Comics Review: Archie Jumbo Comic Magazine #1

I’d seen this magazine offered on the Archie website and was interested in ordering it, but held off. Because of the format, I assumed I’d be able to find it on the newsstand at Barnes & Noble. It never showed up there. I read it online on an “archive” website. Though it was kind of neat, I didn’t want to go to the trouble of ordering it, especially since you only get free shipping on preorders of new comics. Finally, I found it at Wal-Mart. This happened when I found the magazine rack, which they had moved and virtually hidden in the store. I was lucky to get this.

The magazine is 100+ pages on white, kind of pulpy paper, but decent quality. Priced at $15, it’s all reprints spread out from different decades of Archie. The short stories are interspersed with little articles written in the first person by Archie himself. There are, I think, reprinted Archie encyclopedia entries for the main characters. It is meant to be a commemorative celebration for Archie’s 85-th anniversary.

40’s Archie comics are not often reprinted in modern Archie comics. They look a bit primitive, but are funny.

However, we do have this Sunday page from Bob Montana from the Archie comic strip, which I own (and never reviewed, but its great).  This is absolute peak Archie.

One thing that got my interest was a few stories from the 50’s. The comics had more of a cartoony style. Again, these aren’t heavily reprinted today. I like them, but haven’t seen much of them.

Here’s a pin-up with Veronica from her short hair era in the 60’s. She looks so cute.

Here’s a modern Veronica from the 70’s. She’s not having a good time at the concert with Jughead.

This genuinely surprised me: it’s Archie and friends playing Dungeons & Dragons from the 80’s. This must have come out before the “controversy.” It is somewhat accurate with the polyhedral dice and the boys playing for hours, however, who’s the DM? Also reprinted from the 80’s in this magazine, Archie and Jughead encounter E.T. From the 90’s, Betty experiments with the “grunge” style and her parents think she’s dressed to help them paint the house.

I think this is from maybe the early 2000’s. Veronica gets in an online fight with a teen advice columnist, Jessica Love Hubert. The name sounds like “Jennifer Love Hewitt,” but it doesn’t look like her and I don’t remember her doing a teen advice column. It’s a mystery, but fun. Dan did a nice job designing “Jessica.”

This was a recent new digest story with the Kennedy Brothers’ art showcasing all of the variations of Archie over the years. I’d seen this before, but appreciated seeing the artwork in a larger format.

This is what Archie Comics should be doing instead of their current sort-of digest, which replaced their digest line. That one digest looks lonely on the rack given that there used to be four there at any given time. Using the magazine format would fit in better with the rest of the rack, but it needs to be $10. Maybe they could reduce the page count and print it on cheaper paper. One of the reasons I bought this was to support this format. Hopefully, they’ll consider it.

Comics Review Warlock by Jim Starlin Gallery Edition

 

And I thought that Doctor Strange trade (5-11-26) I read recently was trippy. 70’s Marvel was far out, man. (I’ve looked for a Howard the Duck trade, but haven’t found one. That might be too much for me and I even grew up in the 70’s.)

I’m a little surprised I bought this. Big, oversized hardbacks are neat, but I haven’t had room for them and they seem like a waste of money, unless you really want the material and can’t get it in a cheaper format. I do have the room for them now. Thanks to throwing out a couple of old, analogue TV’s and some other stuff, I cleared out a shelf where I could put big stuff like this. I also got a small book shelf that was being tossed out at work, so I finally have a top shelf to display my samurai sword and some other nice items, and a bunch more space for some of my books that were piling up. (Actually, I’ve been on a spending spree since opening up this space. I need help.)

Size comparison.  More Thanos in the Legion of Superheroes in an upcoming review.  (Just kidding.  It's Darkseid, who actually inspired Thanos' creation.)

I’d gone to Zia Comics looking for the third issue of the Moonstar series (5-15-26) and came up empty, since I’d gone on Friday instead of Wednesday when the comic came out. (I didn’t imagine it would be that popular.) I went looking around the trade paperback section. I was about to buy a 90’s Captain America trade (which I ended up buying later anyway), when I found this Warlock volume. With their 25% discount on this $50 volume, I decided it was within my price range.

Jim Starlin is the Cosmic Guy at Marvel. He didn’t create Warlock or Captain Marvel (Mar-vell, not Carol Danvers), but he definitively put the cosmic stamp on them. Starlin did create Metamorphosis Odyssey (not the TSR RPG, Metamorphosis Alpha) and its sequel, Dreadstar, originally for Marvel’s Epic imprint and then to other publishers. All of these characters are distinct, but seem to recycle certain concepts.

