Comics Review: Darkness, Flash, Luna, and Moonstar

I’ve picked up a few random comics at Zia Comics lately. I think I got these mostly in lieu of buying $40 trade paperbacks. I’m glad there are at least a few new comics coming out now that I’m interested in.

The Darkness #3

This one is kind of evil. I mean, it’s unsettling in an unpleasant and not really entertaining way. A mobster commanding some cute and some scary-looking tentacle demons against his enemies isn’t exactly a heroic setting. As the story moves forward, the good guys and bad guys will likely be better defined, but not here.

Somewhat less said about this the better, storywise. I don’t know what the difference is between this rebooted series and the original is. It seems about the same. Marc Silvestri is the writer on the comic, not the artist, though the art is very good. It is un-inked. The pencils are directly colored over. It’s good, but looks unfinished. I wish I’d found a Witchblade comic, instead. At least, she’s a cop with a supernatural entity attached to her and she’s easier to root for.

Flash Gordon #0 New Worlds to Conquer Prologue

The cover sold me on this. In the premise, essentially Flash Gordon takes off to Mongo and overthrows Ming there. He then makes the mistake of returning to a post-modern earth. He’s a hero, but soon shuffled off into a military bureaucracy to train recruits and stay out of the limelight. Being Flash, he can’t stay out of trouble though and leads his students on an unauthorized mission.

There’s a very strange dichotomy in this comic where Flash is absolutely classic Flash, but everyone else is, unfortunately, all too modern. It’s a bit humiliating watching Flash Gordon dealing with basically HR people and Gen Alpha kids. Still, he’s smart and doesn’t waiver in his convictions.

Free Comic Book Day was supposed to have an issue of this series available. I would have got it, if I’d had the opportunity. The publisher also produces a Flash Gordon on Mongo series. I think I’d probably be more interested in that, but this wasn’t too bad. This company, Mad Cave, also produces comics of The Phantom, Gatchaman, and Speed Racer.

Moonstar #1 and #2

I am a fan of this character (7-1-25 New Mutants and 6-15-25 X-Force), but I am surprised to see a solo series starring Dani Moonstar. This seems like a mini-series, but it’s not indicated anywhere. This follows up on a Magik solo series storyline, which is somewhat summarized in the opening two pages. (I’m kind of sorry I missed that, because I’m a fan of that character, too.)

Dani is paired with her Pegasus, Brightwind, and returns home to be with her parents. However, her former teammates from the Society of the Eternal Dawn track her down and ask for her help. This is awkward, since she helped bring down their organization. Regardless, they need her help in finding a lost artifact that’s causing mass murders.

In nearby Boulder, Colorado, an immortal Viking, Kyron, is using the sword to create an army of undead. Dani’s status as a Valkyrie gives her some special insight in combating this threat. As such, one of her comrades sacrifices herself to allow the other one, Kian, to save Dani, so she can continue the fight.

Next issue, Dani and Kian go to a lost tomb in China following a lead. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dani in a romantic relationship. It’s still not happening here, as her and Kian are constantly sniping at each other, but there’s some emotional tension. Kyron is there and Dani has to fight a spirit form of her departed grandfather. He makes off with another artifact and takes Dani’s soul, as well!

Well, I have to get the next issue. (Especially since they shut down the “archive” site I was reading new comics off of.) There’s all sorts of stuff going on in the story that relates to other X-Men stories, but I could follow along well enough. The artwork is kind of anime-inspired. Dani’s normally never drawn cute, but with those big eyes, she is here. I appreciate that the writer, Ashley Allen, also seems to be a real fan of the character and kept the continuity with Dani’s personality and backstory. I didn’t appreciate the $5 price tag, but I really enjoyed these, so I’ll make an effort to get the next issue.

Luna Snow World Tour #1

I nearly forgot about buying this one on a previous trip. After I read it, the comic immediately went on display, instead of the review pile. I absolutely got this for the retro-disco cover with Dazzler. It’s too ketch to resist. This is a variant cover and Dazzler, regrettably, isn’t in the book.

I don’t know much about this character’s history, but Marvel is publishing a comic book about her because she’s in the popular Marvel Rivals computer game. (From my watching, Cloak and Dagger are popular characters in game, so expect a revival of them.) From the intro, Luna Snow is an ice-powered superhero and a K-pop star. (She predates K-pop Demon Hunters, by the way.)

