2015 Annual Hammy Awards

Another year is in the books for the HCB and that means it is time for the annual Hammy awards. This year I will be living vicariously through the HCB staff writers for I took my talents to mainland China over a year ago and am still here. China has many things, but one thing it does not have is comics or comic culture. As I find myself increasingly removed from the world of sequential art, more than ever I count on the boys in the trenches to keep me appraised of what is relevant and what to avoid. Here’s to all of their hard work, and to another year of an uncensored, critical look at the contemporary funny book.
- William R. Davis, Jr.

Madman's Picks:

Comic of the Year:
I must, in good conscience, give this to Manifest Destiny. MD has been my rock; it is consistently fantastic across the board. If you haven’t read the book, then you’re truly screwing yourself over royally.

Best Cover Art:

Manifest Destiny . . . no contest. Every single cover is frame worthy, every single one.

Best New Comic:
Copperhead. I called this after I read the first issue. Jay Faerber is easily on my list of top five current writers in the biz, he’s a true master of character development. I love me a good space western and Copperhead scratches that itch in all the hard to reach places.

Most Overrated:
Marvel mega events…no…please, just no. Fire everyone who had a hand in any of this crap.

Most Underrated:
God Hates Astronauts by Ryan Browne. The first 10 issue run from Image has just ended but hopefully there will be many more in the future. Each issue of this book is a hilarious adventure through insanity. The artwork is fantastic. The story is entertaining as hell and to be perfectly honest I have no idea what the actual plot is but that’s perfectly fine because it doesn’t matter. My favorite part of Browne’s work here is the way he does all his sound effects; they’re similar to the Adam West Batman sound effects but much more legit.

Most Disappointing:
What happened to The Walking Dead? Bueller? . . . Bueller? . . . anyone? Polishing the brass . . .

Most Likely to make you throw up in your mouth:
Island by way of Image. I paid $8 for this turd. Image puts out a lot of great comics but this thing was just plain butt mud.

Best Mini Series:

Veil from Dark Horse. I loved the creepy characters. Not sure if I’ve ever read anything other than Veil from Greg Rucka, but I want to. Toni Fejzula can pleasure my eyeholes any time he wants. Buy the trade…thank me later.

Worst Mini Series:
I’m throwing Spiderverse under the bus on this one. This abomination just seemed to drag on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on . . . some people started writing it not knowing what it was and they’ll continue writing it because this is the arc that never ends . . . some people started writing it not knowing what it was and they’ll continue writing it because this is the arc that never . . . and on and on. I hold Spider-Man above all other four color superstars but I just got sick of seeing so many alternate dumb ass versions of the web slinger. Except Spider-Ham. This I will allow, I love that guy.

Writer of the Year:
My man Jay Faerber gets my highest honor for his wordsmithing. Copperhead, I’m telling you.

Artist of the Year:
By default I should go with Fiona Staples because even if BKV let Saga’s writing slip for a bit, Fiona’s outstanding work on the art never faltered from absolutely best of what’s around. I bet she jams Eye of the Tiger while she works . . . maybe not. My non-default pick would be Ryan Browne, simply because of his hilarious, fresh, skill at drawing . . . everything. More cow head!

Art Bee's picks:

This has been a boring year in comics. We have watched the Big 2 take the majority of their product lines and flush them. The only saving grace for Marvel was starting the Star Wars line. They have definitely put Dark Horse’s work to shame in a very short time. Meanwhile Image continues to grow steadily and methodically.

Currently my pull list is absent of DC, 3 Marvel titles, and all the rest is Image.

Comic of the Year:

God Hates Astronauts vol. 2 is my pick, hands down, for the Hammy of Comic of the Year. Ryan Browne delivers great artwork and a surgical stitch busting dose of humor that would make a cow pie jump back up the anus that birthed it. Enough said.

Best Cover Art:
Marvel Star Wars #2 cover featuring Han and Chewie hiding behind debris, while Han is holding his finger in a “Shhh” sign. Meanwhile Darth Vader and dozens of storm troopers stand all around with AT-ATs looming over head. This cover is beautiful, funny, and catchy. People should have been drawn to it just to look at it closer.

I am just weak to anything Star Wars.

