Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes, page 60

Book Review: Doom Patrol Archives, Volume 4

The Doom Patrol Archives, Vol. 4 by Arnold Drake

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book of D.C.'s most off-beat and Marvel-like Superhero team continues with its fourth volume which collects Issues 106-113.

The main adventures center around several key plot points. First, is the Doom Patrol's efforts to free Beast Boy from his unscrupulous guardian, who in term is hiring supervillains to kill Beast Boy before it can be discovered that he's been embezzling funds. (Because what else would an evil guardian do.) There's also a plot involving their archenemies, "The Brotherhood of Evil," who actually team up with the Doom Patrol to stop an alien invasion. And then there's something going on between the Chief and Madam Rogue of the Brotherhood of Evil.

Overall, the Doom Patrol at this point was hitting on all cylinders. There's a good balance between action and plot. In addition, the back up features telling the stories of Larry Trainor's origin as the source of Negative Man and Beast Boy's origin are both compelling. The balance between plot and action is right and it's probably better written the Fantastic Four stories of the same era, in part because of its limits interaction with the rest of the DC universe and the way writer Arnold Drake is able to just do his own thing. The book also includes a very charming self-deprecating intro by Paul Kupperberg whose Doom Patrol revival didn't measure up in the eyes of many (including Kupperberg and Drake.)

Overall, the penultimate Doom Patrol Archive is another great entry in one of the great underrated series of the Silver Age



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Book Review: Captain Marvel, Vol. 3: Alis Volat Propriis

Captain Marvel, Vol. 3: Alis Volat Propriis by Kelly Sue DeConnick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This trade is one that doesn’t look feel like an actual story as it collects only four issues.

Issues 12 and 13 are an okay two parter involving Carol’s cat (who has been revealed to be a powerful alien.) Following that, Issue 14 is actually a tie-in to a much-larger comic event that as a standalone really doesn’t offer much. It’s part 11 in a much larger story. Issue 15 sees Carol saying goodbye to an old friend who has actually been dying since the start of the previous series. She doesn’t get to say goodbye to her as her deep space adventures kept her away from Earth. It’s a touching story and probably the highlight of the book.

Still, the book itself is weak. Comic book companies shouldn’t include tie-ins to events in trades not related to the event because it really left me feeling lost. Probably the weakest Captain Marvel since the first volume of the previous series.



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Book Review: Star Trek: The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1: 1979-1981

Star Trek: The Newspaper Comics, Volume 1: 1979-1981 by Thomas Warkentin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


These newspaper comics from 1979-81 are set in the era of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and use the uniforms from that move as well as the Enterprise crew using wrist communicators.

The stories are perfectly enjoyable Space Adventure newspaper strips but little else. Those expecting the equivalent of, “The Trouble with Tribles” or “City on the Edge of Forever” will be sadly be disappointed. The Star Trek strips are pretty much straight up space adventures in the style of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. Well told, but not particularly innovative, but all of them are interesting.

Among the highlights are a strip where Doctor McCoy meets his ex-wife and a wannabe doppleganger (whose plan to replace McCoy is foiled by him acting completely out of character.) Also, Harry Mudd makes an appearance, and there are several stories involving the Klingons, the most interesting involving a crazy alien general who is trying to start a Klingon-Federation War so they can fight in it.



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Book Review: Captain America: The 1940s Newspaper Strips

Captain America: The 1940s Newspaper Strip by Karl Kesel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A somewhat odd book. It's an attempt to recreate the fun of 1940s Adventure comic strips, which Captain America (and other character at Marvel predecessor company Timely) didn't get to experience like his DC counterparts.

Given that, it's odd that most of the story is set in an underground laboratory where a scientist wants to run tests on Captain America and then a mystery is set up.

It's not bad, but it's not really special, and doesn't really feel "of it's era." It seems this would have been a lot more fun if they'd gone with a bigger story more fitting the Adventure Strip style they were going for. The last third of the book is a bit more exciting, but overall this merely okay and really didn't do much with a very good concept.



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Book Review; Essential Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man Volume 1

Essential Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 1 by Gerry Conway

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There were already two Spider-man titles when Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man premiered in 1976. So what could this new series add? Quite a bit actually. This book collects the first 31 issues of the book.

Seven of the first eight issues were written by comics legend Archie Goodwin and Spider-man legend Gene Conway who contributed tales of classic Spidey villains like Kraven and the Vulture appearing for one-off adventures and then a sensational three parter involving Morbius the Vampire.

At that point, the book fell to Bill Manlo, who wrote all but two of the remaining twenty-three issues of the book. In many ways, the tales Manlo crafted were better than what was going on in the main series. It featured some epic story arcs such as Spidey teaming up with an Arkansas based superhero in a pig costume named Razorback to battle a new age cult, and Spidey teaming up with Moon Knight to battle the Maggia. The hispanic hero, The White Tiger made several appearances and became a regular guest star. Of course, there's some 1970s goofiness as Spidey battles a disco-based villain and the Carrion arc is not without its flaws, but had some great action and features Spidey losing his sight and declaring himself the worlds only blind superhero when standing a few feet from Daredevil. This book also includes Frank Miller's first art on Daredevil, a character he'd redefined a few years later.

The stories didn't always line up with what was going on in Amazing Spider-man but Manlo made an effort when he could. However, his blindness in two issues of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-man made no impact on Spidey in his main book.

Still, these are great classic Spider-man tales and in many ways, far more similar to the character's glory days under Lee and Conway than what was going on in Amazing Spider-man at the time.



