More first issues reviewed

AIRBOY #52 by Chuck Dixon and Stipe Kalajzic. After way too many years, the classic hero is back with a story picking up where it left of…something like 20 years ago. Young Airboy is working on living up to his father’s legacy. Dixon was the man behind the original book so he knows his characters. Kalajzic’s artwork is a little rough but passable. And I get that It’s Alive will not sell a ton of copies but $8!!! Give me a break!

ANCIENT ENEMIES #1 by Dan DiDio and Danilo Beyruth. The third release from Frank Miller’s newest line of books is the weakest of the three. It’s kind of a superhero tale with a whole bunch of the tropes that DiDio was known to write. The dialogue is stilted and cliched and the art is just okay. Nothing earth shattering here: just your average superhero romp.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE ALPHA #1 by Jason Aaron and Bryan Hitch. If you have been reading all of the multitude of Avengers titles as of late, you know there has been some weird stuff going on. Well, this is the beginning of a multi-part crossover between AVENGERS and AVENGERS FOREVER where the Avengers of the Multiverse come together to battle a bunch of super villains, also from the Multiverse. When this whole crossover ends, heroes will die, heroes will rise, villains will fall and the core AVENGERS title will be rebooted with a NEW CREATIVE TEAM and, obviously, a new Number One!

BATMAN/SPAWN #1 by Todd McFarlane and Greg Capullo. One of the most anticipated books of 2022 is this reteaming of the two darkest knights. With the hero and the anti-hero teaming up against the Clown, The Joker and the Court of the Owls, you would think it would be amazing. And, to be honest, Capullo’s art IS amazing. Todd’s story? Not as much. The concept that maybe Martha Wayne and Wanda Simmons can be saved is a bit of a push and not totally resolved. Shame too, as it could have been something amazing!

DAMN THEM ALL #1 by Simon Spurrier and Charles Adlard. From a context standpoint, what if Dr. Strange and John Constantine had a baby? You’d get this book and our heroine Ellie Hawthorne. Part magician, part sorceress and art demon hunter. A fun read and Adlard’s art, as always looks great. Just be aware: there’s a LOT of reading here!.

GANGSTER ASS BARISTA #1 by Pat Shand and Renzo Rodriguez. When I saw the solicitation for this I thought it was a joke. When I saw it on the stands of my LCS I needed to look.  A former crook is now a barista and then there is a briefcase with some money and the bad guys want it back. There is some funny lines and the art is really good. Yeah…I’m hooked.

HAPPY HORROR DAYS #1 by Frank Tieri, Joanne Starer, Joe Corallo, Joe Eisma, Butch Mapa and Patrick Piazzalunga. A trio of fun, holiday themed horror stories in some dark corner of the Archie Universe. It’s exactly what you would expect: fun, grisly stuff!

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 by Gerry Duggan and Juan Frigeri. Tony Stark is not having the best life right now. He is no longer as wealthy and powerful as he once was and he is living in a brownstone somewhere in New York City. Things get worse when something causes the arc reactor he has in his lab to explode, badly injuring him and killing one of his neighbors. He visits Jen Walters and arranges for her to pay off all the lawsuits, meaning he is really in financial straits now! And it just gets worse from there. Duggan is looking to remake Tony with his own image of a fallen hero whose life is just getting worse by the moment. Great stuff as Tony really needed some lifeblood punched into the character that has gotten a bit stale over the years.

JOE FIXIT #1 by Peter David and Yildiray Cinar. Travel back in time to a period when The Hulk was gray and a smart dressing high roller who ran Las Vegas. Unfortunately, the Kingpin wants that territory. For fans who grew up with that legendary Peter David run, this is a fun call back. Everyone else will be confused.

LOVESICK #1 by Luanna Vecchio. Yep…the whole underground porn/torture titles are all the rage and here, following in the tradition of RED ROOM, is another. It’s all about torture porn. As the saying goes: your mileage may vary.

MASKERADE #1 by Kevin Smith and Andy McElfresh. A medical procedure allows people to change their appearance, meaning the titular character can be almost anyone she wants to be. But what are the side effects that may be killing this celebrity? It’s all here. The dialogue is a little clunky at times and the art is processed nicely. Not a bad read, especially if it ends up as a mini-series and not a full length run.

MILES MORALES SPIDER-MAN #1 by Cody Ziglar and Federico Vicentini. Welcome to Marvel’s Marketing Plan. Change a creative team, end a title and reboot it with the new team. Same plotlines, but a new team. And Marvel has done it yet again. Nothing new here except we have a new villain…and a new creative team.

MIRACLEMAN #1 by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham. Upon first read, you may think you have been here before and you may be right. This is basically a remastered version of MIRACLEMAN #23 from 1992. For long-time fans, it was worth the wait. For new readers, what took you so long? Young Miracleman is here and gets reunited with Miracleman, who explains what has gone on while he was dead?

