Ghost Rider #15

I still have some of the hastily-grabbed stack of comics that I took with me when we moved overseas. Here is one of them.

Title: Ghost Rider
Issue: 15
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: July, 1991
Writer:Howard Mackie
Penciler: Mark Texeira
Inker: Mark Texeira
Colorist: Gregory Wright
Letterer: Janice Chiangs
Editor: Bobbie Chase, Chris Cooper

Glow-in-the-dark cover! Glow-in-the-dark cover is more 90s than you could ever hope to be!




In case you're curious, it does still glow a little bit after 24 years. Look!

Got a scorecard handy? So, Ghost Rider is not Johnny Blaze. He's some guy named Dan Ketch. Well, I guess technically, it's the same ghost rider, but it's Dan Ketch transforming into him. Oh, and Johnny Blaze is trying to track down Ghost Rider and kill him with a gun that shoots hellfire. Meanwhile, Ghost Rider/Ketch are trying to track down a vampire named Blackout, who is trying to track down, well, more victims I guess. Then there is also a team of female mercenaries who are flying around in a helicopter trying to get their hands on Ghost Rider's motorcycle. This all happens with a supporting cast of vampire victims, New York City cops, and (racist stereotype) crack-smoking gang members.

The story is an over-wordy mess for about the first third or so, but I have to admit that writer Howard Mackie does a decent job of maneuvering all of the above-listed moving parts into a reasonable climax and resolution. It still ends up being too wordy, but the story does a nice job of keeping everyone relevant right through to the end while serving up a heaping portion of melodrama.

In the final panel, the cops are asking the remaining characters, "What happened here?". The answer is "You got a few days?" That actually sums up this story pretty nicely.

Rating: 4.5/10

An Invitation to the World of Luisa Felix, Cartoonist

A book I picked up at last year's MECAF convention in Portland ME.

Title: An Invitation to the World of Luisa Felix, Cartoonist
Date: 2013
Publisher: Drowned Town Press
Editor: E.J. Barnes, Paul Curtis
Artist: Louisa Felix, E.J. Barnes, Natalie Ewert, Larry Blake, Steve Peters, Keith O'Brien, Michele Witchipoo, Frank Humphris, Eric Jensen, Paul Curtis

Hoboken NJ cartoonist Louisa Felix was active in the small press and comics APA scene more than four decades, writing and drawing comics and comic strips in a range of genres from funny animals and gag strips to film noir and horror stories.

This tribute collection shows of the range of her work, and includes concept sketches and roughs, along with finished comics, and tributes by other small-press comic artists working with characters that Ms. Felix created.

I loved the classic old-Hollywood feel of her work, with an art style that evokes Betty Boop and classic Popeye cartoons. The stories are fun, and her technique of inventing a cast of actors in a Hollywood meta-story and then "casting" them into her cartoons was a very clever way of creating a coherent comic book universe involving such a wide range of stories.

This is very obviously a heartfelt tribute, and is was delightful to discover Louisa Felix's work through this collection.

Rating: 8.5/10

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Free Comic Book Day 2015

This is my last review for Free Comic Book Day 2015. It was fun finding a FCBD event here in Vietnam. I'm scheduled to spend a month in the US, from mid-June to mid-July, and I'll be attending two conventions during that time (MASSive Comic Con in Worcester MA, and Connecticon in Hartford CT), so I'll be stocking up on some comics to bring back to Vietnam to read and review. I'll also be picking up a couple of crowdfunded comics that I supported.

In the meantime, I have a couple of graphic novels on my to-read shelf here, as well as a few remaining comics from the stack I originally brought with me when I headed overseas. I hope to read and review those books before I make the visit back to the US, so look for this blog to continue to be somewhat active for the next four weeks or so.

Title: Avatar: The Last Airbender: Free Comic Book Day 2015
Date: May, 2015
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Gene Luen Yang, Paul Tobin
Artist: Carla Speed McNeil, Ron Chan, Colleen Coover
Colorist:Jenn Manley Lee, Matthew J. Rainwater
Letterer: Michael Heisler, Steve Dutro
Cover: Carla Speed McNeil, Jenn Manley Lee
Editor: Ian Tucker, Roxy Polk, Dave Marshall, Phillip R. Simon, Brendon Wright

In addition to the Avatar: The Last Airbender story, this book also features Plants vs. Zombies and Bandette.

