Here In Bongo Congo
Good King Leonardo has decreed that we fend-off the dog days of mid-winter by reviewing a nice variety of new issue comics from the That's Entertainment shelves, so let's get right to it and see how these comic books stack-up against each other:
Good King Leonardo has decreed that we fend-off the dog days of mid-winter by reviewing a nice variety of new issue comics from the That's Entertainment shelves, so let's get right to it and see how these comic books stack-up against each other:
All-New X-Men #20
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Brian Michael Bendis: Writer
Mahmud Asrar & Brandon Peterson:
Art
Israel Silva & Marte Gracia:
Colors
Marvel's All-New X-Men comic book title is already up to issue #20. The
series focuses on the time-travel adventures of the original Silver Age team of
teenaged X-Men (Jean Grey, etc.), who have time-traveled to our present-day and
interact with the modern X-Men, including aged modern versions of some of
themselves. The series is scripted by A-list writer Brian Michael Bendis
with art by Mahmud Asrar and Brandon Peterson, and colors by Israel Silva
and Marte Gracia.
A page-one narrative summarizes the multi-issue story arc to-date: The
time-traveling X-teens have separated from Wolverine's modern-day X-Men team
and have joined the present-day Cyclop's New Xavier School for gifted mutants.
Along with the school's Professor Kitty Pride, they've hunkered-down in
the Weapon X facility, well-known site of previous experiments
on Wolverine. They've also recently rescued Laura Kinney, a.k.a.
X-23 (Wolverine's female teenaged clone) from a militia group of anti-mutant
activists based in Miami and known as The Purifiers.
The issue #20 story segment is divided into two parts. The first half of
the issue is focused more on dialogue, as the group tries to win the trust of
the recently-rescued Laura Kinney. True to her Wolverine-like nature,
she's basically got her guard-up like a trapped animal and it's touch and go as
first the entire group and then the young Cyclops in a one-on-one therapeutic
chat, gradually gain Laura's tentative trust. With some trust
established it's then time for some action, which kicks-off in the second half
of the comic book, as the newly-united team attacks The Purifiers' Miami
stronghold. As the battle escalates to its peak the issue ends in a
dramatic bridge to next month's issue #21, as The Purifiers leader unexpectedly
reveals his own mutant-like power.
I enjoyed this comic book very much, not only for its quality but also for my
own relief that it avoided a potential trap. In the quality category,
veteran writer Brian Michael Bendis takes full advantage of the fun scripting
possibilities of the time-traveling X-Men teens in a modern-day setting.
Separate from the main plot elements, its a great kick to read the small but
effective time travel chestnuts that Bendis builds into the script. While
there are many, a few worth mentioning in this review include the young Cyclops
expressing how creepy it is to meet his older self, Laura Kinney in awe of
meeting a young, living version of Jean Grey and the entire group completely
freaked-out in learning the origin details of Wolverine's personal
history. In addition, the art team does a fantastic job of providing an
excellent visual presentation with very effective and emotional facial
expressions for the story characters.
Regarding the potential trap avoided, I've noted in previous reviews of
Bendis-scripted comic books that he has a tendency to overpreach in his
dialogue, often selecting one character to drone-on for pages in a pretentious
speech to the other story characters. Happily, he avoids that scripting
approach here, nicely balancing the detailed dialogue in the talking-head first
half of the issue. I also hugely enjoyed the small romance element
between teen-Cyclops and Laura, which include Scott/Cyclop's fumbled teen
efforts to get emotionally closer to the Wolverine-wary Laura. Without
being a detail spoiler, there's a hilarious and very real-world page in which
Scott decides that Laura needs a supportive hug, which alone is worth the price
of admission to this comic book.
My personal impression is that the X-Men franchise just might be offering the
most titles of any comic book new issues franchise out in today's publishing
world, with fifteen current X-Men storyverse titles alone advertised in a
back-of-the-issue list. While I only dip my reviewer's toe into that
extensive pool from time-to-time, I'm confident from the high quality of this
issue that All New X-Men deserves to be at the top of that giant X-Men
pile in terms of entertainment and fun reading. So whether you're a
devoted X-Men fan or just looking to expand your reading list into the wide
world of all things X-Men, a positive review recommendation is warranted for
All Good Marvel Readers to check-out this very enjoyable issue #20 of All-New
X-Men!
