Good King Leonardo is back after a week's hiatus with
four new comic book reviews including
two DC Comics, a Marvel/creator-owned collaboration and
a new Darkhouse comic book:
Batman:
Hidden Treasures #1
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Ron Marz: Writer
Bernie Wrightson: Penciller
Kevin Nowlan: Inks
Alex Sinclair: Colors
DC Comics has just issued a new Batman comic entitled
Batman: Hidden Treasures #1. The lead story is written
by Ron Marz with pencils by Silver Age veteran Bernie
Wrightson, inks by Kevin Nowland and colors by Alex Sinclair.
A page-one essay by DC Comics Art Director Mark Chiarello
sets the tone for this unusual and interesting comic book.
Chiarello writes that there are several "urban myths"
among comic fandom, rumors of legendary stories that have
never seen publication, such as a Jack Kirby version of
the legendary 1960's cult television show "The Prisoner."
One rumor is apparently true, of a lost Bernie Wrightson
Batman story. For the uninitiated, Wrightson is an iconic
Silver Age artist, well-known among other efforts for
his work on Swamp Thing. As such, this comic book presents
that Batman "hidden treasure" once and for all.
The 22-page story is entitled "Splash," and is presented
in short story/graphic format. On the right side of each
page, we have a Batman tale in traditional paragraph short
story narrative, while the remainder of each page is dominated
by one large, full-page panel illustrating each page's
respective section of story narrative. It's a dark Gotham-noir
tale, in which Batman searches for clues to the identity
of the "Sewer Killer," someone who is killing hobos and
leaving their bodies in sewers. The clues seem to point
to The Caped Crusader's old foe Solomon Grundy. After
a confrontation between the pair, the story takes an unexpected
twist (which I won't spoil, of course!), leading us away
from Grundy and revealing the true killer.
This is a very enjoyable and fresh alternative take on
Batman comics for two reasons. First, the concept of presenting
a "lost tale" by a famous artist is fun and interesting.
Secondly, the alternative story lay-out structure, essentially
illustrating a short story narrative, is an enjoyable
change of pace from the traditional story panel lay-out
more common in comic books. Wrightson's pencilling is
of his well-known high quality, with the swamp and sewer
settings of the tale providing an atmospheric link to
Wrightson's classic Silver Age run on Swamp Thing. As
an added bonus, the issue contains a second story, a reprint
of Wrightson's "Night Of The Bat" tale from the 1973 issue
#7 of Swamp Thing, guest-starring Batman with Swamp Thing.
It's not clear whether this issue is a one-shot publication
or issue #1 in a new series that would unveil previously-unpublished
DC masterpieces. Here's hoping for the latter, but if
it is only a one-shot publication, even more reason to
read and "treasure" this intriguing and entertaining Batman:
Hidden Treasures comic book.
Freedom
Fighters #1
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Jimmy Palmioti & Justin Gray: Writers
Travis Moore: Pencils
Trevor Scott: Inks
Rob Schwager: Colors
DC Comics has just begun publishing a new Freedom Fighters
comic book title. For the uninitiated, Freedom Fighters
is a superhero team that DC has published off-and-on since
purchasing the rights to these heroes back in the 1970's
from the former Quality Comics company. The new Freedom
Fighters include the team leader Uncle Sam, Navajo superhero
Black Condor and Firebrand, along with several additional
characters.
Issue #1 begins a multi-issue story arc entitled "American
Nightmare." The first half of the issue introduces the
various Freedom Fighter members by alternating between
three separate battles that the members of the team are
involved in. After communicating with each other to jointly
win all three conflicts, the team is summoned by leader
Uncle Sam to the White House, where the President asks
the group to find the kidnapped Vice-President. Clues
lead the team to an underground lair in Wyoming. The issue
ends in a cliffhanger as the group unwittingly unleashes
four ancient and powerful Native American evil spirits.
While I'm giving a positive recommendation to this new
comic book title, my thumbs-up comes with a warning to
the writing team of A-list veterans Jimmy Palmioti and
Justin Gray. This first issue is well-drawn and the basic
concept of this team is well-presented. However, the plot
itself is too overstuffed with multiple sub-plots. There
are drawn-out references to several different political
conspiracies, thrown together with the Vice-President's
kidnapping, ancient Indian spirits, etc. The result is
a plot that needs to take a deep breath and settle-down
over the next few issues into progressing two or three
of these major storythreads, instead of jarring the reader
about like a human pinball between disconnected storythreads.
With the quality of this creative team, I'm hopeful that
the pace of this storyline will settle-in over the next
few issues into a more enjoyable read. So it's worth checking-out
this rather hectic and overstuffed issue #1 storyline
and see where the creators take us in the next few monthly
issues of this decent new title addition to the Freedom
Fighters team universe.
Superior
#1
Publisher: Icon/Millarworld
Mark Millar: Writer
Leinil Yu: Pencils
Gerry Alanguilan: Inks
Dave McCaig: Colors
Marvel Comics's Icon imprint in partnership with creator-owned
Millarworld has just released issue #1 in a new comic
book entitled Superior. The comic is written by Mark Millar,
creator of such acclaimed series as Kick-Ass and Nemesis,
with pencils by co-creator Leinil Yu, inks by Gerry Alanguilan
and colors by Dave McCaig.
