Chadzilla ROARS!!!

The Witching Hour #70 (Vol. 9, April 1977)

Three shocker stories of surprise and suspense.

The cover wouldn't lie to you, would it?

Drone of the Dying: After he is attacked by a swarm of bees, a hiker awakens in a strange hospital.

The Humpty-Dumpty Hobo: Old Joe the Hobo is struck by a car and carted off to the hospital.  Being a poor man, he cannot afford the kind of top notch plastic surgery needed to treat his wounds.  But his doctor assures him that there is a way around Old Joe's financial problem.

The Eerie Secret of File #113:  Leo Larsen hires a pair of industrial spies to steal a scientist's greatest invention.  The secret to which is hidden inside file #113.

Of the strolls down memory lane that I have taken, I think The Witching Hour #70 qualifies as one of the larger disappointments, if not the largest.  I cannot say that I truly enjoyed any of the stories.

Drone gets off to a promising start, but then it trips over its own "twist" (just look at the cover, okay) and falls flat on its face.  The rest of the story was the reading equivalent of watching a fallen someone wobble to their hands and knees and reach out for something while desperately trying to maintain balance...and failing.  Hobo is just a two-page joke, with the punchline smacking poor old Joe right in what is left of his face.  Cute, but nothing special.  There was a far better plastic surgery gag story in issue #71.

Also nothing special is that Eerie Secret buried in the mysterious file #113.  It's just another robot story.  Interesting to note that this robot story is narrated by Cynthia, who told yet another robot story way back in issue #56.  Chick really needs to work on her material.

Then again, I'm not the age group that this book was marketed towards and, to be fair, the odds are against me enjoying every stroll down memory lane.  There will be times like this one, when I get a clear reminder that the "Good Old Days" weren't always so good.

Star Trek Alien Spotlight: The Gorn - by Scott & David Tipton (writers) and David Messina (art)

"They appear...cold blooded."

Captain Clark Terrell, along with his first officer Pavel Chekov and a medical relief team, crash land on an outer rim planetoid.  One inhabited by the Gorn.

The Gorn, the bad ass guest alien from the original series first season episode Arena, make a welcome return appearance in this short, simple and very fun to read adventure.

While I have always been quite the Star Trek fan, I have never been what you would call a "Trekker," or a "Trekkie," if you were feeling particularly mean-spirited or are simply pop culturally insensitive, that is.  But I do love me some Trek and this issue had me from the cover.  Scott and David Tipton's story wisely chooses to avoid a simple retread of Arena (the way the primary conflict is resolved and the story's closing joke are vintage Trek) and also offers some interesting insights into Gorn culture.  The Gorn may be cold blooded and ruthless, but they also appear to have a sizable noble streak and are far from cold hearted.  They are kind of like Klingons, but with somewhat softer hearts.  Come to think of it, I would totally love to see some Klingons and Gorn duke it out in a no holds barred barroom brawl.  I think that the Gorn would take the Klingons.

David Messina's artwork flows nicely and the Gorn are beautifully rendered, despite their not looking all that much like that rubber suited stunt man that lumbered after Captain James T. Kirk.  These reptilians look like they have been pumping some serious iron.  These Gorn could easily bench press a Sherman Tank.

Trek fans will need no convincing to pick this issue up.  In fact, I am fairly certain that many already have the complete Alien Spotlight series run and, if any are reading this, are wondering why it took me so damn long to write a review.  Life happens, okay?

Star Trek: Klingons #s 1 & 2: Blood Will Tell #s 1 & 2 (of 2)

"Not exactly a warrior race, are they?"

Faced with the possibility of casting the deciding vote for the future of the Klingon Empire, an elderly member of the High Council looks to his influential family's past for the answer to the troubling question of what direction the Empire must take to survive.

I love stories that take a convoluted, confusing and contradictory back story and try to tie it all together into something that resembles logic, especially when they are done well and Blood Will Tell is done very well.  (Although when these kinds of stories are poorly done the results can be a furrowed brow, a shake of the head, and a whispered "What the frak were they thinking when they wrote this?  Or where they even thinking?")  This two parter story (and I hope that more will be forthcoming) unravels the numerous confusing knots of Klingon history, because it was all made-up-as-they-went-along, and does an entertaining job of unraveling and then reweaving them through the story lines of two classic original series episodes, Errand of Mercy and The Trouble With Tribbles, as seen from the perspective of the Klingon Empire itself.  It's on a par with John Ford's excellent tie-in novel The Final Reflection.

Although the exact nature of the decision facing the smooth headed Klingon in the wraparound segment isn't explained in any great detail, the mentioning of Chancellor Gorkon's "other way" clearly places it at the very beginning of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.  Also threaded into the first issue are the human/Klingon genetic experiments introduced during the run of the maligned Enterprise, as a needless answer to the burning question of what the hell was up with those Klingon foreheads.  This also lays the foundation for what I think could be a nifty Let That Be Your Last Battlefield story, only done Klingon style.  I can only hope that will be a story I can read some day.

But it was the redressing of Errand's conclusion as having directly influenced the events in Tribbles (which, in turn, seems to be played as the seed of the assassination conspiracy in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) that really won me over.  It was a brilliant piece of reinvention that just worked beautifully.  Writers Scott & David Tipton have done an excellent job.  This is worthwhile reading for Trek fans in general and for Klingon aficionados in particular.

Star Trek The Next Generation #1: The Space Between Part 1: History Lesson

"There must be some mistake..."

The Enterprise has come to the planet Tigan to begin formal negotiations with its traditionally isolationist inhabitants.  But when Riker, Data, and Tasha Yar beam down to the planet, they arrive on a world that is very different from the one they had been expecting.

After taking a rather lengthy hiatus from all things Star Trek, I'm finally returning to the continuing voyages of the starship Enterprise (as well as those of Voyager and Deep Space Nine) with a renewed appreciation for the 40+ year old franchise.  While there might not be anything "new" to watch, at the moment, there are still plenty of episodes to get caught up on and, thanks to IDW, there looks to be a brand new comic book series to satiate my renewed hunger for Star Trek.

Having recently binged on several TNG episodes, I was pleased with how well writer David Tischman captured both the feel of the show and the nature of the characters that inhabit it.  History Lesson is such an effective commentary driven story, albeit one with more than a few plot holes, that I felt as if I were reading an adaptation of an actual episode.  (If I was, then I have revealed just how ignorant I have become of all things Trek.)  Less impressive is Casey Maloney's art.  While it isn't bad, it does fall short in the likeness department.  But that shortcoming could very well be the result of not having the authorization to use the performers likeness in the book.  It's only a minor distraction, and it does not keep me from looking forward to the next issue, should one be forthcoming.

Battlestar Galactica (New) #3

"Zak is a Cylon!  Do you read?  I repeat, Zak is a..."

As Commander Adama, Starbuck, and Zak the Returner undertake a dangerous mission against the newly arrived Cylon baseship, Dr. Baltar discovers what the Returners are.

It took a few issues, but the new BSG spin-off seems to have finally found its stride.  Issue three kept me interested from start to finish, offering up some fascinating revelations and plot twists.  I thought that Zak's speech to his father, or the man he believes to be his father, captured the emotionally complex nature of the new BSG perfectly.  Although the question of "what" the Returners are looks to have been answered, the "why" is still very much unknown.   Adama's and Stabuck's opposing points of view regarding the nature of the Returners hints at some potential character conflict to come.  Then there is the cliffhanger, which I found to be particularly inspired; especially if you are one of those BSG fans that wish for a stronger connection between the classic series and the newer, smarter version.