Black Widow #1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Nathan Edmondson: Writer
Phil Noto: Art
Marvel Comics has recently added a new Black Widow comic book title to its new
issues inventory. A page one narrative explains that this title is a solo
adventure series, in which Natasha Romanov a.k.a. the Black Widow takes
time-out from her Avengers and SHIELD roles to conduct certain for-hire
espionage/assassin jobs "to atone for her past." The comic book is
scripted by Nathan Edmondson with art by A-lister Phil Noto.
The kick-off multi-issue storyline is entitled "Raison D'Etre" and
alternates between two interweaving sub-plots. The first addresses
the background theme of Natasha's traumatic personal history. Without directly centering
on the issue, various scene narrations and story panels portray Natasha
struggling to come to terms with yet-to-be-revealed past assassin and espionage
deeds that trouble her. The more direct and lengthier sub-plot unfolds
her latest cryptic job-for-hire, one that focuses on an American organized
crime figure on a shady mission to Dubai. Without being a detail spoiler,
action erupts when Black Widow infiltrates the crime boss's meeting. The
story segment ends in a really neat and unexpected twist as Natasha reveals
that her assignment is very different from what seemed to be its obvious goal.
This new title is one of those small-scale, almost sidebar series that come
along every once in awhile to quietly examine the personality and psychology of
the featured superhero or supervillain. As such, the creative team
succeeds in the twin goals of laying bare the psyche of the troubled hero and
at the same time providing an entertaining comic book adventure tale.
Three positives jump-out of this issue to make it a worthwhile read. The
first strong point is writer Nathan Edmondson's skill in nicely balancing the
talking head introspective side of Natasha with the heavy-duty action-adventure
elements that any good Black Widow story requires. The second plus
feature is the high quality of the plot twists and turns; essentially, nothing
is at it logically seems regarding Natasha's assignments, as we're treated to a
few surprise twists that reveal unexpected motives or goals behind her solo
adventure efforts.
Third, a tip-of-the-review hat is due to whatever editor made the selection of
Phil Noto as this title's artist. Noto has a very unique visual style that
blends strong pencilling techniques with unusual choices of muted
coloring. The result is a soft-toned art style that seems to mute and
calm the pace and behavior of the characters. It sounds weird, but to me
it seems that in any Noto-drawn tale, there's always a feel that the setting is
a sunny end-of-the-day dusk point in time. However you personally interpret his
art, there's definitely a unique atmosphere set by Noto's visuals, one that works
very effectinely in this new title toward providing an entertaining and
enjoyable comic book read.
So for fans of the Black Widow as well as fans of artist Phil Noto, and
for readers just looking for a solidly entertaining superhero-themed espionage
thriller comic book, Black Widow #1 is an enjoyable and fun new issue worth
checking-out.
Afterlife With Archie #2
Publisher: Archie Comics
Publications, Inc.
Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa: Writer
Francesco Francavilla: Art
Archie Comics has published the first two issues of "Afterlife With
Archie," an Archie comic book series that takes a humor-based horror take
on the Archie Comics storyverse. Issue #2 is the second installment of a
zombie-themed multi-issue storyline entitled "Escape from Riverdale"
with a Chapter Two subtitle of "Dance Of The Dead." The new series is
scripted by Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa with artwork by Francesco Francavilla.
Yes, the Zombie Apocalypse arrived in Riverdale and its best summed-up with a
page one, full-page quote: "I didn't like Jughead when he was alive.
Now that he's dead, well...the less said the better." The speaker is
Veronica Lodge, who is retelling to her well-known wealthy Dad the evening's
earlier events. Most of the storyline is a flashback to the earlier event
that kicks-off the Riverdale zombie apocalypse. Its mentioned
that in last month's issue #1, both Jughead and his dog Hot Dog
somehow became zombies. Now in issue #2, ol' undead Juggie shuffles
his way into the Halloween night Riverdale High School dance and the
expected zombie mayhem ensues.