In recent continuity, she was working for Emperor Doom, but then turned on him. She starts her comeback tour and is immediately confronted with the consequences of her actions. Some of the crowd is angry that she was allied with Doom. Some of crowd liked Doom’s rule and mad she turned on him. 

A riot ensues, but no problem. A new singer, Vibe, shows up and pacifies the crowd.

Luna is suddenly completely unpopular, while Vibe cleans up. Vibe’s doing a little too well and Luna is suspicious. Fellow superheroes, Sunfire and Wave, share Luna’s concerns and join with her, as kaiju show up at a Vibe concert in the Philippines. They have to fend them off.

Rick Jones, the Marvel Comics version of Jimmy Olsen, joins the group at the next concert in New York City. Vibe’s manager is revealed to be Starfox, former Avenger and brother of Thanos. He’s using his powers of Eros to spread love in an angry world and offers to make Luna his new avatar. She refuses and, ironically, Vibe is the one to drive Starfox off. The heroes’ reward for freeing the crowd from this supernatural manipulation is getting booed off stage. Luna and the others are okay with this result.

You know, I kind of loved this. The artwork is again cute and anime-inspired. There are not huge stakes in this, it’s almost a silly little story. Yet, there’s some actual deep themes present. Luna is having to deal with being famous and being manipulated. She’s also taking fallout for backing one side and then another. The public no longer trusts her either way. What’s interesting was the ending. There was no neat resolution; she’s still an outcast. The character just became interesting with new possibilities.

If Marvel was doing more thoughtful and sincere comics like Luna Snow and Moonstar, I’d be more inclined to buy more new comics. Unfortunately, these are outliers. I feel lucky I ran into these.

Comics Review: Dollartree Comics Part 1

I did not expect to see a display full of comics entering Dollartree a couple of weeks ago. I also didn’t expect it to disappear when I went back for more two weeks later. That was a lousy Free Comic Book Day (5-3-26) for me. I did find the comics on my next trip. There were a few stuffed into the rack in the kids section. I had no shame, as I rifled through them to pick up a few more.

The selections were random DC comics in bags for $1.25. Looking online, these comics were apparently specially produced for Dollartree. They are full comics, but rather than straight reprints, they are basically promotions for DC trades and online comics.

Batman in Detective Comics: The Victim Syndicate #1

Certainly this one had the best artwork of the four comics I originally got. This title, in this itineration, is sort of a Batman Family book with the various Batman-related heroes. Really though, it’s a Batwoman comic with enough Batman in it to make it sellable. With the multiple versions of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl, all you apparently need to do is put on a cape and suddenly you’re a superhero. Like all of those Spider-Man derivatives, what’s the point? They feel like an unnecessary distraction.

Hand Batwoman’s creators credit for making a very visually striking superhero. Regrettably, she just boils down to an angry lesbian Batman-knockoff. What a waste. That goes for the rest of this beautifully drawn comic. It’s sort of soft-core Woke. (It can’t go all the way and still be a Batman comic book. It’d be a joke.) The villain group in this is the Victim Syndicate, which blames Batman for their unfortunate conditions. This is sort of an interesting take. I hate to say it; I’d likely read more of this (with reservations).

There’s an Absolute Batman preview in the back. This is the hot book of the moment. It’s Batman, but he’s not rich and he’s built like the Hulk and he’s super-violent. I don’t get it. I’ve looked over a couple of issues online. I just don’t get it.

JLA: Tower of Babel #1

Ra’s al Ghul attempts to take out the Justice League, so that he can then prune down most of humanity to save the planet. I guess in modern times, that makes him a hero, like Bill Gates. But nah, this isn’t the reason why this story is sort of famous. Ra’s is using Batman’s secret plan to take out the Justice League. This is the twist ending, which I’m totally spoiling. This isn’t the best artwork and story isn’t that clever. Apart from the ending, this isn’t a classic story. I was unimpressed with it.

In the back of this is an Absolute Wonder Woman preview. She reminds me of Taarna from the movie, Heavy Metal. That’s probably intentional. It’s a bulked-up Wonder Woman with a big sword. I don’t get it.

