More first issues reviewed

BATMAN: DARK AGE #1 by Mark Russell and Michael Allred.  If you drop two names onto a book, I am immediately hooked. First, we have Mark Russell, who has turned out such gems as THE FLINSTONES, EXIT STAGE LEFT,  PREZ, FANTASTIC FOUR: LIFE STORY, TRAVELLING TO MARS, NOT ALL ROBOTS and the amazing SUPERMAN: SPACE AGE. Speaking of that last one, you have Michael Allred, whose bibliography is lengthy but highlighted by MADMAN, I ZOMBIE, X-STATIX, X-FORCE, and a wonderful 2014 run on SILVER SURFER. It’s a Batman origin story but with a lot of twists, complete with early appearances by both Black Mask and Pariah. It is just an amazing and captivating turn on a story we have seen and read a million times before.

THE BAT-MEN: FIRST KNIGHT #1 by Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins. It’s 1939 and as the world waits to see what will happen with events in Europe, crime continues in Gotham. Jim Gordon investigates the murder of a City Councilor as part of a continued crime wave on politicians. If that wasn’t enough, there are also reports of a group of deformed men and a mysterious Bat creature. This is the Bat-Man of an earlier age in this amazing Black Label title. The  story is fun and is filled with all sorts of Thirties cliches and dialogues. In the importance of transparency, I had not planned to pick this one up until I got a look at the artwork and was immediately captivated by it. There is such a beautiful feel to the book that just enhances Jurgen’s story. This may be one of my favorite first issues of the past few months. It’s a winner!

BLUE BOOK #1 by James Tynion IV, Zac Thompson, Michael Avon Oeming, and Gavin Fullerton. Tynion, who has crated some pretty popular stuff such as SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN and his award winning DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH, launches a new series and a new mystery. Set in 1947, an enterprising man investigates all the appearances of UFOs and tries to make sense of it all. Fun stuff if you’re into conspiracies. And I’m a big fan of Oeming’s work so this was a natural for me.

CHILLING ADVENTURES PRESENTS…POP’S CHOCKLIT SHOPPE OF HORRORS: FRESH MEAT #1 by Amy Chase, Ryan Cady, Jordan Morris, Federico Sabbatini, Chris Panda, and Liana Kangas. The Archie folks are back with a new one-shot where Pop, with his business failing, makes a deal with the Devil to gain the advantage once again. Three stories are woven together, including one heavily inspired by LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS. Don’t expect anything earth-shattering here. It’s just a bunch of fun and sometimes gruesome stuff.

CREEPSHOW: JOE HILL’S WOLVERTON STATION #1 by Joe Hill, Jason Ciaramella, and Michael Walsh. Joe Hill is certainly a chip off his father’s block. A dealer is interested in rare artifacts and will screw anyone over if he needs to gain them. What follows is a trip to London where he encounters a bevy of werewolves along the way. What follows is a nightmare fueled trip where our “hero” is both rude and crude and equally fearful as he has to deal with a fair amount of blood and guts along the way in a tale that ends with a typical ending obviously inspired by old EC Comics. I love the CREEPSHOW line of books and this is a nice filler until we get a third volume.

DEADPOOL #1 by Cody Ziglar and Roge Antonio. Well, there’s a new Deadpool movie on the way and that means it is time for Marvel to publish another new Deadpool title. And, as expected, it’s more of the usual. Deadpool and his symbiote dog, fourth wall breaks, gratuitous violence, and a new villain. Oh yeah: he gets to reunite with his daughter. If you’re a Deadpool fan, this one is for you.

FERAL #1 by Tony Fleecs, Trish Firstner, and Tone Rodriguez. STRAY DOGS, despite being a heart-wrenching read, was one of my favorite books of the last few years. The creative team is back at it, this time with cats. And it is said to be a regular series, not a limited one like STRAY DOGS was. Without giving too much away, it involves cats…and rabies.  And based on where the first issue is already going, I expect this one won’t be a happy cheerful ride either.

FIRE AND ICE: TEEGRA #1 by Bill Willingham and Gabriele Di Caro. Completely inspired by both the comic and the film that proceeded this, Teegra has been selected to marry a man not of her dreams. This leads to her fleeing and having the adventure of a lifetime. It’s a fun story for anyone who is reading the (sometimes) monthly comic but will leave most comic fans cold, even the fans of Sword and Sorcery titles. Di Caro’s art is amazing and, as much as I am a fan of Willingham’s legendary career, is the highlight of this title.

