recent reads; digital graphic novels

I read through a lot of digital comics this weekend. Much easier than reading prose when multitasking, a.k.a. minding kids.

Gotham by Gaslight (A Tale of the Batman)

Not steampunk, but a Victorian take on a late 19th century Gotham with a prowling Batman, Jack the Ripper and art by Mike Mignola. Who could say no? It was good, though I guessed who was the Ripper fairly early on. Good twist with Bruce Wayne nearly at the gallows for the crimes, which did make for a suspenseful moment - perhaps in this alternate world Bruce/Batman would turn out to be a mad murderer? You'll need to read this one to see for yourself.

The Tower Chronicles: (Volume1) Geisthawk

John Tower, investigator/mercenary for hire when you have a supernatural problem. The art by Simon Bisley is excellent. All manners of creatures pop up along the way; vengeful ghosts, vampires, kobolds, demons. Tower also has a history with a secret society, The Brotherhood of the Rose, who weave their unwelcome threads along his immortal history. I am looking forward to reading the second series.

Buck Rogers, Volume 1 Future Shock

This was fun. This Buck Rogers ends up in a future where men are meat and intelligent animals, "The Pack, threaten mankind. All the while he must also discover who he is and what to make of himself in the new world. Lots of pulpy fun here. Flight suits, spaceships, atomzier pistols., etc.

Buck Rogers, Volume 2 Brave New World

The fact that I kept going onto Volume 2 immediately should tell you that I did indeed enjoy Volume 1.

This followup had even more space opera derring-do. Instead of one enemy, Buck goes from breathless adventure to breathless adventure. He saves the world from underground mutants, air pirates, and rogue robots on the moon.

I don't know what became of this series. Volume 2 ends on a cliffhanger with the promise Rogers will be back. Of course, that was back in 2010. I can't even find these listed at Comixology for sale anymore. I don't know if something fell through with the rights. (There is a new, retro Buck Rogers now from Hermes Press with art by Howard Chaykin.) Too bad. I would have continued with the Dynamite storyline it if it kept going.

Trinity (Superman / Batman / Wonder Woman)

A stand-alone tale of the famous trio's first team-up. In this story, Batman and Superman know each other, but Wonder Woman is a new arrival. A mystery villain recruits a rogue amazon and frees Bizarro from the Antarctic ice (where Luthor put his failed experiment for safekeeping.) The hand is soon revealed to be Ra's al Ghul. He is on yet another mission to purge the world of the evil elements of mankind.

In addition to a decent villainous plot and heroes interplay, I appreciated that there wasn't a cliche "battle of heroes over a misunderstanding." When Wonder Woman first confronts Superman, thinking he is guilty of a crime committed by Bizarro, she uses diplomacy (appropriately enough) before any fisticuffs. Wonder Woman and Batman almost come to blows, but Superman keeps the peace. In other words, this is indeed a team, no "versus" here.

The one negative here was implication of Ra's al Ghul as a rapist. He threatens such on Wonder Woman and invades Themyscira making comments about Amazon "breeding stock." It seemed a bit ignoble of the character - but I'm not well-versed in the character's comic history, either.

Again, my highest compliment would be to see this one animated as a movie by DC/WB. I think it would be a fun one.

Overall, a good batch of stuff, I am happy to report.

$6 Million Christmas Easter Egg

A few years ago, Dynamite Entertainment (comics) revamped the classic Six Million Dollar Man as The Bionic Man, an updated story.

Now, Dynamite has gone back to roots by offering The Six Million Dollar Man - Season Six, which picks up on the original television series where it left off. 

I'm enjoying it, even if it is just the nostalgia talking.

The first issue not only brought back the android (later to be beefed up as the toy, "Maskatron") they also brought back Darren McGavin's character, Oliver Spencer, from the original t.v. pilot movie. He even wears an oversized Kolchak hat.

Spencer was a predecessor to Oscar Goldman, and much more of a callous boss. In fact, he suggested freezing Austin between missions. Hmm... bionic arm. Freezing between missions. Where have I heard that recently?

