IT CAME FROM THE QUARTER BIN EPISODE ONE

Every two weeks my family goes off to Fanfare comics and we file through the comic bins. I've decided to photograph the covers of whatever I get. Next time the pictures will be better. I promise.

GODZILLA, RULERS OF THE EARTH

There are a lot of Godzilla comic books out there. To state that IDW is responsible for some of the best, is stating the obvious. Saying that, I have never bought a Godzilla comic book. Well, unless you count the series that Marvel did decades ago.

Now, I have decided to jump in with both feet in this new series, Godzilla, Rulers Of The Earth.

Man, I’m glad I did.

I knew it was a good idea when I saw a preview of the artwork that Matt Frank did for issue one. That and the Gigan cover hooked me from the start.

The basic premise is that there is a team of Kaiju specialists in Hawaii when what appears to be Godzilla attacks the island. We are also given a primer in giant monsters and a sub plot with what appears to be aliens. The big reveal at the end is that it is not Godzilla, but Zilla.

I know, what is a Zilla?

It’s the Godzilla from that Matthew Broderick movie. You know the giant iguana? Yeah, it’s him, or her. Whatever.

Anyway, the real Godzilla shows up at the end and looks none too happy about this usurper to the throne.

That was issue one and it is such a great setup for the series. We get a few hints at sub plots; get introductions to the human aspect of the story. We get Gigan fighting a huge spider and the beginnings of that fight we all wanted to see.

Zilla VS Godzilla.

This might be the perfect Kaiju comic.

To make sure we know that Issue Two starts right at the fight. And it is spectacular!

All Kaiju movies have those epic battle sequences. The reason that we sit through the character development. And this is done in a way that makes it feel so cinematic. We get a little character development, but not so much that it interferes with the Zilla/Godzilla throwdown.

Part of me wonders if I might want to go back and revisit older incarnations of Godzilla comic books, but this one has set the bar so high I think I might be disappointed.

I think I’ll just stick with…

GODZILLA, RULERS OF THE EARTH!

By the one, one thing I would change; monthly instead of bi monthly, but that might just be me being greedy.

COMICS I READ 8/10/13

Okay, after my last rant about the recent Captain America run, I decided to pick up the new issue.
Still not happy.
One thing that will make me happy.
Next issue is supposed to be the conclusion of this.
That will make me happy.

Dial H has been my favorite DC book. Issue 15 is the last issue and while it is a bit of a mess I can tell they had fun with all the super hero names they had to come up with for this. The end says that it will be in a new issue of Justice League.  Not sure what that means as I don;t read that book. I am sad this is over.

Avengers A.I. is becoming my new favorite book. I have no idea who the Iron Man robot is, but the issue was good. I like the clean artwork and the Vision is epic as always. This was a great second issue.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

I really like the character of Captain America. He is my favorite super hero. Eight issues ago I picked up the new Captain America book.
Now, now I might have to put it down.
Warning! There are spoilers ahead!
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(You get the idea, right?)

So, here I am with my new Captain America book. Something should have thrown me off with the first issue. We get a flashback of Steve Rogers as a child. Okay. We've been here before. I'm game. Let's go. Steve Rogers is sent on a secret mission to a subway where people have come up missing. He wakes up in Dimension Z, the home of Arnim Zola. Things are not going well, but he manages to escape and he took a small baby with him. He saved it from the corruption of Zola.
Okay, this is going to be one of those epic Kirby kind of things. I can do this.
second issue brings the stainless steel balls with a black page and white lettering .

It reads; ONE YEAR LATER.
Cap is still in Dimension Z, the boy is older and they are finding out that there are creatures that live in Dimension Z. Cap has to fight their leader without his shield and takes some serious damage, but Cap refuses to quit and wins the fight.
During this there is more flashbacks of Steve's childhood that gives us more depth than we have had in a long time. Cap and Ian settle in with the tribe of creatures and things relax.
For a minute.
Then the leader confronts Cap and slashes his chest with an energy blade. There should be more blood, but Cap has an Arnim Zola face of his own.
Issue Four takes a ballsier step than before. It opens with another black page, but this time it reads, Eleven Years Later.
Really?!?!

Ian is grown into a 12 year old by this time and Cap has taught him many things to survive in Dimension Z. Ian sees the Zola face for the first time and discovers his true heritage.
Meanwhile Zola and his daughter, Jet Black have discovered the creature that Cap defeated and exiled years ago. They discover that the tribe had been harboring Cap and Jet Black thinks that Ian is dead. She leads a group of Cap Monsters to destroy her perceived enemy.
When they find Cap and Ian Jet Black proceeds to shred Cap in battle. Ian steps in and saves him and Jet Black realizes her brother is alive.Zola arrives at the scene in battle armor, pummels Cap and takes Ian back.. Cap realizes what he must do and cuts the Zola from his chest.
He will save Ian from Zola.
At Zola's compound, Jet Black is torn. She had always believed that Cap murdered her brother and, given the chance, could have killed her in battle. He did neither. Ian's brainwashing begins in earnest and we discover that Zola's true goal is to create a race of supermen in the image of Cap. Something always makes the clones self destruct, but he is getting closer to discovering why.

Meanwhile, Cap gets the drop on Jet Black and incapacitates her.
Cap continues through the Zola compound, but Jet Black has freed herself and when she has the drop on him, she saves him instead. She agrees to save the tribe that Zola has captured and is using for genetic material while Cap continues to look for Ian. When she leaves, Cap is hot by Ian in the back.
Now, with all this leading up to the newest issue I have to again, tell you there are spoilers. Extensive spoilers for Issue 8.
Ready?