Best New Comic:
This Hammy in my opinion should go to Postal from Image. Brian Edward Hill delivers a unique storyline based on a completely original main character. Hill takes a leap of faith to deliver a griping and suspenseful story. Isaac Goodhart accompanies this with a fantastic display of drawings.

Most Overrated:
Death to Wolverine is the Most Overrated comic series in the last year. The covers were the best part in my opinion, and I almost chose one for Best Cover Art. I thought the death of one of the most loved super heroes was a mistake. Marvel seems to always have a way to undervalue the old for the new.

Most Underrated:

Wayward is the Most Underrated comic in my opinion. This series has really grown on me over the last year. Writer Jim Zub and Artist Steven Cummings have put together a gripping tale of super heroes of a different flavor. The Japanese culture and setting they use really adds to the mystery of the story. Also, at the end of each comic, space is used to educate the reader in Japanese mythology and other cultural information.

Most Disappointing Comic:
Secret Six from DC had a great first two issues. What happened? They waited too long for the third book, and we are still waiting on the fourth. It sounds to me like there is a commitment issue on the side of the creators, so they need to step up their work. They already lost me. I am not that patient.

Most Likely to Be Burned First for Heat in the Event of a Post Apocalyptic Earth “This is the End” Scenario AKA The Rob Liefeld:
Image produces a lot of great books. Apparently all the stories that don’t make the cut get sent to a deserted island to be left to die. Someone at Image decided to try to make a buck on this crap and published it for $8 as Island and dumped it in our laps. Thanks, guys. I promise to return the favor.

Best Miniseries:
Best Miniseries is the hardest for me to decide this year. There were so many good miniseries this past year. I pick would have to be Wildfire from Image. This short miniseries had me enthralled from first to last issue, and I am currently writing from a stage of stasis while I wait for volume two to be released this fall. As Tom Petty said it best, “waiting is the hardest part.”

Worst Miniseries:
Return of the Living Deadpool is a decrepit follow up of Night of the Living Deadpool, which was good in my opinion. Return of the Living Deadpool started off all wrong. Had this been a darts match, Marvel would have hit the metal separator and fallen to the floor.

Writer of the Year:
Artist of the Year:
My vote for Writer and Artist of the Year is one in the same, Ryan Browne. Call me biased if you like. This has been a major year for the independent comic creator. He went from self-published on his own site to being multi-nationally published by Image. Way to go, Mr. Ryan “launched to go nuclear on the world” Browne.

Will Dubbeld's picks:

Comic of the Year:

Star Wars. MF'N. STAR. WARS. I cut my teeth on Marvel's original SW comics and that was my original Expanded Universe. Dark Horse just didn't quite have the same punch with their adventures in a galaxy far, far away, so I was overjoyed when Marvel did right by me on this new series. Jason Aaron seems to understand the cadence of the Star Wars universe, and tossing John Cassady on art detail always guarantees a win. Kudos to all involved.
"Chewie, we're home."
Fuckin' A, Han. Fuckin' A...

Best Cover Art:
DC Comics Bombshell variants. I love vintage/Pulp/retro everything, especially '30s and '40s-themed pieces, so DC captured my love of nostalgia with these covers depicting the ladies of National Periodicals as superheroines of the Greatest Generation.
Because when you belong to the group that beat Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan, you're damn right you can call yourself the Greatest Generation.

Best New Comic:
Humans. This book is crazytown. It's Planet of the Apes as a 1970s grindhouse biker movie.
And I love both of those things.
Foul language, drug and alcohol abuse, gratuitous ape-on-ape violence and graphic ape-on-ape sex abound, often on the same page. Primate biker gang exploitation at its finest.
Also Vietnam flashbacks.

Most Overrated:
Batman. Goddammit, it's Batman. I wish it weren't so, as Batman jockeys for top spot in my All-Time Favorite Superhero list, but, damn, does this book not live up to the hype. Snyder has some great ideas, plants some interesting seeds, and comes up with some compelling (or at least interesting) characters, and then seems like he's unsure how to pull it all together. The result is Face/Off (maybe immortal?) Joker and Jim Gordon as Batman in a mech suit that reminds me of the Rabbot from the first episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I just want to throw a hardcover collection of Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle Batman at him and yell, "Do better!!!"
Capullo does a fine job on art, albeit it seems better suited to Hellspawns and Witchblades than Dark Knights. His background work and mechanical design is phenomenal, but I'm just not enamored with his figure work.
Maybe next year, Detective . . .

