #1000:  Art Adams, John Byrne, Sal Buscema, Paul Gulacy, Frank Miller, Andy Kubert, Bob Layton, Jim Lee, Joe Madureira, Todd McFarlane, Bob McLeod, Jon J. Muth, John Romita, John Romita, Jr., Bill Sienkiewicz, Paul Smith, Jim Starlin, Kent Williams, Ron Wilson, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Mike Zeck

Here are the writers who have contributed greatly to Marvel and are not in Marvel Comics #1000:  Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Joe Casey, J.M. DeMatteis, Matt Fraction, Steven Grant, David Michelinie, Mark Millar, Doug Moench, Grant Morrison, Ann Nocenti, Louise Simonson, and Marv Wolfman.

I can understand that there are a number of reasons why none of the above appear in Marvel Comics #1000.  Some may have declined, and others may have chosen not to because they are retired or are in poor health.  Others may have exclusive contracts with other publishers that prohibit them from committing any work for Marvel.  Some may have had scheduling issues, but I think many simply were not asked to contribute.

A Marvel Comics 80th anniversary book without John Byrne and Frank Miller is just fucking stupid.  I don't care what it took – even if someone had to get on his or her knees or drop trousers to convince them, Byrne and Miller had to be in this comic book.   It is because of the work that Byrne and Miller produced for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the mid-1980s that Marvel had a late 1980s.

And they couldn't get a Jack Kirby pin-up in this bitch?  The comic books that Bendis, Brubaker, and Millar produced in the 2000s contributed greatly to the history-making and astounding amounts of money Marvel Entertainment's owners are now making from film adaptations of Marvel Comics' stories and characters.  Bendis should have written the Miles Morales one-pager; because he didn't, I didn't even bother reading it.

There are some nice moments and pages in Marvel Comics #1000.  I thought the Joe Quesada-Kevin Nowlan Daredevil page was beautiful.  Other pages I liked:  Roy Thomas and Rod Reis's Wolverine page; Jim Zub and Nick Bradshaw's Blade page; and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Jessica Jones page, to name a few.

The good stuff in Marvel Comics #1000 is tainted by the absence of so many true Marvel Comics luminaries and icons.  Donny Cates is not a Marvel icon, nor is Gerry Duggan.  Sorry; not now, but maybe later – much later.  The powers-that-be at Marvel Comics should be honest.  Marvel Comics #1000 is not so much an anniversary celebration as their childish need to have a Marvel title reach a thousandth issue because DC Comics recently had two – Action Comics #1000 and Detective Comics #1000.  And Marvel was going to have their 1000 even if they had to fudge the numbers.

5 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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#IReadsYou Review: CHRONONAUTS: Futureshock #1

CHRONONAUTS: FUTURESHOCK No. 1 (OF 4)
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally published on Patreon.]

WRITER: Mark Millar – @mrmarkmillar
ARTIST: Eric Canete
COLORS: Giovanna Niro
LETTERS: Peter Doherty with Melina Mikulic
EDITOR: Rachel Fulton
COVER: Pasqual Ferry with Dave McCaig
VARIANT COVERS: Travis Charest; Eric Canete with Giovanna Niro; Kevin Nowlan; Rey Macutay with Walter Pezzali
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (October 2019)

Chrononauts created by Mark Millar and Sean Gordon Murphy

Rated M / Mature

Chrononauts: Futureshock is a four-issue, comic book miniseries written by Mark Millar (Kick-Ass) and drawn by Eric Canete.  All four issues were simultaneously published on October 30, 2019.  Colorist Giovanna Niro and letterers Peter Doherty and Melina Mikulic complete Futureshock's creative team.

Chrononauts: Futureshock is the sequel to the four-issue miniseries, Chrononauts, which was created by Millar and artist Sean Gordon Murphy.  Published in 2015, the first series focused on the world's first time travelers, Dr. Corbin Quinn and Dr. Danny Reilly, and the problems they encounter or create while time-traveling.

Chrononauts: Furtureshock #1 opens in the present day and finds Quinn and Reilly ready to take the next big step in the advancement of time-traveling.  They want to finally travel forward in the time-stream, after making six missions into the past.  The duo has a new vehicle, the “Time-Hawk,” which is built to resemble a giant electric guitar, and they also have special new “chrono-suits.”  There is, however, a specific reason why Quinn and Reilly have thus far failed to travel into the future.  Until one of them discovers that reason, they will always be going backwards.

