Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 8/24

Atomic Robo & The Temple of Od #1
Story: Brian Clevinger
Art: Scott Wegener & Anthony Clark

Atomic Robo is back! The pattern of Robo mini-series one set in the present and then one set in the past, and so this new series is a flashback to the late 1930s. Robo is tasked by the US military to go to Shanghai, which at this point was under Japanese control, and retrieve a Chinese scientist who has been taken by the Japanese and is developing a weapon using zero point energy, a source of power that is limitless and could destroy the world if used improperly. So, jet-setting adventurer Atomic Robo (that's his cover story, because really, how can you hide him) is off to Shanghai, and before the issue is over we have raids by Japanese soldiers, a motorcycle chase, Robo wising off at a dangerous time, and the return of a character from Robo's past. Now that we're into the eleventh volume of Atomic Robo, and that's not counting all the ancillary stories from Real Science Adventures, creators Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener have built a large and elaborate universe, with so many different characters from different eras in Robo's long life that it makes sense that a character like Helen McAllister, Robo's first love from the early 30s, would show up again during his World War II era adventures. And as with any Atomic Robo series, it's fun to look for the Easter Eggs the creators have placed throughout, as these are two guys who love their pop culture. Robo's arrival in Shanghai holds more than its fair share of nods to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, with a shoeshine boy who resembles Indy's sidekick Short Round, and a nightspot called Anything Goes. The best thing about Atomic Robo for me, though, is that even though the settings are new and the plot is filled with twists and turns you can't expect, if you're a fan of Robo it's like coming home; Robo as a character has a very specific voice, and his stories do as well. And if you're a new reader, even if you've never touched the character before it has such a welcoming, pulp feel to it that you can't help but be drawn in.

Detective Comics #939
Story: James Tynion IV
Art: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, & Adriano Lucas

Tim Drake is my favorite Robin. I started reading Batman comics regularly right after Tim was introduced, and I grew up with him. And I have felt like the post-Flashpoint DC Universe has done the character a huge disservice, shuffling him off to the sidelines. That is until this current run on Detective Comics, which has brought Tim right back into the fold of the Bat universe. After escaping the Colony last issue, Batman, Batwoman, and their squad are trying to figure out what to do next. The issue starts out with some great character moments between Batman and Batwoman, as they discuss what Bruce may and may not have known about Batwoman's father's involvement with the Colony, and Tim coming to a decision about his future and discussing it with Spoiler. It would be easy, in the middle of an arc so packed with intrigue and action to forget about the characters and focus on the story, but Tynion takes time to give us a look inside the inner lives of the characters. But the action picks up as the team learns the Colony is sending armed drones to wipe out every possible member of the League of Shadows, the urban legend ultra secret offshoot of the League of Assassins, and damned be the collateral damage. And as ever, we see that Batman, and by proxy his allies, honor life above everything else, as they jump into action to try to save the innocent. In these scenes, we actually get one of the smaller, but one of the best, character moments in the issue, where Clayface has to scare a group of people out of their apartment to get them to safety, and he feels sad that his best way to act is still as a monster. Clayface has gotten the least page time of any of the characters in the series so far, but this little beat sets up his character arc, and possible hero's quest, better than any long speech could.And in Orphan's scene, we get a hint of something to come, something that might mean Colonel Kane isn't quite as off center about the League of Shadows as Batman believes. But I started this review talking about Time Drake, Red Robin, and I'm going back there for the end.Tim spends this issue showing first his tech chops, an aspect of the character that has always been present but has been played up a lot in the new continuity. I especially like that fact that Tynion is playing with the idea of what a guy in his late teens would do with an unlimited budget and a penchant for crime fighting. But more than that, the issue ends on an amazing cliffhanger, with Tim using his brain to put himself in a position where he'll have to use all his other skills next issue to survive. I don't want to give anything away, but it's an amazing ending, and one that sums up Tim Drake perfectly; he's a good kid with a big heart, who is willing to put himself in harm's way to protect others. I've said this with each review of this new run on Detective Comics, and I'll say it again: this book gets better with every issue, and if you're a Batman fan, you should absolutely be reading it.

Kingsway West #1
Story: Greg Pak
Art: Mirko Colak & Wil Quintana

I love alternate history mixed with science fiction or fantasy. And I love the comics of Greg Pak. So when you combine them, you get a comic I'm pretty much guaranteed to like. Kingsway West takes place in an alternate old west, one where the discovery of Red Gold, an ore that channels mystical energy, led to war between two factions in California: the Chinese Queen of the Golden City and the Mexican Republica de los Californios. But this isn't a story of that war. Taking place in its aftermath, we meet Kingsway Law, a renegade gunslinger and soldier from the Chinese side of the war. The story starts with him meeting Sonia, a Mexican woman who is also fleeing her life from the war. And it's not unexpected that when the comic flashes forward five years, they're married. It's a classic Western set-up, the gunslinger trying to escape his past with the love of a good woman. And Kingsway seems genuinely like he wants to be a better man. But when a woman from the Golden Empire arrives looking for Kingsway, with word of whole new vein of Red Gold, he hopes he can just avoid her, but things don't work out like that, and soon Kingsway has had to take up his guns again to save the woman from the Golden City Guard and to find Sonia, who has disappeared. This first issue does a solid job of establishing the world that Pak is creating, the personalities of his leads, and the driving force of the plot. But I will say alternate history comics are only as good as the artist who is crafting the vision of this different world, and fortunately Pak is working with one who has some serious chops. I was unfamiliar with Mirko Colak before this issue, so I came in with no preconceptions, but the art is absolutely stellar. The characters are all solid and distinct, and the animals that populate the world, these hybrids of real animals, as well as fantastic creatures like dragons, have great designs. And the fight scenes are very well choreographed, not just easy to follow, and exciting;  but brutal in a way that does not glorify the violence in the least, which works perfectly in the tale of a man who was trying to escape his violent past and is now being pulled back into it. If you enjoy classic Westerns like Unforgiven, or the strange sci-fi Western world of Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta's East of West, you should really try out Kingsway West.