The plot details follow the classic zombie fiction line: no one really notices
Juggie is a zombie until he bites/infects Ethel Muggs, then all zombie hell
breaks loose as the biting/epidemic spreads and the Archie gang hightails it
out of the dance in search of safety. The story segment ends in
a dramatic bridge to issue #3, as the Veronica-Dad scenes pans back to reveal
that Archie and Veronica have led a small group of nine survivors (including
A-list Archie characters Betty, Reggie, Moose and Midge) to the Lodge
mansion in a desperate attempt to make a stand against the ensuing zombie
hordes. Its also revealed in a cliffhanger announcement that one of the
nine teens is already infected with the zombie virus, which obviously will lead
to further drama in next month's issue.
As readers of this column know, I review a few Archie comics yearly and can't
help but always gush how the quality of this long-term comic book franchise
continuously maintains its high standards of artwork, scripting and
most importantly, the modern-day topicality of its story and cultural
references. And this issue not only is no exception, but cranks-up
the creative edginess into completely new Archie storyverse realms. This
is not-your-father's-Archieverse, in two key respects. First-off is the
horror concept itself. Previous Archie titles occasionally spoof horror
while staying well-within the standard art and plotting of traditional Archie
Comics. Here, all barriers are completely nuked: Francesco Francavilla's
amazing artwork is completely non-Archie, visually reinterpreting the series
with more standard horror comic figure drawings and colorization.
Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa's script is equal to the artwork's edginess, leaving
behind the standard "everytown" portrayal of Riverdale and its
inhabitants for a darker theme. The player's personalities and dialogue
are more akin to an episode of the 1960's t.v. series "Dark Shadows"
or a horror-themed episode of "The X-Files." Two of my favorite
issue #2 examples of this style are an extended edgy conversation between two
malt shop-hanging Riverdale female teens about their secret lesbian
relationship and secondly, Mr. Lodge's droll, muttered psychological remarks to
his daughter Veronica everytime she plays the spoiled rich daddy's girl card in
their extended narrative conversation.
It may not seem like that big of a deal to offer-up a new spin on a
conventional comic book storyverse, but to the degree that this new Archie
series leaps away from its traditional storyverse comfort zone, it
certainly is a big deal. It takes a lot of courage for the publisher to
add a new title this far outside of the standard world of Archie and friends,
and for that they need to be commended with a well-deserved standing round of
applause. And of course your support by getting down to That's
Entertainment and picking-up your very own copy of this fantastic and
just-plain-entertaining spin on Archie versus the zombie apocalypse!
Ben 10 #1
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Jason Henderson: Writer
Gordon Purcell: Pencils
Scott Macrae: Inks
Jason Lewis: Colors
IDW Publishing recently distributed issue #1 in a new kid's comic
book title featuring Ben 10. For the uninitiated (which included me before
I spied this comic book on the That's Entertainment new issues shelves), Ben 10
is ten-year-old Ben Tennyson, who's part of a 5-person action-adventure
team that also includes his Grandpa Max, cousin Gwen, alien-like
buddy Rook and old pal Kevin. The comic book is apparently based on a
popular Ben 10 animated television series on The Cartoon Network. Ben's
particular ability is to utilize an alien-created high tech
wristwatch called the Omnitrix that allows him to morph into various styles of
superpowered alien creatures, whichever is most appropriate for the particular
action situation at-hand. The new comic book series is scripted by Jason
Henderson with pencils by Gordon Purcell, inks by Scott Macrae and colors by
Jason Lewis.
The untitled issue #1 plot kicks-off a multi-issue storyarc in which Ben and
the gang head-out of San Diego for a nice and hopefully calm getaway Pacific
Ocean cruise vacation. Naturally, the vacation is anything but a getaway,
as two alternating sub-plots each interfere with Ben's hope for a relaxing
trip. The first issue is the problem of Ben's celebrity, as his
action-adventure notoriety results in a constant barrage of picture-taking, autograph-hounding,
etc. from his fellow cruisegoers at every turn. Ben does make one
legitimate friend among the cruisegoers, a girl his own age named Lorelai.