Battlestar Galactica #3 manages to balance the serious dramatic nature of the new BSG with the space opera action-adventure elements it shares with the original series quite nicely.  Whether or not the book will maintain that balance as the story continues in future issues remains, of course, something to be determined at another time.

Battlestar Galactica (Original) #1

"Any chance you could put a little more pressure on us?"

Adama sends Boomer, Apollo, and Starbuck down to the Cylon controlled planet of Maytoria to search for an ancient set of books that could lead the fleet to Earth.  While the stealth devices that have been installed in the trio's Vipers works, something still manages to go wrong and Starbuck crashes and becomes stranded on Maytoria.

Although I was a regular viewer of the original Battlestar Galactica when it first aired (I even gave the utterly dreadful Galactica 1980 a chance) I've never had the urge to revisit the show.  But now that Battlestar has been given an impressive upgrade, and because I have a rather sizable completest streak in me, I found myself picking up the classic series spin-off just to see what it's like.

Well, I thought it was not only a lot fun, but it's also a nice counterpoint to the dark, grim and far more emotionally realistic storylines of the new Battlestar.  If escapist entertainment is your kind of thing, then you just might enjoy this classic BSG spin-off, because it's just a straight up action adventure unencumbered by the aforementioned approach taken by the new version.  Writer Rick Remender does make a nice little reference to the new show, however, when, in the heat of battle, Starbuck uses the term frack once or twice.  I can't say how good of a job the book does of capturing the style and tone of the original series, because I haven't seen an episode in almost 30 years.  (30 YEARS!?!  Damn, I am getting old.)  But taken on its own terms, it looks like the book is going to be a fun read.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #9: Flashpoint Interlude - Homecoming

The events of this story take place approximately 3,963 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"I do not understand why we do not tell them all we have foreseen for Zayne."

Jedi Master Lucien Draay returns to Coruscant, with his conspirators, to meet and discuss with the Jedi High Council the slaughter of the Taris padawans, and how those deaths might have played an important roll in the recent Mandalorian invasion.  But the meeting with the Jedi Council isn't the only one that Draay must conduct.  There is another, far more personal one as well...

The more I learn about Jedi Master Lucien Draay and his cohorts, the more I dislike and distrust them.  As Zayne Carrick has learned, with a Master like Draay, a padawan is in no need of a Sith enemy.  Draay's obsessed determination to kill the betrayed Zayne Carrick, and the actions he and his cohorts take to achieve that goal, are not becoming of "true" Jedi Masters.  That Draay is making, or about to make, yet another in a series of disastrous mistakes, ones rooted in arrogance, is not-too-subtly hinted at.  Yet again, it does not seem to occur to Draay and his cohorts that their own actions could very well have brought about the very thing that the High Council had, through a careful Force reading of the padawans minds and emotions, hoped to avert.  Or maybe it has occurred to them, and these fallen Masters are only looking to destroy Zayne Carrick to hide their own crimes.  If Carrick survives the hunt without turning to the Dark Side, it could be the Masters that face the gallows, not Zayne.

This interlude issue also reveals some very intriguing connections between Draay's past, Zayne's present, and the violent prophecies that have brought this tragic story into being.  I also get the feeling that somebody is going to crossover to the Dark Side at some point, but who that somebody is remains a mystery, for now.

Battlestar Galactica (New) #2

"It all happened.  And it's happening again."

The mysterious survivors found aboard the disabled medivac ship, dubbed "Returners" by the religious in the fleet, because of their belief that the "Returners" fulfill a prophecy in the sacred scrolls, have not only brought a crippling illness aboard the Galactica, but their presence is also causing rebellious discord within the fleet.

As much as I love the new Battlestar Galactica, I'm having a difficult time warming up to its comic book spin-off.  Because I just don't see this story happening to the characters, not from a third season perspective, at least.

The issue has a decent amount of the kind of moral confusion and subterfuge, fist fights, and the tense verbal exchanges that those familiar would hope to find in a media spin-off of the new Galactica, but the issue had me scratching my head and going, "Huh?" a few pages into it.  I hope the next issue is better.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #8: Flashpoint Part 2

The events in this story take place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"I'm not going anywhere with you ever again."

Camper's guardian/companion Jarael, mistaken for a Jedi, has been captured by the Mandalorians and sent to Demagol for tests.  Zayne, Gryph, and Camper attempt to follow and rescue her, but the Mandalorian that has hijacked their ship has other ideas...

Although the cliffhanger at the end of this issue states "To Be Concluded," there is so much intriguing dust stirred up by the events in this book that it is improbable that everything will be settled in the next issue.  It seems to be that far longer plot threads are being woven into this brief little rescue mission of a story.

With Jarael's life in very real danger, and with so many enemies (on both sides of the conflict) popping up to menace Zayne and company, it isn't surprising that the humor in the book fades into the background more than just a little bit.  Zayne, Camper and Gryph are far too busy fighting to survive and escape the Mandalorian sneak attack to make with the funny.  Right now it's all about getting Jarael back and then getting out in one piece, but the odds certainly aren't the group's favor.  But were they ever?

Battlestar Galactica (New) #1

The events in this story take place between the second season episodes Home, Part 2 (#2-07) and Resurrection Ship, Part 1 (#2-11).

"Not every mystery in the universe is part of some giant Cylon plot."

While several ships in the rag tag fleet repair the damage done to their FTL drives in a coordinated attack by persons unknown, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is sent to investigate a recently discovered Colonial Medivac ship.  She discovers that Medivac 12 is filled with relatives and friends of the survivors of the Cylon genocide.

Relatives and friends that are long dead.  Has one of the prophecies in the Sacred Scrolls come to pass?  Or have the Cylons launched a devestating psychological attack?

The newly launched Battlestar Galactica comic book crackles with all the dramatic conflict and suspense that viewers of the show have come to expect.  The devestating emotional toll of the discovery is, in a truly inspired touch, best presented in the slow disintegration of Commander Adama's rigid yet barely controlled emotions as he manuevers his ship and crew through the literally explosive situation.  Greg Pak's writing and Nigel Raynor's art manages to capture the subtle nuances and, just like the show it is based on, the story's most powerful moments come from the characters, not the action.  This book looks to be a winner.

Star Wars: Rebellion #4: My Brother, My Enemy Part 4

"You have Skywalker - take him!"

Luke Skywalker and Deena Shan rescue Janek Sunber and return to the Rebel Fleet, and a rather unfriendly welcoming committee.  Jorin Sol appears to have beaten the Empire's subliminal programming, but is that appearance a deceptive one?

The fourth chapter of My Brother, My Enemy places the Rebel Fleet in a seemingly unwinnable situation, just so they can bust their way out in the action packed finale that will be the fifth chapter.  It's a real "Never tell me the odds," kind of situation, if you know what I mean.

The story has streamlined itself down to the essentials and keeps the pace brisk.  Yet it is all for naught, for, once again, the cover illustration is the issue's frakking cliffhanger.  I spent most of the comic waiting for the characters to catch up with me, something that completely ruined the story's ability to build suspense.  When they finally did catch up, it was on the last page of the issue.  Rebellion continues to be a disappointment.