Wonder Woman #5
Story: Greg Rucka 
Art: Liam Sharp & Laura Martin

Greg Rucka has a lot going on in Wonder Woman. Not only are there two A plots, stuff set in the present in the odd numbered issues and a Year One story in the even numbered ones, but the plot in the stories set in the present, like this week's issue, are packed with all sorts of threads and characters, making it a dense and rewarding read. There are three interconnected plots running through this issue, one featuring Wonder Woman, one featuring Steve Trevor, and one featuring Etta Candy and a surprise guest star who I'll talk about at the end. Wonder Woman and Cheetah continue their quest to free Cheetah from Urzkartaga, the god that granted her the powers of the cheetah, and who now seeks her death for betraying him. Cheetah's origins have always tied her to Wonder Woman as a former friend who went to the dark side, but as a reader, I've always known the two as nemeses only. Here, seeing the two of them having to work together, it deepens the relationship, gives us insight into their shared history, and makes the aspect of that history as former friends matter more. The deepening mystery of Wonder Woman's own history and the changes that have occurred in it, and what has happened to Olympus and Themyscira, remains front and center for Diana, and the slow trickle of clues and revelations keeps the reader guessing. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor has been captured by a warlord named Cadulo who happens to be a worshipper of Urzkartaga, and who is preparing sacrifices to the god to grant him power. Steve and Cadulo are cast as polar opposites, not just because one is the heroic type and the other villainous, but because they have very different definitions of masculinity. Rucka has never shied away from discussing his own views on society in his work, and with so many recent examples in fandom of toxic masculinity, it's not surprising for Rucka to call it out, going so far as to have Trevor actually use those words. Cadulo is the kind of guy who expects women to worship him, and Trevor is, to say the least, not. Trevor banters, even when captured, and I like how Rucka is giving this character more of a personality than he's been given in the last two decades. Finally, the third plotline sees Etta Candy, Wonder Woman and Trevor's friend and Trevor's current boss, going to seek advice in what to do with the captured Trevor, and the person she goes to? Sasha Bordeaux! If you don't know her, Sasha was a character created by Rucka during his run on Detective Comics, where she served first as Bruce Wayne's Wayne Enterprises assigned bodyguard and later one of Batman's partners, and became Black Queen of Checkmate when Rucka wrote the DC Universe spy title. And while Sasha seems helpful, there's far more to what's going on than meets the Eye (and yes, that capitalization is intentional if you know Sasha's history). I'm really excited to see Sasha back, and no one writes her like her creator. I also want to call out Liam Sharp's astounding art on this issue; he's an artist I always picture drawing monsters and horror comics, and that skill plays out well in Cadulo's den, but he also draws a beautiful Wonder Woman and a sleek Cheetah. This is Greg Rucka at his superhero best, and I haven't been this excited by Wonder Woman in a long time.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 1/6

The Fade Out #12
Story: Ed Brubaker
Art: Sean Phillips & Elizabeth Breitweiser

People throw around the term "noir" to describe gritty crime stories a lot, and while all noirs are gritty crime stories, not all gritty crime stories are noirs. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips get that, and their stories are noirs: nobody gets a happy ending, nobody gets to ride off into the sunset, and their heroes have feet of the softest clay. And the final issue of their Golden Age of Hollywood mystery, The Fade Out, leaves us with a protagonist who is no one's definition of a hero. After everything Charlie Parrish has seen, the deaths of people he cares about, the perversions, the horror of the Red Scare... Charlie does nothing other than continue on. As readers we get answers to the questions that have been asked in the series, who and hows on the mystery, but there's no justice to be found for any of the victims. And in many cases that would be frustrating; if you're used to superhero comics, or many more traditional mysteries, the bad guy gets it in the end. But here, Charlie goes to the movie premiere of the film he was working on back in issue one, whose first star was murdered, whose real screen writer, Charlie's friend Gil who he was fronting for, is also dead, and its as if it were any other day to everyone else there. We see where everyone winds up, with Maya, the poor girl who stepped into the dead Valeria Sommers's role, engaged to Tyler Graves in one of the Hollywood marriages of convenience that were such a part of the studio system. And Phil Brodsky, the studio fixer, just watches, knowing the truth and knowing there's nothing anyone else can do about it. It's a haunting ending to a series that scratches off the veneer of Hollywood and shows nothing pleasant beneath it. Brodsky's final lines to Charlie sums up what we learn about Hollywood and the world at large, "But that is how it works, Charlie. Girls die for nothin' and old men cry about it... And the business just keeps on going... Christmas still comes every goddam year, right on schedule..." Don't come looking to The Fade Out for a bedtime story about how things were better back in the day. No, this is a story about people who are lost, about corruption, about the dark. And that's what noir is; the dark, especially the dark in human hearts. Charlie hasn't learned any lessons. He started the series coming out of a drunken black out, and he ends it drinking himself towards another. The Fade Out is a perfect twelve issue series that will read perfectly in one long sitting as a great noir, so if you haven't read it, now's the time to dig in. Just don't expect to walk away as unchanged as 1940's Hollywood.

Hero Cats of Stellar City #9
Story: Kyle Puttkammer
Art: Marcus Williams, Ryan Sellers, & Omaka Schultz

When it comes to charm and originality, few all ages comics right now can touch Hero Cats of Stellar City. And the end of the current arc, The Crow King Saga, has all of the in spades. Trapped in a dream created by an extra-dimensional being called the Crow King, the Hero Cats are all in human form, with only the guidance of Bandit, the brother of Hero cat Cassiopeia, who was trapped in the Crow King's realm in his own form. What this, and the previous issue, have allowed the creators to do is use all the work they've done to build these characters over the first two arcs, and still have completely new designs and a completely new setting. It's a medieval setting, with Cassie as an intrepid explorer, Ace, the Hero Cats leader, as captain of the Queen's fleet, Rocco, the world's strongest cat, as a barbarian champion, and Belle, the beautiful telepathic cat, as the queen. But these new forms allow for character work, as Rocket, who is afraid of humans, has this bleed through into this world, where he is an inventor who is a bit eccentric and nervous because he is not comfortable in this form. The story is a classic resolution to a fantasy quest story, with the Hero Cats and their allies storming the Crow King's castle, and it's there that artist Marcus Williams really takes the ball and runs with it. There are a couple of truly impressive double page spreads, one of the Hero Cats fighting the Crow Kings armored Crow soldiers, and another of Midnight, the final Hero Cat, in conflict with the Crow King himself. But it's all the detailed design work that went into building the Crow King's world that really impressed me, all the locales and the characters. The end of the issue teases a new group of Hero Cats, led by Bandit, who are still in the Crow King's land, and I'm hoping, with this arc wrapped and the tie-in mini-series for Midnight wrapping as well, we might get to go back and see this new band of heroes in their own adventure.

Nailbiter #19
Story: Joshua Williamson
Art: Mike Henderson & Adam Guzowski

Wow, if you come from Buckaroo, you can't get a break. Even when you're trying to escape the stigma of being from the town that spawns serial killers, the stigma finds you. And with the revelation that the Devil Killer stalking Atlanta is killing people who have escaped Buckaroo, well, there's something else for these poor folks to fear. The issue, in the middle of an arc, does a lot to push the story forward. We see Agent Burke continuing to unravel, continue to have the visions of murder that were caused/triggered/something by her time in Buckaroo. Finch continues to distrust Edward Charles Warren, the Buckaroo Butcher known as the Nailbiter, because, well, he is a serial killer. Sheriff Crane has a conversation with Reverend Fairgold where it looks like they put most of their cards on the table. And we find the Devil Killer's next victim and his identity. Or do we? This is Nailbiter after all, and what is on the surface is rarely what is really happening. But mixed in with all the plot are some really great character moments for Warren. There's a fantasy sequence as he tells Finch about what happened after the last time they were together, about his death and his journey through Hell to reclaim his life, which is splendidly drawn by Mike Henderson and is a different window into Warren's psyche; for all his violent tendencies, Warren has always been rooted in reality, so something interesting is going on here. And the revelation that Warren, during his walkabout after leaving Buckaroo, when he was killing, was also helping people who left Buckaroo because he was in pain and wanted to help others so they wouldn't hurt like he did continues to show that Warren, while a monster in many many respects, has a strange conscience of his own, or if not a conscience at least a sense of empathy lacking in most serial murderers. That's one of the key strengths of Nailbiter for me; I know its lead is a nightmare in many ways, but I can't keep myself from liking him.