I read all of Dreadstar. After reading Warlock, I can see where it came from. I’ve only read The Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel about when it came out in the 80’s, which probably wasn’t the best way to be introduced to the character. It wasn’t the epic adventure I was looking for at the time. I found out later that this was written about Starlin’s father’s death from cancer. It’s also one of the very few comic book deaths that has been permanent. Warlock and Captain Marvel do share a common arch-villain in Thanos.

In spite of Captain Marvel and Warlock’s cool-looking appearances and outer space setting, neither character caught on with most comic book readers. I’m not familiar with Captain Marvel’s adventures other than he did Hostess treat ads and was paired up with Rick Jones. (Jones is Marvel’s version of “The World’s Most Interesting Man.” He’s also been partnered with the Hulk and Captain America and, recently, Luna Snow (5-15-26).  Captain Marvel has pretty much only been remembered for dying.

Warlock, on the other hand, with his angst and metaphysical concepts, became something of a cult classic. His short run has been reprinted multiple times. It’s entirely relevant to today’s comics. If you like the various series and MCU films featuring the Infinity Stones, this is where it starts.

Warlock has a complicated origin. The first issue reprinted in this volume recounts it over the course of four pages. Confusingly, it’s not really relevant to what follows, but Starlin is aware of it when he begins chronicling the character. Suffice it to say, Adam Warlock is a powerful entity trying to find himself and a just cause to champion.

Suddenly, an unnamed space girl shows up asking for his help. What a great coincidence for this unmotivated superhero. If there’s a comic book series that deserved a gallery treatment, it’s this one. Starlin’s artwork is absolutely majestic in this enlarged treatment. I wish you could see this in person to really get the scale.

The girl is killed by her pursuers before she can explain herself. Adam uses the Soul Gem implanted in his forehead to bring her enough back to life, so that the girl can tell her tale. She’s on the run from the Universal Church that has enslaved a multitude of worlds. The power behind the Church is a creature named, The Magnus. Speaking his name is enough to summon him and Adam is assaulted. Magnus then drops the revelation that he and Warlock are “the same being!” Adam resolves to stop him.

Well, that’s issue one of the Starlin era of Warlock. Obviously, this is going to be quite a ride. We can see the easy parallel with Dreadstar, who was fighting the Instrumentality Church.  I’m not going to get into Starlin’s psychology with this, because I don’t know him. The Church’s, Lord High Papal, was also sort of Thanos-like in his looks.

With that declaration of war, Warlock ends up getting captured on a slave ship. Adam meets his soon-to-be friend, Pip the Troll. The self-serving creature is an unlikely companion for the champion of justice, but he’s necessary comedy-relief. The prisoners want Warlock to lead a rebellion, but he refuses, only to be forced to into conflict by their revolt anyway, when the crew threatens to gas them all.

Adam ends up in personal conflict with the warden, but is overmatched. In a panic, he unleashes his Soul Gem and it absorbs his opponent’s soul. Worse, Adam gets to experience the warden’s entire life by consuming him. He realizes the Gem has a will of its own. I haven’t read any of Moorcock’s Elric, but I know of it and the parallels are again obvious.

Grimmer than ever, Warlock frees the prisoners and escapes with Pip in tow to head to Homeworld, the seat of the Universal Church. He also acquires a cape, which really completes his outfit. There, the vampish (not a vampire, just kind of a classy tramp) Matriarch of the Church captures him to get him to serve her. She puts him to trial with this head creature, whom Warlock again must absorb with the Soul Gem.

Adam is sent into a Clown World hallucination. I’m sure this was a clever metaphor in the 70’s, but in this day and age, it’s right on the nose (a big, red nose). Elsewhere, Pip has made friends with Gamora, “The deadliest woman in the whole galaxy!” Together, they raid the palace to try and free Adam.

Warlock gets out of the delusion with his comrades’ help, but comes face-to-face with the Magnus himself. Adam’s first question to his future self should be, “When did I lose my great hair and end up with an Afro? Can this terrible future be changed?” Regardless of hairstyles, the Magnus summons the In-Betweener to take Warlock away to a dimension of madness that will turn him into the Magnus.

Gamora tries to stop the summoning and kill the Magnus. It’s revealed that she’s actually an assassin in the employ of Thanos. The big purple guy himself arrives to help defend Warlock from 25,000 Church troops sent to kill them all. Dude, this is the heaviest trip ever, but awesome.

“Greetings, reader.” Suddenly, we are addressed directly by Captain Marvel to explain who Thanos is. (Remember, this the 70’s. Nobody knew who Thanos was then.) I feel like this is a cheap intrusion by the Captain to promote his own magazine. Perhaps it’s just a cute way of doing an otherwise dry info dump. Given events to follow, a little comedy relief is okay.