But there is one good thing about this issue, and that is the character of Janek "Tank" Sunber.  I especially liked how, while Luke joyfully tells of destroying the Death Star, Sunber mulls over the Imperial soldiers that died at the battle of Yavin.  "...How many Imperial soldiers died when that space station exploded?  Were some of them good men?  Have you considered that?"  Sunber doesn't think so, and neither do I.  I also liked the disturbing dream that Sunber had shortly thereafter.  His childhood friend Luke Skywalker makes a rather malevolent appearance in it, looming over a pile of stormtroopers he has killed with his light saber.  I can't help but think that Rebellion would be a far more interesting book if it was focused almost entirely on Sunber's side of story.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #7: Flashpoint Part 1

The events in this story take place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"The Mandalorians are attacking -- FOR REAL!"

Zayne, Gryph, Jarael, Camper, and the droid Elbee are running an invasion scam to pilfer some much needed supplies from a mining colony on the fringe of Republic controlled space.  Then the Mandalorians go and spoil the trick by invading for real.

Phew, for a day or two there I was beginning to seriously doubt if I would enjoy a good, fun read again.  Ever since I finished Steve Alten's giant shark thriller MEG: Primal Waters a week or so ago, I have found just about everything I picked up since to be lacking in the entertainment department.  You know your reading choices are poor when they're far easier to put down than a novel by Steve Alten.  (Yes, he's fun to read, but he doesn't exactly strain the brain, you know what I mean?)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was quick to remind me that there was plenty of fun reading out there.  When I saw that a new issue had come out, I literally heaved a sigh of relief.  I just knew that there was a better than average chance that I was going to enjoy it.  At least I had high hopes that I would.  Those hopes were not dashed, thank goodness.

The first part of Flashpoint is a fast paced beginning to another hectic adventure for Zayne and his friends.  Despite out smarting, and out fighting, the Jedi Masters that attempted to kill him, Zayne's luck has not changed for the better.  It's still as bad as a Rancor's breath after it's evening meal.  I could also happily read about the lovely, and tough, Jarael for the rest of my days.  I do hope that she manages to stay around for the issues to come.  But with this group's sorry luck, one can't tell.

Star Wars: Rebellion #3: My Brother, My Enemy Part 3

"...do what you're told."

As Jorin Sol battles his Imperial brainwashing program, Luke Skywalker argues with Princess Leia over the contents of a secret message he has received from Janek "Tank" Sunber, a Lieutenant in the Imperial Fleet.  Luke trusts his childhood friend, the other Rebels do not.  They believe the message is really just a traceable worm meant to reveal to the Empire where the growing Rebel Fleet is currently hiding.  The Rebel leaders' decision to ignore the message does not sit well with Luke, forcing him to take matters into his own hands.

He won't be alone, at least...

Three issues in and Star Wars: Rebellion is finally starting to pull me into My Brother, My Enemy.  The characters, their places within the story, and the events that surround them are beginning to make sense.  I just don't know if it is enough to keep me reading the book beyond this particular story.  Only my satisfaction, or lack thereof, with the conclusion will decide whether I keep reading Rebellion, or not.  At least that feeling of having stepped into the middle of a complicated story turned out to be justified.  The issue count on the copyright page not only lists this as Star Wars: Rebellion #3, but as Star Wars Empire #43.  I'm 40 issues behind the times.

Friday the 13th: Jason vs Jason X #2

"Before departure, did Ethealth recommend you get the anti-dementia booster?"

While Jason and Jason X try their best to rip each other to pieces, Melda attempts to escape their battle's bloody path of destruction.  The other passengers aboard the SS Fun Club aren't so lucky...

Jason and Jason X beat the tar, piss, snot, blood, guts, and brains out of each other in this machete wielding serial killer slugfest royale.  Ten pages of dialog free carnage, baby.  Yes, this issue was worth every minute I spent waiting for it.

Not that the issue is all action and no plot, (okay, it is all action and no plot) writer/artist Mike Wolfer does mange to have the events dovetail into a conclusion that is both touching and creepy as hell.  It also makes a weird kind of sense, within the nonsensical universe of Jason X, that is.  But don't let the fun stop here Avatar, now is the perfect time to bring in the androids and aliens!

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #6: Commencement Part 6 (of 6)

The events in this story take place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"An intervention.  For the galaxy."

Zayne Carrick is delivered, via bounty hunter, to the Jedi Masters so eager to kill him.  Jedi Master Lucien explains their actions to Zayne.  But the former Padawan's battle is far from over.

Wow.  While the other Star Wars book I decided to test, Rebellion, managed to disappoint by its second issue,  Knights of the Old Republic has whipped through six without once loosing my interest, confusing me with a jumble of poorly introduced characters, or making me wonder what the heck was going on from one panel to the next.  No, from page one I was eager to find out what would happen next.  Each plot twist and/or revelation had me wondering just how Zayne and his friends would manage to escape, not asking "What the hell is going on here?"  That's good storytelling.  Knights of the Old Republic is my pick for the Star Wars book worth reading.

It has been said elsewhere, by Orson Scott Card and others, that the Jedi aren't the noble order they like to think they are.  The prequels, and this story arc, show that the Order's unilateralist methods invariably bring about the very things that they are trying to prevent.  The Jedi Order need not worry about the Sith.  The Order itself is its own worst enemy.

Star Wars: Rebellion #2: My Brother, My Enemy Part 2

The events in this story take place approximately nine months after the Battle of Yavin.

"Anyone can fire one lucky shot, sir."

Lieutenant Janek "Tank" Sunber isn't the only one troubled by the knowledge that a childhood friend is on the opposing side in a fierce war.  Luke Skywalker, current darling of the Rebel Alliance for destroying the Death Star, is wondering how it can be that his childhood friend is an Imperial Officer.  He is also wracked with guilt over wounding Sunber and then leaving him behind on Kalist IV.

While Part 1 of My Brother, My Enemy focused solely on the troubled thoughts of Janek Sunber, Part 2 is a maze of characters and events that left me confused.  But not in a good way.  Who is Deena and which Imperial Officer is she ranting about?  Is it Tank?  I'm going to guess that the trap she mentions was the almost botched rescue of Jorin Sol on Kalist IV, an event covered in the just as convoluted, yet much shorter, Rebellion #0 mini one-shot that came out a few months back.

I did like how Skywalker's destruction of the Death Star is dismissed by one character as nothing more than a simple lucky shot.  It's a nice way to remind the reader of just how young and green the future General Skywalker was at that particular time in the saga.  Another good thing is the tension between Luke and Leia.  Luke's obvious jealousy about her no doubt comfortable and sheltered upbringing in comparison to his hard scrabble life on a Tatooine moisture farm is a nice bit of character shading.  I just wish that the story had unfolded in an easier to understand manner.  Other than Luke, Leia and Wedge, I couldn't tell who was who and how they relate to the events in this story.  Hopefully the tangle of plot threads introduced here can be woven into a compelling narrative.  Especially in regards to the apparently brainwashed Jorin Sol.  That brings me to my biggest complaint about this particular book.  The cover art for issues one and two both turned out to be their cliffhangers.  That really spoiled the surprise, you know?

Star Wars: Rebellion #1

The events in this story take place approximately nine months after the Battle of Yavin.

"Luke...my friend...I think I'm meant to stop you."

It has been more than a few years since Janek Sunber played war with his childhood friends, Luke Skywalker and Biggs Darklighter.  The Tatooine youths are now grown and war is no longer a child's game.  Janek is a Lieutenant in the Imperial Fleet and, having learned that Luke and Biggs have sided with the Rebel Alliance, he grapples with a confusing mix of emotions.  Has he chosen the wrong side in this battle?  How could his two closest friends become his mortal enemies?  Does the goal of destroying the Rebel Alliance mean that he must also destroy Luke Skywalker?