Totally Awesome Hulk #2
Story: Greg Pak
Art: Frank Cho & Sonia Oback

My shop got shorted the first issue of Totally Awesome Hulk, so by the time I tracked one down it felt a little late to review it. Fortunately, the second issue is just as much fun as the first and as worth a review. One of the things that comics do better than pretty much any medium is allow for a fusion of two creators. When a writer knows his artist's strength, he can write a story that plays to those strengths. And Greg Pak, a writer who I've written about many times before and knows what he's doing, knows what Frank Cho draws well: dinosaurs and buxom women. So the new Hulk, boy genius Amadeus Cho, runs up against Lady Hellbender, the Monster Queen of Seknarf Nine, a warrior queen riding a T-Rex like dinosaur monster. And before the issue's over, we get some other Kirby-type monsters, along with the king of all Kirby monsters, which all just seem made for Cho to draw. But the issue isn't wall-to-wall combat. There's clever banter between Amadeus and his sister, Maddy, who serves as his mission control and travels along with him in a flying food truck and stays close with a flying droid. We also get to see Amadeus interact with a couple other heroes, classic Hulk character She-Hulk and newcomer to the main Marvel Universe, Spider-Man Miles Morales. And Pak continues to play out the two mysteries at the core of the book: what happened to Bruce Banner and what exactly is going on with Amadeus. As confident as Amadeus is in how he can control the Hulk inside, there are clearly moments where the Hulk is the one in charge. Greg Pak introduced Amadeus ten years ago, and if you've been following his development through World War Hulk, Incredible Hercules, and Incredible Hulks, you know Amadeus is a pretty dumb smart guy, lacking a lot of forethought, so I'm wondering if his decision to become a Hulk isn't biting off more than he can chew. We'll see next issue, when he fights a big monster who may or may not be wearing little purple pants of his own (that's a hint if you've ever read Nextwave, folks, and if you haven't, well what are you waiting for?).

Fit to Be Tied In: A History of Marvel Crossovers and Events- Part 8: The Leftovers

I’ve largely tried to keep the chapters of this series A) grouped thematically and B) under 1,000 words each. As in life, not everything fits into such neat little boxes. With that in mind, here are some of the events the previous chapters missed.

Acts of Vengeance (1989): It’s the old supervillain switcheroo. A group of Loki-led nasties (Dr. Doom, Magneto, the Red Skull, the Kingpin, the Mandarin, and the Wizard) decides the best way to thwart their enemies is to change dance partners. And so you have Spider-Man fighting a giant mutant-hunting Tri-Sentinel, and Rusty and Skids from the New Mutants fighting perennial Spider-baddie the Vulture. The plot, of course, fails, mostly because the villains can’t stop fighting each other, to the point where Loki ends up imprisoning the Kingpin, the Wizard, and the Mandarin. Most importantly, we get a story in Uncanny X-Men about Psylocke being transformed into an Asian, bathing-suit clad ninja programmed to serve regular Iron Man enemy the Mandarin. This version of Betsy Braddock has largely stuck ever since. “Acts of Vengeance” also gave us the first appearance of the New Warriors superhero team, who would go on to inadvertently cause the Civil War. Fun fact: Among the villains who declined the supervillain team-up was Apocalypse. (Matt's aside: A personal favorite from this event is when Holocaust survivor Magneto slaps around Red Skull's Nazi ass in Captain America #367)

Operation: Galactic Storm (1992): A big Avengers-family crossover that spanned Avengers, Avengers West Coast, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Wonder Man and Quasar. The Avengers butt into a war between the Shi’ar and the Kree because the conflict is somehow destabilizing Earth’s sun. The story is considered a throwback to the 1970s’ Kree-Skrull War, in which the Avengers also took part, and features a uniting of the two Avengers teams – East and West Coast – and an overall beefing-up of their ranks (Hey, everybody, Gilgamesh is back!). The crossover has a bit of a bummer ending: A Nega Bomb kills billions of Kree, the mastermind of the whole conflict turns out to be the Kree’s Supreme Intelligence and the Shi’ar annex the Kree, leaving Lilandra’s mad sister Deathbird in charge of them.

Maximum Carnage (1993): AKA the crossover that got me reading comics regularly. Carnage – the figurative lovechild of Venom and the Joker – breaks out of prison and goes on a killing spree across New York with his Harley Quinn, a new supervillain called Shriek, and a gang of Spider-villains including the demonic version of the Hobgoblin, Spidey’s Doppelganger from the Infinity War, and Carrion. To stop them, Spider-Man teams up with Venom, Captain America, Iron Fist, Deathlok, Nightwatch, Cloak & Dagger, Morbius, Firestar, and the Black Cat. The villains are finally defeated with the power of love and hope – in the form of a Stark-tech device apparently powered by the Star Sapphires and Blue Lanterns. The Spidey-title crossover went on to inspire a 1994 Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis video game that came in a sweet red cartridge (And shortly after all that, there was “The Clone Saga,” but the less said about that mess the better).

World War Hulk (2007): A few years back, a secret superhero cabal called the Illuminati (Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Charles Xavier, Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Namor, and Black Bolt) decided the Hulk was too much of a threat and blasted him off into space. While away, he overthrew the rulers of the planet Sakaar, took a wife and made a nice little life for himself. Then the ship that took him there exploded and killed his pregnant wife, and Hulk. Was. Pissed. So he makes his way back to Earth with some space friends to get revenge. After all is smashed and done, Hulk is reverted to his Bruce Banner form and arrested. The Incredible Hulk is renamed The Incredible Hercules, following that hero’s adventures with Amadeus Cho. A new series, Skaar, Son of Hulk, follows the adventures of … well, I suppose it’s obvious. And another new series, Hulk, debuts featuring a Red Hulk who is later revealed to be famed Hulk-hater Gen. Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.

Shadowland (2010): Before Mark Waid could relaunch Daredevil into one of Marvel’s best books, the character had to be completely run into the ground. And how better to do that than turning him into a demon-possessed ninja lord in a sprawling crossover with the company’s other street-level heroes? In addition to the main series by Andy Diggle and Billy Tan, Shadowland sucked in Spider-Man, the Heroes for Hire, Daughters of the Dragon, Punisher, Wolverine, Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Black Panther, the Thunderbolts, Shang-Chi, White Tiger, the Night Nurse, and Elektra. Even the Kingpin appears to team up with the heroes in an attempt to stop Matt Murdock and the Hand from destroying New York. Among the series’ repercussions, Daredevil kills Bullseye (Don’t worry, he gets better); Daredevil kills himself (he gets better AND gets a new series); a new Power Man is introduced who looks like the one from Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon; and the Black Panther, who has an entire country to deal with, takes over patrolling Hell’s Kitchen.

Spider-Verse (2014): A reality-hopping, Spidey-chomping, vampirish character named Morlun and his kin, the Inheritors, seek to wipe out every Spider-Man ever, until they all team up to stop them. We’re talking Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Spider-Woman, “Mayday” Parker aka Spider-Girl, Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham, Spidey 2099, Ock-Spidey, the Scarlet Spider, Gwen Stacy (whaaaa?), Uncle Ben (whaaaaaaaaa?), et al. Many Spiders die, but many Spiders also live, and some even get their own ongoing series, such as Silk, an Asian-American woman who was bit by the same spider that bit Parker; and new fan-favorite Spider-Gwen, a Gwen Stacy from a reality where she got bit and Peter Parker became the Lizard and died.

So there you have it. It’s not every crossover ever, but hopefully this series gave you more than enough background headed into Secret Wars, which if we’ve timed these right, should be starting nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnow. Happy reading!

Dan Grote’s new novel, Magic Pier, is available however you get your books online. He has been writing for The Matt Signal since 2014. He and Matt have been friends since the days when making it to issue 25 guaranteed you a foil cover.

