MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH COMIC BOOKS Chapter 19

FIFTEEN BOOKS!!!
After two weeks of pretty light stuff, we get fifteen books! Sheesh! Okay, some of these are going to be pretty brief. I'm not writing War And Peace here.
Again many thanks to Fanfare for the great service we always get there.
Ready?
I'm not.
Let's go.

INVADER ZIM #20

An issue of Zim and Gir binge watching a stupid cartoon? How can that be funny? Trust me, it's laugh out loud hilarious.

UNCANNY AVENGERS #24

Since I am not partaking in the newest event at Marvel all I know is a black dome full of monsters has enveloped New York with our team inside. Minus Quicksilver who can't breach the dome. The artwork is awesome and the story works. It's The Avengers doing what they do best...saving mankind.

THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #21

It's boys night out with Koi Boy, Chipmunk Hunk and Brain Drain. They have to keep New York safe while Squirrel Girl is away. I love Brain Drain, he is so funny. A great issue.

HULK #

After last issue I decided this book needed a chance and I'm glad I took it. Jen is coming to terms with her new incarnation of her gamma personality and Hellcat is always a welcome presence. Probably the most original Hulk book to ever come out of Marvel.

GENERATION X #3

Face is attacked and the team has to reluctantly use their powers to find out what is attacking mutants in Central Park. This is a good foundation issue of the book and I love that I have no idea who most of these people are.

BLACK PANTHER AND THE CREW #3

A little chatty and Hydra manages to make an appearance, but an interesting component in what has become a six issue mini series.

PREDATOR VS JUDGE DREDD VS ALIENS #4

This book took forever, right. Yeah, but it's Dredd being Dredd and he does what he always does...save the day. Even if he's not happy having to work with Predators.

WONDER WOMAN #24

They have all returned from Themyscria and it isn't all that happy. Dr. Cale has lost her daughter forever. Diana has lost her mother and her people for all time and Cheetah knows that if she wants to remain in her feral form forever she must kill Dr. Cale. It's a great ending, in a downer kind of way, but it works. The last words that Wonder Woman speaks to Dr. Cale are simply brutal.

SCOOBY APOCALYPSE #14

Scrappy Doo catches up to the gang and demands Velma to fix him before he loses his intelligence forever. The monster horde all seem to be heading somewhere and when they get there...we will have to wait until next issue. This was a good issue with a really awesome cliff hanger.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #8

The team goes to a Savage Land kind of place and rescue a man raised by monsters. Comes across as a Tarzan kind of thing and they bring him to civilization which is exactly what he wanted all along. Good book, a set up for the next issue, which is fine. We get a little character development slipped into the pages, but not a lot.

THE FLASH #24

While The Flash and Green Lantern finish off Multiplex, Reverse Flash destroys Kid Flash and takes Iris to the future. I like how the art work reminds me of Carmine Infantino. And one of the artists first name is Carmine. Small world.

BUG! THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER #2

Bug is back in WWII and has heroic company in the form of the original Sandman with his sidekick Sandy and the original Blue Beetle as they fight a madman bent on world domination. No, not Hitler.  The Losers come along for the ride in what is really the most fun I've had in a DC book in a while.

BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #11

The girls think that their new Oracle has sold them out, but he is working with The Calculator who desperately needs their help to save his family. Plays like Oracle's origin story and it's pretty good.

GODSHAPER #3

We get some insight on how each person gets their own God and we get to the point where the mystery of Bud may just be revealed. Because a God without a worshipper should be gone from this mortal coil and he isn't.

COMIC BOOK OF THE WEEK

JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS #26

I had to give this one to this book. It's over and it's sad, but they ended well. Now, after the last issue of Coady and The Creepies comes out this week all we have is Josie and the Pussycats. This has been a great book and it ends on a high note like last weeks Misfits did.
I'll still miss it.



Okay, that's it. Hope there's something in here you liked. Go read a comic book. I hope next week isn't this intense.
Seeya!

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH COMIC BOOKS Chapter 18

So, another tiny week. I bought a new book that shall not be mentioned here (GWAR) that I thought would be good. It wasn't. Remember Fanfare is the place if you live in Kalamazoo or surrounding areas to get all your comics.
This was kind of a thin week.
Here we go.

ALL NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #3

This felt like a fill in issue. Also, it came out pretty fast. The artwork is cool, but it feels off from the last two issues. If you love Gamora there is some cool stuff in here. The idea that the Soul Gem never really lets you go is super creepy.

