Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 24, 2019

IMAGE COMICS

MAY190053    ASCENDER #4 (MR)    $3.99
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MAR190258    WICKED & DIVINE #44 CVR B RIOS & MUERTO (MR)    $3.99

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 24, 2019

MARVEL COMICS

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MAY190764    X-MEN #137 FACSIMILE EDITION    $4.99

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for July 24, 2019

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

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MAGAZINES
MAY191609    COMIC SHOP NEWS [90CT BUNDLE] #1675    $PI
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BOOKS
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MAY191967    SPIDER-MAN FAR FROM HOME OFF MOVIE SPECIAL HC    $19.99
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Review: BLACK LIGHTNING/HONG KONG PHOOEY Special #1

BLACK LIGHTNING/HONG KONG PHOOEY SPECIAL No. 1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Bryan Hill
PENCILS: Denys Cowan
INKS: Bill Sienkiewicz
COLORS: Jeromy Cox
LETTERS: Janice Chiang
EDITOR: Jim Chadwick
COVER: Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz with Jeromy Cox
VARIANT COVER: Chris Cross with Gabe Eltaeb
48pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (July 2018)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

Black Lightning created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden

“Revenge of the God Fist”

Black Lightning is a DC Comics superhero.  Created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, the character first appeared in the comic book, Black Lightning #1 (cover dated:  April 1977).  Black Lightning is the civilian, Jefferson Pierce, an African-American school teacher who originally obtains electrical or lightning-based power via technology.  [His origin has since been changed.]  Black Lightning was DC Comics third African-American character, and the first one to star in his own comic book series.

“Hong Kong Phooey” was a half-hour, Saturday morning animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It was broadcast on ABC from September 7, 1974, to December 21, 1974.  The main character was Hong Kong Phooey, an anthropomorphic dog character who fought crime as a martial-arts hero.  He had a secret identity, a clumsy and mild-mannered janitor named Penrod “Henry” Pooch also known as “Penry.”  Hong Kong Phooey and Penry had a pet/sidekick, a striped cat named “Spot,” who was sly and talented.

DC Comics has been re-imagining Hanna-Barbera characters in ongoing comic book series, miniseries, and one-shots and specials since early 2016.  Black Lightning and a re-imagined Hong Kong Phooey are united in the one-shot comic book, Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special.  It is written by Bryan Hill; drawn by Denys Cowan (pencils) and Bill Sienkiewicz (inks); colored by Jeromy Cox; and lettered by Janice Chiang.

Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special #1 (“Revenge of the God Fist”) opens in Metropolis in the year 1976.  Here, we find Black Lightning getting beaten up by the supervillain team-up of Professor Presto, Bronze Tiger, and Cheshire.  [Professor Preston a.k.a. “The Malevolent Magician” was a villain that appeared in the original “Hong Kong Phooey” TV series.]

Later, Black Lightning's civilian alter-ego, Jefferson Pierce, is summoned by an old acquaintance, Penry.  When he returned from Vietnam, Penry, the kung fu master who is an anthropomorphic dog, opened his own inner city detective agency.  Penry tells Jefferson a tale of the darkest kind of “wushu magic.”  Generations ago, a monk bound a demon and forced it to teach him the most powerful wushu technique, “the Way of the God Fist” (or “God Fist” for short).  Although he realized how dangerous the God Fist was, the monk did not want it to die with him.  So he made a scroll with the secrets of the God Fist written on it, and he divided that scroll into three sections.  Penry inherited one third of the scroll.

Presto wants to revive the scroll and already has two sections of it, and now, he makes his move against Penry.  Bronze Tiger and Cheshire even attack Rosemary, a friend of Penry's who teaches kung fu.  [Rosemary was a character and friend of Penry in the original animated series.]  Now, Penry leads Black Lightning and Rosemary in a bid to stop Presto from gaining the God Fist and using it to destroy the world.

