As you sit in your cozy home, curled by the fire, laptop rumbling in your… well… lap, the Comixtreme.com review staff has been diligently braving the freezing cold, blinding rain and pounding cries of fans to get their comics this week. And why? Just to bring you this week’s Done-In-One reviews!
'76 #1 (Image Comics)
By B. Clay Moore, Ed Tadem, Seth Peck, and Tigh Walker
It's a double dose of '70s action with this comics double-feature. In New York, B. Clay Moore and Ed Tadem kick off “Jackie Karma,” the tale of a kung fu crime fighter come back to kick some criminal derrière. The story comes off more as a prologue or a tease than a first chapter, but it makes up for it with its deliciously exploitive style, bell bottoms, belt buckles, and all. It'll be a fun ride. In the comic's other feature, Seth Peck and Tigh Walker's “Cool,” two L.A. bail bondsmen bring in their catch for the day, only to find that payday is going to be coming a little late – but if they do the boss a favor, he'll make it worth their while. This story feels a little more generic than “Jackie Karma” because it's just not as ridiculously exploitive, but it has its Starsky and Hutch moments, and is shaping up to be a good buddy cop- er..bondsmen second feature. '76 has all you want in a '70s nostalgia comic – well... except for truckers and Grizzly Adams, but one can get by – can you dig it?
Rating: 3.5/5 --S.A. Parvaze
Amelia Rules! #19 (Renaissance Press)
By Jimmy Gownley
In case you haven't heard me say it lately, let me say it in loud, obnoxious capital letters intended to convey the fact that I am yelling at you: AMELIA RULES! IS, HANDS-DOWN, THE BEST COMIC FOR KIDS ON THE MARKET! I mean it, I couldn't love this comic more if I tried. Last issue, Amelia and her friends had to deal with a classmate in pain because of her father's overseas deployment. This issue, as Joan continues to recover, Amelia realizes just how little she knows about her own family's history, and she sets out to right it. As usual, Gownley knocks it out of the park here. There aren't any dark secrets or hidden superheroes in Amelia's family tree. In fact, her family seems relatively normal -- but that normal story (told brilliantly through a series of comic strips paying tribute to other great strips of the past century) is still engaging and entertaining. The way Amelia reconnects with someone who is usually absent from this book is touching. And the last page fills you with a sense of impending dread, without knowing why. All of these are remarkable things, and all of them just go to show you how good Jimmy Gownley is. Parents of elementary and middle-school kids couldn't do better than to share this title with their children, and adults will find a lot to love as well.
Rating: 5/5 --Blake M. Petit
Clockwork Girl #2 (Arcana Studio/Arcana Kids)
By Sean O'Reilly, Kevin Hanna & Grant Bond
Hanna and O'Reilly's Clockwork Girl really is a dandy little modern fairy tale. With the divide clearly made between the technological world of the nameless Clockwork Girl (she gets a highly appropriate name this issue) and the biological world of the mutant wolf-boy, Huxley. The two of them quickly come across as a more chaste Romeo and Juliet, two people who long for one another but are separated because of the cultures that produced them. This world the story is set in has become utterly fascinating. It's not like any other sci-fi or fairy tale I've ever read, yet it seems so natural and organic you'd think this was a world I've been reading about for years. Part of the credit for that belongs to Hanna and Grant's nice artwork, but most belongs to O'Reilly and Hanna's world-creation. This is a nice, sorely-needed kids' book... and at $1.99, it's an economical one, too.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Countdown to Mystery #5 (DC Comics)
By Matthew Sturges, Chad Hardin, Steve Gerber, Tom Derenick, Shawn McManus & Mario Alberti
Last issue, defying the odds, Eclipso found himself once again trapped in the host body of Bruce Gordon. As Bruce tries to flee (mentally) from the return of his curse, Cris Allen tries to teach him how to finally use the power of Eclipso for good. Meanwhile, the Eclipsed superheroes begin to look for the components they'll need to make Eclipso the most powerful threat on Earth. Over in Dr. Fate's story, Kent begins to look into the work of Inza Fox, the girl who was seemingly vanquished fighting on his behalf last issue. Both stories continue to be highly entertaining. My fears about what was happening to Plastic Man have been quelled, and now that Kent is starting to find the keys to his own family's past, I expect to see some serious turns in his story as well. This examination of the darker side of magic in the DC Universe has been surprisingly entertaining, surprisingly effective, and something I look forward to each month.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash #4 (DC Comics/Wildstorm/Dynamite Entertainment)
By Jeff Katz, James Kuhoric, Rick Burchett, Jason Craig, and Eric Powell
Oh yeah -- this is the issue I've been waiting for. As Ash has been preparing to fight Jason Voorhees, he's been ambushed in his dreams by Freddy Krueger. The dream demon plans to use the Necronomicon to finally restore himself to full power, and then some, and now Ash and his crew have two slasher kings to deal with. Freddy Vs. Jason was played primarily for laughs, and while there is comedy in this book, this issue is real all-out action, and intense action at that. This, my friends, this is the battle I wanted to see on the big screen, and I have a feeling it would have been a great one. Even the redesign for the "live" Freddy is cool and creepy. Man... what's the stupid Hollywood reason this movie wasn't made again?