So, Cap is down with a bullet that passed through his midsection. He is still bleeding from the huge carved wound that he inflicted when he cut out the Zola Face. The issue starts with him blacked out because one of the Cap Monsters has punched him repeatedly in the face. Cap manages to take out the Cap Monster, but then Ian bashes him in the head with some form of wreckage. He hits him repeatedly in the spine where Jet Black had almost incapacitated him earlier.
As this is going on Zola's plan is fully revealed as he is readying his army of monsters to attack Earth. Jet Black is hurrying to free the tribe and is confronted by Zola, who she attacks.
Ian is hammering away at Cap with a makeshift shield and manages to embed it in Cap's back. Ian has Cap where he wants him. On the ground, beaten and bloody. Ian puts a gun to his face, but in the end he can't do it. He remembers his childhood and can't do it.
Yeah.
Then Sharon Carter shows up and shoots him through the neck and he falls into the vat of goo that Zola uses to make his monsters.
um...
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!

(Cover your ears here, kiddies. It's gonna be loud.)

What the fuck kind of fucked up storyline is this? It's bad enough that we are supposed to believe that even Captain America's body can take the kind of sustained, brutal punishment throughout the course of these eight issues, but then this is how we wrap shit up in Dimension Z? Really?!?
And here's the worst part;
With all that any true Captain America fan has invested over the past 8 issues, the only two outcomes of this are going to suck.
One, Ian was manufactured by Zola so the plunge into the vats will revive him and he and Cap will have a tearful reunion.

BLECH! I call BULLSHIT!
Two, Ian stays dead.
These are terrible choices and I would be more compelled to say I prefer the latter. And if they ever bring Ian back it will cheapen this death as much as when Frank Miller killed Elektra.
And writer Rick Remender knows how badly this is fucked up. Why? Well, one of the true things I like about this book is that they have a letters page. The first line, written by Remender is;

"So, look, you're probably upset with me right now."

YA THINK!

I can not express how much I have liked this new run of Captain America. This, along with his run in Uncanny Avengers is so very awesome. But, in the end, this issue read like some sort of twisted torture porn with a smack your self in the head ending. And they really want you to know that Ian got killed because the neck shot art is one entire page!!!!

I don't know. I think when issue 9 comes out I might have calmed down, but I might just read it at the comic book store and decide whether it comes home with me.

I just don't know.  

COMICS I READ 6/1/2013

I was doing this with a breakdown of each issue of whatever comic I bought.
Yeah, I thought that was dull.
In comic buying news; I stopped buying Age of Ultron. It was just so damned dull. The same thing with Dial H. Not that it was dull, just that I was so far behind that I can't keep up and there are issues missing at the comic book store.
With that, let's look at what I did buy this week;

The more issues of Captain America I read, the more I realize it will make for a great graphic novel. As it is now I'm having to wait too damned long for installments. reminds me of when The Watchmen was a 12 issue series and I had to wait for those. I guess that is a good thing.

The last page of this comic has me guessing as to what happens next. I don't like the back up story even though I loves me The Martian Manhunter. It makes the main story feel thin.

This is the cover of Uncanny Avengers 8. It was a good issue and might be my favorite Marvel monthly book out there.

This, on the other hand, is tied into the whole Age of Ultron thingie that I abandoned. Not a great comic. Feels forced and stupid.

This is a great issue. Hawkman remains my favorite member of the team. The artwork feels a little daunting at times, but I do like that they are fighting the Secret Society of Super Villains. Read the little caption above to see what I thought of the next issue.

That's it for this week. I only get paid every other week so you have to wait for that long to see what I buy and what I thought.

Peace!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2013

This is one of my favorite days of the year. I was able to take all the kids (except Dennis, who was in Grand Rapids) and my daughter in law and my grandson, Gavin. We got there early, about an hour and a half early, and everyone mocked me.
Until the line began to grow.
And grow and grow and grow.

Here are the books I got.

2000 AD

I grew up with all of the 2000 AD family. Judge Dredd was always my favorite, but there were others that captured my attention. This huge magazine sized comic book was probably the best thing there.

MOUSE GUARD/RUST

Two very different, very sweet stories. I have never heard of RUST and might have to try that again. MOUSEGUARD is alwasy good, but I prefer MICE TEMPLAR.

THE SMURFS

Reprints with ANNOYING ORANGE and ARIOL. I liked ARIOL the most.

SUPERMAN;LAST SON OF KRYPTON

Good stuff. Interesting and I like how the non super hero side of things are handled.

THE STEAM ENGINES OF OZ

Interesting concept and I like the art, but I can't see buying more of this one.

THE TICK

THE TICK is always good. end of review.

INFINITY

Marvel Comics Summer event. I'm still playing catch up on AGE OF ULTRON so, pass. Didn't like this introduction to it at all.

BLEEDING COOL

I have never read this magazine. This was a nice little introduction to it. I might have to look at the actual publication in the near future.

JUDGE DREDD CLASSICS

Reprints the ultra cool Judge Death story. I could have done without all the Walter The Robot stories

FUBAR

FUBAR is zombies attacking during wartime in different time periods. From Valley Forge to Afghanistan and beyond. This was a unique concept and has that old black and white newsprint feel going

 for it. I might have to read more of these.

So, all in all everyone had a great time. we all got comic books. I was sad that the new issue of Captain America wasn't out, but picked up some new books as well. I am way behind on the comics column so I promise it will be out this week.
Start planning next year's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY if you haven't yet. It is always the first Saturday of May and always so much fun.