Another batch of first issues

ALICE COOPER #1 by Rodney Barnes and Edu Menna. The King of Shock Rock is back in a new titles; his first since Gaiman’s adapted THE LAST TEMPTATION OF ALICE. The devil is kidnapping famous musicians to add to his collection of musicians in the afterlife and now Alice must join that fight, thanks to a visit from Gabriel the Arcangel. It’s kind of fun and silly at the same time, so it will appeal to fans but probably not more than that, despite how great the art looks.

ALICE NEVER AFTER #1 by Dan Panosian and Giorgio Spalletta,  Picking up where the first series left off, Alice finds herself struggling between the real world and her drug-induced Wonderland. I absolutely LOVED the first series and this is the logical next step. The story is great and so is the art with Panosian handling the “real world” piece and Spalletta handling the craziness in Wonderland. Find the first series, either as individual issues or a trade paperback, and then dive into this!

AVENGERS INC. by Al Ewing and Leonard Kirk. Whirlwind is dead along with a whole bunch of other B list super villains, all of whom who may have been killed by a familiar vigilante who uses the phrase “justice is served”. The leads Janet Van Dyne into a mystery that pairs her with Victor Shade as she assembles a new team. This was a load of fun with some nice twists throughout. One of my favorite new Marvel series.

BATMAN: GARGOYLE OF GOTHAM #1 by Rafael Grampa. Another Black Label Batman story here but such a good one. A younger, very violent version of Batman faces off against a new criminal who is obsessed by an old cartoon character named Crytoon. But the mystery here is what is Crytoon’s ultimate goal. The story is well crafted and Grampa’s art is well worth the price of admission alone. Highly recommended!

THE BLOOD COMMANDMENT #1 by Szymon kUdranski. In a story that’s a little bit like THE LAST OF US (hence the variant cover take on that iconic video game cover image), with a mysterious were creature thrown in for good measure, this is a book sure to fly under most folks’ radar. But don’t sleep on it. The book looks incredible and the story has just enough going on to want you to come back for more.  Highly recommended.

CANARY #1 by Scott Snyder and Dan Panosian. Now here is a Western done right. We have a classic hero, a bunch of scary villains and some mysterious, twisted creatures. The story is great, Panosian’s art is his usual good stuff and you get 49 killer pages for five bucks. If you were on Comixology, you may have already read the full story. For the rest of us, this is a first look and will be released like a classic serial.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 by J. Michael Straczynski and Jesus Saiz. Marvel has once again rebooted a series, this time it’s CAPTAIN AMERICA. With Straczynski at the helm, fandom has been divided on what he could bring to this legendary character, as some folks are still salty over the way he handled Spider-Man; specifically the ‘One More Day’ storyline. The story bounces back and forth between the present and the distant path, where Steve Rogers sees Nazi’s in America before he enters the war. It’s a good beginning and Saiz’ art, coming off his run on THE PUNISHER, looks incredible! I’m not a fan of reboot after reboot, but this looks like a winner!

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 by Ayssa Wong and Jan Bazaldua. Another first issue for Carol Danvers and this one actually gives a nod to the history of the original Captain Marvel. A young thief gets her hands on the Nega Bands and that means, when she clicks them together, Carol goes into the Negative Zone and has to fight her battles there. The book is a logical follow up to the last series and, as I have bitched about before, there was no need for a new #1. And, as I have also complained about, Marvel should just go back to legacy numbering on everything. All in all, the story is pretty good and I’m curious to see where it goes from here.

CHILLING ADVENTURES PRESENTS…MADAM SATAN: HELL ON EARTH #1 by Eliot Rahal and Vincenzo Federici. Madam Satan has an issue with her powers and she needs to team up with Jinx to help her out. But Jinx has issues of her own an agenda of her own that might spell trouble for Madam Satan. Fun story, good looking art and a cliffhanger that we have NO IDEA when it will be resolved. Do we have to wait for next year’s Halloween themed books from Archie to get an answer? Hope not!