Supergirl #1

This character has been rebooted so many times it makes me sick. (Don’t even get me started on the Legion of Superheroes, a comic book I loved.) The upcoming movie will be the tramp iteration of Supergirl . . . errr . . . liberated, modern woman version.

This version is, at least, pleasant, if not sweet. This is sort of a kids comic, so that may account for this more likeable version of the character. Certainly it’s better than the rebellious for-no-reason b*tch version with a Kryptonite tattoo. The Joelle Jones-drawn version was stunning (9-30-18), but was a weak teen girl novel in reading. (All it needed was a future dystopian setting to make more sense.)

Anyway, this is firmly set in the classic Superman milieu with Krypto, Streaky, and the bottle city of Kandor. Kara heads off to her teen home in Midvale (also home of Josie and the Pussycats), where she finds herself replaced by a pudgy girl, not only as Supergirl, but also as her alter ego, Linda Danvers with her foster family. Good grief! This is cute enough, but I’m definitely not the audience for this one. (Shudder. Good Lord! What are they going to do to Supergirl in her Absolute version?)

DC Finest: Batman Year Two #1

This one was the best of the bunch and, unsurprisingly, it came from the 80’s, when they knew how to make entertaining comic books. The cover also said, “Free,” on it, which made me cringe having to pay for it. (It was a “Batman Day” giveaway. Why isn’t this holiday on my calendar? When’s Superman Day?)

This series isn’t anywhere near as iconic as Batman Year One, but it sets an interesting premise. There was a vigilante proceeding Batman, the Reaper, who cleaned up the streets in a violent manner. Reaper’s departure led to Gotham becoming the crime cesspit of Batman’s time. It also explains the difference between Batman and a vigilante. Batman works with the police and turns criminals over to them. A vigilante kills criminals.

Batman is not willing to debate the ethics or practicality of Reaper’s approach to crime and goes after him and gets his butt kicked. What’s worse, this Reaper guy’s outfit and kit is wildly impractical-looking, so it’s doubly humiliating. In the cliffhanger ending, Bruce takes up a gun to go after Reaper.

I do like that this comic features real Batman. He’s a suave billionaire playboy by day. At night, he dons a grey and blue outfit with a yellow oval around the bat symbol and fights crime. As God intended.

I’ll cover more comics in a ***Part 2,*** later.

Comic Reviews: Doctor Strange Epic Collection Vol. 3: A Separate Reality

 

I had a friend who insisted that Heavy Metal magazine from the 80’s was drawn in such a way that you had to be stoned to really enjoy it. The images would come alive. Well, I could hand somebody this thing for a trip that doesn’t even require psychedelics. This hefty tome is over 450 pages of mind-bending spectacle. You are not cheated on the $45 price tag.

I was more-or-less familiar with Dr. Strange in the 80’s. He was hard to collect being a bi-monthly title. Those kind of comics tended to be hard to find on your weekly visits to the old spinner rack in convenience stores. It was worth the search for the artwork and great supernatural superhero story, as the good doctor fought Dracula! Dr. Strange has fallen into lesser hands since then, but had a great MCU movie (and then a terrible one).

I’d heard and maybe seen a little of the original 60’s Dr. Strange by Stan Lee and illustrated by Steve Ditko. The illustrations were well-known for being wild. This volume expands on that greatly. The advanced philosophical and metaphysical concepts were probably there from the start and only become more prominent here. You will be exposed to concepts well outside your standard superhero comic in this.

Here was the biggest shocker of the book. There’s Dr. Strange and the cosmic entity, Eternity. No, that’s Dr. Strange in the full-face mask. I had no idea this era ever existed in the Doctor’s history. How and why he donned a mask to protect his secret identity (?) is outside the bounds of this book. I’m guessing it wasn’t part of his original presentation, which I’m not familiar with. It’s not a bad look, but it’s incomprehensible with the character.

The opening issues are written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Gene Colan. There’s some very good artwork (and some pedestrian stuff) to follow, but this part was my favorite to look at. Here we have Clea, Strange’s girlfriend, and a cameo by famous writer, Tom Wolfe, for a trip to Times Square for New Years. (I don’t know the backstory on this cameo, but I’m sure it’s interesting.)

