Here In Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo has selected an eclectic mix of new comic book titles for our 2013 year-end review column, so let's get right to it and see how these various new issues stack-up against each other:
Good King Leonardo has selected an eclectic mix of new comic book titles for our 2013 year-end review column, so let's get right to it and see how these various new issues stack-up against each other:
Doc Savage #1
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Chris Roberson: Writer
Bilquis Evely: Art
Daniela Miwa: Colors
Dynamite Entertainment has added to its ever-growing inventory of Pulp-Era
comic book titles with the release of Doc Savage #1. Most baby boomer
pulp fans are familiar with the 1930's-era action-adventurer from the very
popular 1960's-1970's series of Doc Savage paperback novels, published by
Bantam Books and known for their iconic front cover portraits of the
golden-hued Doc, symbolic of his full title of Doc Savage, The Man Of
Bronze. The new Dynamite series is scripted by veteran writer Chris
Roberson with art by Bilquis Evely and colors by Daniela Miwa.
Issue #1 presents a one-issue, stand-alone story plot set in 1933 New York City
that alternates between two storythreads. In the shorter sub-plot, we're
introduced to the college professor/adventurer Doc and his merry team of fellow
adventurers, including sidekicks Monk, Ham, Johnny, Long Tom and Renny. The
more substantial storyline throws the crew into a New York mystery adventure,
as they track an unknown scientist who is operating a device in mid-town
Manhattan that drives ordinary citizens into a mindless, violent rage. Without
being a detail spoiler, Doc and his team use their mix of unique science and
sleuthing skills to learn the details of the phenomenon, track the bad guy
scientist and confront him atop the Empire State Building with a satisfying
conclusion to the adventure.
My fanboy reading interest in Doc Savage goes back to that iconic run of
1960's-70's era Bantam paperback books, and ever since then I've gone out of my
way to read at least a few issues of each successive Doc Savage comic
book title that periodically reaches the new issues shelves. As such, I'm
pleased to report that with the exception of one production element, this is
the best comic book format Doc Savage title that I've come across to-date, for
a few reasons. Veteran writer Chris Roberson's writing skills are
front-and-center with a high quality script that delivers in two ways. First,
it beautifully replicates the Art Deco culture of 1933 New York City, from the
characters' speaking dialogue to their style of dress and onto the great
architectural background of 1933 New York City itself. Secondly, the
action-adventure of the plot successfully incorporates the 1930's Pulp
Era-style of magazine adventure storytelling, as Doc and crew use that era's
analog-style of technical knowledge to advance their adventure sleuthing.
Third, writer Chris Roberson incorporates a neat element of ongoing tension in
the Doc Savage storyverse, explaining that Doc has an aversion to the flaws in
New York's criminal justice system, leading him to try and address
criminal behavior outside of the law. There are references to a
secret Arkham Asylum-like facility that he runs to try and scientifically
"cure" criminals of their behavior, which should lead to some
interesting upcoming story segments. Finally, I was intrigued by a notice
in the back of the issue that the comic book's timeperiod will be
moved-up in issue #2 from 1933 to 1949. I think that's a good move, as
the issue #1 origin storyarc gave us a nice 1933 feel for Doc's origin's while
the post-World War II era setting will allow for an entertaining
hybrid of Golden Age and more modern-era story structuring that 2013 readers
might find somewhat more relevant.
As for that one constructive criticism element mentioned above, unfortunately
artist Bilquis Evely's penciling style is extremely stiff and primitive. While
on its own it takes away from some of issue #1's quality, fortunately Chris
Roberson's A-Plus storytelling saves the day for an overall high quality
production. So whether you're an old-school Doc Savage fan like me, a newcomer
to the Doc or a fan that falls somewhere in-between the two extremes, you'll be
well-entertained with this excellent return of this iconic Pulp-Era
action-adventurer. And a well-deserved Tip-Of-The-Review-Hat to Dynamite
Entertainment, a publisher that's second-to-none these days in offering a
wide-range of very high quality Pulp-Era comic book titles!
