Date: November 2015 Publisher: Archie Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Fiona Staples, Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn and Jack Morelli Notable Notes: Veronica makes her debut at Riverdale High School
Another long-running gag in Archie comics has been the lunch lady, Ms. Beazley, and the terrible food she produces. I was delighted to see her make an appearance in this issue – and she even looks like the classical character… in a new sort of way. Here she serves up Veronica’s first lunch at Riverdale, and that sets the stage for a great, pivotal scene to follow! I wasn’t disappointed – and I doubt you will be either! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: January 1980 Publisher: WaRP Graphics Cover Price: $1.25 Stats: 33 color pages Writers: Wendy and Richard Pini Artist: Wendy Pini Notable Notes: A new story arc begins in the lives of the Elves!
This issue feels very much like the first episode of season two… if Elfquest were a TV series! Some time has passed, and we are given glimpses into the lives of the characters and what is happening now. It is fun to be back, but I still feel a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see and experience what had happened in the interim! I’m guessing it was all normal “life” stuff, and the creators wanted to plunge us back in when things had gotten interesting again. Read the rest of this entry »
Date: October 2015 Publisher: Archie Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Fiona Staples, Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn and Jack Morelli. Notable Notes: The New Riverdale universe’s new Veronica!
One of the many classic running gags that this new series preserves is Archie’s beat up clunker of a car! I think it has been a nearly timeless way for teenage boys to identify with Archie – he has car problems just like they probably do in real life. Except… is that really true anymore? I may be way off base here, but I don’t know of any boys who have really terrible cars – well… except my oldest son! It seems that many kids nowadays have nicer cars than I do, and keep them looking pristine. Also, how is it that Betty is still so mechanically good? I don’t know any teenagers who can fix a car’s engine these days. It would be nice though, wouldn’t it, to have a cute girl next door to take care of your car problems? Ah, we can all dream I guess. Read the rest of this entry »
Date: August 1979 Publisher: WaRP Graphics Cover Price: $1.00 2018 Price Range: $3 – $30 Stats: 33 color pages plus editorial and Elfquotes letters page Writers: Wendy and Richard Pini Artist: Wendy Pini Notable Notes: The end of the first Elfquest chapter.
Whenever I see a herd of stampeding horses, or other grazing beasts, in movies or read about them in books, I always recall the movie Gandhi . It is there that the title character urges people to lie down, saying that the horses won’t step on them if they are prone. For some reason I have often thought about that part of the movie. Although I am not sure if that is true or not, it does seem logical that horses wouldn’t want to step other living creatures. I guess we are kind of like that too – how many of us would run across of carpet of cats, for example? Anyway, there is a part in this comic book where I thought the characters should heed Gandhi’s words and all lie down. However, the award winning movie didn’t come out until three years after this book was published – so I guess I can’t fault them! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: October 2007 Publisher: IDW Publishing Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 22 color pages Writers: Cory Doctorow, adapted by Dara Naraghi Artists: Esteve Polls, Robert Studio and Neil Uyetake Notable Notes: The first time a Cory Doctorow short story has been adapted to comics!
Several years ago I read and reviewed Cory Doctorow’s short story “Anda’s Game” . (You can still read that post over on my science fiction blog) I thought the story was pretty good, but definitely not his best work. He has written a ton of cool short stories and novels, so I was excited when I recently learned about the comic adaptations of some of his stories! I started with this one because it was the first story in the free (and legal!) TPB download. I kind of think there was something lost in the translation to graphic form, but it was still fun seeing a great short story in comic book form! Kind of like seeing a movie that was made from a novel you read. Anywho, here’s what I thought of it. Read the rest of this entry »
Date: May 1979 Publisher: WaRP Graphics Cover Price: $1.00 2018 Price Range: $3 – $30 Stats: 32 color pages plus Bearclaw and Joyleaf pin-up art, Laugh “Wolf” and Elfquotes letters page Writers: Wendy and Richard Pini Artist: Wendy Pini Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Madcoil!
Have you ever been spurned by a rival? I’m talking about when you finally decide to play nice, and so you make a reconciling gesture only to be scoffed at, turned down or ridiculed? This can lead to even higher tension between rivals. I remember one case, in particular, when I was in high school where “my nemesis” and I elevated proverbial blows until we were ready to kill each other. Ah, the good old days of teenage testosterone! Nowadays I usually (emphasis on usually) laugh and let things blow over, because I am older and wiser… or is it older and weaker? One of those. Anyway, in this issue we see some male-rival-spurning going on, and I’m sure it will lead to more aggression in later issues. I can’t wait! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: September 2015 Publisher: Archie Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Fiona Staples, Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn and Jack Morelli. Notable Notes: The first comic book in the New Riverdale universe!
It has been a few years since the All New Archie series re-launched the Riverdale Universe. Even then I was late to the game, and only picked up a few issues after it had been going for a while. Knowing that Mark Waid was the writer helped, because I like most of his stuff. Anyway, I had been wanting to get some more issues of this series, but they were turning out to be expensive and hard to find. So I was excited when Humble Bundle offered a bunch of the electronic TPBs recently, and I jumped on that bandwagon while I could! Anyway, here are my thoughts on the first issue of this re-launched series. Read the rest of this entry »
Date: May 2001 Publisher: CrossGen Comics Cover Price: $2.95 2017 Price: $3 Stats: 29 color pages plus creative team bios and house ads Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Steve Epting, Rick Magyar, Frank D’Armata and Troy Peteri Notable Notes: The Sigil comes to Earth!
