I was going to do a whole "His name was Forager" bit, but they went there straightaway!

From 2017, Bug! The Adventures of Forager #1, "Bughouse Crazy! Domino Effect, part 1 of 6" Written by Lee Allred, art by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred. 

 

The insect-raised Forager, disparaged by Orion as a "Bug," sacrificed himself to save the universe in 1989's Cosmic Odyssey #4, but he's back today; having awoken from a cocoon, in the basement of an earth house? This might be a dream, as he encounters a bizarre ghost girl and her talking teddy bear; who advises him not to use his name there. Fine, he'll be Bug for now. He isn't real keen on going back to Highfather and Orion, or the insects, so what's left? Saving the universe? Bug considers, he's saved the universe, without really getting to see much of it. The little girl had set up dominoes, in a pattern Bug recognized as from a Mother Box, and when she changes one Bug has a vision of characters that will probably show up later, including Deadman, OMAC, and the Black Racer. But, the classic Kirby Sandman shows up now!

With Sandman's helpers Brute and Glob, Bug helps fight General Electric; but a domino falls into his hand from nowhere. Bug protests, he is not a domino and won't fall in line; but still stops the General, before falling into a dimensional hole that he figures will take him to the next domino. I'm not sure who's pulling the strings, but I'm hoping it's not New Gods related, since Bug seems to have had it with their drama. I kinda think this little series was because the Allreds liked the character and maybe wanted to give him a happy ending; although it could still end as a dream or with him dead. Also, did Kirby ever do Deadman? It's a love letter to Kirby, with one extra guy.

Read more!

"The End" Week: Silver Surfer #14!

This was a pretty dire year on multiple fronts, but one I didn't expect was in my pull list. I should be used to it by now, but most of the titles I was reading? Gone or going. But we'll start with one from the tail end of 2017: Silver Surfer #14, "A Power Greater Than Cosmic" Written by Dan Slott, art by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred.

We've mentioned before, this series of Silver Surfer took a lot of inspiration from Doctor Who, beginning with the introduction of companion, and later girlfriend, Dawn Greenwood. And here we get more Dr. Who tropes, like travelling back along one's own timeline even if you're really really not supposed to, duplicate yet still valid characters, and a more far-reaching legacy than you would've expected at the beginning. The Surfer has just returned to this universe, after being trapped in the prior, before the big bang universe of Galen, who would become Galactus. There, he had lived a long and full life with Dawn, but she aged, while he did not. Unwilling to leave her body when he returned, he brought back the molecules of her remains, then had to settle in and wait for Eternity to form. Concealing himself out of phase with reality, and in the more human-looking form "Nor-vill," he watches the Watchers, then later Galactus, and then himself.

Returning to earth, the disguised Surfer checks into the Greenwood's family inn in Anchor Bay, Massachusetts. He does cheekily tell a young Dawn that he's about 13.7 billion years old, but otherwise just enjoys his time with them. Still, that leaves him on earth as his past self was exiled there behind Galactus's barrier, trapped for a decade, which he uses to visit in the summers. When the barrier drops, the Surfer makes a quick trip to pick up a "camera" for the Greenwoods, then later invisibly follows his and Dawn's adventures, including on Inkandessa, a hologram world, where the Surfer now tells his story to the living hologram Dawn. After visiting Dawn's sister and giving her the news, the Surfer returns with holo pods of Dawn's sister and family, their dad, and one of the human version of himself, free to live out his days together with the holo-Dawn.

That leaves the Surfer alone, but he explains Dawn was always with them: when he brought her back to this universe, her remains became the first light in the universe, and every life form on every world calls it "dawn." (OK, that one's a stretch!) As the Surfer flies away, his hologram tells holo-Dawn the rest of it: when the universe was still forming, the Surfer set up the energy signature for the Power Cosmic: red with black dots, Dawn's preferred motif.

This issue feels so much like--and honestly, cribs a bit from--a modern Doctor Who goodbye to a companion, it has to be by design. I'm almost positive Slott and Allred had this end, or the big pieces of it, in mind early on, if not from the get-go. There were a number of guest-stars during this run, but I wish the Surfer and Dawn had guested in another book, to give her a presence in the larger Marvel universe. There was a Silver Surfer Annual this year, and it wasn't bad; but it did feel like a hard push back to a more traditional style for him.
Read more!

