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Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Catnapped!" from Betty and Veronica: Friends Forever: Sleepover: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/comics-catnapped/

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Jan 27 2024 5:44pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Love is a Football Field!" from Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #347: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/01/27/comics-love-is-a-football-field/

Jan 25 2024 4:30pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "One Shot Worth a Million" from World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #136: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/01/25/comics-one-shot-worth-a-million/

What comics have you been reading?

Started by irishmoxie, March 30, 2016, 10:49:35 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

DeCarlo Rules

Quote from: rusty on January 17, 2019, 08:04:11 PM

United States of Murder Inc. 1-4 - This is another holdover from Icon and is about the first female assassin in a particular mob family.  I like the book more than Scarlet, though not as much as the other two series.  It has potential.


The move to DC seems to have done good things for Bendis and deadlines on his indie books so far.

I liked the first US of Murder Inc series, way back when, but missed the new one when it came out (probably will get the trade collection at some point, though). But where is POWERS? That's the only one I really wanted to see. Or is it over for good, after a few different hiatuses and publishers?

rusty

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 18, 2019, 02:21:44 AM
I liked the first US of Murder Inc series, way back when, but missed the new one when it came out (probably will get the trade collection at some point, though). But where is POWERS? That's the only one I really wanted to see. Or is it over for good, after a few different hiatuses and publishers?
They supposedly have a new Powers graphic novel completed.  There was talk of having it out in December, but I don't think it was ever solicited so it will probably be sometime in 2019.  It doesn't look like they will release it in single issues.  They are also supposed to bring back Takio and maybe other Bendis books.

rusty

I'm caught up on Vertigo now.  It may not be as good as in its heyday, but they have a few books that are pretty good.


American Carnage 1-2 - A former FBI agent who is half black, but can pass for white is brought back to go undercover in a group with white supremacy ties.  This series is off to a very nice start.


American Way Those Above and Those Below 1-6 - I liked the first American Way series, but was surprised to see the sequel since it had been about a decade.  This series didn't disappoint and I liked it a lot.  Time has passed here as well and more people are getting superpowers. Some of the survivors from the first series find themselves in opposing camps.


Everafter 11-12 - This series was good, though I much preferred The Wolf Among Us and the original Fables series to this spinoff.  I'd like to see more Fables related series at some point.


Goddess Mode 1 - I'll have to see a few more issues to make up my mind.  It has some potential, but we'll see where it goes.


Hex Wives 1-3 - A coven of witches and the families who oppose them keep doing battle through the centuries with the witches being reincarnated and fighting/killing the next generation.  A different approach is attempted in modern days that is proving more effective.  So far I'm enjoying this series.


Astro City 46-52 - I've loved this series since it began.  It is too bad that the single issues are done, but hopefully the original graphic novel approach is successful.


Border Town 1-4 - I liked this series which takes place on the Mexican border in Arizona with a group of mixed minority kids dealing with creatures of myth.  Too bad the writer seems to be abusive and the book got canned.


Imaginary Fiends 1-6 - Melba has been in an institution since trying to kill her friend Brinke as a child.  She is now 18 and is recruited by a special FBI agent because she is one of the rare people who can see and interact with imaginary creatures, like Polly Peachpit, her childhood 'imaginary' friend.  This first series was very good and there are plans for at least two sequels.  I hope they get published.


Sandman Universe 1 - This issue sets up a new line of Sandman related books.  It was a decent introduction.


Books of Magic 1-3 - This book features Tim Hunter and has gone back to before his powers have activated.  I have enjoyed the series so far, though not as much as the original Books of Magic series.


Dreaming 1-4 - Dream has apparently abandoned his post with no signs that he will return.  Lucien is trying to keep things going, but there are cracks in the dreamscape and lots of problems are appearing.  This series has been decent.


House of Whispers 1-4 - This has a bit more of a voodoo background with ties to the dreamscape.  A young woman ends up in a coma and when she awakes thinks that she is dead and lacking in feeling.  She also is able to make others the same way.  I have liked parts of this series, but overall would rate it as so-so.


Lucifer 1-3 - I'm not really getting into this series at all.  I never collected the original series and this one just doesn't interest me much.


Overall I would say the new Sandman line is a bit of a disappointment, but there is some potential in three of the series.

rusty

Planet of the Apes Green Lantern 1-6 - The 'universal ring' makes its way into the Planet of the Apes alternate timeline.  We get a nice mix of action among the Apes and the various color lanterns who follow, including Hal Jordan, Sinestro and others.  I enjoyed the series.


