Here In Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo has found lots of fun new comic books on the That's Entertainment new issues shelves, so let's get right to reviewing four of them and see how they stack-up against each other:
Good King Leonardo has found lots of fun new comic books on the That's Entertainment new issues shelves, so let's get right to reviewing four of them and see how they stack-up against each other:
Madame X (One-Shot)
Publisher: D.C.
Comics
Rob Williams: Writer
Trevor Hairsine: Art
Antonio Fabela:
Colors
D.C. Comics has a new one-shot Madame Xanadu comic book on the current
issues shelves. For the uninitiated, the good Madame Xanadu has
been a mystical soothsayer and magic practitioner since her DC universe
debut back in the 1970's. She began her life centuries
ago as Nimue, younger sister to the evil Morgan LeFey of the Camelot
legend. One of my favorite versions of Madame Xanadu was the 2008-2011
Eisner-nominated title written by Matt Wagner with art by Amy Reeder Hadley,
which nicely highlighted our heroine's life experiences from her
Camelot days to the modern era. These days, Madame Xanadu is a team
player in DC's Justice League Dark title. This new one-shot Madame X
comic book is scripted by Rob Williams with art by Trevor Hairsine and colors
by Antonio Fabela.
The storyline is entitled "A Voodoo Zombie Mystery!" and
presents a reinterpretation of the standard Madame Xanadu storyverse.
Here, she's the former Madame X who has fallen from grace and now
lives in New Orleans as Nima, eking-out a living for a local law firm whose
senior partner values utilizing her soothsaying powers for his client's
cases. Our story begins as a voodoo mystery; when a prominent city
councilor is murdered, the law firm represents a local voodoo priestess accused
of the crime. Nima and her law firm buddy Salinger follow an
investigative trail that includes credible eyewitness accounts of a zombie
committing the murder. I won't be a spoiler and reveal the murderer, but
I will comment that our pair of investigators follow a trail lined with
many occult twists, turns and surprises before the true guilty party is
revealed. The one-shot storyline ends on a very dramatic bridge to
potential future issues, as Nima receives a dramatic vision of her
partner Salinger shooting her sometime in the future.
This Madame X comic book is a very entertaining "what if?"
reinterpretation of the traditional Madame Xanadu storyverse that
succeeds for a few reasons. First, I liked the "fallen
angel" concept of Madame X, with her living as a down-and-out former
superbeing/celebrity, going from nationally-renowned talk show guest/soothsayer
to quietly rebuilding her life in a new town as a low-level staffer at a
law firm. The reason for her stumble in life is also very relevent
to today's popular culture, as Madame X lost her fortune in a
lawsuit filed by a billionaire who took offense to a Madame X
prediction on his fate. Secondly, the creative team does a great
job of unfolding the plotline against the occult/voodoo background of New
Orleans. Naturally, the whole Madame X character concept fits perfectly
with the spookiness of this city and results in a colorful story setting.
And third, the murder mystery element blends very nicely into this story. The
occult stuff aside, the basic "whodunit" of the story is
well-masked in mystery and takes some nice twists and turns to a satisfying
reveal of the guilty party.
Its clear from the dramatic nature of the story's cliffhanger ending that the
creative team would like to see this one-shot title continue as a multi-issue
story arc, if not a monthly regular comic book title. Based on the high
quality of the plot, artwork and the fun reinterpretation of our heroine's
traditional storyverse, Madame X deserves her shot at a DC universe publishing
lifeline. So a thumbs-up positive review recommendation is well-deserved
for all good DC readers to enjoy this one-shot comic book.
And here's hoping that someone at DC throws Madame X that
publishing lifeline and hauls her to the safety of some future issues
of the occult adventures of Nima/Madame X!
Mara #1
Publisher: Image
Comics, Inc.
Brian Wood: Writer
Ming Doyle &
Jordie Bellaire: Art
Image Comics recently published issue #1 of a six-issue limited comic series
entitled Mara. As with many Image titles, this is a creator-owned
project, with the creators being A-list writer Brian Wood and artists Ming
Doyle and Jordie Bellaire. For the uninitiated, Brian Wood is an
acclaimed comic book writer known for writing scripts and creating storyverses
with strong characters and dialogue on par with non-comic book fiction
such as high quality novels and television series. Among his many
achievements is the award-winning and long-running DMZ comic book title.