"The End" Week: Fantastic Four!

We've got some twenty "The End" posts lined up already, yet I forgot to set up one to start things out! Since the Fantastic Four has returned to the land of publication, maybe we should start with their last issue. In fact, why not their last two last issues? From 2014, Fantastic Four #16, "Doomed: Four to the Fourth Power!" Written by Matt Fraction and Karl Kesel, script by Karl Kesel, art by Raffaele Ienco, color art by Paul Mounts; with a backup story by Lee Allred and Karl Kesel, scripted by Karl Kesel, pencils by Joe Quinones, inks by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred; and from 2015, Fantastic Four #645, "...the Fantastic Four!" Written by James Robinson, pencils by Leonard Kirk, inks by Karl Kesel and Scott Hanna.

Since we checked out the Fraction/Kesel issue with Skrull Ben Franklin a couple months ago, I had wanted to check out the end of this series, and things have gone off the rails by this conclusion of a four-parter: the FF's bodies had been breaking down, because an alternate-universe Fantastic Four had shot their powers into the multiverse in order to keep their alt-Dr. Doom from stealing them. With those powers returned, everything should be fine, except alt-Doom has gone and stolen the powers of (alt-)Annihilus and (alt-)Kang! (Does Kang really have powers, technically?) So it's two FF's and Marvel Girl versus a giant Doom; I don't know if that was an alt-Marvel Girl either, but Doom sends her back to her own time pretty quickly. Alt-Reed tries to pass our Four off as clones, but Doom knows they're from another universe, and checking in on the 616, he finds...Ant-Man vs. Dr. Doom? The hell? Well, whatever. He can conquer that one next.

Reed doesn't have to go deep for the plan on this one, although there are some timey-wimey shenanigans with the Torch and his alternate. The FF use Doom's power siphon to take the alt-Four's powers, then maneuver Doom into getting scattered across time and space. They are then killed giving the extra powers back, but revived quickly enough. Alt-Reed does warn them that the "Doom the Annihilating Conqueror" was a universal constant, that would always occur eventually in any reality, and always defeated by two universes' Fantastic Fours teaming-up; but having doubled up on the powers our FF wouldn't be able to call for help when it happened there. Again, whatever, Reed'll figure something out. The FF return to their own universe and Baxter Building, and after the alt-Torch leaves to sacrifice himself; it's time for a barbeque on the moon! With a ton of guests, and one great line from Valeria: "Wondering where kids run away to if they already live in a circus."

The better part of a year later, would come the conclusion of James Robinson's run, which we saw an issue of some time back. Among other things (so to speak!) the Thing had been framed for the murder of the Puppet Master, the Human Torch had lost his powers, and the Quiet Man and Psycho-Man had turned Franklin Richard's Counter-Earth (from Heroes Reborn) into slaves and monsters. Still, Reed knows both that Psycho-Man would betray the creepy, shape-changing Quiet Man; and that his family is at their strongest when things are worst.

With the help of a bunch of guest-stars, including Sleepwalker, Jim Hammond, and the Scarlet Witch (Robinson seemed to use those last two a bit) Franklin's fake earth is destroyed (again? I swear it had been dealt with before) and Psycho-Man is defeated. The Torch gets his powers back, and Ben is freed when the real Puppet Master is found.

The back-up stories in this one are pretty good, particularly Johnny's meeting with an old girlfriend, and Reed and Valeria's day out. I don't think this gave any indication that half the team was going to be gone for three years, but it feels like the Marvel Universe has been missing them longer than that.
Read more!

Remember when Scott Lang was respectable? No?

Even though the Fantastic Four is broken up and MIA at Marvel right now, you almost can't say it's not for lack of trying. How many times has there been an ancillary FF book, like Fantastic Force, Fantastic Four 2099, or FF? Like today's book! From 2013, FF #1, "Parts of a Hole" Written by Matt Fraction, art by Michael Allred, color art by Laura Allred.