The Avatar story focuses on Ty Lee and Toph. Ty Lee is discouraged with her training with the Kyoshi warriors. Fortunately, Toph shows up to take her to the circus, which seems like the perfect thing to cheer her up. But this is not just any circus. It's the circus where Ty Lee once performed, and among its current performers are Ty Lee's six identical sisters, who are now performing that act that was once Ty Lee's. Throw in a firebending extortionist with an ogre-sized accomplice, and there's more than enough trouble to distract Ty Lee from anything that was worrying her.

This was a very cute story that keep to a fairly simple point and still packed a few surprises and some amusing bits of dialogue.

The Plants vs. Zombies story involved the zombies creating a robot plant to infiltrate the tech-filled garage. The plan, of course, backfires in somewhat Looney Tunes style. This was funny, but the setup dragged a bit.

Last up was Bandette, which I had no familiarity with at all, but which I definitely need to read more of. Bandette is an oddly-meta heist comedy about an art thief battling a pair of "Elegant Assassins" and then staging a theft from a screening of a rare film. Amusing and adorable.

Rating: 7.5/10

Ant-Man Prelude #2

From my Free Comic Book Day haul. This is the second of the two books I purchased at the Free Comic Book Day event, as opposed to official FCBD giveaways.

Title: Ant-Man Prelude
Issue: 2
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: May, 2015
Writer:Will Corona Pilgrim
Penciler: Miguel Sepulveda
Inker: Bit
Colorist: Jay David Ramos
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Mark Basso, Emily Shaw

Set "years ago", this story features an early mission with Hank Pym wearing the Ant-Man suit and infiltrating a Hydra base in East Berlin during the Cold War. This is an official Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-in, so it exists in Marvel movie continuity.

This issue was mostly a showcase for Ant-Man's powers, and we get to see pretty much all of them in use as he avoids various security forces en route to, well, basically him beating up some Hydra goons in a minor bit of tie-in with the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Exactly what is really accomplished when all is said and done is left unclear, so the whole story falls a bit flat at the end. The action is good, but as far as raising interest in the movie goes, there isn't much here that we didn't get a look at in the trailers. It was fun to see Pym interacting with Howard Stark and Peggy Carter, but I would have liked more character development and background, to make it feel like this book really added something to the experience of watching the Marvel films.

Rating: 5.5/10

Fight Club: Free Comic Book Day 2015

My third review from my FCBD stack this year is another of the official Free Comic Book Day releases, this time from Dark Horse Comics.

Title: Free Comic Book Day 2015
Date: May, 2015
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer:Chuck Palahniuk, Eric Powell, David Lapham
Artist: Cameron Stewart, Eric Powell, Mike Huddleston
Colorist: Dave Stewart, Dan Jackson
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot, Clem Robins
Cover: David Mack (front cover), Eric Powell (back cover)
Editor: Scott Allie, Sierra Hahn, Shantel LaRocque

Three stories here, headlined by Chuck Palahniuk's official sequel to Fight Club. The Fight Club story jumps right into where the novel left off. The writing is sharp, but there wasn't a lot of new material here, probably intentionally because this was aimed at a general audience, not all of whom would be familiar with the original book or the movie. It definitely kept the flavor of the original, but it really only teased the new directions that the sequel would be taking.

The Goon, on the other hand, was a complete short story, and a very amusing one at that. A bit of monologue by the Goon about vampires during the climactic scene is priceless. Definitely the best read out of the three stories here, and it stands up very well on its own.

The third story was from Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain. This is a prequel to the main storyline, and it's set in the 1960s. It involves a man with a rare book to sell, treacherous intentions, and predictable results. It is well told, but nothing all that original.

Rating: 6.5/10

Legendary Starlord #3

This is my second review from my Free Comic Book Day haul here in Vietnam. Free comics were limited to one per person (they actually had a pretty big crowd at the event). Since my wife and son were there, we took home three of the official freebies. I also bought a couple of comics to read with the Kiddo (who is just being introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the last year or so), so this is one of the purchased books.

