Monday, August 13, 2018
Jee-Riz Comics & Appraisals had another money making Capital Trade Show yesterday at the Walkley Arena. Thanks to one of my Comet Comics friends for making that happen. The old body is a little sore this morning from lifting all those long boxes full of comic books. Fortunately for me I have the whole day to recover. All I’ve really got to do today is water the garden and get back to reading my latest novel.
Hunt For Wolverine: The Adamantium Agenda #4 – Tom Taylor (writer) R. B. Silva (pencils) Adriano Di Benedetto (inks) Guru-eFX (colours) VC’s Joe Sabino (letters). A very satisfying conclusion to this 4-issue mini. Of course the heroes save the day but there are also surprising revelations that will tease X-Fans and make them itch for more information. This was my favourite Hunt For Wolverine mini.
Plastic Man #3 – Gail Simone (writer) Adriana Melo (art) Kelly Fitzpatrick (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). Plas transforming into Harley Quinn is worth the price of this comic book alone.
Fantastic Four #1/LGY #646 – I have been avidly reading Chip Zdarsky’s Marvel 2-In-One where Ben and Johnny have been scouring the multiverse for their missing family members. It’s in that series that we find out that Reed, Sue, Valeria and Franklin are lost forever. In the first story of this giant size $5.99 US comic book we find out that there’s still hope yet for Marvel’s first family. There are two short stories to start this iconic title again.
“Signal in the Sky” by Dan Slott (writer) Sara Pichelli (pencils) Sara Pichelli & Elisabetta D’Amico (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) and VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters) has a major life changing event for Ben and a super tease on the last page. I am excited for the reunion.
“Our Day of Doom and Victory” by Dan Slott (writer) Simone Bianchi (art) Simone Bianchi & Marco Russo (colours) and VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters) re-establishes Victor Von Doom as Latveria’s iron clad ruler and I’m guessing the FF’s ultimate adversary. This I don’t like. I found Victor as the Superior Iron Man to be much more interesting but I am willing to wait and see what Dan does with old Doctor Doom.
The one page gag by Dan Slott (writer) Scottie Young (art) Jeremy Treece (colours) and VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters) features the Impossible Man popping up as a fan. It might as well be an ad page.
It’s a good start and very new fan friendly but as a long time fan I fear that they are going to be rehashing old themes and I am going to be bored soon. I am encouraged that they are going to keep the theme of family front and center in the book so I will continue to read along and see where they go.
Catwoman #2 – Joelle Jones (writer & art) Laura Allred (colours) Josh Reed (letters). Copycats part 2. The fight with all the faux Catwomen wasn’t as fraught with danger as we were lead to believe. I like this cat and mouse game where Selina is the prey. I can’t wait to see what happens when the trap is sprung.
Hey Kids! Comics! #1 – Howard Chaykin (writer & art) Wil Quintana (colours) Ken Bruzenak (letters). I used to buy new comic books off spinner racks with that “Hey Kids! Comics!” sign perched at the top of the rack. I got them at Ernie’s, a smoke shop and stationary store on Bank Street near Third Avenue where I lived in the Glebe. New comic books were dropped off by the ID distributors every Tuesday and I would try to make it to the store before Ernie had a chance to unpack them and put them in the rack. That way I got first dibs on the comics as Ernie untied the bundles. When I went away to Kingston for my first year of university at Queens I left campus every Tuesday to walk a circuit of three convenience store to buy all the comics that I wanted for that week since each store got different selections. My buddies would be waiting in my dorm room and we’d all sit around reading them when I got back. I am reminiscing about this great hobby of ours because this new comic book is Howard’s history of comic book publishing as seen through the eyes of their creators. It’s hard not to be cynical after reading this first issue that looks at the business from 1967 to 2001. The characters may be fictional but I am sure the stories are true.
Spider-Man Annual #1 – if you were like me and wondering what was going to happen to Miles Morales after the departure of his creator Brian Michael Bendis, wonder no more. Here are two tales in this $4.99 US special.
“Youngblood” by Bryan Edward Hill (writer) Nelson Blake II with Alitha E. Martinez (art) Mark Bagley (present-day pencils) Roberto Poggi (present-day inks) Carlos Lopez (colours) and VC’s Cory Petit (letters) has Spider-Man fighting Morbius while also flashing back on a fight with Skrulls where someone dies. There’s a message in this story but I didn’t need to hear it the same way three times during the telling.
“Right of Way” by Emily Ryan Lerner (writer) Alberto Alburquerque (art) Carlos Lopez (colours) and VC’s Cory Petit (letters) has Miles and Ganke taking a student driving lesson and encountering a high-jacked tractor trailer driven by the villain Overdrive. Yes, Spider-Man saves the stolen cargo but the story was a piece of fluff with no depth to it.
I was very disappointed with how one of my favourite super heroes was treated and I hope that if Marvel makes more Spider-Man comic books that they will be better than this annual.
Domino #5 – Gail Simone (writer) David Baldeon (layouts) Michael Shelfer (art) Jesus Aburtov (colours) VC’s Clayton Cowles (letters). Killer Instinct part 5. I like how Domino’s lessons with Shang-Chi has improved her fighting skills and affected her mutant super power. Her friends Diamondback and Outlaw try to stop the villains Topaz and Prototype from hunting Domino down but they fail. I look forward to the inevitable fight and I hope Shang-Chi sticks around too.
Superman #2 – Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils & inks) Joe Prado & Oclair Albert (inks pages 1-5, 15-19) Alex Sinclair (colours) Josh Reed (letters). The Unity Saga part 2. The first five pages show a flashback to a war between Tamaran and Thanagar. I wish I could tell you that Starfire was in it but she’s not. These pages were used to show us what a huge bad ass Rogol Zaar is. When we get back to Superman’s predicament of trying to save the Earth after the entire planet got thrown into the Phantom Zone we see a sneaky Rogol Zaar plotting to finish his mission of killing every Kryptonian alive. I think I’m reading this book now just because I’m a big Brian Michael Bendis fan and not because it’s really excellent. I still haven’t gotten that “whoa, that was awesome” feeling I used to get when I read Brian’s comic books for Marvel but I am going to be patient and wait for it to hit me.
The Amazing Spider-Man #3/LGY #804 – Nick Spencer (writer) Ryan Ottley (pencils) Cliff Rathburn (inks) Laura Martin (colours) VC’s Joe Caramagna (letters). This issue explains how Peter Parker and Spider-Man can co-exist at the same time. It was an accident with an experimental machine called the Isotope Genome Accelerator. It split Peter in two with one having spider powers and the other being just plain human. I think that’s lame. This plot twist isn’t up to the standards of what I expect from an Amazing Spider-Man comic book now. Plus the art looks like it’s made for an All Ages book and that adds to the feeling of a lack of sophistication. I’ve read this title through thick and thin and I’m looking through tissue paper right now.