The issue #1 story is entitled "One Magic Wish" and introduces
us to Simon Pooni, a young New York City teenager with
athletic promise who's become tragically afflicted with
severe multiple sclerosis. The plot quickly introduces
the reader to Simon's mother and his best friend Chris,
a fellow athlete who's stuck with Simon through thick
and thin as a good friend. Both boys are huge fans of
Superior, a Superman-like comic book and movie hero. Asleep
one night, Simon awakens in a spaceship, where a spacesuited
monkey informs him that he's been granted one magic wish,
thus transforming him into his comic book fictional hero
Superior. In the form of Superior, Simon is dumped back
home with the cryptic comment from said spacemonkey that
"all will be explained in one week." The issue ends with
Superior/Simon fleeing in a panic to his friend Chris,
to try and figure-out what has just happened to him.
I enjoyed the premier issue of this new title for a few
reasons. First, veteran writer Mark Millar skillfully
presents the reality of Simon's debilitating illness,
giving us a very moving and real-world portrayal of a
young man facing such a difficulty by finding some solace
in his superhero fiction. Secondly, there's a perfect
balance of atmosphere within this comic book of story
elements that make this new series worthwhile and enjoyable
reading for kids and adults, alike. Think of the premise
of the old Tom Hanks movie "Big," with a superhero slant,
and you've got a feel for this comic book concept. Third,
the mysterious monkey was a fun oddball twist that works
very well here and adds just enough mystery to the plot
situation to keep readers on their toes for several issues,
at least.
So a well-deserved positive review recommendation for
the latest new comic book title concept from creator Mark
Millar and his creative team partners.
Turok,
Son Of Stone #1
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Jim Shooter: Writer
Eduardo Francisco: Art
Jose Villarrubia: Colors
Dark Horse Comics has just published issue #1 in its eagerly-awaited
revival of the Silver Age comic book "Turok, Son Of Stone."
The original series followed the adventures of Native
American Turok and his young sidekick Andar as they made
their way through an underground prehistoric land. The
series is scripted by veteran writer Jim Shooter with
art by Eduardo Francisco and colors by Jose Villarrubia.
This is the third in a series of Dell Comics Silver Age
titles being revived by Dark Horse Comics, the first two
being Doctor Solar: Man Of The Atom and Magnus, Robot
Fighter.
The premier story is part one of a multi-issue story arc
entitled "Part One-Aztlan Out Of Time." It's a reinterpretation
of the original Turok origin story that was published
in the December, 1954 premier issue of the title. The
original story was an adventure tale starring Turok and
Andar as two hunters who stumble across a cave entrance
to the prehistoric hidden land. Writer Jim Shooter re-works
the plot into an action-adventure tale. A large party
of vicious Aztec-like warriors have come north from their
land of Aztlan and encounter Turok and Andar. The plot
moves quickly, as the pair struggle to flee the pursuing
invaders. Soon, all stumble upon the cave entrance to
the hidden land and continue their struggle in the prehistoric
world below. Issue #1 ends in a dramatic bridge as the
duo barely escape the marauders, only to be captured by
a mysterious tribe led by a beautiful princess who plans
to feed our heros to the dinosaurs (youch!).
This is a wonderful comic book for two reasons. First,
it goes without saying that there's no one better (and
few equal) to esteemed veteran Jim Shooter in scipting
a basic action-adventure comic book tale. Shooter outdoes
himself here by providing a script that perfectly balances
elements of the original Turok storyline with fresh details
and twists in the origin story. The result is a tale that's
entertaining and fun for old-school Silver Age fans and
younger generation readers, alike. Secondly, a well-deserved
hats-off is due to the artistic team, who provide the
perfect artistic style and graphic format for this unique
story universe that blends a Native American adventure
tale with elements of science fiction.
The main story is followed by a reprint of the December,
1954 original Turok origin tale, which gives the reader
the fun opportunity to compare and contrast the two stories.
Happily, instead of finding the 12/54 story stale in comparison
to Shooter's reinterpretation, I found that both stories
had strong legs, standing on their own as respective versions
of this intriguing and historically popular comic book
universe. As a final review comment, this large, 48-page
"First Issue Spectacular" is only priced at $3.50, an
extremely affordable buy, given both the issue size and
the amount of entertaining story details delivered in
this issue. So an enthusiastic thumbs-up recommendation
to definitely add this kick-off re-issuance of Turok,
Son Of Stone to your ever-growing new issues comic book
reading pile!
Contest Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest challenged you with a "Big Bang Theory" television show question. We asked you to tell us what interesting comment that the show's character Rajesh made in an episode regarding Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee's method of naming his characters. And our contest winner selected via a roll of the dice from amongst several correct entries is (drumroll, please)...Eric O'Connor, who tells us that Rajesh makes an observation that Stan Lee makes use of alliteration in naming his characters, or repetition between the first and last names of the characters. The result has been such well-known Marvel comic book characters as Sue Storm, Reed Richards, Peter Parker, etc. (you get the picture!). The habit isn't confined to Stan Lee, of course, with DC Comics giving us such names as Lois Lane, Lana Lang, Clark Kent, etc. Congratulations to Erin, who wins the contest first prize of a $10.00 gift certificate to That's Entertainment!
New Contest Announcement!!!
With the Major League Baseball World Series
in full swing this week, let's hold one last baseball
trivia contest of the season. This year's World Series
pits the American League's Texas Rangers against the National
League's San Francisco Giants. The Rangers finally got
into their first World Series in the 49-year history of
the team. That leaves only two teams in all of Major League
Baseball who have never made an appearance in the World
Series.
So the Bongo Congo panel of contest judges challenge you
to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com and tell us who are the
two remaining teams in the game who have yet to make it
to "the big dance" to play in the World Series. Our contest
winner will receive a $10.00 gift certificate to That's
Entertainment. As always, in the event of multiple correct
contest entries, a winner will be selected from among
the correct entries via a roll of the dice.
That's all for now, so have a great comic book reading (and World Series watching!) week and see you again next week Here In Bongo Congo!