Date: October 2007 Publisher: Red 5 Comics Cover Price: $2.95 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Brian Clevinger Artists: Scott Wegener, Ronda Pattison, Jeff Powell Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Atomic Robo!
I’ve been wanting to try out Comixology for a while, so I finally decided to make an account and check out some of their free issues. This one was free and looked really cool so it became my first read on Comixology! I still prefer physical issues of comics, but this wasn’t a bad experience. Here’s what I thought of the comic:
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Date: December 1995 Publisher: Sirius Entertainment Cover Price: $3.95 2013 NM Price: $5.00 Stats: 40 black & white pages Story and Art: Mark Crilley Notable Notes: 1st appearance of Akiko and friends
I started reading the Akiko comic series back in the late 1990s, and enjoyed it so much that I made an effort to get all of the comic books. It has taken me a long time, but with the purchase of this book I finally completed my collection! This one-shot was the first comic featuring Akiko and her band of misfit friends, then there was the regular comic series that ran for 52 issues. I must say, I’ve been please with all of them, and this issue is no exception!
Date: June 1998 Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $1.99 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “American Graffiti” letters page Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Dale Eaglesham, Scott Koblish, Joe Rosas, John Costanza Notable Notes: A fake Captain America causes quite a stir!
Is it just me or do only bad things seem to happen at the Empire State Building in all forms of entertainment? I mean c’mon – this issue aside the only time I ever see the famous NY building in a movie it is always being destroyed, used as a base for evil or breaking someone’s heart! Surely there has to be some uplifting portrayals of the Empire State Building – doesn’t there?
Date: January 2013 Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $2.99 Stats: 21 color pages plus ads Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez, Joe Caramagna, Paolo Rivera Notable Notes: Daredevil battles Coyote while headless!
Did you ever see the cartoon series Futurama? It features several famous, dead celebrities whose heads have been preserved in jars of fluid – and they are still sentient. It was quite funny to see some famous US Presidents chewing out people in the 30th century! Anyway, this issue has a bit of a different spin on the whole headlessness thing, and it is well played too!
Date: August 2000 Publisher: CrossGen Comics Cover Price: $2.95 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus recap page, house ads, “Delineations” letters column and “Milestones” Writer: Barbara Kesel Artists: Joshua Middleton, Dexter Vines, Michael Atiyeh, Dave Lanphear Notable Notes: Sephie begins to question her uncle!
Even though I loved this book there were some elements of it that sounded kind of familiar: a princess in exile, a devious ruler with ulterior motives, a ruffian boy that is just so charming. Now where have I heard all this before? *Cough – Aladdin – cough* Hmm… I’m sure it’ll come to me.
Date: 2012 Publisher: KiZoic (an imprint of Ape Entertainment) Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 28 color pages plus one house ad Writers: Sid Jacobson, Ralph Newman, Lennie Herman, Tom DeFalco Artists: Ernie Colon, Warren Kremer, Sid Couchey, Armando Zanker Notable Notes: An issue about aliens and robots!
I bought this issue along with Richie Rich: Rich Rescue #5 so that I could try out both new Richie Rich titles from KiZoic. While that one features the new look of the modern Richie, this one sticks with the classic style, and includes new, original stories as well as digitally re-colored old ones. I was impressed with the modern Richie Rich, so let’s see how this one stacks up shall we?
Date: May 1996 Publisher: Sirius Entertainment Cover Price: $2.50 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 black & white pages plus “Letters to Akiko” and “Akiko’s Bulletin Board” Story & Art: Mark Crilley Notable Notes: The gang battles monsters – arena style!
Akiko and her friends sure are lucky sometimes, and in this issue some pretty fantastic events happen to help them out of some pretty dire circumstances. But hey, that is part of the fun of comics right? This super-fun all-ages comic pushes the borders of willing suspension of disbelief, but I enjoyed it immensely none-the-less!
Date: December 2012 Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $2.99 Stats: 21 color pages plus ads and “Letters Without Fear” letters page Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez, Joe Caramagna Notable Notes: Daredevil loses his head (both figuratively and literally!)
Usually I tune out advertisements in comic books (or anywhere else for that matter) but this issue had one that I not only noticed but actually read carefully and enjoyed – gasp! It was the mini-story about breast cancer awareness featuring Iron Man and Captain America. Have any of you noticed it? It totally reminded me of those old Hostess ads from the 1970s, and it had an important message and was pretty cool to boot! Anyway, it was just one more cool thing in this already cool issue.