GEIGER #1 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. The first regular title in the Ghost Machine imprint arrives and it’s a winner, as expected. I was a huge fan of the previous tales of one of the survivors of a nuclear war 25 years before this story. He’s a bit radioactive and wanders the wastelands looking for a cure. With his two-headed wolf and new companion Nate the Nuclear Knight, he continues his journey and all it will bring. It’s a fun story and the art looks great. So looking forward to the continuing adventures.

GHOST RIDER: FINAL VENGEANCE #1 by Benjamin Percy and Danny Kim. Johnny Blaze, just one of so many who has had the Spirit of Vengeance reside within them, suddenly has that entity leave him and makes its’ way through a number of people with expected results as the entity searches for a new home; causing havoc and destruction along the way. In the end, and HERE’S THE SPOILER, it finds a new home in the form of Parker Robbins, better known as The Hood. So, Robbins is now the new Ghost Rider and apparently will be for the near future, as his character is supposed to appear to the Disney+ show IRONHEART. The read is a quick one mostly relying on the artwork to carry the story along. But, considering it is a jumping-on point for a new run with a new character, I guess it could have been worse.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAZY ANNUAL #1 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Kev Walker. And how do we end a storyline and a title when your movie bombs, the audience walks away, and no one seems to use the phrase ‘cancelled’ anymore? We do an annual. And thus the newest version of the Guardians comes to an end. We have endured a Peter Quill who was more gunslinger than space hero, appearances by much of the cosmic end of the Marvel Universe, deaths of key characters, and transformations of others. Is this the final run for this team? Probably not because almost no one stays dead in comics, right? What I do know is this was an incredible run and possibly one of the best yet, with great and sometimes confusing stories and some amazing art.

LITTLE BLACK BOOK #1 by Jeff McComsey and Felipe Cunha. Cole Moyer’s father has passed and he is willed a Mediterranean house in East Arizona. In the process, Cole discovers a little black book and discovers his father may have been equivalent to The Wolf from PULP FICTION. When Cole’s girlfriend gets in trouble, a group of cleaners arrives to fix things. What has Cole gotten involved with? It’s a killer mystery tale with amazing art and this title will definitely bring you back for more with each issue, I’m certain.

NAPALM LULLABY #1 by Rick Remender and Bengal. Once upon a time, in Norfolk, Nebraska, a couple work with the followers of their god, Glokor. The couple crosses paths with some soldiers hunting a Mechawomb, which reveals a baby inside that uses its’ powers to incinerate the soldiers. The couple takes the baby and drives away. Fifty years later, the world has changed and most of it revolves around the Cult of Glokor. What follows is an attempted heist, some sex and violence and more questions than answers. I’m uncertain if I like this or not as the breadcrumbs are sparse and I am sure we will be forced to see what develops over time. For now, know that Remember and Bengal make a great team and  this has the makings of a classic.

THE ONE HAND  #1 BY Ram V and Laurence Campbell and THE SIX FINGERS #1 by Dan Watters and Sumit Kumar. Why am I reviewing two titles together like this? Well, because they both share the similar title designs in their lettering, graphics and images. They also both deal with someone with six fingers. And there are similarities in a wall filled with symbols. Are they interconnected or is this just a weird coincidence. They are obviously connected but we have yet to figure it out. Is THE SIX FINGERS a prequel of sorts as it deals with a main character who has grown a sixth finger due to exposure to some toxins, while THE ONE HAND deals with a series of murders by a six fingered killer. And then there are the symbols. I cannot wait to see where this one goes. But note: you should read both titles to get the full story.

REDCOAT #1 by Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch. British soldier Simon Pure has ended up gaining immortality and lived and died many times. Now it is 1892 and he now has to face a cult that is after him. And a young Albert Einstein is the person who is feeding him information about it all. Another Ghost Machine title and a whole lot of fun. What were the Founding Fathers up to and how did the ritual that gave out hero immortality come about? I can’t wait to see where this one goes, making this the second Ghost Machine title to be a winner.

ROOK EXODUS #1 by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok. A Ghost Machine title that is not part of The Unnamed continuity that GEIGER and REDCOAT are. It’s a great Science Fiction story about the Rooks and trying to find their way off the war-torn world Exodus and get back home. It’s an amazing epic tale with one hell of a back story that plays out in flashbacks while the main story progresses.  Johns’ continues to write some incredibly fun stuff while fabok’s art is so good. But we already knew that.

SAM AND TWITCH CASE FILES #1 by Todd McFarlane, Jon Goff, and Szymon Kudranski. Those classic detectives from the Spawn Universe are back in a long awaited new series. It starts with a murder and goes from there as the oddest couple in policing break the rules and find themselves involved in a case they had not expected, especially after the pair is suspended from the source. The story iust fine, but let’s talks about Szymon Kudranski.’s amazing artwork that totally brings all the pieces together. If you like detective stories with a bit of a dark theme to them, this one is for you.