The titular FF here is the Future Foundation, Reed Richard's initiative to raise up the next generation of geniuses. When the Fantastic Four plans a year-long trip outside of the universe, they need adult supervision for the Foundation, even if from their perspective the team will only be gone four minutes. Barring disaster. Reed recently diagnosed himself with a form of cancer, and the trip is an attempt to find a cure. Reed, and later Ben, seem to acknowledge the likelihood of something going wrong.

Each of the team brings in a replacement: Reed picks Ant-Man, Sue gets Medusa, Ben names She-Hulk, and Johnny puts up his girlfriend Darla Deering. We don't see much of her this issue, but she's the girl with pink hair wearing a Thing exo-suit. Since I hadn't seen Darla before, it would be easy to think the worst of Johnny: like he forgot to pick a replacement, and instead just went with whoever he woke up with that morning.

Mostly, we meet the young Foundation students; and Ant-Man struggles with the idea of dealing with kids, since he had recently lost his daughter Stature. She would return (albeit, seemingly younger than she had been with the Young Avengers) but it's jarring to see a mourning Ant-Man in Allred's friendly, cheery style.

Also this issue: Ant-Man works on a "kind of coil" that he wants to use to ride around instead of an ant, which seems like bad branding. Or, if it were any other artist, I'd suspect it being an excuse to avoid drawing ants!
Read more!

"The End" Week: Batman '66 #30!

This issue's barely a year old, so you've got a chance to find it! From 2015, Batman '66 #30, "Main Title" Written by Lee Allred, art and color by Michael and Laura Allred. If you ever watched the Adam West/Burt Ward TV show, this issue is a must-have.

Gotham City is uncharacteristically quiet, since the Penguin, Joker, and Catwoman have organized a business convention for crime! It's a who's who of every costumed creep in town, from Atomic Man to Zebra Man! With only one "major no-show," the Riddler! Who wasn't invited, since Penguin, Joker, and Catwoman are still sore about what happened in Batman: the Movie. Furious over being "blackballed," from prison the Riddler sends a clue to Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'hara, which Batman and Robin solve in about fifteen seconds. (Admittedly, the Riddler wanted them to get this one!)

The criminals see Batman and Robin coming, but even a trap set by Clayface can't stop the Dynamic Duo. Can three hundred crooks, though? Robin starts to get winded, noting by the time they've punched out the crooks once, the first ones are back up again. Under a dogpile of hoodlums, Batman hits the remote control to bring in the Batmobile, which zaps most of the lot with the Bat-Beam. Riddler shows up to laugh at his former compatriots, only to catch a beating from Penguin, Joker, and Catwoman; who are then stopped by Batgirl. The heroes then leave for another adventure, after a quick chat with a variety of familiar reporters and photographers...

This whole issue was set up as a tribute to the opening credits of the show, and is just as good a way to wrap the series as any. Although it ended as a regular title, there's already been three mini-series crossovers: with the Green Hornet and Kato, the Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the Avengers, Steed and Mrs. Peel. I know Wonder Woman is coming up soon...

Read more!

When you get stuff cheap, it can be tough to go back to paying full price for it. If I get a bunch of random DC Multiverse figures for five bucks, it's easy to resent paying $20 for a Marvel Legends Falcon. If I get a ton of comics for like forty cents an issue; well, regular priced comics can seem disappointing. But one new book made me laugh out loud last week, possibly even more than once: Silver Surfer#6 #200! "Understanding the Alien Heart" Written by Dan Slott, art by Michael and Laura Allred.

This issue, shape-shifting energy-eating creatures from the earth's core are rampaging through San Francisco, where the Surfer has just taken his companion Dawn Greenwood, to meet her estranged mother! Also on the scene: Peter Parker, who is mildly questioned when the creatures dubbed "Terra-forms" turn into his worst fear, the Green Goblin.

The creatures, having developed a taste for the Power Cosmic, come after the Surfer, but Dawn warns he had previously also used his own life force to save earth, and the creatures want it. Dawn is injured, but the Surfer knew as a Zenn-Lavian, he would have life force to spare. Still, Dawn is less hurt by the creatures, than by her mother seemingly abandoning her again; and asks the Surfer to take her somewhere else, somewhere new...

