Comic Reviews

The Phantom Unmasked #1

There is something intriguing about the Phantom as a character. You’d think that a man dress up in purple that shoots up entire groups of criminals would be ridiculous. Perhaps it’s the lore or the legacy of the character that makes him timeless and his stories endless. Since the Phantom’s return at Moonstone the character has had an on-going series along with several minis.

The story of Unmasked, although about the Phantom, doesn’t follow him. Instead the story opens up with Laughton Brice being offered a job by one of the richest men in the country. Ms. Brice has had a rough life and is recovering from a betrayal that left her life in shambles. The rich man is Desmond Melchizedek and he’s dying, but like all rich men he wants reassurance that there’s an afterlife. He’s hired Ms. Brice to find that evidence. A seemingly impossible task, but she’s been given an endless expense account and a large sum of money to start with a promise of more when she’s done.

Obligatory Comic Reviews 6/23 Edition

Each week there are a ton of comics released and frankly not all of them are worth of long winded reviews. Not all of them stand out and say, “Tell the people about me!” But some of them should be highlighted as good or bad all the same. So here’s this week’s Obligatory Reviews!

Brightest Day #4

It finally happened! The story moved forward! But it might be too little too late. Hawkman and Hawkgirl stand in front of the pink portal for an hour talking. Hawkman’s hand really wants to go in (make your own joke here) and so they bravely walk through the portal. The rest of the book is spent with Dove, Hawk and Deadman in Dove’s bedroom. The “white light” continues to be a practical joker as it teleports Deadman into her room. Dove changes into her costume which alerts Hawk, sending him into a drunken rage. Not only does the pacing for the book change but now the series is ten issues long! I guess the editors figured the story wasn’t quite fleshed out or the read base dropped significantly and they need to make up the cost with two more issues.

Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard #2 – Review

Tales, tales, and more tales, is what you will get with the second chapter of Legend of the Guard. In this issue, we are given three new stories by new creators for each story. The list of creators includes: Alex Kain, Sean Rubin, Terry Moore, Gene Ha and Lowell Francis.

The first to spin a weave is Fenton and he has a story about a mouse that was a member of the guard that lived in a small city called Barkhamsted. The brave mouse that is a member of the guard takes it upon himself to protect his city until recruitment from the guard comes. The mouse feels that every young mouse in every city has potential to someday be part of the guard. He is so brave, that mouse tackles a bear that has been a threat to the city.

Incorruptible #7 – Review

If there’s one thing about this title, it never stops pushing the story forward. Each page just blazes on until reaching the end. It very successfully captures the panic and craziness of the world. Although it’s clear that this book is tied to “Irredeemable”, it still hasn’t gotten to that point in the story that it doesn’t need to remind you of it. The diamond gang is a group of white males that have begun worshiping the Plutonian and misinterpreting his actions. They believe that he’s only killing minorities and so they’ve taken it upon themselves to do the same. They wear the Plutonian’s symbol on their jackets and are terrorizing the city that Max has sworn to protect.

First Wave – The Spirit #3

Issue three wraps up the “Angel Smerti” storyline for the Spirit. In the second issue, the Spirit was badly beaten by Smerti forcing him to crawl to Ellen’s house to be patched up. In his weakened state, he failed to realize that he might be leading her straight to Ellen. Fortunately for the Spirit, Smerti has taken to him. She finds him interesting enough to keep him around a little longer before delivering him to the Octopus.

The issue is basically one long fight scene between Smerti and the Spirit. All the while she’s trying to figure the Spirit out. Then, she stops playing with the Spirit and is forced to deliver him to the Octopus. But somewhere during their fights and conversations the Spirit figures her out and gets underneath her skin.

Fraggle Rock v1 #3 – Review

Archaia Press’ adaptation of the popular children’s show comes to a close. The series in general has been very good at capturing the look and feel of the TV show, but also progressing the series forward. Issue three continues to appeal to reader’s nostalgic side while giving younger readers something to latch onto. This issue follows the same setup as the first two by having one main story and two shorter stories to accompany it.

The first story is entitled, “Where have all the Dozers gone?” After becoming very hungry, the Fraggles go looking for Dozer sticks to munch on. Lo and behold, there are none to be found. In fact there’s not even a Dozer to be found. The Fraggles split up and search Fraggle Rock from head to toe with no signs of the Dozers or their delicious sticks. They decide to ask the Great Trash Heap if she’s seen the Dozers. Upon exiting the cave, they find the Dozers all on their own.

Critter #1

Big Dog Ink’s newest title Critter is a super hero book. You think that with a title like Critter the book would be about cute little animals running around the woods, but it is not at all. The story takes places in Greenville, Michigan and we are introduced to our heroine Cassia Crawford. Cass is a simple girl who lives in the country with her grandmother due to the fact that her mother died. She makes an honest living as a waitress and a super hero, but her grandmother doesn’t know that part.

Cass battles within herself as to why she has she been given these powers and really if she’s ready to be a hero. Lucky for her a man drives by with a kidnapped little girl, immediately answering her questions. Cass quickly goes into action and stops the kidnapper and rescuing the little girl.

Wall-E #7

With Boom! Studios holding the comic book rights to all of Disney’s franchises, you may begin to wonder how things like Cars, Muppets, Uncle Scrooge and Wall-E turn out. How do you capture the magic of Pixar characters on the page? What stories do you tell that won’t bastardize the films?

For Wall-E you simply go back to before the movie started, back before Wall-E knew what to call himself. In the seventh issue the story arc, “Out There” comes to a conclusion. Wall-E and Andy, his first human visitor/friend, are on the hunt for a computer chip that will get Andy back in space.

Darkwing Duck #1

The terror that flaps in the night is back! Boom! Studios continues to adapt some of Disney’s greatest franchises. Finally the afternoon cartoon block gets the respect it deserves with Darkwing Duck coming to comics.

Darkwing’s new story begins with his alter-ego, Drake Mallard, waiting in line at Starducks for coffee. Then a strange power surge occurs that only affects Starducks. DW and Launchpad smell something fishy and decide to investigate. Low and behold it’s Megavolt behind the attack.

Ned The Chainsaw Guy #1

Ned is just your ordinary monster killer! Today he has been given the job of hunting down tentacle-type monsters that pose as little girls to lure their victims in. Of course there’s an easier way to dispose of them, you simply chop off their heads. This really isn’t a problem for Ned considering he carries a giant sword with a chainsaw edge surrounding it. He and his friend Toadie (a Minotaur) converge on a busy city street to make quick work of the little monsters.

Afterwards, they catch a train to a hopping nightclub named the Drip to deliver the severed heads. Ned is pretty famous, what with his bulging muscles, hockey mask and blood soaked clothes, but that doesn’t stop the bartender from swooning him. Yes it’s a very different world that Ned lives in with Blue waitresses and demonic looking bouncers, so it’s easy to see why the ladies find him attractive.