Date: November 2012 Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $2.99 Stats: 21 color pages plus ads and “Letters Without Fear” letters page Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez, Joe Caramagna Notable Notes: Matt begins hallucinating?
Have you ever been good friends with some one, maybe even best friends, and then had a bit of a falling out? I have. And you know what is even more unpleasant? Needing to deal with that ex-friend again because he or she is the only one who can help you. Yeah, I’ve been there too! Here is a story where Matt and Foggy are upset with each other but still require each other’s help. The bright side to all of this, however, is that it usually leads to a renewing of the friendship – let’s see what happens here shall we?
Date: 2012 Publisher: Ape Entertainment Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 24 color pages plus one house ad Writer: Buddy Scalera Artists: James Silvani, Deron Bennett Notable Notes: Richie’s team is transformed into virtual super-heroes!
Several months ago I learned that Richie Rich comics were being published again – and I was ecstatic! These were my all time favorite comic books when I was a kid, and I was sad when they quit publishing them. These new ones have been going on for about a year now, but I had heard nothing of them until I saw a small review in Comics Buyer’s Guide recently. I decided to give this new series a try – and I wasn’t disappointed!
Date: June 1992 Publisher: Image Comics (via Malibu Comics) Cover Price: $1.95 2013 Price Range: $1.00 – $10.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads and “The Spawning Ground” non-letters page. Story, Pencils & Inks: Todd McFarlane Other Artists: Tom Orzechowski, Steve Oliff, Reuben Rude Notable Notes: First appearance of the Violator and the disgusting clown!
I think Violator’s human form, as a fat, disgusting clown, ranks among the top of the scary clown list – not quite as freaky as that horrible clown in Stephen King’s It , but not the kind of guy you’d want twisting up an animal balloon for your kids either! This issue is a perfect example of why he’s such a bad, bad monster.
Date: May 1998 Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $1.99 2013 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads, Bullpen Bulletins and “American Graffiti” letters page Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Ron Garney, John Beatty, Andy Smith, Joe Rosas, John Costanza Notable Notes: Cap and Thor battle Hydra!
The last few issues have been hinting that the new “Sensational Hydra” leader has an evil plan, and is working towards its fruition. Now we, as patient readers of this 14-year-old story arc, finally learn what the terrorist organization is up to – and it ain’t pretty!
Date: April 1996 Publisher: Sirius Entertainment Cover Price: $2.50 2013 NM Price: $4.00 Stats: 22 black & white pages plus house ads Story & Art: Mark Crilley Notable Notes: Akiko and friends are captured by the Sky Pirates!
Have you ever had a bad day… and one that keeps getting worse? I have. In fact going to work yesterday, after a long holiday vacation, sure felt that way! Comics (and indeed most forms of modern story-telling) seem to incorporate miserable and funny circumstances into major plot points. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t – but this issue kept me smiling as Akiko and her friends keep getting into worse and worse situations. Fun isn’t it?
Date: July 2000 Publisher: CrossGen Comics Cover Price: $2.95 2012 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 27 color pages plus house ads Writer: Barbara Kesel Artists: Joshua Middleton, Dexter Vines, Michael Atiyeh, Dave Lanphear Notable Notes: One of the 1st four flagship titles from CrossGen comics!
So, I was a big fan of CrossGen Comics when they first appeared back in the year 2000. I followed all the main titles and several of the later ones. The company put out some cool stuff, and they (supposedly) treated their employees with respect. So you shouldn’t be surprised when I tell you that I was devastated when I heard that they were going under and that they owed money to lots of people. It was truly a shame, but I figured after all these years it was time to give some of their comics another try and see if I still enjoyed them. Yep, turns out I did!
Date: April 1998 Publisher: Marvel Comics Cover Price: $1.99 2012 NM Price: $3.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads and “American Graffiti” letters page. Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Ron Garney, Bob Wiacek, Joe Rosas. Notable Notes: Cap gets annoyed while Hawkeye makes fun of him!
Some of the things that first drew me to the Captain America comic books (many years ago) was how he looked and acted. I loved that fact that he was a true American hero and totally looked the part. This issue (and really all of volume 3 so far) reminds me of how I used to feel, and that is a good thing. I really enjoyed reading this issue, and here’s why:
