New releases for the week of January 31st, 2018

Lo and behold, it's that time again. Time for money spendin' and comics readin'. Welcome back to your favorite segment on the blog (according to analytics) Da New Releases! Here's what you can look for on store shelves, both physical and virtual, the week of January 31st.

Hungry Ghosts #1 (of 4) Dark Horse
One of DC's most unfortunate decisions was letting go of editor extraordinaire Karen Berger a few years back. When Dark Horse's new imprint, Berger Books, was announced last year, fans of early Vertigo were clamoring to see what (and who) the famous editor would bring to the table at her new employer. This anthology of culinary-adjacent ghost stories by a hit list of creators including Paul Pope and TV's Anthony Bourdain seems like a great anthology and a strong start for the line.

Astro City #50 DC Comics
The Eisner-nominated single issue "The Nearness of You" was originally a Wizard magazine mail-away issue, but it ultimately ended up being one of the best stories in Kurt Busiek's epic Astro City saga. A deconstruction of Crisis on Infinite Earth-type stories from the common man's perspective, this special anniversary issue plans to revisit the character of Michael Tenicek and follow up on his tragic dilemma.

Deathstroke Annual #1 DC Comics
A surprise hit for me as of late has been DC's Deathstroke series. It shouldn't come as that big of a surprise however, as its being written by Christopher Priest. This annual teams up The Guy That Made Black Panther Cool with one of my favorite artists who doesn't get enough work, Denys Cowan. Shades of DC's Question and Priest filling in the word bubbles? It'll be a barn-burner!

Motherlands #1 (of 6) DC Comics
The solicitation copy promises "a sci-fi action comedy blacker than dragon s***!" Personally, I just want to see what Si Spurrier has been up to, since Six Gun Gorilla and X-Men: Legacy were two titles that really captured my imagination in recent years. This one's about a pack of celebrity bounty hunters and their hi-fi HDMI adventures in a post-bad things happening world. It looks and sounds as frenetic and kooky as Spurrier's previous projects.

JLA/Doom Patrol Special #1 DC Comics
The "Milk Wars" begin here! Gerard Way and current Justice League of America scribe use this special one-shot to set up a crossover between two of DC's hottest team books. Way's Doom Patrol has been a worthy successor to the legendary Grant Morrison run while Orlando is making waves all over fandom by using some of Alan Moore's old characters in JLA. There's no reason this won't be awesome and sublime. Although, if you don't like out-and-out weird stuff, this might be more like surviving an alien abduction than reading a comic book.

Elephantmen #80 Image Comics
I honestly haven't followed Elephantmen in several years, but I figured Richard Starkings epic comic saga coming to an end deserves a mention. Funny, trippy, and often poingant, Elephantmen was one of thos indy books that got me into indy books back in the heyday of Wizard Magazine.

Star Wars DJ: Most Wanted Marvel Comics
Ben Blacker (Thrilling Adventure Hour) and Kev Walker (lots of stuff) fill us in on the origins and whatnot of the best thing to come out of The Last Jedi next to Porgs: Benicio Del Toro's character, DJ. The amoral scumbag who nearly left Finn and co. out to dry in the film gets his own miniseries. Charles Soule and Phil Noto set the bar pretty high with their Lando mini a couple years ago, but I don't doubt that Black can tap into a little of that classic Star Wars "scum and villainy" and deliver a neat little yarn here.



Dang, that JLA/Doom Patrol Special looks pretty "gear", doesn't it? That's all for this week, but don't be afraid to hit me up on Twitter (@ChrisBComics) and let me know what you'll be checking out this week!

Whatever the opposite of "badass" is

Today's dive doesn't reach as far back as usual. This "back issue" was actually a current issue I'd missed and until today had eluded me. For my money, the best run in recent capes comics was the Warren Ellis/Declan Shalvey/Jordie Bellaire reboot of Moon Knight from 2014. Six issues, in and out, with the creative team leaving behind a smoldering hot set-up for any follow-up creative team to take the reins on. The six issues here remind me of what Grant Morrison did with each mini in Seven Soldiers of Victory: a "pilot episode" for a longer run, streamlining a B-tier character and propping them up to stand side by side with the "heavy hitters".

In six short and quickly read issues, this run positioned Moon Knight as a paranormal investigator in the Marvel U with changeable "modes". Patterned after the phases of the moon, Marc Spector can assume different versions of his Moon Knight persona, from a Batman-like super-ninja to a Ragman-inspired dark arts master. The soldier, the priest, and the prisoner are all represented by Ellis's paradigm. Spector can assume a different version of himself, depending on what kind of story he's in. The comic tells it more simply than I have here; it's not a "high concept" as it might sound.

