"Post No. 631"

Got in that copy of Dawn (Sirius) #1 (1995). Of all the T&A titles from the 1990's, there were just a handul that peaked any interest in me. Dawn was one of them due to the wonderful work of J.M. Linsner. The other two that I really liked were Shi by Billy Tucci (published by Crusade Comics), and Harris Comics' version of Vampirella. Everything else was just a bit too fan-boy-ish for my tastes, including the multitude of titles from Image at that time which wanted to grab at all the lonely teenage boys with various suggestive sexual poses. (Not to say that the titles I did like didn't on occasion have that as well, but at least they had a decent script to go along with it).

And, besides, if I wanted sex in a comic book I could read Omaha the Cat-Dancer (which was better written as well.)

So now some comic book reviews...

Good friend, Dave Jones, gave me a stack of comics to read, so here's some reviews of the ones that I felt deserved some comments.

Batman Cacophony L.S. (DC) #1 (2009) deals with "Deadshot" breaking into the Arkham Asylum to kill The Joker, because one of The Joker's associates had mixed other chemicals with his lethal smile formula, and a kid dies from it. But Deadshot runs into a snag when an unknown costumed being shoots him in the head and breaks The Joker out of the asylum. Turns out Deadshot had extra protection in his mask that stopped the bullet and when Batman "resurrects" him, he then has him arrested and goes after The Joker for the Brazilionth time. Looks like a pretty good story, but would take more issues to make a accurate review.

The Contingent (Mind Storm Pub.s) #1 (2008) has all the feeling of some fanboy that's read one too many X-men comics. Typical title about a bunch of super-powered beings, one of which accidently kills one of her teammates with her power. Lots of pictures...little meat to the story.

Haunted Tank L.S. (DC-Vertigo/2009) #1 deals with that old Civil War ghost of Jeb Stuart returning once again to help his descendents during battle, but this time it has a new twist when Jeb discovers the descendent is of a black persuasion. Lots of tension between the ghost and his great,great,great whatever, and sort'a funny at times. 'Wouldn't mind reading more of these.

March of Ultimatum Sage and War of Kings Saga (Marvel, 2009's). About all I can say about titles such as these is that it's a sad shame that Marvel believes it has to publish such just so that their readship can understand exactly just what the f**k is going on in their comics. Over-complicating storylines over a long period of time can have one of two effects. It can either get its readers engrossed in a myriad number of a companies titles and cause these readers to purchase more of the companies books, thus increasing sales, or...it can cause the readers to become totally confused with all of the bs and finally get to the point that the whole thing turns them off from the over-load and causes these readers to stop purchasing any of the comics. Whatever happened to the days when one could read 15 titles from a single company, and still understand all of the continuity between each of these titles? I believe it must have ended in the late 1970's, at least with Marvel.

Sandman: the Dream Hunters L.S. (DC-Vertigo) #1 is a hard comic to beat, what with a combination of talents such as Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell. based on a legend which deals with a badger and a fox and a monk it's more than a typical Sandman story, and proves that Gaiman and Russell have neither lost any of their great style and craftsmanship. Highly recommended.

Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion L.S. (DC) #1 (2009) is also excellant. Written/drawn by Billy ("Shi") Tucci, it's different from other work by this creator and shows he has what it takes to produce fine work based on characters other than those he's personally created. The tale begins with the Invasion of Normany towards the end of World War II, and shows the gritty and lethality of the war in a realistic manner. I think Joe Kubert would very much approve of this treatment of "Sgt. Rock and Easy Co.".

The X-Files (Wildstorm) #1 (2009). I used to read Topps version of this comic based on a tv show quite a lot. In fact, I read at least the first couple of dozen issues, as well as their specils, annuals and digests. So for a new company to publish a title based on "The X-Files", I'm pretty picky about it. This first issue's storyline begins with a man who appears to have committed suicide, but he sister thinks better and asks Mulder and Scully. Into their investigation they discover that the wound in the man's head was not an entrance wound, but an exit wound, showing that something killed him from the inside out. They discover that this man was involved with a company that produces biological weapons. Thus the mystery begins, and Mulder believes that since he "knows something" now, he'll be the next on their hit list.

So far, I find it not as well written or drawn as the Topps version. perhaps it needs several more issues to mature. I'm a little surprized at how large a fan-following this show has here several years after its cancellation, but in general, the shows were quite good, or at least good enough to warrent a couple of follow-up theatrical releases (the first of which I thought was only so-so).