BLACK BOLT #2

This is such a great book! Black Bolt is figuring out his new environment and his capacity to speak without destroying. He is sent to the arena to fight and shows them all why he is the king. I just know they're going to cancel this book on me. Come on people! Buy this damned book already! We need the numbers to get this up there so I can have it for a long time.

IRON FIST #4

The battle continues and after an honorable battle with The Rabbit, two others decide to attack at once. Yeah, this is Iron Fist remember? It ain't your comic book. This continues to read like a crazy Kung Fu flick and I love it. Not a fan of the cover though.

AQUAMAN #24

Apparently, next issue we go monthly and get a price hike. Yeah, I don;t care. This is one of the best Rebirth comics out there. The people of Atlantis are done with the surface world and with Aquaman being their king, but he's ready to fight to keep his throne. Even if Mera doesn't want to be there anymore and is ready to start a new life with him. The ending is a bit of a shocker, but I'm sure he'll be fine. Right?

GREEN ARROW #24

The Arrow Team are fighting the Horsemen while Oliver takes out there leader. He also realizes that to save the city he defends he needs to surrender to the law to make it all right. This book is my other favorite from the Rebirth and the artwork is just gorgeous. It looks like a painting. Also, I now know what happens if Black Canary screams point blank into the face of a giant. It is not pretty, but it made me laugh.



BOOK OF THE WEEK

THE MISFITS #5

We say goodbye to the girls whose songs are better with this issue. They have reformed and have a new label to get their music out there and, in the process, have become a better group of friends as well. This is done, JEM is almost finished. There is mention of a crossover mini series this summer, but I heard something about it having a sci fi bent to it and I'm not sure how I feel about this. Last year I had four books that were of fictional girl bands. Soon, it will just be Josie and the Pussycats. Figures that the ones that did it the best and the longest would still be here when the smoke clears. Good bye Misfits.

Okay, six books for the week. Kind of small when you figure it's usually in the 13-14 range. But, there are a lot of books that are just done and nothing has replaced them as of yet. I will be buying an Image book in the near future.

Here's why;



You know you want it. See you next week.

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH COMIC BOOKS Chapter 17

SO, yeah...missed a week. Oh well, that makes for a double column this week, right? And to make sure it goes well, there were only six books this week. That might be a record low. One of the guys at Fanfare mentioned that it was because there are five Wednesday in May. I had no idea.
Anyway, here are the reviews and stayed tuned at the bottom for the book of the week...times two!

P.S. Some of these might be brief. There are a lot of them.

MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #19

Yeah, Girl-Moon, daughter of Ego, The Living Planet has arrived! It seems to me that this has been promised for a while. Add Devil Dinosaur in space with his own cool space suit and this is a winner. Also, Doom Bot must stay in the book forever now.

SECRET WARRIORS #2

A double dose of Devil Dinosaur? Yes, please. Throw in the monster version of Howling Commandos complete with Man-Thing and we have a great issue...again. And Daisy's dad shows up and he's a pain in the, well, you know.

\BLUE BEETLE #9

Jaimie Reyes in the old school Beetle suit for the win. Add in the craziness of OMAC and the return of Dr. Fate and this is one of those DC books that works in its own little corner of the universe and Giffen lets his freak flag fly. So good.

WONDER WOMAN #23

THE TRUTH conclusion. We get it all wrapped up and it all makes perfect sense. This is the greatest Wonder Woman story ever.  It's a little sad, but it works really well.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7

Does anyone except for me remember Terrorsmith? Or the Bloodlines Annuals that DC put out forever ago? Well, I do and seeing one of those monsters and it's spawn back in DC made me smile. This is a pretty deep cut for a new book and I always rejoice when they neverv forget their long, layered history. If this is the plan for this book then I look forward to every issue.

I AM GROOT #1

Sure, this is one of Martha's books, but I read it too. I thought it was an interesting way to separate Groot from the rest of the team and put him in a really bizarre situation. It's mostly a set up issue and that is okay. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

ALL NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #2

The gang is charged with breaking into the vaults of The Collector and retrieving a priceless artifact for The Grandmaster. Yeah, good luck with that. It's a heist of epic proportions and if it can go wrong, you know it will. Also, who is growing a forest of Groot. A nice book that keeps the logistics of the film team and gives us more.

GENERATION X #

I had no idea the book was bi monthly? Hurray! I don;t have to wait. Our new team is being attacked by The Purifiers and they are armed to the teeth. Also the new school is located in Central Park so there are civilians to protect while the mutants try not to get fried in the process. Jubilee explains that they are there to learn to fit in. Not with the X-Men, but just the world at large. The whole concept is to be acceptable to the human race. Might work, probably won't.