Here's a quick breakdown of the run. Issue one sees Moon Knight track a serial killer into the sewers, discovering the dark side of SHIELD super-soldier project gone awry in the process. Issue two is a visual spectacle as Moon Knight battles a sniper and the art team gets to experiment with page construction in cool ways as the sniper takes out his victims across a series of pages using a nine panel grid that follows his targets. Once a target is hit, that respective panel goes blank. One by one the panels go blank and dammit I don't think I'm doing this issue justice by trying to explain something so dang visual. Issue three is a classic ghost story with an urban twist. Issue four is a dreamscape trip involving mold spores and lucid dreaming. Issue five is like a level out of Double Dragon or Final Fight translated to the comic page with Moon Knight battling his way up a tenement building.

But yeah, that's the whole "story" so far. Some wicked stuff happens, Moon Knight bombs in and kicks ass, rinse, repeat. Ellis might as well be writing the Morrison Batman-Batgod here, as the protagonist is so completely capable that the interest lies not in if he will succeed, but how.

Issue Six makes the first attempt to create a true nemesis for Ellis's new Moon Knight, and ironically, it's the last issue of the run before he would hand the title off to Brian Wood next ish. A rogue cop looking to make an impression on his mundane reality decides to so his homework and take up the mantle of Marc Spector's old nemesis, Black Spectre.

Not to be confused with the Marvel Universe criminal organization of the same name, Black Spectre was a vietnam vet who used to plague Moon Knight during his earlier series in the 80's and 90's, often tied to the Egyptian god Khonshu that empowers our hero. The new Black Spectre, Ryan Trent, doesn't have all of that to back him up, just a grudge and an inferiority complex. In terms of viciousness however, Trent is right up there with the former Spectre(s).

Trent really does his homework too, using his police contacts to get in touch with Moon Knight's old allies and acquaintances. This culminates in a great scene where Trent tries to pry some useful information out of Jean-Paul Duchamp, an old ally of our hero who has since retreated into a humble life of waiting tables. It's worth noting here that Duchamp is kind of a low-key revolutionary character from the time. He was written as gay, but without the lame Northstar shout-it-from-the-rooftops approach of Scott Lobdell's Alpha Flight. Savvy readers of the time would pick up on Duchamp's sexuality, but it was never used as a gimmick, nor was he ever cast as a social pariah. Anyhoo, Duchamp warns Trent that Spector "can never die", but our fledgling Dark Spectre doesn't heed the warning.

Trent does eventually battle Moon Knight by the end of the issue, but his trap blows up in his face (literally) and he's left a broken mess of a man before the Fist of Khonshu. Moon Knight physically and verbally dissects Trent, then leaves him for dead. We learn that Trent's only error is his need to be loved and accepted, whereas the vaccuum that is Marc Spector doesn't. He's become "all Batman and no Bruce", a focused laser of ass-kicking that can't be defeated because bit by bit . . . he's shedding the aspects that made him "a character" and embracing the ones that make him an almost literal force of nature.

This issue's plot and Trent's origin story tie back to the first issue of Ellis's run and the circle is complete. This could cap off what would have been an excellent miniseries, but instead Marvel tried to keep it afloat with subsequent runs by Brian Wood and Jeff Lemire. While the character has become a place for cool creators to experiment, I don't think either writer has managed to capture what made this run so special. These six issues are a perfect synthesis of art and story. They say so much about the format and where these violent power fantasies ultimately lead.

The cover is an inverse of the cover to issue one, a subtle hint at the creators' thesis. The new Black Spectre couldn't defeat Marc because the old one couldn't. Moon Knight is just a better idea than Black Spectre, and Trent never stood a chance. An opposite can't be stronger than its partner, it can just be the opposite..

The King and Queen of Strong Style and an appearance by the Rowdy One: a WWE Royal Rumble review

I warned you and here it is--my Royal Rumble write-up. The road to Wrestlemania begins here. All (most) of the titles are on the line as well as two tickets to the main event of April's supershow in the form of two rumble matches. Do 30 women even work for WWE? Let's find out . . .

AJ Styles defended his title in a handicap match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, which could've allegedly resulted in the first ever case of "co-champions". The WWE seems pretty high on Owens, so there was a point in the build up to this match that I actually thought they might so something like that. It's really not all that different from what Owens and Jericho did on Raw previously. It's a forgone conclusion that this match was going to be good, just considering the talent level of the three men and the hot Philly crowd. The story of the match, built around AJ's wearing down Kevin's leg and countering Sami's bigger offense, made the scenario of AJ defeating both of them a little easier to swallow, and I don't think this loss harms them too much as singles competitors. The superkick to Blue Thunder Bomb combo that almost cost AJ the match was the high spot to look for. Great execution of moves and facial expressions by everybody involved. This might be my favorite handicap match since CM Punk vs. The Shield from 2013.

The Usos faced Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable in a two out of three falls match for the Smackdown tag titles. Benjamin and Gable came out to a very small reaction, but the Usos firey promo on the ramp as they sauntered to the ring got the crowd invested enough for the solid in-ring work of all four men to bring the building back to life. Gable was especially crisp and on-point with everything he did. As Jim Ross would say, "the kid has a huge upside." The build up to the first fall would've been a decent match in itself, and after the Doomsday Device to the floor by the challengers, I thought things were going to shift gears and we were going to get a real barn burner, but alas, the Usos got a sneaky and way-too-quick second fall with a basic roll-up. I felt as robbed as the challengers. This wasn't a bad match, but it felt like half of a larger epic that we'll probably get to see in full on Smackdown at some point.

