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Review Date: Thursday, July 28, 2011
Here in Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo has an eclectic mix of comics in
his new issues reading pile for this week, so let's
review a variety of three of them-one DC Comics, one
Bongo Comics and one Marvel Comics title apiece: |
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DC
Retroactive: Flash-The 70's #1 (One-Shot)
Cary Bates: Writer
Benito Gallego: Pencils
Sal Buscema: Inks
Kevin Colden: Colors
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DC Comics has a new series out this
week entitled DC Retroactive, with the intriguing
goal of producing one-shot issues that are throwbacks/tributes
to a particular comic book era. The first group of
comics out of the publication gate focuses on the
decade of the 1970's, with veteran creative teams
who worked in that era paying tribute to the style
and content of that decade's comic books with brand
new stories. George at That's Entertainment tells
me that after the 70's are addressed in this series,
DC will issue retroactive tributes to the 1980's and
1990's styles of comic book-producing. I chose to
review this week The Flash one-shot in this series,
scripted by veteran writer Cary Bates with pencils
by Benito Gallego, inks by veteran artist Sal Buscema
and colors by Kevin Colden.
The brand new throwback tale in this issue is entitled
"Son Of Grodd" and naturally gives us a tale focusing
on the historic conflict between Barry Allen/The Flash
and his well-known super-intelligent gorilla foe Gorilla
Grodd. The story interweaves two plotthreads. In the
main storyline, Grodd hatches a bizarre plan to disrupt
Barry Allen's marriage to Iris by cloning a human-looking
son from a combination of his own DNA and DNA stolen
from Iris. Without being a detail spoiler, the story
proceeds with complicated developments involving Iris
being subconsciously manipulated into helping to raise
the rapidly aging clone, who goes rogue on Grodd and
attacks him. By issue's end a temporary team-up between
Grodd and The Flash, with the help of the clone's
maternal figure Iris, resolve the situation. A secondary
plotthread focuses on domestic issues between Barry
and Iris, as they cope with the discovery that at
least for now, The Flash's superpowers have made him
unable to father children.
This was a very interesting and entertaining comic
book for a few reasons. First and foremost is the
high level of satiric campiness/cheesiness/kitschiness
of this story. I don't think I've ever read a mainstream
superhero comic book with this level of heavy-duty
campiness in it; certain snippets of dialogue, storyline
and facial expressions are beyond hilariously nutty.
I'm assuming that the creative team wanted to pay
tribute to some of the wacky story premises of the
more innocent 1970's era of comic book publishing.
There's just no way this level of campiness isn't
a very deliberate creation. And it works very well
here, for a lot of laughs and fun entertainment. Secondly,
the artistic style is a perfect recreation of one
standard type of 1970's-era artwork, thanks to veteran
Sal Buscema's timeless quality inking skills. And
third, the heavy campiness of the tale is somewhat
balanced with a nicely constructed serious subplot
focusing on the personal relationship issues of Barry
and Iris, which concludes in a nice way.
As an added treat, there's a really fun, 25-page 1970's
tale reprinted from "DC Comics Presents" issue #2
as a second story in this issue, republishing an excellent
timetravel tale starring Flash, Superman and Flash's
archenemy Professor Zoom. So a definite thumbs-up
recommendation to enjoy this oversized one-shot comic
that gives us a mix of a new and a reprint story,
each well-representing the comic book style of the
bygone 1970's comic book publishing era. If this Flash
issue in the "Retroactive 1970's" series is an indication,
fans young and old won't be disappointed with this
excellent tribute series!
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Sergio
Aragones Funnies #1
Publisher: Bongo Comics
Sergio Aragones: Writer & Artist
Tom Luth: Colors
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Bongo Comics (Good King Leonardo's
favorite name for a comic book publisher!), best known
for its Simpsons and Futurama titles, has just published
issue #1 of Sergio Aragones Funnies. For decades,
Aragones has been acclaimed as a very funny cartoonist
on the staff of Mad Magazine and is also known for
such comic book titles as Groo The Wanderer, Plop!
and my personal favorite, the Fanboy six-issue mini-series
published by DC Comics back in 1999 as a fun parody
of comic book fandom. Aragones is assisted in this
new title by colorist Tom Luth.
The 26-page issue #1 provides all-new comedy material
in an eclectic mix of of narrative styles and graphic
presentations, ranging from one-page gag cartoons
to multi-page stories. Page one presents a 7-panel
hello to the reader from Sergio himself. There's a
very well-presented retelling of the Trojan Horse
story with an unexpected and funny punchline, along
with a very entertaining and hilarious true autobiographical
tale, in which the college-aged Sergio and his friends
served as Indian extras in a Western movie shot by
a Hollywood studio near his college in Mexico. The
issue also has two fun "find what's wrong with this
picture" games, including one set in a comic book
shop not unlike our favorite home-away-from-home,
That's Entertainment!
Needless to say, this new comic book is a gem of a
title, offering up a fresh and well-stocked mix of
all that is part of Sergio Aragones extensive, decades-long
world of cartoon magazine humor. I love the variety
in this funnies-oriented comic book, from a few traditional,
multi-page stories to one-page cartoon gags to those
two interactive puzzle challenges. The depth and detail
of Sergio's wonderfully-complex panels are on full
display here, just jam-packed with crowds of people
and things, showing us once again that Aragones pioneered
the fun "find that person or thing in the crowd" style
that has become even more well-known these past few
years with the advent of the "Where's Waldo?" puzzle
challenges. The hilarious two-page Letters To The
Editor page also deserves a loud shout-out, as its
full of hilarious letters from real-life comedians
and comic industry folk, mixed with a few serious,
heartfelt congratulations to this pioneer of comic
book humor on his latest comic book endeavor.
You're missing-out if you don't read this funny offering
from one of the giants of cartoon/comic book comedy,
a man who's work is as fresh, timeless and relevant
today as the day he drew his first gag. So don't miss
out and get yourself over to That's Entertainment
for your very own copy of Sergio Aragones Funnies
#1!
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Daredevil
#1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Mark Waid: Writer
Paolo Rivera: Pencils
Joe Rivera: Inks
Javier Rodriguez: Colors
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Marvel Comics has just published issue
#1 of a brand new Daredevil series. There are two
separate stories in the premier issue. The main tale
is scripted by veteran writer Mark Waid with pencils
by Paolo Rivera, inks by Joe Rivera and colors by
Javier Rodriguez. The bonus story is also written
by Mark Waid with art by Marcos Martin and colors
by Muntsa Vicente.
The main story interweaves three storythreads. In
the initial pages, Daredevil intervenes at an organized
crime family wedding to stop a kidnapping by a bizarre
supervillain, resulting in much action and bedlam
at the wedding, amongst guests armed to the teeth.
A second plotline focuses on Matt Murdock trying to
function as a New York attorney, all-the-while fending
off constant attention on him from both the general
public and his fellow lawyers, in the wake of his
being outed as Daredevil in previous Marvel Comics
Daredevil titles. The third plotline commences toward
the end of the story, as Daredevil is attacked by
a foe who seems to know a lot about his weaknesses.
The issue ends in a dramatic bridge to next month's
issue as the attacker is revealed to be a certain
good guy fellow Marvel superhero.
There have been so many Daredevil comic book titles
and issues over the years that I was curious to see
how A-list writer Mark Waid would attempt to provide
a fresh perspective on our hero in this new series.
To his credit, Waid doesn't try to reinvent the basics
of the Murdock/Daredevil stroy universe. Instead,
he injects a layer of levity and light humor into
Murdock's personality that has been sorely lacking
over the years. Its both entertaining and refreshing
to read in both of these stories a version of Murdock
who isn't burdened with multiple layers of guilt and
angst over the particulars of his situation. The second
story in this issue particularly succeeds on that
account, giving us a wonderful tale in which Matt
and his sidekick Foggy take a stroll around New York.
The art is wonderful, giving the reader a feel of
cinematic-like mobility as the blind Murdock effortlessly
leads Foggy around the city, all the while espousing
an update and positive philosophy about both New York
City and life itself.
So whether you're a long-time Daredevil fan like me
or a newcomer to all things Daredevil, you'll be highly
entertained by this new Daredevil title. And a well-deserved
tip-of-the-review-hat to the creative team for giving
us two separate stories in this issue, which given
their high quality make it seem as if we're getting
two full-length comic stories combined into one excellent
and affordable monthly issue. I plan on continuing
to read this title, at least for awhile, on a monthly
basis to see how Mark Waid's infusion of a more positive
outlook within Murdock's personality plays-out in
the monthly storylines.
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Contest
Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest challenge was a historic
trivia question, asking you to tell us just how many millions
of postcards were mailed in the U.S. in 1913, the peak year
for use of postcards back in the pre-internet/e-mail/twitter
days of personal communication. And our winner selected
via a roll of the dice from among several correct entries
is (drumroll, please...) Jeremy Mower, who correctly answered
that over 968 million (almost a billion!) postcards were
mailed in the U.S. that year. Jeremy adds that the number
calculates-out to almost ten cards mailed for every man,
woman and child alive in the country at the time. Jeremy
also signs his entry as "Jeremy From The Paris Of The Eighties,"
which any local native knows is Worcester! Congrats to our
winner of the first prize $10.00 gift certificate to That's
Entertainment!
New
Contest Challenge Announcement!!!
Last week's history trivia contest was so
popular that the Bongo Congo panel of contest judges has
decided to offer another history challenge for this week.
Your challenge is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com with
the correct answer to the following question: which northeastern
state was actually entirely part of Massachusetts until
it gained its independence as a separate state in 1820?
As always, in the event of more than one correct entry,
our winner of the $10.00 first prize gift certificate to
That's Entertainment will be selected via a roll of the
dice.
We'll be on vacation next week, but we'll return
with new comic book reviews, our current contest challenge
winner announcement and a new contest challenge on Friday,
August 12. So have two great comic book reading weeks
and see you again then Here In Bongo Congo! |
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