NORSE MYTHOLOGY VOL. 3 #6 - Review

 

While everyone is obsessing over Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’ on Netflix (I am too, extensive knock and sock ‘em review forthcoming) his recent comic book offering has pretty much been swept under the rug which is a shame because it was a really entertaining series that just wrapped up. I’ve just read the final installment of the Norse Mythology run and I have to say I really enjoyed all of them.

 

Not sure if these are on anyone’s radar but they should be. Basically it’s illustrating the original Norse myths without censoring the material. There’s a lot murder, brutality, torture, backstabbing and revenge and no I’m not talking about what’s going on in our government right now, although I would love to hire Loki to pick off the nitwits in charge one by one.

 

Loki: Hi Nancy, I’m Loki, fancy some Mead?

Nancy: Does it have a kick?

Loki: Oh it kicks.

Nancy: Ooh, me mead some drinky drinky -

[she gulps down from a red plastic cup that will soon turn into a dragon]

Nancy (cont.): Don’t you work for The Mouse?

Loki: I did but now I work for a kvetchy Jew comic in LA who spoils his terrier more than you spoil your stock portfolio with insider tips.

 

Anyway, you get a look into the origins of such Norse Gods such as Odin, Loki and Thor. Add in the fact that you can get variant covers by the inimitable David Mack without having to chop your left nut off to get them and it’s a win win here. It’s more a fable comic than a superhero comic and with great artists such as Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell the art is impeccable. In a way I feel like I’m getting the most entertaining history lesson as it pertains to these iconic beings. I’ve actually learned a few things along the way, go figure! Apparently Loki turned into a Salmon a lot to manage his escape. Is that where we get the word Lox? Was that his gangster nickname? Was it ever Bagel and Loks. Was his hip hop name Tone Loks? The kids are all saying ‘Low Key’ these days do they really mean Loki? Are they invoking his name for mischief and shenanigans? Low key, you know I’m right.

 

This was the third installment of six books for the series. Not sure why they just couldn’t number them 1-18? I guess a marketing guy rushed into a Dark Horse Monday Morning meeting frothing at the mouth and begged for three #1 issues instead of just one “Market Share, Collectibles, TPBs galore! Fresh New Run, Cocaine in my Portland Granola, pleaaaase”

 

You can knock one of these puppies out in about 7-10 minutes, a great little read to start your day with your coffee. It’s not earth shattering entertainment (well, it is in the story lines) but it’s solid enough and the creative team knocks it out of the park. The final issues detail the Ragnarok epic which is way different than the bubblegum tripe that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had the nerve to poop out recently. Go pick some up of these bad boys and enjoy!

 

Rating: 8.5

Verdict: Pull

BATMAN: ONE DARK KNIGHT #3 Review

 

"This Dark -- It's always been there. I fight it.

But the truth is it makes me who I am.

I feel clear, focused...bloodied and bruised, but honed.

This is where I belong.

Down here in the dark.

Alone."

Is Batman a Scorpio? Scorpio rising? I mean this is right out of the Scorpio playbook. Alone in the dark, brooding, relishing the despair. At any moment the need to burn everything to the ground could overwhelm you. I was reading from this script this whole week to be honest. Only difference between me and Bats is I don't have to worry about a ten foot crocodile dude looking to put his croc foot on my fragile punim.

Gee, a Black Label book being awesome again, what's new? I will beat this point over and over again: Marvel, DC is kicking your butt.

Now this is a great Bat Book. Get it. You don’t have to read the review, but if you must here goes. I mean, this felt like an ‘Escape from New York’ story. Some high profile villain is being transferred from one jail cell to a more secure one. He’s ambushed, there’s a black out in Gotham and Bats has got to get him to the cell while all the gangs and corrupt cops of New York descend on him. Sign me up! No frills. No Bat Family nonsense. Just Batman in a classic suit with his wits, muscles and limited gadgets to complete the mission. This is why we read Batman. Jock gets it right.

 

He really takes our hero through the ringer until the final panel: bloodied, in tatters, his cowl tied around his head to prevent it from falling off. Look, we know he's gonna pull through but as a writer if you can elicit a pang of doubt 'he's gonna make it, right?' even though your audience has to assume that he will, then you've succeeded. 

