Thursday, May 18, 2017

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!


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