The men's rumble match followed the unfortunately short tag title match, beginning with an amazing reaction for Aiden English and Rusev. Finn Balor was the second entrant in the thirty man contest and the crowd stayed hype well into the hour long affair. Rumble matches are difficult to write about, and sometimes a little tedious to watch, but this year the order of the entrants and the general pacing of the eliminations were much better than usual. There were still some typical "Rumble moments", like Kofi Kingston being saved by a plate of pancakes, but for the most part, the little bursts of wrestling when guys would pair off was pretty good. Andrade Almas and Adam Cole from NXT got to strut their stuff for a bit, and The Hurricane even showed up. The reaction for Rey Mysterio was very strong as well, and he looked to be in much better physical shape since the last time I saw him in a WWE ring. The face off between the "establishment" (Roman and Cena) and the "internet darlings" (Shinsuke and Balor) told the whole story for the last leg of the match. Shinsuke's hard fought triumph over Reigns and Cena was very rewarding to watch, and his post match announcement that he'd be facing AJ Styles at Wrestlemania gave me Wrestle Kingdom flashbacks. We now know at least one amazing main event match for 'Mania is confirmed. This throws the fans a bone, and clears the universal title for either Finn or Roman to chase.

After an extended ad for KFC in which non other than Ric Flair won the title of "Colonel" and strutted all over his legacy, we get a Raw brand tag title match between challengers The Bar and the duo of Seth Rollins and Jason Jordan. First off, I'd like to note that the commentary, with all the slup-ups and bickering was so bad during this match I wanted to hit mute. It really took away from the match for anyone watching at home. The story told in the ring saw Jordan incapacitated after taking a ring post to the face and Rollins wrestling what was essentially a handicap match against Sheamus & Cesaro. This was an alright match that was more about setting up a future storyline than anything else, and could have been on Raw. Cesaro and Sheamus reclaim their titles, hopefully freeing Seth Rollins from the yoke that is putting over Jason Jordan in the near future.

"Triple Threat Rules" meant that the Universal title match between Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman and Kane was basically a hardcore match, with plenty of tables, chairs, and steel steps involved. The three behemoths of the Raw roster put each other through a series of devastating but uninspired spots. This wasn't a technical classic, but it was an effective "hoss fight" and an important part of the tapestry of any good wrestling card is a good hoss fight. Lesnar pinned Kane, leaving Strowman with a grievance and a possible rematch at either Elimination Chamber or Fastlane. They *could* hold off until 'Mania, but I really feel like the WWE wants to conclude their Roman Reigns fantasy novel with a win over The Beast on their promotion's grandest stage. A brief, been-there-done-that kind of match, but entertaining nonetheless.

By the time the women's rumble match rolled around, I was beginning to get restless and braced myself for a looming disappointment. After all, the women's roster is sparse with credible contenders, mostly thanks to some questionable booking over the last year. With the twin champions Charlotte and Alexa Bliss at ringside, Sasha banks entered at #1 and gradually the match lured me back into the program, as seeing some of the nostalgia acts that WWE wheeled out got me feeling a little sentimental about the "importance" of the whole thing. Sometimes hearing Stephanie McMahon harp on about the women's revolution bugs me and seems tacky, but as Lita, Trish Stratus, Molly Holly, and others got in the ring and mixed it up with current women, the fact that these female legends never had a platform like this in their time really hit me. For instance, Stratus had fantastic matches and rivalries with the likes of Victoria and Mickie James in her days on Raw, but there were also stupid skits where she had to bark like a dog and debase herself. The bad outweighed the good when you look back on portrayals of females up until a few years ago, I guess is what I'm trying to say. The classic who got to come out also acted as a detriment to the match overall, I felt like, as it exposed some gaps in the current roster and how underdeveloped some of the women like Mandy Rose and Sarah Logan are in terms of having an established character.

Asuka's victory over the returning Bella twins and a Wonder Woman-clad Sasha Banks was a relief to me, as I like seeing her winning streak intact and her development as a fan favorite has translated to the WWE deciding to pull the trigger with her, as they apparently have with Nakamura. (Man, Japan don't play. They took two rumbles in one night!) Ronda Rousey showed up at the end, to make sure WWE stays in the broader sports-entertainment conversation and carry the momentum to Wrestlemania. The ending was nice and ambiguous, leaving us to wonder how the celebrity guest and rumble winner will be paired off. What's the better match? Asuka vs. Charlotte or Rousey vs. Charlotte? Not to dump on Alex Bliss or anything, but Charlotte is kind of the "iconic" one here. On the other hand, I;d like to see Asuka get a big win over Charlotte or maybe even suffer her first loss to her at Wrestlemania.

