I’ve been reading Hellboy and his expanded universe books for years now and, since seeing John Arcudi’s name listed as co-writer alongside Mike Mignola’s on quite a few comics, I’ve wondered how big an influence Arcudi is on Mignola’s scripts. Because Mignola can write (and of course draw) really, really good comics but he collaborates most frequently with Arcudi on BPRD (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) and, man, those books are mostly sucky!
Bad Break starts out interestingly as a mysterious man with bandages on his face searches for his wrecked car in a scrapyard run by a blind man, who’s busy drowning kittens. In the car is his locked briefcase and heavily tattooed men with guns are after him. What’s in the briefcase and why is he being hunted for it? Sounds promising, no?
X-Men #66 from 1963 is included at the back of this trade but I’d recommend reading that issue before Alan Davis’ four-issue Savage Hulk arc as Davis’ comics are a sequel to what happens in that issue. A summary of X-Men #66 is: Professor X is in a coma, Banner built a device that could help him, X-Men and Hulk battle in Vegas, everything’s wrapped up neatly by the end.
Writing “spoilers” for a review of the 23RD VOLUME in a series seems a bit pointless, doesn’t it? I mean, if you’re considering reading this and have read the past 22 volumes, why are you reading a review BEFORE reading the book itself? You’re gonna read it whether or not it’s good. You’ve read 22 volumes, you’re in this ‘til the bitter end like me, which means you’ve read the book and know what happened. Other people reading this review, they don’t care about spoilers, they’re probably just killing time at work.
Four detectives, four different eras, one murder victim, same MO, same location - appearing to each detective. Who killed John Bull?
Bodies is a very tricky murder mystery to unpack and puzzle out but I will say it’s the first Vertigo book in some years that I really enjoyed. That comes with some caveats but, all said and done, it’s a fine comic.
The Bitter March opens in classic James Bond style with spies and henchman chasing one another on skis across snowy mountains – you can practically hear the classic theme playing! It’s 1966 and agents Nick Fury and Ran Shen are on the hunt for two Nazi scientists who’ve been kidnapped by HYDRA for their Alchemy Formula (aka the Infinity Formula that kept old Nick looking so youthful for so many decades). But the Soviets want the formula for themselves and have dispatched their most lethal agent: the mythical Winter Soldier.
12 meteorites crash in 12 different locations on Earth. 12 kids from 12 ancient lineages are sent in to a tournament or something to save the world. Why kids? Why only one representative from each lineage? Who cares, it’s yet another shitty Hunger Games cast-off – it’s Endgame: The Calling!
Minor spoilers ahead, I guess, so… yeah!
When she’s not avenging, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow is still doing missions on the side for money to pay off her conscience for the bad things she did way back when - but this second volume shows Nathan Edmondson’s already run this idea into the ground.
My latest review for Need to Consume was Phil Hester and John McCrea's Mythic #1. Read the full piece here: http://www.needtoconsume.com/comics/mythic-1-review/
My latest review for Need to Consume was Mark Millar and Sean Murphy's Chrononauts #3. Read the full piece here: http://www.needtoconsume.com/comics/chrononauts-3-review/
I didn’t realise this wasn’t a comic when I requested it. Superman and the Poisoned Planet is a prose novel aimed at younger readers with some full page illustrations chucked in.
While I’ve never heard of Red Sonja before, one look at the chainmail bikini and the sword tells you everything you need to know – she’s Conan the Barbarian without the Y chromosome! As for the story, there are nuances but it’s basically Red Sonja saves a kingdom from an invading army, ie. the standard fantasy hero storyline.
Spoilsies for anyone who hasn’t read Night of the Living Deadpool - if that’s an issue, read that book first, then come back for this!