Most Underrated:
Ragnarok. Walt Simonson dropped the hammer on one of the most phenomenal Thor runs in Marvel history and gets back to his Nordic roots with Ragnarok. Set after the Norse extinction level event and starring a badass looking undead Thor. Simonson absolutely murders it on art detail, and the writing is clever stuff. The book also features the neatest looking Mjolner I've ever seen, but that's only a smidgen of the wonder contained in this underappreciated gem.
Go buy this book.

Most Disappointing:
Deathstroke, hands down. The initial Nu52 series was weak, and the new one followed suit. I was a big Slade Wilson fan back in the good ol' DCU pre-Flashpoint, back in his glory days as a Teen Titans villain and right up to and including when he defeated The Atom with a laser pointer.
I keep hoping, but those halcyon days are gone, and in a big way.

Most Likely to be Used as Toilet Paper in the Event of Nuclear Holocaust:
Actually, there weren't any books that raised my hackles to a vomitous level this year. There were Disappointments, for sure, but nothing that inspired Age of Ultron or Before Watchmen-level hate.
I guess if I had to pick one, it'd be that Chick Tract I found in the lobby of a Chinese restaurant. It involved some guy damned to hell for choosing poorly in life and something about learning the error of your heathen ways or somesuch. As much as I love some good propaganda, Chick Tracts are just the worst.

Best Miniseries:

It's a tie, ladies and gents! I couldn't choose between The Big Con Job and Rocket Salvage. Con Job is a caper story a la Ocean's Eleven involving a group of washed-up celebrities and a plot to rob San Diego Comic-Con. Great art and humorous, at times heartwarming, writing net a win for Jimmy Palmiotti and company.
Rocket Salvage is a science fiction tale about a washed up Podracer (for all intents and purposes...), his daughter, his clone, a wacky mad scientist, evil alien gangsters, superweapons, a sexy sci-fi lady, and all the good stuff that makes space opera great.
But it's mostly kinda about the importance of family, and that's the real deal.

Worst Miniseries:
Original Sin. I wanted to love this book so hard. A whodunit about The Watcher getting murdered? A Dr. Strange/Punisher buddy cop angle? Jason Aaron and Mike Deodato collaboration? It screamed win.
The first few issues were good, Deodato killed it on art duty and mad props for Aaron utilizing Midas and Oubliette from Grant Morrison's amazing Marvel Boy mini, but the series fell apart about halfway through. The 'Man on the Wall' angle was pretty ridiculous and after a certain point it reeked a bit of editorial mandate to retire Nick Fury from the scene.
But it had The Orb, so there's that.

Writer of the Year:
I'm gonna have to go with Kelly Sue DeConnick on this one. Her work on Captain Marvel has been stellar nearly across the board with almost no missteps in my opinion. I'm showing a bit of character favoritism as I've been in love with Carol Danvers since she punched Rogue into low orbit in an old issue of Uncanny X-Men, but Kelly Sue has evolved Captain Marvel into an almost ‘Rosie the Riveter’ role model archetype, strong and empowering.
I applaud her work on Captain Marvel, but the real reason writer of the year goes to Kelly Sue DeConnick is Bitch Planet.
Outward appearance leads one to believe that Bitch Planet is a sci-fi take on the old ‘Women in Prison’ exploitation genre, but behind the veneer of sadistic wardens and shower scenes the book is a well- crafted masterpiece about strong as Hell women. Mad as Hell and we’re not gonna take it women. The kind of women that inspire readers to get tattoos of the book’s ‘noncompliant’ mark and wear it like a badge of honor. Whereas Captain Marvel is a ‘Yes We Can!’ type of book, Bitch Planet is geared towards more of a ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It!’ aesthetic. I applaud both. Go get ‘em, girls.