Anyway - that's a tangent. What I'm here to report is...-

Issue #2 has an A Christmas Story Easter egg.

Easter Egg spoiler, no plot spoiler, after the jump.

recently read comics; Thun'da, Kade, Sledgehammer 44

Stumbled on this one from Arcana during a Comixology sale. It intrigued me as Kade seemed - from a quick glance - to be a combination of Karl Edward Wagner's Kane and Barry Sadler's Casca.

Kade: Mourning Sun

Although the cover clearly indicates a WW2 adventure, the blurb mentioned turn-of-the-20th-century Cossacks, which made me even more interested. I was a little disappointed the Cossack section didn't last very long. I think it would have been more interesting. The story largely involves Kade chasing after Lucifer. Lucifer is impersonating a German officer (Sympathy for the Devil?) and trying to raise an undead army in a most gruesome manner. Kade just misses Lucifer more than once, usually at a physical cost - including years of 'death.'

This story did not make clear to me (nor was there a foreword to explain) where Kade comes from. I can't tell if he is man, demon or angel. He is immortal and he feels no physical pain. Once I figure out which book is the first one, it might have his origins.

There are quite a few of these Kade collections, and in the back of this one, they list each era & location were each story is set. I already have a couple more (it was a half-price sale) and might get some more if I like those.


Onto the jungles of Africa, where Dynamite Entertainment revived the old King of the Jungle...- Thun'da. As Tarzan knockoffs go, I didn't find Thun'da too bad, and hey - originally created and drawn by Frank Frazetta!

Roger Drum is an Army specialist who crash lands in a strange land populated by dinosaurs, Stone Age tribes and other nasties. The crash gave his partial amnesia. He tries to piece together his memories as he fights to survive and climb to the top of the food chain.

Thun'da

The very nice touch here is that each issue includes original Thun'da comics, drawn & created by Frank Frazetta (and, a lot of the stories were written by Gardner Fox.) It also allows you to follow the revamp and see where the new stuff came from. Very neat.


Last up, we have a Mike Mignola entry, Sledgehammer 44.

Sledgehammer 44

I enjoyed this, but I must say... - the opening and the opening of Atomic Robo's first tale are very similar. I sure hope that is coincidence. In each case, the metal heroes are delivered into an enemy position via a bomb, from which they then exit. Someone else already did the footwork.

I found a little thread here, too. The Sledgehammer suit predates Robo, but the Robo story and layout predate this Sledgehammer 44 spinoff. And the Sledgehammer is just a suit (a'la Iron Man) whereas Robo is an actual robot.

Anyway, once the story got rolling, it was certainly its own entity. I enjoyed it enough to try another Sledgehammer 44 title sometime in the future.

recent read; Queen Sonja, Volume 1

I read this one while on vacation in August.

The plot is a bit pedestrian fantasy, but not bad.  Sonja seeks a special sword and along way gets involved with bandits who are really royalty in exile from a conquered land.  The stakes keep rising, until Sonja becomes involved in a battle that leaves her with the crown of Sogoria.  To keep her crown she must battle against wizardry and political machinations.

I suppose if it's not the usurper tale (Conan, Kull) it would the be "farm girl learns she is the real queen and must kill her evil aunt" story.

Recently read

Savage Red Sonja: Queen of the Frozen Wastes

Other than the curves and red hair, I haven't really gotten into Red Sonja.  She looks great, but I can't think of a single story that really stands out in my head from what I have read. (granted, I haven't read too much.)  This one was in the bargain bin at the local music/comic store, so I grabbed it for yucks.

Not sure about the "Savage" part of the title.  The Conan Dark Horse series thankfully has a detailed Wikipedia page on the various imprints, but from what I could find, Red Sonja's Dynamite run doesn't have as concise a page listing.

Sonja has hired herself out as a scout amongst warring faction in the Gunderland mountains.  After the battle is concluded, the survivors are beset by beast men who overpower them (and Sonja) and bring them into the underground lair of the Queen of the Frozen Wastes.  The Queen rules over neanderthal men, yeti and human slaves, and enjoys watching arena battles and partaking of flesh.