A good issue, but it also features one of those cover galleries Marvel does for these arbitrary 100th issues--and the gallery only includes regular series for Silver Surfer, so not J.M. Stracynski's Requiem (out of continuity) or his 2011 limited series, but does include the 1982 John Byrne/Stan Lee one-shot! Still, it was the cover for next month's issue that made me snort outright...

Not the best poker face I've ever seen, then. Tell your comic shop to get you one ASAP!
Read more!

OK, my fault for coming in late:

This issue reveals a big secret from the start of the series, which would probably mean something, if I'd been reading at the start of the series. From 2011, iZombie #17, "Falling" Written by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred.

I picked up two random issues of the comic iZombie at a comic show, since I love the show iZombie...wow, that sentence could be clearer, but moving on! Easily my favorite of the current crop of superhero/comic-based shows, but it's also fairly removed from the source material. Surely some of that is for budgetary concerns--talking monkeys and wereterriers probably don't cost out well--but other changes seem less so. Changing the setting from Eugene, OR to Seattle--which is fine by me, since my current home in Washington has been mentioned a few episodes! And changing the lead's name from Gwen Dylan to Olivia 'Liv' Moore...

OK, having come in from the TV version first, I like the name Liv Moore better. So, I'm pretty sure the comic version has its charms, but I was already taken by the show, sorry.

Read more!

OK, this (last) week's comics:

I haven't done one of these in a bit, but here's the stuff I bought last week.

First up, Amazing X-Men #5, "The Quest for Nightcrawler, conclusion" Written by Jason Aaron, pencils by Ed McGuinness, inks by Dexter Vines. A number of plot threads Aaron had brewing for some time come together, as the Red Bamfs and the Blue Bamfs battle at the Jean Grey School, Nightcrawler's regathered the X-Men to fight the demon hordes of his dad Azazel and save heaven. The late Professor X tries to get Kurt not to go through with his plan to stop Azazel, but Kurt feels it's his responsibility, and pays the price for it. It's a pretty, pretty issue; but feels a bit rushed, and slightly grimmer than the art would indicate. Also, I know Wolverine doesn't have his healing factor currently, but I thought he did at the start of this one!

Somewhat conversely, we're up to the seventh issue of Satellite Sam, and the question the book started with--who killed Carlyle White, the actor who played Satellite Sam?--is seemingly no closer to being answered. It's still a fun, smutty ride, though I wonder: does it need closure on the murder, or will that wrap up the book? This issue will probably read better collected, a common trend for today's books. (Written by Matt Fraction, art by Howard Chaykin.)


The end of the world continues in both B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth #117 and Abe Sapien #11. (B.P.R.D. written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, art by James Harren, inks by Dave Stewart; Abe written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie, art by Max Fiumara, and colors by Dave Stewart.) This issue of B.P.R.D. is the third of a five-parter, but still feels like there's some forward progress; as Liz Sherman and her team, along with the freaky Iosif of the Russian Special Sciences Service, fight through the monster-infested New York City to get to the mysterious Zinco Corporation and the Black Flame. Meanwhile, in Abe's book, a former Satanist makes some progress in Seattle, while Abe seemingly fails to save the small town of Payson, Arizona. Abe's book seems to be spinning it's wheels a bit, but still works as part of a larger tapestry.

The twelve-part crossover concludes in Transformers: Dark Cybertron finale, written by John Barber and James Roberts, with layouts by Phil Jimenez, pencils by Brendan Cahill, inks by Brian Shearer. The wrap-up is to come and will set up a new status quo for the two Transformers books, but not one but two former villains may have found a measure of redemption here. It remains to be seen how much it sticks, and if the death from the previous issue (which I still need to find!) does either.

Brandon Graham does most of the art for this week's Empowered: Internal Medicine one-shot, written by Adam Warren. Empowered and Ninjette race to help an alien living spaceship deliver it's baby, at a somewhat-deranged superhero hospital. It's cheesecakey fun! Except there may be more than a bit of foreshadowing for later issues.