During the past year, I wrote a favorable review of his interesting science
fiction eco-adventure comic book series entitled The Massive.
Issue #1 of Mara introduces the science fiction theme of this limited edition
series. A futuristic, highly urbanized Earth society has evolved
its obsessions with world-wide sports and military action/endless warring
to unheard-of heights. The Number One celebrity in this
environment is Mara, a 17-year-old teen who sits at the very top of this
planetary frenzy as the world's best team volleyball star. Not much
action occurs in this kick-off issue; instead, via detailed narrative and
accompanying scenes, we learn the details of Mara's ultra sports celebrity
life, with the entire world endlessly watching her every public move via world-wide
television. The tale takes an unexpected turn in a concluding bridge to
next month's issue, as Mara collapses during the live broadcast of one of
her games and its discovered that she exhibited a weird power in which
with Flash-like speed she had zoomed to the other side of the volleyball court
and tapped the ball in the other team's field of play.
I'll get right to it: this is one bizarre stinkeroo of a comic book, for so
many reasons. But for the sake of our sanity, I'll only comment on four
basic flaws. First, the art is creepily primitive and
mannequin-like, with everyone depicted with the same stiff, overserious facial
expression in every single panel of the comic book. Secondly, the basic
story concepts of this plot are illogical and ridiculous, even for
the laid-back credibility of a fictionalized comic book reality. I just
can't buy into for one comic book reading second the concept of the entire
planet going gaga over team volleyball and having the entire planet's society
in a constant hyper-excited state about it all. Third, the brief
allusions to worldwide militarism being elevated to an equal pinnacle with the
volleyball obsession are also weak and feel flat. And fourth, the reveal
of Mara's Flash-like power is extremely confusing. Is she using her
ultra-fast powers to zip around the court and tank her opponents volleyball
shots, or what? Is she aware of her behavior or is it an involuntary
subconscious action? From the poor presentation of this story scene, one
just can't tell what exactly is going-on with this power.
Even
more disappointing is the unpleasant realization that this poorly-executed
concept came from the pen of Brian Wood, who seems to have excelled in
everything, and I mean everything, that he's previously written by presenting
the reader with emotionally-riveting and realistic stories on the human
condition. It's just so unexpected to see his writing stumble so badly in
this instance. On the plus side, I guess it just shows that he's as human
as the rest of us and is bound to trip-up once in awhile. On the negative
side, it reaffirms for me the downside of the creator-owned concept of comic
book publishing. Once in awhile the occasional dud will shove a more
deserving concept out of the way, as a publisher gambles that fans of an
acclaimed creator will accept even said creator's flawed, D-list ideas and
products. I've called this the "Stan Lee effect" in previous
reviews and also chided Alan Moore and Warren Ellis for taking this occasional
marketing misstep, with Brian Wood now joining this growing list.
But enough venting about this disappointment. To summarize: avoid this
unentertaining, stiff failure of a comic book concept and instead enjoy Brian
Wood at his best with any of the other many Brian Wood-scripted comic book
titles, all available on the new issue shelves and in the back issue
comic book bins at That's Entertainment.
Spaceknights #1
Publisher: Marvel
Comics
Jim Starlin &
Chris Batista: Writers
Chris Batista:
Pencils
Chip Wallace: Inks
Marvel Comics has recently re-booted its out-of-print Spaceknights comic
book concept with a new 3-issue limited series. Since all three issues
are currently on the That's Entertainment new issues shelves, I decided to
review issue #1 to get a feel for this series from its beginning.
Spaceknights was created in 1979 as a tie-in for the Parker Brothers launch of
their Rom, Spaceknight action figure toy. Baby boomers may also recall
the ROM comic book title of that era. The Spaceknights are good cyborg
warriors from the planet Galador who protect the universe fom the evil Dire
Wraiths. Much of the Spaceknights storyverse, from the names of
individual spaceknights to the plot stylings, is a science fiction
updating of the fictional tale of Camelot. This latest Spaceknights
series is scripted by A-list veteran writer Jim Starlin in partnership with
Chris Batista, with art by Chris Batista and inks by Chip Wallace.
