REVIEW: Norman #1

Script & Art: Stan Silas
Translated by Cat Connery
Review: Cody "Madman" Miller

I don’t exactly remember how I became aware of Norman but bought in for two reasons; in my humble opinion the cover is absolutely fantastic, and the tag line cemented the deal, landing Norman on my pull list.

“This is Norman. Isn’t he cute?” (Our first glimpse of Norman reveals him to be a nice looking blonde-headed boy with a backpack full of saws, knives, and other bladed WMDs.) So blonde and innocent. Well, kinda innocent. Apart from all the killing. See, Norman’s decided that he’d like nothing more than to be a serial killer . . . one of the greats, like Freddy Krueger, or Leatherface. You know the really good serial killers . . . Luckily, Norman has plenty of people on which to practice . . . all his classmates. In fact, he’s getting pretty good at this whole murder thing. With his invisible familiar Thing-A-Mie at his side, he’s only going to get better, unless something, or someone, stands in his way…

REVIEW: Tales From the Darkside #2

Script:  Joe Hill
Adaptation:  Michael Benedetto
Art:  Gabriel Rodriguez
Colors:  Ryan Hill
Letters:  Robbie Robbins
Review:  Art Bee

My recent post in tales-from-the-dollar-box.com about Locke & Key glorified the work of Hill and Rodriguez in that title. We are now faced with another incarnation of their respective talents in Tales From the Darkside from IDW. This comic book is an adaptation of the TV series (1983 – 1988) and feature film (1990). My admission is that I was not aware of Hill and Rodriguez’s involvement in this project; otherwise my excitement would have been overflowing over a month ago.

This series is set up just like the television program. Each issue will be a stand-alone short story with a twist ending. Issue two is the first of a two part story called “The Black Box”, which will not be the norm. The challenge with using the comic book format for short stories is length. The story needs to fit into a fixed number of pages, meaning the story and art need to be concise and flowing. This can be challenging. In High School, everyone has had a writing assignment to write a story with a page or word limit (i.e. 1 to 3 pages double spaced). With a good idea it is easy to exceed the limit, but hard to whittle it down.

REVIEW: Civil War II: Gods of War #1

Writer: Dan Abnett
Artist: Emilio Laiso
Review: Will Dubbeld

Beware! Here there be spoilers!

This Civil War, pt. Deux is a divisive thing, my friends.
I assure you I wasn't trying to be clever there . . .
Admittedly many of my nerd friends are taking a pass of Marvel's newest mega-event, and those who aren't have less than stellar things to report. I remain hesitantly optimistic, but I'm so far fairly underwhelmed. Character motivations seem grossly, well, out of character and from what I understand the whole event was unexpectedly shoehorned into the 2016 schedule via editorial/corporate mandate.
Because movie . . .

BUT! There's at least a couple of obligatory satellite books that could prove to be interesting. Marvel's Netflix's Daredevil's Kingpin is taking some stance or another in this Civil War. That piques my curiosity, but the man of the hour here is Hercules.
Always slated for the B-list, ol' Herc has been a perennial favorite of mine. A jolly, bearded (most of the time), drinkin', girl-chasin' superhero with a heart of gold!
What's not to like?
Also, he's frequently a charming dullard which endears him to me that much more.

REVIEW: The Flintstones #1

Writer:  Mark Russell
Artist:  Steve Pugh
Colorist:  Chris Chuckry
Letterer:  Dave Sharpe
Review:  Art Bee

About a month ago, The Flintstones #1 showed up on the Comixology previews and my endorphins started flowing. As a child (yes, I know I am considered an old man by saying this), Hanna Barbara’s animated The Flintstones cartoon was one of my very favorites. With the release of this series, my hope was a rekindling of a former love; instead my love has been burned and doused with urine.

When recreating something that has already been done, my thinking would involve experiencing it first hand and capturing the essence of it. Russell and Pugh are showing that they have not even watched the show but are trying to reinvent it. Many key elements are gone:  Fred’s character traits, Wilma as an ethical  anchor, and a moral plot point.

REVIEW: Han Solo #1

Writer:  Majorie Liu

Artist:  Mark Brooks

Colors: Sonia Oback

Letters:  VC’s Joe Caramagna

Cover:  Lee Bermejo

Review: Art Bee

A long time ago, in a state far, far away, Star Wars comics were one of my favorite books to get at the 7-Eleven about eight blocks from my childhood home in Dover, DE. During those days, Marvel was producing those comic books, and they were very exciting. Shortly after I moved to Indiana, Dark Horse started producing Star Wars comics (1991). These were not so good. Fortunately for us Star Wars fans, Marvel is back in the saddle.

Last year, with the start of several comic titles, Star Wars re-launched with Star Wars and Darth Vader titles. These comics pick up where Episode IV left off and provide Rebel and Imperial activities respectively.

This brings us to Han Solo #1. After the destruction of the Death Star, Solo has left the ranks of the Rebellion and resumed his life of smuggling. At least he is trying to do some smuggling, but it seems he has gotten timid about taking any job. You would think it would be welcome news that Princess Leia and the Rebellion have a great job for him and the Millennium Falcon. Unfortunately for Han, it is just the Falcon in which they are interested.