CHILLING ADVENTURES PRESENTS…STRANGE SCIENCE #1 by Magdalene Visaggio and Butch Mapa. Jinx and her best friend Danni Malloy use a time machine where they end up in an alternate space filled with time monsters and their friend Dilton. Besides fighting to get back home, Danni must embrace the past to live comfortably in the present. It’s a neat tale with a ton of buzz on it because Danni Malloy, first introduced in the Eighties, is being reintroduced now as Archie Comics first transgender character. I’ll be interested to see if and when Archie gives us her new origin story.

CHILLING ADVENTURES PRESENTS…WELCOME TO RIVERDALE #1 by Amy Chase and Liana Kangas. Ginger Snapp comes to Riverdale to be with her friend Nancy. Along the way, she meets up with veronica and some of the other kids. And everything seems fine until Amber Nightstone gets involved and then this turns from a quiet little tale to a ghastly one. If you’re a fan of the CHILLING ADVENTURES PRESENTS series, you’ll love it.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 by Jim Zub and Rob De La Torre. If you had asked me six months or a year ago if I would be reading another Conan title, I would have flat out told you there was no way. However, with the license going to Titan Comics, I thought things might be different. But fifty years of stories had worn me out. When I saw the preview art of this title, I was hooked. First off, Zub has a story that feels right. But most of all, De La Torre’s art, with Jose Villarrubia handling colors, feels like it was literally lifted from the era of John Buscema or Ernie Chan. This totally feels like it was lifted from the Seventies, complete with a couple of amazing two page spreads and some equally killer splash pages! Seek this book out, which features a ton of variant covers, 32 by my count, from De La Torre, Artgerm, Patch Zircher, Mike Mignola, Jae Lee, Colleen Doran, Dan Panosian, Mark Schultz, Jay Anacleto and my friend Ian Chase Nichols.

CREEPSHOW VOLUME 2 #1 by Garth Ennis, Phil Hester, and Becky Cloonan. Image brings back a second season of this horror anthology and, with Garth Ennis leading the way, it’s a winner. Two stories included, both with the classic EC Comics feel to them.  Nothing more to say than that. If you can’t get your hands on original ED stuff, this is a great modern homage to them.

THE CULL #1 by Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis. A group of teen girls set out to make a short film and that leads them into a mystery and a trip to a strange place. The story is nice, with enough cool dialogue that does not feel like fiction. Kudos to Thompson to who has a great ear for that. And Iulis’ art is superb! It’s truly beautiful and I’m sure much of it was done virtually rather than physical pages. If they were true painted pages, I would love to see the original works. This is a little like THE  BLAIR WITCH PROJECT meets STRANGER THINGS but I’m psyched for the second issue and beyond.

DAREDEVIL #1 by Saladin Ahmed and Aaron Kuder. Once again, Marvel reboots a series. Matt Murdock has saved his best friend and made his way out of Hell, where he appears to now be a priest with a limited memory of his past life, although he still has his skills. Will a visit from Elektra…or not Elektra…bring back the real Daredevil? It’s a good story and the art is great. My biggest gripe? STOP REBOOTING SERIES!!! And let’s just go back to Legacy numbering on these series. Collectors really hate having to play this game!

DEATH OF THE VENOMVERSE #1 by Cullen Bunn and Gerardo Sandoval. Well, it has all been leading up to this. If you have been reading any of the various VENOM titles, you know what’s been going on. Carnage is on the loose and now he is looking to go to all the various universes and taking out all the other symbiotes. So it’s a universal battle across the Multiverse and it is up to the various symbiotes to fight back and save their respective worlds. All in all, it should lead to a new status quo but who knows? After all, it’s only comics!

FEARLESS DAWN: COLD #1 by Steve Mannion. I LOVE Steve Mannion’s artwork and hope to get to meet him at a show someday. His art style, somewhat influenced by Bill Elder and Wallt Wood, is so retro and cool. Anyway, his FEARLES DAWN is such a fun read and this one shot, nicely holding a space while we wait for the next installments of FEARLESS DAWN: THE BOMB, is just a fun romp told horizontally. We have got hot action, good girl art and Nazi zombies. Seek this out at your local coming shop or go online and order from Asylum. Hey: there’s even a Kickstarter that just launched too!