The second, more-detailed storythread begins as the cruise ship stumbles
upon an attack by a snake-like bad guy named SSSerpent (yes, there are
three s's in his name!) against an oil rig; as Ben and friends intervene,
they discover that the rig is camoflauge for an alien-like city of fish
people. Issue #1 ends in a very dramatic bridge to issue #2, as its
revealed in a very surprising and entertaining manner that
Lorelai originates from the disguised city of fishfolk.
I was surprised to learn on-line of the existence of a huge Ben 10 retail
empire, which has resulted in the award of three television Emmys to the show,
along with the generation of $2 billion in world-wide retail sales of over 100
million Ben 10-based toys and stuff. After reading this comic book, I'm
now not all surprised, as both the general concept of the Ben 10 storyverse as
well as the quality of this series is solidly entertaining. The comic
book itself provides this quality in at least three ways. First-up is the
strength of the script itself; writer Jason Henderson doesn't just produce a
kid-centric adventure story, but explores some heartfelt issues relevant
to readers of all ages including loneliness, romance, family and
friendship issues.
Secondly, the details of Ben's alien gizmo-powered abilities are
entertaining. While at first I expected a rehash of the Silver Age
DC "Dial H For Hero" concept, instead the mix of alien
identities and resulting powers that Ben taps into are very fresh
and creative in their own right. Third, there's a very interesting element
of mystery throughout this tale, as by issue's end we still don't know the
details about the mysterious fish people city or the reason for Lorelai's
presence on the cruise ship.
For all of these reasons, combined with the very pleasing and appropriate
television show animation style of the artwork, the Ben 10 comic book series is
enjoyable as a read for kids of all ages and serves as a nice bridge back
into the Ben 10 television series and merchandising empire. I can easily
see fans of the comic book further exploring the television adventures of Ben
10 and vice-versa. There's also a decent-enough story logic and maturity
to the script that's worthwhile enough for adult readers to also
dip into the pages of Ben 10 for an occasional Cartoon Network-style
reading of this intelligent and high quality series. So in sum, a
positive thumbs-up review recommendation is well-deserved for
this creative animation-style comic book title. And while you're at
it, its also worth checking to see if the Cartoon Network t.v. series is as
enjoyable a watch as the comic book is to read!
Contest
Winner Announcement!!!
Our latest contest challenged you to identify what previously-published comic
book title you'd like to see revived for a fresh 2014 new issues comic book
run. And our contest winner is (drumroll, please)...Dave McBarron, who
nominates the former Kid Colt Outlaw title from Marvel Comics for
reanimation. Dave writes that as far as he knows, Marvel doesn't
currently publish any new Western genre comics. So as DC has its Jonah
Hex title, Dave writes "so Marvel needs a Western title too, and it might
teach the younger generation about our history in the West during the
1800's." An excellent nomination to bring-back a very
entertaining former Western comic book title. Let's hope that Marvel
eventually gives it a try. But for now, congratulations to Dave for winning our
first-prize $10.00 gift certificate to That's Entertainment!
New Contest
Announcement!!!
The Bongo Congo Panel of Contest Judges was inspired for our latest contest
theme by the Afterlife With Archie comic book reviewed in this column above, in
which the inevitable zombie apocalyse arrives in Riverdale. So your
challenge is to e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com
no later than Wednesday, Febraury 5 and tell us what other comic book
characters or comic book title you'd like to also see get the zombie
treatment. Yes, it's time for the zombie apocalypse to continue its march
through the wider world of comic book publishing! Also, just briefly tell
us why you think it would be fun to see your particular nomination get
zombified. 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 two great Super Bowl-watching (Go Whoever, we
really don't care who wins now that the Patriots didn't get in the game!) and
comic book-reading weeks and see you again on Friday, February 7 Here In Bongo
Congo!