Dark Horse Presents #34 was purchased mainly for the conclusion of Nexus: Into the Past. It's not Baron and Rude's best on the book, but seems to draw a line under thirty-three years of stories. (On and off!) I may have been better off waiting for it to be collected, because aside from the recent short Hellboy serial, there hasn't been much else in the anthology that's grabbed me, and it's $7.99 a pop. Still, it only has two issues left, so we'll probably ride it out.

Another book I may not keep for much longer: Regular Show, since this issue finds the gang at the park fighting the 90's for the second straight issue, and it's been moving a little slowly. For four bucks an issue, it wasn't enough.

Speaking of four bucks, I did splurge for Silver Surfer #1, written by Dan Slott, art by Michael and Laura Allred. Marvel's pricing seems a bit steep, but it is a good start to the series, as the Surfer is recruited to save the massive alien city the Impericon, and a young girl is placed in jeopardy to motivate him. Only, the Surfer has no idea why. Doctor Who may be an influence this time around, but both the story and the art place the book far and away from the usual gloomy, soliliquy-spouting Surfer. I may be in for at least another issue at this rate.

All this, and I missed Warren Ellis's Moon Knight! I'll have to hold out for a second printing.


Read more!

What is this, First Church of Mummy Jesus?

Is that normal? The crucifix-figure wrapped in bandages, I mean; not the evil spirits. I haven't been in a church lately, I wouldn't know...

Today's comic is a quick read with great art, and I pick it up again every so often. And every time I read it, I still have only a vague idea what's going on. From 1999, Feeders, written by Shane Hawks, art by Mike Allred.

At a hospital, a nun with a dark secret meets a young artist, who nearly died in what would probably best be described as an accident in self-flagellation with a crown of thorns. The artist was fixated on his sister, and thought to purge himself of his urges; but instead nearly bled to death. And that's the tip of the iceberg...

The nun is apparently dead, but her ghost is still roaming around doing her nun duties around the hospital, cutting herself, and eating the occasional soul. (In 1999, self-cutting would have been pretty novel...I was sorely tempted to say 'cutting edge,' but no.) Now the artist can see ghostly, zombie-like spirits as well; and then his sister shows up...

Feeders was a tie-in with Hawks' indie film, Eyes to Heaven. I thought I might have seen it ten years ago or so, but I'm not positive on that. This was from around the time that Mike Allred was doing a bunch of other, only tangentially-related to comics, stuff, like his band or the movie Astroesque. (I know I've seen that one, even if it's vague now.) As usual for Allred, though, this is a pretty book; although there are some panels towards the end in a distorted repro style that don't really work for me. There's also a bit of a trick with the black borders as the book goes on, but that doesn't seem to go far enough either. Still; pretty, and I don't think Allred goes into horror as often anymore, so worth flipping through maybe.
Read more!

"The End" Week: X-Statix #26!

There will be more than one like this issue this week, where this was the only way it could've ended. (By the way, I don't think any of you would, but no complaints about spoilers during "The End" week, eh?)

From 2004, X-Statix #26, "Are You Ready?" Written by Peter Milligan, art by Mike Allred. I thought it had been longer: it seems like forever since Marvel published a book like this, like a remnant of an old regime. I read the new X-Force, then X-Statix for some time, falling off when the psuedo-Princess Di storyline seemed to drag on a bit. I didn't pick up their crossover with the Avengers, or this final issue, until fairly recently. (2010, that's fairly recent...)

The X-Statix team, down to Mr. Sensitive, the Anarchist, Dead Girl, Vivisector, Doop, and Venus Dee Milo; is on the verge of retirement, but is approached for "one last payday." The Anarchist correctly points out, that's exactly what "punch-drunk fighters say before they step into the ring and lose whatever brains they got left." Mr. Sensitive's guts cramp up, seemingly at the very notion; but Venus persaudes him that mutants like them are going to need more money than usual, to lead normal lives.

The mission seems simple enough; a mansion full of armed gunmen. (The gunmens' goal is unstated and irrelevant, like a video game.) Anarchist seems especially contrary today, bringing up dead team members Zeitgeist and Edie; and that the team has rarely been in it just for the money before. In actuality, Anarchist had been trying to cover for Dead Girl, who hadn't been feeling well, but didn't feel like a dead girl could call in sick.