FEAR THE FUNHOUSE: TOYBOX OF TERROR #1 by Timmy Hague, Danielle Paige, Michael Northrop, Ryan Casey, Tango, and Ryan Jampole.  Three loosely connected tales involving a creepy looking doll. Okay…like I have seen every CHILD’S PLAY movie and the television series. So what am I going to get out of this. Not much. The artwork shifts from story to story and none of the stories broke new ground for me. I’m a big supporter of the Archie line of horror books but this one truly disappointed.

FIRE AND ICE #1 by Bill Willingham and Leonardo Manco. FIRE AND ICE is a legendary 1983 animated film written by comic legends Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas and brought to life by the equally legendary Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta. It was an epic sword and sorcery film and now Dynamite has brought it to comics. Now, I was a fan of the film and was intrigued by the book. More so when I saw the amazing art from Manco, whose work on HELLSTORM, HELLBLAZER, DEATHLOK and WEREWOLF BY NIGHT, thrilled fans back in the Nineties and 2000’s. Willingham’s story is great and the art is mind blowing! Well worth the read and go seek the over 30 covers by Bill Sienkiewicz, Frazetta, Francesco Francavilla, Joseph Michael Linsner, and my friends Buzz and Chris Campagna.

GARGOYLES #1 by Greg Weisman and George Kambadais. I understand there was a whole generation that grew up on this cartoon show. But I was not one of them and have only see a handful of episodes. Now Dynamite jumps into this ring, hoping to latch onto those kids now grown up and feeding their childhood desires. The story was okay, the art was about the same and I found myself buzzing through this in short order. If this is your fandom, go for it. Me? I’m out!

GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE: WEAPONS OF VENGEANCE ALPHA #1 by Benjamin Percy and Geoff Shaw. Many years ago, Wolverine and the X-Men encountered a young boy who apparently is not a mutant, much to Charles Xavier’s dismay.  He is haunted by his own demons and those come out in full force, even making their way into Johnny Blaze’ life. These many years later, it is happening again and that brings Wolverine and Ghost Rider together to fight again in a tale that starts here and moves through GHOST RIDER #17, WOLVERINE #36 and ends in GHOST RIDER/WOLVERINE: WEAPONS OF VENGEANCE OMEGA #1.

G.O.D.S. #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti. Jonathan Hickman dips his toes in the world of magic and introduces a whole new pantheons of higher powered individuals into the Marvel Universe. It’s a winding epic that is just getting started. It looks great but, as with many Hickman efforts, it’s incredibly wordy. I’ll be interested to see where this thing goes. At the moment, it feels a bit like Millar’s MAGIC ORDER, which is not always a bad thing.

HAUNTED GIRL #1 by Ethan Sacks, Naomi Sacks, and Marco Lorenzana. Fifteen years ago, in Japan, a young girl is visited by a strange being. Currently, that girl is in a hospital  dealing with personal issues. Upon her release, she tries to fit back in but she is visited by ghosts of her past. Cool story with great art and a series of hooks that will keep me coming back to see where it goes.

THE IMMORTAL THOR #1 by Al Ewing and Martin Coccolo. Yet again…a new #1 after a reboot. Odin is dead, Thor is the ruler of Asgard and apparently he has shaved…again! The good news, besides the art, is that it appears that Ewing, who did such amazing work on THE IMMORTAL HULK, seems like he is bring the God of Thunder back to spend a bit more time on Earth, but still be steeped in the Norse world of gods. The first issue felt like a good change to me as the end of the last run just left me WAITING for that series to end and let new blood come onboard.

MARVEL AGE #1000 by Mark Waid, Ryan Stegman, Rainbow Rowell, Dan Slott, Armando Iannucci, Steve McNiven, Jason Aaron, J. Michael Straczynski, Allessandro Cappuccio, JP Mayer, Marguerite Sauvage, Michael Allredm Adam Kubert, Pepe Larraz, and Kaare Andrews. Eight stories in anthology format from a huge cast of creators. Heroes represented here include the original Human Torch, Spider-Man, the original X-Men team, the original Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Jane Foster Thor, and the Silver Surfer, not to mention a sweet tale with three young boys named Jack, Steve and Stan. It’s a nice love letter to the Marvel Age of Comics as we knew it.