My Brother, My Enemy gets off to a strong start with an intense look into the tortured mind of one Lieutenant Janek Sunber, former childhood friend of Rebel Alliance member, and Death Star destroyer, Luke Skywalker.  The heated battle Sunber muses his way through in the opening pages of the issue is a splendid way to visualize the fierce battle that rages in his conscience.  Sunber wants to believe that he is fighting the good fight, that a triumphant Empire will bring peace to the galaxy.  Yet, deep down inside, Sunber finds that he doubts that he is truly fighting the good fight.  If he were, then why is he so quick and eager to resort to brute force?  What does that make him?  Is he truly a crusader for peace in the galaxy?

I look forward to finding out how Lieutenant Janek Sunber handles learning the answers to those troubling questions.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #5: Commencement Part 5 (of 6)

This story takes place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"I didn't kill anyone before -- and I'm not going to now."

Zayne learns what drove the Jedi Masters to slaughter their Padawans.  He now has the choice of two very different paths: renounce his Jedi training and go into hiding, or turn himself in...

After some soul searching, Zayne makes his decision.

So, what exactly did the Jedi Seers on Taris see?  Was one of their Padawans really going to turn to the Dark Side, or did they just have a glimpse of events that won't come to pass for another 3900+ years?  Of course, none of the characters have anyway of knowing these future events will occur, so it only seems reasonable to assume that one of their Padawans will turn to the Dark Side and, because of this, destroy the Jedi.  It also seems reasonable that the only way to stop these horrible events from ever happening is by killing all of their Padawans.

Doesn't seem like a very Jedi thing to do, does it?  Then again, the course of events in the prequel series reveals that the Jedi Order wasn't the infallible bastion of truth, justice, and the Old Republic Way of Life that Obi-Wan liked to tell Luke it was.  No, the reality of the Jedi was far different from the Myth of the Jedi.

As the grim turn of events that had only just begun in issue four played out in five, the humor that made the set-up for it so much fun fades into the background.  The overall tone of the story darkens considerably.  But any attempt to soften the saddening visions and downplay the seriousness of Zayne's situation would weaken its power.  It is time for the Padawan to act like the Jedi he had hoped to one day become.

Battlestar Galactica #0

The events in this story take place between episodes 207 (Home, Part 2) and 211 (Resurrection Ship, Part 1).

"We don't need the Cylons.  We can tear each other apart all on our own."

Relations between Commander Adama and Madame President, Apollo, and Starbuck are still strained.  (To put it mildly.)  Adding to the tension is the discovery of a Medivac ship in the sixty year old debris field of a Third Colonial Conflict battleground.  The inhabitants of the ship radio to Galactica with claims that they are be under attack from the Cylons.  One of Galactica's crew recognizes the voice.  She claims that it is her dead brother...

As far as capturing the narrative feel of the new, and greatly improved, Battlestar Galactica, well, the book seems to have nailed it.  You can cut the tension with a knife and the verbal sparring between Commander Adama and Madame President rings true.  Adama:  "So we're going to be friends now?"  Madame President:  "It's a pleasant idea, isn't it?"  Oh, yeah.  Writer Greg Pak gets it.

Less impressive is Nigel Raynor's art.  For the most part, he does manage to capture Adama's stony-yet-expressive facial characteristics.  Well, except for the final page, where Adama looks like a bespectacled Sylvester Stallone.  Apollo looks okay, so far.  He's only seen once or twice in this introductory issue, so there isn't a necessity for a wide range of expressions.  Where the art noticeably stumbles is in the design of the female characters, both Starbuck and Madame President.  Their design is far too young and girlie, especially Madame President's.  As drawn, the President looks young enough to be an intern, nothing more.  Kara "Starbuck" Thrace is also too soft looking.  Actress Katee Sackoff's tomboyish good looks go a long way in helping sell her Starbuck character as both a tough-as-nails soldier and a really feisty woman.  The visual style of the book needs more than a little work on capturing that visual chemistry.

But on the story level, the comic book "gets it."  Which, for me, is all that really matters.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #4: Commencement Part 4 (of 6)

This story takes place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"How could you have done such a thing?"

With the Taris Law Enforcement closing in on their suddenly disabled ship, Camper manages to hot wire it long enough for Jarael to hide it in the system's inner debris field.  (That'd be what us Terrans would call an asteroid belt, I'm guessing.)  While Camper struggles to make repairs, Zayne calls the Jedi Council to get help.  None is forthcoming, they believe he killed the Padawans.  He also begins searching for the horrible truth hidden on a battered moon within the debris field.  The moon where the Padawans' final test had been conducted.

Things just keep getting worse for poor Zayne and, to a far lesser extent, Gryph.  The Jedi Council believes that Zayne has gone to the Dark Side and that it has clouded his mind.  He only thinks that the Jedi Masters have killed their Padawans.  Am I alone in thinking that the Jedis are insufferably stiff necked, and thus are their own worse enemies?  It is no small wonder one lone Sith Lord managed to literally wipe them off the face of the galaxy several centuries later.  At least it creates for some interesting dramatic conflict.

The action in this installment of the story is of the character variety, not the lightsaber swinging, turbolaser blasting kind.  Thank goodness all the characters are strongly developed.  The interaction between them is every bit as entertaining as a well choreographed lightsaber battle.  I'm also falling in love with Camper's fierce protector, Jarael  She's tough, hot tempered, and beautiful, the perfect heroine for a pulp space opera such as this.

Issue 4 also has the best cliffhanger of the series to date, great stuff.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #3: Commencement Part 3 (of 6)

The events in this story take place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"That boy is a Jedi problem."

Zayne Carrick and Gryph, his partner by necessity, are barely able to stay one step ahead of capture.  A rather impressive feat, considering that the entire planet wants them either dead or behind bars.  It seems that the mass slaughter at the Jedi Temple has had serious economic ramifications, riots and mass unemployment are spreading across the planet of Taris.  The Gryph takes Zayne to The Camper, the best smuggler on the planet.  But Jarael, The Camper's lovely and lethal guard, is hesitant to let the wanted men enter.

Two new characters, the lovely Jarael and the seemingly befuddled Perero, a.k.a. The Camper, enter the fray.  The back and forth between Zayne and Jarael and Gryph and Perero/The Camper is fast, furious - literally and figuratively, the smugglers are far from happy, for some reason - and, even better, funny.  Humor really is this book's strongest point.

Zayne's trial by fire is turning him into a Jedi faster than the teachings of Lucien seemed capable of doing, and there is more to Jarael and Perero than what first seems to greet Zayne and Gryph.  The issue also ends on an exciting, and funny, cliffhanger.

Will Zayne manage to survive long enough to discover why the Jedi Masters have slaughtered their Padawans?  For one thought to be far too clumsy and ill prepared for Jedi Knighthood, Zayne is doing a fine job of rising to the monumental challenge.

Friday the 13th: Jason vs Jason X #1

"Oh, cool!  We're gonna see some fucked up shit, now!"

The year is 2455 A.D.  After 500 years of being cryogenically frozen, the serial killer Jason Voorhees "spontaneously reanimates" and immediately begins killing the science students and elite squad of Marines trapped with him aboard the space vessel Grendel.  Jason is almost destroyed in a fierce battle with an android named Kay-Em, but the Grendel's malfunctioning nanotech med-unit infuses his corpse with inorganic, metallic material.  This creates an unstoppable cybernetic killing machine: Jason X.