Wonder Woman '77 meets The Bionic Woman 1-6 - This was a decent crossover between the two tv show characters and takes place in the late 70s for the most part.  I thought the art was only so-so, but the story was okay.


Batman '66 meets The Legion of Super-Heroes 1 - A group of Legionnaires travel back in time to get help from Batman and Robin.  The issue is a bit campy, but was entertaining enough.


Batman '66 meets Wonder Woman '77 - This series was a lot better than the other two I just read.  The story takes place in the 1940s, in 1966 and in 1977.  The art is much better and the story is also really good, probably because it was written by Jeff Parker and Mark Andreyko.


Dastardly & Muttley 1-6 - Lt Col. Atcherly "Dick" and Captain Muller "Mutt" are air force pilots assigned to investigate a rogue drone over an area that recently suffered nuclear destruction.  Things get weird as the drone unleashes something which causes them to exhibit strange and sometimes cartoonish behavior.  The effect starts to spread and the two have to scramble to stay alive and try to find a solution.  The story is funny and well written (by Garth Ennis) and the art by Mauricet is pretty good.  It didn't quite stick the landing at the very end, but overall was a very good series.


The Ruff and Reddy Show 1-6 - Ruff and Reddy are washed up comics from the 1950s/60s who are recruited by a young talent agent to make a comeback.  They don't get along and there is plenty of tension throughout including with former rivals and associates.  The series is okay overall, but I've never been a big fan of Chaykin's writing and the story and art aren't nearly as good as the Dastardly series.


Exit Stage Left The Snagglepuss Chronicles 1-6 - Snagglepuss is a famous playwright in the early 1959s amidst the Red Scare.  He is somewhat openly gay, though he has a token marriage for cover.  The House plans to subpoena him to try and get him to name names and tries to get leverage on him.  Plenty of other characters appear such as Augie Doggie, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw and others.  Mark Russell writes a very nice tale in a very good series.


Jetsons 1-6 - In the future, the Earth has suffered a meteor strike that raised the ocean levels and killed off much of the life from the surface.  Earth is now an ocean world, but human survive in cities that float above the ocean surface.  They also have space stations.  Now another meteor is approaching and may finish off those who are left.  I really enjoyed this take on the Jetsons and the characterizations are all very good. 


The digital first books like Injustice are next in my pile.

BettyReggie

I read these books for 12 minutes each
Deadly Class - Book. #1- Noise Noise Noise
Fence - Volume #1
Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #260
World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #82

DeCarlo Rules

#1610
BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #269 - In the Sabrina section, there are two different stories featuring Head Witch Della, in which she's drawn very differently. In one (by Bob Bolling), Della looks almost like Marvel's Scarlet Witch (from The Avengers). In the following story, (drawn by Dan DeCarlo) while her costume looks about the same as always, her hairstyle (short) and facial features (especially the detailed way her eyes are drawn) make her look completely different than usual.

B & V FRIENDS JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #267 - In addition to the usual Josie section, replacing the recently-seen Betty & Me section in this issue is "The Girl From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E." - a pleasant surprise to me.

BETTY & VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER - GO TO WORK #1 (the indicia admits it's actually B&VFF#4, though)

ARCHIE MODERN CLASSICS VOLUME ONE - What exactly is in this, you might wonder? All of the new 5-page lead stories published in all of the ongoing Archie digest titles in 2018. For $10. The stories are so recent that it contains not only all four of the same stories reprinted from the B&V digests that were in BETTY & VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER - GO TO WORK #1 (which is also out this week), but even the new lead story from BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #269 (which came out only two weeks ago!).