MS. MARVEL: THE NEW MUTANT #1 by Iman Vellani, Sabir Pirzada, Carlos Gomez, and Adam Gorham. Kamala Kahn was dead and now she is alive again. And she now knows she is not only an Inhuman but also a Mutant. And she is also a member of the X-Men, which immediately puts a target on her back, as with all the Mutants. While much of this story is about Kamala with her family and her school friends, there are some key plots that come about and further push the idea that her life isn’t going to get any easier. The story is okay although the art does leave me a bit cold. If you’re a fan of this character, you’ll love the book.

PROOF THAT THE DEVIL LOVES YOU by Gilbert Hernandez. I have bee a fan of LOVE AND ROCKETS for as long as that title has been around. Gilbert Hernandez has been responsible for crafting a whole lifetime of work revolving around the world of Palomar. Sometimes those stories are very, strange and openly sexual. Hernandez takes several of those characters and thrusts them into this unusual anthology and filled it with strange aliens, philosophical discussions and his titular heroine Fritz, who engages on a space mission. This hardcover graphic novel will not appeal to everyone but is worth a dive. Be warned: it is not your average superhero story.

PUNISHER #1 by David Pepose and Dave Wachter. Well, Frank Castle has moved on to a higher position in the shape of the world and that means Marvel has to come up with another guy to fill that skull shirt. That guy is Joe Garrison: a former  S.H.I.E.L.D. operative who once worked in the shadows and did the job that most would not. Someone obviously has it out for him as an attempt on his life kills his wife and two children. With Triple A by his side, he goes out to wage a war on those who deserve it. While the story has notable origins similar to Castle’s, I like where it is going and the art is a nice change.

RED LIGHT #1 by Sarah H. Cho and Priscilla Petraites. What happens when you have a world where A.I. become sex workers? You get this slightly twisted, very adult tale of one of those workers and what their life is like. And when, for the first time, our heroine discovers a young human who is being used for those practices, that’s when the story gets interesting. While the art is somewhere between cartoonish and super detailed…think Gerard Crepaux…the story has a hook in it that just makes you want to keep reading. Good stuff from AWA.

SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH ANNUAL SPECTACULAR #1 by Jamie L. Rotante, George Gladir, Al Hartley, Dick Malmgren, Ian Flynn, Holly G1, Dan Decarlo, Al Hartley, Harry Lucey, and Chad Thomas. We get two new stories, one featuring Sabrina along with her nemesis Amber Nightstone, Jade and Sapphire, and one starring Young Salem, plus three reprints, including what is her first appearance from  ARCHIE’S MADHOUSE #22. It’s always a fun time for me with the kids from Riverdale, but seeing the classic stuff makes it even more worthwhile.

THE SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK #1 by Rainbow Rowell and Andres Genolet. Here we go again: Marvel cranking out a new first issue that picks up from the end of the last series run. Jennifer is still a lawyer and a superhero who is involved with Jack of Hearts. She is still dealing with super clients and saving folks. So, it’s just a reboot from the last series. If you liked it, you will like this. If you passed it by, you will probably be looking to do the same.

SHEENA QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE: FATAL EXAMS #1 by We Clark. Jr., Steven E. De Souza, and Ediano Silvia. Sheena, everyone’s favorite jungle girl, is adjusting to life in a school in Val Verde City. At the same time, she is also investigating a group of men who are ravaging the jungle and taking core samples. And, if that wasn’t enough, there are a group of ‘mean girls’ who are channeling some strange powers. I would normally not add this to my pull list, having been disappointed in the past by much of Dynamite’s titles, including their RED SONIA books. But the preliminary art of this intrigued me and I figured I would give it a shot. Glad I did, as it’s kind of fun and looks great.

SPIDER BOY #1 by Dan Slott and Paco Medina. Spider Boy, Spider Boy…was he created just to sell a toy? Yeah…he’s one of the hottest characters out there in the Marvel Universe, since his introduction earlier this year. He’s not an alien, but seems to have become what he has become due to experiments by some unsavory scientists .He claims to have been Spider Man’s sidekick, although no one seems to recall that. He has a rogue’s gallery of bad guys that no one has heard of. So, what’s his deal? You will have to read this title, month after month, to get the whole story. Slott’s writing is his usual faire and Medina’s art is very reminiscent of Mark Bagley’s, so that’s a plus. Overall, it’s a fun read with some nice twists to it.