Artist of the Year:
Jordie Bellaire.
These Four Color funnybooks of ours aren’t worth a whole helluva lot without a good colorist, and Jordie is among the best. Although colorists are an oft-overlooked facet of comicdom, her work pops off the page and demands attention. Magneto, Moon Knight and The Kitchen were the three books I read this year that featured her colors and I was ecstatic. Moon Knight and The Kitchen especially demonstrated her palette mastery and enhanced the storytelling to another level. Everyone has read a comic that, while otherwise good, has been diminished by rushed or poor colors. It can ruin your enjoyment of a comic and cause you to never revisit the piece.
I guarantee none of those books were colored by Jordie Bellaire.

The Hammy Awards will return about this time next year, dear readers.
-The HCB staff.

Madman at The Secret Stash

Post: Cody "Madman" Miller

I first heard about Kevin Smith’s comic book store, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, way back in my angst filled youth, in the late 90’s. At sixteen or seventeen New Jersey seemed like some far-off alien land that might as well be on the moon . . . but I wanted to go so, so bad. No question: a pilgrimage to Red Banks, New Jersey, was soundly on my top ten list of things to do before I died. In truth, my true motivation wasn’t necessarily to buy comics because for one I didn’t have any real cash at that age. You see, I saw the Stash as a sort of Mecca. It was a place where the fun was. I wanted to hang out in front with Jay and Silent Bob while listening to Brodie and Randal go off on a rant. What can I say? The world and my brain worked differently back then.

My friends and I drank the snoochie boochie kool-aid and in a big way. It was pretty much a weekly ritual to watch Clerks and Mallrats at least a few million times. We could and would recite the dialogue from Mallrats from beginning to end . . . verbatim. It’s crazy to look back and think about how something as ultimately trivial as a low budget movie could affect your life. I guess there are a lot of those types of things hidden deep down in the darkest depths of our humble beginnings. For us and our dark army Mallrats was a cornerstone that somehow justified our descent into geekdom . . . into counter culture . . . and we rallied around it. It’s like Brodie’s Grandmother used to say, “Why buy the cow, when you can get the sex for free?”

So that’s how this epic quest began. Someday . . . someday . . .

Fast forward eighteen years and there I was hauling ass on I-80, Northern Ohio a blur outside my window. I was embarking on an epic quest (vacation) to New York City to visit one of my favorite people on the planet and my oldest friend, Dustin Wayne Hunter. Dustin used to live right down the alley from me in a very small town in rural Indiana, and it was safe to say on any given day we’d be kickin’ it together. It worked out pretty well, he’d let me play with his He-Man and M.A.S.K toys, and I’d supply my GI Joes and my Battle Beasts. After high school “Life” happened, as it tends to do, Dustin, myself, and the rest of El Rancho’s Dark Army caught the current and dispersed to the four corners of the globe. Dustin joined the Air Force and was stationed in Europe for a good bit, and after reentering civilian life, he and his wife landed themselves in New York City. Hence me hauling ass down I-80 “faster than Walt Flanagan's dog” . . . towards NYC.

Fast forward four days and someday had finally come. This guy was headed to the Holy Land, but first I had to survive the chaotic New York/Jersey traffic and make it to Red Bank . . . "Small price to pay for the smiting of one's enemies."

We pulled up outside, and it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, guys were passing out chocolate covered pretzels, there was hockey on the roof . . . okay, not really . . . I made that up. New Jersey doesn’t even have birds. We fed the parking meter and headed toward the door. I was a little surprised to find a very large, no-neck security guard (complete with Secret Service ear piece) standing watch outside and making everyone sign waivers in case you were caught on camera. My very first thoughts were that the store is a lot smaller then it seems on the Comic Book Men television show, and the Stash doesn’t have that comic book shop smell. ”I love the smell of commerce in the morning.” If you venture into such places you know exactly what I’m talking about . . . that musty, vintage, four color smell that every collector loves. I immediately grew skeptical, which lasted about half a second as shortly thereafter I geeked out like an idiot at a Justin Bieber concert. Jaws has just popped out of the water! I may need a moment . . .

There was Mike Zapcic, Ming Chen, Walt Flanagan, and Steve-Dave himself, Bryan Johnson. There was also an army of television crew scurrying about doing their thing. It was pretty chaotic really. We browsed around for a good while just trying to blend in . . . yeah, not happening.

