LEGION OF EXCEPTIONAL GORILLA MEN #1 AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY
After the amazing success of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, it seemed to give dozens of creative teams the incentive to create their own weirdly titled super teams. And so the late 80’s and early 90’s gave us such titles as Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, GI Jack Rabbits, Geriatric Gangrene Jujitsu Gerbils, and Mildly Microwaved Pre-Pubescent Kung-Fu Gophers. (HONESTLY, THESE ALL EXIST!) And what writer Alexander Banchitta and artist Gerardo Gambone have done is tap that vein of absurdity and wrapped it in a satire of X-Man comics. While spotlighting some of the over the top violence of a certain clawed mutant as well as a oversized robot gorilla with the ability to counteract the heroes powers, it does deliver some clever in-jokes. I give it a 7 out of 10 Grahams.
POWER GIRL SPECIAL #1 DC COMICS
While I am on board for any Golden Age Earth 2 stories DC wants to throw my way, this one is a bit odd. With the weirdness generated by the whole Lazarus deals, the idea of Power Girl being the Earth 2 Supergirl is all but gone. Leah Williams’s story (coming off of her back up story in Action) makes it clear that Power Girl is moving on with her life and Earth 2 is a thing of the past. So while I appreciate yet another super powered member of Clan Jor-el, this is certainly no Justice Society story. Luckily, Joanne Starer’s Fire and Ice backup story (and prelude to their new title) is wonderfully emotional and funny. My only real question was this one-shot necessary. Pretty sure we could have done the Power Girl stuff over in Action and he Fire and Ice story could have appeared almost anywhere. I give it a 6 out of 10 Grahams.
SANJULIAN’S QUEENS OF THE LOST WORLD #1 OPUS ART
While no one can argue the exquisite fantasy art of Sanjulian is jaw dropping, I am not sure how I am about creating backstories and plots for several of the sword-welding women of his covers. Writers Leah Moore and John Reppion do a fine job of introducing us to these characters and scenarios, it don’t feel like enough. While I respect the idea of looking at an image of a character and wondering what the backstory is, It doesn’t seem necessary. Silvia Califano’s art does seem to have come straight from the pages of a Warren black and white magaize of the 1970’s except highlighted by Valentina Califano’s colors. And unfortunately with similar situations over at Zenescope, bringing out 4 or 5 new sword and sorcery woman coming together rather round robin has been done before. While interesting to look at, there is nothing to grab and shake me. I give it a 6 out of 10 Grahams.
THE ROCKETEER #1 IDW PUBLISHING
The problem with revisiting a fan favorite title like the Rocketeer is that you can’t help but be compared to all that has come before. I mean, you’ve even got a pretty good movie stacked against you. And taking on the Dave Stevens opus which had B-horror movie legend Brinke Stevens as the model for the Bettie Page inspired … well … Betty and the whole gang from the Bulldog Cafe is doomed to never live up to the past versions. However, IDW does a hell of a good job with this one shot featuring short, interesting tail featuring some wonderful cameos and easter eggs including a reference to an earlier Rockteer storyline. Tapping an amazing well of talent including Adam Hughes and Jae Lee doing what they do best, even the pinup pages are eye-catching. This acts as a fond look back at the memory of Dave Stevens. I give it a 10 out of 10 Grahams.
