EXCITING COMICS #101 (FINE…#32) ANTARCTIC PRESS
In February 1940, Whiz Comics #2 from Fawcett Publications marked the creation of a new magical character called Ibis the Invincible! Created by Bill Kingett, Ibis would appear in Whiz Comics until isuue #155 (along with 6 issues of his own title and appearances in America’s Greatest #4 and All Hero #1) proving the appeal the character had. DC would later gets their hands on the character, revamp it and then totally ignore it. And yet, keen eyed viewers might have seen Ibis’s talisment, the Ibistick in the backround in the first Shazam movie. Luckily for us Ibis is back and in the hands of Ben Dunn and Alfred Perez. Best part is that Dunn chose to go the reincarnation route instead of creating a new character. He also went back to the classic stories from the 1940’s including Set and Black Pharaoh. Plus we also get the second chapter of Jeff Winstead’s ,the Alternate! Yet again, Antartic Press does it again. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
GODZILLA BEST OF KING GHIDORAH IDW COMICS
While a jumbo sized collection of King Ghidorah will always catch my eye, it’s a shame that this is just a collection of former appearances. With chapters from The Half-Century War, Kingdom of Monsters, Oblivion, and Godzilla in Hell, the bits offered make you want to run out to your local back issue boxes and find the whole story. And while these four segments are really well done, I only wish that some new materials could have been added to give regular readers some bonus. Long time Godzilla comic readers only get some new cover art for their hard earned money. However, new readers will be seeing some of this kaiju’s best work. 7 out of 10 Grahams.
MILESTONE 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 DC COMICS
1993 was an interesting year at DC Comics. Living through that year, I remember the hype and interest initial generated by the characters of the Dakotaverse. At first, there were many comparisons with the new characters. Icon was a version of Superman, Hardware was a version of Iron Man, etc. But for those that actually read those first few issues, it was clear that these were comics that were definitely new. Milestone was one of those comic lines that had an intreging and troubled life that is worth the trip down the rabbit hole. This special takes some interesting looks at these characters. Obviously, popular mainstay Static shows up in more than one story but all of the Dakotaverse gets a fair shake here. While a bit confusing at certain points (unless you were a big fan back in the day) these stories give us a broad look at the whole of the Milestone Universe. Really something to take a look at. 7 out of 10 Grahams.
SPECTREMAN HEROES #5 ANTARTIC PRESS
Finally, we get the Spectreman story! After hosting tails of other heroes for the past four issue, our title character gets to have a story of his own. Not only him but classic villains Dr. Gori and Karras are back too! It seems like forever since Spectreman showed up on television screen in 1971 making it the first major superhero show of the 1970’s. Matt Frank’s story provides some interesting back story as to what happened to the characters and introduces us to a new generation of mankind that still hasn’t learned it’s lesson. The best part however is the strange and question raising ending that really needs to be explored in detail. Hopefully Antarctic Press can extend the series in the near future. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
BATMAN SUPERMAN WORLD’S FINEST #13 DC COMICS
Just when I thought this title could not get any cooler, Mark Waid reminds us the joy of being a comic nerd. Waid reintroduces us to another mainstay of the original series. Many back up features were included in the very first World’s Finest series. Aquaman, Green, Arrow, Congo Bill/Congorilla, but none were as popular in the 1970’s as Metamorpho. Metamorpho not only had secondary stories in World’s Finest but actually became a integral part of some of the main stories of the time. So including Metamorpho here was a trip down memory lane. And with Dan Mora putting his own artistic spin on the hero’s origin, this one is mind-blowing. And while I won’t spoil the cliffhangar, I will point out that this story borrows classic elements (NO PUN INTENDED) from stories of the time! This is a perfect example of how DC should be viewing their universe. This one has it all. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
A LITTLE FLASHBACK TO REMIND EVERYBODY WHAT THE DEAL WAS BACK IN THE DAY WITH WORLD’S FINEST
