SPIDER-WOMAN #1 MARVEL COMICS
Spider-Woman is sort of the Donna Troy of the Marvel Universe. Reboot after reboot and nobody seems to be able to keep the character on some sort of track. By my count, there have been eight Spider-Woman #1’s. And that doesn’t include 2005 Giant-Size one-shot. So let’s take a peekat what writer Dan Watters and artist Andrea Broccardo have done. According to the prologue, our backstory is the one featuring the High Evolutionary and Hydra. We start out with good old fashion reporter work. An old villian returned from the dead. Mentions of gang wars and bosses. And then we get mindless carnage in a mirror? Somewhere along a line that I never followed, (I stopped paying attention after the New Avengers fiasco.) Jessica went one-eyed and picked up the Carnage symbiote. Up until this point, I will admit to starting to take a shine to this story. But I will give the benefit of the doubt and see where this takes us. Not 100% pure 1970’s Spider-Woman but it has potentional. 7 out of 10 Grahams.
TOMORROW GIRL #22 ANTARCTIC PRESS
Well, those are some very familiar characters on the cover! After the last multi-issue story arc, this is a great little one and done tale featuring a very famous sailor even if he’s drawn just a bit off. The brilliance of short one issue stories like this, is that it asks a a pallet cleanser. After a five to six issue storyline, it’s nice just to have a little fun without all the continuity and detail. An ancient Atlantian mystical doohicky has been stolen by the big-boned bearded villain and it’s up to our heroes to get it back.And with the help of some spinich, we win. It’s that easy. A fun bit of nostalgia that is easy on the braincells. 8 out of 10 Grahams.
WORLD’S FINEST #153 FACSIMILE EDITION DC COMICS
Welcome to another visit to the Comic College. Before Marvel had their What If? stories, DC had their Imaginary Novels. While the first unlabeled Imaginary Novel goes back to 1942 and Jerry Siegel’s Superman #19, the first officially labeled Imaginary Novel was 1960’s Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #19. Here we get the possibility that Thomas Wayne may have been killed by Superboy and how that would create a very different version of Batman. And while there are one or two holes in the plot, it’s very interesting. And like many of the titles back then, we get a bonus back up! Another ‘Selection from the Editors’ Round Table’ feature from a 1952 issue of Strange Adventures. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO #4 AMP COMICS
One of the biggest things I like about Don Handfield’s story is it’s darkness. This title provides a fascinating look at an old (somewhat humorous) character in a real life setting. It’s initially hard to imagine Ralph in his super-hero gear dealing with a radioactive dirty bomb. But here, it’s totally believable. And while I won’t give spoilers, the fact that Ralph’s son ends up with the suit after the adventure seems right. But the best part of this issue has to be Ralph’s meteoric flight into space at super human speed and then hovering in space over the Earth. These two panels of art by Alper Gecgel demonstrate what the television show could have evolved into. 10 out of 10 Grahams.