STAR TREK PICARD #1 IDW COMICS
While I absolutely refuse to pay for a streaming service for any show, I must admit that the trailers that can be found everywhere have caught my attention. Luckily the fine folks at IDW are giving me a sneak peak into the backstory for the series. Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson’s story is a definate pick up from the Jean Luc Picard we remember. With a cameo by Geordi LaForge, this story in itself would have made an amazing television program. And the minute you see Angel Hernandez’s take on classic pose Picard on the bridge, you know they got the right artist for the job. This series definately knows its characters and is worth checking out. Especially for Star Trek fans. I give it a 9 out of 10 Grahams.
TALES OF THE DARK UNIVERSE INFINITE CRISIS #1 DC COMICS
James Tynion IV’s story is definately a respect builder for Ted Cord’s Blue Beetle character which is best remembered as being the first super-hero to get too fat to fit in his costume and of course “Bwahahah!” But here, Ted manages to get past that image and show what a good character he might have become under other hands. It’s just a shame that he ends up going off the deep end, (redacted) himself just when it seemed like there would be a bit of light in a Dark Multiverse tale, kills (redacted), and plunges the world into mindless slavery. This glimpse into the Dark Multiverse has some twists and turns that make it much more than just a depressing look at the DC Universe. I give it a 7 out of 10 Grahams.
JOHN CONSTANTINE HELLBLAZER #1 DC COMICS
I will admit that Simon Spurrier’s take on Constantine is definately buried in the roots of the character. But Spurrier manages to do the unthinkable and actually bring our old beloved John into 2019. Under the guise of being in jail, an older Constatine returns to his old neighborhoods to fins the cigarettes cost too much, the pubs are now trendy microbreweries, and all his old mates are gone. This is still the ole smart-arse, bad-arse from Vertigo but there is a bit of vulnerabilty that I appreciate. This is a man that is clearly out of sync with the times. And it is definately a trait that i can appreciate and identify with. I give it an 8 out of 10 Grahams.
RETROFAN MAGAZINE #7 TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
While a little outside the norm, I couldn’t help but wish to offer up some commentary. This volume was tailor made for me. First and foremost Jaclyn Smith was my Angel. Her tragic back story involving being locked in a dark closest and having her doll taken away just added to her mystery. Sure Farrah had the beauty and Kate had the brains, Kelly Garrett had both and while having the trading cards and a few other trinkets, I was absolutely floored by the images of the world’s largest Charlie’s Angel collection. Although I will admit to being a little disappointed in none of the pictures showing the Jaclyn Smith collage poster that I was denied as a young man back in the day as one of the tiny pictures in the poster was that of Kelly in her white bikini which my mother thought would upset my grandmother when she would visit. But throw in the original Captain Action, the Dick Van Dyke show, Larry Storch, and the Marvel World Playset (Yes, I had it and like many others was disturbed to find that the moving and removing of the cardboard cutouts from their plastic bases caused the bottoms to fray.) With writers like Scott Shaw! and Jack Condon, this is a magnificent roller coaster ride through my childhood. I just fear that I may have reached an age where I need my own magazine to remember my past! I give it a 9 out of 10 Grahams.
ALTER EGO MAGAZINE #162 TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
A friend and I have this debate between Alter Ego and Back Issue magazine. He likes the stories and subject matter of Back Issue as the places and times featured there are rememberances of what he was reading back in the day. And while I don’t disagree with him, I am more of a research person and fascinated with what came before those day. I was the kid that was buying DC 100 pagers back in the 1970’s not because of the cool Neal Adams covers or the new stories but due to the reprinted stories from the 1940s and 50’s. And this is issue is a perfect example of what I mean. Characters and prelimary sketchs of early versions of Batman and Wonder Woman? Unseen versions done by such classic creators as Hal Sherman and Lee Harris! Would Wonder Woman been the success she is if she had been done in a powder blue outfit with white outline and red stars. This is comic history in the making! I give it a 10 out of 10 Grahams.
