DEVIL'S REIGN #1

 

    For years now, Daredevil has been consistently Marvel's best book. The reason is fairly obvious: Marvel puts great writers on Daredevil and leaves them on the title for years. The modern Daredevil renaissance started when Bendis did a run that got everyone talking. Brubaker took over and, for my money, wrote one of the best runs of any mainstream superhero comic in the new century. Andy Diggle did Shadowland, which most people hated, but I enjoyed his run. Mark Waid did a colorful run. Charles Soule did a good run. And now we've got Chip Zdarsky, who put Matt Murdock in jail for murder, made Wilson Fisk the mayor of NYC, and made Elektra the new Daredevil. I don't necessarily think of Daredevil being a better, more interesting character than other Marvel heroes like the Hulk or Spider-Man or anyone, but perhaps his world is just a great place for writers to play in. Whatever the magic is, it's been the best Marvel book for over a decade now. Every writer makes it unique and adds some interesting choices. And now we've got the first big Daredevil mega event since Shadowland. Devil's Reign starts out with the same plot as Marvel's infamous Civil War event book. Wilson Fisk as mayor has added a new NYC law banning superheroes. This is because he's mad at Daredevil because Fisk forgot Daredevil's secret identity. The reason he forgot it is because The Purple Man, Jessica Jones' old nemesis, had kids that had a cult that made the world forget Daredevil's secret identity. Uh...okay. I'll admit that the first half of Devil's Reign #1 isn't that great. By the end, though, it had me hooked. Fisk starts stabbing The Purple Man at the end, getting purple blood splashed all over his face. Will this somehow give Fisk the powers of persuasion that The Purple Man has? Who knows? Also, Fisk is now running for President of the U.S. And since this is a Marvel event and not just a Daredevil story, we get a bunch of other heroes in this like The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man and Tony Stark, who's going to run for mayor of NYC against Fisk. So there's definitely a lot going on in this issue, which is #1 of #6. And since this is Marvel, get ready for the onslaught of tie-in books that nobody is going to read. Spider-Woman and Moon Knight are the only regular titles getting thrown into this storyline, but there are also a bunch of brand new mini-series coming out. There's Daredevil: Woman Without Fear, Luke Cage: City of Fire, Devil's Reign: Superior Four, and Devil's Reign: X-Men. There are actually a bunch of others, I'm just too lazy to list them all. For this main book. Chip Zdarsky is writing it and so far Marco Checchetto is drawing it. Checchetto's art is not the greatest, but it's decent. The story is pretty crazy, actually, which makes this a fun, wild read. I'm looking forward to #2. I can't even remember the last time I thought that about a Marvel event. ***

BATMAN #118

 

    When writer Tom King was fired from Batman, I swore that Brian Bendis would eventually be the new writer. I'm not sure what happened, but Brian Bendis' DC exclusive contract ended and he's not writing any DC books at the moment. Perhaps the DC brass actually read a few issues of his awful run on the two Superman titles? Or maybe none of his books sold well. Either way, the new writer on Batman is not, in fact, Brian Bendis. It's Joshua Williamson, DC's latest "it" boy now that James Tynion IV quit DC to go to Substack. Williamson was once a good, interesting writer. He wrote 3 Image books that were entertaining; Nailbiter, Birthright, and Ghosted. Sadly, he joined DC and for whatever reason his writing has fallen off kind of like how Jason Aaron's writing decreased in quality once he became a big name. I haven't read everything Williamson has written at DC, but the few issues of The Flash I did read were forgettable and his last Nailbiter series for Image was atrocious. But Batman has not been a great book in almost a decade. Tom King's run was hit or miss and Tynion's run was unexciting and mostly dull. So what was Williamson's big pitch going to be? Batman fighting The Penguin or something we've all seen before? Nope! Although Batman fighting a classic rogues gallery does happen in this issue. But Williamson's idea for Batman is actually something new and fresh. His great idea is to take Bruce Wayne and Batman out of Gotham City. First off, that's a terrible idea. I suppose a great writer might be able to pull it off...but even that I doubt. This first issue of Williamson's run starts off with a homage scene to the first scene in Tim Burton's Batman film. That's fantastic. Then there's a Billionaire's Ball that's also a costume ball where everyone is dressed up like villains such as The Joker and Mr. Freeze and what-not. Bad guys attack the ball, Batman saves the day. Then we get to the meat of the book; Batman, Inc., a motley group of "other" Batmen have been arrested for murder in some far off, foreign city. Batman goes there to investigate and ends up finding Lex Luthor there as well. The best thing I can say about this issue is the art. Jorge Molina and Mikel Janin did the art, although I'm not exactly sure who did what. Did they just both draw every page? Did Janin just polish it up? Did Janin ink it? The art looks prestigious, anyway. As for the story: you usually want to be hooked in a first issue and dying to read the next issue after a great climax. Seeing Lex Luthor show up just makes me care less about this book. And do I give a shit about Batman investigating a murder in another city far away from Gotham? Nope. I had high hopes for this new team simply because Tynion's run was so disagreeable. Now I'm just sad. Is it that fucking hard to write a good Batman book? Jesus. *1/2

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #80: "BEYOND" CHAPTER 6

  