Green Arrow #26
Publisher: D.C. Comics
Jeff Lemire: Writer
Andrea Sorrentino: Art
Marcelo Maiolo: Colors
DC's latest title featuring Green Arrow is up to issue #26.
This is a revamped version of the well-known Oliver Queen/Green Arrow hero, in
which he's recast into a younger twenty-something adult, no
doubt to coincide with the younger age of the Green Arrow in the popular
television series on the CW Network. The comic book is scripted by Jeff
Lemire with art by Andrea Sorrentino and colors by Marcelo Maiolo.
Issue #26 is part one of a new multi-issue story arc entitled "Return To
The Island." The plot co-stars a team-up of the young Green
Arrow and Shado, a rogue female archer who apparently was Ollie's deceased
father Robert's lover and the mother of Oliver's missing half-sister
Emiko. The plot accelerates after this introductory who's-who, as Ollie
and Shado journey to an isolated island for the purposes of obtaining an
ultra-powerful "totem arrow," rescuing Emiko from her kidnapper who's
named Komodo and killing Komodo for murdering Robert Queen. The second
half of the story segment presents the pair's journey around the island and
ends in a dramatic bridge to next month's issue #27 as they obtain the totem
arrow and are about to be attacked by a mysterious bad guy ninja group who are
also hell-bent on grabbing the totem arrow.
This is a mixed-quality issue that does deserve a positive review
recommendation but only in the average-quality category. On the plus
side, its fun to meet this revised younger version of Ollie Queen/Green Arrow,
who does breathe some fresh life into this longtime DC hero character.
The general concept of the plot is interesting and the artwork is
breathtakingly exsquisite, with the island adventure scenes depicted in one of
the nicest visual styles to come along in a superhero comic book in quite
awhile.
On the negative side, this comic book title needs a front page summary
narrative more than any comic book that I've read this year. For
newcomers like me, its extremely difficult to figure-out the storyverse
structure as well as the complicated relationships between the altered
main and secondary characters in this brave new world of a younger Green
Arrow. The first five pages are almost nonsensical, forcing me
to re-read them a few times and also do some background research on
the internet. Once I understood the storyworld structure, the rest of the
unfolding plot was enjoyable, but it was a long road to travel just to
understand the story logic of this new Green Arrow comic book series.
So to summarize: issue #26 deserves a positive average quality thumbs-up review
recommendation, but with the caveat that if you haven't been reading this title
on a monthly basis, be prepared for some work in getting to fully understand
the basic premise of Green Arrow. Or you can backtrack to read a few of the
previous issues in this series, all available on the new issues shelves at
That's Entertainment. Hopefully, my review comments above will also
assist any of you newcomers in gaining a quick and easy understanding of
the 2013 version of Green Arrow!
The Emerald City Of OZ #1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Eric Shanower: Writer
Skottie Young: Art
Jean-Francois Beaulieu: Colors
Marvel Comics has published the first few issues of a new five-issue limited
Wizard Of Oz series, so I backtracked to the first issue to get a feel for the
title from its kick-off. This particular series is an adaptation of
"The Emerald City Of Oz," one of L. Frank Baum's later books in
follow-up to the original Wizard Of OZ novel, which was first published in
1900. The comic book adaptation is scripted by Eric Shanower with art by
Skottie Young and colors by Jean-Francois Beaulieu.
Issue #1 alternates two sub-plots in three story sections. Act One
focuses on the Nome King, Roquat The Red, who rules an evil underground kingdom
of many furry folk in the Land of OZ. The very angry king wants to attack The
Emerald City and destroy it in order to regain from the City's
Princess Ozma a powerful magic belt which Dorothy apparently stole from him in
an earlier novel in the OZ series. Act Two shifts the plot back to
Kansas, where Dorothy, Auntie Em and Uncle Henry face financial ruin and
eviction from the family farm. So Dorothy transports the threesome, her
dog Toto and cat Eureka through her magic bedroom mirror to all live with
Princess Ozma in The Emerald City Royal Palace. And Act Three shifts us
back to the scheming of the evil nome king, as his emissaries visit another
Land Of Oz bad guy race, The Whimsies, in order to forge a powerful
alliance pending their upcoming attack on The Emerald City.