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Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America, Vol. 6

Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America, Vol. 6 by Stan Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Captain America Comics Issues 21-24 as the pool of Timely Comics drained and Stan Lee prepared to go to war.

The Captain America stories predominate and by comparison all the other features are window dressing. Captain America stories are not as good in the early going but more than any other hero, there's a sense of Cap taking on truly colossal foes including Vampires answered even Satan. There's no Red Skull but there are other villains that are far stronger than the typical Axis strong men that other heroes took on. However, not all was high quality in Cap comics as seen by the racist caricature that dominated the lead story in Captain America Comics #22.

The Human Torch stories are merely adequate and come across as the hallow filler they were.

The Secret Stamp actually seemed to be improving in its logic, even though many of the stories are ludicrous they were enjoyably so. The Dippy Diplomat was actually funny as well and was a nice humor piece. The text stories were about average, maybe slightly less so.

Overall, I'd give this collection 3 1/2 stars. The best reason to get it if you're a diehard fan of Captain America. Any Golden Age stories with him are truly worth reading.



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Book Review: Big Hero 6 Junior Novelization

Big Hero 6 Junior Novelization by Walt Disney Company

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A very enjoyable retelling of the film. Big Hero 6 follows the story of Hiro, whose brother Tadashi prods him into entering a science expo in order to attend university. Hiro wins the contest with his microbots but a subsequent fire destroys his invention and kills Tadashi.

Hiro discovers Baymax, a cuddly marshmallow robot invented by his brother to provide health care. When Hiro finds that some of his microbots survived and are being used by an evil villain, he wants answers, and to do that, he adds armor and fighting moves to Baymax's programming and gets a little help from his brother's friends.

Overall, Big Hero 6 is a far deeper story than it's plot suggests. It's a great juvenile adventure story, but like all the best Disney movies, it's a type of film that speaks to audiences whatever their age as it deals with themes such as revenge, grief, loss, and love.

The only problem with this book is that it's practically a description of everything that happened on film with no changes. This isn't a problem for most of the book. However, certain scenes of action and training on film should have been fleshed out in the book. Instead, they're described with brief expeditionary sentences.

Still, it was an enjoyable adaptation that reminded me of what made this movie so special



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Book Review: Superman: The Golden Age Sundays 1946 1949

Superman: The Golden Age Sundays 1946 1949 by IDW Publishing

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Sunday Superman newspaper comics remain some of the most underrated works featuring the man of Steel. Thankfully, IDW is bringing these forgotten classics to light.

This book collects three years of Sunday Comic strips and they are gloriously fun. The art by Wayne Goring is absolutely beautiful. The plots range from pure comedy (Superman) trying to babysit and take care of a house) to Science Fiction (Superman v. Aliens) to fantasy (Superman on another planet in a story that borrows from Gulliver's Travels) to addressing the serious issue of the housing shortage for post-war Veterans. Superman tries to help two small businessmen promote their new type of hot dog and gets sued over it. He plays a practical joke after a salesman states that a carpet is a "flying carpet," and then has to follow through on it and keep the flying carpet gag going as long as possible to avoid harming the buyer who benefits from his prank. He helps an academic who is experimenting with letting a little girl do whatever she wants without fear of punishment.

This book is just a delight and I'm looking forward to future volumes in this set.



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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol. 1: After Life

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol. 1: After Life by Al Ewing

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects the first five issues of the Eleventh Doctor series from Titan Comics. The story is set after Series 5 and the episode of the Christmas Carol and introduces the Doctor's new companion Alice Obiefune.

Alice is a markedly different companion. She's in her 30s and is a lot more mature and level-headed than most Doctor Who companions. As the book opens, she's touched by tragedy in the recent death of her mother when she has a chance encounter with the Doctor. The scene where the TARDIS appears in her living room is very touching and sweet. She's also questioning her status. She doesn't want the Doctor to run her life or to run away from her problems. It's a very interesting dynamic, that's refreshing.

The first issue, "After Life" features the Doctor's first meeting with Alice and manages to mix it a lot of poignancy with comedy, and a political satire.

The second-fifth issues at first glance are two one shots and a two part murder mystery. Yet, all of them are actually interlinked quite cleverly as the Doctor deals with a paradise planet that's become an amusement park, how Alice's mom's favorite singer is so bland the Doctor doesn't notice him, and the aforementioned murder mystery, and the Doctor adds two more Companion.

Overall, I really enjoyed both the writing and the art. This is simply superb and I wish this had been the type of story Matt Smith had gotten in Series 6.



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Book Review: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 2: The Weeping Angels of Mons

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 2: The Weeping Angels of Mons by Robbie Morrison

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 6-10 of Titan's Eleventh Doctor Comic series.

The first four issues feature the return of the Weeping Angels, this time going up against the Tenth Doctor and Gabriella in World War I. The artwork in here is simply glorious. After, "Blink," the Weeping Angels got away from their original concept of sending people back in time for far more ordinary means of murder, probably because the original method would mean creating costly locations. But in comic book form they can create the locations with a stroke of the pen. The art is great and there are some beautiful full page and two page spreads. The writing by Morrison is very good and he does a solid job of capturing the feel of the Tenth Doctor particularly in this post-Donna era. That angst about having a companion comes through clearly. True, the end did seem to borrow from, "The Family of Blood," and there was a pointless straw man about religion and a priest whose faith depended on them not being real angels. Still, this was a solid story otherwise.

Issue 10 features a return visit to New York for Gabriella in, "Echo," a story involving a sound creature in New York. It a typical romp that would have worked well in Doctor Who magazine as a tell a story the television show couldn't touch.

Overall, this is another nice collection for the Tenth Doctor.



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