   Nick Spencer left The Amazing Spider-Man to go work at Substack, the online newsletter site that somehow has seemingly billions of dollars to spend by offering contracts to every important comic book writer. Good riddance, as Spencer's run on The Amazing Spider-Man will go down as one of the worst in history. While the infamous, years long "Clone Saga" run might not have been the worst ever, it certainly was divisive. It ran from 1994 to 1996, a period that I didn't read Marvel comic books for one reason or another. The only thing I know about it is that Ben Reilly, Peter Parker's clone, became Spider-Man, and most people that read it back then either loved it or hated it. I doubt I'll ever read the "Clone Saga" simply because it took place over multiple years and multiple books and I don't think I want to read hundreds of issues. Well the new writers on The Amazing Spider-Man decided to make Ben Reilly Spider-Man again and be the star of the book. I'm not sure why they did this, though. I'd be happy if the book was just monthly and had one artist and one writer and Peter worked at The Bugle, look pictures, dated MJ, and fought bad guys. Oh, well. This issue, #80 (#881 in reality numbering), is Part 6 of 17 in the "Beyond" storyline. The book is now 3 times a month and has a whopping 5 writers working on it. No, I have no idea why there are 5 writers on this. Maybe if the story was shockingly awesome I wouldn't question it. After Spencer's terrible run, anything would be stellar, and "Beyond" has started out at least interesting. Peter Parker is in a coma. Ben Reilly is working for the Beyond Corporation who is controlling Spider-Man as a sort of corporate puppet with high-tech gadgetry. Of course the Beyond Corporation will turn out to be evil and Parker will wake up and return eventually. In this issue we have Ben Reilly fighting Kraven the Hunter. The climax has two big reveals; that the Beyond Corp wants to take out Miles Morales because they don't want another Spider-Man around and that Aunt May is getting Dr. Octopus to help her wake Peter up from his coma which is under mysterious circumstances. So there's a lot going on. The whole Kraven storyline, which lasted a mere two issues, was totally forgettable. It doesn't help that the Kraven mythos was fantastic but they fucked it up by bringing him back from the grave. And while this "Beyond" storyline is decent, I'm actually really excited what they're going to do after this. Will they keep 5 writers on board? What about the artists? This issue has Michael Dowling doing the art (it's okay) but they also have the superior Patrick Gleason doing some issues. All of the great covers are by Art Adams, although this particular cover is kind of lame. Spider-Man is a great character. Do you really need a frigging clone replacing him? Are they that bereft of ideas in this day and age? It took 5 writers to re-do the "Clone Saga?" Marvel's been floundering for awhile. Wake me up when they wake up. **

HULK #1

  

   I can't even remember the last time I was really excited to read a new superhero comic from the big two. Marvel and DC have been pretty forgettable lately for various reasons, but when I heard that writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Ottley were going to be the new team for The Incredible Hulk, I couldn't wait to read it. Cates is Marvel's best writer these days. Not everything he writes is solid gold or anything (his Venom started great and ran out of steam, his Thor run is dull), but he's very creative. With Venom, he literally created an entire new mythology around the character and really reignited a pointless book. Plus, Ryan Ottley is one of my favorite artists ever since he worked on Invincible. Ottley's art just screams superhero. I'm still baffled why he mysteriously left The Amazing Spider-Man and hasn't been drawing anything for the last year. But here's two creators I love with a new #1. So...of course Hulk #1 is kind of a letdown. Maybe, just maybe, I'm not really a Hulk fan. After all, Cates' and Ottley's Hulk #1 comes right after the 50 issue run of The Immortal Hulk that Al Ewing wrote. A ton of people online mentioned multiple times how Ewing's run was one of, if not the, best Hulk runs in history. I tried reading it twice and didn't think it was very good...so maybe I just don't give two shits about the Hulk. I'm not entirely sure if Cates has continued things from Ewing's run or not...but the basic premise is that Bruce Banner is evil and can now control the Hulk from his mind. Banner defeats Tony Stark and takes over a base that Stark had. Everything else is a bit confusing. I will say that Cates is as creative as ever with this book, and that's one of the reasons I usually enjoy is writing. Obviously, we'll have to get further into this run to see what it's going to be about and if it gets better or worse. And while I love Ottley's art...I'm not entirely sure putting him on a Hulk book was the best idea. Ottley's art is more cartoony than anything, so his serious, brutal, powerful Hulk looks a bit less menacing than it's supposed to since the book looks like a cartoon. The color in the book is also not as vibrant as it should be (Frank Martin did the colors). I really hate being so excited about a new book and then being letdown. Maybe I should have reviewed What's The Furthest Place From Here? #1 from Image, which I just read and is a 4 star masterpiece. Oh, well. **

SINISTER WAR #1

 

    Writer Nick Spencer is finally leaving The Amazing Spider-Man in the Fall. Unfortunately, Marvel's genius idea is to have four different writers on it after Spencer's run. Their other genius idea is to replace Peter Parker with his clone and have the clone be the star. So until all of that happens, Spencer has to finish his run by changing the infamous "One More Day" storyline. There's also Spencer's big "Sinister War" storyline to unfold. This is the first part of it, although it's pretty much just a continuation of his Amazing run. If you haven't been reading it then you'll be totally fucking lost. It's also a short mini-series at four issues. It's also pretty dumb. This issue starts off with Dr. Strange having a conversation with Mephisto about Peter Parker's bargain. This happened years ago when Joe Quesada had Peter Parker make a deal with the devil to make his marriage with Mary Jane disappear. Aunt May was shot and the deal let her live. This happened way back in 2007 but fans still seem to hate it and bring it up often, probably why Spencer is going back to change it. I'm not entirely sure why they wanted to get rid of Parker and Mary Jane's marriage in the first place. I suppose it was to free up more stories involving his love life...although has he even dated anyone since then significant? The other reason was to create controversy to sell books. Either way, it looks like Mephisto will renege on his deal somehow and Parker and Mary Jane will get married again. While that subplot is going on, Peter Parker and Mary Jane go to her movie premiere where The Savage Six and The Sinister Six both attack everyone. There's a huge fight. Afterwards, Spider-Man ends up fighting Kindred. And that's part 1. The Sinister Six of course is the infamous group of villains with The Sandman, Kraven, Dr. Octopus, Lizard, and Electro. The Savage Six is a new creation led by The Vulture. Rhino is in it. So are a bunch of nobodies like Tarantula. Mysterio is in this issue but he's supposedly a good guy now. Also he's secretly the director of the movie that Mary Jane starred in. Yep, I said this issue was dumb. It also doesn't help that Mark Bagley drew it. His art is pretty basic and harks back to the 90's...if you're into that old school look. For a short four issue event book that's supposed to be a big deal for Marvel, you'd think they'd get a better artist. It also doesn't help that Spencer's run has turned into a fucking mess. It's never been good and never got better. The one storyline he's continued with for years during his run is the menacing, villain Kindred. Kindred turned out to be (lamely) Harry Osbourne, Norman's son. I'm still not sure if Kindred is supposed to dead, alive, a zombie, supernatural, or what. I'm not entirely sure if even Spencer knows. But the entire run has featured this boring, confusing villain and that certainly never helped. This issue, thank God, is breezier and less wordy than the usual Spencer issue. So it's at least short and mildly amusing. I can't even remember the last time The Amazing Spider-Man was a great book. Was it when McFarlane and Larsen worked on it? Maybe parts of that J. Michael Straczynski run, which featured "One More Day." Will putting four different writers on the book change anything? Sounds like a recipe for incoherence and disaster. I guess we'll see. **

