Dynamite Entertainment from Diamond Distributors for December 25 or 26, 2019

DYNAMITE

SEP191062    BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND #8 CVR A ROYLE    $3.99
SEP191063    BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND #8 CVR B CHANTLER    $3.99
SEP191064    BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND #8 CVR C MARQUES    $3.99
SEP191065    BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND #8 CVR D QUALANO    $3.99
SEP191066    BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND #8 CVR E PHOTO    $3.99
OCT191289    RED SONJA VAMPIRELLA BETTY VERONICA #7 CVR A BRAGA    $3.99
OCT191290    RED SONJA VAMPIRELLA BETTY VERONICA #7 CVR B HACK    $3.99
OCT191291    RED SONJA VAMPIRELLA BETTY VERONICA #7 CVR C STAGGS    $3.99
OCT191292    RED SONJA VAMPIRELLA BETTY VERONICA #7 CVR D PARENT    $3.99
OCT191293    RED SONJA VAMPIRELLA BETTY VERONICA #7 CVR E SANAPO    $3.99
OCT198338    RED SONJA VAMPIRELLA BETTY VERONICA #7 SANAPO FOC BONUS VAR    $3.99

IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for December 25 or 26, 2019

IDW PUBLISHING

OCT190802    KILL LOCK #1    $3.99
OCT190767    SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #24 CVR A GRAY & GRAHAM    $3.99
OCT190768    SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #24 CVR B HAMMERSTROM    $3.99

Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 25 or 26, 2019

IMAGE COMICS

OCT190190    CRIMINAL #11 (MR)    $3.99
SEP198041    EAST OF WEST #45    $4.99
OCT190216    MARKED #3 CVR A HABERLIN & VAN DYKE (MR)    $3.99
OCT190217    MARKED #3 CVR B HABERLIN & VAN DYKE (MR)    $3.99
OCT190229    OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #43 (MR)    $3.99

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 25 or 26, 2019

MARVEL COMICS

OCT190945    DR STRANGE #1    $3.99
OCT190948    DR STRANGE #1 DELLOTTO VAR    $3.99
OCT190860    INCOMING #1    $9.99
OCT190863    INCOMING #1 GREENE VAR    $9.99
OCT190861    INCOMING #1 WEAVER VAR    $9.99
OCT190981    SPIDER-HAM #1 (OF 5)    $3.99
OCT190983    SPIDER-HAM #1 (OF 5) ART ADAMS 8 PART CONNECTING VAR    $3.99
OCT191001    VENOM #21    $3.99
OCT191003    VENOM #21 CRAIN TEASER VAR    $3.99
OCT191002    VENOM #21 RANDOLPH 2020 VAR    $3.99

#IReadsYou Review: BUBBA HO-TEP and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers #5

BUBBA HO-TEP AND THE COSMIC BLOODSUCKERS No. 5
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Joshua Jabcuga (based on the novel by Joe R. Lansdale) – @jabcuga @joelansdale
ART: Horacio Domingues
COLORS: Ryan Hill
LETTERS: Tom B. Long
EDITOR: Chase Marotz
COVER: Baldemar Rivas
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Horacio Domingues with Ryan Hill; Baldemar Rivas
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2018 / in shops January 9, 2019)

Joe R. Lansdale's 2017 novel, Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers, initially received some kind of limited release. The novel is a prequel to Lansdale's 1994 novella, “Bubba Ho-Tep,” which filmmaker Don Coscarelli (Phantasm) adapted into a beloved, comic horror film of the same name that was released in 2002.  The novel is receiving a wider release in February 2019.

In the meantime, dear readers, you can enjoy the comic book, Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers.  This 2018 comic book adaptation is written Joshua Jabcuga; drawn by Tadd Galusha; colored by Ryan Hill; and lettered by Tom B. Long, with covers drawn by Baldemar Rivas.  The comic book follows a fictional version of legendary rock 'n' roll singer and performer, and American icon, Elvis Presley.  The King of Rock 'n' Roll works for a secret government organization (which might by named the “Hidden Agenda”).  Elvis' manager, “The Colonel” (based on the real-world Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker), is his handler, as Presley and a team of operatives fight supernatural enemies that threaten the world.

Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers #5 is the final issue of the adaptation, and Horacio Domingues replaces Todd Galusha as artist for this final issue.  The issue opens at the safe house, an abandoned plantation manor, from where Elvis and his team have plotted to stop a blood-sucking threat against Earth from another dimension.  Contemplating the nature and process of social wasps and their nest building, Elvis discovers something about the nature of their enemy – something that can help Elvis and company defeat them.  But the end may be bigger than Elvis and his team can imagine.

Without spoiling this issue, I can say that the resolution offered in Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Bloodsuckers #5 may have been hinted at since the first or second issue.  I did think there was some oddity in the way the adversarial monsters acted, as if they never fully employed the power they seemed to have.

This final issue is also kind of melancholy.  It seems as if circumstances, duty, and fate conspire to strip away characters' dignity to the point that one must give up so much to have a little peace of mind and self-determination.  For the sake of continuity (more or less), this ending does explain, to an extent, the state in which we find Elvis in “Bubba Ho-Tep.”

The change in artist does not hurt the story in a major way.  Considering the end, Horacio Domingues seems to be an appropriate off-beat note, and Ryan Hill's garish colors keep things as funky and as surreal as he did in the earlier issues.  I hope to see this creative team again.  I hope Joe R. Lansdale transfers the moniker, Bubba Ho-Tep, to Elvis, making it a battle name for the King of Rock 'n' Roll in a new future of monster fighting.  I hope...

