WONDER WOMAN #1 DC COMICS
Well. Here we go again. Just hit issue #800 and so we gotta take a vacation for a month or two and come back with an all new #1 issue. Hate to say this gang but we’ve all been through this rodeo before. It’s such an old sales gimmick used over and over again that I can’t believe they still expect us to fall for it. (And No, I don’t care that they put a itsy-bitsy Legacy #801 on the cover!) And while I can still appreciate Tom King’s style of writing and Daniel Sampere’s art, I simply cannot get on board with this one. This seems like another creative team trying to change up the world of Wonder Woman because DC hasn’t know what to do with Diana for years. Every now and then, someone would get it and we’d have a story or two that hit home but not very often. And I can’t emphasize this enough … I READ COMICS TO GET A LITTLE ESCAPE FROM THE AWFUL WORLD THAT I LIVE IN! I want stories that entertain, make me think, but in the long run make me smile. If I wanted a comic interpretation of the world outside my window, I’d just read the weird little news brief windows that pop up in the corner of my computer randomly. I do not need to see special government task forces executing Amazon immigrants with extreme prejudice in front of their adopted children. I don’t need to see (although expertly handled by Tom King’s writing style!) a single 9 panel page showing in one go how the narative of a news story can change overnight. I don’t need to see deportations and I really don’t need to see the man on the street start talking about how he’s all for the Amazons being here and quickly change his tune about what a danger they are especially to men. I don’t need to be reading that in something that is suppose bring me joy. And I also need to point out that I really don’t remember Sarge Steel being a complete @ss like he is here! He was rough, sure but this version is not human. And while Wonder Wonder seems to remain level, the world that they’ve dumped her in is too hard core for me. And to make it worse, some of these concepts have already been used. In fact, there are references to previous stories in the script. With King acknowledging that some of these ideas were already tested. Even with the addition of a new villain who possesses the Lasso of Lies (isn’t that one of the three lassos that Wonder Woman’s daughter possessed in issue #800?), it doesn’t help. So 10 out of 10 for keeping it real and being politically aware. Minus several thousand points for making me read a comic that gave me anxiety. I give it a 4 out of 10 Grahams.
MONEY SHOT COMES AGAIN #4 VAULT COMICS
We are officially heading back to the universe of the 1980’s independant adult comics with this installment! While the entire history of both Money Shot series were definitely for a mature audience, this issue brings us back to the old days when Larry Welz’s character Cherry was appearing in comics from Last Gasp Comics. We even get an homage cover to one of the old Last Gasp covers. With the crew believing they have returned home, it turns out to be all fake as they realize something isn’t right and the illusion fades out. And they find themselves in the programming land of Frowd’s revamped world with Cherry at the center. A bit geeky in a technology sort of way and most definitely not for everyone, Tim Seeley’s story is actually quite interesting if you can get past all the naughty bits. And Gisele Lagace’s art continues to work for both the Money Shot crew as well as the Cherry panels. I give it an 7 out of 10 Grahams. Just remember, you don’t want your friends and family to see you reading this.
WAYBACK WENDESDAY SPECIAL REVIEW
DEADBEATS #2 (1993) CLAYPOOL/ECLIPSE COMICS
Back in the early 1990’s, up and coming indie comic manufacturer had teamed up with Eclipse Comics to put out 4 title that are fondly remembers by us old timers. Phantom of Fear City, Soulsearchers and Company, the Elvira Mistress of the Dark, and Deadbeats. Deadbeats was a quirky little vampire title that had been put together by writer/penciller Richard Howell, inker Ricardo Villagran and letterer Kevin Cunningham. The story of a group of vampires as they frolic, face hardships, and get down to some serious bloodsucking lasted from 1993 until 2007, racking up an amazing 82 issues. Then switched to an online format until April of 2023, when the online source ran an add stating that the comic was taking a brief intermission and would return. And getting to see the early beginnings of the main characters in this second issue was really a treat. I give it a 8 out of 10 Grahams.