Like much of Mark Millar's creator-owned comics outside of Marvel Comics, Chrononauts was the usual, glossy, high-concept piece featuring characters that know a lot, but don't realize how much they don't know.  An action-comedy, Chrononauts was a four-issue romp through time that was quite entertaining to read.  I recently read the entire series and found myself quickly reading through the entire thing in less than a day (in between work and assorted tasks).

Chrononauts: Furtureshock #1 suggests more fun in the same vein.  Nearly four and a half years after the release of the original, Millar's story for Chrononauts: Furtureshock seems to pick up right where the first left off.  Furtureshock's artist, Eric Canete, has a graphic style that is close to Sean Gordon Murphy's drawing style, so the change in artists is not jarring.  Canete is a little flashier and more dramatic both in his composition and in his graphic design of the page and within individual panels than Murphy.  It is now, however, a case of one artist being better than the other.  They are simply similar in some ways and different in others.

The coloring by Giovanna Niro is fiery and flashy and that makes the story edgy and gives it a jolt of energy that picks up the pace.  There are pages in which the coloring even mimics the camera flare effect.  The lettering by Peter Doherty, with an assist from Melina Mikulic, keeps punching the story into action every time it seems as if the narrative is going to be quiet.

I won't call Chrononauts: Furtureshock #1 a great comic book, but it is hugely entertaining.  Since I was too clueless to figure out that Image Comic released all four issues simultaneously, I don't have issues two, three, and four.  I will get them, though; the end of the first issue offers the kind of cliffhanger that makes readers want to come back for more.

7.5 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 syndication rights and fees.


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Review: THE GOON #1

THE GOON No. 1 (2019)
ALBATROSS FUNNYBOOKS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Eric Powell – @goonguy
COLORS: Rachael Cohen and Eric Powell
EDITOR: Tracy Marsh
COVER: Eric Powell
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Kevin Nowlan
24pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 13, 2019)

“A Ragged Return to Lonely Street”

The Goon is a comic book character created by comic book writer-artist, Eric Powell.  The Goon is visually similar to a “heavy” or muscular-type villain from an old-timey Hollywood film or television series.  To me, The Goon looks like a blend of Golden Age Hollywood leading man, actor Sterling Hayden, and Hollywood B-movie cult icon, Rondo Hatton.  The Goon's adventures take place in a supernatural world in which he battles ghosts, ghouls, mutants, and various other monsters, as well as assorted undead/zombie types

The Goon is currently celebrating his twentieth anniversary.  He has been the star of his own comic book series, The Goon, beginning in 1999, with most of his comic book run spent at Dark Horse Comics.  Powell recently relaunched The Goon series via his own comic book publishing company, Albatross Funnybooks (formerly Albatross Exploding Funny Books).  The new series is written, drawn, and lettered by Powell and colored by Rachael Cohen and Powell.

The Goon #1 (“A Ragged Return to Lonely Street”) finds The Goon and his pals, Franky and Rosco, returning to “the town with no name” after a time spent abroad serving with a mysterious organization (a tale for another publication).  The Goon expects the town to be changed, since he cleaned the place up of supernatural baddies before he left... but even the zombies are back.

Now, needing a place to stay, The Goon and Franky must deal with a shady character, Horace Sinckelits (“Realtor of the Damned”).  Plus, there is the issue of “Baby Galahad the East-Side Ghoul,” one of several unsavory types who have stepped in to fill the void The Goon left behind.

I am not a big fan of The Goon, but I enjoy reading it from time to time.  My eyes, however, are always hoping to take in more of Eric Powell's beautiful art and illustrations.  The Goon is truly an oddball creation.  I think of it this way:  if you took the tone and spirit of the horror comic books published by Marvel, DC Comics, and Warren Publications (to name a few) and blended them with the sensibilities of MAD Magazine; next, added a sprinkle of the more humorous episodes of Will Eisner's The Spirit; then, placed it in a Film-Noir big city setting, you would have The Goon.