TOM KING WEEK: STRANGE ADVENTURES #10

 Published on May 26th, 2021

    Adam Strange was introduced in 1958, though I never heard of him until this series. His character is pretty much a ripoff of Edgar Rice Burrough's John Carter, the American transported to Mars to fight aliens and fall in love with an alien woman. Burrough's also wrote Tarzan, so he definitely was pretty creative. I'm not sure "creative" is the word I would use to describe Tom King. This book is similar to his Rorschach book in that they're both unfolding mysteries that take a really long time to unfold. We're at #10 of #12 and we've finally solved the mystery of this book. The basic premise is that Adam Strange turned into a sadistic murderer to defeat the alien race, the Pykkts. This has seemingly got him into trouble with the Justice League and a superhero called Mr. Terrific because of the killing of innocents and what-not. In this issue, Mr. Terrific tells Adam's wife, Alanna, that Adam's true, secret plan was to make a deal with the Pykkts. He would be able to win the war on Raan, the alien planet, if he would give them Earth. Also, Adam Strange faked his daughter's death and the Pykkts have her as collateral in case the deal falls apart. And that's the whole book. I guess Adam Strange is officially a villain now? Either way, he's another Tom King character that's flawed and has "problems." If it wasn't for the spectacular art by Mitch Gerads and Ethan Shaner (my pick for Best Art of 2020 was this book...it started way back in March 2020), I'm not sure I would care about this book or even continue reading it. Every issue is split between the current time on Earth and the past time during the war on Raan between Adam and the Pykkts. Even with two stories going on, most of the issues in this series feel like filler. Like every Tom King book, it seems like he could do a 12 issue mini-series in half the issues and you wouldn't lose anything. The book is also a little bit too depressing, dark, and ugly for my taste. I've never read an Adam Strange book before, but I kind of think back in '58 he was probably a happy-go-lucky superhero doing fun superhero things. And now he's evil, broken, misguided, a shell of a man. I'm not sure what the point of this book is, and that's kind of a deathblow for me. *1/2

TOM KING WEEK: RORSCHACH #9

 

Published on June 9th, 2021

    I always feel a little uneasy when a something new in the Watchmen universe comes out. The reason is that the writer of Watchmen, Alan Moore, famously was told by DC that he'd get the rights to it back when it wasn't in print anymore. DC then sneakily never let it go out of print so they'd never lose the rights to it. There actually hasn't been much of anything done with Watchmen until ten years ago or so when DC published the Before Watchmen event with multiple books and the Watchmen movie came out. Then there was the great HBO TV show and the Doomsday Clock comic book and now Tom King's Rorschach 12 issue mini-series. The only thing worthwhile in any of that was J.J. Abrahm's HBO show. The comic book sequels/prequels have all been pretty forgettable. Rorschach seems to be the ultimate in pointlessness. After 9 issues, I'm still baffled as to why this exists. The book is a why-dunnit. It starts with a guy dressed up in a Rorschach mask and a girl dressed up like a cowboy being killed while trying to assassinate a politician running for president. The rest of the story follows a detective trying to figure out who those two assassins were and why they attempted it. So far the answers are pretty dull. The guy dressed up like Rorschach was a retired comic book artist. The Kid, a girl in a cowboy outfit, is still a bit of a mystery, though she believes that giant squids are telepathically controlling the world or something stupid. I guess this squid conspiracy has to do with the Trump Qanon conspiracy stuff and how people lose their minds over that sort of thing. In this issue, we learn that a political worker was killed at Rorschach and The Kid's house in the desert. And that's about it. A slow burn is putting it mildly. This book literally could have been wrapped up in one issue. Jorge Fornes does the art, and it definitely fits the 70's political/conspiracy vibe. His stuff reminds me of Outcast's Paul Azaceta a bit. I think the huge problem in this book is that in every issue you're waiting for some huge bombshell to show up and make the book interesting. Otherwise, it feels like it's going nowhere slowly. *1/2

TOM KING WEEK: BATMAN/CATWOMAN #5

 Published on June 2nd, 2020

    I mentioned yesterday that Tom King was fired from Batman. This was a huge story even though he wasn't fired from DC or anything tragic. One of the DC higher ups wanted him off the book. This happened right after King's weird, dream storyline that was terrible. The book was a good seller, so that wasn't the reason he was fired. Just some executive didn't like what he was doing on their big book. It was kind of weird that he was fired considering his run was almost over, anyway. The book was bi-monthly when he was writing it and he left at #85 and was supposed to carry on until around #120. He got to finish his run anyway because it just turned into this 12 issue mini-series, Batman/Catwoman. I read all 85 issues of his run and when it came out it was usually the first book I read that week, so it's not like I loathed it or anything. His run was hit-or-miss, though not particularly memorable. Making Bane the central villain probably didn't help. But his successor, James Tynion IV, hasn't really done anything better. Tynion's run is just boring. 