Minor gripe: I wish he incorporated the ‘map’ a bit more that showed his progress and where the gangs were as time kept a ticking; would’ve been a cool touch. I also wish this wasn’t just 3 issues. For some reason it seems these prestige formats get 3 shots to make it to the finish line. Some get more but I can see this as being a 5-6 issue series rather than 3. The finale of this issue seemed a bit hurried, a bit too tidy. It worked just fine but after a grueling journey I would have liked to have seen a more extensive wrap up of the story.

 

Hey Marvel! Why don’t’ YOU imprint your version of a Black Label. I’ll pony up to not have to see your God awful ads on your cheap paper stock. I’ll pay the 6-8 bucks for a gritty adult Marvel story that’s not all about your cinematic pooh-niverse. I digress.

From the first pitch Jock swings and knocks it into the upper deck with a no holds barred grueling dark Batman tale. It’s worth every penny. It deserves a Prestige Format and is a great read with a cup of tea right before you hit the sack at night. Thank you Jock!

 

RATING: 9.3

VERDICT: PULL

MIND MGMT: BOOTLEG #1 Review

 

Mind MGMT was a stupendous mind bending comic series…at least I think it was. I’m not sure I read it. I probably did although now that I think of it I’m not sure if it was a comic series, wasn’t it an escape room? Wait, I’m looking at the trade hardcover I bought, it’s right in front of…wait where did it go? Okay, so I’m definitely holding this Mind MGMT Bootleg comic book in my hands. Well, I’m not now because I’m writing about it so maybe I didn’t hold it although in all likelihood I held something that was related to the Mind MGMT franchise? Brand? Program? Code of Ethics? What I purportedly (their word not mine) held in my hand is a mini series about a recruit from the fictitious real world of make-disbelieve of Zanzibar who finds his way to a building. The etymology of ‘building’ is structure (circa 1300) so what I saw in what I may have been reading may have not been a building at all but a literary construct meant to be deconstructed by construction workers. Somewhere along the line, well not really a line, more like a rope; a wiggling rope. Somewhere along the line someone, or perhaps multiple people/persons that look like Chuck Norris from the 70s appears in a room with the recruit and attempts an attempt of something. I loved that moment, if it actually happened. Oh, there’s now a game called Mind MGMT although you can’t buy it yet. Maybe it already has been discontinued. Maybe it’s not a game. Maybe I’m playing it right now.

 

If there’s a Mind MGMT comic for you to buy go buy it, if it’s there. Where there is is up to you. It could be a record. Either a vinyl record or just a recording of you buying what you think might be something related to whatever it is you think it is. The verdict? Well the etymology of verdict is ‘true saying’ from both French and Latin. But thing is I’m not saying anything, know what I’m saying?

 

Rating: 9.0

Verdict: PULL

SUPERMAN: SPACE AGE #1 Review

 

I don’t read Superman stuff, never did. Just not my cup of tea, no particular reason. But I dunno, I saw the preview of this, saw the creative team and something in me said: Get it. There was an air about it that felt like it was going to be special. And I dunno, I enjoyed it, dunno why necessarily. The word of the day is: Dunno! It wasn’t mind blowing. I don’t have super duper references from previous Supe comics so I’m not sure if the whole JFK thing is new or if it’s been done. Whatever the case may be it was interesting and lent itself to the gravitas of the story. We get a lot of ‘origin story’ here which at this point in popular culture is like retelling the story of Moses; everybody pretty much knows the basic plot points. I mean I don’t know what to say other than I enjoyed it. The art was fantastic. I felt like I was taking in panels that you would see in a comic book art museum. Although, sometimes the faces of the characters melted into one another; they were a bit too symmetrical. Sometimes Bruce Wayne looked like Clark Kent who looked like Lex Luthor who looked like Lois Lane seeing her article printed in the wrong font.

 

Was it worth ten bucks? Probably not. It was an enjoyable ‘end of the world’ story which for whatever reason felt important enough to pick up. The writing was exceptional and there were a lot of powerful inspirational lines that will stay with you after you read the book. I think that I’ll stick around for the second installment; not 100% sure. We’ll see what my pull looks like the week Book 2 comes out.