While the show ran a bit long for my weary eyes and brain, it delivered in almost every match. The matter of how important the tag title stuff will be in the long run is always up for debate, and if anything, I might have left the Rollins/Jordan stuff for Raw and given that time to the Universal title triple threat and the 2/3 falls match. Minor quibbles aside, this sets up an exciting course for Wrestlemania; at least more exciting than I remember at this time last year. The countdown to Nakamura/Styles is on!

Alright, that's seven hours of rasslin' watched and wrote about. Back to the comics, a more serious medium for a more sofisticated audience. Harumph!

The night Johnny Wrestling died and other tales from Takeover Philly

Back Issue Diving isn't just a comic-based experience. It's also a dumping ground for the undead remnants of my other blogs! That means I'll be taking a detour through Slam City for a little wrestling review every now and again. Besides, wrestlers aren't all that different from comic book heroes. Just imagine that like, Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. wrote and drew all the stuff I'm about to tell you about. Today, I'm reviewing (as currently as possible) NXT Takeover: Philadelphia. I hear the bell, so let's get it on.

The Authors of Pain and the Undisputed Era's Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish kicked off the show with a tag title match that didn't skimp on the ring psychology. The "story" of the match saw Fish and O'Reilly work on the left leg of AoP member Akam after he botched a stomp early on. O'Reilly had ample opportunities to use his Daniel Bryan-esque grppling skills and Fish got to play the loud, vocal, cowardly heel. The match was won for Adam Cole's boys after an attempted Super-Collider dual powerbomb blew up in Akam's face thanks to his bum leg. The bad guys retain, and the Authors are left steaming with their manager, Paul Ellering. This was a great opening match and got the crowd really hyped up with dueling chants and big pops. I was also impressed with the huge reactions all four men were getting from pretty basic moves--that shows me that the audience was really invested. With this match, I also began to noticed a marked improvement by the Authors of Pain in terms of in-ring work. They've always been convinging "big man" types, but Akam and Razar got to show a little range and be vulnerable for a little bit here.

Velveteen Dream and Kassius Ohno had a tough act to follow, but they kept the momentum of the show up, for the most part. Dream is being allowed to look strong and a few more matches like this will catapult to him to the top of NXT as a surprise babyface. His character feels more complete now than it did in his firt few outings and the offense he's settled into is devastatingly effective. He and Ohno were sort of thrown together at the last minute here, and booking wise it's a good way to keep Dream strong after his absence and last Wednesday's loss to Gargano. The match had a few potential Botchamania moments, including a very sloppy looking burning hammer type move near the end. It wasn't enough to derail things, although I'd say the crowd wasn't as into this encounter as much as the opener. Dream almost made good on his pre-match promise to knock out the Knockout Artist in 30 seconds or less, which seemed to pop the crowd in favor of Dream. Ohno did a good job here making Dream's offense look effective. Good character work here, but not the strongest match.

The NXT Women's title match between MMA specialist Shayna Baszler and reigning champ Ember Moon attempted some of the same basic ring psychology stuff that the opening bout did. This time, it was Moon's left arm witht he glaring target placed upon it, and the ruthless Baszler stayed on top of her opponent for most of the match until Ember was able to reverse an armbar and roll Baszler up for a sneaky pin. Baszler flipped out post match and attacked the already-possibly injured Moon, choking her out on the ramp. The visuals that will be taken from this match and used in later video packages with be very effective, but the match itself seemed very limited. Moon still got to hit her main high spot, injured arm and all, and Baszler got to use her armbar 47 times, but this match was played pretty simple. Baszler has great presence though, and a big upside as long as she is allowed to bounce back and get some decisive victories after this. I'm still lukewarm on Ember as champ. She doesn't quite seem to have reached that next level that Charlotte and Asuka did in their time as NXT champs.

At some point on commentary, Mauro described the next bout as a "spectacle of chaos" and I'd call that a fitting descriptor for Aleister Black vs. Adam Cole. This match moved from high spot to high spot fairly quickly and after the initial "mind games" phase of the match by Cole, it was brisk and brutal. The crescendo saw both the Undisputed Era and Sanity get involved, reminding everyone that Eric Young and co. are still waiting in the wings. Cole got a little bloodied at one point, and I have to commend either the WWE's ring crew or my fourth beer of the evening for keeping all of the unsavory "ref cleans you up because you must look like an action figure at all times" stuff out of focus. The pay off to the twin tables at ringside got a huge pop and Cole taking two propped-up chairs to the spine made me wince. The Black Mass kick that won Black the match was sudden and impactful as well. The Philly crowd got a nice homage to the glory-gory days of ECW and responded with a chant that Vince McMahon himself used to revile. Good match overall, and not as sloppy as these affairs tend to be. Both men could be NXT champion right this second and it wouldn't feel out of place and Cole's indy cred will keep him aloft, even if he has to take a few L's on his way to mainstream stardom.

