Even more first issues reviewed!

ASTONISHING X-MEN #1 by Charles Soule and Jim Cheung. Another X book from good old Marvel. This team features Angel, Bishop, Fantomex, Rogue, Mystique, Gambit, Psylocke and Old Man Logan. Looks great and the fact that we get The Shadow King’s realm and…is that Professor X? It’s a fun story and I think I’m in for a bit…right now it’s my second favorite X-book behind X-MEN BLUE.

BETTIE PAGE # 1 by David Avallone and Colton Worley. I’m sorry: I’m a sucker for anything with Bettie’s name on it, as I was there when the public interest began in the 1980s thanks to the late Dave Stevens. It’s Bettie as model turned detective and it’s a ton of fun. Worley’s art is nice and you need to dive into the 20 different covers from folks as diverse as Joseph Michael Linsner, Terry Didson, Jim Balent and Greg Hilderbrandt. I don’t expect it to change the world, but it is a bunch of guilty fun!

BLACK RACER AND SHILO NORMAN OVERSIZE SPECIAL #1 by Reginald Hudlin, Denys Cowan and Ryan Benjamin. As art of their continuing celebration of Jack Kirby’s 100^th birthday, comes this one shot special. Shilo is all grown up and he’s Mister Miracle and he’s in a contest with the Black Racer. Tons of cameos including the world of Kamandi, OMAC and even the Source Wall. This is an amazing, loving tribute to the King and is well worth the five-dollar price tag. Plus you get a handful of short back-up stories reprinted from NEW GODS.

BOMBSHELLS UNITED #1 by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage. Spinning out of the DC BOMBSHELLS series, this 1940’s book features our femme fatales battling the war at home. Wonder Woman, Diana Troy, Cassie Sandmark are back in the States where they are fighting against the internment of Japanese Americans. And we even get a surprise villain by book’s end. If you remember that this is not part of DC Universe continuity, it’s a fun ride!

CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST #1 by S.A. Check, Bill Galvan, Warren Kremer, Mike Wolfer and Diego Jourdan. Yeah…I actually bought a Casper comic book because I have been a longtime fan of Mike Wolfer. To see him move from FANGS OF THE WIDOW to this is a little surprising but I honestly picked it up for his cover with Casper and Hot Stuff together. It’s an all ages book that won’t offend and even features three reprints from the Nineties.

DARKSEID OVERSIZE SPECIAL #1 by Mark Evanier, Scott Kolins, Paul Levitz and Phil Hester. Here’s another Kirby Anniversary Special. It’s Darkseid and his band of followers causing hate and discontent on Apokolips. There is also a back-up featuring the classic OMAC. In addition, a reprint of a back-up story from FOREVER PEOPLE #6 and a short story from TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #12. Long live the King!

DASTARDLY & MUTTLEY #1 by Garth Ennis and Mauricet. DC continues to dig into the Hanna Barbera world with Garth Ennis at the controls. You know what that means: absolute insanity. It starts with a nuclear explosion and tat brings in our heroes in the form of USAF pilots investigating the explosion. That’s when things go really crazy and we have a killer cliffhanger for next issue. It’s typical Ennis insanity!

ELSEWHERE #1 by Jay Faerber and Sumeyye Kesgin. So, here’s a concept: in a strange land, Cort and Korvath find a woman hanging from a tree by a parachute. The woman is Amia Earhart and they go off in search of Fred Noonan. And DB Cooper shows up too! This is a killer concept to explain where all those missing people have gone. I love the story-of course I loved what Jay did on NOBLE CAUSES. And, by book’s end, I was getting use to Kesgin’s art style. I think this will end up in my pull list, just because it’s too much fun NOT TO.

FAITH AND THE FUTURE FORCE #1  by Jody Houser, Stephen Segovia and Barry Kitson. I swore, after the last BIG EVENT with the BOOK OF DEATH, that I would be cutting out almost all of the Valiant titles with the exception of BLOODSHOT. But they slowly pull me back in! Neela the Timewalker comes back in time to recruit ex-Harbinger Faith, currently wanted for murder, into putting a team together to help protect the Timestream. This four issue mini-series looks like a lot of fun and, even without knowing a ton of the back story on these character, it flows nicely.

FUTURE QUEST #1 by Jeff Parker and Ariel Olivetti. Well, we had a Hanna Barbera 12 issue series that brought classic characters together and it ended. So, in it’s place, we have this. It’s Space Ghost and his crew teaming up with the Herculoids. Parker has such love for these characters and Olivetti’s painted art is amazing. Highly recommended for longtime fans of these characters!

GENERATIONS: WOLVERINE & ALL NEW WOLVERINE #1 by Tom Taylor and Ramon Rosanas. At the end of SECRET EMPIRE, there is a moment when a whole batch of heroes get transported to a moment in time. This series of one-shots is all about that. The current Wolverine goes back in time and teams up with the classic yellow-suited Wolverine against Sabretooth. It’s not going to set the world on fire and basically just fills a place on the Marvel schedule leading into LEGACY.