    Batman/Catwoman is a bit different because it takes place in the future & in the past. Selina Kyle kills The Joker in the future (The Joker is a retired, old dude in Florida). In this issue, Harley Quinn shows up to kill Selina in the future and they have a fight. Meanwhile, in the past, Catwoman meets up with Phantasm, a pseudo-villain. And we get more of Tom King's classic "broken" hero here, as Catwoman spends the present section drunk and reckless. Some things never change.

    The first four issues of this book were released monthly starting in December, but this book was delayed for two months for unknown reasons. Clay Man, the artist, has done phenomenal work on the previous four issues but this issue doesn't look as crisp. That means I'm assuming the delay was his fault for whatever reason.

    Like his 85 issue Batman run, this book feels like it's treading water. The pace is so molasses slow, and there's not a lot of meat to it. Batman does show up in the book but I don't think he even says a word. That Harley Quinn as a senior citizen is still dressing up in costume and acting the part is kind of an odd choice. One of the big surprises in this book, besides The Joker being murdered, is that Catwoman has a daughter, presumably one she had with Bruce Wayne. Will any of this future stuff even be remembered or be considered part of the official DC cannon? 

    This book is strange though it is engrossing. I'm guessing that the DC executive that fired him would read this and feel justified. But sometimes different is good, and I think this mini-series is unique enough to be worth reading.  **1/2

TOM KING WEEK: SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW #1

Published on June 15th, 2020

   

    This week brings the first issue of writer Tom King's Supergirl 8 issue mini-series. Tom King was famously fired from writing Batman awhile back, so it's kind of amusing to see that he's currently writing 4 books at DC, one of them a Batman book. I guess he wasn't good enough to write the flagship title but he's still good enough to stay at the company? He is one of the more "famous" comic book writers these days. Most of this is due to his Vision mini-series at Marvel, which everyone loved. Now he's kind of a love him or hate him writer, and the ones that hate him love to proclaim their hatred in every corner of the internet. Why he's writing a new Supergirl title and why it even exists is kind of beyond me. Is there a Supergirl movie coming out soon? There was a Supergirl TV show on the CW. It was so popular I'm not entirely even sure if it's still on. And while I have read a lot of Superman comic books over the years, I can't remember ever reading a Supergirl comic or even seeing her in a comic. Who is she? I thought Krypton blew up, everyone died. Why do comic book writers always have people from the Krypton days popping up all of a sudden (Bendis did this with his first big villain of his forgettable run)? I looked up Supergirl on Wikipedia and learned that she was introduced in 1959. She was killed off in 1985 in the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, which I never read. Shocking, really, that she was killed off 35 years ago but is somehow in a new comic book. 

    Tom King's idea for this book, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, is a strange one. It's basically what if Supergirl took a time machine to Conan times. A young peasant girl in a Medieval type world sees her father killed by a brute and she seeks vengeance. Eventually she comes across Supergirl celebrating her 21st birthday in a tavern and tries to get Supergirl to help her kill Krem, the villanious brute that killed her father. By the end of this issue, Krem has stolen Supergirl's ship and taken off to who knows where. So this book is completely separate, at least so far, from the current DC world. I'm kind of wondering why Tom King didn't just want to write a current, typical, Supergirl in Metropolis fighting a villain type of a story. Why do a weird, Medieval set thing? And why have the main character be a peasant girl and not even Supergirl? Another aspect that is a little bit disappointing is that King has made Supergirl a hero with "problems." King loves this trope for some reason; the troubled hero. Supergirl gets introduced by being drunk and then hungover and puking into a bucket. Nice. And she says "fuck" a lot even if they can't print it. While this book at least held by interest, and the art by Bilquis Evely is nice, I think I'd have rather seen King try to write a straightforward, classic, hero vs. villain story in a metropolis in modern times. Supergirl isn't that famous...so why put her in strange, unfamiliar waters out of the gate? **1/2

READING THE CLASSICS: AVENGERS WEST COAST #52

  

Published on December 1st, 1989

   I was kind of wondering when this epic “Vision Quest” storyline would end. The whole Vision aspect ended a few issues ago but the mystery behind Wanda and Vision’s kids kept going until this issue when they’ve finally disappeared for good and Wanda’s memory has been wiped of their existence. I’ll give John Byrne credit, his run on this book is definitely unique because it’s not just a superhero group fighting bad guys. Granted, this issue has a superhero group fighting a bad guy…but there’s a lot more going on, which is a good thing. Mephisto has Wanda’s kids and has fused them onto his arms. There is a reason for this. Wanda wanted children but her husband is an android so, obviously, she couldn’t have kids with him. She used magic to make kids and the magic floating in the ether just happened to contain pieces of Mephisto’s soul. The West Coast Avengers head to Pandemonium to fight Mephisto and eventually the witch, Angela Harkness, helps them defeat him. She also wipes Wanda’s memory of the children since they’re now gone for good. So that’s the end of that. In WandaVision, her kids also disappear at the end…but so does Vision, since he was also a magical, fake creation. I did enjoy WandaVision but maybe some hardcore fans didn’t because I remember a few were upset that Mephisto never showed up in it. If that TV show had faithfully recreated the storyline in these comic books would it have been better? It probably wouldn’t have been as entertaining to the mainstream that adore everything Hollywood Marvel. And really, can you imagine a demon Mephisto with children as hands showing up on Disney+? **