Issue #1 actually presents two story segments in this multi-issue story arc,
each of which could standalone as a full-length comic book issue. This
storyverse introduces readers to a new, younger generation of
Spaceknights. Two subplots interweave throughout the twin tales.
When Galador's leader The Prime Director is killed in off-world
battle, its up to his oldest son Balin to gather-up the younger generation of
new Spaceknights and go off to battle the bad aliens. Through the
journey to the off-world battle site and the early stages of the fight itself,
we're introduced to a few older generation holdovers from previous Spaceknight
comics along with the large group of young rookies. A second subplot
interweaves political intrigue and family strife into the storyline. We
learn that Balin is a nasty, cocky jerk who is rapidly failing as a new young
leader of both his friends and his society, while his nicer young brother
Tristan embodies the true values for which the Spaceknights crave for a
leader. There's also a strong political thriller element in this
storyline, as its revealed that a trusted advisor to the Galador royal family
is the deceitful mastermind behind the off-world strife, with the goal of
destroying the royal family and becoming the new dictatorial ruler of
Galador. These sub-plot details all come together in a climactic
battle scene in which a key Spaceknight is killed and good guy Tristan is
blamed by the entire group for not saving his warrior partner's life.
This is a pretty decent comic book return for this 1980's-era comic book
series. There's more storytelling substance to this multi-issue tale than
one might expect for a storyverse based on a line of action figure toys.
Veteran writer Jim Starlin brings his skill and experience to the task by
crafting a tale that's rich with the mix of action-adventure, political
intrigue and personal relationship soap opera details for which the
Arthurian legend stories are well-known for. I particularly liked the
depth of character development of the Spaceknights as well as
their personal interactions with each other. There are enough
elements of romance, personality conflicts and shifting policial alliances
packed into this extra-length comic book to script half a season of a
television soap opera or thriller series. Specific elements of the Arthurian
legend are also nicely incorporated into this science fiction storyline,
including an updating of the King Arthur sword-in-the-stone challenge, which I
won't spoil with any review details.
I also
liked the mixing into the tale of two key characters from the previous
generation of Spaceknights, now middle-aged in this title re-boot. Earth
girl Brandy Clark is the older, now-widowed ruler of Galador, struggling to
lead her people in the interplanetary crisis, while Spaceknight Val/Sentry is a
wise mentor to the young newbies, also struggling to contain the recklessness
of emerging young leader Balin. On a final review note, there's a minor
but interesting story element throughout issue #1 of Galador's leader Brandy
Clark facing growing prejudice from her people due to her roots as a native of
Earth. It introduces the real world issue of discrimination into this
science fiction storyverse and it should be interesting to see how the creative
team explores this subject as the series progresses.
So a well-deserved positive review recommendation for this return of a fan
favorite galactic adventuring series that blends old King Arthur fable elements
with modern-day galactic science fiction storytelling. And we're
certainly getting our money's worth with a comic book that packs two
full-length story segments into each issue for the standard price of a
one-story comic book. So get on down to That's Entertainment and enjoy
this double-story comic for the price of one!
The Phantom
Stranger #4
Publisher: D.C.
Comics
Dan Didio & J.M.
Dematteis: Writers
Brent Anderson:
Pencils
Philip Tan & Rob
Hunter: Inks
Ulises Arreola:
Colors
DC Comics is up to issue #4 of its Phantom Stranger re-boot within
"The New 52" storyverse event. This past September,
I wrote a positive review of issue #0 in this series, which
creatively filled-in some origin elements for DC's magical man of
mystery, establishing his biblical origin as Judas Iscariot, having been
sentenced by a Council of Wizards along with the fabled
character Pandora to walk the Earth trying to make amends for their
past sins. This series also assigns the Stranger with blame for the
origins of The Spectre, thereby making the two character's arch enemies of each
other. The current title is scripted by veteran A-list writer Dan Didio
in partnership with J.M. Dematteis with pencils by Brent Anderson, inks by
Philip Tan and Rob Hunter, and colors by Ulises Arreola.