Previously (in 2016, 2017, and 2018 respectively) ACP had made available the digital-only collections ARCHIE: THE BEST OF 2015/2016/2017 DIGEST ANNUAL, which were pretty much the same thing (as far as I can tell -- I don't actually have them, because I own ALL the print digests that ACP published in those years). So in this volume you get ten 5-page lead stories from ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS DIGEST, ten 5-page lead stories from BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST, ten 5-page lead stories from ARCHIE AND ME COMICS DIGEST, nine 5-page lead stories from B & V FRIENDS JUMBO COMICS DIGEST (because that's all they published in 2018), and ten 5-page lead stories from WORLD OF ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS DIGEST. Now, this worked out fortuitously for me, due to my earlier decision at the beginning of 2018 to stop getting the ARCHIE, ARCHIE AND ME, and WORLD OF ARCHIE digest titles. I had grown bored with the reprints in those titles, as there was nothing particularly noteworthy or interesting about them -- for the last half of 2017, I'd only been getting them for those new 5-page lead stories, but now that not all the stories were being drawn by Dan Parent, I decided to stop getting those titles. I figured I'd probably just have to break down and BUY a digital collection of ARCHIE: THE BEST OF 2018 DIGEST ANNUAL at some point later, but here ACP went and made things easy for me to get all those new Archie 5-page lead stories that I missed from the three Archie digests in 2018. So... Yay!! And remember, if you were thinking of buying BETTY & VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER - GO TO WORK #1 for $2.99, all of those stories are in this collection as well as all of the stories from the previous three issues of BETTY & VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER (for $9.99). I'm still going to keep on getting all the classic B&V titles that ACP publishes, because I like the reprints, as well as the new stories. But now I get to catch up on all those new 5-page lead Archie stories that I missed last year. On a side note, the book is physically larger than the normal digest page size (about the same width as those "Archie Comics Presents..." trade paperbacks, but for some reason, about half an inch shorter). I believe the last time they used this size paperback was back when they published ARCHIE'S EVEN FUNNIER KIDS' JOKE BOOK.






rusty

DC Comics Bombshells 32,33
Bombshells United 1-19 - These series are based on the statue line and take place during an alternate WWII where most of the active heroes are female.  I thought both series were very entertaining and fun to read.


Gotham City Garage 1-12 - This series was based on another statue line and takes place in a Mad Max type world where the Earth is now pretty barren, except for one surviving with the remnants of Gotham City.  It is run by Governor Lex Luthor and employs thought control to keep citizens 'happy' and under control.  Batman is a bad guy here and serves as one of Luthor's enforcers.  Kara Gordon lives as an adopted daughter of Jim Gordon and when she escape and meets up with female bikers in the outskirts, she learns who she really is.  Not as much fun as Bombshells, but a decent series.


Scooby Apocalypse 16-32 - Dr. Velma Dinkley was one of the scientists who caused the apocalypse with the release of a nanite plague that turned most people into monsters.  She travels around the country in the mystery machine with Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby and others (including Scrappy) to try and find a cure.  There is a lot of fun in the various adventures they have and it is a nice take on the Scooby world.  Scooby and Scrappy can talk because they were part of a 'smart dog' program from the same scientists that created the nanites.


Injustice 2 1-36, Annual 1,2 - This serves as a prequel to the new game and takes place after the various original Injustice books where Superman went mad and took over the world after Lois was killed.  There is plenty of action with Batman and his allies battling Ra's al Ghul, Gorilla Grodd and others.  Lots of different stories going on here with Hal Jordan, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Damian Wayne, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold and others.  I enjoyed this series a lot, which isn't surprising since I really liked the previous books, too.


Injustice vs Masters of the Universe 1-6 - He-Man is recruited to fight Superman and his allies.  Darkseid gets involved.  Lots of drama ensues.  I didn't like the art or the story anywhere near as much as the regular Injustice books.  Overall it was okay, but not that great.


Now on to the various DC Kids books that have piled up.

rusty

Future Quest Presents 1-12 - These stories were a lot of fun.  I wouldn't mind seeing an ongoing series with some of these characters or another anthology series.  The Jeff Parker written  stories were probably my favorites here.  The Space Ghost three parter was nice in both art and story.


Looney Tunes 238-246 - This series is still fun, even if some of the stories are reprints.  They are from so long ago that they seem new.  I did see one funny accident, though, where they included the indicia from the issue that was being reprinted as part of the story page.  This series is now tied in terms of # of issues with the original Dell title.  That tie will be broken soon.


Scooby-Doo Team Up 20-45 - This series is a lot of fun with the Scooby Gang meeting a different DC or Hanna-Barbera character or group in each issue.  Sholly Fisch does a nice job writing this and even maintains some continuity.  The art is pretty good, too.


Scooby-Doo Where Are You? 76-96 - The stories in here aren't as much fun as in the other Scooby-Doo title, but they aren't bad.  They seem to use a lot of reprints here, though.  That wouldn't bother me too much except that they reprinted a story in #80 and then again in #86.  They did it again with a story in #89 and #96.  With as many stories as they have in their inventory, that is pretty bad.  It's like they hired somebody from Archie to take care of that.


Teen Titans Go! 19-31 - I don't watch the tv show and haven't seen the movie yet, but I do like the comic book quite a bit.  Silly, but fun.


I am now caught up with my major backlog, except for the comics that have accumulated over the past few months after I had caught up with that section.  This leaves about 200 books to get through before my next shipment arrives in a couple of weeks.  That shouldn't be a problem.  It will be nice to be caught up again and I should be able to stay caught up.