READING THE CLASSICS: AVENGERS WEST COAST #51

 

Published on November 1st, 1989

    You can probably tell how much I'm enjoying this book since I reviewed the last issue on April 2nd and it's already April 21st. When I started reviewing this "Vision Quest" arc, the WandaVision TV show was on and not only is it over but Disney+ is already set to air the finale of their 2nd Marvel show, Falcon & The Winter Soldier, this week. I guess my interest in this book just waned, though it's still fairly interesting and the artwork by John Byrne is fantastic. This is actually the first issue that features some elements that they used in the WandaVision show. Angela Harkness, the old, evil witch, shows up in this issue. She was the big bad on the show. And we learn that when Wanda isn't thinking about her twins, they disappear, meaning they're just a fake figment of her imagination. That was also the case in the TV show, as the show was based on Wanda creating a whole fake world. There's a lot more in this issue, too, as is the case for every issue in this run. That's a good thing, as Byrne enjoys random characters popping up for unknown reasons yet to be revealed, and it makes you kind of want to grab the next issue just to find out what the fuck is going on. Mephisto shows up in this issue and steals the twins and takes them to Hell so The West Coast Avengers travel to Hell to get them back. Iron Man also shows up in this issue but it hasn't been explained yet why. They mention something about Tony Stark being dead but not really being dead. I guess I had to have read Iron Man in the late 80's to understand any of that. The final page has Mephisto fusing the twins to his arms so that the twins are his hands. I have no idea what that's all about. We also find out Mephisto's origin. He was in a car crash and lost his arm and the devil just happened to show up and give him an arm and take his soul. How nice of him. **

READING THE CLASSICS: AVENGERS WEST COAST #50

 

Published on November 1st, 1989

    This is the last issue in the "Vision Quest" trade paperback, although it's certainly not the last issue in this continuing storyline. One of the mysteries yet to be solved is Vision and The Scarlet Witch's kids that keep disappearing. Well in this issue a strange new, ominous nanny shows up to solve the case. She's in shadow, so we don't know who she is. Maybe she's Angela Harkness, the witch that was the villain in WandaVision. I suppose I could keep reading this book to find out, but who the fuck knows how long all of these threads continue? We do learn who that woman in the Denver homeless shelter was. She was Toro's wife. Who's Toro? He was the Human Torch's partner. She doesn't think her husband is dead. This leads to the West Coast Avengers digging up the Human Torch's body and, thanks to Wanda, bringing him back to life and he joins the team. Also, Tygra is more cat than woman now so Pym shrunk her and she's in a glass box. And Iron Man shows up on the last page. I just looked up "Vision Quest" online and it seems like it continues for two more issues and then a last aftermath issue. Why aren't those issues in the trade paperback? Who the hell knows? I guess I'll have to track them down somehow. I did look up the sales figures for comics back in 1989 and this book was actually in the top 15...so I guess it was pretty popular. That's surprising, actually, as this issue proves that this comic is too convoluted for kids to read. But I suppose kids that read comics are smarter than kids that don't. I mean...you never see cool kids or bullies reading...right? And they're typically dumb as a box of rocks. *

READING THE CLASSICS: AVENGERS WEST COAST #49

 

Published on October 1st, 1989

    Wait. That's it? While reviewing the last issue, I noted that so many things were happening that this storyline would last forever. Maybe the editor thought the same thing and told John Byrne to wrap it up. This isn't the last issue of "Vision Quest." There's still one more issue in the "Vision Quest" trade paperback, although a lot of these threads probably did continue for some time. The main story/mystery pretty much ends in this issue, and boy is it underwhelming. The scientists behind everything were controlled by a mutant gene/parasite thing that's been around since the beginning of time. It's not even that I don't comprehend everything, it's just that it's such a lame reveal that's it not really worth going into. Suffice to say, the Great Lakes Avengers show up and one of them disarms the big machine that turned Wanda evil (and She Hulk evil in this issue). So everything goes back to normal and that's the end. We never get to see what that Starfox Eternal guy was up to with Nebula, so who the fuck knows what that was all about. Neither do we get more of what the woman in the homeless shelter in Denver had to do with anything. We do get a bit with Tygra attacking Dr. Pym out in California. Seriously, though, why did anyone think WandaVision on Disney+ was based on this? Because Vision and Scarlet Witch are in both? Literally nothing in this comic has anything to do with that show. I'm baffled. I was actually enjoying this book until this big, lame duck of an ending. It was a good set up. Maybe it's because John Byrne is a writer/artist and typically they're not as good at writing. I don't know...maybe the big wrap-up in #50 will be epic and awesome. Sigh. *