But there were still bits and pieces of the old Jason left on the Grendel.

While Jason X is still on the killing spree that concluded the Jason X one-shot, a salvage crew boards what little is left of the Grendel.  Their poking around lands a piece of Jason in the med unit and those pesky nanos get to work.  Only this time they use the corpses of the marines to rebuild Jason Voorhees organically.  (DO NOT PESTER ME WITH THIS FOOLISH THING YOU CALL LOGIC!!!)  Before you can whisper ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma, the Titanic Tussle of the Terror Titans begins!

As stupid as this particular comic book's story premise is, writer/artist Mike Wolfer has done a commendable job of giving a Friday the 13th fan exactly what s/he wants...Jason, in both versions, whipping that machete of his around and sending various body parts flying.  To shamelessly steal a term from noted Drive-In movie critic Joe-Bob Briggs, "There is absolutely no plot to get in the way of the story."  Not that something titled Jason vs Jason X needs to bother with one.  The title clearly states all that needs to be said about the plot, just like Snakes on a Plane does.

Making the book even more fun is the obvious fanboy delight Mike Wolfer is having with this story.  He even tosses in a verbatim quote of Betsy Palmer's famous "A little boy drowned..." speech from the first Friday the 13th.  Through that contrived science-fictiony miracle of those nanotech medical thingies, both Jason and Jason X are blessed with a connection to the "spirit" of his (or is it now their?) mother.  One particularly nice composition has side by side illustrations of both Jasons standing with their head tilted to the side, as if they are sensing one another, although they are in two different locations and have yet to actually meet.  When they finally do meet, it sets up what looks to be a vicious and ugly battle to be Mama Voorhees's Number One son.

Issue two of Friday the 13th: Jason vs Jason X looks to be an epic battle on a par with, say, Godzilla vs Gamera or, uh, Aliens vs Predator.  (Just a version that doesn't suck as bad as the one Paul W.S. Anderson made.)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #0: Crossroads/Star Wars: Rebellion #0: Crossroads

We interrupt the time line of our currently in progress story to bring you this special sneak preview Special Edition.  Thank You for reading Star Wars Comic Books.  The Management.  (aka Dark Horse)

The events in this story take place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"Sometimes you have to enter the darkness to save the light."

Bumbling Padawan Zayne Carrick's latest attempt to apprehend the smuggler know as The Gryph ends with yet another embarrassing mishap.  One witnessed by a Jedi passing through Taris and on the way to the front lines of the war currently being fought between the Republic and the Mandalorians.  The visiting Jedi hopes that several of the Knights stationed on Taris will join in the battle.  Not all agree with the Jedi being used to wage war, and the request causes what seems to be a catastrophic disturbance in the force...

That plot description pretty much covers the entire Crossroads story, a sort of teaser/prequel for Knights of the Old Republic's Freshman Yarn, Commencement.  It does a pretty good job of introducing all the primary characters, there relations to each other, as well as laying the groundwork for the story that immediately follows.  I'm already hooked, so I would have much preferred the next chapter of Commencement.  But Dark Horse wants to drum up interest in its other new Star Wars comic book serial:

The events in this story take place approximately nine months after the Battle of Yavin.

The Jabiimi have not forgotten, nor forgiven, an Old Republic betrayal.  During the Clone Wars, Annakin Skywalker was forced to retreat and left the Jabiimi to fight for themselves.  A battle they lost.  Now a generation has lived under the aggression of Imperial rule.  While an appeal from the Rebel Alliance is welcome, the name of Luke Skywalker is not.  Tal Hesz, thinking that he has brokered a deal that will result in the withdrawal of Imperial occupation, betrays the Rebel Alliance and turns over to the Empire an engineer that had accompanied Luke, Jorin Sol.  Being a deal with the devil, Hesz, and all on Jabiim, gets burned, quite badly.  Now Hesz wages a one man battle to right the wrong he is responsible for.

Oh, and Luke confronts a childhood friend who is now an Imperial Lieutenant named Janek Sunber...

Of the two teasers, Rebellion's Crossroads is the lesser of the two.  It has way too much back story for such a limited amount of space and is nowhere near as effective as setting up its first story.  Then again, I haven't read the first story, which premieres this April.  This complicated intro doesn't do much for me.  It's all talk, no action, and has all the humor of Saving Private Ryan.  It also makes me wonder about the contradiction problems the Skywalker surname brings about.  Many in the Universe seem to know the Skywalker name (a problematic plot point in the otherwise quite good Star Wars novel, Tatooine Ghost), while Luke is completely unaware of his father's history.  How this history is kept from him through the events of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, during which Rebellion takes place, should provide for some interesting reading.  Well, that is if the actual stories in Rebellion are not as cluttered with cumbersome exposition as this teaser's abrupt tale was.

I'm pretty much undecided about, and unimpressed with, this particular book.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #2: Commencement Part 2 (of 6)

The events in this story take place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.

"If you weren't the worst trainee they've ever had, it's only because all the records were lost when the next guy down the list blew up his planet."

Zayne Carrick narrowly escapes the gruesome fate that befell his four Padawan friends, but the slaughter is almost immediately blamed on him and his now unwilling accomplice, Gryph.  The fugitives try to figure out a way to escape Taris and uncover the secret that turned the Jedi Masters murderous, while those same Masters hunt them down.

Commencement part two is another entertaining mix of action, comedy, and character.  The mystery is intriguing.  What has driven the Jedi Masters of Taris to kill their Padawans?  Is a critical clue to their reasoning hidden in the Padawan training?  Hopefully the answers will pay off.

While Zayne Carrick might be clumsy, when the time came he managed to escape a pack of Jedi Masters determined to kill him.  Dumb luck, or is there more to Zayne than anyone, including Zayne, has thought?  The small-time Snivvian crook Gryph also seems to have a Han Solo type heart beneath that grungy exterior.  This sets up some nice banter between him and Zayne's awkward Annakin/Luke styled character.  Knights of the Old Republic has gotten of to a solid start that is, I'm happy to say, a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #1: Commencement Part One

The events in this story take place approximately 3,964 years before the Battle of Yavin.  (That's a long time.)

"By the time I get to be one, all the rules may have changed."

Zayne Carrick is an eager, albeit accident prone, Padawan stationed on the rim world of Taris.  A crowded city-world, not unlike Coruscant, Taris has fallen into near lawlessness, with rival crime gangs battling for what little pieces of the commerce pie remain.  While his fellow Padawans prepare for the ceremony that will announce who among them will be elevated to Jedi Knight, Zayne, who is certain that he is far too clumsy to qualify as of yet, tenaciously chases down the smuggler Gryph.  What Zayne and his fellow Padawans don't know is that their world of peace is about to change, for the worse.

At some point between the release of The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith I became a some what larger Star Wars fan than I had been prior to Phantom.  I even start reading the Expanded Universe novels and comic books.  Reading both is pretty much essential, as events and characters in the comics are mentioned, or actually appear, in the novels and, I am assuming, vice-versa.  Considering the sizable number of tie-in novels that have been published, not to mention the equally large number of comic book series, I have a lot of reading to catch up on.  Well, better reading to be behind on than nothing to be read at all, I say.  Nonetheless, deciding exactly where to start in such a densely interconnected Universe was rather daunting, for certain plot developments or characters could prove confusing to an uninformed reader such as myself.  For the novels, I choose The Truce at Bakura, a story that began mere hours after the conclusion of Return of the Jedi.  As for the comics, I figured that a fresh series would be as good as any.  The characters and situations would be new to all readers, right?

