Dynamite Entertainment from Diamond Distributors for March 20, 2019

DYNAMITE

DEC181098    ARMY OF DARKNESS BUBBA HOTEP #1 SGN ATLAS ED    $49.99
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IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for March 20, 2019

IDW PUBLISHING

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Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for March 20, 2019

IMAGE COMICS

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Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for March 20, 2019

MARVEL COMICS

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Comics, Books and Magazines from Diamond Distributors for March 20, 2019

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

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MAGAZINES
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BOOKS
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Review: SWAMP THING Winter Special

SWAMP THING: WINTER SPECIAL #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Tom King; Len Wein
ART: Jason Fabok; Kelley Jones
COLORS: Brad Anderson; Michelle Madsen
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
COVER: Jason Fabok
MISC. ART: José Luis García-López; José Luis García-López and Joe Prado; José Luis García-López and Joe Prado with Mark Chiarello
80pp, Color, $7.99 U.S. (March 2018)

Rated “T” for Teen

Swamp Thing created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson

Editor's Note by Rebecca Taylor

Swamp Thing is a horror comic book character from DC Comics.  While there have been different versions of the character, Swamp Thing is a plant elemental and a sentient, walking mass of plant matter.  Created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, Swamp Thing first appeared in House of Secrets #92 (cover dated July 1971).

In 2017, both Wein and Wrightson died.  In 2016, DC Comics published a six-issue Swamp Thing comic book miniseries written by Wein and collected in a trade paperback, Swamp Thing: The Dead Don't Sleep.  Before he died, Wein was working on a new Swamp Thing series with artist Kelley Jones, who drew The Dead Don't Sleep.  This new series would have also been a continuation of the miniseries, and the first issue would have been published as Swamp Thing #7.

Wein produced a detailed plot for the first issue/chapter (“Spring Awakening!”), but died before he could produce a “lettering script” for the first issue of this new Swamp Thing series.  The art for the new comic, drawn by Kelley Jones and colored by Michelle Madsen, is printed in a recently published square-bound, one-shot, comic book, Swamp Thing: Winter Special.  In a two-page editor's note, Rebecca Taylor explains the situation around this still-born project.  Swamp Thing: Winter Special also includes Wein's plot for Swamp Thing #7, which runs six pages (for a 20 page story).

“Spring Awakening” depicts long-time villain, Solomon Grundy, kidnapping an infant girl, and, later, Batman visiting Swamp Thing.  I don't know what to make of the story other than I would have loved to have read a finished version.  I am a longtime fan of Kelley Jones, and I love the way Michelle Madsen colors Jones' comic book art.  I am not a big fan of Swamp Thing unless the stories are produced by particular creators, and, of course, Wein was one of them, so...

The Wein tribute is the opening story of Swamp Thing: Winter Special.  Entitled “The Talk of the Saints,” it is written by Tom King; drawn by Jason Fabok; colored by Brad Anderson; and lettered by Deron Bennett.

“The Talk of the Saints” finds Swamp Thing shepherding a lost boy through a blinding snow storm.  As the two navigate a strange, frozen tundra, they face countless threats, especially an unseen bloodthirsty snow monster that is constantly stalking them.  Stripped of his powers and disconnected from “the Green,” Swamp Thing must uncover the true identity of the snow monster that hunts them.

Tom King's story does offers some genuinely scary and creepy moments, but, at the same time, it comes across as awkward poetry and metaphor.  The art by illustrator Jason Fabok and colorist Brad Anderson is gorgeous and, outside of Kelley Jones and Michelle Madsen's work, is some of the most beautiful Swamp Thing comic book art that I have see in years, especially the last five pages of this story.

Letterer Deron Bennett presents lettering that really heightens the chills and thrills.  For me, Bennett unites what is good about Tom King's story and the prettiness of the art into a striking graphical package.

Swamp Thing: Winter Special is not great, but it is an essential publication for Swamp Thing fans, if only for the Len Wein tributes and story material. But a Swamp Thing comic book full of pretty art is a good reason to have this one-shot comic book.

7.5 out of 10

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


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

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

Review: THAT BLUE SKY FEELING Volume 2

THAT BLUE SKY FEELING, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Okura
ART: Coma Hashii
TRANSLATION: Jocelyne Allen
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0410-1; paperback (May 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
240pp, B&W, $10.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

That Blue Sky Feeling is a coming-of-age LGBTQ manga from writer Okura and artist Coma Hashii.  VIZ Media publishes the series in-print with an MSRP of $10.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.  It is available digitally via viz.com and the VIZ Manga App, as well as from the Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, comiXology, and Google Play stores.

Noshiro Dai is an outgoing high school student who finds himself drawn to Kou Sanada, the school outcast, who is rumored to be gay.  The rumors don't bother Noshiro; instead, they make him even more determined to get close to Sanada.  Thus, what is set in motion is a surprising tale of first love.

As That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 2 (Chapters 8 to 14) opens, Noshiro and Sanada's friendship is growing, after Noshiro finally breaks down the emotional walls Sanada put up.  Now, a new complication has arrived.  Ayumi Yamamoto, a childhood friend of Sanada's who went to elementary school with him, reveals that she has always liked him.  Noshiro believes that he should try to get Sanada and Yamamoto together.  Meanwhile, Noshiro has his own romantic complications; new student, Makoto Morinaga, an underclassman, has a crush on Noshiro.

[This volume includes a bonus chapter.]

The title is practically neutral, but That Blue Sky Feeling manga is a high school set series.  One of the leads is gay, but this is not an out-and-out gay romantic manga – at least not yet.

That Blue Sky Feeling Graphic Novel Volume 2 is decidedly sweet-natured.  Characters are in “like” rather than being in “love.”  “Like,” however, can get pretty intense, and the story can quietly be intense.  Creators Okura and Coma Hashii are sly in the way they portray characters dealing with being gay in a setting that can be cruel, even mortally dangerous to gay students.

On the other side of that, they present in Noshiro, a character working hard to make sure that being gay does not hamper the fun of high school for his friend.  For Sanada, his stoicism masks his dishonesty about his feelings.  This is an excellent setup for conflict or, at the very least, comic situations.  That Blue Sky Feeling is proving to be an interesting take on gay comics and on high school romance manga.

A-
7.5 out of 10

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


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