I've never read any of L.Frank Baum's thirteen sequel novels to his original
1900 classic The Wizard Of Oz. So it was fun to read in this comic book a
further adventure of Dorothy and friends adapted from a plot written by Baum
himself. The comic book succeeds in three ways. First, there's the
fascination that I just mentioned, of reading a new tale originally penned by
the master Oz storyteller Baum. Secondly, the creative team does a great
job in converting the storyline to graphic format, balancing action, adventure
and personal emotion reminiscent of the style of the classic 1939 Oz movie
that starred Judy Garland as Dorothy. And third, the artwork is a
pitch-perfect style for this type of fantasy adventure, with facial expressions
of Dorothy and her pets that are just plain adorable.
My one review constructive criticism is that this isn't a comic book for very
little kids. Given a mild but at times surprising element of violence
amongst the nome kingdom dwellers, I'd recommend that kids be at least say
10-years-old before they become readers of this particular series. But
for kids 10-to-80, this is a fun and very entertaining comic book adaptation of
a classic fantasy novel series.
And one last fun fact: apparently, L. Frank Baum eventually became
so sick of writing the OZ novels, that after publishing this one as
the fifth sequel in the series, he announced to the children of America that
the Land of OZ had mysteriously "lost contact" with the U.S., thereby
rendering it impossible for him to "update" the kids of America with
any new books on the latest doings in the Emerald Kingdom. Apparently,
the kids of 1911 didn't buy that excuse for one minute, flooding Baum's house
with thousands of complaint letters which prompted him to unconditionally
surrender and write a new Oz sequel novel every year from 1913 until his death
in 1919. The moral of that story: writers beware, don't mess with your
loyal fan base!
Letter 44 #1
Publisher: Oni Press
Charles Soule: Writer
Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque: Art
Guy Major: Colors
Oni Press has published the first two issues in a new science fiction thriller
comic book entitled "Letter 44." This new title explores the popular
science fiction premise of national political leaders keeping secret the threat
of a potential alien invasion of Earth. I backtracked to the
kick-off issue to get an understanding of this series from its very
beginning. Issue #1 is being offered at a special introductory price of
only $1.00. The new title is scripted by writer Charles Soule with art by
Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque and colors by Guy Major.
Issue #1 presents the first day on the job for new 44th U.S. President Stephen
Blades, who finds a handwritten letter in an envelope marked
"44"awaiting him in the Oval Office. In the letter, his
predecessor President Carroll reveals the existence of a mysterious alien
mining operation discovered three years earlier in our Solar System's asteroid
belt. Due to fear of public panic, to-date only a very select team of
civilian and military advisors are aware of and addressing the situation.
After this initial reveal, the storyline splits into two alternating subplots.
In the Earthside storythread, Blades meets with his secret situation team and
brainstorms his way through analyzing options for handling the unexpected first
crisis of his young presidency. The second plotline presents the 9-member
crew of a U.S. space team sent three years earlier to confront the aliens
in the asteroid belt. The issue concludes in a dramatic bridge to issue
#2, as the space explorers are about to finally arrive in a direct confrontation
with the yet-to-be-revealed alien presence.
Similar to the Green Arrow comic book reviewed above, I had a mixed review
reaction to this comic book, again concluding that it deserves a positive
review but at the same time very disappointed that a few key elements drag this
comic down to the barely average category. On the plus side, writer
Charles Soule puts a very fresh spin on the secret alien threat theme in two
ways. First, he creatively mirrors the real world presidential transition
of January 2008, with the comic's two presidents closely mirroring George Bush
and Barack Obama in personality and style. Secondly, there are some very
entertaining soap opera-style elements to this story that I won't spoil with
any details, beyond saying that some center around political maneuvering among
the Earthside crisis advisors, while a few emotional blockbusters are
revealed among the 9-member space team. And third, there's a very
interesting back-of-the-book essay written by Oni Press Editor Jill
Beaton, in which she muses about some of the very intriguing directions that
the various plot elements could take us in upcoming issues.