The main event between Johnny Gargano and Andrade Cien Almas seemed like part of a WWE/NXT tradition. Following NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom, the 'E likes to use their Takeover shows to manufacture a 5-star macth of their own and get the conversation back on them heading into Wrestlemania (and the next Takeover). Eh, it's just a running theory I have. Anyway, Andrade and Johnny Wrestling put on the "clinic" that had thus far been missing from the show. Zelina Vega and Johnny's family being at ringside helped amp up the drama and it doesn't hurt that these are two of the best workers WWE has on contract. The match shifted into phase two when Gargano missed a senton on the outside, allowing Almas to gain the upper hand and work on Johnny's back. The match then proceeds from nearfall to nearfall with plenty of pauses for coveted "Fight Forever!" chants and even some old-school, classy applause. Vega gets involved when her man gradually loses his edge over the challenger, causing NXT's newest female wrestler to make an impromptu debut and chase the meddlesome manager out of the arena. The last act of the match sees Andrade secure a victory with a hammerlock DDT following a knee bash to the ring post on the apron. This was a long match, but it never became boring and some of the nearfalls really worked on me and the live audience. Andrade is victorious and Johnny is left to be consoled by his wife and the fans. And in classic NXT fashion, with only a minute or so left on the broadcast, we get the NXT equivalent of a Marvel post credits stinger: Tamaso Ciampa is back! He blasts Johnny with the crutches he no longer needs to nurse his leg and leaves our hero lying low.

This was yet another fine Takeover. I wouldn't put it up there with the Sami/Neville/Owens era yet, but it didn't disappoint in the slightest. My only rub is that the NXT roster is so stacked right now, some names from past Takeovers have already fallen to the wayside. Add to that the additions of Ricochet, War Machine, and EC3, and I can see a few names moving up to Raw and Smackdown real quick. Where should they go from here? Aleister Black vs. Almas? He already has a previous victory over the current champ. What about Adam Cole and Eric Young? Should we expect a one on one encounter, or are the fearsome Canadian anarchists main roster bound?

Well, that was a hoot. Next is the Royal Rumble, which I'll be doing a write-up for as soon as I can. Oh, and comics. I'll get back to comics, I promise.

The shining knight and the tarnished knight

The Marvel back issues continue to flow from the tap. Today I'm revisiting a beat-up copy of Iron Man #250 from December 1989. Jordan and Bird go one on one on your Nintendo Entertainment System, TSR's Web of Gold is set to rock your dining room table, and Taito is porting arcade games to home screens faster than children can collect their allowance. Immerse yourself in some of the best escape fantasy a buck-fifty can provide. The banner at the top reads, "Acts of Vengeance!", but that Marvel event of the time hardly applies. This one can be read all on it's own.

The cover is a Bob Layton masterpiece. Iron Man, Doctor Doom, and Merlin loom over a futuristic cityscape. The armored avenger is wielding a blade one can only assume is Excalibur and a caption blurb reveals the year is 2093 A.D. This is a comic book-ass comic book. This is the kind of no-frills "Make Mine Marvel" stuff that created a legacy a publisher could lean on for decades. Back when every twenty-five issues marked a blockbuster, before the complete cycle of reboot-event-reboot had taken hold, certain single issues had to carry the weight of of being called an epic.

I know the writer of this issue, David Michelinie, more for his work on Spider-Man with Todd McFarlane. What I've read of his work is action-packed, seemingly created with an artist's itchy trigger finger in mind. His plots move in such a way as to maximize the minutes of costumed action, sometimes at the cost of the civilian identity stuff that made Marvel stand out in the 60's and 70's. This is '89 however, and the heady days of Liefeld, Lee, and shouting muscle monsters is nearly upon us. The visuals here are more of what my mind's eye recognizes as Bronze Age Marvel, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the excesses of 90's comics did not exist here. Layton actually reminds me of George Perez in this issue, and since he's credited with plotting the issue in tandem with Michelinie, a strong artistic direction for the issue can be sussed out and it benefits the finished product greatly.

I was so taken by this issue, I forgot about the clumsy beginning. A mysterious "artifact" (which I can only assume is tied to this whole Acts of Vengeance thing) has shunted Iron Man and Dr. Doom into the future. By page two, Stark and Von Doom are already marveling at their future surroundings and a page later they're being recruited by none other than Merlin to save the futuristic Camelot-to-be. I love how Merlin walks up like he's just another Marvel character and not a hero of legend in an ancient piece of real-world literature. Wait. What am I thinking!? Thor is in the freakin' Avengers. Maybe comic book heroes aren't modern day myths as much as myths are just old-timey superheroes.

Merlin and the young Arthur of the future try to persuade the heroes to help deal with a string of disappearances and satellite hacks that could signal a larger threat on the horizon. Iron Man is down for do-goodery, but Doom is his usual self, and our present day characters part ways in the world of 2093.

(Something just occurred to me: this is just a few years shy of 2099, a year that Marvel constructed a whole sub-imprint around. I wonder if Peter David or any of the creators who worked on the 2099 books ever used this issue's setting as a basis for the future Marvel U?)