The Goon also has more than one great character.  First, there is the title character, and secondly, there is the irascible Franky, whose dialogue sounds like a low-level criminal-hood type from a Hollywood gangster movie.  Powell makes Franky funny practically one-hundred percent of the time, and so, Franky makes The Goon twice as good.  Honestly, I really can't get enough of a character; I guess I'm a Franky fanboy slash homer.

Now, that I think about.  I liked The Goon #1 (2019) so much that I don't want to read it from time to time.  I want to read it every issue.

http://www.thegoon.com/albatross.html

8.5 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 site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Review: MARVEL LEGACY #1

MARVEL LEGACY No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Jason Aaron
ART: Esad Ribic with Steve McNiven
COLORS: Matthew Wilson
LETTERS: VC's Cory Petit
ADDITIONAL ARTISTS: Chris Samnee; Russell Dauterman; Alex Maleev; Ed McGuinness; Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger; Pepe Larraz; Jim Cheung; Daniel Acuña; Greg Land and Jay Leisten; Mike Deodato, Jr.; David Marquez
COVER: Joe Quesada and Kevin Nowlan with Richard Isanove
VARIANT COVERS: Alex Ross; Mark Brooks; John Tyler Christopher; Mike Deodato, Jr.; Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson; Greg Land with Frank D'Armata; Amy Reeder; Skottie Young
64pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (November 2017)

Rated T+

Marvel Legacy #1 is a new one-shot comic book from Marvel Comics.  I don't really know its purpose, other than what I read on the Internet.  After a year of reportedly falling sales of its comic books, Marvel does what it and DC Comics normally do:  initiate a reboot or a re-launch or hit-the-refresh/restart button, etc.  Such a rehash... I mean such a refresh is usually preceded by some kind of large scale publishing event, as it was here.  I guess that was the Secret Empire miniseries and the corresponding tie-ins and spin-offs.

SO I'LL SAVE YOU SOME TIME:  Marvel Legacy #1 has a few entertaining moments, with the best being the Wolverine reveal.  Some of it piqued my interest, but most it fell flat for me.  If you are looking for something exceptional, great, memorable, etc., Marvel Legacy #1 is not it, and it certainly is not worth the $5.99 cover price.  That said, you only need to keep reading this review if you usually enjoy my ramblings...

So here we go again; Marvel Legacy #1 launches the next big start-over.  I have read a lot of web commentary in which people compare this comic book to DC Comics' DC Universe Rebirth from last year.  I don't see the resemblance, and Rebirth has purpose and direction (at least to me), whereas Marvel Legacy #1 reads like a bunch of teasing and anticipation balled up together.

Marvel Legacy #1 has an omniscient narrator, Valeria Richards, the second child of Reed Richards and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four.  She talks about legacies and begins her narration “One Million Years Ago.”  Something happened back then; that something plus some more bad stuff is coming back today.  Get ready.

Yep, that's it – something wicked this way comes, eventually.  The main story is written by Jason Aaron and drawn mainly by Esad Ribic, with some of it drawn by Steve McNiven.  Interspersed between segments of the main story are some one and two-page excerpts from upcoming Legacy launches – like Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's upcoming run on Captain America (Steve Rogers).

That's what this is all about, right?  A return to original i.e. traditional i.e. “white” characters.  Some believe that Marvel angered its aging white male fan base by recasting too many of its characters as black, Latino, Asian, female or some combination thereof.  Here's an anecdote for you.  For years, white male comic book readers told me that they did not want white comic books or black comic books, but they wanted good comic books.  Okay... Black male Spider-Man, Black female Iron Man, White female Hawkeye, Pan-Asian Muslim Ms. Marvel, White lady Thor are the leads of some very well written comic book series.  I know that because I read them.  But whiny White comic book retailers, clueless comic book corporate middle management, and fans who don't read books they complain about are driving this need for Marvel Comics to reset.

But the real villains here are Marvel Comics' shitty editorial decisions, arrogant management, piss-poor publishing plans, and virtually non-existent marketing.  Marvel Legacy #1 exists for the same reasons Marvel NOW, All-New Marvel NOW, and Marvel Now & Laters existed – all of the above and Marvel's addiction to the sales bump it gets from #1 issues.