Recommended Reading for 4/17: Code Monkey Save World

Music and comics have a long and strange history. All sorts of artists have had their own comics; while Kiss has probably the longest history, Prince, the Wu Tang Clan, and others have had their own comics, and various artists have guest starred in popular titles, from Aerosmith in Shadowman to Pat Boone in Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane. And some musicians have written comics, like Gerad Way's Umbrella Academy. But I'm not talking about them today. Today, I'm talking about geek singer-songwriter  Jonathan Coulton's collaboration with writer Greg Pak and artist Takeshi Miyazawa, Code Monkey Save World. I'm just starting with some historical context.

I first encountered the music of Jonathan Coulton through some of my wife's friends. They started bringing up YouTube clips, and by the third or fourth song, I was hooked. His lyrics were smart and funny, and he was singing about stuff like being a programmer, the presidents of the United States, Ikea, and the Mandelbrot set. And when he started as the one man house band on NPR's Ask Me Another, well, you add NPR to that other geekery, and this was a guy who was right up my alley. And I was vaguely aware that he had a Kickstarter for a comics project, but I wasn't doing the whole Kickstarter thing at the time. More the fool me.

Flash forward to New York Comic Con this past year, and I'm talking to Greg Pak, a tremendously nice guy by the way, whose run on Incredible Hulks I had just written up. Among the books he had for sale, I saw Code Monkey Save World, and I remembered that Kickstarter. And you toss in a a writer whose work I love with a musician whose songs I love, and it became a must buy. Greg signed my copy, and I was off. I read it shortly thereafter, loved it, and knew I was going to write it up, but was waiting for the right time. That time is today, and you'll find out why a little later.

Code Monkey Save World follows the misadventures of Charles, a computer programmer for SCM Industries who happens to be, well, an actual monkey. The graphic novel follows Charles as he goes from his humdrum, boring day-to-day life into a wild adventure involving supervillains, beautiful women, the fate of the world, and curling.

After his office is attacked by robots and their armored female leader, and all his coworkers are kidnapped by the robots to serve on mines on the asteroid Chiron Beta Prime, Charles finds out that his company is actually owned by Skullcrusher, a supervillain whose main methods involve corporate bureaucracy and patent lawsuits, and whose goal is to get the attention of Laura, the Robot Queen, who he had a crush on when they were in school together. Charles is willing to help the Skullcrusher in his attempts to thwart Laura's plans (because if you're a pair of supervillains, you can't just send flowers. Thwarting is courting) because one of the people kidnapped was Matilde, the receptionist who Charles has a crush on.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the book is the Matilde doesn't need Charles to save her; as a matter of fact, every attempt to do so just makes things worse. Matilde happens to be former Staff Sergeant Matilde Sanchez, and she does way better on her own. And Laura is a way better supervillain than Skullcrusher. Pak presents his female leads as far more competent than his bumbling male leads; Matilde is no damsel in distress and Laura could have probably taken over the world with little problems except for that classic bumbling interference from Shullcrusher and Charles.

As the story progresses, the cast grows with even more bizarre characters. When Skullcrusher decides to take the fight to Laura, he calls in the other members of Villainy Affiliated, LLC. These supervillains include a giant squid, aan animated, one-eyed, psychic creepy doll named Creepy Doll, and Zombie Bob, who's an office worker turned zombie. They're frankly all more evil than Skullcrusher too, and once again Charles is in over his head. Soon a government agent, code-named B-12 and a curler named Skip Jorgenson are also on their way to stop Laura. It all comes together with a team up of all our leads to stop Zombie Bob's hordes from overtaking the world to determine who will rule the world after the averted zombie apocalypse. And in the end, Charles makes a choice about his life. He grows as a character over the course of the book, and by the end isn't the same code monkey he was at the beginning.

Yes, that's a lot of plot for the equivalent of four single comics. But that's part of the fun. It's this constant stream of crazy jokes, big plot, and fun character beats. Pak is a writer who has always had a strong sense of character, and even though a lot of these characters start out very broadly drawn, which makes sense as most have their origins in 2-4 minute long songs, he spends time with each to let you understand their motivations. Well, everyone except Zombie Bob and Creepy Doll. They're pretty much just evil.

Artist Takeshi Miyazawa (best known for his work on Runaways with Brian Vaughan and co-creating Amadeus Cho with Greg Pak) goes a long way helping establish character, as his style, with its manga influences, gives a lot of big, wild expressions that carry a lot of weight. His designs for all the characters, from Charles's put upon look at the beginning to his more confident one by the end, to Laura's armor and robots, to the especially disturbing punkey (read the book, trust me) are original and really eye catching.

At the back of the book, you'll find some making of material, and a series of short strips by various other creators inspired by other Couton songs. A couple of these include Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey of Action Philosophers fame do a more historically accurate take on former baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and Pak teaming with Faith Erin Hicks for "Mister Fancy Pants." It's a nice little bonus gallery to compliment the main story.

If you've never heard a single Jonathan Coulton song but this sounds like something you'd want to check out, that's perfectly ok, as it's not like you need to know the songs to get what's going on, but it sure does add a level of depth as the characters from various songs wind up together, and you pick up all the other inside jokes. It's also nice that the jokes fly so fast and furious, and serve the plot so well, but it doesn't take time to stop and wink at the camera every time one happens. If it did, all you'd see was a lot of winking.

I picked this book for this week's recommendation because Coulton, Pak, and Miyazawa recently completed a Kickstarter for a second book, a picture book based on Coulton's song The Princess Who Saved Herself, about a princess who stops an evil queen with the power of friendship and rock n' roll. I contributed and just got my digital copy, and it's wonderful. The print copies are due in a couple months, but if you liked this review and are curious about Code Money Save World or Princess Who Saved Herself, you can now pre-order either book here. So seriously, go to Spotify or your favorite music streaming service, check out some Jonathan Coulton, and then check out the books. They're all gonna bring a smile to your face. Especially if you love monkeys. And who doesn't, really?

Strange Days Indeed: Who is Doctor Strange?

Yesterday, Marvel Studios announced that Benedict Cumberbatch, best know for playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC's Sherlock, had been cast as Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts, Sorcerer Supreme. While this is a big announcement for some of us, Doctor Strange isn't exactly the biggest name in comics, probably better known than the Guardians of the Galaxy, less so than Iron Man. So, as a public service, here's some background on the good doctor, and a few stories you might want to check out.

My personal history with Doctor Strange begins, aside from an appearance in an episode of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, where a lot of my history with Marvel characters does: with The Infinity Gauntlet. Strange was a principal character in the battle to stop Thanos and his god-like power, not just in the main mini-series but with crossovers into his own title. Strange would continue to have a large part in the sequel, The Infinity War, and a smaller roll in the final part of the trilogy, The Infinity Crusade.

Doctor Strange is a character with a long history, having first appeared in 1963 in Strange Tales #110 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. But unlike the other major Lee/Ditko creation, Spider-Man, Strange has had a hard time holding down a series. He has had no fewer than three ongoing series that have ended, plus runs in Marvel Premiere and numerous mini-series. This isn't to say he's a failure as a character; he is still mainstream comics best known magician and has been active even when not in his own title, as a supporting character or a member of the Defenders or the Avengers.