 Title: Legendary Starlord
Issue: 3
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: November, 2014
Writer: Sam Humphries
Penciler: Paco Medina
Inker: Juan Vlasco
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Cover: Paco Medina
Editor: Mike Marts, Xander Jarowey

Pretty basic story here. Star Lord wakes up in a jail cell, and goes about escaping. In between there is a hologram of a woman wearing a banana costume, a treacherous secret agent, a mysterious kid, a hot-rod starship, and a ton of snark.

Nothing in here is all that original, but it somehow comes together into a very entertaining story that does a nice job of matching the pacing and flavor of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

I read this out loud to the Kiddo (Guardians was his first Marvel movie, and he's become a pretty big fan), and he really enjoyed it.

More fun than it had any right to be.

Rating: 7.5/10

Free Comic Book Day 2015 (Avengers) #1

When we moved to Vietnam, one thing that I figured I'd be giving up was Free Comic Book Day, which has been a fun event for me, whether setting up a table for my own comics, or just rushing around visiting a bunch of geeky stores.

So when I caught wind of a FCBD event here in Saigon, I was pretty excited. The Amazing Comics is just starting out as a dealer/distributor of American comics, toys, and gaming products, and they don't have a storefront yet, but they rented space for a day and pulled off an excellent Free Comic Book Day party a week after the official date in the US. We picked up three of this year's official freebies, and I also bought a couple of Marvel comics for the Kiddo, who the previous day went to see Avengers: Age of Ultron for the second time.

I have a small set of pictures from the event here.

And now, on to the first review!

Title: Free Comic Book Day 2015 (Avengers)
Issue:1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: June, 2015
Writer: Mark Waid, Charles Soule, James Patterson, Marguerite Bennett
Artist: Mahmud Asrar, Brandon Peterson, Alex Sanchez, Stephanie Hans
Colorist: Frank Martin, Justin Ponsor
Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino, VC's Clayton Cowles
Cover: Jerome Opena, Frank Martin, Nick Bradshaw, Richard Isanove
Editor: Tom Brevoort, Will Moss, Jon Moisan, Charles Beacham, Nick Lowe

Not technically a flip-book, but it does have a fully-illustrated back cover featuring the Inhumans in addition to the Avengers front cover.

There are actually three stories. First up is the Avengers, which features the latest team lineup: Iron Man, (female) Thor, Vision, (Sam Wilson) Captain America, plus three younger members, Spider-Man, Nova, and Ms. Marvel, all depicted as teenagers.

This is something of a tryout for the new team members, and their first battle as Avengers against the Radioactive Man does not go well. Still, they pull together and learn a bit about the real meaning of what the Avengers are all about. Including a discussion of how "The Avengers" is actually not exactly a perfect name for the team.

This was goofy fun for the most part, although it had a couple of surprisingly grim moments considering the overall tone.

Second story was Inhumans, which features the creation of a couple of new Inhumans as a cloud of terrigen has apparently been wandering around the world, causing Inhumans to manifest their powers and abilities. There are also some Hydra agents, who are intent on collecting up and enslaving those new Inhumans in the hopes of using them as pawns in their usualy Hydra-ish schemes. Or something.

The beginning of this story features a lot of clunky dialogue as characters are forced to over-explain everything just to set the scenario up for the reader. It gets a lot better when Medusa and some of the Inhumans team (minus Black Bolt, but plus Human Torch, go figure). Medusa is great here, largely because of the thorough trouncing she lays down on the over-explainy Hydra leader. One of the new characters introduced, an engineer whose hands become weird energy-projecting coils, also shows a lot of potential, and there's some good dialogue between Medusa and Johnny Storm at the end.

The third story is a quicky: A four-page preview of Marvel's adaptation of James Patterson's Max Ride. It's effective and visually interesting. I haven't read the prose novel, but this was at least enough to pique my interest, which is about what Marvel was hoping for with four pages to work with.

Nothing here is stand-out great, but each of the three stories had their moments.

Rating: 6.5/10