Anyhoo, Iron Man takes to space to save satellites and do some sleuthing. Meanwhile, Dr. Doom comes into contact with half of the story's villain tandem: himself. Doom comes scarred face to mechanical face with his future self and doesn't like what he sees. Much like Thanos's revelation in the classic Infinity Gauntlet story, Doom is brought low by his own inner turmoil, doing more damage to himself from within than any costumed hero could do from without. With apologies to Lex Luthor, Marvel has the best egomaniacs. The best!

Iron Man's mission to space sees him cross paths with Andros Stark, a descendant of the Stark line with none of Tony's heroic qualities. The cold, arms dealing capitalist never has that redemption arc and that is how we get the cackling mad war monger that is Andros Stark. Andros also makes mention of Arno Stark, a mid-21st century Iron Man legacy character that was last seen in Kieron Gillen's Iron Man run from just a few years ago. The Stark family line is littered with cracked mirror versions of Tony and his father and I like what Marvel does with that a bit more than DC's attempts to do similar things with the Wayne family.

Naturally, Andros Stark and Future Doom are in cahoots and their scheme involved hitting the big ol' reset button on the world and emerging as conquerers. Our Doom gets punked a few more times, tripping over his ego to comedic effect while Tony trumps future tech with old school mysticism as he weilds Excalibur and cuts through Andros's gear. Doom learns Iron Man's identity, but their trip back to the present wipes the memories of both travelers, nipping that threat in the bud before it can bloom.

Everything is tied up pretty neatly, with Tony off to resume his pre-artifact activities and Doom feeling a little shaken after his encounter with his future self. The last panel of the story sees him grim visage cast as a big, dopey frown thanks to a low angle and some shading. Doom is peeling pretty sad about what he may be destined to become thanks to chasing immortality, but his defeat is a private one. It's really more of a Victor Von Doom story than a Tony Stark story, all things considered.

This is a pretty complete package and unlike a lot of the random fodder I encounter and write about for this blog, I fully recommend this issue. It stands alone nicely and Dr. Doom fans should add it to the list of essential Doom reads. I'd almost put it up there with John Byrne's "day in the life" style issue from his legendary Fantastic Four run.

And the wind cries Krylxxa

Now we rejoin the weary blogger, resuming his quest to justify buying a pretty "rando" stack of older issues from a back issue bin barely one rung above the landfill. What treasures, if any, did he recover? Read on . . .

Conan the Barbarian! By Crom, and whatnot.

I've never been a huge Conan fan. I didn't encounter the movies until I was old enough to laugh at them and I never got absorbed in Howard's literature as a young reader. (I was more into John Carter, tbh) The bit if appreciation I have for the character comes by way of his comic legacy, namely the Marvel run that saw so many legendary artists come into their own doing full-on fantasy stories, and shedding some of the superhero stuff that seemingly hindered them. For guys like John Buscema, methinks, the capes and cowls never fit as will as leather armor or a wolf pelt.

The issue I came across most recently was the ultimate "whim" of a buy. A stark red cover with a rough and tumble image of Conan by Erni Chan front and center stood out like a sunburst amidst the darker Batmans and X-Mens. The interior art is by the aformentioned Buscema, gracefully and powerfully bringing a pot boiler fantasy tale by scripter Michael Fleisher to life. Conan #163 (cover dated October '84) is a neat little one-shot story, with a Twilight Zone or 60's Trek-like twist.

"Cavern of the Vines of Doom" begins with Conan and his one-armed battle buddy Fafnir riding into town and rescuing a "witch" from a mob intent and burning her at the stake. Sexy and submissive, the young would-be witch is little more than a sheath for a man's sword. She brings out the manly urges in Fafnir and beguiles her rescuers with a strange curse. Her true power, and the origin of the "curse" involve a supernatural turn that is a staple in any Conan adventure, and once you read it, my comparing it to Twilight Zone and Star Trek earlier will make much more sense.

The economy of storytelling here is this issue's best feature. Conan and Fafnir have made off with the witch by page four, and by page ten Conan has fought a bear and watched Fafnir bare his soul to the witch. A scant few pages later, an encounter with a group of dopplegangers with a strange connection to the witch leads to some of the most rapid escalation in a comic story this side of the Silver Age. The race of mold people who menace the heroes in the third act are shambling monstrosities that look more like rejects from The Herculoids than traditional Conan beasties. Nevertheless, Conan and Fafnir have a complete "get captured, escape, lead a coup" adventure in 22 perfectly paced pages. No wasted effort here. The veteran storyteller in Buscema shows through, and every single panel moves the story forward. Textbook.

Existing where it did in Marvel's publishing line at the time, that is to say, a little left of center, this comic features some other non-Marvel Universe books in its house ads and Bullpen Bulletins pages. Dreadstar and Dr. Who are suggested reading from the publisher, as if the assumption is that Conan readers demand a deeper fidelity to their comics, and a stronger creative vision.

Other neat little thangs in this time capsule of an issue include: An add for the upcoming Buckaroo Banzai film, 1984 Olympics trading card hype, and a pretty wild Jim Starlin story from editorial that I'm kind of surprised saw print. There are also ads for fantasy novels and roleplaying games books, in greater numbers than you'd usually see advertised in say, Spider-Man or Hulk.

