THE FLASH #8 DC COMICS
Even with the stunning Gorilla Grodd cover done by old friend Maria Wolf Lopez, Simon Spurrier’s complicated story of Wally’s new multidimensional powers, invading levels of conciousness and a forced in tie-n to DC’s Next Big Thing, Absolute Power, things have just gotten too complicated. And while it was nice to see Barry Allen afterimaging all over the place, this is turning into one of those stories that you’ll never figure out what’s going on by yourself and have to wait for the epic explination in the final act. If I wanted that I’d have reread my copy of Burroughs’ Interzone. Much like the New 52, and DC Rebirth, another one of DC reboots is starting to show cracks before we get to issue 12. The good news is a really great cover and it should only be about 4 more issues before we’ll get rebooted again. 6 out of 10 Grahams.
SHOWCASE #22 FACSIMILE EDITION DC COMICS
And now for something completely different and thank goodness. Showcase, the try-out comic of a former generation! One of the best things that came from Showcase was the introductions of many science based replacements for the Golden Age Greats. Editor Julius Schwartz and his crew picked various Golden Age Hero concepts and reintroduced them with new origins and backstories. In issue #22, he recreated Alan Scott’s 1940’s Green Lantern. Not as an engineer who is saved from death by a mystic lamp but as a test pilot who discovers a crashed alien spaceship and is chosen to replace the dying alien as the space sectors space policeman. And while Scott’s ring was helpless against wood, new space cop Hal Jordan’s would be powerless against the color yellow. And with multiple short tales including his origin tale, another Silver Age masterpiece was born. A genius idea worked on by experts. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
POOH VS BAMBI ZENESCOPE
You know what the best part of when a literary character’s copywrite ends and they go into public domain? All the crazy versions that hit the comic pages and movie screens! I swear there is some sort of alarm that goes off and triggers creative people to go nuts. And who better to represent that than the good folks at Zenescope. Beloved childhood characters like Pooh and Bambi reinvisioned as government killing machines? General Robin? Special Ops Piglet? This one is one twisted version of the 100 Acre Woods gang. Based on sheer inventiveness, this one gets a 7 out of 10 Grahams.
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON LIVES! #1 IMAGE
Coming hot off the fascinating Dracula mini-series, Image is back with another of the Universal Studios Monster collection. And this time, we are thinking outside the box. As the story of the Gill-Man is reimagined and continued by Dan Watters & Ram V. The Creature is still amoung us and has just swam into a story of truth and vengeance. Matthew Roberts art is unique and his skills in drawing the jungles of Peru are top notch. As are Dave Stewart’s abilities to make the jungles burst with colors. And while the Creature is not the same as drawn by Alex Ross or Art Adams, it is still recognisable. As we get into the story here, the Creature is not in the forefront yet. And I look forward to seeing more. Definitely worth the ticket price. 8 out of 10 Grahams.
DEATHSTALKER #1 VAULT COMICS
Like the 1983 movie (or the 3 sequels that followed!) writer Tim Seeley provides us with a story that would have easily fit into a fourth sequel. Seeley proves his talent in the ways of 1980’s sword and sorcery films, with enough humor, gore, battle scenes, and nudity to make any VHS connoisseur happy. And having the artwork done by Jim Terry provides the perfect look of this bleak landscape. And while Terry seems to have taken the John Terlesky version of Deathstalker from Deathstalker II, there is no doubt that this version of Deathstalker fits right into the film series version. Definitely worth the rental charge and don’t forget ‘Be Kind and Rewind’. 7 out of 10 Grahams.