As origins go, Stephen Strange was one of the world's best surgeons, or if you asked him, the best. Arrogant and callous, Strange cared for no one but himself. But after a car accident cost him the use of his hands (in most versions of his origins, an accident caused by his own carelessness or drunkenness), Strange went on a quest to find a way to repair them. This finally led him into the Himalayas, where he met the Ancient One, a mystic who agreed to tutor Strange. Here he learned magic and selflessness, taking up the mantle of Master of the Mystic Arts, and eventually Sorcerer Supreme. It is Doctor Strange's duty to keep this dimension safe from incursions for Hell, The Dark Dimension, and any other plane of existence.

As power sets go, Strange's magic makes that kind of hard to classify. The rules of magic are a little hard to describe, as they are flexible to fit the story, so Strange can do pretty much anything. Usually there are lots of raybolts of energy, binding spells, and the like. He does fly using the Cloak of Levitation, and wields the Eye of Agamotto, the amulet at the neck of the cape, that allows for visions and truthseeing. Many of these powers he draws from the Vishanti, a triumvirate of extra dimensional beings, named Agamotto, Osthur, and Hoggoth,the last of which gives us Doctor Strange's signature comic book catchphrase, "By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth!" It might not be, "It's Clobberin' Time!" but I still think it beats, "Oh, my stars and garters!"

That's really all you need to know up front. One of the good things (and/or problems) about so many cancellations and new beginnings is that Doctor Strange is often returning with a mostly clean slate. The baggage is often discarded to provide a clean new start that will be the one that's a hit. That hasn't happened in recent years, but with a movie coming I'm sure we'll see it tried again. Strange does have certain key supporting characters and nemeses, though, and here's who they are,

Wong was introduced in the same issue as Doctor Strange, and has been Strange's manservant since that first appearance. Initially, he was simply the inscrutable Asian stereotype you couldn't get away with now, who had served the Ancient One as well as Strange, silent and always with a fortune cookie of wisdom. But over the years he has developed, and his backstory in some versions now involves him being a former student of the Ancient One as well, and besdies being a master martial artist, he is now more Strange's partner, friend, and aide rather than simply his servant.

The Ancient One is the master sorcerer who trained Strange. Sometimes portrayed as a smiling, Yoda like mentor, he is usually instead a hardass who will smack down Strange any time he gets too big for his britches, even returning from the other side to do it. He is not to be trifled with.

Clea is Doctor Strange's on again/off again love interest (they are currently off again). His wife at one point, she is the daughter of Umar and niece of Dormammu (both of whom we'll get to in a  minute), and is often fighting for the freedom of the people in her native Dark Dimension. She is a powerful sorceress herself, and has been Strange's apprentice.

Rintrah was another of Strange's apprentices and... oh, who am I kidding? We're never going to see Rintrah again. I just think the fact that he's a greenish minotaur is one of those great things that flies pretty much only in comics.

Baron Mordo is Doctor Strange's oldest foe. A fellow apprentice of the Ancient One, Mordo was corrupted by Dormammu, and tried to kill the Ancient One and steal his power. Strange interfered, and began a rivalry that lasts until today. He is Strange's opposite number.

The Dread Dormammu is an extradimensional demon who has designs to conquer Earth. He is constantly attempting to break the barriers between dimensions and bring an army of evil, or just his own form, onto our plane of existence, often using puppets like Mordo. This constantly draws him into conflict with Strange, and depending on who you ask, he might be Strange's arch-foe even more than Mordo.

Umar is the sister of Dormammu and the ruler of The Dark Dimension. A despot, she usually comes into conflict with Strange at the behest of Clea, her daughter, who tries to liberate the people from her rule.

If all those crazy characters and magic have drawn your interest and you want to learn more about Doctor Strange, here are some places to start.

Essential Doctor Strange Vol.1-4: Marvel's late and lamented line of big, black and white collections of classic comics has four volumes for Strange. The not only collect all the stories by Lee & Ditko, which include all sorts of great crazy art by Ditko, but stories from Steve Englehart, Roger Stern, and Jim Starlin. I only have one to three personally, and am on  my own quest to find a volume four.

Doctor Strange Vs. Dracula: The Montesi Formula: I've written about my love of Tomb of Dracula before, and this trade not only collects the crossover between Tomb and Doctor Strange, it also contains a later story where Doctor Strange is in a race against time to find the  Montesi Formula, the spell that will wipe out all vampires, before Dracula takes over the world. It's an exciting story, and a worthy successor to the original Tomb of Dracula series.

Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment: One of Marvel's original graphic novels, this volume not only is written by Roger Stern, one of the definitive Doctor Strange writers (I know some people go with Lee or Englehart but for my money, Stern is the best), but it features early art by Mike Mignola. After a sorcerer's duel to determine the world's best mage, the Doctors, Strange and Doom (best known as the Fantastic Four's archenemy, but a pretty good sorcerer in his own right), must make a trip to Hell to retrieve the soul of Doom's mother. Strange gets some really cool moments, but I have to say that Doom steals the show in his dealings with Mephisto.

Doctor Strange: The Oath: While not the most recent attempt to restart a Strange franchise, this is one that I feel like had the most potential. Written by Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Y:The Last Man) and drawn stylishly by Marcos Martin, this is a story that draws comparisons between Strange's oath as a doctor and as a sorcerer. It does great things with the relationship between Strange and Wong, and gave Strange a new love interest, Night Nurse, the doctor to the superheroes.

Doctor Strange: Season One: A couple years back, Marvel created a line of graphic novel's called Season One, where their principal heroes got modern retellings of their origins. The volume for Doctor Strange, from creators Grek Pak and Emma Rios, was one of the highlights of that line. The story does a great job of fleshing out Strange's journey from selfish tool to superhero, builds a solid relationship between Strange and Wong, and adds mythologist Sofia Do Cosima (created by Pak for his Incredible Hulks) run on to Strange's cast. It's a globe trotting, action story with strong characters, and is a great place to start if you want to get a good sense of Doctor Strange.

Strange is also a regular member of the cast of New Avengers, so if you need your monthly dose, that's where you can head. I'm sure we'll be getting a new series for Strange before long, too, and I have some ideas of cool places that could go. Maybe there's a post in that soon... But until then, may the Vishanti protect you.

Thursday's Adventures at New York Comic Con 2014

I love comics, and I hate crowds. Those are two gross simplifications of two of the defining aspects of my life. My love for comics has been one of the driving passions of my life, and you get me in a big room of people just milling around, and panic attacks have been known to happen. So something like the mighty New York Comic Con tears at my very soul. Can my love of comics trump my absolute loathing of crowds? Well, sorta. I have found the best balance is to only do NYCC on Thursday, which is by far the least packed day. So yesterday morning, I headed into New York bright and early for a day of comic con excitement.

As a Dewey's employee, I got to go to the Diamond Comics Distributor Retailer Appreciation Breakfast. You don't go to this event for the food, but for the announcements. We got to see presentations form all the major publishers except for Marvel (they have their own retailer presentation on Friday) and Image. DC really just recapped other announcements, so nothing there. Titan, a first time presenter, announced a 9th Doctor mini-series in their Doctor Who line and Made Man, a new series from Fred Van Lente and Dennis Calero, which is a sci-fi mobster story, so it sounds cool to me. Valiant gave some details on their new #1s, including The Valiant, their universe wide team-up mini-series, which I'm excited for , and Ivar, Timewalker from Archer and Armstrong original creative team Fred Van Lente and Clayton Henry (more Van Lente news is never a bad thing). And Dark Horse announced Archie Meets Predator. Yes, in the grand tradition of Archie Meets Punisher, the alien that hunts the most dangerous game is heading to Riverdale. This mini-series will be drawn by Fernando Ruiz, one of the nicest guys I've ever met, Dewey's regular, and the first artist to give me a piece for my sketchbook, so I'm all over that.