Knights of the Old Republic is set in the fertile pre-history of the Star Wars saga.  A time that spans 25,000 to 1,000 years prior to the Battle of Yavin.  (What is that Battle of Yavin, anyway?  Is that when Luke Skywalker blows up the first Death Star?  Excuse the spoiler.)  Another SW series, The Tales of the Jedi, takes place in this era.  That makes me wonder if events and characters from that book might be showing up in this one.  I guess I will just have to keep reading and find out, won't I?

Zayne Carrick is a suitably doofy Every-boy Character that any reader who has every made an ass of him (or her) self in public can easily relate to.  The action is plentiful and the frame work from which the events to come will hang is solidly constructed.  It all builds to a cliffhanger ending that demands issue two to be read.  And read it I will, gladly.  Just to see what happens next.

Since this is only the third Star Wars comic book I have read, I cannot say how it measures up to the other series.  What I can say is that it has all the elements that long time SW fans will want and expect from a tale set a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...lots of action, a dash of comedy, and some dastardly intrigue.  That is all I ask of Star Wars, and that is all I got.

Star Wars: Purge

"The events in this story take place approximately one month after the events in Revenge of the Sith."

"Palpatine's mailed fist, Dooku's successor, Maul's inheritor, the new Sith - Darth Vader."

Order 66 is still being carried out, the Emperor's Clone Troopers relentlessly hunting down and killing the few remaining Jedi.  Darth Vader, consumed by anger, searches for the now in hiding Obi-Wan Kenobi, wanting more than anything to kill his former Jedi Master.  A desperate Jedi, knowing of Vader's search, sets a trap, using the rumored presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi for bait.

While Purge does a nice job of filling in the blanks of Darth Vader's back story, (namely how a whining dork became one of the most feared men in that galaxy far, far away...) it is hamstrung by its time line setting.  Other than killing more Jedi, there is not much for Vader to do or have done to him.  All the other characters, with the exception of the Emperor, only exist to fight Vader and die in spectacular fashion while doing so.  The fight is exciting, the Jedi putting up a solid enough defense so that it doesn't look too much like Vader is just shooting fish in a barrel.  More interesting, though, is the closing dialog between Vader and the Emperor.  It both fleshes out their relationship as Master and Student and hints that Vader's vicious reputation might be more of a manufactured legend, rather than a horrible reality.

Then again, there's more than enough time for Vader to grow into, and live up to, that reputation while the Skywalker kids grow up.

Jason X #1 (of 1)

"Jason Voorhees, or whatever he's become, is eternal.  Unbeatable."

The Jason X comic picks up right where the Jason X movie ended, with whatever remains of the reentry fried Uber-Jason crashing to Earth II in an area not unlike that of the Crystal Lake of so long ago.  Thanks to his nanobot upgrade, Uber-Jason regenerates faster than ever and commences to do what he does best.  Killing everyone unfortunate enough to cross his path.  But a nearby scientist has a plan to capture Uber-Jason, because she wants to learn the secret of the unstoppable killer's incredible regenerative power and put it to use.

Writer Brian Pulido has, yet again, done a wonderful job of transferring a New Line Cinema horror franchise to the comic book format.  While his Friday the 13th book stays close to the tone and story lines of the earthbound Classic Era, his work on Jason X takes a completely different path.  The story includes all of the movie's science-fiction elements, nano-bots, androids, and spaceships, while managing to keep the traditional setting of the Camp Crystal Lake around for all of the slaughter.  It's not as easy as it looks, but Pulido manages it quite nicely.  He also brings in another character from the original series to spice things up. 

Sebastian Fiumara's art and Mark Sweeney's colors recapture the visual tone of the movie for the book.  There is some beautiful Gothic imagery, such as the Uber-Jason standing at his mother's grave in a lightning storm, blended in with the colder and more metallic sci-fi environments.  Fiumara also remembers the rather skimpy clothing the female scientists of the distant future like to wear to the lab.

Needless to say, the one-shot's ending opens the door for many more Uber-Jason adventures.  Bring 'em on, I say.

The Expatriate #4 - Make the World Go Away...

"No idea.  I really had no idea..."

Jack Dexter had been on the run.  No matter where he went, a Latin American "Banana Republic" or across the globe to Paris, France, a team of ruthless men in black would give chase.

It is in Paris that Jack is finally captured.  He is brought to a strange military facility, and there his head is removed and put to rather strange use.

And that is only the plot recap of issues one through three!

The cover of The Expatriate #4 describes this strange tale of government conspiracy, alien portals, mysterious astronauts and severed heads as A pop noir spy-fi chiller.  Well that is pretty darn accurate.  The book has elements of a cold war era spy thriller, of a 50s alien invasion movie, and, well, just about everything else you could think of.  It's as if writer B. Clay Moore and artist Jason Latour took The Avengers, Doctor Who, The X-Files and Men in Black, then mixed them all together.  This bizarre story shouldn't work, the plot twists are just to incredible, but it does.  It is impossible to accurately guess what could possibly happen next.  When what does happen next...uh...happens, it is nothing that could have been guessed at, unless your imagination is as wild as Moore's and Latour's, that is.

Another inspired thing about the book is its being set in the sixties.  Having such a chaotic decade as that serve as the backdrop for this tale just feels right.  It's familiar, yet far enough removed from the here and now that the increasingly wacky plot developments never seem all that implausible.  I think The Expatriate is gonna be big, like movie adaptation kind of big.  So start reading it now, so you can get your "I knew it when" bragging rights squared away before everybody around you is asking, "Hey, are you reading The Expatriate?"

Shanna the She-Devil: The Killing Season #1 - 7 (of 7)

Frank Cho's seven issue Shanna the She-Devil story, The Killing Season, has already been collected together into the graphic novel format, so I am just going to review all the seven issues in one swoop.  That'll teach me to keep putting things off, or, perhaps, I should just have waited for the trade in the first place.  (Which is what I decided to do with Spider-Man's The Other, a multiple book spanning mini-series.)

Anyway, onto the tale of a Bio-Engineered Buxom Babe Battling Beastly Behemoths!

"She just went through two-inch-thick glass...and there's not a scratch on her."

Three years, ten months, and twenty-three days after crash landing in some strange land (one filled with long extinct animals and plants of all shapes and sizes) a unit of men discovers what seems to be an abandoned research facility while looking for food, medical supplies and, most important of all, weapons.  Inside this research facility are incubators of a sort.  When one of the men attempts to hack into the computer (which is in German, not surprising considering the huge swastika banner hanging on a nearby wall) an incubator is activated, awakening the woman suspended inside.  They rescue her from drowning and continue their search, but there is more in this strange facility in this far stranger land than just medical supplies, food and weapons.

Here there be monsters...

Okay, I'm confused, which is nothing new I admit, but I cannot figure out what time period this book is supposed to be set in.  With the Nazi banner hanging on the wall, I figured it, at first, for a nostalgic homage to the 40s era "men's adventure in a lost world" yarn.  Then a character mentions somebody having seen too many "Ah-nuld films."  Then there is the question of the facility's tech.  Computers and medical equipment like this weren't around in the 1940s, unless you were reading a science-fiction story, that is.  So the strange cross-pollination of the story types has my curiosity up.

Then there's Shanna, who has...

Well, never mind, my parents read this blog.  Let's just say that she's as dangerous as she is beautiful, and every bit as mysterious as the story that surrounds her.

