NEW CHAMPION OF SHAZAM! #3 DC COMICS
Definately worth checking out if only for the alternate cover by the amazing Jen Bartel! Josie Campell manages to keep walking the fine line between college girl drama and following in the footsteps of Fawcett Comics’ original storytelling. Uncle Dudley is back as the world becomes aware of Mary Marvel and isn’t especially nice about it on-line. Being turned into a meme and watching the internet become flooded with negative comments, Mary’s quick mind has discovered Uncle Dudley’s underground homeless shelter but what has happened to all the missing people. Now the problem is what is she going to do about it? Evan “Doc” Shaner’s art works wonders for the title and give it a special feel making it his own somewhat along the lines of what C.C. Beck’s art did in the original series. Not a brainbuster involving multiple crossovers or really any cameos, this is a good clean fun book. And with only one issue to go before the mini-series ends, now is the perfect time to jump on. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
VAMPIRESS CARMILLA #12 WARRANT PUBLISHING
Only gathering momentum as the title progresses, Issue 12 is packed full of black and white goodness. Starting off with a full blown Carmilla story to wet your whistle, this issue doesn’t take any sort of breather! And with an all-star studded group of creative talent such as Don Glut, Artie Godwin, and Ralph Reese why should it. Dead wives, deceptively attractive aliens, and zombie paintings all manage to charm the readers. And with Dracula ready to have it out with Carmilla for destroying his castle, this goes beyond entertaining. And after 12 issues, this magazine proves that there is always a need and an audience for these types of stories! For fans of horror, 1970’s black and white magazines or just a twisted story. I give it a 10 out of 10 Grahams.
TIME FOR ANOTHER EDITION OF WAYBACK WENDESDAY …
DETECTIVE COMICS #449 (JULY 1975) DC COMICS
The 1970’s were an interesting time in the world of the Batman. Robin had left to go to college and become the “Teen” Wonder. Batman and Commisssioner Gordon were best of buds. Writers like Elliot S! Maggin were throwing all kinds of unique cases at the Dark Knight and artists like Ernie Chua and Jose’ Garcia-Lopez were doing wonderful things on the page. All under the watchful eye of Editor Julius Schwartz (Ah! Bean Soup!) And while no one expected Batman to be riding on a horse in the heart of Gotham herding cattle (an image that I swear inspired the scene in Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns!) there was no doubt that back then, he could do it! One of the other things that the 1970’s had was a desire to show that Detective Comics was about detectives. In retrospect, the stories during this era of Detective Comics were more about solving the case and how it was done. Ballistics, finger prints, shoe impressions were all standard in the plots. Not only that but Detective Comics also featured back up stories featuring some of the best detectives that the DC Universe had. In this issue we get a bonus feature with Elongated Man who was a great detective in his own right and his feature told the story of his birthday along with a special guest star. But other issues would spotlight such detectives at Tim Trench, Roy Raymond, and the Odd Man! When you slapped your hard earned quarter down on the counter, you knew you were getting your money’s worth! 10 out of 10 Grahams.