REVIEW: Swamp Thing #1 (of 6)

Writer: Len Wein
Illustrator: Kelley Jones

C'mon, you guys, like I WASN'T gonna review a new Swamp Thing book? Especially one by Len Wein and Kelley Jones?
Please . . .

I know you all look forward to hearing about my love of giant vegetable monsters, and this certainly is no exception. Although I lean more towards Man-Thing in my adoration of shambling mounds, ol' Swampy was my first love. You've all heard the the tale of one of my very first comics, The Saga of the Swamp Thing no.14. This thing exploded my 7-year old brain and there was no going back. It introduced me to both Phantom Stranger and Swamp Thing, a deeper level of storytelling, wonderful art, and that sweet, sweet newsprint back issue smell.
You know the one.

Swamp Thing's latest foray into print punched me right in the nostalgia with an opening page that paints the portrait of our title character's Louisiana bayou home.

An excerpt, if I may:

"This is bayou country. Here, in the beating heart of Mother Nature's most unruly child, noises carry . . ."

These are our opening words in the book, and you can give me that all day long. Poetry, ladies and gentlemen. The narrative goes on about herons, bullfrogs, freight trains and gators, and the last panel of page one hits us with the figure of Swamp Thing standing stoically amidst cypress trees and rain an unmoving sentinel. An obligatory retread of our hero's origin story for the uninitiated follows, and then we're off to the races.

Right after that we switch gears and get treated to a rasslin' match between Swamp Thing and an alligator. Phenomenal.

It's revealed, post-gator, that Swamp Thing has cut ties with the Parliament of Trees and living unfettered from the elemental spirit-lords. I'll not get into the Parliament of Trees too much, as I tend to go on as it is, but it's a collective of plant elementals dedicated to preserving Earth's flora.
Trust me, it's a lot deeper and more cerebral than that, but the description will suffice . . .

After a bit of exposition who should show but POW! PHANTOM STRANGER!
I may have cheered a bit at this reveal. What are the odds that the guest star of my first ever Swamp Thing book would turn up in the new series?
Rhetorical question. Never tell me the odds.
Stranger admonishes Swamp Thing's recent behavior a bit then disappears as he is wont to do. A quicksand rescue later and the root of the miniseries is exposed.

A zombie college student.

Sweet Jesus, I've got the vapors . . .

This left turn originates from Crowley College at the edge of the swamp and brought to us courtesy of Professor Crisp's Life After Death class.
We just got real Lovecraftian, and I approve so highly it's ridiculous. Prof. Crisp is even shown holding a copy of "Der Vermis Mystris" and HP Lovecraft fans rejoiced.

Swamp Thing agrees to rid Crowley College of this reanimated college boy and when they finally meet there's a full-pager that reveals the zombiefied antagonist, the unfortunately named Lazlo Wormwood. Bathed in moonlight, Zombie Lazlo and Swamp Thing clash, and I'm fairly certain I can die happy.

There's clues leading us to believe more than meets the eye with ol' Lazlo, as is to be expected, and we almost certainly haven't seen the last of Phantom Stranger. I can only hope to see Swamp Thing's ladylove Abigail Arcane at some point. Hell, I wouldn't be disappointed if perpetual antagonist Anton Arcane poked his head out of the muck at some point.

To be frank, I was committed to this series before issue 1 hit the stands. I'm a horrendously easy sell with characters near and dear to my heart and it'd take an extremely poorly crafted Swamp Thing book to turn me away.
This is not that book.

Kelley Jones' art is phenomenal as always, further cementing him in my mind as an illustrator in the same caliber as Ploog, Wrightson, Kaluta, & Dringenberg. Fans of his work will not be disappointed and those unfamiliar with it will soon be welcome fans.
And Len Wein, hot damn! Co-creator of Swamp Thing back in the driver's seat with his monster. The writing seemed like it was ripped right out of the pages of a '70s-'80s adventure/horror comic and flooded this reader with a sense of calm amidst a storm of flotsam that so frequently finds its way onto the shelf. Sublime work from the co-creator of Wolverine and the scribe of Giant-Size X-Men #1. Say what you will, but that book was a game changer and Len Wein is carrying weight of his legacy well.
This Swamp Thing book isn't likely to change the landscape of comics, but it sure as hell isn't a filler book either.