SOMETHING EPIC #8 by Szymon Kudranski. Kudranski’s long-awaited second arc finally appears. Welcome to a world where the real world bleeds into the fictional one and a detective, who is also a duck that looks a lot like a certain duck named Howard, enlists help a paranormal investigator that leads them both into a weird world of fictional characters including Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarty, Doctor Watson and so many more literar6y characters. It’s a beautifully illustrated piece that is so masterfully written, as it drops easter eggs and subtle references as it tells the story. An amazing work that will certainly send me looking for either back issues or the trade paperback.

SWEETIE CANDY VIGILANTE VOLUME 2 #1 by Suzanne Cafiero and Thiago Vale. Everyone’s favorite sweetie and her Vigilante Squad are back in one of the wildest tales Dynamite has brought us over the years. As our heroine searches for what happened to her parents, she finds herself in the midst of fights with the local bad guys and, using her special powers, carnage erupts with lots of blood and guts along the way. This is just a guilty pleasure book with good girl art and a whacked out story that should satisfy your sweet tooth. Such a fun book that I am thrilled is back at last.

TORPEDO 1972 by Enrique Sanchez Abuli and Eduardo Risso. Back in 1981, Abdul collaborated with Alex Toth to create the main character of hitman Luca Torelli. But after a parting of the ways, Abdul worked with Jordi Bernet to create the Spanish series that became known as TORPEDO 1936. 45 years later and we get a reimagined tale, set in 1972, with a journalist and his girlfriend interviewing and researching the deeds of the now elderly hitman and his partner Rascal. Abdul is collaborating with acclaimed 100 BULLETS artist Risso to bring a book that feels so dark and grim that you can’t help but make comparisons to 100 BULLETS. This is such an amazing issue and I truly wish it was a weekly instead of a monthly. It has the right feel and look and is so very highly recommended!

ULTIMATE BLACK PANTHER #1 by Bryan Hill and Stefano Caselli. Following the monumental success of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN  #1, Marvel gives us the next piece of the Ultimate Universe puzzle. The Panther rules the nation of Wakanda but there is unrest and that is led by the followers of Khonshu and Ra. It becomes the task of the Panther, along with Killmonger, to lead an army against the Moon Knight and his followers. While I wasn’t as blown away as I was with the first entry in this universe, it was a fun read. The story is filled with action and political intrigued while the art does the job of carrying the narrative along.

ULTIMATE X-MEN  #1 by Peach Momoko. The third Ultimate release is about a Japanese girl with mysterious powers who is troubled by the death of a close friend. How did she get these powers? Was it from a mysterious charm given to her by her dead friend? And what is with the equally dark creature that seems to torment her? This is one weird title and feels like Momoko’s DEMON DAYS series. This is my least favorite of the three Ultimate titles thus far and I think much of that is because I do not know where the heck it is going. Our heroine is not realty a mutant and we have seen no others. So what is going on here? I will certainly give it another shot but this may drop off my pull list if we do not get answers soon.

VAMPIRELLA #666 by Christopher Priest and Ergun Gunduz. It seems Dynamite has done some math and have gone to Legacy numbering as they march towards #700. Picking up from all the previous threads and so many of the characters from the earliest of Priest’s recent run, with characters including Victory, Draculina, Lilith, Benny, and Shane…even a little bit of Dracula here…unless that FBI guy she is schtupping  and calling her husband turns out to be someone else.  Someone want to tell him she is also getting busy with some of her lady friends too? But this harkens back to the early run in both feeling and look, thanks to art by Gunduz. If the plan is to have this whole storyline reach a conclusion with #700, we have a way to go to see Priest’s endgame.

THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MEN #1 by Greg Weisman and Humberto Ramos. Oh look: ANOTHER SPIDER-MAN series! Feels like the Eighties again when we had three, plus GIANT-SIZE! This time, Peter teams up with Miles to battles a rampaging creature known as The Jackal. Not that Jackal, ALTHOUGH IT COULD BE, BECAUSE…YOOU KNOW: CLONES! But it may have been made by THAT Jackal-AKA Miles Warren, as we learn from Miles Warren’s brother(wait-he had a brother? Oh yeah: forgot about that!). Apparently the creature got loose while Doctor Seymour Krepps was inventorying Miles lab. Or maybe it IS Miles back again. Either way, the book touches on a lot of Spider-Man history and the inclusion of Miles Morales just seems to be a chance to keep the character relevant while we wait for the next movie(yes I know there is a monthly book with Morales but I’m not a huge fan of it). All in all, a fun read if you understand the history of The Jackal and others.