Of course, there are those boxes of graphic novels and collections that have accumulated plus 6000+ back issues yet to be read...

BettyReggie

I read these books for 12 minutes each
Banana Fish #2
Brain Camp
Archie's FunHouse Comics Double Digest #16

DeCarlo Rules

Quote from: rusty on January 26, 2019, 11:31:50 PM
Future Quest Presents 1-12 - These stories were a lot of fun.  I wouldn't mind seeing an ongoing series with some of these characters or another anthology series.  The Jeff Parker written stories were probably my favorites here.  The Space Ghost three parter was nice in both art and story.

Totally agree. I didn't particularly care for Parker's version of an update on Mightor, but aside from that, good work all around.

Quote from: rusty on January 26, 2019, 11:31:50 PM
Looney Tunes 238-246 - This series is still fun, even if some of the stories are reprints.  They are from so long ago that they seem new.  I did see one funny accident, though, where they included the indicia from the issue that was being reprinted as part of the story page.  This series is now tied in terms of # of issues with the original Dell title.  That tie will be broken soon.

I believe that makes Looney Tunes currently DC's longest-running contiguously-numbered title (since April 1994). By that I mean a title which you can actually find each of the 247 (as of this week) issues, numbered as such. As opposed to those titles that later revert to their original legacy numbering after having been re-numbered as #1 at some point. Of course DC has had many titles which numbered higher than 247 in its history prior to 2011, but Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? were the only titles to survive the New 52 reboot/renumber and are still continuing with their original numbering.

Quote from: rusty on January 26, 2019, 11:31:50 PM
Scooby-Doo Team Up 20-45 - This series is a lot of fun with the Scooby Gang meeting a different DC or Hanna-Barbera character or group in each issue.  Sholly Fisch does a nice job writing this and even maintains some continuity.  The art is pretty good, too.

Boy, do I EVER agree! Scooby-Doo Team-Up has been my favorite DC title for the last few years. What is more amazing than that is the fact that prior to this series, I was NOT that huge a fan of Scooby-Doo. If not for Sholly Fisch, this could have been a fairly ordinary kids title. And it hasn't gotten stale, either, not even after all this time.

Quote from: rusty on January 26, 2019, 11:31:50 PM
Of course, there are those boxes of graphic novels and collections that have accumulated plus 6000+ back issues yet to be read...

Same here. I don't know of an actual count on the back issues for me, but the boxes of graphic novels and collections are pretty staggering.

DeCarlo Rules

MONICA ADVENTURES VOL. 1 & 2 (PapercutZ/CharmZ) - It's hard to describe exactly what this is, but I'll give it a shot. First of all, to call it by its correct (Brazilian) title, it's really MONICA TEEN; what that means is it's a 2008 spinoff of the long-running (since 1963) Brazilian (kid gang) comic MONICA. So, it's like if LITTLE ARCHIE had been the original, and they only thought up "Teen Archie" in 2008. The original MONICA strip is in the tradition of kid comics like L.A. or Peanuts or Dennis the Menace -- but extremely simply drawn. Monica Teen ages the characters into their (early, it looks like) teens, and completely changes the art style to something vaguely manga-esque (certain aspects of the style here actually remind me of Gisele's art -- not completely a manga style, but incorporating a lot of manga elements to it). The covers attracted me here, and while I don't think the interior artwork looks quite as good as the covers, it's still an attractive style. It's hard to say who the main artist(s) are here, because credits given on the books are... unusual, by American standards. At any rate, what we have here is a young teenage rom-com, with occasional callbacks to the original (kid version) strip, MONICA. These are a little over 100 pages for $8.99, BUT they're in black-and-white. Personally I'd rather have paid a couple bucks more retail cover price for color, but maybe the original had no color for them to pass along pre-made separations, so it would have made the books cost more like $12.99 to hire an American colorist to do that. For some odd reason, Papercutz opted to translate Monica Teen Volumes 3 and 7 from 2012 (and renumber them 1 and 2 in the MONICA ADVENTURES series). These are still basically comedic stories, despite the rom-com angle. There's an element of 'will they or won't they?' with a text afterword in the second volume in which the creator of Monica speculates about how romantic commitment seems to affect various famous comic strip couples. MONICA is credited as being one of the most successful and long-running comics in Brazil, and has been exported to other countries. I wonder if I don't get a slight impression that (like Archie) fading popularity of the original led to the creation of Monica Teen (in a completely different, more contemporary, style of cartooning) in 2008 (the original version still continues though). At any rate, it's this spinoff that interests me because of its similarities to Archie, not the original Monica strip. I would buy further volumes of this, if there are any, from Papercutz.