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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Review: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN No. 1 / #802 (2018)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Nick Spencer
PENCILS: Ryan Ottley; Humberto Ramos
INKS: Cliff Rathburn; Victor Olazaba
COLORS: Marte Gracia; Edgar Delgado
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
EDITOR: Nick Lowe
COVER: Ryan Ottley with Laura Martin
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Shane Davis and Michelle Delecki with Morry Hollowell; John Romita, Sr. and Terry Austin with Jason Keith; Erik Larsen with Dean White (Remastered); Jim Cheung with Justin Ponser; Greg Land with Jason Keith
56pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (September 2018)

Rated  “T”

Spider-Man created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee

“Back to Basics” Part One

Here we go.  Back in the summer, Marvel Comics published yet another The Amazing Spider-Man #1, but the publisher did not jettison its “Legacy” numbering.  So this new #1 comic book is also The Amazing Spider-Man #802.

It is a fresh start, of sorts, with a new creative team.  Nick Spencer is the new series writer.  The new art team is Ryan Ottley (pencils) and Cliff Rathburn (inks).  Laura Martin is on colors, and Joe Caramagna is on letters.

The Amazing Spider-Man #1 finds Peter Parker still trying to get his life back together in the wake of the crash and burn of his company, Parker Industries.  He shares an apartment with roommates, and he has reconnected with M.J. - Mary Jane Watson.  But something is wrong.  People are giving him the side eye, when they aren't being outright hostile and dismissive.  And he and the Avengers are in the middle of a massive alien invasion.  Is there a conspiracy against Peter Parker and Spider-Man?

I enjoyed Dan Slott's run on The Amazing Spider-Man.  Of course, I only experienced the second half of Slott's long tenure on the title, and I understand that some readers and fans were ready for Marvel to move on from him.

I don't know if readers are satisfied now, but I like this almost tripled-sized issue.  Without reverting Peter Parker to childhood, Spencer takes Peter Parker back to the days when he suffered the bane of a hero's existence – no good deed goes unpunished.  Indirectly and directly and by action and inaction, Parker and Spider-Man are causing trouble for the people for whom they care.  Obviously, there is a lot of dramatic tension and conflict.  Still, Spencer writes a light-hearted comic book with both wry humor and dark undertones.

Ryan Ottley, known for his long run on Robert Kirkman's Invincible (Image Comics), is the perfect Spider-Man comic book artist, for now.  He reminds me of Mark Bagley on Ultimate Spider-Man, and, at the time (late 2000), both that comic book and Bagley were much needed breaths of fresh air for the Spider-Man franchise.  Ottley recalls the past while being something different, essentially an indie superhero comic book artist taking on a venerable mainstream superhero franchise.  Ottley is back to basics without being retro.

Cliff Rathburn on inks accentuates the newness of Ottley's clean pencil art.  Laura Martin's colors seems out of place, too heavy for Ottley and Rathburn's illustrations.  There is nothing distinctive about Joe Caramagna's lettering.  At least, it seems that way to me.

Former Amazing Spider-Man series artist, Humberto Ramos, delivers a killer back-up story.  With his striking illustrative style, Ramos usually presents potent storytelling, and his tale enforces my belief that this Amazing relaunch could be something special... at least for awhile.

8 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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#IReadsYou Review: DOOMSDAY CLOCK #2

DOOMSDAY CLOCK No. 2 (OF 12)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Geoff Johns
ART: Gary Frank
COLORS: Brad Anderson
LETTERS: Rob Leigh
COVER: Gary Frank with Brad Anderson
VARIANT COVERS: Gary Frank with Brad Anderson
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (February 2018)

Rated “T+” for Teen Plus

Watchmen created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

“Places We Have Never Known”

Watchmen was a comic book written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 as a 12-issue maxiseries (a term DC still uses).  Doomsday Clock is a new 12-issue miniseries (or “maxiseries”) from DC Comics.  It is written by Geoff Johns; drawn by Gary Frank; colored by Brad Anderson; and lettered by Rob Leigh.  Doomsday Clock will introduce characters from Moore and Gibbons' Watchmen into the main DC Comics Universe.

Doomsday Clock #2 (“Places We Have Never Known”) opens on the world in which Watchmen is set, a world that is about to die.  Ozymandias, the man who betrayed the world because he schemed to bring about peace among nations and mankind, has a new scheme – to save the world... again!  But he needs to find Dr. Manhattan, whom he has tracked to another Earth, one similar to his own.  So Ozymandias, Rorschach, and the homicidal duo, the Marionette and the Mime, take a trip to that Earth.

Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Bruce Wayne is locked in a mortal struggle to keep Lex Luthor from taking over Wayne Enterprises.  Wayne and Luthor are the two smartest men in the world, so what will they think of of Ozymandias and Rorschach's wild tales from another world?

After thirty years of watching DC Comics fuck the Watchmen chicken real hard, I was skeptical about Doomsday Clock.  But I gots to keep it real.  I really like this, and I like Doomsday Clock #2, more than I liked the first issue, which I really enjoyed.

Between the Batman: Earth One series and this, Geoff Johns is writing some excellent comics featuring Batman, and this one is so delicious.  Rorschach vs. Batman; Ozymandias vs. Lex Luthor; the conniving and murderous Marionette and Mime; and a surprise pop-up hero/villain.  It is Geoff John's Christmas present to DC Comics fans.

As I wrote in my review of the first issue, Gary Frank is no Dave Gibbons, but Frank is quite good and his drawing style is similar to Gibbons.'  For all that he is stylish and skillful, Frank is a superb storyteller.  Practically every panel is a visually striking image, and every panel drives the story forward.  Wow, Frank's art could create a fanboy riot.

Now, I am not so sure that Geoff Johns and Gary Frank can not produce in Doomsday Clock something nearly as good as Watchmen.  Doomsday Clock may never be as memorable as Watchmen, but it could come close to being as good...

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 for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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