Of course, this is the last issue, so the team is gunned down to the last. But, as the cover points out, it's "downbeat but strangely moving." X-Statix goes out together, and goes out fighting. No bitterness, no finger-pointing, no self-doubt. Definitely something to be said for that.

X-Statix, and Milligan and Allred, would get a bit of a coda a couple years later, with X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl. Guest-starring Dr. Strange, but I haven't read that yet. Someday, I suppose. And Doop is seen as gutshot and apparently dead, but I know he's turned up since.
Read more!

Maybe they're saving this for the next movie. Yeah, maybe not.

In case you've forgotten X-Statix and their team leader Mr. Sensitive, Guy Smith was a mutant who had to wear a special suit to protect his extreme sensitivity to, well, everything. And in the X-Statix/Avengers clash to recover the fractured brain of Doop, he faced off against a likewise armored opponent, the invincible Iron Man in X-Statix #24: "The Good and the Famous, part six." Written by Peter Milligan, pencils by Mike Allred, inks by Nick Craine.

Searching for a piece of Doop's brain in France, Guy and Tony fight it out physically and verbally, with Tony bringing up Captain America's psychological profile of Guy: he accuses Guy of not wanting to be "Mr. Sensitive" or the leader of X-Statix, and that he'd rather be a "meat-and-potatoes, middle of the road tough guy, like, say, Cable!" Low blow, there.

But, the brain piece had been recovered by the Church of the Naked Truth, a sect that believed clothing was offensive to God. The cult leader (who was in the closet about wearing pants...) says he'll only give the piece to someone naked, and, well, you see where this is going:

On paper, this should be a cakewalk for Tony, since Guy's in almost agonizing pain just standing there without his armor: even the soft grass beneath his feet would feel like walking on rusty nails. But Guy's martial arts training and knowledge of pressure points lets him take advantage of Tony's health issues.

Who gets the Doop piece in the end? Well, it's a bit of a cheat in order to keep the two teams' score where it needs to be for the next issue's Thor/Doop battle. But it's also probably more of Tony Stark than you expected to see today...

Read more!

Your Happenstance page for today:

From X-Statix #21, "The Good and the Famous, part 1" Written by Peter Milligan, pencils by Mike Allred, inks by Nick Craine. I had to go to GCD and look this up: this issue is cover-dated June 2004, same as Avengers #81, a Chuck Austen-written issue, that I haven't read but kinda figure is terrible. "The Good and the Famous" would run five parts and end about the same time as Bendis's "Avengers Disassembled," and X-Statix would end with issue #26. Weird...Thor, Hawkeye, and Ant-Man would all be dead about the same time this storyline ended. (I think Thor was dead, he was at least missing; and he and Hawkeye have of course returned since.)

I wanted to look it up, since this seems like a very old-school Avengers roster, and I thought Milligan and Allred might've just picked whatever Avengers they wanted to play with, rather than being tied to whoever was in the current book. Allred draws Thor and the Scarlet Witch in a likewise old-school style. He at least pays lip service to the current looks for Cap and Iron Man, but it seems like Allred really, really wants to draw them in a sixties style as well.

This issue: Terrorists kidnap the mysterious Doop, to use his brain to power a super-weapon. The Avengers and X-Statix clash, stepping on each other's toes and badmouthing everyone involved, until Doop's brain blows up, into six pieces scattered around the globe. (Think the Cobra Weather Dominator of G.I. Joe, although this storyline also calls back to the Avengers/Defenders clash of about a geological age ago.) Doop can only survive a limited time on the backup brain in his butt (ah, I love comics) and X-Statix fights for their spud-like teammate; while the Avengers try to keep it out of the wrong hands...including the X-Statix.

I just got this run out of the quarter boxes a couple of weeks ago; since I had read X-Force/X-Statix for some time, then fell off the book during the too-long pseudo-Princess Di storyline. I might have to check out the Iron Man/Mr. Sensitive fight next week, though...

Read more!

Oh, yeah, I said I'd have another post today...