As far as comics go, I’m sorry to say I wasn’t that impressed. Of course they had the new releases, but they were lacking in back issues in my humble opinion. (This may be due to giving the camera dudes more room to maneuver but the back issues didn’t reach to “S”, so no Spiderman . . . sad face.) The six or so long boxes of back issues they had out were nothing that I personally wanted, not that I was in any condition to paw through long boxes. However, they had more trades and graphic novels than you could shake a dead cat at. I was perusing said trades when I glanced over and found myself staring Buddy Christ dead in the eyeholes. I don’t care who you are, that’ll put a smile on your face right there. There was also a 7-ft tall golden Mooby by the front door that I somehow missed on the way in. There was a menagerie of other art and goodies scattered about on the walls. They had a good-sized amount of legit action figures and other vintage treasures locked safely behind geek-proof glass, if you’re into that kind o’ thing. I recognized a few items in the cases that were literally “As seen on TV” featured on the TV show, such as vintage Batman nightlights. As was to be expected they had pretty much everything and anything related to Kevin Smith’s life’s work. The first pages of Bluntman & Chronic . . . there. Buddy Christ . . . there. Jay and Silent Bob’s blueprints from Mallrats . . . got them. We Assure You We’re Open sign . . . yep. Starry-eyed fanboy from Indiana . . . check.

The TV people eventually kicked us to the curb so they could film one of those fancy transactions of cash and geek treasure, so we do what any normal person would do. We walked a couple of doors down to a sweet ass bar called Gotham to wait this TV nonsense out and have a few adult beverages. Gotham is what I’d expect from an establishment with such a name. They actually had a menu for original works of art, both geek related and not, that were up for sale. We sat right next to an abstract sculpture of Batgirl or Batwoman, one of the two, which according the menu cost a meager $96,000 . . . Pay ya Tuesday?

So yeah, that’s what we did. We ended up hanging out with the security guard while he waited for the all-clear though his fancy ear-thingy. He turned out to be a really cool guy. He bullshitted with us for a good while and even went out to the street to take a picture for us. Eventually we got the all-clear from Hollywood and went in again. The guys were nice enough to take a few pictures and acknowledge our existence. We took one more lap around the store and that was pretty much it.

Dustin and I were truly kings amongst men. It’s not everyday that you get to cross off a bucket list item. The entire time we spent in the Stash looking around brought up fond memories of our youth. The Secret Stash was everything I had hoped it would be and spending the adventure with my oldest buddy and my wife made it all the better. A truly epic day and I have the Tee-shirt to prove it.

REVIEW: Gun #1

Story & Art: Jack Foster
Letters: Greg Sorkin
Review: Will Dubbeld

I wouldn't go so far as to say Kickstarter has completely revolutionized the world of independent comics, but it certainly changed its face. A creative team with a great pitch, a slick video and sound business plan usually has a good shot at getting their comic book made.

I've backed quite a few of these projects and have always been impressed with the results, but I missed out on Gun during its Kickstarter campaign. As fortune would have it, a friend of mine turned me onto the book. Writer/artist Jack Foster was a former co-worker of said friend, and I scouted out the book and ordered some copies.

BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT THE LITTLE GUY.

Gun tells the story of Mr. Twist, a minor league supervillain with vertigo-causing powers. Twist seems to have fallen on some hard times and has taken to attending villains anonymous meetings to make networking contacts, which played out like a weird melange of the support group scenes in Fight Club and an episode of Venture Bros.
Mr. Twist meets up with a few supervillain compatriots and the group runs across an unconscious superhero. The remainder of Gun plays out like a crime-action/caper grindhouse superhero movie gone awry as Mr. Twist and his fellow villains sell the superhero at a black market auction, run afoul of bounty hunting robots and spirit-possessed katana swords.

If that doesn't do it for ya, I dunno what will.

Despite being mildly played out on the Wanted/Suicide Squad/Thunderbolts theme of supervillains-as-protagonists, Gun is a fresh take on things by developing characters and a world that follow the tropes in superhero comics without making them seem like tired cliches.