If this is typical of the kind of stuff Marvel published in its various Conan series, I'm down to dip my toe in and try a few more. I love one-shots, and I love fast-paced stories that cut to the chase. If I get over my general disinterest in the character and setting, I'll be good to go.

Now that's a spicy fourth-a wall!

At this point, I'll pretend like I never left and get back to our regularly scheduled programming. For the "back issue diving" portion of Back Issue Diving, I'll be highlighting a few random issues I dug up during my last few shopping trips. Little gems scattered amongst the grains of graphic sand that litter the bins at my local Half-Price Books. The quality is all over the place, the eras from which these comics differ wildly, and the only through line is my enviable ability to still get a little jolt from these funnybooks, especially when I don't *quite* know what I'm getting.

Which brings me to Sensational She-Hulk #29, cover dated July 1991. A peppy corner box avatar of the green gal is nestled above an almost too-hot-for-TV ejaculation gag involving She-Hulk and Spidey. I DID get a kick out of the cover, in case you were wondering. The evidence that I haven't matured a day since age 14 mounts ever higher.

Brawny and brainy, Jennifer Walters a.k.a. She-Hulk has always been a comic crush of mine. She's a headstrong career lady that doesn't take guff and her stories always cut to the underbelly of Marvel's costumed histronics. She also inhabits a different flavor of legal drama than one might find in Marvel's other court-based hero, Daredevil. Where Matt Murdock's adventures play out like John Grisham dramas, She-Hulk usually stars in more comedic Ally McBeal-style workplace stories. Of course, being a comic hero, that doesn't prevent her the occasional diversion into deep space or into a supervillain's nest, at which point the fourth wall usually comes crumbling down.

Yep, before Deadpool made it "cool", She-Hulk used to be the one who look to the camera and take the piss out of whatever contrivance she'd found herself shoehorned into.

"Post-John Byrne and Pre-Dan Slott" is a strange place for Shulkie. The series that had started with Byrne at the helm chugged along with various creative teams taking up the reins. This issue in particular comes to us courtesy of writer Louise Simonson and artists Tom Morgan and James Sanders III. At a glance, this is a very 90's comic with the titular protagonist sporting big, big hair and shoulder pads that demand respect. The colors by Glenis Oliver are bodacious as well, inching toward almost neon hues when the blue-garbed villain of the story gloats and pontificates like a wannabe Dr. Doom. I could also use terms like "rad" and "tubular" to describe portions of the visuals, but I'll refrain.

Sensational She-Hulk #29 is about absurdity. It revels in it. It rolls around in it. Louise Simonson puts She-Hulk in very absurd places, both in the courtroom half of the story and in the high-flying "superheroic" half. Walters, denizen of the super hero community and card carrying member of the Avengers, finds herself struggling to dispove the existence of aliens in a court case and dodging the machinations of a shadowy B-list villain who has taken "breaking the fourth wall" to a new extreme. Character cameos and sudden dangers seem to be appearing out of thin air, and all our hero can do is react and brace for the next wave of insanity.

Shulkie is reduced to her skivvies for a portion of the issue, and Simonson's script is self-aware enough to have a little fun with it and the tastelessness of the sequence is nullified by having the protagonist treat her being de-clothed as a pretty common, eye-rolling occurrence.

The villain, Dr. Sanderson, is a classic Marvel megalomaniac crossed with a college professor. His students end up causing more havoc than the good doctor when they get a hold of Sanderson's machinery. As they hurl villains and rogue heroes at She-Hulk, literally plucking them from throughout time and space, they bicker about which version of which character would suit their scenarios better. They come across as bickering nerds, working out their kinks with living action figures.

If there's anything this story lacks, it's genuine menace. She-Hulk, like Deadpool, is often at risk of subverting her world so harshly that the drama is softened. Simonson has plenty of other themes bouncing around, so an honest life-or-death scenario probably would have seemed forced no matter what. Still, beyond the sight gags and dry humor of the courtroom and the ensuing super-battle, there isn't much here. It's a fun and maybe experimental kind of story that almost looks like a prototype for what Dan Slott would do in his run over a decade later.

Issue #29 is actually the third of what is a four-part arc entitled "Beyond the Fourth Wall". I haven't been able to track down the following issue, but the "Next Issue" blurb promises more cameos and confusion thanks to Sanderson's scheming. Pictured for next ish's cover is Hobgoblin, further entrenching this in the time it was published. This particular issue doesn't really shine a light on what the professor is trying to do and why he's messing with Shulkie in the first place, but the general absurdity of every that's happening at once doesn't really allow the reader to pause and ask simple questions like, "What am plot?"

Maybe that's the point of the story. Maybe that's like, the ultimate breaking of the fourth wall, when you like, break the whole story structure, maaan.

Whoa, I just freaked myself out.

Oh yeah . . . I have a blog.

I should update this widdle guy every once in a while!