(sound of shuffling papers, a coffee cup knocked over, and barking.)

No, I'm a little better prepared than that. Sort of. I did a Show and Tell post over at Poe Ghostal's Points of Articulation! It's a tribute to a favorite figure of mine, that I don't think has appeared here yet. It came out better than I had hoped, since Toy Bender's Paul took my first choice, Robocop. Look, I had a photo ready and everything!

Then I started reading old Marvel Robocop comics and got all distracted and here we are. Paul's turned out better, anyway. I do maintain a soft spot for Robo not just because of my love of the character, but because the old-school figure was (probably) the first toy I bought for myself after eight or nine crappy years of "being too old for toys."

Anyway, getting back to thanking Poe: he's a big Hellboy fan, and just finished a huge Show and Tell on figures from the Hellboy comics. (The movies, and the animated style figures, would probably need their own posts!) Since he's a big Hellboy fan, and since I had been looking for an excuse to post this one, here's a Hellboy cameo I had almost forgotten, from Mike Allred's Madman:

From Madman Comics #5, from Dark Horse in 1995. I miss the old Legend imprint, with the Easter Island head logo from Mike Mignola as well. It would probably be a colossal pain, but there really should be a Hellboy Apocrypha collection, with his crossover appearances like this, and Ghost, the Goon, Starman and Batman, Painkiller Jane, Savage Dragon...am I forgetting any? That would be a solid book. Anyway, thanks again to Poe and Paul!

Read more!

I don't comment on news items very often, but this one struck my eye: "Red Rocket 7 10th anniversary collection on the way." Ten years, huh? I have the set; in fact, I think I have a Mike Allred autographed first issue somewhere as well. But it's not a series I ever go back and reread. Why is that?

Little sidebar: I have never seen the movie Forrest Gump, and am willing to fight to keep it that way. Partly, it's because Tom Hanks acting handicapped doesn't appeal to me, and my kneejerk snarky reaction is that Gump is exactly what it takes to get along in America: be braindead but likable. But, and more to the point here, was this movie the first to have the protagonist as a walk-in for every important figure or moment in history? Red Rocket 7 falls into that same trap: here's Red with the Beetles, here's Red with the Stones, here's Red with Elvis, gosh, isn't Red important and wonderful? I don't think I had a problem with this initially, but later it would bug me.

I'm going to put a big spoiler warning right here, OK? This part coming up is my big problem with the whole series, and it comes at almost the very end of the book. I don't want to ruin it if you have any plans to read it, and I do remember being pretty fond of Red Rocket 7 up to this point.

OK, here's my biggest problem with this book, which I'll explain via another sidebar: a friend once told me about his dissatisfaction with Bram Stoker's Dracula. My friend was originally from Texas, and although he hated it, the land, the people, and his time there; by God, he still identified himself and took pride in being a Texan. So, he took to the character of the Texan Quincey Morris, who, near the end of the film, kills most (if not all) the vampires, mortally wounds Dracula...and then dies himself. My friend told me he was so pissed, he left the movie right then and there. (I hadn't realized Billy Campbell, star of the Rocketeer played Quincey. Huh.)

It's one thing for a character you like to die, but it's another for them to die after doing all the heavy lifting. That, and it makes you wonder why the narrative follows the ostensible main character if some other guy is going to be such a big point. It would be like watching Frodo and Sam trying to get the One True Ring to Mordor for three movies, and then in the last ten minutes Pippin decapitates Sauron and brings peace back to Middle-Earth. Now, there's probably a story you could get out of that, perhaps the nature of a futile struggle or a valiant effort for a redundant cause; but in this case it's a letdown.

I finally re-read all of Red Rocket 7 today: it's a gorgeous book, and even though it's ten years old, I can't believe it was only $3.95 a issue: twenty-four oversized pages in an album-sized format. It's got alien religious empires, clones, rock stars, existentialism, and ray gun fights. It also has an ending that doesn't make a helluva lot of sense, unless you've seen Allred's indie movie Astroesque. Maybe not even then...I don't want to spoil it, since it's being re-released, and it does have great art, interesting characters, and an unusual trip through some real music history. See if you can find an old issue and try it first. Read more!