My only writing gripe has to do with some of Swamp Thing's dialogue. My preferred incarnation of the titular character leans towards the inwardly brooding, introspective, angst-ridden defender of the Green, and the dialogue in issue 1 was a bit too glib for my taste. Lines like, "you try to take a piece of me, friend, all you're going to get is a mouthful of muck!", and, "you're a lot of dead weight, Frank, just don't be dead!" served to disconnect me a bit from the moody atmosphere of what is traditionally a horror comic. A bit too super-heroic for my taste.

I have absolutely no idea what version of continuity this series inhabits in DCs post-Convergence universe, and I don't much care. It may end up building off canon established in the Nu52 Swamp Thing, it may follow the tradition of the older series, or it may be an entirely new monster in and of itself.

Hopefully this miniseries will springboard into an ongoing, as Swamp Thing is the spice of life that DC could currently use to offset its current bland flavor. Dozens of Superman and Batman comics are all well and good, but more engaging books like All-Star Western and Swamp Thing are oft overlooked pieces that remain vital to keep a company flourishing.

Madman Three-In-One

That’s right, three comics in one review. No extra charge.

Rocket Raccoon and Groot #1
Writer: Skottie Young
Artist: Filipe Andrade
Colors: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
Review: Madman

Groot, Rocket, Skottie Young . . . doesn’t matter. Sign me up. A “resistance is futile” moment if I’ve ever had one. I’m talking “almost forcing me to ‘woot’ on social media” level. Doesn’t matter, Marvel hit a home run with this brain child right here. Two of the most popular Marvel characters in the biz currently . . . I think they even made a movie with these characters. Doesn’t matter, Skottie Young gets my dollar every time with his epic variant covers. I don’t always variant cover, but when I do, I Skottie Young all day. Doesn’t matter, not even a little bit.

Highlights include: the new Guardians of the Galaxy, a mouse-like Rocket named Pockets, a Groot-like bushman named Shrub (and yes he “I am Shrub”s), Lord Rakzoon, and a feral graffitied Groot. Doesn’t matter.


Spider-man/Deadpool
Writer: Joe Kelly
Penciler: Ed McGuinness
Inker: Mark Morales
Color: Jason Keith

I’ve been waiting for this book for so long. Some people don’t care for Spider-Man’s corny one liners, but I am proudly not one of those people. Some people don’t care for Deadpool’s diarrhea of the mouth, but again I am not one of those people. In fact those very things are probably . . . not probably definitely what endears the aforementioned characters to my heart above all others. Not only can both aforementioned characters save the world, but they can lay down some serious burns, especially Deadpool. I counted no less then 3 dick jokes in this very issue. It was weird . . . Spider-Man and dick jokes aren’t a usual combo. So if you’re one of those people who hate on Spidey, or Deadpool, or move to China, you should steer clear of this title...unless you’re seeking redemption for treading on Stan Lee’s prodigal son. Back and forth one liners all day long and all issue long.

Highlights include but are not limited to: Spidey-n-Deadpool in Hell, Deadpool steals brains from the morgue and injects them into Mindless ones, dick jokes, M.O.D.O.K gets a sponge bath, Bamfs, Hydro-Man, and levitating kittens. Definitely, no matter how ridiculous it is, this is my favorite comic I’ve read all year.

I got the variant edition with the above cover, and it’s certainly my favorite non-Skottie Young cover of the year so far. Simply because it made me laugh out loud . . . oh, that silly Deadpool . . . Super excited for the future of this title.

Deadpool issue Tres Punto Uno
Escritores: Brian Posehn y Gerry Duggan
Ilustrador: Scott Koblish
Colorista: Nick Filardi

This entire issue is in Spanish. Apparently it’s all about a Mexican version of Deadpool. My brain started hurting trying to figure out what was going on, my Spanish being not so good…except the bad words, I’m solid there. The one word in English was corndogs. I’m not upset about this minor quirk, in fact I’m happy to have forked over the $4 because it’s hilariously annoying.
Probably the first and last time I give Marvel props for being A-holes.