I have enjoyed some of DC Comics re-imaginings of classic characters from Hanna-Barber animated TV series from the period of the late 1950s to the 1970s.  I really like this re-imagining of “Hong Kong Phooey” via Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special #1.  I credit some of the success of this comic book to writer Bryan Edward Hill.  I enjoyed his standalone Miles Morales' Spider-Man Annual #1 (2016).  [In fact, I was shocked how much I liked it.]

It is not so much that Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special #1 features a great story as it is that the story is inventively conceived and executed.  I would go so far as to say that this comic book presents the groundwork for what could be a cool Black Lightning comic book miniseries or series, written by Bryan Edward Hill, of course.

I am also a big fan of both pencil artist Denys Cowan and inker Bill Seinkiewicz.  Separately, Cowan and Seinkiewicz are great artists; together, they make a cool art team.  I like the gritty style they have concocted for this story, which is the perfect visual mood for this 1970s-era kung fu tale.  Colorist Jeromy Cox brings some needed brightness to this story, and veteran letterer, Janice Chiang, perfectly paces this story with her smallish lettering and balloons that somehow make an impact without being obtrusive and showy.

BACKUP STORY:  The Funky Phantom in “Spectre of the Gun”

STORY: Jeff Parker
ART: Scott Kolins
COLORS: Tony Avina
LETTERS: Janice Chiang
EDITOR: Jim Chadwick

The Funky Phantom was a Saturday morning cartoon that was televised on ABC from September 1971 to September 1972.  Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, this “Scooby-Doo” knock-off featured three teenagers and their dog who solved mystery with a ghost and his cat.  The ghost was an American patriot named Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore who died inside a grandfather clock where he was trapped during the American Revolutionary War.

Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special #1 contains a backup story, “Spectre of the Gun,” a re-imagining of “The Funky Phantom.”  Written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Scott Kolins, this story only uses Jonathan Muddlemore.  The story opens at some kind of gun rights slash Second Amendment rally.  The grandfather clock containing Muddlemore's skeleton is on stage, and Jason Blood (also known as “The Demon”), summons Mudsy's spirit from the skeleton.  So how will this former American rebel, soldier, and patriot react to this new world of modern gun rights?  Hilarity ensues.

There is nothing special about Kolins art or Tony Avina's coloring of it.  Even Janice Chiang's lettering does not stand out.  None of it is bad work; it just is not particularly special.

However, Jeff Parker's story is an excellent bit of satire, and I must commend Parker for the intensity in which he skewers gun rights extremists.  His disdain for people who insist that the United States Constitution grants them the right to posses military-style weapons is also admirable and brave.  Among comic book fandom is a strain of reactionary and right-wing extremism, sexism, and racism that has been vocal enough to scare some comic book creators and to even get a few creators dismissed from assignments (Chuck Wendig, to name one).

I am a fan of Jeff Parker and have immensely enjoyed quite a bit of his work.  “Spectre of the Gun” is the cherry on top of Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special #1's chocolate, kung fu ice cream sundae.  I wish DC Comics could serve up another sundae of this type.

9 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.

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

Review: STAR WARS: LANDO - Double or Nothing #1

STAR WARS: LANDO – DOUBLE OR NOTHING No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Paolo Villanelli
COLORS: Andres Mossa
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: W. Scott Forbes
VARIANT COVER: Joe Quinones
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2018)

Rated T

“Part I”

Lando Calrissian was the first Star Wars character portrayed onscreen by a Black man (Oscar-nominated actor, Billy Dee Williams).  Although Lando is one of the oldest Star Wars characters (in terms of first appearance), he did not get his first solo comic book series until 2015 (from Marvel Comics after Dark Horse Comics having the license for two decades).

Lando is a supporting character in the most recent Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story, where he is portrayed by actor Donald Glover.  The film features a young Lando, early in his criminal career, and that Lando is the star of a second Lando Calrissian comic book miniseries.  Star Wars: Lando – Double or Nothing is written by Rodney Barnes; drawn by Paolo Villanelli; colored by Andres Mossa; and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

Star Wars: Lando – Double or Nothing #1 finds Lando Calrissian, the “greatest smuggler in the galaxy,” contemplating ways in which he can transform his ship, “the Millennium Falcon,” into a place of luxury and vice, much to the chagrin of his droid, L3-37.  Meanwhile, a young woman named Kristiss needs a smuggler as part of her and her father's plan to free their home world, Petrusia, from the Galactic Empire's enslavement.  She knows just the smuggler, Lando, but will he do it?  And if he does it, will it be for the cause or for the cost paid?