REGGIE AND ME VOL. 1 TP - Or should I say, "Reggie and Me Classic", not to be confused with that piece of [censored] ACP published as a miniseries a couple of years back now. Of the 36 Reggie stories in this collection, 13 were drawn by Al Hartley; 8 were drawn by Bob Bolling; 8 were drawn by Bill Vigoda; 3 were drawn by Bob White; and one each was drawn by Harry Lucey, Samm Schwartz, Stan Goldberg, and Dick Malmgren. The usual mix of writers include Frank Doyle, Al Hartley, Bob Bolling, and George Gladir. Stories cover a span of over 50 issues, from #20 (Oct. 1966) to #73 (Sep. 1974). This is a good point to mention an awareness on my part that these stories are being specially selected (or de-selected) by the editor. That would be either Jaime Lee Rotante (credited as "Editor") or Carlos Antunes (credited as "Associate Editor"). One of THOSE people specifically chose to DIS-include the "Reggie as Evilheart" stories that lead off REGGIE AND ME issues 19 through 23, which kind of burns my butt. And I guess I could complain retroactively that the Superteen stories were left out of the BETTY & ME collection as well, and the Pureheart stories left out of the LIFE WITH ARCHIE volume. The latter two don't bother me as much, as those stories have been reprinted elsewhere... but the Evilheart stories are rarely ever reprinted. And I could say that the overall high quality of the stories in the BETTY AND ME volume made the lack of Superteen stories included less noticable. BUT I was really looking forward to seeing those Evilheart stories. There better be a couple of Archie superhero trade collections down the road somewhere. An "Archie 1" collection would be nice, too, seeing as how they left those stories out of the EVERYTHING'S ARCHIE volume altogether. You can bet dollars to donuts you won't be seeing a collection of "The Best of CHUCK CLAYTON" stories that they specifically sorted out of the ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH collection. That was pretty much the only opportunity C.C. would have had for a 'classic collection', but they decided to give him the bum's rush.




BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #270 - This is the "Valentine's Day" issue, such as it is (only one story, alas). The BETTY & ME section is back, and I marvel and the number of Dan DeCarlo stories that they've been able to dredge up from that title (many of which are still fresh to me). My impression was that DDC didn't do all that many B&M stories after the earliest issues, as he quickly got busy as both the line-wide cover artist for ACP, double-duty on the B&V spinoff issues of Archie Giant Series, and (by the mid-1970s) taking over pencilling on the Archie newspaper strip. Cheryl Blossom's stories continue as reprints, in a chronological progression, towards the back of the issue, which is another feature I always look forward to.





DeCarlo Rules

#1616
ADDENDUM:  I was just scrounging around the net, looking for more info on this MONICA TEEN thing, and came across these images. Not to be outdone by Archie teaming up with KISS or BATMAN '66, Monica and her friends had crossovers with Astro Boy (and other Osamu Tezuka characters) and more recently, the Justice League. Seems doubtful that we'll ever get to see those reprinted in Papercutz' CHARMZ series, though.



Also: "Summer Fun" issues are never a bad thing...


rusty

Lark's Killer 1-10 - Bill Willingham has started up a creator owned title about a young street girl from Los Angeles who suddenly finds herself on the run from people who want to kill her after she passes through a portal that takes her to a fantasy world with magic, dragons, assassins, mercenaries and more.  It has been pretty entertaining so far.  There is also the framing story where her adventures are being related from 100 years or so after they happened.


Night's Dominion Season 2 1-4 - The story from the first season continues here.  A city is on the brink of rebellion after the rich elite are slowly strangling the citizens financially.  I'm a fan of Ted Naifeh's work and have enjoyed this, though not as much as Courtney Crumrin.  A third season is underway, but apparently only in digital format.  Hopefully it will see release in trade paperback was completed.


Shadow Roads 1-5 - This series from Cullen Bunn takes place in the aftermath of his long running Sixth Gun series.  The Hunter seeks out those with magical ability and power and eats them.  A small group come together to battle him.  Nice fantasy elements and it has been pretty good so far.

BettyReggie

I read Archie 1000 Page Comics 75th Anniversary Bash

SAGG

Anyone reads Webtoons? There are some terrific stories on there from South Kore (translated, of course), such as Lookism, True Beauty, Unordinary, and others...

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