THE HERCULOIDS #1 DYNAMITE PUBLISHING
Another of Alex Toth’s genius creations for those of us sitting in front of the television on Saturday mornings from 1967-1969. Put out by Hanna-Barbera, the adventures were typical cartoon fair for the time period even though it returned briefly in 1981. A barbarian family protects the planet Amzot with the help of some giant alien animals against galactic villains. And while the shape shifting Gloop and Gleep were cool, I was always a fan of Igoo. (Who doesn’t like a giant ape made of rock?!) And writer Tom Sniegoski seems to get the original cartoon. Issue one is a great little introduction to the group as the evil Quen-Tel finds a route to the legendary Amzot. Scores of characterless lackeys get cut down by laser beam eyes, crushed under boulders, or trampled under ten feet of destruction. As for Craig Rousseau’s art, we go from a realistic Star Trek-like first page to a rather 60’s cartoon art style for the rest of the book. A nice look back at one of Hanna-Barbera’s shorter run cartoons. 7 out of 10 Grahams.
SANTOS SISTERS #8 AMERICAN NATURE COMICS
Since Fanta-graphics published a collected volume of issue 1-5, hopefully they will help to expand this wonderful example of a local creative team made good. From the fanzine like ads in the back of the book to the variety of new characters and old returning favorites, I have to applaude this title. Eight issues in and my main complaint is that the page count needs to be expanded so we don’t have to break up stories into chapters. Dirk’s pseudo-G.I.Joe militia group, the residents of the Villages of Las Brisas Retirement Community, some racy scenes of Ambar and Dirk all need to be expanded on. Even with some dark story tones happening, this title needs more. This is definately one to be checking out. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
REDCOAT #10 IMAGE/GHOST MACHINE
Once again, the good folks at Ghost Machine prove they know how to make a comic. As our immortal Mr. Pure runs right into the legendary Annie Oakley! The meeting of these two proves to be quite the heart-breaking tale. And writers Geoff Johns & Bryan Hitch continue to come up with new and inventive ways for Simon Pure to die. Escaping a crooked card game without getting shot and jumping on a moving train, he ends up standing up and getting hit in the head by a train bridge support! We are then treated to page after page of Annie and Simon matching each other trick shot for trick shot. You would think that this would make for boring reading but it makes for some interesting character development. And the ending is tear inducing. And how about a classic sci-fi moment as we get a last panel appearance of the Northerner! Things are still looking up for the future of Redcoat. 10 out of 10 Grahams.
ASSORTED CRISIS EVENTS #1 IMAGE COMICS
Image again pick out an odd little title to bring to our attantion. And God love them for doing it. Writer Deniz Camp start us off with a tale of a section of town affected by temporal distortions. You wake up one morning to cavemen walking in front of apartment. While other times there is a full blown war happening right outside your window. No rhyme or reason. And for some reason, the city is renting out the area to annoying film producers. The tale of young Ashley is very realistic as she tries to live and work is this zone. Artist Eric Zawadzki fills the panels with chaos but stops every now and then for a direct close up reaction image of Ashley. Advertised as a ‘…zig-zagging anthology series…’ and if this is how they start it out, I’d say they are on track. 8 out of 10 Grahams.