MISS MEOW #1 by Murphey, Aaron Sparrow, Victor Serra and Fernando Malek. She’s part superhero, part thief and part assassin. This is one of the hottest books out there and I haven’t figured why. The writing is okay and the art is great, so I find it attractive and fun to read. But I don’t expect a lot from it. There’s a back story involving another character with an axe to grind but that’s only there in pieces. So…?

NIGHT CLUB #1 by Mark Millar and Juanan Ramirez. Danny Garcia decides to be a You Tube star and a stupid stunt puts him in a com. Good thing he gets visited by a vampire police detective who transforms Danny into a vampire. Now he just needs to learn his powers and deal with the future, including fighting crime? Yeah: it’s a weird concept but I like it. C’mon: it’s Millar and we all know what he can do if allowed.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD REVENANCE #1 by S. A. Check, James Kuhoric and Giancarlo Carracuzo. This book has a great concept: what happened to the primary characters from NOTLD BEFORE they ended up all together at that farmhouse. You know: Ben, Tom, Judy, Harry and his family. Again: great concept. Execution? HORRIBLE! Possible the worst drawn comic I have read in ages and the dialogue is clunky and just really bad. My vote for possibly the worst comic of the last 15 years.

NOCTERRA: VAL SPECIAL #1 by Scott Snyder, Tony S. Daniel and Francis Manapul. At long last: Val Riggs origin story. It deals with her meeting the original ferryman and being mentored by him. If you are a fan of this great series, you will love it. The story is really good and Manapul’s art is top notch, as always. This is the perfect lead-in to the story that continues in NOCTERRA #12.

ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE END OF THE WORLD #1 by Jason Aaron, Alexander Tefenkgi and Nick Dragotta. Mezzy has been sailing the seas of a dead Earth for days and ends up at the complex of Maceo. Maceo has never left the comforts of his home and Mezzy is used to travelling the world. She convinces him to leave and go on a journey. Many years later, Maceo, now Mace, is being tortured at the end of the world. Welcome to a post-apocalyptic love story. The story is so quirky and the art fits it. Personally, I love it and can’t wait to see where this goes from here.

PANDORA #1 by Frank Miller and Emma Kubert. All I can say about this is that it is a beautiful fantasy tale about a young girl and her grandfather (who is Joe Kubert’s spitting image!) and her adventures. It’s filled with amazing creatures, good and bad, and just looks like a fairy tale. I really want to see where this goes and am hoping the elevates Kubert to where she should be because she deserves it.

RONIN BOOK II by Frank Miller and Phillip Tan. The original RONIN as legendary and this one is a nice sequel. Part of what makes it work is Tan’s amazing artwork, proving he is one of the best artists out there. Welcome to the new generation as a young one claims the sword. Great stuff!

SARA LONE BOOK ONE by Erik Arnoux and David Morancho. This is my pick for book of the year! It begins with two young lovers fooling around on a beach and finding a decapitated head. That leads to the introduction of Joy Furlong: the deceased’s daughter who is a stripper known as Sara Lone. And it just goes from there. She goes back to her father’s fishing business and things continued to get complicated. Set along the 1960 Presidential election, there are shady characters all over the place. The plot is amazing and will take you far longer to read than your normal ‘comic book’. And the art is just lovely, with beautiful, subdued pastel colors. I cannot rave enough about this book. Go find copies of this series or pray for a collection of the whole series.

SCARLET WITCH #1 by Steve Orlando and Sara Pichelli. Wanda is now working for Darcy at her “magic shop”, where she is available to help people in trouble by using her powers. It looks great and the story is fun and appearances  by her brother and Vision’s daughter sure help. Could be a fun series but we’ll have to see.

TEN THOUSAND BLACK FEATHERS #1 by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. Fans of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino truly epic and twisted GIDEON FALLS will love this title! While not as crazy as the precursor was, it is part of the ever expanding Bone Orchards Universe. In typical fashion, Lemire’ story is filled with layers so deep that you don’t know where the story is going to. And I’m okay with that as I learned in the previous title. The journey, as twisted as it is, certainly will be worth it. And what can be said about Andrea Sorrentino’s art that I haven’t raved about before. Just freaking beautiful!

TROJAN #1 by Daniel Kraus and Laci. What happens when the creatures of myths and legends exist in our world? Read this to find out. Also, we have some creepy ‘Red Room’ kind of thing going on too, since that seems to be the new hot button in comics.

YEAR ZERO VOLUME 0 #1 by Daniel Kraus and Goran Sudzuka. Following on the heels of YEAR ZERO, we get to see the beginnings of the zombie outbreak through the eyes of several different characters in different places. A soldier in North Korea. A nurse in Arkansas. A flight attendant flying for Africa. A Russian hitman. All their stories will eventually intersect when the outbreak takes over. I never read the previous volume but, being I have a love for zombie horror, I thought I would give it a shot. Interesting story with great art from the always dependable Sudzuka.