GENERATIONS: BANNER HULK & TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #1 by Greg Pak and Matteo Buffagni. Another GENERATIONS titles has Amadeus Cho going back in time and meeting up with Banner Hulk. It’s plenty dumb and they team up against a giant monster that good old General Ross and company wake up.  I want by five bucks back, guys!

GENERATIONS: HAWKEYE & HAWKEYE #1 by Kelly Thompson and Stefano Raffaele. Kate Bishop ends up on an island where the greatest marksmen, mostly villains, are engaged he meets up with mentor Clint Barton and the two work together to dispatch the bad guys. in a battle to see who is the best. She meets up with mentor Clint Barton and they work together to defeat everyone, including Bullseye, who makes his first appearance to Clint. Of all the GENERATIONS titles thus far, this is the one that seemed to have the most heart.

GENERATIONS: IRON MAN & IRONHEART #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Marco Rudy, Szymon Kudranski and Nico Leon. Here’s what you need to know: Ironheart ends up in the future, Tony Stark is alive and now he’s the Sorcerer Supreme. The dialogue is dumb and fun and we have three pencillers and no less than four inkers.

GENERATIONS: PHEONIX & JEAN GREY #1 by Cullen Bunn and R. B. Silva. Jean Grey of the past travels back in time to meet herself. They team up to battle Galactus, back when he was still bad and had Terrax as his herald.  This does nothing to promote the fact that Jean can’t reveal the future to Jean and the Watcher, NOT Nick Fury, does nothing to help.

GENERATIONS: THE UNWORTHY THOR & THE MIGHTY THOR #1 by Jason Aaron and Mahmud Ashar. Odinson is having issues picking up the hammer and he goes off, against Odin’s wishes, to help the Vikings in a battles against Apocalypse. Jane Foster Thor shows up and lends a hand. How the heck did the Vikings end up in Egypt anyway. In the end, we find out that Odin was making woo at one point with the Pheonix. Answers to be revealed in LEGACY.

GO GO POWER RANGERS #1 by Ryan Parrot and Dan Mora. Boasting no less than 13 variant and exclusive covers, to go with the regular covers, this series is set at the beginning of the Power Rangers career. In fact, they get to meet Rita or the first time at the book’s end. It’s drawn in a cartoony style and is the perfect fit for fans of this classic series.

MAGE THE HERO DENIED #0 by Matt Wagner. Kevin Matchstick is back in the concluding part of this legendary trilogy. He’s older and bald, but he is still kicking demon butts! I have waited a real long time for this epic to come to its’ end. I can’t wait to see where Wagner takes it. If you’re unfamiliar with it, go find the trade paperbacks and read up.

MANHUNTER OVERSIZE SPECIAL #1 by Keith Giffen, Dan Didio, Mark Buckingham, Sam Humphries and Steve Rude. Manhunter, from the old FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL, meets up with Sandman and Sandy, who have issues with the way Manhunter does his job. They spend the entire book fighting. Really!? In the first back-up, a short tale of The Demon by Humphries and Rude that is worth it just to see Rude’s work again. Coupled with some reprints from TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED and REAL FACTS COMICS, this is the weakest of all the Kirby tribute specials, just because it represents one long fight sequence.

MISTER MIRACLE #1 by Tim King and Mitch Gerads. Welcome to the mega-hit of the Summer as this first issue is selling now at $15-$40 levels! Oberon is dead..maybe. Highfather is dead…maybe. And Miracle seems to be having a nervous breakdown. This is typical killer work from King who takes he legend and turns him upside down and inside out. Find your second prints or pay top dollar for the first, but you need this book in your collection.

NEW GODS SPECIAL #1 by Shane Davis and Walter Simonson. Orion, Lightray, and Forager team up to battle Kalibak. In the back-up, Seagrin and a young Orion team-up to battle a sea monster. Throw in a couple of back-up tales reprinted from FOREVER PEOPLE. It’s not the best of the Specials, but is nice to have just for the Simonson work.

THE NEWSBOY LEGION AND THE BOY COMMANDOS SPECIAL #1 by Howard Chaykin. The Legion team up with the Boy Commandos to take on the Krauts. It’s all done in typical Chaykin style and retains just enough wit of the classic characters. You also get a classic Newsboy Legion back-up from an issue of STAR SPANGLED COMICS. It’s a great book to have, especially if you’re not a fan of BIG BLACK KISS and just want something a little lighter in tone from Chaykin.

NINKAK #0 by Matt Kindt and Francis Portella. Welcome to what feels like the umpteenth million relaunch of NINJAK. We get Colin King on a mission, plenty of blood and guts and a nice parallel story that runs along with it. And, in the end, we find out that King is really Ninja-K, meaning there was A-J before him. This is an interesting premise and promises to lead into the introduction of a whole bunch of former Ninja’s in the coming months. Valiant: you may have just hooked me on this concept!

THE REALM #1 by Jeremy Haun and Seth M. Peck. What happens when you do a Post-Apocalyptic comic is that it always gets compared to THE WALKING DEAD. Yeah…it’s kind of like that. It’s the end of the world, there is a crazy guy who kills you for your life energy and there are mad marauders. So…it’s THE WALKING DEAD meets MAD MAX. It’s not bad, but sort of formulaic.

