CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #5 FACSIMILE EDITION
DC continues to pick and choose what we can revisit of 1985’s Crisis. But at least this go around, we get one of the coolest covers ever drawn! A veritable Who’s Who and the challenge was could you name them all. And this issue must have been a real challenge for artists George Perez and Jerry Ordway. This issue simply exploded with random cameos that overfilled panel after panel. The Monitor has been killed. Alex Luthor of Earth 3 has been promoted. Pariah is more confused than ever. And Lyla/Harbringer is racked with guilt over her betrayal. Barry Allen, Red Tornado, and Psycho-Pirate are trapped with the Anti-Monitor. Oh and all of time and space goes wonky! Which is why Sgt. Rock is hanging out with Sinestro and Atom Smasher. Tomahawk is being interviewed by Lois Lane. Caveman Anthro and his prehistoric family appear at Wayne Manor. Earth 2’s Green Arrow and Ultra Boy examine Wildcat’s shattered legs. And we meet a certain Yolanda Montez and get our first real look at the Anti-Monitor. Oh and did I mention a final page with the Freedom Fighters of Earth X getting ready to sacrifice themselves to fight of the anti-matter energy wall! While writer Marv Wolfman’s story started out slow, it really started to pick up steam here. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
GIANT-SIZE THOR #1 MARVEL COMICS
There was a time long ago, when Giant-Size Marvel comics were a real bang for the buck. And this current version isn’t half bad. Al Ewing’s story is interesting and has a classic team-up vibe much like the Thor/Hercules team-up issues from the 1960’s and 70’s. My only minor grip is that toward the end of the story, Thor seems to get a little … doofy. As for the reprint filler story, they made a good choice with the Hercules story from Thor #356. A quaint little tale of heroes and bullies That frankly, I would have ended with Hercules crushing Tonmy the bully’s hands so that he could never again destroy budding artist Matthew’s sketchs. Sure, dinner at Avenger’s Mansion is cool but not as cool as watching my nemesis crying in pain. I would have thought Hercules would get that. Ah well, those were kinder times. 7 out of 10 Grahams.
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #3 DC COMICS
For those of you have been out of town for the past two weeks, don’t worry writer Leah Williams gives us some backround with evil Jonni DC clone, Pipi. And while the ladies try to escape the death trap, Punchline is shopping for investors. And again, I can’t help but think of Westworld with all the cowboy stuff happening here. With only one issue left, the Sirens are going to have to work fast but that’s hard to do surrounded by mind controlled zombies. Will Punchline succeed in her plans or will of heroines succeed? The good news is you just have to wait until next week for the big finally. 7 out of 10 Grahams.
YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE #1
Well, Antarctic Press is at it again, this time raiding the VHS vaults of your local Mom&Pop Video Store. And I for one am glad to see this trend continuing. But this time, we are really going outside the box. This is the collected version of the Argentinian comic, Yor the Hunter (or as it is known in it’s homeland, Henga elcazador). Because that’s how this all started. Written by Ray Collins (aka Eugenio Juan Zappietro) and drawn by artist Juan Zanotto, the comic started in 1974 and first appeared in the Argentine comic magazine, Skorpio. And was the turned into a 1983 film directed by Antonio Margheriti and starred American TV’s Captain America, Reb Brown. The stunning black and white artwork are truly a sight to behold and bring me back to the good old days of black and white horror magazines of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. A simple plot as Yor faces the primitive and dangerous world he lives in. This is a treat that cannot be missed. 10 out of 10 Grahams.
CRITTER #4 ANTARCTIC PRESS
Writer Tom Hutchison keeps the story of Cassia interesting as well as the secondary characters. You can see why, the stories of Critter have continued since 2011. At this point, the Critter Universe is hugely expanded and we don’t seem to have a bad character in the batch. Cassia has to answer to Paradox and his weird take on the timeline. Did I mention, he’s also a bit of a jerk and has a secret agenda of his own. But things are changing as Cassia leaves to join Cougar’s team. This is like a soap opera with super-heroes. 8 out of 10 Grahams.