READING THE CLASSICS: AVENGERS WEST COAST #48

 Published on September 1st, 1989

    This is the 7th part of "Vision Quest" and they're introducing new characters and plots into. How long is this thing? Like a hundred issues? It's definitely different than comics these days, which don't really seem to have epic, long stories that take their time and feed off of things that happened years ago that you're just kind of supposed to know. It's certainly a lot easier reading comic books now since it's easy to just look things up online if you're completely lost. Granted, I read comic books before the internet and I lived to tell the tale. The one thing I like about this storyline is that it's intriguing. It's a big mystery but it's at least a little bit different than the usual, bad-guys-try-to-take-over-the-world-and-the-superheroes-fight-them plot. So in this issue, Wanda has been "assimiliated" by a bunch of scientist/businessmen types. This basically means that she's been turned evil...and now she's been brainwashed to think mutants should rule and destroy humanity. Captain America and She Hulk have come to investigate and end up getting in a fight with Wanda. Hawkeye and the Great Lakes Avengers decide to join the fray so they head out to get involved. There's also a lot more. Too much, actually. This book excels at rewarding it's readers. Meaning if you've read this book since #1 you're loyal and thus understand everything and will probably love it more. Since I've never read this book until this storyline and don't much about the history of the Avengers, it's like a slow drip of information to learn that can often feel frustrating. For some reason, the Eternals show up in this issue. Eros, aka Starfox, is on some alien planet trying to find Nebula, Thanos' daughter. That's just one page out of the blue. What the fuck is that all about? Maybe John Byrne was just adding things so they couldn't fire him because he had too many plates spinning in the air. "Fire me and you'll never find out what that stuff with Starfox was all about!" Then there's a scene at a shelter in Denver where some woman is sad after reading the newspaper headline: "Avengers Confirm Vision is Not Torch." That's also one random page. What the hell is that all about? We also get The Wasp talking to the old scientist that created The Torch. There's also a bunch of pages featuring the evolution of organisms on Earth. Yep. Well the ultimate point to this issue is that Wanda is now evil...which is kind of how the TV show WandaVision played out. I still don't see how that show was even loosely based on this, though. But there's still time. After all, the way this is going, this plot could run another ten years. ***

READING THE CLASSICS: AVENGERS WEST COAST #47

 Published on August 1st, 1989

     This storyline is certainly a slow burn. I'm not sure modern comics could handle something this type of long form storytelling. These days, the big superhero books keep rebooting to #1 and constantly have new creators at the helm. This storyline is also not exactly fan friendly, nor action packed. Maybe that's why it's memorable. I am intrigued and interested in the unfolding plot, which is a good thing and what good comics are supposed to do. I'm also just waiting for the big reveals to come and be disappointing. Either way, in this issue the mysterious villains and their mysterious, yet-to-be-revealed plot goes into action  when they capture Wanda and throw her in a cell that starts to fill with black ooze. But the east coast Avengers find out about this and we see Captain America and She Hulk running from Avengers mansion to the rescue. Black Panther also shows up on the west coast to install a computer program. And Tygra tries to fuck the U.S. Agent. And Wanda's twins keep disappearing. This is all kind of more of a soap opera than an action vehicle. I'm taking a wild guess but I bet kids that read comic books in 1989 weren't enthralled by this book. I'm still wondering why WandaVision was supposedly sort of based on this storyline. And I'm still wondering why Marvel hasn't published a Wanda & Vision comic book to jump on the bandwagon of that super popular TV show. Deep thoughts. **1/2

READING THE CLASSICS: THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #46

 Published on July 10th, 1989

     The first comic book that I have a vivid memory of buying is The Amazing Spider-Man #361. It wasn't the first comic book I bought, but I remember it for a number of reasons. It came out on a Wednesday, but I do remember buying comics when they used to come out on Fridays. Anyway, that issue was the first full appearance of Carnage and was obviously a popular book because it was sold out when I went to Comic Universe at Bazaar (this was before the shop moved to a larger location in the building). The shop used to put some of the new books in the window to show off to passing customers and they had one of the ASM issues up there so I asked if I could get it and I could so I bought it. Glad I did, as that book on Ebay is for sale from $250 up to a few thousand bucks (it cost $1) these days, and I still own it. I was thinking of this because I was kind of wondering if I was reading comics when The West Coast Avengers' "Vision Quest" was going on. I probably wasn't yet, though I never did read any Avengers books back then for whatever reason (I remember reading all the Image books when they started in '92...and I used to read The Punisher, Darkhawk, and Sleepwalker from Marvel). I doubt I would have enjoyed The West Coast Avengers back then anyway. While this particular issue, #46, is kind of silly, a lot of it is pretty adult and soap opera-ish (Hawkeye and Mockingbird argue about their divorce in this issue). This issue also doesn't really have much to do with the "Vision Quest" storyline, either, save for the last page where Wanda gets a letter from some scientist about getting Vision's old memories back. The rest of the book has Hawkeye and Mockingbird going to Milwaukee to check out a new superhero team, The Great Lakes Avengers. I guess this new team is supposed to be so dumb it's funny. Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure what the point of their existence is. The one interesting part of this issue is when Mockingbird says to Hawkeye: "I got mixed up with The Phantom Rider because he drugged me, used me, and when you found out, did you react like a husband whose wife has been assaulted? No!!" I wonder when that happened? Also it's noted that The Phantom Rider jumped to his death. Sounds like it was an interesting issue. More interesting than this one. **

READING THE CLASSICS: THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #45

Published on June 1st, 1989

     WandaVision, on Disney+, just ended on Friday. It was 9 episodes. It was wildly popular, so I'm assuming a second season or movie will eventually show up. Right now, the only plans with the characters include Scarlett Witch starring in the next Dr. Strange movie (Vision died again in the TV show). So far, I'm not exactly sure why some have noted that WandaVision was based on the "Vision Quest" storyline in The West Coast Avengers. In WandaVision, Wanda is so upset at Vision's death that she creates a fake, perfect suburban life where she's married to Vision and has two kids. Their life is also like a sitcom, so most of the episodes mimic classic sitcoms like Malcolm in the Middle and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Eventually Angela Harkness, a witch, shows up to steal Wanda's power and by the last episode it just turns into a typical Marvel action movie spectacle. It was a really good show, though. And while "Vision Quest" isn't anything like it so far, it's at least intriguing. It's also, as I've noted before, convoluted. In this issue we get the backstory of Wonder Man. His backstory is so convoluted that it sounds like it's been going on in various comic book issues for thirty years (and it probably was). Wonder Man was a rich inventor type like Tony Stark...but hated Tony Stark so he decided to get turned into a superhero by Baron Zemo. Zemo said this transformation would kill him in a week without an antidote that only Zemo had. So Wonder Man was Zemo's slave. He eventually died then was brought back to life by Ant Man. It gets even more confusing. When he was brought back to life, the lab used his brainwave patterns. Those patterns were then used by Ultron to create Vision. Oh, yes, it gets even more complicated. Wonder Man's "mad brother Eric called upon the power of the voodoo houngan known as The Black Talon" to restore him back to life but turned him into a mindless zombie. Jesus Christ. This is really fucking complicated, right? And do we really even need to know all of this? Well he's not a mindless zombie anymore. And The Vision is back, albeit when The West Coast Avengers finally brought him back to life as a non-killing terminator like he was last issue, he's not 100% like he was and Wanda is all pissed off. Also...her and Vision's twins are missing again. And the new member of the team, the U.S. Agent, ends the issue talking to pictures of his parents. I guess this means he's batshit crazy? I can't really imagine a kid reading/enjoying this issue. I guess if that kid was like a prodigy or something. The mystery behind everything is compelling, though, so I hope the big reveal is actually worth waiting for. **1/2 

