SHAZAM! #5 DC COMICS
Mark Waid’s story continues to bounce between insanity and the realism of the human condition. Mercury gets his turn at controlling the Captain (and I thought calling him Shazam back in the 1970’s sounded goofy.) but he’s definitely no better than the rest. But Mary’s taken some time off from helping the Amazons and is here to help. And finally the jig is up. Back in control and facing off against the gods, Bill is again left to make a choice for the entire Shazam family. And with Dan Mora’s art still stunning whether he’s drawing Mary, Queen Bee, or Garguax throwing up a warp drive, its all good. 8 out of 10 Grahams.
FIRE & ICE WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE #3 DC COMICS
The insanity continues as Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen joins the extended crew at the hair salon. And while Joanne Starer’s script continues to keep all the juggling balls in the air (which is impressive when you are working with such characters as Ambush Bug, L-Ron, and Maxie Zeus) she also manages to add a bit of dark mystery as certain facts are appearing which seem to be leading to a horrific conclusion. Who knew that Smallville was this exciting? I give it an 8 out of 10 Grahams.
SANTOS SISTERS HALLOWEEN SPECIAL #1
Good things come for those who wait. And thanks to a publishing glitch last week’s Halloween Special from American Nature, another episode of the Santos Sisters finds it’s way into our hands. And this spooky little gem is filled with guest stars galore as Cassis and Vlad, Jr. Duck, Boozy Beez, Mercy Sparx, and more join in the spirit. And throwing in a few local legends of the season definately adds to the fun. Think of this delayed issue as a post holiday treat like finding that regular sized Snickers candy bar buried under all of the cr@ppy candy in the bottom of your pillow case trick or treat bag! 10 out of 10 Grahams.
ALL STAR COMICS #3 DC COMICS
Return to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when in November of 1944, Writer Gardner F. Fox had an epiphany and wrote a tale like no other. One where the heroes of the All American Inc. company got together to have dinner and swap stories. This simple idea would be the lynchpin to the entire shared DC Universe. The best part is that while different creative teams brought their characters to life in seperate stories, the humor and realism that occurred at the dinner table between tales was priceless. Whether it was the visit from the Red Tornado or that fact that Johnny Thunder’s Thunderbolt kept messing with him, the issue had real laughs inbetween the action and adventure. Luckily, the all powerful editors as pointed out in the last page announcement, realized what they had on their hands and let us comic readers know that All-Star Comics would no loner be just another anthology book but a full on team book. And that team was called the Justice Society of America. It’s a shame that in modern times, the charm of books like these is lost on publishers and the simplicity of the stories is rather ignored by today’s comic readers who need storylines to be bigger, more dire, and multi-volumed. I got the full 64 page story for a dime back then. And it was all under one cover. We’ve lost so much. 10 out of 10 Grahams.