Marvel Comics publishes too many comic books and has been doing so for 30 years.  Many of those comic books exist because Marvel will throw a lot of money at “star creators” to produce comics; or because someone will come up with some cute gimmick; or simply to grab more market share; or because a hit Marvel Studios movie will mean launching 10 new comic books directly, indirectly, vaguely, and/or even tangentially related to the movie.  Baby Groot the comic book series, y'all.

Too many titles frustrate readers for various readers, but especially because they cannot keep up with all those new comic books.  Marvel Legacy #1 is another pretend fix for symptoms that arise from Marvel's poor decision making.  That decision making needs a cure; the symptoms will go away after the cure.  For all Marvel's talk of a return to classic Marvel storytelling, next year it will do something like recast all its characters as Buddhists golden retrievers.

Marvel Comics' real legacy is that, no matter who owned Marvel, they never appreciated the artists and writers who really created the characters and stories that made Marvel a business and cultural force.  They held on tightly to Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and more while being dismissive of the talent, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, that drew those characters into existence.  Did it ever occur to those bosses how many more great characters and stories creators like Kirby and Ditko would have created for Marvel had the bosses acknowledged them financially and personally in a manner befitting people who multi-million dollar franchises?

So Marvel Legacy #1 epitomizes Marvel's real legacy – the short-sighted, self-serving choices instead of the long term choices that come with more risk and less immediate gratification.  Plus, Marvel Legacy #1 is just another comic book, fast food hamburger off the corporate conveyor belt – granted that there is some rather nice art inside.

C
4 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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Review: DOCTOR STRANGE #1

DOCTOR STRANGE (2015) No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Jason Aaron
PENCILS: Chris Bachalo
INKS: Tim Townsend, Al Vey, and Mark Irwin
COLORS: Chris Bachalo
LETTERS: VC's Cory Petit
COVER: Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend
VARIANT COVERS: Neal Adams; John Tyler Christopher; Juan Doe; Eric Henderson; Dave Johnson; Kevin Nowlan; Jakub Rebelka; Skottie Young; Allen Lee Hansard with Mary Cahela and Judy Stephens
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2015)

Rated T+

Doctor Strange created by Steve Ditko

“The Way of the Weird”

Doctor Strange is a Marvel Comics superhero character.  Doctor Strange first appeared in Strange Tales #110 (cover dated:  July 1963) and was created by artist Steve Ditko, although Marvel Comics also recognizes Stan Lee as the character's co-creator.

Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange is a brilliant, but egotistical neurosurgeon who only cares about using his career and talents to become wealthy.  A car accident severely damages his hands, ending his ability to perform surgery.  His pride causes him to lose everything, but his encounter with the Ancient One changes him.  Doctor Strange becomes the “Sorcerer Supreme,” the “Master of the Mystic Arts,” who is the primary protector of Earth against magical and mystical threats from wherever they may come.

As part of the “All-New All-Different Marvel” initiative, Marvel Comics is launching a new Doctor Strange comic book series.  The new series is written by Jason Aaron; drawn and colored by Chris Bachalo, with inking by Tim Townsend, Al Vey and Mark Irwin; and lettered by Cory Petit.

Doctor Strange #1 (“The Way of the Weird”) with Strange battling possession in the Netherworld.  After a day of battling soul-eaters and a psychic-leech, Strange sees a pattern.  Something bad is coming.  Plus, Strange meets Doctor Voodoo, Shaman, and the Scarlet Witch.

I am intrigued by some of the elements presented in this new series, but I don't know that this is a title that I would buy every month.  If you have ever seen Chris Bachalo's art, and you have because he has been a Marvel Comics stable pony for over a decade, then, this comic book will look familiar to you.  Maybe some of it looks like Bachalo's work on Neil Gaiman's Death comic book miniseries.  Anyway, I can't recommend this, not because it is bad, but because I don't see myself being a regular reader of this new Doctor Strange.  So why should I suggest that you be?

Now, there is also a five-age epilogue written by Aaron and drawn by the great Kevin Nowlan (who also draws one of this #1 issue's variant covers).  For a long time, Nolan has been known as a comic book artist's artist, and Nowlan's five pages are worth every penny of this book's cover price.  I will come back to this title if there is more Nowlan.