So, with that done, it was time to enter the con floor. The Javitz Center is sprawling, and after walking quickly through the floor to get the lay of the land, I headed off the floor to my favorite part of any con: Artist's Alley. This is usually less crowded, and is your best opportunity to talk to creators.  And to get sketches. I've talked about my sketchbook before, but for those who haven't read about it, I collect sketches of Batman characters (a Batman themed sketchbook? I know, I was as shocked you are when I thought that would be a good idea for me). After walking for a bit, I found artist Jay P. Fosgitt, who wrote and drew the adorable all ages series, Bodie Troll for Red 5 Comics. Bodie is the world's cutest troll, who can't scare anyone. At Jay's booth, he had a friend dressed as Cholly, the waitress who is Bodie's best friend, and had a life sized Bodie puppet.

Isn't that cute? So I made my usual pitch to Jay, to draw whichever Gotham City themed character he wanted. While he worked, I got to wander around, talk to the Atomic Robo guys about my love of Robo and their Kickstarter, to Greg Pak about his work, congratulated Fernando on Archie Meets Predator, and picked up a little something as a gift form someone who might read this, so I won't show a picture right now. And upon my return to Jay's booth, he had this waiting for me!

Sorry that I'm not a better photographer with my phone, but that is a wonderful Poison Ivy sketch. It's the first Ivy I have in my book, so that makes it extra great. From Jay's booth, I headed over to Scott Hanna's, whose list I had already gotten on. Scott Hanna is one of comics' most accomplished inkers, and did long runs on Amazing Spider-Man and Detective Comics, so this is a guy I was sure knew his Batman characters. I had forgotten that he had inked my favorite Joker story of all time, the vastly underrated Devil's Advocate, so I got to talk to him about that, which made my day. With my usual  request made, I wandered off again, now hitting the floor. It's crowded, there's no ifs, ands, or buts about that, but I was able to get a nice stack of back issues. I also swung by the IDW booth and talked up Locke & Key to someone randomly, which is one of the great pleasures of a con: you can share your enthusiasm and everyone gets it. I also got to see the Kill Shakespeare Board Game, which I am waiting to arrive through Kickstarter, and it looks incredible. I'll probably be writing up a play experience post once I get my hands on that.

I also spent some time talking to David Campiti, the COO of Red Giant Entertainment, a company released the zero issues of their upcoming line of free comics on FCBD. It was interesting to hear about their business model, and the idea that they really want to help drive people into comic book stores. The free books start rolling out in December, including one called Tesla, so you know I'm in for that. Expect to hear more about Red Giant as we get nearer to that debut.

But eventually, I wandered back over to Scott Hanna, and what was waiting for me?

Another new character for my sketchbook, Killer Croc! Yup, that's a pretty sweet haul. I have to say, maybe I just got lucky and talked to the right people, but all the creators I talked to, the ones I mentioned here and some that I just got a few words in with, were all gracious and happy to be there. I love that feeling of camaraderie and excitement that everyone has some of at these cons.

With my sketches done, I made one more pass around the floor, and took a couple of pictures of cosplayers. You couldn't pay me enough to cosplay, it's not my bag, but I respect the time it takes to do it and the passion that requires, and I try not to be too intrusive, despite knowing that most cosplayers are more than happy to have their photos taken, but I stumbled across a couple people already posing, so I figured I'd snap a couple pics.

It's the baby Groot that really makes it.

You've got to love the commitment for a group theme.

So, that was it for me this year. Next year, I'm hoping to hit what was Asbury Park Comic Con, which is now East Coast Comic Con, and then if all goes according to plan, Baltimore Comic Con, which has moved the end of September, much better time for me. It's a great feeling to see the level of excitement that people bring to all of their fandoms, and how they're willing to share it with everyone, and discovering new creators and comics that you wouldn't have encountered otherwise. And thanks to everyone I talked to! See you again soon.

Recommended Reading for 9/19: Incredible Hulks

I try to write recommended readings that are topical. I pick series that are getting new volumes, new trades, or from creators who are about to release new work. I was having a hard time picking something for this week, before I saw the new issue of Hulk on Wednesday, where Gerry Duggan is dealing with the new, supersmart Hulk (excuse me, Doc Green) going out to depower all the worlds other gamma powered monster-men and -women. I had, by sheer coincidence, just finished reading Greg Pak's run of Incredible Hulk/Incredible Hulks, and so I decided to touch on the series that redefined the Hulk's family.

Pak's run on the various Hulk titles was five years long, and I'm starting a bit into that run. I'm not going to talk about the "Planet Hulk" story or the World War Hulk crossover, but am going to start with Pak's return to the ongoing Hulk adventures when Incredible Hulk was working in tandem with Jeph Loeb's Red Hulk centric Hulk series. Just to touch on what has gone before, Hulk was blasted off Earth, became king of an alien world, knocked up his queen, there was a big explosion where she and most of his citizens died, he came back to Earth, beat the snot out of the heroes who shot him into space before being defeated, fought a new Red Hulk, and then was depowered. These are some really good stories, and are well worth tracking down, especially "Planet Hulk," starring barbarian/warlord Hulk.

In case you didn't notice, a good chunk of this run has a plural; it is Hulks. The Hulk has had a consistent supporting cast from pretty much his inception (except for a few years in the nineties/early 00s, where most of them were dead or hanging out with Captain Marvel), so as much as Hulk often screams, "All Hulk wants is to be left alone," he hasn't really ever been. But Pak takes it to the next level during his run by giving the Hulk a full on, flat out family of fellow gamma mutants, many of whom are blood related to him. The series explores how the Hulk and Bruce Banner interact with others, how he/they try to love and form these bonds, and how it can all come crumbling down.

While Pak did interesting and fun things with She-Hulk, A-Bomb (Rick Jones's gamma monster form), Korg, and Amadeus Cho (who isn't a Hulk, but a steadfast Hulk ally), and how they relate to Banner, I want to spend most of the time focusing on two relationships specifically, as they seem to be the two central ones: The Red She-Hulk and Skaar, Son of Hulk. I'll also want to talk about the relationship between Banner and Hulk, because I feel that how a writer defines that relationship is the key to their run on Hulk, and a successful or interesting relationship between these aspects makes for a good run on Hulk.

When the Hulk left the planet Sakaar at the end of "Planet Hulk," he didn't realize that the combination of his gamma powers and the Old Power of his alien queen Caiera the Oldstrong had allowed their child to survive its mother's death. On Sakaar, the child aged rapidly and was filled with rage for the father who abandoned it. Finally arriving on Earth through a portal, the child, dubbed Skaar, sought out Hulk and nearly triggered a fault line fighting him. Skaar was a reflection of the pure rage that Hulk was often gripped by, but had a native cunning forged by having to survive the ravages of an alien world. And after that one confrontation, Banner lost the ability to change into Hulk, and he took on Skaar to train him to fight Hulk when and if he ever resurfaced, or so he claimed. And this is when things got really interesting.