The cover for this bad boy is in my top 10 Deadpool covers for sure . . . well it would be if I had such a list.
Highlights include . . . Mexican Deadpool uses a machete instead of a katana, Deadpool rides a leopard-printed chopper with a side car. A leopard rides in the side car, the leopard wears aviator goggles. Until I find a translator that’s pretty much all I can tell ya.

REVIEW: Self Storage #3 (of 6)

Written & Created by: Clay McLeod Chapman
Illustrated by: Matt Timson
Review: Will Dubbeld

451 Media is a relatively new (to me, anyway) Indy company that popped up on my radar a couple of months ago. They had a few pretty enticing sales pitches, so I went ahead and ordered a few titles, including one about a werewolf biker gang, one telling the tale of a Dirty Dozen WWII squad of monsters a la the old DC Creature Commando books, and a whimsical little ditty called Self Storage.

Self Storage hooked me on its initial premise of a hapless schmuck who opens a storage locker and finds sequestered within a zombie girl.
Best. Storage Wars. Ever.
A down on his luck local yokel hoping to hit paydirt in an abandoned locker and finding a zombie girl is a pretty damn original pitch as far as I'm concerned, and I was in for the long haul.


I was a bit concerned upon buying the first issue was a curious credit attributing one Michael Bay as a company founder. I didn't check to see if it was the selfsame director of dubious quality, but the books thus far have not been inundated with explosions or vaguely racist toilet bowl humor so it may be a coincidence.

Self Storage is thus far a great comic, but here I am three issues in and very little story progression seems to have happened. A few zombie fatalities have occurred, protagonist and his redneck buddies attempt to prevent zombie fatalities, protagonist attempts to discover the secret of the locker-zombie whilst dealing with troubles at home, so on and so forth, but halfway through the series and we haven't tread too much ground. Hopefully this doesn't lead to a rushed feeling in the second half. As an interesting aside, the story is almost inferring that the male lead is falling for the zombie girl. I may be reading too deeply between the lines here, but this is potentially a great creepy/gross angle.

Self Storage's art is good, although it's the type of black and white line art that one almost expects from a zombie comic these days (or the days of yore, for that matter). Deadworld, The Walking Dead, The Dead . . .
There really seems to be a theme here . . .
Not to say the art isn't good, because it is. It just falls into that Indy horror comic comfort zone.

3 issues down, 3 to go, and I'm in for the long haul. We're getting close to uncovering the secrets of naked-zombie-locker-girl, or at least some of her secrets, and curiosity drives me to finish this series.
If nothing else it's fun to see the redneck supporting cast shooting paintball guns at shambling zombies and ineffectually attempting to wrangle the undead.

Is it the best zombie horror comic I've read? Nah, but it's pretty good and throws in enough off-kilter humor to skew the equilibrium of the book away from the archetypical rank-and-file zombie book. It's unlikely to blow your mind, but it's certainly worth a look.

REVIEW: Lone Wolf 2100 #1

Script: Eric Heisserer
Line Art: Miguel Sepulveda
Colors: Javier Mena
Lettering: Nate Piekos of Blambot
Review: Art Bee

In the 1990s the vampire movement started with the pale undead invading books, movies, comics, and other entertainment media, By the time we hit 2005 most of the public would throw up in their mouths at the mention of anything else featuring the creatures. At the turn of the century we saw the trend move to zombies, and as fun as it has been, I feel zombies are well on their down turn. Alas, we are struck with yet another zombie comic.

In Lone Wolf 2100 #1 we are faced with zombies of a different color. A virus infects millions of people worldwide changing them into people-eating mutations called "thralls". Look, I get that the writer is trying to be different, but you cannot put wool on a dog and call it a sheep. It is still a dog!

It really amused me when I saw printed on the inside cover “inspired by the manga Lone Wolf and Cub”. They didn’t vary from the title much, so does that mean the story is almost the same as well? Is this plagiarism? I haven’t read the manga title, but it makes me wonder.