The first storyline is about Strange’s old foe, Nightmare, somehow holding Eternity hostage and now having access to his power. Strange has to enter Nightmare’s Dream dimension to confront him. If you doubt Nightmare the power to subdue Eternity, you are correct. He didn’t need Strange rescuing him, but does him a favor anyway by giving the Doctor a “new secret identity?” Seriously, I never knew Dr. Strange had a secret identity.

A three-part Lovecraft-inspired horror story follows. He teams up with Namor and then the Hulk to defeat the supernatural threat. These team ups did prefigured the Defenders, which was established afterward. The book only reprints a Dr. Strange solo story from the first issue. The Doctor returns home to the Sanctum Sanctorum and finds . . . himself. He ends up in a fight with his masked alter ego, before defeating him and revealing him as Baron Mordo. Thankfully, the Doctor ditches the mask after this episode seeing how it even fooled his loyal man-servant, Wong. (You’re not the only one. I’m laughing while I write this.)

Barry Windsor-Smith draws the next story, as Doctor Strange fights himself again. It’s another attack by Nightmare.

A long storyline begins adapting a couple of Robert E. Howard Lovecraftian tales. Here we have cults, isolated coastal towns, haunted castles, and summoned demons. It’s all the familiar trappings of these kind of tales. Above, we are shown the Vishanti, whom Dr. Strange often calls upon for help.

Finally, Strange goes through a dimensional doorway to confront a minion of an elder god, where he ends up trapped on an alien world, alone. By the way, I hope you like breathless monologues by your protagonists. Since the Doctor mostly fights alone, you get a steady stream of narration from him on the action in most of these stories in the book. This page might be the most egregious one. Still, you mostly don’t question the voluminous text balloons while reading them.

The adaption part of the story ends, as Dr. Strange has to rescue his mentor, the Ancient One, from the elder god. In a twist, Strange has to kill him to prevent the enemy from manifesting. Don’t be sad. He’s still around. “I have become one with the universe. I am . . . . everything,” he tells Strange from beyond the Veil. The Ancient One has done this to officially anoint Dr. Strange as Sorcerer Supreme. This is a very metaphysical conversation, not at all like a comic book.

Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner take over as writer and artist and do so very impressively. In the next storyline, Strange attempts to track down Baron Mordo to make peace with him. Mordo has been studying the Book of Cagliostro attempting to become more powerful. This leads to going backward in time to confront the author of the book, Sise-Neg. As you can read above, this guy isn’t screwing around.

Further and further back in time they all go. Sise-Neg’s desire to recreate the universe turns into the revelation that everything already is at it should be. He becomes Genesis itself. This is sort of blasphemous, but it’s so artistically done. This is way more philosophical than your average comic book. Hold on, you’re going to get plenty more.

Dr. Strange finally regains having his own series and is promptly murdered in the first issue. (Marvel didn’t seem fully committed to the character.) An assassin, Silver Dagger, stabs Strange with a mystical dagger and abducts Clea. (Maybe having a secret identity wasn’t such a bad idea.) His mission is to destroy magic-users, but he decides he’ll try to redeem her. (Can’t fault his priorities. Clea is one ripe tomato.) To save himself, Strange retreats into the Orb of Agamotto.

Inside, he discovers a bizarre universe. Strange has an introductory chat with the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland. He then meets doppelgangers of his Defenders teammates. Valkyrie lends him her horse, Aragorn, as he flees death.

Finally, Strange realizes he is combatting a foe he can’t escape from and can’t defeat. He surrenders. This has been a test from the Ancient One. Now, Doctor Strange no longer fears death. His spirit returns to the real world. Strange finds Clea and possesses her. They are able to escape and rejoin Strange’s spirit to his body. Silver Dagger confronts them, but they are able to turn the Eye of Agamotto on him. Dagger has a moment of revelation before being sent to the metaphysical universe to talk to the Caterpillar.

Dude. I’m trippin’ balls. This book was amazing. I’ve been so disappointed lately, but this gave me something I didn’t expect in a superhero comic: a lesson in philosophy. Granted, it’s superficial pop metaphysics, but it’s a bit deeper than a fortune cookie. This was a great purchase. You’ll get used to Strange’s relentless self-narration and will enjoy this.