These early stories in the run, of Banner leading Skaar into run-ins with some of Hulk's deadliest foes, including Juggernaut, Wolverine, and Tyrannus, are a ton of fun to begin with. Skaar is basically Hulk meets Conan, a giant gamma monster with a sword, and that in itself is a brilliant concept. But Banner is clearly up to something, and his plans are to manipulate Skaar into helping him save the life of Betty Banner, Banner's wife, who has been resurrected. While this succeeds, sort of, Banner now has a well trained fighting machine for a son who wants him dead. This act of Pak's run ends with the re-emergence of the Hulk persona that was married to Skaar's mother, and the battle between the two. This ends with a reconciliation, as Skaar realizes Hulk isn't the monster he thought he was, and Hulk/Banner have an epiphany about the cycle of abuse and violence.

Pak mentions in the essay at the end of the last volume that he was inspired by Bill Mantlo's story of Banner and his abusive father, Brian Banner (which is collected along with these issues). Peter David, in what I still feel is the definitive Hulk run, spent quite some time with this relationship as well, adding some harrowing moments, revealing both the exact nature of Brian's murder of Bruce's mother, and of Bruce and Brian's final confrontation. But it's Pak who deals with the final results, of Bruce having a son of his own, and whether Bruce will just repeat the cycle. The final pages of Incredible Hulk #611, where Hulk stands above a transformed Skaar, a Skaar back in his form as a small child, and seeing himself as the same beast Brian Banner was, is a powerful sequence, and made moreso with Banner transforming back to Banner and embracing the child, showing love in a way that Brian Banner would have been incapable of. It's a transformational moment for Banner, and feels to me like the real beginning of him building his family.

The Red She-Hulk was introduced in Hulk, the Jeph Loeb series, and there her origins and identity were revealed. She is Betty Ross-Banner, wife of Bruce Banner, his greatest love. Throughout Pak's run we see most of Banner/Hulk's loves, including Caiera, Jarella, Monica Rappaccini, Kate Wayneboro, and even introduces a flirtation with a new character, Sofia di Cosimo (you know, for a mousey guy, Banner gets around), and how the complement and contrast with Hulk. But throughout the run, it's Betty who Banner keeps coming back to. Betty who was loved by both the Hulk and Banner. And it's Betty who suffered years and years of rage from Banner and Hulk, from her father, Thunderbolt Ross, and who has been unwillingly turned into a Red She-Hulk. And all those years of keeping it bottled up has released something horrible in the Red She-Hulk.

After everything Bruce does during the Fall of the Hulks/World War Hulks stories to reclaim Betty, Banner finds a Betty who doesn't want to take him back. A Betty who is happy to be in her half-insane, powerful new form, a Hulk who has minimal self control and who loves to smash as much as the Hulk. Every time the two come close to reconciling, one or the other of them breaks into a rage or leaps away. It's a tragic love story. But in the end, the two reach an understanding, an accord. While they are together at the end, their future was far from certain, and the nature of serialized storytelling doesn't lend to happily ever afters. But still, Bruce and Betty are entangled in each others lives, and maybe the Hulk gets a little bit of that happy ending, something he has earned through the trials he went through during this series.

I love what Pak does with Betty. Peter David did great things with the character, but killed her off at the very end of his run for various reasons and while there had been attempts to resurrect her earlier, it didn't work. Making Betty a Hulk gave a new dimension to their relationship, allowed her to confront the Hulk on a level she never had before. But Pak didn't lose Betty's voice when she was Betty, and gave an interesting new take on her as Red She-Hulk. "The Spy Who Smashed Me" was a story where Banner and Betty, and their alter egos, wind up working at cross purposes with each other, and we get to see them all interact in their different iterations.

The other major shift I feel that Pak brought to the Hulk as a character is that he made Bruce Banner a force to be reckoned with. While Peter David had made the merged Hulk a powerful threat, part of David's run was showing how that version of Banner/Hulk gave in to his physical prowess far more than strict Banner would have. Pak's Banner was a man of science, who came up with shield tech, teleport tech, tasers; all sorts of cool gadgets. He was also a coldly manipulative character, moving his friends around like chess pieces in his battle with the Leader and his allies, the Intelligentsia, to retrieve Betty. I liked this new aspect of Banner, and it's something writers since then, like Jason Aaron and Mark Waid, have played up: the fact that Banner might be a bigger threat to the world than Hulk is.

And now we get to the relationship between Banner and Hulk. This has been a central theme in Hulk stories from the beginning. The early stories are fairly simple, with Hulk being the childlike embodiment of Banner's rage, and Banner trying to suppress it. It was Peter David who dealt with the Hulk as Multiple Personalities, and there started a relationship that would flourish. While some writers have tried to go back to the simple model, other writers have embraced it, like Paul Jenkins deepened it, creating legions of Hulks in Banner's mind. Pak, though, seemed to create a... detente of sorts between Banner and the Hulk. During "Planet Hulk" Banner and the Hulk actually communicated in Banner's head, and after that, their relationship became a bit more cordial. And at times it felt like it blurred. This is partially because Banner was being written as a deadlier character, but partially because I think the Hulk now wanted what Banner always said he wanted, which was love and acceptance. There was also a current of thought that Banner and Hulk weren't that different, that they are really the same mind. This comes up very strongly in the final story, where both Banner and Hulk choose to sacrifice themselves to save this family they have created.

I also want to give props to Pak for using some interesting old villains in his run. Hulk doesn't exactly have a wide rogues gallery, and while Pak does use the old standbys (Leader and Abomination), he also brings back some of the others. He has the first use of Armageddon, warlord of the alien Troyjan, since Peter David left the title, and it's interesting to see Hulk fight someone who blames him for the death of his son, with Hulk now having a son of his own. Tyrannus, the immortal lord of Subterranea, is a character I only really know form one Peter David annual and an arc in Warlock & the Infinity Watch. Pak writes him brilliantly, making him this sleazy, smirking world conquering lech who makes a play for Red She-Hulk. And by introducing the world Sakaar and it's inhabitants, a legion of new supporting characters and enemies were introduced, notably Miek the Unhived, the Hulk's ally and eventual betrayer, a character who shows Hulk the extreme extent of his own rage.

The artists who worked with Pak throughout his run are a group of some of comics strongest artists, guys whose career I have followed for years. Paul Pelletier, who does a more issues than any other artist, has a history with Hulk, and his Hulk is one of comics most expressive. Ariel Olivetti has a history with Conan, so his drawings of Skaar and the giant monsters of the Mole Man are second to none. And Tom Grummet draws the heck out of the story with Hulk and Red-She-Hulk, giving them a playful and brutal physicality, depending on the moment, to perfectly suit the story.

While the Hulk isn't a character whose comic I read every month, he is a character I have a lot of affection for. The work that Greg Pak did on the series helped build up the world of the Hulk, and created a new web of characters and relationships. It was an exciting time for the character, and is well worth checking out, as the ramifications are still being felt.

The complete run of Greg Pak's Incredible Hulk/Hulks are collected over various trades: Son of Banner, Fall of the Hulks, World War Hulks, Dark Son, Chaos War, Planet Savage, and Heart of the Monster, not to mention the Planet Skaar collection and Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, Incredible Hulk: World War Hulk. These are mostly out of print, but are available at most comic shops and on-line.