The art in Gun is just as good as the script, kids. Jack Foster utilizes a fully hand painted method of illustration with a light, almost pastel color palette that reminded me of Ben Templesmiths work from the first 30 Days of Night miniseries. There were a few places where the art reminded me a bit of Richard Corbens work as well.
The only negative thing I have to say about Gun revolves around the art in the last few pages. It doesn't look as crisp or as well crafted as the rest of the book, almost as if Foster was pressed for time and had to rush it a bit. In the grand scheme of things this is a pretty minor inconvenience considering the script and art are tight throughout the remainder of Gun.

Buy this book, ladies and gentlemen. Copies are available for a modest price at www.guncomic.com and I urge you to avail yourself of a copy and request your local brick-and-mortar comic shop carry the book as well.

It isn't uncommon for comics coming off of a successful Kickstarter to get picked up by an established publishing company and get a wider audience and distribution. It'd do the world of comics a bit of good to have some Gun.

REVIEW: Big Man Plans #1-4

Writers: Eric Powell and Tim Wiesch
Art: Eric Powell
Review: Art Bee

When it comes to miniseries I start more than I finish. There is a real talent in producing a quality miniseries, and many are not up for the task. Numerous series have a great start only to fizzle out halfway through and end up with a finale that has nothing to do with the beginning. It’s as I have stated before: a creator has a great idea for a scene or a character and that becomes the focus. They bend the story around it and they end up with a sub par product.

When Big Man Plans #1 looked at me from the shelf of my LBCS, I thought I would give it a chance. What a great decision! This was truly a good series to read. Four issues and not a bit wasted.

The story starts with the main character, a man who has dwarfism and only referred to as Big Man in an interior monologue.

“When you don’t care about losing your own life, when you lose the fear of losing everything, you can do anything. And the moment I read that letter, my number of fucks to give had reached zero.”

This really had my curiosity piqued as to the letters contents and who sent the letter. Big Man is setting in a bar dealing with drunkards poking fun at him and pretty harshly I may add. They get theirs; don’t worry. The entire story reminds me of a Charles Bronson Death Wish movie if Bronson was about three and a half feet high.

The story is well planned and executed. The first issue is a perfect set up with the story hook, background, and character designs. The pace of each issue is the same and the story develops naturally. I really want to share some of the highlights, but I am trying to support the sales of the story not hand it out.

Now I save the best for last: the artwork. Eric Powell’s pencils are phenomenal. Much of the story is focused on the situations occurring and his art reflects with little background and sharp contrasting lines for the characters. Colors are used perfectly to enhance emotion rather than the scenes. My favorite feature of his art is the exaggerated emotions on character faces. It adds intensity to the story that many others lack.

As the last issue came out two weeks ago, please pick this up in a trade or get the back issues. By the look of my LCBS they had issues left over, so you may be about to find them in dollar boxes. This series is really worth the read. You will truly enjoy it, although it is recommended for mature audiences.

REVIEW: Red Skull #1

Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Luca Pizzari
Color Artist: Rainier Beredo
Review: Cody "Madman" Miller

I decided way before Secret Wars: The Threequal started that I wasn’t going to make eye contact and maybe it’d just go away.

I was wrong . . . so, so wrong.

I passed on the two prior mega-events that Marvel shat out as well. I can’t even think what they were called off of the top of my head at the moment, that’s how much I actually cared. Marvel and DC are both suffering from diarrhea of the mega-event, saturation bombing their relevance right outta comicdom. Unless you’ve been living on some distant planet you have to know that Marvel has burnt their Multiverse to the ground and have launched all kinds of new series that I refuse to care about . . . I mean, chances are good that in about a year Marvel will just reset the MU back to how it was before Joe Q and the rest of the Marvel high ups started getting high and coming up with this “great idea” called Battleworld. I don’t like it. To be fair I haven’t read enough of the titles to say that they’re all horrible, not entertaining books and few that I have been reading such as Masters of Kung Fu, Old Man Logan, and 1872, and M.O.D.O.K: Assassins have all been entertaining reads. It’s the main title and its core tie-ins that give me the Mehs. It’s just seems like they (Marvel) just want to see what they can get away with. How long were the Marvel Executives sitting around the in the think tank in complete silence before some hero blurts out “Battleworld?” Even the name is generic and uninspired. I don’t like it.