Comic Reviews: Betty & Veronica by Adam Hughes

It was only 3-issue mini-series and I can’t believe how much trouble it’s been collect these issues. I am a fan of Adam Hughes’ “good girl” artwork, so I certainly wanted to see a series featuring his take on the world’s two most glamorous teenage girls. Cringe. I hate having to admit that Betty and Veronica are under-aged, though they’ve been around for over 80 years. Of course, they’re not real and they’re never drawn looking close to their actual age in their high school stories. (Yes, Betty and Veronica aren’t real. I consider them better than real: they’re iconic.)

I collected all three issues, but in different formats. One was in regular comic book form, one was in a digest, and another was in a Best Of trade. I later got one of the issues as a floppy on Free Comic Book Day as a reprint. Still, I wasn’t quite satisfied and couldn’t find the final issue full-sized. This thin trade suddenly showed up at Zia Comics in their voluminous graphic novel section and I snapped it up. I could question repaying for material I already owned, but it was pretty cheap and scratched the itch.

That prologue makes this review really awkward: I don’t actually like this series that much. I was maybe a bit disappointed reading this three-issue series one-at-a-time in different formats over a couple of years, but reading it altogether, it was just a bit too indulgent.

The plot is overly complex, which doesn’t entirely make sense in the end. Mr. Lodge is bringing in a Starbucks-like coffee chain to Riverdale and about to put Pop’s out-of-business. Betty and Veronica set up a plan to ruin the opening and save Pop’s. Part of the plan is that the girls pretend to be enemies on opposing sides. The deception is only revealed at the end, while the whole series is billed as Betty versus Veronica in a fight to the finish. Maybe if the plan had been more clever, this rouse would have been more fulfilling, instead it falls a bit flat and makes the rest of the story ridiculous.

Really, it’s the dialogue that mostly doesn’t work. It’s trying to be too cute and adult, while not directly saying anything edgy. It’s Whedon-esqe Buffy without being smart. Another example is the narration. Hot Dog, whom we all love, is speaking to the audience. It’s sort of amusing, but kind of unnecessary.

Hughes at least kept himself from trying to do “The Ultimate” Betty and Veronica story with all of the cameos and historical callbacks that made Riverdale historically interesting, if insufferable in every other way. (From reading Batman: Hush and currently The Long Halloween, it’s a bit exhausting reading a story that exists to showcase all of Batman’s rogues gallery.) That CW show did seem like an inspiration for this in the dialogue, though not overwhelming so (thankfully). Hughes was trying to do a funny, slightly dramatic, sweet story in the Archie setting. Saving Pop’s is relatively low-stakes given that it’s been done in other Archie comics to the point of being a trope.

There were critics who were concerned about a cheesecake artist doing a kids comic. These people obviously never read an Archie Comic. Betty and Veronica were always eye-candy. They’ve always been portrayed as the most beautiful, glamorous teenage girls ever. If anything, Hughes overly restrained himself. Apart from one single page where the girls are in bikinis, the rest of the time, they are bundled up in fall attire.

You can’t criticize the artwork, but I have some issues with the inking and coloring. With Betty in particular, the inking was in colors at times, rather than in black. The images were tending to look incomplete. This was an experiment that didn’t quite work. The earth-tone colors used throughout were meant to express autumn, but became oppressive at times, especially with the weak inking. That said, the character-work is brilliantly expressive in faces and poses. It would work so much better with typical Archie slapstick than trying to be “high-brow” in story and dialogue.

I hate being critical of this. I love Adam Hughes artwork. Even with my reservations, this is still probably the best illustrated Archie comic ever. Seeing the Archie gang elegantly portrayed by a master, rather than the house style (which is also great), is something I wish Archie Comics had done a long time ago. I’m sure there are plenty of comic book artists who would have loved to have done a story. (J. Scott Campbell drew an Archie cameo in his Gen 13.) As is, this is a nearly unique artifact in Archie history. For that, I’ll recommend it, but temper your expectations.

Owing to only be three issues, this volume includes an issue of modern Jughead, not to be confused with classic, likeable Jughead. Aside from being poorly illustrated, especially in comparison with the rest of the book, it’s more than weird and not in a good way. The take-away lesson of the story is to not take and post pictures of your friends that make them look “swishy,” especially when they’re not. Part of me is shocked that modern Archie doesn’t encourage this behavior, but this is the correct lesson. Just pretend this part didn’t happen in the book.