VAN HELSING RETURN OF THE LEAGUE OF MONSTERS #1 ZENESCOPE
I’m just a sucker for anything featuring a League of Monsters. Whether it was Captain Marvel’s Monster Society of Evil from 1943 or the 1976 Marvel Legion of Monsters or even 1974’s Monster League of Evil from Superman #276, put a bunch of classic monsters in a group and I will definately check it out. So when Zenescope gave me 32 pages of the Return of the League of Monsters, I needed to check it out. And to be honest, I wasn’t disappointed. Dracula’s Daughter, Frankenstein and his Bride, the Beast of Exmoor (aka Werewolf), and the Invisible Woman make for an excellent team up and an overwhelming attack force for Van Helsing. And while they are not exactly Universal’s tride and true versions (C’mon Alessandro Uezu, give that werewolf some real hair!), they do have the same spirit behind them and that speaks volumes. It makes for quite the shame when you find out what happens to them during the cliffhanger. But no spoilers here. With what appears to be a series of one-shots followed by a part 2 of 2 Grahams.
BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES #8 DC COMICS
You know that you are reading a good comic when the writer actually makes fun about the situations the characters find themselves in. 2/3’s of the way through this mini-series has writer Ivan Cohen poking fun at everything that has come before. With this being the 8th team-up between those meddling kids and the caped crusader, the fact that Batman has strengthened his Bat-Rope to hold 5 people and 1 dog! Classic! All in all, this is another comic that I can recommend to all ages. My only problem with this issue is some of the disturbing reality in the story. Batman and Commisioner Gordon finding their hands tied by well-meaning but clueless politicians and the use of live-streaming cameras to show a biased view of a fight between Batman and some henchmen was a bit too close to home. While fun and exciting, this one is a little more basic than some of the stories from the past seven issues. I give it a 7 out of 10 Grahams. 