[This volume includes a bonus story written by Jason Aaron; drawn and colored by Kevin Nowlan; and lettered by VC's Cory Petit.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: BATGIRL #35

BATGIRL #35
DC COMICS – @DCComics

STORY: Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher – @cameronMstewart @BrendenFletcher
ART: Babs Tarr – @babsdraws
BREAKDOWNS: Cameron Stewart
COLORS: Maris Wicks
LETTERS: Jared K. Fletcher
COVER: Cameron Stewart
VARIANT COVERS: Babs Tarr; Kevin Nowlan
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (December 2014)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

“Burned”

Of the many incarnations of the character, Batgirl, the best known and most popular is Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.  Barbara is the daughter of Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon, and she first appeared in 1966, introduced in Detective Comics #359 (entitled “The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl”) in a story written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Carmine Infantino.

DC Comics recently launched a new era of Batgirl-Barbara Gordon with the creative team of writers Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher, artist Babs Tarr, colorist Maris Wicks, and letterer Jared K. Fletcher.  From the start, this looks like its going to be an exciting and invigorating new era.

Batgirl #35 (“Burned”) opens as Barbara moves to the other side of the bridge from Gotham City to the hip Gotham borough, Burnside.  She has a new roommate, Frankie, and is continuing to work on her graduate degree.  This should be a fresh start, but trouble rears its ugly head.  All around her, laptops and hand-held devices are disappearing, including her own.  Plus, Barbara's former bestie, Dinah Lance/Black Canary, has shown up on her new doorstep.  Then, there's Riot Black.

It is hard not to like the spiffy new Batgirl, and I didn't resist.  Like recent Batman-related launches, Grayson and Gotham Academy, Batgirl is mostly free from being connected to continuity.  The new-direction Batgirl is not quite a Batman version of the classic 1960s sitcom, “That Girl.”  Still, Batgirl looks as if it will focus on the life of a young woman who is on the cusp of adulthood while still preparing for it.

I am enamored with Babs Tarr's art, with its Darwyn Cooke's inflection.  I also thought of Jaime Hernandez's Locas stories enjoying the art.  Being similar to Cooke and Xaime are good things, as far as I'm concerned, so I plan on reading more of this new-era Batgirl.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: DREAM THIEF #2

DREAM THIEF #2 (OF 5)
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Jai Nitz
ART/LETTERS: Greg Smallwood
COVER: Ryan Sook
MISC. ART: Kevin Nowlan, Rob Croonenborghs, Andrew MacLean, Ryan Browne, Jeremy Mohler
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (June 2013)

Dream Thief is a new five-issue limited series from Bram Stoker Award-winning writer Jai Nitz (“Best Illustrated Narrative,” 2004) and artist Greg Smallwood. The series focuses on John Lincoln, whose body and mind become possessed after he dons a strange mask.

Lincoln is an Atlanta-based carouser and pot-smoker/connoisseur. He tends to get drunk and wake up in strange places; often those places are the bedrooms of women who are not his girlfriend, Claire. After a visit to the Fernbank Museum of Natural History, John awakens, wearing an Aboriginal mask he stole from the museum. Now, John’s problems have been replaced by blood stains and an unsteady memory that suggests he’s been disposing of bodies. He’s even killed his girlfriend.

As Dream Thief #2 opens, John is still trying to deal with the spirits of the dead who possess his mind and body while he sleeps. Now, he has a head full of another dead man’s memories, a young man named Jimmy Oliver. Tossed out of the U.S. Army for being gay, Jim found love and a career in the grungy underworld of drugs and pornography. Now, the Dream Thief has to enter that world on a vengeful errand.

When Dark Horse Comics made a PDF of Dream Thief #1 available to reviewers, I read it on a lark because it was a first issue. That was a moment of fortune in my life as a comic book reader. Dream Thief is just a damn good comic book and a great read.

Jai Nitz has written a fine, creepy dark fantasy, and he has an engaging character in John Lincoln. Lincoln is even better as the “Dream Thief,” whom Nitz uses, in this issue, to tell a poignant story of a young man lost. Dream Thief is partly a lovely character story, one that recalls Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

The scope of the talent of artist Greg Smallwood expands, practically with each page of this series. He draws Dream Thief as if it were a crime comic book, but he also captures the supernatural-infused nature of the narrative. I don’t think anyone could do a better job with Dream Thief than Smallwood is doing.

Comic book readers looking for excellence have a dream lover in Dream Thief.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux