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Review Date: Friday, January 6, 2012
Here in Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo wishes everyone a very Happy New
Year and has decreed that we kick-off 2012 with reviews
of the following eclectic variety of comic book titles,
fresh off of That's Entertainment's new issues shelves: |
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My
Greatest Adventure #1
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Various Writers & Artists
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DC Comics is up to issue #3 of a six-issue
mini-series entitled "My Greatest Adventure."
This series is an homage to the original Silver Age
"My Greatest Adventure" title, which began in 1955
as an adventure anthology series and morphed into
a science fiction adventure title. After introducing
The Doom Patrol in the early 60's, the title was quickly
revamped into The Doom Patrol's own titled comic book.
The current mini-series presents three short tales
in each issue with continuing, multi-issue story arcs,
respectively starring Doom Patrol team member Robotman,
followed by new characters Garbage Man and Tanga.
Each storyline is assigned a different creative team
of writer/artists. I decided to backtrack to
issue #1 for this review, in order to get an accurate
feel for the series from the premier of the three
parallel tales.
The initial Robotman story
segment is entitled "Uncanny Valley" and has two plotthreads.
One storyline establishes the basic world of Robotman
these days, as he's established himself as a solo
superhero-for-hire based in Las Vegas, complete with
a human staff assistant. Our second plot thread
kicks-off our hero's first adventure, as a missing
person case leads him to Cuba and smack into the middle
of zombie-based adventure. "Garbage Man Returns"
is an origin story of this new character, in which
a corporate drone living and working in Gotham City
named Richard Morse seemingly stumbles his way into
an eventual Swamp Thing-like transformation.
Our third tale is entitled "Restrained" and features
an alien female superbeing named Tanga, who is struggling
on an alien planet to help a local populace in their
issues with a benevolant but extremely arrogant superbeing
ruler. Without spoiling plot details, there's
an interesting mix of sharp humor and action/conflict
in this storyline.
This is a pretty entertaining
new comic book title, for a few reasons. First,
I really enjoyed the all-too-rare-these-days structure
of featuring three ongoing stories in one standard-sized
comic book. In this case, it really is like
getting three comic books for the price of one.
Secondly, while the Robotman story succeeded as a
well-drawn adventure story segment, it also had an
intriguing sub-theme, in which Robotman struggles
internally to deal with the fact that he was once
human and is now a brain trapped inside a machine.
And third, writer-artist Kevin Maguire's Tanga story
is a real treat. A new character whom Maguire
introduced earlier this year in the Weird Worlds mini-series,
Tanga is a female alien super-powered hero in the
style of the well-known Legion Of Super-Heroes members.
Maguire mixes her Spider-Man style of sharp-edged
humor with a cast of unique alien story characters,
resulting in a very fresh and entertaining science
fiction-based comic book story.
My only negative review comment
concerns the Garbage Man tale, which is aptly named
given the garbage-level quality of a muddled script
from writer and Garbage Man creator Aaron Lopresti.
This throwaway tale is vague and sketchy, with the
result that by the end of this premier story segment
we still don't know how Richard Morse evolved into
the trash-dude. But overall, two strong stories
out of the three deserves a well-earned thumbs-up
positive review recommendation for this new anthology
series from DC Comics.
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The
Legend Of Oz: The Wicked West
Publisher: Big Dog Ink
Tom Hutchinson: Writer
Alisson Borges: Art
Kate Finnegan: Colors
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Big Dog Ink has published issue #1
in a new, six-issue limited series of a Wizard Of
Oz-based comic book entitled "The Legend Of Oz: The
Wicked West." The new title is scripted by Tom
Hutchinson with art by Alisson Borges and colors by
Kate Finnegan.
The concept of this series
is a re-telling of the familiar Wizard Of Oz story
from more of a Wild West adventure approach.
In the premier issue, we learn that Dorothy Gale and
her horse Toto have been wandering around Oz for three
years now, trying to find their way home to Kansas.
This is a harsher, Wild West version of the fabled
Land of Oz, full of 19th century-style Southwest towns
populated by gunslingers both bad and good, along
with mythical Oz universe creatures. The issue
#1 plotline begins with Dorothy picking her way down
the shattered and sparse remnants of the former Yellow
Brick Road in search of the Emerald City. After
wandering into one of the atypical small towns, she
has a Wild West confrontation with all sorts of characters
populating the local saloon. Without being a
plot spoiler, by issue's end Dorothy has interacted
with very different versions of the well-known Cowardly
Lion and Tin Man, and is poised for further unique
adventure as both the story and her efforts to reach
The Emerald City continue in the upcoming issue #2.
I was blown away by the high
quality and entertainment of this new Oz title.
There's nothing more fun than coming across a fresh
reinterpretation of a well-known classic tale, and
we're fortunate to have such a rare gem in this new
mini-series. Writer Tom Hutchinson does a brilliant
job in crafting a tale chock-full of new spins on
the classic Dorothy of Oz fable. Again, I don't
want to spoil the fun for potential readers, so I'll
only mention a few examples. My personal favorite
realignments of the tale are two-fold: First, the
recasting of Dorothy Gale as a tough Western gunslinger
chick who isn't afraid of a confrontation, whether
its a verbal or literal shoot-out. And secondly,
the transformation of Dorothy's well-known little
doggie sidekick Toto into a faithful horse, with a
streak of smarts and independence worthy of the Lone
Ranger's Silver.
In addition to the fun story
detail transformations referenced above, I was struck
by the unique revision to the general atmosphere of
the Oz tale. The creative team has blended together
the script and visual presentation to present a Western-style
Oz adventure comparable to two other classic science
fiction/fantasy tales that utilize Western themes:
Stephen King's well-known Dark Tower/Gunslinger novel
series and science fiction novelist Mike Resnick's
western-themed novel entitled Santiago (along with
its sequel, The Return Of Santiago). The King,
Resnick and Big Dog efforts all utilize the Wild West
story universe structure to the utmost to produce
meaningful fictional additions to their respective
story genres.
This is one of the few comics
that made such an impression on me regarding literary
quality and entertainment that I immediately re-read
it in order to double-check and make sure I didn't
miss anything meaningful, entertaining or just plain
fun regarding the wonderous adventure being re-served
to the reader in a brand new manner. I've said
it about the comic titles "Locke & Key," "Jersey
Gods" and "I, Zombie" and I'll say it once again,
here: there's a smash Showtime, HBO or SYFY Channel
series just waiting to bust-out of this comic book
onto the television screen. So obviously, my
review advice is to get down to That's Entertainment
and pick-up your own issue #1 copy of The Legend Of
Oz: The Wicked West and re-read it a few times, yourself!
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Shame
Itself #1 (One-Shot)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Various Writers & Artists
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Marvel Comics recently released
a one-shot spoof of its Fear Itself event series entitled
"Shame Itself." The issue features ten tales
ranging from several one-page quick comedy riffs to
a few multi-page stories, along with a three-page
illustrated short story. While there are many
writers and artists involved in this comedy compilation,
its worth noting that the team of six writers includes
Wyatt Cenac and Elliott Kalan, both accomplished comedy
writters for The Daily Show With John Stewart.
The issue kicks-off with
a direct spoof of the Fear Itself series in a story
entitled "The Last Attack." While it provides
a funhouse mirror comedy version of Fear Itself, it
also goes off on its own nutty tangent as various
famous Marvel Universe supervillains become preoccupied
negotiating a schedule for taking turns in trying
to destroy mankind. The story resurfaces for
a conclusion at the end of the issue, while in-between
the creative team fills the comic book with all types
of Mad Magazine-style comedy riffs on the culture
of the Marvel Comics universe. Rather than list-out
the many offerings, I'll feature my two favorites
in this review. "Unholy Reunion" is a very entertaining
four-page tale from writer Elliot Kalan and Artist
Dean Haspiel, in which Reed Richards and The Thing
attend their college reunion. The comedy is
sharp and the story cleverly reverses their roles,
as the pair revert to their respective nerd and jock
stations on the college social ladder. "M Marvelous"
consists of three e-mailed dating advice questions
to the publisher, each of which are answered by various
Marvel superheroes. The answers are completely
nutty and provide very funny comments on the worlds
of these Marvel characters.
Much credit is due to Marvel
for bringing in an A-plus team of professional comedians
to script the material for this one-shot issue.
It clearly pays-off, as the quality of the funny material
transcends the standard comic book funny business
fare, resulting in a wide range of comedy more comparable
to the sophisticated humor of, say, The Daily Show
With John Stewart that writers Cenac and Kalan include
in their resumes. I know its a lot of work to
put together a multi-sketch issue such as this title,
but I'd love to see more of this type of ensemble
comedy material from Marvel, as well as any other
comic book publisher. While a monthly schedule
might be too much to expect, perhaps Marvel could
consider a quarterly or bi-monthly schedule of Shame
Itself or a similar series with an appropriate wacky
title.
In the meantime, my obvious
thumbs-up positive advice is to savor and cherish
this very creative, and more importantly hilarious,
variety show of a comic riffing on all things nutty
in the wide world of Marvel Comics.
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Archie
Meets Kiss #627
Publisher: Archie Comic Publications, Inc.