So yeah, I ended up buying into this fiasco a little, albeit with titles that have little to do (so far) with the main event. There were two main reasons I opted to read Red Skull:

Reason #1 it’s only three issues
Reason #2 I don’t know much about Red Skull. To be honest I haven’t read that many Captain America books. In my youth I just always thought he was kind of lame so I never developed an interest in the character. My feeling has changed in that regard. The Cap movies and such, however true to the character or not, have piqued my interest. Now again, I’m not sure how true to the source the portrayal of Red Skull was either, but I really liked the Red Skull character represented in the movie. So here I am learning. Not that Battleworld is the best place to be trying to learn about Marvel history or anything . . .

I really enjoyed this first issue, but oddly enough it had little to do with Red Skull. Doom has tasked Crossbones to assemble a team to enter the Deadlands and either kill or find proof of Red Skulls death. It seems Red Skull is some kind of freedom fighter that is trying to knock Doom off of his high horse.

The team that he assembles is fun and interesting if only for a fleeting moment. Electro, Magneto, Jack O’ Lantern, Moonstone (I’ve no clue who this is), Lady Deathstrike, and the Winter Soldier himself are the starting lineup. By the end of the book as far as I can tell all of them are dead (eaten by the Marvel Zombies) except for one soul survivor. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone so you’ll just have to read the issue.

So far I’ve enjoyed the story quite a bit. It’s the art that hamstrings this title in my eyes. It comes off as rushed and incomplete. Foreground and background just seem to be muddled together in parts and in others the details just aren’t there. When they finally revealed Red Skull was a huge let down, he seemed too small and wiry for my tastes. I’ll be here for all three issues so I hope the artwork improves and the writing continues to not suck.

REVIEW: Archie #1

Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Fiona Staples
Review: William R. Davis Jr.

America is a country founded on unwavering faith in an abstract idea. The American Dream drives the nation forward even in today’s overly pessimistic times. To most Americans this core belief still holds true: anyone can become anything with a strong work ethic or one great idea. Stories like Archie are rooted in this same brand of national optimism.

Before there was Dawson, there was Archie. There are hundreds of examples of this in every medium of American storytelling. All of our most greatly admired protagonists are Beaver Cleavers, Kevin Arnolds, and Rudy Ruettigers. Archie is just another example of the angels of our better nature finding their way onto the page. I sat searching for answers as to why we need these morality tales (and we do), but the answer is either inherently and subconsciously American or something that I am not willing to admit to myself out of some deep seated shame. Let me come clean, I have indulged in my fair share of Full House and The Brady Bunch episodes.

What is inarguable is that there is a market to be filled and a yearning for an American utopia that is peaceful and moral and safe. The difference between reality and fiction is from time to time hammered home by entertainers like Bill Cosby. Cosby offered us a vision of a better America, but the hope that families like the Cosby family can actually exist was wholly disproven by the darkness in reality that is as equally inherent as the optimism on family television. These stories are entertainment and nothing more, but denial and want are powerful things.

As far as apple pie and baseball flavored comics are concerned, Archie is king. After reading that Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson signed on for Jughead, and Mark Waid and Fiona Staples would be working on the flagship title, my interest in Riverdale was piqued enough to read and review an issue of Archie.

What I found was a comic that was well crafted for an Archie book, but as of yet there has been no great reimagining of the franchise. The Archie team of Mark Waid and Fiona Staples is too talented to prematurely judge their vision harshly after only one issue, but let me give it the old college try.

Staples is a once in a generation artist, but on this book she is limited by the source material. Recently Archie has found himself toe to toe with zombies or Predator, a place where an artist like Staples shines, but his interminable run through sequential art has been more defined by his eternally abiding optimism in a wholesome midtown American setting, one that makes for a pretty bland canvas.

Issue one was a traditional Archie story with some pop culture tweaks, a disappointing offering of “Archie for the 21st Century”. The addition of YouTube and Hashtags fell far short of what I was expecting. A typical Archie tale has to respect the audience and the tradition, but I felt that there should have been something more substantive to add to the relaunch fanfare. Where modern mainstream comics tend to flounder is their inability to create a compelling and original story with well-established characters whose stories have been told for decades, not an easy task but a necessary one.