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Hack/Slash #8 (Devil's Due Publishing)
By Tim Seeley, Rebekah Isaacs, and Andrew Dalhouse
You've had Blake go on about it now it's my turn! This really is one of the best comics I've ever read and as said before there is more to this than gore and cheesecake, you do get character exploration and growth not only from the main characters but also the peripheral cast. Seeley really has his hands on the reigns with this title and there is no-end to where this book can go. The artwork, as always, is visually pleasing in more ways than one and the colours compliment each scene that occurs throughout. Honestly stop what you're doing and go get Hacked!
Rating: 4/5 --Mathew Smith
JLA Classified #51 (DC Comics)
By Roger Stern, John Byrne, and Joshua Middleton
Last issue, the JLA Watchtower was attacked by an alien from another era, a creature that claimed to have fought the Justice League before. This issue, the Martian Manhunter begins telling that creature's story. There's some good and bad in this. First the good -- this issue, featuring the Silver Age League, feels much closer to this title's mission statement. The book is supposed to feature tales of various incarnations of the League by top creators, but all too often it feels like we're just getting inventory stories left over from the pre-Infinite Crisis League. Seeing the Silver Agers in action here is fun, and Stern has a good grasp of all the characters. The problem is that there's no framing sequence here to put the story in context, not even a caption from J'onn's voice over. If you picked this up without having read last issue, you'd have no way of knowing that this is the second issue in a story arc, no way of knowing that J'onn is narrating from the perspective of a more contemporary League facing this enemy again... no context at all. Byrne's art is wonderful -- he's still one of the best Superman artists of all time, and his Batman and Green Lantern are top-notch. The rest of the team isn't too shabby either. A good issue, but the lack of a "previously" page, or any context at all, really hurts it.
Rating: 3/5 --Blake M. Petit
Johnny Hiro #3 (AdHouse Books)
By Fred Chao and Dylan Babb
Look at the cover and tell me you don't want to pick this up! The best way I can describe this book is as a surreal sitcom, it's only three issues in and I already feel connected with Johnny as character, and that's rare these days. This issue sees our hero in yet another predicament, and always it's quite funny, from our point of view of course. The book had me laughing out loud at one point and finished on quite a serious note that made me think a little bit more about my own life, yet another rare thing to find. The artwork is delightfully simple and easy to follow and even a couple of double-paged spreads work very well. There's even a thank you to our very own B. Schatz! I look forward to next issue, but as I understand it, it won't be for a while
Rating: 5/5 --Mathew Smith
Legion of Super-Heroes #38 (DC Comics)
By Jim Shooter & Francis Manapul
Jim Shooter continues to prove this issue that everything old is new again. As Lightning Lad continues to find himself overwhelmed by his duties as the Legion's new leader, politics foist some unwanted recruits on his back. Meanwhile, his teammates (including the woman he loves) are cut off, fighting for their lives on Triton, the largest moon of Neptune. Shooter wisely didn't attempt to copy the feel of the Mark Waid Legion, but instead took the world Waid and Barry Kitson created and has placed it through a filter that harkens back to the Silver Age, the era of the Legion that Shooter himself helped make legendary. Although the story is told in a modern fashion, this feels like the Legion that we haven't seen since Keith Giffen's "Five Years Later" story back in the 80s, but it hasn't simply thrown away or discarded anything we've seen over the past three years. Francis Manapul's artwork, similarly, is wonderful -- energetic, evocative and full of life. I can't imagine any Legion fan who isn't very happy right now.