Solo: A Star Wars Story is about a young Han Solo, but young Lando Calrissian steals the show.  Donald Glover is magnificent in making young Lando a magnetic personality.  Writer Rodney Barnes captures the essence of Glover's Calrissian in his script, and every page is simply fun to read.  Barnes has made Lando a character readers will want to shadow, and Barnes' take on the acerbic L3, who has a female voice, is also quite engaging.

Illustrator Paolo Villanelli picks up the Glover vibe and transforms that into a graphical storytelling that recreates the humorous side of the Solo film.  Andres Mossa, one of the best colorists working in American comics today, blends his incandescent colors into Villanelli's illustrations to spectacular effect.  Joe Caramagna's strong sense of graphic design plays this dialogue-heavy script just right with some of his usual high-quality lettering that enhances the rhythm of this story.

I cannot wait to read the second issue of Star Wars: Lando – Double or Nothing.  Is it too early to ask that this creative team plan a second young Lando comic book for us?

8.5 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.

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Review: MILES MORALES: Spider-Man #1

MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN No. 1 (2019)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Saladin Ahmed
ART: Javier Garrón
COLORS: David Curiel
LETTERS: VC’s Cory Petit
COVER: Brian Stelfreeze
EDITOR: Nick Lowe
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida
VARIANT COVERS: Marko Djurdjevic (Fantastic Four Villains Variant); Lee Garbett; Adi Granov
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2019)

Rated T

Spider-Man created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee; Miles Morales created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli

Miles Morales is a Marvel Comics character who is one of the characters known as Spider-Man.  Miles Morales first appeared in the comic book Ultimate Fallout #4 (cover dated: August 2011) and existed in a universe different from the universe where the original Spider-Man lived.  Now, the Afro-Latino teenager, whose full name is Miles Gonzalo Morales, lives and works in the main Marvel Comics universe (the MCU) as Spider-Man.

Miles has a new ongoing comic book series, Miles Morales: Spider-Man (a continuation of the comic book title, Spider-Man).  This is a new direction for Miles Morales with a new creative team.  Miles Morales: Spider-Man is written by Saladin Ahmed; drawn by Javier Garrón; colored by David Curiel; and lettered by Cory Petit.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1 opens in the wake of the events depicted in the miniseries, Spider-Geddon.  Miles has recently begun a new school term, and is taking a class in which the instructor demands that Miles and his fellow classmates keep a journal.

Miles is struggling to balance school and his personal life with his activities as Spider-Man.  He is trying to maintain a relationship with Barbara, who is his girlfriend, although both seem to be reluctant to say that outright.  For all his struggles, however, Miles sees that there are those who are struggling more than he is, especially in an anti-immigrant political climate, and it is worse than Miles thinks.

Practically every Miles Morales comic book I ever read was written by Brian Michael Bendis, Miles' co-creator.  I am wary of reading Miles comic books not written by Bendis, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story Bryan Edward Hill wrote about Miles for the Spider-Man Annual #1 (2018).

After reading Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1, I am confident in new Miles writer, Saladin Ahmed.  I did not read Ahmed's Black Bolt series, which received quite a bit of acclaim and claimed a win at the 2018 Will Eisner Awards.  I like that Saladin's story and script are true to the personality Bendis fashioned for Miles, and I also like that Saladin is developing Miles personality and character as he continues to grow-up, going from young teen to older teen.  I am also happy that Ahmed is writing a story that tackles real world issues literally and metaphorically.

Artist Javier Garrón is the right choice to create the art and storytelling.  His compositions are strong, and his page and panel design recall the work of Spider-Man co-creator, the late Steve Ditko.  Ditko balanced the world of Peter Parker-Spider-Man by drawing an ordinary seeming everyday life for Parker.  When Parker became Spider-Man, Ditko added imaginative elements and inventive compositions that made the scenes feature Spider-Man seem to pop off the page.