The issue #4 story segment is entitled "Abduction" and pits the
Stranger against the Justice League Dark. The plot begins the Stranger
living a surprising secret lifestyle as a suburban husband and dad to two small
children. On a routine mall shopping trip with his wife, he's abducted to
a meeting with the aforementioned Justice League Dark. The bulk of the
issue details a lengthy, mostly verbal confrontation between our hero and the
League, in which League leader John Constantine pulls out all the stops in
trying to get the Starnger to join the League in their latest mission against
big bad evil doings. Without being a detail spoiler, after the
unsuccessful recruitment effort, the Stranger returns to his secret life to
find his family abducted out of the timestream. The issue ends in a very
dramatic bridge to next month's story segment, as Pandora arrives and claims
that the abduction is The Spectre's latest move against the duo.
This is one of the better of the many New 52 titles currently out on the new
issues shelves. Led by veteran writer Dan Didio, the creative team
succeeds in all regards with this tale, including beautiful artwork, an
interesting plot and entertaining story details. Four story elements most
intrigued me in this issue. The first is the "take-no-prisoners"
personality of League leader Constantine, who plays a sharp and deadly verbal
game with the Stranger in his recruitment effort, resulting in some twists that
are sure to pit this tough pair against each other again very soon in this
storyline. Secondly, I enjoyed reading of the unexpected domestic side of
the Stranger, in which he attempts to regain a semblance of a normal human
life with his secret family. I haven't been a regular reader of this
title so I don't know about previous developments in this sub-plot, but the
future possibilities of this storythread could hold some major storytelling
potential. Third, the cameos of among all of the various Justice League
Dark members are both interesting and well-balanced in the space of a one-issue
story segment.
The fourth and final noteworthy story element is the bigger plotline here, that
of the growing storm of confrontation pitting The Phantom Stranger and
Pandora versus the omni-powerful Spectre. The creative team is building a
steady level of tension as the clouds gather for this upcoming mystical war,
with the stakes and hatred ratcheting upward with the kidnapping of the
Stranger's innocent family members. All in all, this title is currently
presenting a very interesting and potentially significant new line of fictional
history within the DC storyverse. So my review advice is to check-out the
current issue #4, then do what I plan to do and backtrack to the previous
issues before heading deeper into this storyline with upcoming monthly issues
of The Phantom Stranger.
Contest
Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest challenged you to e-mail us with your proposal for a wacky
pair-up of two dissimilar comic book characters, along the lines of the recent
Mars Attacks Popeye comic book. My example suggestion was Deadpool versus
My Little Pony (yeesh!). And our contest winner is (drumroll,
please)...Gregory Goding, who offers-up the idea of pitting JarJar Binks
against Sauron. Gregory tells us "JarJar is annoying, never shuts up
and looks like he would make a hilarious squishing sound if hit with a large
blunt object. Sauron is more the strong, silent ultimate badass who
wields large blunt objects. I think it has potential." Here's
hoping that we all get to see the annoying JarJar Binks get his due in
Gregory's dream comic book match-up. Congrats to Gregory who wins our
first prize $10.00 gift certificate to That's Entertainment!
New
Contest Challenge Announcement!!!
The Bongo Congo panel of contest judges have decreed that we offer-up to you
this week the following television trivia question. Your challenge is to
e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com no later
than Wednesday, February 6 with the answer to the following question: What
1950's television Western series star is a direct descendent of famous
frontiersman Daniel Boone? In the event of multiple correct entries, our
contest winner will be chosen via a roll of the dice from among the correct
entries. Please note that our first prize $10.00 gift certificate to
That's Entertainment is redeemable for regular retail merchandise or in-store
on-going specials, only.
That's all for now, so have two great NHL-watching (welcome back, Bruins!) and
comic book reading weeks and see you again on Friday, February 8 Here In Bongo
Congo!