Four months later...

"The men named her Shanna because of her uncanny resemblance to a certain comic book character."

Dr. Elsa and the genetically-enhanced killing machine that has been dubbed "Shanna" are now living in the camp with the American soldiers.  Although everybody has been getting along fairly well, Dr. Elsa has not been forthcoming with any information on how a seventy year old Nazi laboratory managed to get modern day computers and to re-supply itself.  But the mystery of the Nazi lab quickly gets pushed aside as Shanna, despite mastering the English language and learning to wear clothes, is beginning to have trouble dealing with the lustful men in the camp.  Trouble that she knows only one way of handling.

How do you teach a killing machine that some kinds of killing is wrong?

Frank Cho's storytelling is as every bit as solid as his artwork.  In the book's opening pages, the narrator, a kindly and ethical doctor, brings the story up to date, via his journal entries, while Shanna dispatches a sizable dinosaur with her bare hands.  So you get all the necessary information while a rousing action scene plays out.  Shanna, though she doesn't say much, comes across as both naive and quite cold-blooded.  As she begins to understand the attentions of the men around her, she finds that she does not like it in the least bit.  Not that the men are a bad sort, just really lonely and Shanna is really beautiful.  Shanna makes it very clear that she does not appreciate the attention and, the men soon learn, the bad side of a killing machine is a very dangerous place to be on.  With the exception of the narrator, every other man in camp is beginning to see Shanna as a threat to their safety.  Issue two nicely deepens the mystery introduced in issue one by adding the unsettling question of Shanna's true nature to it.

Yet the real threat of death does not come from either the dinos or Shanna, but from the very supplies the men brought back from the Nazi lab.

"Just because I'm from Ohio doesn't mean I'm stupid."

The viral agent is ravaging the camp.  Knowing that an antidote is back at the Nazi lab, the Doc gathers together three healthy volunteers (Shanna and two hunks of dino fodder) to make the dangerous hike to the lab and back.  What makes it even more dangerous is that it is the middle of migration season and the woods are crawling with carnivores.

Shanna gets a glimpse, and perhaps gleans a bit of understanding about, the human spirit's nature of fighting against futility.  She cannot comprehend why the Doc would want to take such a suicide gamble, knowing full well that, in the six days it will take to get to the lab and back, everybody in the camp will either be dead or beyond help.  Doc "explains" (i.e. he shouts in her face) that he is very well aware of this, that he constantly thinks about it, but, regardless of the outcome, he must try.  To her credit, Shanna doesn't try to bounce the Doc's head like a basketball.  She just offers to take first watch.  Whether she understands the humanity of Doc's actions is left up to the reader to ascertain.

That is good storytelling.

Issue three also features an exciting brawl with a T-Rex, but the real danger will be met by the group on its return journey.

"I truly believe that humanity is a thing that you cannot breed out or bury.  You are who you choose to be."

The group arrives at the Nazi lab and finds the antidote, but Shanna also finds the incubator room where her dead sisters are still kept in their eternal stasis.  Doc fears that the discovery reminds Shanna that she is not quite human, that she is intended to be a genetically enhanced killing machine, and her small steps toward getting in touch with her human nature may have been undone.  But far larger problems arise and need to be dealt with, like that T-Rex Doc and Shanna thought they had killed...

Writer/artist Frank Cho manages to put something special in each issue of The Killing Season, and I am not just talking about the lovely Shanna.  Issue four is the second half of the battle begun with the T-Rex in issue three and, once again, Cho is able to balance the necessary storytelling detail with arresting visuals.  Doc's belief that everything has a purpose, that Shanna can regain the humanity that inhuman science tried to breed out of her, is sorely tested in this issue.  Those questions, while raised, are not answered.  However an explanation of sorts is given for the Nazi lab, but I am still wondering who Doc's group is and how they came to be marooned on this strange island.  I can only hope that particular question is answered in one of the story's final three issues.

"Every human life is worth the risk.  All risks."

While Shanna and the Gang have been strolling through the dino infested woods, a hundreds large pack of raptors has been charging across the island, eating everything in its path.  Just shy of reaching the camp and being able to attempt to save the few surviving souls there, Shanna and the Doc find the raptor pack blocking their way.  To circle around the raptors, which is what Shanna wants to do, would take an additional three days.  A death sentence for the those in the camp.  Doc doesn't want to do that, so he has a different plan.  It involves dynamite, machetes, and running very, very fast.

"Stupid plan.  Stupid risk," Shanna says, but she backs Doc up anyway.  Perhaps she is beginning to understand the value of fighting to preserve life after all?

Forget getting answers about who they are and how they got there.  The most important one now is anybody going to be able to survive?  Other than raising that question, issue five doesn't do much story wise.  (Other than showing Shanna's apparent determination to protect the Doc.)  It's just an impressive set-up for the battle royal that will be the story's conclusion.  I particularly liked the image of Shanna looking down on all the hundreds of raptors in the ravine.  The next issue seems to promise a battle not unlike the one that capped San Peckinpah's legendary western, The Wild Bunch.  But with Shanna and the Doc as the Bunch and the Raptors as the whole Mexican Army.

"I'm about to enter hell.  With Shanna as my guide."

A blast of dynamite, then Doc follows Shanna, a whirling dervish of massacring machetes, down into the raptor choked ravine.  The plan seems to be working, they almost make it.

Almost.

Because something goes wrong.

While the story has yet to reach its conclusion, it is clear that Shanna has reached hers.  She knows and decides what kind of person she wants to be, only to have the Doc plead with her to set aside that decision and do what he wishes.  It seems an odd place to have a moral argument over the quality of life, but the mere fact that Shanna would rather take on a hundreds large herd of charging raptors to protect Doc's life down to the very last second, says a lot.  Especially since she would have so calmly watched a man getting attacked and eaten by a large crocodile (Or was it an alligator?) in issue two and questioned the very need for the journey to the Nazi lab in issue three.  The irony that the Doc, who has repeatedly tried to teach Shanna the value of fighting to preserve life, now has to beg Shanna to kill him, rather than have her wage a futile battle to protect him, is a great emotional pay-off to Shanna's arc.

Refusing to kill Doc, Shanna still swings the machete and...

"You made the right choice."

Shanna may have gotten the antidote back to the camp, but the raptor herd has followed her right to it.  Having made the decision to fight to the death protecting life, Shanna charges back into the thick of the herd to stop them from getting to the survivors.

Shanna the She-Devil: The Killing Season comes to an emotionally satisfying, not to mention outright exciting, conclusion.  When all is said and done, Shanna weeps with remorse and fear over Doc's fate.  A reaction that seemed impossible a mere three issues back.

But all is well, Shanna saved everyone she was capable of saving.  Everyone.

"Shanna's going to be all right.  Everything's going to be all right."

When I first read issue one the other day, I felt that the book was nothing more than an updating of those men's adventure stories that had rugged guys winding up on islands choked with dinosaurs and assorted strange monsters.  How they got there really isn't that big of an issue in the story (considering they have been on the island for over three years when this story begins), nor is the Nazi lab.  All that is just the stuff that routinely popped up in those old adventure stories.

The real story is Shanna being found and taught what it means to be human, to love and cherish life.  It's a good one, well worth the price of the trade edition that collections together all seven issues.  In fact, I just might double dip and get the trade myself.  Shanna is worth a double dip, if you ask me.

No, not that kind of dip!  Y'all got dirty minds.  My parents read this blog.

