Comics

Penguin Young Readers and Archie Comics Team Up

On October 8th 2010, during a panel discussion, Rob Valois (author and editor) announced a partnership between Archie Comics and Penguin Young Readers to start up a new series of books based upon the lives of comic characters Archie, Veronica, Betty and Jughead.

The middle grade novels will be aimed at children between the ages of 7 to 10. The new series is expected to be launched in early 2011. The expansion of these characters into a new type of medium is hoped to introduce them to a wide range of new readers, as well as appealing to already established fans and collectors.

Lady Mechanika – Review

Steampunk is a genre that seems to be continuously rising in popularity. Steampunk has influenced games such as BioShock, movies like Wild Wild West and comics such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Comic artist and writer, Joe Benitez, mentioned that he was intrigued by the genre, and thus hurriedly went to work on his next creation.

Batman #699 Review

So, riddle me this. What do you get when you scrunch a two-part story in before the anniversary 700th issue of the Bat? A rushed story that had a lot of potential and still manages to be entertaining.

We were introduced last issue to a new face, Sebastian Blackspell. He copied other previous super-villain fans of the series we know: Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, and a dramatic ending with Blackspell using Joker’s toxins on the Riddler, and now the Riddler’s disappeared. Is this the Riddler’s return to super villainy? You’ll have to read the comic to find out.

Sea Bear and Grizzly Shark Review

The concept of this comic alone will make many people want to at least look at it. I know that’s the reason as to why I bought it. The idea makes the imagination run wild, but there is often a downside to this; the customer may build up such a degree of hype in their mind that when they read it they feel something is lacking. I feel that the first story, Sea Bear fell under this problem, whereas the second story Grizzly Shark surpassed it with flying colors.

Batgirl 14 – Review

Third dimensional Dracula’s are on the search for one thing. True love, what all hideous and bloodthirsty monsters desire. However, when Stephanie Brown and Kara Kent’s paths cross, Dracula is going to have to run back to his 1930’s movie because, the Amazing Batgirl and the Sensational Supergirl are on the case! With these two girls fighting multiple Dracula’s, everyone will be able to sleep at night (written by Bryan Q. Miller and artwork by Lee Garbett). With the events of the Road Home coming up for the entire Bat-Family of comic books, this is a good jumping on point for new readers and also those who dropped the series. Writer Chuck “Charles” Dixon and artist Tom Lyle created the character Stephanie Brown.

Lobo: Highway to Hell Part 1 Review

I’ve always been a huge fan of the “smooth” talking and quick fragging Lobo. I picked up the first part of Lobo: Highway to Hell at a convention for 50 cents and read it the minute I got out of there. Unfortunately, it failed almost all of my expectations. Lobo didn’t have as many funny moments as he usually does and the story is not a highway to hell, but a highway to a bad story that is so simplistic it becomes unentertaining. The only redeeming quality is the artwork, which is the best work I’ve ever seen on a Lobo title.

So, the Devil kills a dolphin which causes Lobo to become extremely upset and he takes a cruise ship to hell to kill him. Lobo may not have the greatest stories, but this one is overlooked and the gore is increased to try to disguise this fact. It is one of the oddest ideas I’ve ever heard of, and unfortunately the eccentric tale is not a good thing in this case. I didn’t find myself laughing like I expected to, and Lobo wasn’t as much of a macho man as I would’ve liked. He gets upset when a guy is about to eat a fish! Lobo is supposed to be very close with the dolphins, but for a guy who kills people for a living you would think he could act a little more manly about it.

Wolverine: Savage – Review

Wolverine is the type of character that seems to be everywhere and somehow involved in everything all at once. He is tilting more and more over to the violent side of things and caught up in angst-filled adventures, it seems that he never gets a break. The title of this one-shot may seem serious but upon opening, the word “Sushi” is jumping out at you, and you know that this comic cannot be taken seriously.