Anyway, this comic just feels like The Walking Dead sprinkled with The Last Samurai. The pandemic hits the world hard, but there is one little girl with the immunity factor that will make one man, business, or government very wealthy. This little girl is guarded by an android samurai named Itto, whom is just loved by the writer. Seriously, I hate it when the creator is preoccupied with forcing the reader to fall in love with the awesomeness of their character creation. If the character is created well, no effort is needed to make the reader fall in love with them.

The artwork is great, hands down the books pinnacle. Every panel is a masterpiece in my opinion. One of the best features of the artwork is the grainy detail in some of the backgrounds, explosions, and gore. This sounds bad, but it’s not. This effect is deliberate and successful in creating a focused dynamic in the scenes that creates a projection in the panel, so I have to raise my glass to Sepulveda and Mena.

There was a moment on page 5 depicting a full page drawing of the child and Itto surrounded by thralls. My thought was since all of the thralls, which there ware about two dozen, looked identical, did that mean the virus changes women into men and makes all people the same height and body size? That thought was scrapped a few pages later when there was a panel showing some variety in the thralls, so I let it go.

My recommendation would be to leave this one on the shelf, folks. Even though the artwork is great, this comic is more like a camp fire. Looking at it is nice, but you don’t want to touch it. It would be nice to see the horror trend to move on to something else now: mummies, witchy-whats, animated back scratchers, anything. Why do writers in certain genres have to get so narrow minded?

REVIEW: Strange Tales #110

"Dr. Strange Master of Black Magic"

Story: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
Review: Will Dubbeld

The cinematic juggernaut that is Marvel drops a Dr. Strange movie on the world later this year, and we've seen our first photos of star Benedict Cummerbund, or whatever the chap's name is. I'm ecstatic over this, as a longtime fan of Stephen Strange, because Marvel hasn't struck out yet with a movie (although Thor 2, Iron Man 3, and Avengers 2 were by no means home runs) and I cannot wait to see the big-screen adaptation. We've already had a hilariously mediocre Dr. Strange telefilm in the late 1970s and I'm sure he's had some animated series guest spots, but until now the best motion picture version of Doctor Strange was the early '90s Full Moon Entertainment masterpiece Dr. Mordrid.

Which is a great movie. I don't care what anyone says.

In any case, it seems fair that we take a look at the good Doctor's first appearance courtesy of a Masterworks collection recently bequeathed upon me by my loving girlfriend for Christmas.
3 cheers for nerd girlfriends . . .


Doctor Strange first appeared, aptly enough, in a comic called Strange Tales.
Serendipitous, really.
At the time, Strange Tales was pretty well entrenched as a Human Torch solo book with throwaway backup stories. Strange had the fortune of serving as one of these supporting features and introduced readers to a hitherto unexplored facet of the fledgeling Marvel Universe.

Although his first appearance only net an underwhelming 5 pages, Dr. Strange was welcomed to the world in masterfully done piece by Lee/Ditko in their respective prime. I was surprised the story didn't contain Lee's usual bombastic dialogue and prose, instead presenting the reader with a rather proper (albeit very 1960s . . .) occult suspense short.

Admittedly, I hadn't read this story prior. I'd read the origin story of Dr. Strange, which I'd lived my whole life thinking was his 1st appearance. Woe betide the unaware . . .
All (well, most, anyway) of the familiar Dr. Strange staples also mark their maiden appearance in Strange Tales #110. His Greenwich Village Sanctum Sanctorum, trusty manservant Wong, Amulet of Agamotto, Ancient One, and perennial foe Nightmare all show up in this five-pager that follows a hapless fellow who is plagued by restless sleep and seeks out Doctor Strange's aid. Astral travel, betrayal, and a splash of mystical combat follow, masterfully illustrated by Steve Ditko in his element and on his A-game.

1960s Marvel is understandably not for everyone. The dated and somewhat frankly hokey scripting turns off a lot of whippersnappers with no damn respect for their roots, but those folks deserve all the mid-'90s garbage books they can eat. There really is a cavalcade, a wellspring, of incredible storytelling to be found in these old books. Some of the dialogue and art may seem a bit primitive by today's standards but that in no way should deter modern readers from exploring these Strange Tales of yesteryear.