THE ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE SHOW #1 by Todd Liningston, Bill Gavin and Al Kilgore. Leave it to American Mythology, who is responsible for UNDERDOG, CASPER, ROCKY & BULLWINKLE, PINK PANTHER and THE THREE STOOGES to kick through another book based on stuff from of childhood. The book has a two-part story, a Fractured Fairy Tale and two reprints featuring Dudley Do-Right and Boris and Natasha. The book so feels like the cartoon that I was literally doing the voices in my head. DON’T JUDGE ME!! A complete guilty pleasure book that hits all the right buttons.

RUNAWAYS #1 by Rainbow Rowell and ris Anka. Well, they’re back: the Runaways No, not the band…the comic team whose parents were killer super villains. I loved those team and was so bummed when the book got cancelled and then they tried to put part of the team into this all-female Avengers wanna-be team. I am so glad to see this book back, with a good number of the team back together and back to life. Even Old Lace makes an appearance. The writing is not too heady and the art fits the book perfectly. I can’t wait for issue #2.

THE SANDMAN OVERSIZE SPECIAL #1 by Dan Jurgens, Jon Bogdanove, Steve Orlando and Rick Leonardi. This is a true pair of living tributes to the King. In the first story, Sandman fights in the dream world with a creation of a young Jack Kurtzberg. In the second tale, Sandman fights to keep Jed Walker’s dreams from killing him. Another beautiful book to celebrate the King.

SECRET EMPIRE OMEGA by Nick Spencer, Andrea Sorrentino, and Joe Bennett. SECRET EMPIRE is over, the good guys won, even though there were some major casualties (hint-the red-haired assassin in black leather and Bruce Banner’s original buddy), Cap is back and the world is rebuilding. So, we have Steve Rogers confronting the evil Steve Rogers in his prison cell. while heroes try to cope with loss and make things right (really? Frank Castle, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.). In the end, it looks like not everyone has given up on Hydra, leaving tings open for future stories.

THE SHADOW #1 by Si Spurrier, Dan Watters and Daniel Hdr. The legend lives on in the present day. But is he truly alive and is he really that mysterious person in the burn ward? This is such a crazy take on the classic hero that I’m not sure how to react. Of note is the variants covers by luminaries such as Neal Adams and Mike Kaulta.

SHEENA QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE #0 by Marguerite Bennett, Christina Trujillo and Moritat. Here at Dynamite Comics, everything old is new again. They publish THE SHADOW, TUROK, MAGNUS and a bunch ore. Now it’s time to bring Sheena into the present and give us just enough to work with to tease us. Why is Sheena in the jungle but someone is watching her with their drone? It’s a short story, leading into the #1 issue, which I hope will answer some questions. It looks nice, as I love Moritat’s work anyway, and the story, as short as it is, has the feel it needs. And, oh yeah, buy it for any of the FOUR covers by Emanuela Lupacchino, J. Scott Campbell, Moritat and Ryan Sook.

TUROK #1 by Chuck Wendig, Alvaro Sarraseca, Aubrey Sitterson and Dylan Burnett. As you may have noticed with the other Dynamite character reboots in the form of Magnus, Doctor Spektor, and Solar, THIS IS NOT your daddy’s Turok. In a story that continues from some of the other Dynamite titles, this Turok is making his way through the Lost Jungle to battle the Varanid Empire of lizards. If you are expecting Gold Key or Valiant/Acclaim Turok, you will be totally disappointed by this and the Doctor Spektor back-up story. But if you are all about a fresh take on a 50+ year old character, this is recommended. The combination of Wendig and Sarraseca works well together while Sitterson and Burnett’s back-up is a little less delineated. Overall, it is worth the read. And…if you want to know how we ended up with these altered versions…read SOVEREIGNS #5 for the explanation.

WAR MOTHER #1 by Fred Van Lente and Stephen Segovia. She is the protector of the Grove and she is doing their best to protect them from the Sylvan. But now she needs to hit the road and try to find a new land for her people in The Montana. While the book looks beautiful, I’m a little unclear on the story and what it all means in the Valiant Universe, especially because it is set in 4001 A.D. and I didn’t bother with that mini-series event.

YOUR PAL ARCHIE #1 by ty Templeton and Dan Parent. The first time I saw Ty Templeton’s work was back in the day on STIG’S INFERNO and I was an immediate fan. I’ve watched him work on BATMAN ADVENTURES, THE SIMPSONS and BATMAN ’66. So, with that said, he seems right at home writing a CLASSIC Archie series, which has none of the drama of the new generation of books OR the RIVERDALE television show. And Dan Parent has long been associated with the Archie line, so his art it a totally perfect fit. If you have never read an “old school” Archie comic, here’s the place to start. A little bit of plot, a whole lot of fun and a loving touch that will bring you back to a simpler time. Don’t get me totally wrong: it is a MODERN DAY ARCHIE set in today’s world. As a bonus, hunt down the variant connecting covers or the first five issues which forms Pop’s Chock’Lit Shoppe when it is assembled. Do yourself a favor: find $4 in your monthly budget for this slice of Americana.