STUFF OF NIGHTMARES: RED MURDER #1 by R.L. Stine and Adam Gorham. The anthology series STUFF OF NIGHTMARES is back with the tale of an actor who takes his role to new levels. The book tries its’ very best to be something from TALES FROM THE CRYPT, complete with a horror host who closes the book. Stine is best known for GOOSBUMPS and this is a more adult version of his writing. I found it predictable and did not do much for me. Personally, I would rather re-read those classic EC tales.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN RETURNS #1 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Mark Bagley, Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos, and Giuseppe Camuncoli. Doc Ock is back and ready to take up his battle against Spider-Man. Along the way, he recalls his past days, as the Superior Spider-Man. That brings him into a working relationship with Estrella Lopez, even if that goes badly. In the present, Ms. Lopez comes into play again and seems aligned with Otto. This is the lead-in to the new Superior series by introducing all the players. So…think of it as a Zero issue.

TRANSFORMERS #1 by Daniel Warren Johnson. That classic toy team of the Eighties is back in an all-new series, which is sure to delight people of a certain age. Yeah, they’re all here: the good guys and the bad. And a whole host of new characters are along for the ride. I was excited for this, having never been a fan of the old stuff, as I hope it would make me see what everyone I knew was hyped about. But, despite loving Johnson’s art, it didn’t do it for me, feeling like it was just another book trying to cash in on nostalgia.

ULTIMATE UNIVERSE #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli. The Ultimate Universe, better known as Earth 6160, has been reborn and The Maker is the man in charge. A cataclysmic event sets the stage for what is likely to come. Hickman was a architect of the original Ultimate Universe and was also the guy who destroyed it. Heroes you know by heart in bold new ways, where heroes are actually villains and vice versa. This one shot sets the stage for the next three titles in the Universe: ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN by Hickman and Marco Checchetto, ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER by Bryan Hill and  Stefano Caselli, and ULTIMATE X-MEN by Peach Momoko.

UNCANNY AVENGERS #1 by Gerry Duggan and Javier Garrion. Krakoa has fallen and mutants are either dead or on the run. So Captain America has put a new team together consisting of Deadpool, Quicksilver, Psylocke, Penance, Rogue and Cap himself. Of course, this leads them into conflict with not only Orchis but a host of villains led by Captain Krakoa, who was once Scott Summers. It’s a mini-series but I could easily go with this as a regular run as Duggan’s writing is crisp and his plot is both exciting and filled with questions. Garrion’s art is also a nice fit.

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: DRACULA #1 by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds. Image brings us this first in a planned series adapting classic  Universal Horror films, beginning with DRACULA. It follows the story quite well and the amazing illustrations are totally mind-blowing. This one is a winner to say the least as we get a beautifully illustrated tale that is a faithful one.

VAMPIRELLA: DEAD FLOWERS #1 by Sara Frazetta, Bob Freeman, and Alberto Locatelli. What do you call a book bringing in a classic character, a creepy mansion, a werewolf, a specter and even Frank Frazetta himself? I don’t know how I feel about this book. I really want to love it but it feels…off. Frazetta is trying to craft a story involving one of her father’s most famous images, even going so far as having both an homage cover by Lucio Parrillo and an icon variant featuring Frank’s famous image. But the story just doesn’t hold up and feels like a money grab by Dynamite. Sorry…it’s just not my cup of tea.

VAMPIRELLA/DRACULA’S: RAGE #1 by Christopher priest and Taylor Esposito. Vampirella had an affair with someone who turned out to be Dracula. They conceived a child and Vampi gave birth to it. But that child died and she’s pretty pissed about it! Not to mention that she blames Victory for the death. But Drac is back and tells Victory that the child is not dead and now the hunt begins. I love Priest’s writing style and the art harkens back to a bit of the classic Vampi art of Jose Gonzalez. Just one more cool piece in the legend of Vampirella.