READING THE CLASSICS: THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #44

 

Published on May 1st, 1989

     I've given some flak about this book featuring a ton of backstory from old issues that might prevent you from really enjoying the book if you were a new reader. I don't think that's a big problem these days, since the writers on the big DC and Marvel books never really stick around long enough to create a massive footprint. I could be wrong, as I've been reading comic books for 30 years and so some events that you kind of just assume everyone knows about (like Green Goblin killing Gwen Stacey) might be unknown to new comic book readers. Well in this very issue, The West Coast Avengers #44, Hank Pym notes that, "I'm reasonably familiar with his systems, as you well know. I even took a little stroll through his insides once, during my Ant-Man days." Surprisingly, I read the issue where he did that. It was way back in 1972 during the "Kree/Skrull War" storyline that I reviewed last year. It's just a throwaway line, doesn't even get an editor's note to "check out issue so and so," but for long term readers, it's rewarding. "Oh, I remember that!" You do enough of that, though, and you'll never get new readers. Maybe that's why comic books are such a niche product and not exactly mainstream. I'm guessing I'm not the only one that's watching Disney+'s WandaVision and decided to go read the comic book it's based on. I wonder if half of them gave up on this after a few issues, though? Too fucking complex! Who are these people? It probably doesn't help that the West Coast Avengers get a new team leader that shows up on the final page in a shocking reveal to be...U.S. Agent? Huh? Who the hell is that? Dude looks like Captain America. I'm sure if I was a hardcore Avengers reader that reveal would, in fact, be a surprise and shock. Since I'm not, I was kind of letdown and baffled. In the rest of the issue, the West Coast Avengers attempt to put back together the destroyed Vision. He eventually wakes up and goes on a Terminator rampage until he's subdued. Somebody must've just watched The Terminator...because that sequence is right out of the climax of Cameron's original. There's also an odd, one page foreshadowing scene where a group of villains are in a boardroom deciding on a superhero to choose for something mysterious and decide on Wanda. The plot thickens! I'm actually enjoying this book more than I did the "Kree/Skrull War." Maybe because this is almost 20 years after that and a bit more up to date in every aspect. I really enjoy John Byrne's artwork, too. It's crisp, energetic, and pure comic book. This book is setting up so many moving parts, though, that I'm wondering if it'll actually all pay off and make sense someday. ***

READING THE CLASSICS: THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #43

 Published on April 1st, 1989

     While reading this issue, part 2 of "Vision Quest," I kept thinking: did Marvel realize that comic books were supposed to be for kids in 1989? The book isn't "adult" or "mature" or anything, it's just pretty complex. Currently, the only complex mainstream superhero books I can think of are the ones Jonathan Hickman writes, like X-Men now and his Avengers run a few years ago. Most superhero books are typically just heroes beating up villains, right? Kids don't really read comic books now, anyway. Was my generation the last one that did? I was reading comic books at age 10 or so, though I never picked up this book. I was more a Spider-Man and Image fan. I also read Darkhawk and Sleepwalker from Marvel, so I certainly didn't care about quality. I suppose I could go into how this book is complex...but even I'm pretty lost. The basic plot is kind of standard. We learn that Mockingjay, Hawkeye's former wife, was duped into helping a secret group capture Vision. She thought she was helping a group from S.H.I.E.L.D. How did she escape? "It took nearly three weeks of biding my time before I was able to sucker my guard into my cell with a yoga breathing exercise that simulated my own death." Nice. So eventually the West Coast Avengers fly to that evil base where they find that Vision has been pretty much ripped apart and destroyed. I'm not sure how this plays into the book, but Wanda reminisces about her history with Vision and during their courtship they ended up involved in the "search for the Celestial Madonna. Three women were candidates for that cosmic role." What the hell is going on in this book? "The living ghost of the Swordsman had declared Mantis the Celestial Madonna because of her humility and physical perfection." Hmmm. I guess...maybe I needed to read the first 40 issues of this book to understand it? The book is fucking weird. I doubt children read or enjoyed it back then, but who knows? At least it held my interest. And, hey, great climax with the Vision destroyed. **1/2

READING THE CLASSICS: THE WEST COAST AVENGERS #42

 

