GODZILLA VS KANSAS CITY #1 IDW PUBLISHING
Apparently, Godzilla got sidetracked into the Marvel Universe and was so busy that he forgot to take on Kansas City. But after a slight delay, he’s back for what I believe is his final one-shot here. And as with all the other cities he mangled for IDW, this is a collection of short tales featuring the King of the Monsters and unlike some of the other one-shots, the creative teams did seem to understand the source material a little better. Plenty of Godzilla, battles, radioactive breath blasts. Quite a few Kansas City landmark references. Some other weird giant kaiju that look like they stepped out of the 1971 television show SpectreMan (ain’t nothing wrong with that!) So overall, presentation-wise, not to shabby. But a special pat on the back to the creative team of Freddie E. Williams, Buster Moody, and Andrew Dalhouse for their ‘Tornado Watch’ story. The story is well planned out and the including of the villainous Xiliens was spot on. Plus, the art is really well done with a fine coloring job as well. That story alone shows what a Godzilla comic should look like. IDW take note. 8 out of 10 Grahams.
SUPERMAN RED AND BLUE 2025 SPECIAL DC COMICS
You know, I could point out that we really don’t need another Superman title. Whether it be a one-shot, special, annual, mini-series, etc, etc. I always thought that Superman had enough titles back in the day. Superman, Action, World’s Finest, and Justice League of America. Same with Batman, his Bat-Family and the thousands of current titles on the racks right. So much so, that the manager of Doc’s Corner had to really push for me to review this one. But for once, I appreciated the creative teams efforts here. Well told and down to Earth stories that didn’t focus on universe shattering events but rather on the day to day lives of Clark, Lois, and of course, Superman. And while one of the stories seemed to take place in the DC Movie Universe with Superman, Supergirl, and Krypto from the current movie which I can get nitpicky about, these were really well done stories that reminded me of the early 1970’s Action Comics. If you are fed up with a Superman who needs to be Super all the time, this will come as a perfect little break. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
WITH HALLOWEEN JUST AROUND THE CORNER, I DECIDED TO THROW IN A WAYBACK WEDNESDAY HORROR FLASHBACK!
By the end of 1973, any and all Universal Monster horror fans were sinking their allowances into the Marvel line of horror comics. Vampires, Werewolves, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, Zombies, etc. Marvel had them all and had an ace up their sleeve with talent like Mike Ploog, Marv Wolfman (yes, that is his real name!), Gene Colon, and Gerry Conway to name but a few. These guys had the nack for bringing those monsters from the Silver Screen to the printed page. And if you were lucky enough to be old enough to scoop up Marvel’s black & white horror magazines, you got the same great stories and art in glorious black and white with a little bit of a risque element to it. But nothing could have blown our minds more than this ultimate crossover as Dracula attempted to get his hands on Jack Russell’s female associate Topaz on the night of a full moon. Werewolf vs Vampire! And we all were amazed when the end of the story appeared in Werewolf By Night the following month! Marv Wolfman’s story still gripped us but all we could do was stare at was Mike Ploog’s cover that so clearly had taken inspiration from the final battle in 1948’s Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein! The two creatures on the castle balcony, facing each other down! This was classic Universal Horror in print form! And was a brief time of monster crossovers as Dracula would also show up in a two issue story from Monster of Frankenstein #8 & 9! These were truly the glory days of horror comics! Do I even have to say it? 10 out of 10 Grahams.