Garrón's art is in a similar vein, and David Curiel's coloring of the art electrifies everything.  When a classic Spider-Man villain (who has a surprising reason for appearing) shows up, this story crackles and sparks with energy.  In fact, the splash page featuring Miles and that surprise villain is an example of how much power Garrón and Curiel's combined art has.

So I am ready for more Miles Morales: Spider-Man.  For now, at least, the post-Brian Michael Bendis Miles Morales has a bright future.

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 information on reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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Review: BLACK PANTHER #1

BLACK PANTHER No. 1 (2018) (Legacy #173)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Ta-Nehisi Coates
ART: Daniel Acuna
COLORS: Daniel Acuna
LETTERS: VC's Joe Sabino
EDITOR: Wil Moss
COVER: Daniel Acuna (based on the work of Brian Stelfreeze)
VARIANT COVERS: Artgerm; Tom Beland with Jordie Bellaire; Jamal Campbell; Olivier Coipel; Jack Kirby; Michael Kelleher with Paul Mounts; Pepe Larraz with Marte Gracia; In-Hyuk Lee; Yasmine Putri
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (July 2018)

Black Panther created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

Rated “T”

“The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda” Book 1: “Many Thousands Gone”

Black Panther is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  The character first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 (cover dated: July 1966).  Black Panther was T'Challa, the king and protector of the (fictional) African nation of Wakanda.  Black Panther was also the first Black superhero in mainstream American comic books.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an African-American writer, journalist, and commentator.  Coastes is also a national correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about cultural, political, and social issues, particularly as they regard to Black people in America.  Coates' second book, Between the World and Me (released in July 2015), won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction.  In 2015, he was the recipient of a “Genius Grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Black Panther and Ta-Nehisi Coates (with artist and designer Brian Stelfreeze) came together two years ago in a relaunch of the Black Panther comic book series.  Now, Coates is taking Black Panther in a new direction again, “The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda,” and a fresh series start.  Coates writes this new Black Panther with Daniel Acuna as series artist and colorist and Joe Sabino as the letterer.

Black Panther #1 (Legacy #173) opens by recounting the story of how a detachment of Wakandans founded a “small, desolate colony on the outer edges of the cosmos,” two thousands years ago.  Eventually this colony became its own empire, an oppressive empire.  Now, a miner a.k.a. “Nameless,” a slave on the mining planet, “Gorée,” rises to lead a rebellion.  And a legend is reborn.

In previous reviews of Ta-Nehisi Coates Black Panther, I have favorably compared what Coates is doing with the character to what British comic book writer, Alan Moore, did on his legendary tenure on DC Comics' Swamp Thing.  I wrote that Moore created a personality for the title character and built a world of supporting characters, bit players, and an intriguing fictional mythology that allowed him to explore Swamp Thing's character and motivations.  I said that the result of Moore's efforts was once-in-a-generation comic book storytelling.

Coates has taken what Black Panther writers and artists did before him and is doing what Alan Moore did with Swamp Thing – create a fictional comic book world that is wealthy with possibilities and does not really need the main universe.  Coates' Black Panther is also once in a generation comic book storytelling.  Now, Coates is taking Black Panther to somewhere the character has never gone – as far as I know.  In the far reaches of outer space, Coates will prove whether or not he belongs in the upper echelons of comic book creators.  With Black Panther #1 2018, Coates offers intriguing possibilities via interesting characters and provocative concepts.

Daniel Acuna seems to be the perfect collaborator for this new Black Panther.  His art is at once classic comic book space opera in terms of compositions and colors.  However, he makes his space faring tale look different with striking character and costume design.  Acuna is also pushing himself up the latter of recognition as a comic book storyteller.

In an unobtrusive manner, letter Joe Sabino picks his spots to convey the drama and evoke emotions in this story.  In many ways, Sabino is the gatekeeper who lets us into this far-flung world of story.  He is part of creative team that seems destined to take Black Panther to infinity and beyond.

9 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.

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