Published on March 1st, 1989

     Disney+, the new streaming service, has their first Marvel TV show that they're currently running. It's called WandaVision and features two of the dumber, lesser known Marvel heroes, The Scarlett Witch and Vision. I reviewed the famous "Skree/Krull War" Avengers storyline from the 70's last year and was kind of shocked that Vision and The Scarlett Witch were kind of prominent characters in The Avengers. They're definitely not now, although that'll probably change because the TV show is out. The only book I ever remember ever reading that featured either of those characters was Tom King's Vision book, and in that Vision wasn't even married to The Scarlett Witch anymore. The funny thing in all of this is that Vision was killed off in the Marvel movies and yet there's a TV show with him in it now. The TV show is said to be loosely based on John Byrne's "Vision Quest" storyline from 1989 in The West Coast Avengers book. I figured I'd check it out since I am enjoying the TV show. One big problem is that the majority of reviews of "Vision Quest" say that it fucking sucks and is awful and ruined whatever "good" continuity The Avengers had. So maybe I shouldn't be reading it? John Byrne wrote and penciled the storyline and this issue was apparently is first one on The West Coast Avengers. That book ran from 1984 to 1994 with 102 issues. Funny that I never read it, especially since I was reading comic books for probably the last five years of that run. Considering it's filled with a bunch of B-superheroes like Hawkeye and Wonder Man, that's not too surprising. It lasted a long time, though, right? I guess The Avengers was such a best seller they gave it a second book. Or maybe the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984 got everyone excited about California so Marvel decided to set a book there. Either way, this issue, The West Coast Avengers #42 is part one of "Vision Quest." It starts with The Scarlett Witch waking up and realizing her husband, Vision, isn't in bed and is missing. Eventually we learn that someone hacked into the computer network and deleted any trace of Vision. It's not much of a mystery, since on the last page we realize that Mockingbird was the one that deleted Vision's history. There is actually a lot more that happens in this issue, including a fight with a fake Ultron, but most of it is an elaborate, confusing backstory of how Ultron created Vision. The Human Torch was originally a robot but then died and Vision was created from his robot corpse but also with "the brain patterns of Simon Williams...Wonder Man!" Okay. The one thing that struck me when reading that old "Kree/Skrull War" storyline was how super confusing and intricate the backstory and plots were in comic books in the old days. If you just randomly picked up this issue you'd be, like me, totally fucking lost. Do I really need to know the plot of like a thousand previous books to enjoy this? Comic books aren't as bad these days, though the reward of being a long term reader now probably isn't as great. At least now it's a lot easier to catch up and find old issues online. Back then you were either digging in back issue boxes in flea markets to find old issues or you were just lost. I will say that the wordiness of old comic books is completely different than it is now; books back then had a lot of description and felt worth the money. Nowadays I can read a comic book in like a minute and not miss a thing. John Byrne is a pretty famous figure in comic books, although I doubt I've ever read much or anything from him. Supposedly he's a cantankerous, old bastard these days, though his art was pretty to look at back then. I'm not sure where this storyline is going but for now it's an enjoyable, old school romp. **1/2

The Best Comic Book of 2020: SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN

 

     Maybe after the horrible year that was 2020 a book titled Something is Killing the Children wouldn't be greenlit. Maybe a book about dead children shouldn't have ever been greenlit. I admit...it's a dark book, obviously, but it was also the best comic of 2020. The funny thing is...writer James Tynion had a much bigger book out this year and it was borderline terrible. His Batman run is a colorful mess (unfortunately it's still going on). Strange how he can write such a wild, exciting, compelling book like Something is Killing the Children while also writing such a bland, unexciting, no-good-ideas Batman book. I suppose the reasons don't matter why he's sometimes a great writer and sometimes not. At least we got this. Something is Killing the Children has a fairly simple premise. Monsters are real and they're killing children. Tynion has created an intriguing world around this premise, though. There's a secret society that trains people to fight these monsters. The main character, a young woman who was attacked by monsters as a kid and survived, has joined this secret society and heads to a small town that's besieged by these beasts that lurk in the woods and can't be seen by adults. She also has a teddy bear that just happens to be alive with the soul of a monster she killed. And in the last few issues of 2020, the book turned into an all out action movie with the monsters attacking and the townsfolk and police running to the high school to hide in the gym while all hell breaks loose. The art, by Wether Dell'edera (pencils/inks) & Miquel Muerto (colors), fits this book perfectly. The art is ragged and dark. The monsters actually look scary. The members of the secret society with their white face masks look evil and cool at the same time. And the best thing about this book is that it's gotten better since #1. I'm glad it's been a big best seller for the smaller Boom! Studios. It deserves all the accolades it's gotten. 

The Best Art of 2020: MITCH GERADS @ EVAN SHANER "STRANGE ADVENTURES"

 

The Best Writer of 2020: ED BRUBAKER

     Ed Brubaker didn't write a monthly book in 2020, but he still made quite the impact. He decided that graphic novels are the future instead of monthly floppies so he put out two original graphic novels this year, Pulp and Reckless. He also wrote two issues of his book Friday that were released on a pay-what-you-want scale for the Panel Syndicate website. All three books were pretty different, but they all featured Brubaker's classic writing style. He loves using the inner monologue of his main characters to tell the story, and it's the perfect way to do it in a comic book. 

    

 

    His stuff flows wonderfully and is so easy to read, everything just washes over you and you're instantly alive in this fantasy world that feels oh-so real. His books have always been dark, but they're also filled with emotion, despair, longing. His characters just seem to jump right off the page, and his plots are always so intriguing and often wild. Reckless had perhaps the best opening sequence of any comic this year. It's the first in a series of a guy that solves problems. Kind of a gangster superhero type. Friday was a book about a girl coming home from college and getting swept back up in the small town mysteries she used to help solve as a teenage detective. And Pulp is about a down on his luck, old writer. It also happens to feature Nazis and cowboys, go figure. All three of these books were different but they were all compelling and entertaining. Brubaker's been one of the best comic book writers for the last 20 years at least, and in 2020 he proved that he's still at the top of his game. 

The Best Pages & Panels of 2020

BIRTHRIGHT #42

BASKETFUL OF HEADS #8

BIRTHRIGHT #44

                                                        

                                                    STRANGE ADVENTURES #2

JOHN CONSTANTINE: HELLBLAZER #8

The Best Covers of 2020