Now for the flip side of this title. Three elements weigh down the really good
parts of this comic book to the borderline of mediocrity. The first is a
poor quality artwork consisting of a weirdly loose, abstract penciling that's
so offputting that I saw the characters almost as weird aliens themselves as
opposed to human beings. A talented grade school kid could provide a more
suitable visual style for this comic book than the work of penciller
Alburquerque. Also very grating are some illogical details in
the plot including the behavior of some characters in on the big alien secret,
President Blades learning about the most serious crisis in human history via a
scrap of paper left on an open empty desk, the at-times amateurish dialogue of
the players dealing with this event and worst of all, a really stupid reveal
for why we fought the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that try to
connect both conflicts to the alien crisis.
But the biggest failure of logic in this comic is the nature of the secrecy
itself. Its just too illogical to accept that after three years, no one
else on Earth besides the U.S. federal government is aware of a huge alien
presence that really isn't doing much to hide itself as it operates out in the
asteroid belt. Either we would have pulled trusted allies into the
situation, gossip leaks would have occurred or most likely of all, the non-governmental,
academic astronomy community would have easily seen what's going on out
there and talked about it worldwide. That's how true astronomy
works. It's just too much to expect science fiction fans to buy into the
idea of a "chosen few" being able to both see this
large-scale outer space activity and keep their mouths shut for three
years. The idiots in our real world D.C. can't handle the simplest of daily
cubicle government operations these days and we're supposed to expect the same
fools to keep a three-year secret of alien invasion? Please!
So the bottom line: my advice is to be nice and make an effort to
suspend some standard real world logic in order to give this
well-intentioned new science fiction title a try for a few issues worth of
reading. The worthy plot concept here deserves that initial
break, but if the creative team doesn't get its act together with better
graphics and some more credible storytelling common sense, then "Letter
44" isn't going to come anywhere close to lasting for 44 monthly issues.
Contest
Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest was our annual end-of-the-year challenge for you to tell us
what was your favorite comic book title of 2013 and why you liked that
particular book or books so much. And our contest winner is (drumroll,
please...) Mike Dooley, who nominates Valiant Comics' return of its popular
Archer & Armstrong title. I wrote a very positive review about a
year ago of one issue, which features the two title characters as a pair
of men, one of whom hasn't aged since ancient times, who deal
with action-adventures in our modern world. Mike writes that he didn't
think the latest series could be as good as the original 1990's
run but he was wrong. He adds that the comic book "not only entertains,
but provides the most "laugh out loud" moments of any book on the
market."
An excellent explanation of a very entertaining 2013 comic book series.
Congratulations to Mike who wins our first prize $10.00 gift certificate to
That's Entertainment!!!
New Contest
Announcement!!!
We're heading into the Oscar season for the movies, and as such The Bongo Congo
Panel Of Contest Judges have decreed that we kick-off the new year's movie
season with an appropriate movie trivia question. So your challenge is to
e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com no later
than Wednesday, January 8 with the correct answer to the following question:
Who is the only movie star in all of Hollywood movie history to
have headlined in at least one #1 film opening at the box office for five
decades in a row? That's right, there's a movie star out there who
has starred in a at least one film for 5 consecutive decades that opened
at #1 in movie attendance!
As always, in the event of multiple correct answers, our contest winner will be
selected via a roll-of-the-dice. Please note that our $10.00 first prize
gift certificate to That's Entertainment is redeemable for regular retail
merchandise or in-store, ongoing specials, only.
That's all for now, so have a very happy and healthy New Year as well as two
great comic book reading weeks, and see you again on Friday, January 10 Here In
Bongo Congo!