Getting back on topic, I hope that Frank Cho gets the opportunity to do another Shanna story.  The ending opens the door on some rather, um, intriguing possibilities.

Giant Monster #2

"I give you my SUPER-ATTACK-BOT." 

While the giant, man-eating creature that was Don Maggert rages through Los Angeles, the authorities attempt two very different methods of dealing with the situation.  Two men in black collect Don's estranged wife Monica, hoping that she can reach what is left of the man inside the monster, while General Gorgos heads to Area 51, with two children in tow, to see if one of the military's many hidden secrets at the facility might have something with which to defeat the monster.  Nothing goes as planned.

Steve Niles's energetic homage to such films as The Amazing Colossal Man, The First Man Into Space, and countless giant monster movies comes to a rousing, action packed conclusion that manages to grow and improve upon the story set up in Book One.  I don't want to spoil the story by giving away any specific gags or plot twists.  So all I can say is that Niles story stays true to the narrative arc of all those old b-movie monster shows, but also manages to add several fun twists to the tale.  No monster loving comic book reader's library/collection should be without this book, it's excellent.

Giant Monster #1

"There's a monster coming!!  Run for your lives!!!"

The year is 2013.  Space shuttle pilot Don Maggert has become the first man to fly solo to and from the space station.  But his return to Earth is disrupted by an attack by space parasites of some kind.  They gnaw into his suit and fuse to his body.  Then his ship explodes, the debris falling to Earth.  A piece of that debris is Maggert himself.  No longer human, the mutating man now has an insatiable appetite, the more he eats the bigger he gets.  And he is eating a lot...

During an interview on Metropolis Comics' radio show, writer Steve Niles described his book Giant Monster as an homage to those wonderful giant monster movies of old: Godzilla, Gamera, Gorgo (in a nice touch, one of the book's characters is named General Gorgos), and countless others.  The story's set-up reads like a combination of Bert I. Gordon's The Amazing Colossal Man and Robert Day's The First Man Into Space.  What makes Niles' story work so well is that it does not complicate itself with needless jokes at the concept's expense.  It plays out with an utterly straight face, which makes it all the more fun to read.  Who wants to read a giant monster story where they make fun of old giant monster movies?  I don't.

Fast paced and full of action and gore, Giant Monster #1 delivers giant thrills.

Man With the Screaming Brain #4 (of 4)

William/Yegor face off against Tatoya, with more than a little help from Jackibot.  But the shared brains tissues are beginning to reject each other, can William/Yegor get their revenge before time runs out?

The comic book adaptation of Bruce Campbell's movie comes to an action packed finish.  When all is said and done, this four issue series was a solid adaptation that captured the zany humor of the movie, while giving it a much needed gothic visual upgrade.  The Chin's legion of fans will no doubt enjoy this comic, which is getting re-issued in a graphic novel edition this November.  Just in time for it to make the perfect Christmas gift for that Bruce Campbell adoring friend and/or relative.

Man With the Screaming Brain #3 (of 4)

After several comical mishaps getting used to sharing the same body, William Cole and Yegor remember who they are and how they got that way.  The odd couple then team up and go after Tatoya in Gypsy Town.  Meanwhile, the good doctor has placed Jackie's brain inside of Pavel's robot companion.  She awakens eager to seek revenge on Tatoya.  The doctor and Pavel are incapable of restraining the Jackibot and she breaks loose, heading directly for Gypsy Town and Tatoya.

Issue #3 does an okay job of streamlining the physical comedy heavy middle section of Bruce Campbell's movie while making the necessary plot developments to set up the climatic showdown between Tatoya and her three victims.  But the issue left me wondering how Jackie knew Uri.  If I recall the movie from its Sci-Fi Channel premiere correctly, it was William Cole/Yegor who had the run in with Uri, not Jackie.  But I could have missed that part.  It was also nice to see the comedic Pavel get a little of the narrative spotlight.  "Go get them, Pavel - bring them back to me, Pavel.  And just how do I find them?  Yell, 'Here freak, here freak?'  Get lost, dawg."  This adaptation of Man With the Screaming Brain remains an entertaining read.

Man With the Screaming Brain #2 (of 4)

Tatoya has just bashed William Cole's head in with a pipe, and Yegor has witnessed it.  The former KGB agent turned cab driver confronts Tatoya and she kills him as well.  Doctor Ivan Ivanov hears of the sad events and has his assistant Pavel collect the bodies.  What better way to showcase his anti-rejection drug than with the CEO of the Drug Company as the trial subject?  While this is going on Jackie tracks down and confronts Tatoya, who effortlessly kills Mrs. Cole as well.  Ivanov, after replacing the injured portions of Cole's brain with parts of Yegor's, tells Pavel to go collect Mrs. Cole's body as well.  A mad scientist can never have enough test subjects.

Cole awakens, but does not remember who he is.  When Yegor's half of the brain also awakens and floods Cole's mind with alien memories, he panics and flees Ivanov's lab.  Act two of this four part comic book adaptation of Bruce Campbell's movie Man With the Screaming Brain is not as bogged down with exposition as the first issue was.  As Joe Bob Briggs might have put it, "There's a lot less plot to get in the way of the story."  All the characters and situations have been introduced, now all the story has to do is play itself out.

Rick Remender (Night Mary) and Hilary Barta's excellent visual style perfectly captures the zany comic-gothic energy of Campbell's story idea.  The visuals beautifully meld the goofy and the grotesque.  They also capture Campbell's charismatic acting style, expecially evident in the post surgery Cole's mannerisms as he struggles to cope with Yegor's thoughts and personality.  The team really scores this time around.  Highly recommended.

Man with the Screaming Brain #1 (of 4)

Bruce Campbell's Man With the Screaming Brain makes for a better comic book than it did an actual movie.  Even the Chin himself agrees.  In a brief three question interview at the end of the book, he states, "...you can create wind, rain, dark shadows, night atmospheres, fog, character faces, locations that are perfectly art directed for the fee of the artist alone.  There is no comparison - comics are where it's at - movies are a 'best-efforts adaptation' in most cases."

Such is the case of Man With the Screaming Brain.

Bruce Campbell's Labor of Love spent 18 years in development hell before a deal with the Sci-Fi Channel allowed it to be made.  Shot in Bulgaria instead of the intended Los Angeles, Man With the Screaming Brain tells the story of Drug Company CEO William Cole.  Cole arrives in Bulgaria, with his estranged wife Jackie by his side, seeking healthy tax write-offs for his company.  The couple meet and befriend a former KGB agent turned cab driver named Yegor Stragov.  Cole hires Yegor to drive him around to his various business meetings, as well as take Jackie to the local stores for some shopping.  Yegor is happy to comply.  He ferries Cole around and gets to know Jackie much more intimately than Cole had intended.  Meanwhile a psychotic gyspy named Tatoya is running around seeking a husband, and killing every man who turns her down.  Cole falls victim to Tatoya at the issue's end.  Good thing there is a scientist who has just perfected a drug that cancels out transplanted tissue rejection and who is eager to meet with Mr. Cole and discuss human trials for his miracle drug...

This first of four issues adaptation of Man With the Screaming Brain has all the stylistic pizzaz that Campbell's pro-comic book comment mentions while the film itself was clearly a 'best-efforts adaptation' hampered by a lack of time and money.  The pace of the comic, unlike the movie, is breathless, never slowing down for a moment, and Rick Remender's art has just the right amout of exaggeration to it.  Bruce Campbell fans are sure to love this book, I certainly did.  More than the movie.