Let's see . . . how do I do this again? . . . got to string together some words about comic books and graphic novels and sequential arts and such . . . rrrrnnnn

Oh, it's Wednesday! That's new comic book day! I could bust out the old stand-by, "New Releases for the Week of Blankity-Blank". It might seem a tad lazy and could be underwhelming for anyone who actually has waited around to see if this blog ever did update.

Ah, who am I kidding?

Here's some choice selections for the week of January 24. 2018. There are some other definite "buys" on store shelves this week, particularly from Marvel, but I tried (as always) to focus on new series and #1 issues. "Jumping on points," if you will. And you will.

Abbott #1 (of 5) Boom Studios
Hugo Award-nominated novelist Saladin Ahmed (Black Bolt) and artist Sami Kivela present the story of a tough-talking, chain smoking tabloid reporter who is looking for all the nasty stuff the police sweep under the rug, for it may have something to do with her own family tragedy. The story promises to have an occult twinge to it and Ahmed's ability to write "the other" that was briefly on display in Marvel's Inhumans spin-off mean this isn't just a boiler plate cable drama without a televised home. Look forward to a visually spellbinding modern noir.

Vinegar Teeth #1 (of 4) Dark Horse
Speaking of Lovecraft/Noir mash-ups, Vinegar Teeth by Damon Gentry, Troy Nixey, and Guy Major debuts this week. Schlubby cop Artie Buckle takes on tentacled super-beings in the seedy underbelly of Brick City. This series is like five genres trying to get up in your grill at once; horror, humor, crime, science fiction, and fantasy all in one graphic smoothie! But what does it taste like? Are the little chunks edible? Only one way to find out!

Raven: Daughter of Darkness #1 (of 12) DC Comics
Marv Wolfman returns to the character he helped co-create back in the legendary 80's New Teen Titans series. Personally, I'm not all that familiar with what permutations of the character have cropped up since the big badda boom relaunch that was the New 52 back in 2011. Mostly, I see the character on the Teen Titans Go! cartoon. Wolfman and artist Pop Mahn aren't stopping the 80's throwbacks there however, as Baron Winter from the classic series Night Force is looking to get involved in the young empath's life. I'd also take note of the format: the twelve issue maxi-series route means this isn't pretending to be the beginning of a long ongoing. Wolfman might have the "definitive" story for Raven in mind . . . but can he surpass his own Terror of Trigon saga from back in the day?

Dissonance #1 Image Comics
Both Black Science and Sex Criminals have new issues out this week, but this little beauty by Singgih Nugroho and Sami Basri jumped out at me while I was skimming over the Image solicits. I don't know much about the creators, but the plot sounds nifty enough: two siblings with opposing political viewpoints reluctantly step into their roles as members of a warrior cult who control world affairs. It looks like Ninjak crossed with the All In The Family aspects of DC's Hawk & Dove.

Inhumans: Judgement Day #1 Marvel Comics
The Progenitors, the alien scientists whose dabbling created the Inhumans eons ago, are back and looking to scrub their cosmic petri dishes, so to speak. Marvel's beleaguered royal family fight for survival in the comic realm, while their cable show was D.O.A. Televised endeavors aside, this is coming from scribe Al Ewing, who has been doing great work on the fringes of the Marvel universe for several years now.

Legion #1 (of 5) Marvel Comics
Considering the kind of existential romp that Shade, The Changing Man was, it seems like a huge "Duh" to have Peter Milligan take a crack at Marvel's least-merry and most mentally damaged mutant. Unlike the Inhumans up above, Legion has translated fantastically to T.V. and its a curiosity that Marvel hasn't released a new Legion book to capitalize. I don't know how much crossover there is for fans of the show, but if there's any creator who knows how to throw caution tot he wind when rejuvenating an X-title, it's the guy who brought us X-Statix. Will it reach the sublime heights of Si Spurrier's Legion series from a few years ago? The gauntlet has been thrown, Mr. Milligan--don't give me another Justice League Dark, bro.

Mega Man Mastermix #1 Udon Entertainment
This is actually a reprint title, presenting in color for the first time ever a serialized strip starring the Blue Bomber from manga-ka Hitoshi Ariga. The Mega Man comics of the last six years or so have been waaay better than they have any right to be, but the action has always been Archie Sonic fare, lacking the impact and excitement of a Japanese hero story. This could be a different flavor, maybe a little heavier on the visuals and less of the Philip K Dick stuff? I haven't read any of Ariga's work, so I could be in for a surprise--there could be a little bit of Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell in there . . .


What a week! And like I said up top, that's not even including some continuing stories like the ending arc of Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man run and the next installment of the weekly Avengers saga, "No Surrender". You probably won't have much money left after this week's trek to the LCS (or Comixology), so you'll need a nice free hobby to fall back on--like following this blog if I continue to update it!

Follow me on Twitter @ChrisBComics if you'd like to chastise me for not updating the blog or call my intelligence into question over the contents of said blog. Please, I'm so lonely. I'll take the hate mail at this point.