Reviews of Comics from Wednesday 4/28

All Star Western #30
Story: Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art: Staz Johnson/ Jose Garcia-Lopez

It's not good to be a love interest for Jonah Hex. After burying the girl who he brought back from his brief sojourn to the 21st century, Jonah heads to town to find a room and finds Tallulah Black. For those of you not in the know, or who have only experienced that character through the unfortunate Jonah Hex film, Tallulah is a female bounty hunter Jonah trained initially to hunt those who killed her family, and became his recurring love interest and partner throughout the initial Palmiotti & Gray run on Jonah Hex. This issue is a good jumping on point if you're not familiar with either character, since Jonah has to establish his identity because his historically scarred face was fixed in his time in the future. You see that they are both coldblooded killers with little regard for pretty much anyone else. You see the fireworks between them, the perfect chemistry, and the final page of their story sets up what looks to be a bloody beginning to the next issue. This issue is also the first issue of All Star Western in a while to have a back-up story, something that was a regular feature when it debuted, and this issue features the New 52 introduction of Madame .44. A more obscure old DC western character, the origin is slightly altered, but still features most of the original aspect: father who was a miner, seeks revenge on those who wronged him, but it also adds a supernatural aspect that wasn't there originally. The extra big draw on that back-up is art by living legend Jose Garcia-Lopez, who hasn't lost a step in portraying the old west.

Duffman Adventures #1
Story: Max Davison/ Ian Bootby
Art: John Delaney/ Jacob Chabot

OH, YEAH! Bingo's Simpsons comics are consistently fun, but I have gotten a real kick out of these "One Shot Wonders," single issues focusing on single characters. This issue clearly focuses on Duffman, the pitchman for Homer's favorite beverage, Duff Beer. The issue features two stories, both of which are parodies; they're pretty on the nose, not very subtle, but are so full of in jokes and well put together, who needs subtlety? In the lead story, mild mannered Kyle McKagen is called by an extraterrestrial beer can to join the galaxy's leaders in partying, the Duffman Corps. Not only do we see Duffman versions of such legendary Green Lanterns as Kilowog, Salaak, Tomar Re, and G'Nort, but there are also Duffmen from the Rigellian species (Kang and Kodos of The Simpsons), and Nibblonians and Decapodians (Nibbler and Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama respectively). When you factor in Vinostro, king of the buzzkills, you get a fun Green Lantern parody. In the second short, we get previews of shows on the new Duff Network, including "CSI: Duff," "Duffton Abbey," and "DuffTales." "DuffTales" was my favorite, with Duffman in a Scrooge McDuck costume and bill, and three of the Seven Duffs as the Beagle Boys. If you watch The Simpsons, you know that Duff Beer is from a corporation so corrupt it would only fit in Springfield (or Wall Street), and so their product placement ads work as a good lampooning of corporate greed. And the next one shot features Kang and Kodos! Nothing better than wacky tentacle aliens!

Eternal Warrior #8
Story: Greg Pak
Art: Robert Gill

I haven't talked about Valiant Comics as much as I probably should have since their return, and I feel bad that I'm only now hitting on Eternal Warrior with its last issue. This arc finds Gilad Anni-Padda, the titular immortal warrior, aged and in the year 4001, a world that has returned to an almost Middle Ages level of technology. There, he has been on a quest to find a cure for radiation poisoning to save the village he has been living with an most importantly his grand daughter, Caroline. Gilad must lead a group of men and women to defeat a death cult that has claimed the bunker that holds the cure, and to do it, must teach them how to use weapons from the old days, including mechanical war suits and laser blasters. Gilad knows that teaching them to use the weapons could again bring about the destruction that was brought about by the high technology. In the end, while Gilad wins and saves his people, he also loses, as Caroline, enchanted by the technology, seems to be the one who will bring it back and doom the world again. This theme, that of the cycle of destruction and rebirth, is important in apocalyptic literature, and Pak adds the extra personal punch of Gilad seeing it's his own blood who will bring it about again. The series ends with this issue with some plot threads left dangling, and I'm hoping to see some of those dealt with in Valiant's new future set series, Rai. But Gilad is the eternal warrior, so I can only expect to see him back.

Herobear and the Kid: Saving Time #1
Story and Art: Mike Kunkel

A couple weeks ago I did an advanced review of the new Scratch 9 series, and said how glad I was to see another great all ages back. And now here's another of the best all ages comics I've ever read back with a new series! Herobear and the Kid is the story of Tyler, a young boy who got a very special inheritance from his grandfather: a pocketwatch that tells Tyler of someone is good or bad and a stuffed bear that, when Tyler presses his nose, turns into a full size flying, talking, superhero polar bear called Herobear. This new series takes place not too long after the first series, at Tyler's first New Year's since his family moved into the house his grandfather left them. He and Herobear have an adventure doing battle with a crocodile, and when he arrives home, he learns the secret of his butler, the always punctual Henry: Henry is Father Time, one of whose jobs it is to aid Santa Claus in his deliveries (oh, did I forget to mention that Tyler's grandfather was Santa, and Tyler is in line to be the new Santa?), and once a year, on New Year's, he turns into Baby New Year, and it's up to Tyler to protect him or there will be dire consequences. Of course, Tyler isn't even a teenager, so you know he's going to get distracted, and the evil Von Klon is waiting in the wings. Herobear and the Kid is the product of cartoonist Mike Kunkel, whose gorgeous black and white art is a major draw to the series. This is a well written comic, with plenty to read; I would be surprised if there were any books from either Marvel or DC that took as much time for me to read. That is not to say it is overwritten; nowhere does the book feel like I'm slogging through too much narration or dialogue. Kunkel really gets into the mind of a child who still can experience the magic of the world in a way we adults can't, while still keeping the stakes high and the action and humor coming. If you have a kid, or are a kid at heart, then you should be reading Herobear and the Kid, and this issue is the perfect time to come on board.

The Manhattan Projects #20
Story: Jonathan Hickman
Art: Nick Pitarra

This is it, the issue I've been waiting for since the series began. Early on, Albert Einstein discovered how to open a gate between worlds and dimensions, only to be left trapped in another dimension by his alternate self, Albrecht Einstein, who took the place of the great thinker. I knew Albert would be back, and now we get pay off on that long dangling thread. This issue is the story of what Einstein had to do to get back to his home world, and of what he experienced. We see exactly the kind of world Albrecht escaped, a crazy fantasy world where they believe science is magic and magic is science. We see Einstein passing through numerous other alternate Earths. And we see him having a conversation with his alternate self. Now, Albrecht has fit in pretty well with the narcissists and maniacs who make up the Manhattan Projects team, and no doubt he's not a very nice guy, but seeing the world he's from not only clearly makes him the lesser of many evils, but even Albert understands why he would do anything to escape it. And the reasoning behinds Albert's immediate assassination of Oppenheimer a couple issues ago becomes very apparent, and I feel is going to important as the series continues. I've always felt like Jonathan Hickman's strength as a writer has been his big crazy plots, but this issue does a nice job of giving us a character piece with a character who isn't a lunatic. And who could pass up a comic titled "Einstein the Barbarian"? Not me.


And a little additional recommendation. One of the seemingly exponentially number of podcasts I listen to is NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, a weekly discussion of different pop culture topics. Occasionally, host Linda Holmes will have a fun quiz that the panelists have to take, usually to their shagrin. Well, this week, she handed the quiz duties over to Glen Weldon, their resident authority on comics, who happens to be writing a book about how Batman intersects with pop culture, and so naturally his quiz was about Batman. It's multiple choice, but pretty darn tricky; I wound up getting eight out of twelve. Check out the episode and see how you do.