Saga became the most relevant comic in the world over a short period of time because of strong, creative writing and art. It is anything but average. To me, Archie #1 was painfully average to the point of feeling completely redundant. If you are already an Archie fan, or a vapid and unimaginative middle school student you should buy this comic. If you are anyone else, don’t. #superfluous

REVIEW: Marvel Zombies #1

Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Kev Walker
Review: Will Dubbeld

Oh boy, you guys, where to start?
Secret Wars is upon us, and dearly departed Marvel 616 rapidly becomes a distant memory. I'll not delve into the minutiae of Secret Wars, but between Beyonders destroying worlds, Namor and Thanos destroying other worlds, Dr. Doom remaking the world with godlike powers and Captain America tooling around with Devil Dinosaur, it's crazy. Whack, some might say.
I'd even go so far as to call it cray cray.

Dr. Dooms remanufactured world, (called Battleworld) is a composite of several chunks if alternate earths, making the backdrop for Secret Wars like a bunch of What If? back issues tossed into a cauldron and poured onto the page.

Outstanding.

The setting for Marvel Zombies is a realm besieged by (surprise, surprise...) zombies and defended by heroes manning a Great Wall (zing!) called The Shield. Our protagonist comes to us in the form of Elsa Bloodstone and I'm pretty happy about that.

A little moment to rap about Elsa Bloodstone, if I may. Elsa is a rough and tumble monster hunter possessing a fragment of a meteor that grants her some degree of superpowers. She also has the distinction of being the daughter of Ulysses Bloodstone, monster hunter par excellence and bearer of the Bloodstone proper. The Bloodstone is a super-power grantin' meteorite that was encountered by a Hyborian barbarian who bombed around doing superhuman business for the next 10,000 years.
Because someone at Marvel was like, "Vandal Savage what?"

Anyhow, I love Ulysses Bloodstone despite the character being dead for longer than I've been alive and via the transitive property I also love his daughter Elsa.
Don't worry. It's a pure kind of love.
I enjoyed her miniseries, but the character really came into her own in Nextwave, a Warren Ellis series that arguably deconstructed the super hero archetype better than Watchmen.

This particular incarnation of Elsa finds her defending The Shield against endless hordes of zombies, and through zombie teleporting happenstance ends up stranded in the zombie-controlled wasteland beyond.
After disposing of a zombie Doctor Octopus she finds herself in the company of an amnesiac boy, dubbed 'Shuttup' by our erstwhile heroine, and attempting to safely make it back to The Shield.

'Shuttup' provides comedy relief, and the interplay between he and Elsa is entertaining, but I don't trust this kid. He suggests heading away from The Shield, toward parts unknown, instead of towards safety. Elsa eventually relents after seeing the horde of zombies barring their path. Kev Walker's art shines here. Elsa crests a ridge only to find the horizon and everything else in her field of vision a roiling swarm of undead. It's almost as great as his rendition of Zombie Juggernaut.
I'm just gonna let that image tumble around your grey matter for a bit.
Zombie. Juggernaut.

So, Elsa and her youthful charge head off into the post-apocalyptic zombie infested wasteland. It's no surprise that they're not alone, and I'm certain plenty of monster hunter-on-zombie action will ensue in the remainder if the series.

There are waaayyyy too many tie-in books to Secret Wars, and this dutiful Marvel Zombie is buying his share of obscurae for the event. I'm staying away from the Civil Wars and House of M and other well-known properties and picking up your basic Weirdworlds and your Where Monsters Dwell and what have you. Most of the good stories deal with minor characters from little, forgotten corners of the Marvel Universe and Marvel Zombies is no exception.

Spurrier crafts a witty character in Elsa and the PTSD flashbacks of the borderline abusive training at the hands of her father are chilling, yet darkly comedic.
How twisted is that? 1-10...
Kev Walker nails it in the art department with the assistance of Frank D'Armata on colors. Crisp, detailed figures and backgrounds coupled with colors that juggle dreary and bright from page to page really make the art in this book pop.

I'm not quite inundated with Secret Wars books yet, but the bucket it rapidly filling. After giving quite a few the first issue treatment I'm now at the point where I see who makes the cut. As weary as I am of the zombie pop-culture phenomena I'm keeping this particular zombie book on my pull list for the foreseeable future.

Marvel Zombie must buy product, after all.