 

Rating: 8.0

Verdict: Pull Pending

 

 

BATMAN #125 (2022) Review

 

There are so many Bat Books out there that I have no idea who Batman is anymore. They all melt him into one mush of a character mock-up. I’m a huuuuuge Batman fan but my comic book relationship with him is complicated. He’s morphed into multiple dimensional entities with stories that exist on so many timelines you might need an employee from CERN to open up a wormhole to get you back to your apartment in one piece. In general, I’ve stayed away from the main Batman titles: Batman & Detective Comics. Not because I’ve wanted but because they’ve been average at best for the past several years.

 

When the New 52 launched and Synder and Capullo started their mind blowing run of the Bat Century it was the best of times to read Batman. To this day I consider ‘Court of Owls’ to be one of the greatest story lines in Batman history. I’m actually shocked they never turned it into a movie (hint hint). Unfortunately, as is usually the case with genius, a non-genius (in this case DC) will step in and muck things up which is what happened at the final few issues of that legendary run. Since then it’s been a whole lot of mnyeh, nothing special. I’ve dipped in and out over the years to see how things are going and I’ve always taken my tootsies out of the Batman pool.

 

Well now Meta Human Writer God Chip Zdarsky is on the book. Will we get a XXX Cover of cartoonish Bats banging the cosplay Cat a la Sex Criminals? We can only dream. Obviously the anticipation of Zdarsky’s run was great and even I had to dip my tootems back in the Bat Pool to see if Snyder was going to get a run for his money. The answer? Nope.

 

Really? Penguin’s killing rich people. Penguin’s framing the Bat. Robin has a boo boo. There’s Casino drama. The Batcave once again has been infiltrated by a new robotic villain blah blah. If I had a Bat Cave that was non operational I would still booby trap the hell out of it: bear traps, stink bombs, you name it. Hell if the ancient Mayans can have 500 year old darts firing at you from all angles in movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark you’re telling me Batman can’t protect the cave with a little Bat Sinkhole?

 

Failsafe? Nah, just Fail will do. Look, there’s way too many Bat Books out there to be average. I’ve already got three other Bat titles on my plate. This one is burnt asparagus at best. I’ll stick to DC’s Black Label, which has been beyond amazing, and leave their titular series and their four hundred and thirty three variant covers alone.

 

 

Rating: 6.2

Verdict: Drop

DAREDEVIL #1 (2022) Review

 

 

The Marvel Comic Book Universe is a flaming dumpster fire of drivel and balderdash. I can’t tell you why per se except that I’ve all but dropped every single Marvel title except one: Daredevil. It’s not like I want to hate Marvel. I grew up on Marvel; the Hulk, Spidey, Thor you name it. Yet the past several years has seen this Gargantuan Media Giant turn the great Marvel name into pure Bleccch when it comes to comic books. I try and try them out and end up with a ‘SMH’ every time. But Daredevil, Daredevil has been consistently great.  

 

Maybe that’s why they turned the title into their most recent Blockbustin’ Crossover Mega Event where they want you to buy 500 comics to read the entire story. It was the only way you were ever going to read the other titles to begin with. I passed like always. I don’t like having a hook with ‘the entire plot’ dangling on it. One bite and now I’m reading thirty X Books and a Dinosaur Girl something or other to find out why Daredevil gets testy around Matcha Lattes. 

 

Chip Zdarsky is writing everything now. I assume he’ll write presidential speeches soon. For all we know he’s writing all the product descriptions on half the items on Amazon. I first read a Zdarsky tome with ‘Sex Criminals’ so I find it quite funny that a guy who was finding ways on how to inject plot points about banging somebody’s hairdo with your schlong is now the darling of the Big Two. At any rate, Daredevil has been great for about a decade. They’ve had sensational creative teams one after the other and Zdarsky’s run has been phenomenal so I was excited to get back into this series. First I had to figure out what the hell was going on since I missed the entire Devil’s Comic Book Sales Pitch. Then, it became somewhat clear, ‘Oh Elektra and Stick are setting up shop to take down The Hand on an island’ awesome sauce. I didn’t get the whole Murdock interrogation panels. I loved the Spidey Team-Up stuff. I scratched my head at the Fisk’s kid plotline.

 

Overall it’s a major set-up issue and it probably makes a lot of sense for those who had a couple Gs to spend on the entire Devil’s Reign story line. It wasn’t anything special but given Zdarsky’s track record and the fact that these are his final Hornhead issues: I’m in.

 

Rating: 7.5

Verdict: Pull