Rating: 4.5/5 --Blake M. Petit
Superman/Batman #45 (DC Comics)
By Michael Green & Shane Davis
Dear Eddie Berganza: I know you guys at DC Comics have decided not to assign a "regular" creative team to Superman/Batman, preferring to have a different team on each arc. May I humbly ask you to reconsider? Since Jeph Loeb left this title, most of the rotating arcs have been lackluster at best. Now you've got Michael Green and Shane Davis on the book, building on Loeb's continuity, telling an engaging tale about the heroes finally taking action to try to eradicate the world of Kryptonite and learning it may not be as simple as just rounding it up. It's a smart story. It's a good story. Shane Davis is providing us with fantastic artwork. What possible, logical reason is there for not offering them this title full-time? I'm tellin' ya, you could do a lot worse, but it'd be very hard to do any better.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
Superman Confidential #11 (DC Comics)
By Darwyn Cooke & Tim Sale
Boy, here's a familiar song -- a story that could have been a fine Superman adventure that was derailed by untimeliness. Superman is both poisoned and drawn in by the chunk of Kryptonite that was being used by Tony Gallo in his schemes. Within the radioactive rock, Superman finds the truth about the intelligence that has been riding within the stone, and for the first time, finds himself faced with memories of his home planet. The conclusion to this arc is surprisingly strong, and Tim Sale's artwork is wonderful. Trouble is, it's been an unforgivably long time since part five of this storyline. It was hard to summon up the memories of what had gone on before, and that causes a serious disconnect when the time comes to read. Once this story is collected, it'll probably read just fine... but this is a review of the single issues, and as such, this book has to take some of the heat.
Rating: 3/5 --Blake M. Petit
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #686 (Gemstone Publishing)
By William Van Horn, Noel Van Horn, Carl Buettner, Byron Erickson, Francisco Rodriguez Peinado, Pat & Carol McGreal, Cesar Ferioli, and Carl Barks
Whew, what a relief. I've got to admit, after a two-month absence, I was afraid that Gemstone would be getting out of the Disney Comic game. But they're back this month, with a solid offering of stories. William Van Horn's "Just For Kicks" is a great Donald Duck story, featuring everyone's favorite waterfowl hired to help improve the mayor's image... and screwing everything up in the process. "Signs" features Mickey and Goofy, as the former tries to prove to the latter that his horoscope doesn't control his fate -- even as all sorts of bizarre misfortunes seem to demonstrate otherwise. The Carl Buettner reprint "When I Was a Lad" focuses on the Big Bad Wolf, telling his son about one of his own youthful adventures. Mickey Mouse attempts to liberate a lost monkey in "Free Weegie," and Carl Barks's "The Great Ski Race" retells the story of Donald's efforts to win a water skiing competition. Well... you can guess what happens, this is Donald Duck. The true gem of this issue, however, is "The Lost Treasure of Cornelius Coot," by Byron Erickson and Francisco Rodriguez Peinado. In this tale, Donald attempts to prove his technology superior to the knowledge in the legendary Junior Woodchuck's Guidebook, leading him to a race against his nephews to find the lost treasure of Duckburg's founder, Cornelius Coot. This story is just hysterical, and a fine way to welcome back Disney Comics to America's comic shop shelves.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
X-Men: First Class #8 (Marvel Comics)
By Jeff Parker & Eric Nguyen
Following up on the two-part story that ended last issue, the X-Men watch as the alien intelligent that played havoc with their powers is returned to space. They're surprised, however, when the space launch is accompanied by a bizarre energy spike from the Florida Everglades. The team investigates only to find themselves facing the macabre Man-Thing! Parker is doing what he does best here, pulling in various bits and pieces of the Marvel universe to tell stories that easily could have been told in the early days, but weren't. (And yes, I know Man-Thing wasn't created until a good decade after the X-Men stories of this time period, but there's nothing that says he couldn't have been waiting around, unseen, earlier.) The bits where the team is hurled through the Nexus of realities (visiting some disturbingly familiar worlds) is very good as well. This is, in short, your usual great issue of First Class.
Rating: 4/5 --Blake M. Petit
January 26th 2008, 01:02 PM
Nice art, though.
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