Alex Segura: Writer
Dan Parent: Pencils
Rich Koslowski: Inks
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The venerable and long-lasting flagship
Archie Comics title is up to issue #627 with a special
"Archie Meets Kiss" storyline. This is part
one of a two-issue multiple story arc scripted by
Alex Segura with pencils by Dan Parent and inks by
Rich Koslowski.
This kick-off story segment
is entitled "Riverdale Rock City." Our plot
can be divided into two scenes. Scene one begins
with the Archie gang getting together with Sabrina
The Teenaged Witch to help cast a complicated spell
that will protect the Town of Riverdale from a potential
Halloween Eve monster invasion. Naturally, Veronica
and Reggie mess things up, resulting in the invasion
of monsters which are actually humorous caricatures
of various Twilight movie series characters.
In scene two, the band Kiss magically appears as part
of the miscast spell. It turns-out that the
band are expert monster chasers and plan to try and
make everything right again in Riverdale. As
Kiss goes off to try and do their monster thing, the
Archie gang mysteriously disappears one-by-one, until
Archie dramatically discovers that the monster visitors
are somehow turning everyone in Riverdale into "Mindless
Zombies!!!".
Over the past few years I've
reviewed a few editions of the monthly Archie comic
book and I'm continually impressed with the combination
of high quality writing that incorporates very relevant
and recent pop culture references. Given how
long old Archie has been on the comic book publishing
scene, I always expect a dated or stale storyline.
While in last year's reviewed issues we were treated
to very relevant national political satire and modern
perspectives on dating and marriage, here we're treated
to a lighter but just as funny take on the current
pop culture horror genre. The take-off on the
Twlight movies works well here, updating 1950's monster
mash-type story material into the style of the current
21st century horror movie trend. In the hands
of the creative team, the idea of mixing old school
pop culture icons Kiss with this theme also works
well, proving to me, at least, that Kiss transcends
the turnover of pop culture generations very nicely.
On a final review note, its
also fun to read this issue for the many interesting
ads promoting additional Archie comics titles.
It amazes me how many varied titles that feature alternate
interpretations of Archie and his gang are thriving
within the Archie Comics Publications empire, including
spin-off titles of every single Archie universe character,
as well as a series in which the gang is drawn in
a more "real world" visual style. Issue #627
also heavily promotes the February 14, 2012 premier
issue of a new series starring new character Kevin
Keller, who has received national media coverage as
the first openly gay character added to the 70-plus
year-old Archie Comics universe.
So in review summary, by
all means don't shy away from revisiting the old Riverdale
Gang in your wide-ranging monthly comic book reading;
there's plenty of modern-day relevant and entertaining
humor packed-into issue #627 of Archie. And
stick around to see how Kiss saves the day as the
storyline concludes in issue #628!
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Contest
Winner Announcement!!!
Our current contest challenged you to correctly
identify the one winner of the Best Male Actor Oscar who
was denied receiving the award, which then went to the second-place
runner-up. This is a tough answer to find, so unfortunately
we didn't receive any entries. But for you trivia
buffs, the answer is (drumroll, please)...that famous movie
dog Rin Tin Tin! According to Susan Orleans's current
best selling Rin Tin Tin biography, the immensely-popular
movie pup won the first Oscar in 1929 for his movies roles
from mid-1927 to mid-1928. But the Academy Board of
Directors was upset and felt that the award would be cheapened
if in its very first year it went to a dog, so they awarded
the statue to runner-up human actor Emil Jannings.
Read the Orleans-penned bio for more interesting facts about
Rin Tin Tin and other movie dog actors.
New Contest Announcement!!!
Its time to usher-out 2011 and welcome-in
2012 with our annual Year's Best Comic Books contest.
Your challenge is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com
by noontime on Wednesday, January 18 and pitch to us your
favorite comic book or books published in 2011 and tell
us why you liked it/them so much. Regarding my own
personal favorites, stand-outs from amongst the 2011 crowd
included three DC "New 52" titles (Deadman, Wonder Woman
and Justice League Dark), the "Spider Island" event series
from Marvel Comics, the Boom Studios Star Wars satire "Space
Warped," the 2011 run of "Atomic Robo" published by Red
5 Comics and the new "The Legend Of Oz: The Wicked West"
comic book published by Big Dog Ink and reviewed in this
column above. As always, our contest winner will receive
the first prize $10.00 gift certificate to That's Entertainment,
which you can use to buy next year's "best of 2012" comic
book nominees!
That's all for now, so have a great
two weeks of mid-winter comic book reading and see you again
on Friday, January 20 Here In Bongo Congo!
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