HULK #6

This was going to be my last issue of this book. It just seemed like a slow burn that would never ignite.
Then it did.
Jennifer is a new beast that can take care of itself and she's pretty happy with the outcome. Now my curiosity is piqued so, I will be around for a while. Good job comic book. You win the money.

JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS #7

The girls are playing a awards show, but in their heart of hearts they want to go to a local band show and play in a field with a bunch of passionate musicians. They decide what is right and leave after they play their song and before they win an award. A good book.

DOCTOR WHO #13

The Captain Jack mystery of his missing memories continues and whne he starts piecing things together with the help of Rose and The Doctor he may not like what he finds. This would be such a great show. I wish they could do a missing years style of show with Eccelston back as The Doctor. Oh well, we still have the comic.

THE FLASH #23

It's Barry's birthday and Hal Jordan shows up for the party just as Multiplex attacks because he is in love with Iris. Such a classic plot for this book and it is so much fun to read. They just need to stop killing Eobard Thawne. You know that's never going to stick, right?



BOOK(S) OF THE WEEK

INFAMOUS IRON MAN #8

This book has always been weird. Now Ironheart comes to tell Doom to stop being Iron Man and you know he's not going to listen to that. The evil Reed Richards tries to convince Ben Grimm he is the real deal and that Ben needs to kill Doom. Oh, yeah, Doom manages to be swept away to somewhere that Tony Stark looks like Dr. Strange.
It consistently delivers a great story of a rocky road to redemption and along the way we might even get the Fantastic Four back in the pages of a Marvel comic book and that would be such a wonderful thing.

WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1

Before I started back in the DC Universe there was a book called Sensation Comics starring Wonder Woman. They were one and dones and they were magnificent and I have them all. I was sad when they cancelled the book, but then Rebirth happened and I was back on the Wonder Woman bandwagon.
This annual gives us four stories that show us the most important part of Wonder Woman. She is there to save us all. Not fight, but she will if she needs to. She is there to make sure that we are safe. The story with the kaiju is sweet and the one with King Shark will bring a tear to your eye. This is all that is great in Wonder Woman in a neat little package. The best annual I have read all year.

There ya go folks. Sorry for missing a week, but you do get an extra long column this way. I expect that next week will also be a beast of a week, but that's just because so many extraordinary books are coming out.

Seeya then and be sure to go to a comic book shop and get something to read. There is so much to choose from.

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH COMIC BOOKS Chapter 16

Hiya folks! You know a comic nerd is only as good as his local comic book shop. Without them it would all be mail order and that would suck. I like rifling through the quarter bins and getting my comics every week and talking with people about comic books.
So, in Kalamazoo we have FANFARE I have been going to this place since it was the size of a closet next to Walter Johns T Shirt Factory across from Southland Mall when Southland Mall was an actual mall. Yes, we all know how damned old I am. Anyway, I tell you every week to go read a comic book. If you are in the area, this is the place to go.
Now, on with the reviews!

U.S.AVENGERS #6

It ties into the whole Secret Empire thing I'm not reading, but it does give us the friendship of Robert DeCosta and Sam Guthrie a.k.a. Cannonball, one of my favorite mutants along with plans to disassemble one of my favorite new teams in the Marvel Universe. Yeah, good luck with that. Squirrel Girl is a member and the word Unbeatable means everything to her. I'll be glad when Secret Empire is over and I hope this book survives the transition.

NICK FURY #2

Another new, favorite book. I like that they send Fury on this way out missions to retrieve the irretrievable and he surprises the bad guys at every turn. They could have made this book in the 70s and it would have fit right in. Great book.

LUKE CAGE #1

In the wake of the end of the Power Man Iron Fist booke being cancelled we get seperate books. Iron Fist has been doing great. Now Cage comes along and tries to capture more of the vibe of his Netflix show, which is fine. I liked that show. Dr. Noah Burstein is dead of an apparent suicde and Luke goes to pay his respects. Yeah, then he finds out good old Noah had continued his experiments and there are people out there that make Luke Cage look frail. It's a good set up book and they sneak the origin in nicely for people who may not be familiar with Luke's history. Good book.

COADY AND THE CREEPIES #3

The band is on their way to the last place to win Pinmageddon. Once they can deal with a venue that is not wheelchair accessible and filled with bed bug infested couches. But, something sinister has something, well sinister in mind for the band and we get the cliff hanger to end all cliffhangers in this penultimate issue.
I hope they decide to continue these adventures. It's a good book and while I'll be okay with four issues, it would be nice to see the band return some day.

THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #20

Squirrel Girl vs Melissa Morbeck, THE FINAL BATTLE! Melissa has taken great pains to make sure that Squirrel Girl will take the fall for the animal infestation of New York City and blame Doctor Doom for the whole mess.
This has been a fun story arc and I love that the last page has been the continuing adventures of Chef Bear and Alfredo the Chicken. They so need their own series. Seriously! Wouldn't you buy a comic book called The Continuing Adventures of Chef Bear and Alfredo the Chicken. I sure would.

THE FLASH #22

So, there was this four issue arc called The Button. It was two issues of Batman and two issues of this comic. I didn't bother with the Batman issues. I also ignored the lenticular cover gimmick. Until this issue. It is so sweet looking with an old school Flash comic and a new image of Jay Garrick.
This was good and I like seeing team ups, but I realize this is to forward the whole Rebirth thing which is fine, but the end felt like an add for another mini series. Other than that seeing Jay Garrick again was awesome and I hope he gets to return. Good issue.

KONG OF SKULL ISLAND # 11

I have always had a soft spot for the giant gorilla named Kong. The new movie was great and this series with it's amazing artwork and rich history of where we get Kong from has been nothing short of epic. Now the two warrign tribes come to the final battle as the Kongs are infected with a rage potion that will ensure the slaughter of everyone, unless someone can stop it.
I saw that thjis is the penultimate issue of the series. Next issue and it's over. That made me a little sad, but I remember when it was only going to be six issues and they managed to double it for me. I think if they collected this in a trade paperback I would buy it. It is such a great story.

THE GREATEST ADVENTURE #2

Everyone of the awesome heroes from the mind of Edgar Rice Burroughs together in one series. Pure genius and now they encounter their first trial by fire when attacked by winged monstrosities. I have read all of these characters and it is so good to see someone understand them and give them their own little moment in the sun. With a group this large it can get a little unwieldy, but not in this case. An epic tale that no one even knew what they wanted.

BATWOMAN  #3

I am new to the whole Batwoman thing, but I like this story., It mixes honor and duty with espionage and gives us a great character who is so sure of her place in things that she is in full control when chaos abounds. It's a great story that would work if you removed the Batwoman connotation. Good stuff.

AQUAMAN # 23

Aquaman returns to Atlantis and finds that no one wants him there. They feel their nation is more important than a king who is also a super hero. They want him out, but he has the right to be there and refuses to bow down. The first chapter in a new story line. To be honest, I'm a little sick of the whiny Atlanteans. It would be nice to see Aquaman just be a super hero for a while. We shall see what awaits us in future issues.

GREEN ARROW #23

The bad guys are trying to convert Seattle into Star City and Ollie and his crew must stop them. Ollie thinks that Henry is dead and no longer cares about doing this right. He is ready to destroy the Four Horsemen and eliminate their threat once and for all. I like what they are doing here and trying to bring the real world in line with the DC history. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. And don't worry too much about Henry. Trust me.

CAVE CARSON AS A CYBERNETIC EYE #8

After the events of issue 7 Cave and the group find themselves in Fawcett City, not in our universe and discovering that his eye is on the loose and they need to fix everything in every universe at the same time. Sounds easy, right? Everyone should always have one crazy book to read a month. This is mine. So trippy and the colors just pop off the page.

COMIC BOOK OF THE WEEK

GENERATION X  #1

X-MEN GOLD, X-MEN BLUE, WEAPON X, ALL NEW WOLVERINE, JEAN GREY, CABLE, ICEMAN, OLD MAN LOGAN, ASTONISHING X-MEN
These are the new X Books being released by Marvel. Some of them have already debuted, some are coming your way soon. I have zero interest in all of them. Then there came this book. After my lengthy time with PATSY WALKER A.K.A. HELLCAT! I was ready to see more Jubilee. I was never a huge fan of hers and had read minimal stories with her in them, but I liked her in HELLCAT! So, I looked at the team roster;
Bling!,Kid Omega, Nature Girl, Morph, Hindsight, Eye-Boy. I have no idea who any of these characters are. What a great way to jump into a book. Zero expectations and a whole new group of people to see them as they make their way in a world that still can not stand mutants. We get some of the learning center in Central Park and a lot of quick hits on each character. A pretty solid introductory issue that is going to hit the ground running next issue. I'm glad I decided to give this book a chance. It can fill the Extraordinary X-Men hole in my heart. Maybe.

So, there you go folks. Another decent run of books from my favorite comic book store. See you next week and remember to go buy a comic book. Not sure, what might be the comic book for you? Leave a comment and I'll make some suggestions. I've read so many of them I'm sure we can find something you like.

Seeya next week!