Back around the turn of the century, in 2000 and 2001, I was a big fan of the newly created CrossGen Comics. The fantastic artwork and intricate, inter-leaved story lines really impressed me. I collected a lot of their titles, and really enjoyed nearly all of them. But I had not read one issue of this series, Crux, until today! I picked up the first four issues of the series on the cheap after the company folded, but just now got around to reading them. Sheesh – what a slacker I am! Oh well, it was worth the wait, because this turned out to be one cool comic book! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: December 1978 Publisher: WaRP Graphics Cover Price: $1.00 2017 Price Range: $3 – $30 Stats: 32 color pages plus Rayek pin-up art, Meet the Wolfriders and Elfquotes letters page Writers: Wendy and Richard Pini Artist: Wendy Pini Notable Notes: Cutter and Rayek battle for Leetah’s love!
Would you fight, literally fight, to win the heart of your sweetie? What about your job? Or your family? Or your home? Or your comic book collection? 😉 Sure, we’ve all heard of fighting for true love, but as I read this comic I asked myself “What do I consider worth fighting for?” It gave me a little bit to ponder… but not for too long, because I had the rest of the comic to read! Here is a great comic – beautifully rendered and fun to read! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: September 1978 Publisher: WaRP Graphics Cover Price: $1.00 2017 Price Range: $3 – $40 Stats: 31 color pages plus pin-up art, welcome and Elfquotes letters page Writers: Wendy and Richard Pini Artist: Wendy Pini Notable Notes: The first book from WaRP Graphics
Ah, love at first sight… does it really exist? I tend to think that it should more accurately be called “lust at first sight” – at least in the real world. But in the world of fiction perhaps love at first sight is a thing that actually works out. In this issue of ElfQuest the Wolfriders’ leader, Cutter, is so smitten with a beautiful woman that he kidnaps her! But that works out OK for him – and that is another way to tell that we are in fictional world! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: April 1978 Publisher: WaRP Graphics Cover Price: $1.00 2017 Price Range: $4 – $50 Stats: 31 color pages plus forward, pin-up art and Elf-olution Writers: Wendy and Richard Pini Artist: Wendy Pini Notable Notes: A spruced-up reprint of ElfQuest’s first appearance!
Some comic book series just really fly through the publishing companies. Astro City is one that comes to mind. ElfQuest is another one. Beginning in the late 1970s the Elf saga started off in Fantasy Quarterly #1 by an independent publisher, then it switched to the Pini’s homegrown company WaRP Graphics. Years later both Marvel and DC would pick up licenses to it, and so would Boing Boing and Dark Horse! Sheesh! Oh well, at least it is a good series, and one that deserves to be published – regardless of who is doing that publishing! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: October 1952 Publisher: Quality Comics Cover Price: 10¢ 2017 Price Range: $97 – $1500 Stats: 29 color pages plus ads and text story Writer: Robert Bernstein Artists: Reed Crandall, Chuck Cuidera, Pete Morisi, Charles Nicholas Notable Notes: First issue of one of the longest running war comics titles!
I have never really been a fan of war comics. My older brother read Sgt. Rock, but I could never get into it. In fact I have ever only had mild, passing interest in anything related to war or the military. Recently that changed, at least temporarily, when I started taking a college course about technology and global conflict. After spending several weeks reading and discussing military stuff, I have kind of been in the mood to watch war movies and try some war comics. So that is what I’m doing today – giving a classic war comic a try, and seeing how it turns out!
I decided to start with the first issue of G.I. Combat. Why? Well, because it was a famous, long running series, and it is the series where Sgt. Rock and The Haunted Tank got their starts. I figured that was as good a place as any to start!
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Date: January 1997 Publisher: Sirius Entertainment Cover Price: $2.50 2014 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 20 black & white pages plus “Letters to Akiko” and 2 page back-up story Story & Art: Mark Crilley Notable Notes: The gang surmounts the Great Wall of Trudd.
There is a popular hang gliding mountain near where I live in Utah. Although I have never been, every time I pass it on the freeway I see loads of gliders lazily circling their way down from the top – and I get a hankerin’ to join in! I imagine it to be fun, a little bit scary and a bit relaxing too. Maybe some day I’ll get the nerve, time and energy to do it. In this issue of Akiko the gang makes use of a giant flag to do some hang gliding of their own – and it turns out to be pretty useful too!
Date: January 1987 Publisher: Gladstone Publishing Cover Price: 75¢ 2014 Price Range: $2.00 – $16.00 Stats: 29 color pages plus house ads and “The Quacker Box” letters page Writers Volker Reiche, Geoffrey Blum, Carl Barks and Marty Greim Artists: Daan Jippes, Volker Reiche, Carl Barks and Marty Greim Notable Notes: Donald is a scientist, a goblin and a monster hunter!
I have always liked the idea of being a scientist. I used to play at it when I was a kid, and I very much enjoyed science classes in school. During the last few years I have been taking some serious social science classes at the university where I work, and have quite enjoyed them. I still like the idea of being a scientist, and am slowly moving towards that goal. In this issue we get to see Donald fantasize about the same thing – only here he actually starts mixing chemicals in a lab and disastrous results follow! C’mon – what would a Donald Duck story be without funny mayhem?
Date: April 2014 Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Cover Price: $1.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus Itty Bitty Letters and ads Writers: Art Baltazar & Franco Artist: Art Baltazar Notable Notes: The tiny red guy with the big hand playfully battles his cartoon-ish enemies!
Did you ever make a fort out of big boxes when you were little? (Do you still do it?) I did, and I loved it when my parents bought some new appliance because that meant we got a new fort for a while! The best one we ever got was a huge box from my mom’s shiny new Wurlitzer organ. It was big enough that we were able to cut kid sized doors and windows into it! Ah… what great memories. This comic book brought up all sorts of memories about the forts I used to build… and the ones I still make with my kids!
