SESAME STREET #2 ONI PRESS
Writer Stephanie Williams proves once again that she not only knows her Sesame Street but also knows how to write for younger audiences. And artist Beth Hughes does a good job with the characters images. As you can imagine, we have a few lessons that can be learned. With it all taking place in a slower, less stress-filled world. However, two issues in and I realised what I was missing here, the human characters, I was watching the program pretty much from it’s inception in 1969. And while the muppets were definitely what kept me watching, it made more sense to me for the real people to be the ones explaining the life lessons to the muppets. And while I do miss Gordon, his wife Susan, Bob, and Mr. Hooper, I do realize that not having human characters in the mix means that we don’t have to have ‘special episodes’ where the cast must explain to Big Bird that Mr. Hooper had passed away and wouldn’t be coming back to the store. (A real episode that was made when Mr. Hooper actor Will Lee died in real life.) I can’t help but wonder how much better it would be if there was once again real life people living on Sesame Street. This title still presents a great introductory path to reading and interest in comics. I give it a 9 out of 10 Grahams.
GREEN LANTERN CIVIL CORPS SPECIAL #1 DC COMICS
Let’s, for the sake of this review, accept a few Doc opinions. First, having multiple Green Lanterns from Earth is wrong. It goes against the Guardians Master Plan of one Green Lantern per sector. You could have team ups between alien Green Lanterns and you could have a back up in case the main GL was down for the count but that’s it. Second, having multiple colors of power rings was never in my top ten lists. Since every hero has to have an evil doppelganger, Sinestro gets a pass. But these days, the universe of the Green Lantern is so messed up that we are left with a confussing jumble of characters, storylines, and villains. An evil shapeshifting dictator who everyone should have been able to see through is nothing these days. But with all this hodge-podge backround, writers Jeremy Adams and Phillip Kennedy Johnson do manage to keep things moving briskly. They give us our fill of old and new characters, future plot points, and endings to some of the past stories that brought us to this point. Artist Salvador Larroca handles panel after panel of over-filled group shots with breath-taking single page images. And we must give a big shout out to colorist Luis Guerrero. Page after page of characters that glow with different colored light is no easy task. Plus, throw in a reminder that Alan Scott is still a Green Lantern and I’ll take a look. I get the impression that this special was necessary to clear up some of the clutter so that the new All In Green Lantern title can continue unimpeded. A fun ride that did little to bring me back into the Green Lantern fold. 7 out of 10 Grahams.
WAYBACK WEDNESDAY SPECIAL FEATURE!
5 STAR SUPER-HERO SPECTACULAR (1977) DC COMICS
Ahhhh, the good ole days right before the DC Implosion! 80 page specials for a dollar! They didn’t have to make any sense and this one was a prime example. This one is a bit of a mystery to figure out. While Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash all had regular titles, Aquaman was appearing in Adventure Comics and the Atom was appearing from time to time in Action Comics as a backup feature. So it wasn’t really like you were getting something you couldn’t see elsewhere. The stories did not interact with one another and there seems to be no logical reason for these particular heroes to be appearing here. But this is a prime example of reading comics in the 1970’s! We didn’t need a reason and if you were brave enough to risk a dollar (lotta money back then – you’ll have to trust me!) what you received was nothing more than brilliant. Cary Bates, Irv Novick, and Frank McLaughlin creating a Silver Age version of Jonie Swift, a female version of the Flash! Denny O’Neil and Joe Staton throwing Green Lantern a philosophical debate as to the nature of life in the universe! Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, and Jack Abel fighting against a sun based villain while morning over his recently deceased son! The Atom travelling in time thanks to Paul Kupperberg, Steve Stiles, and Bob McLeod! And the big finally as Batman takes on the all purpose villain, Kobra, thanks to Martin Pasko, Mike Nasser, and Joe Rubinstein! Thought provoking action and excitement! As regular comics were making the transition from 30 to 35 cents, this one would make your parents eyes bug out with the price tag. Luckily, comic fans were smart back then and pointed out that this was a bargain as you got five 30 cent comics for only a dollar. Heck Mom, that saves you fifty cents! My kind of book, 9 out of 10 Grahams.