On Thanos’ ship, he convinces Warlock that must commit suicide by entering his Time Probe before the In-Betweener arrives. Now Magnus knows that Thanos is his hidden enemy and attacks with his forces. Warlock is forced to use the Soul Gem again to end the fight.

While Thanos and Magnus fight, the In-Betweener arrives and gives Warlock five minutes to choose his fate. Adam chooses a moment in his near future and confronts himself. He uses the Soul Gem to destroy himself and thus the Magnus. With Magnus out of the way, Thanos gloats that no one will now be powerful enough to oppose him now. Warlock and Pip return to Homeworld, but now the universe has been changed without the Magnus present and the Universal Church is gone.

Our heroes have earned a break. Pip gets in trouble drinking and carousing. He runs afoul of one of Eros’ (aka Starfox, Thanos’ brother) attractive conquests for our amusement. By himself, Warlock uncovers the mystery of the Star-Thief. This is an odd episode, but the upshot is, Adam returns to earth and discovers he’s now a giant and dwarfs his home solar system. The explanation of this doesn’t make any sense and is handwaved away later, but it makes for some cool images, though.

Warlock/Starlin seems to be at somewhat loose ends after that story. Adam saves an old space prospector from some intergalactic creditors trying to repossess the prospector’s spaceship. Thanos sends Gamora off to hunt down Warlock, but is seemingly destroyed by, maybe, Drax the Destroyer. (It’s not clear who did it and this event isn’t directly followed up on.) Next, Adam encounters an alien space guru, who gives him a prophecy of his own death and that of his friends. Finally, Warlock tries to rid himself of the Soul Gem (which intriguingly tells him there are five other power gems). Adam fails, but manages to at least maintain his free will from its influence.

That was all one issue. Apparently, it was also the final issue. The next two reprinted issues are an Avengers annual and a Marvel Two-in-One annual featuring the Thing and Spider-Man. I had read these before in a Thanos-themed issue of Marvel’s short-lived digest line that was published by Archie Comics (8-29-17). I knew these were going to be in the book, but I was okay with getting them along with the stuff I hadn’t read.

I should mention that there’s a missing Warlock story in this collection, Marvel Team-up #55. It’s mentioned in the back with the other Warlock reprints. The issue didn’t involve Starlin, though. Simply, Spider-Man encounters Warlock on the Moon (?) and a couple of other cosmic entities holding power gems (Infinity Stones). It explains how Spidey knows Adam in the Two-in-One annual.

Pity there’s no feature in this book on the creation of this series. These two annuls seemed to be produced to give a fitting send off to Warlock. Unfortunately, Starlin was not able to ink his own art in these and there’s an obvious drop-off in quality. The pictures get the job done, but no more than that.

In the Avengers annual, Warlock comes upon a dying Gamora, who blames Thanos for her death (with no mention of what happened to her previously). She tells him that Thanos is planning on killing everyone and only Adam can stop him. Warlock ends her suffering with his Soul Gem.

Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Moondragon show up at the Avengers Mansion to warn them that Thanos is leading a fleet to come and destroy earth’s sun. Warlock suddenly appears to confirm the story. (This is a bit awkward, as Warlock fought Thor in their previous meeting.) Thanos has gathered five of the other Soul Gems and only lacks Adam’s. With that, Thanos would have total power to kill everyone. (Does this all seem familiar?) Adam got this information from absorbing Gamora, who died trying to kill Thanos and stop his scheme.

The Avengers confront the armada and invade Thanos’ ship. Mar-vell and Warlock find Pip the Troll, who’s been essentially lobotomized by Thanos. Warlock absorbs him and discovers Thanos’ real plan: this has been a distraction and Thanos’ actual attack on the sun is coming from the opposite side of the sun.

The two stop Thanos’ solar attack, but Warlock is mortally wounded. Ironman and Thor arrive and drive Thanos off, but Warlock meets his foretold destiny with his previous self. Adam is absorbed into the Soul Gem. Relieved of his burdens and rejoined with his friends, Adam is, at last, at peace.

That doesn’t last long. In the next annual, Peter Parker is plagued by a dream sent to him by the telepathic Moondragon. Thanos has rallied his forces, captured the Avengers, and taken the Soul Gem from Warlock’s dead body. The cosmic forces of Order and Chaos are observing and manipulating events and hoping for the best.

Spider-Man goes to the Fantastic Four for help, but only finds the Thing. There’s no explanation as to where the other three are. (Hey, Two-in-One is the Thing’s star vehicle, okay.) Ben Grimm at least knows how to pilot a spaceship and off the two go to confront Thanos’ armada.

They invade Thanos’ ship and are captured. Thanos gloats and toys with them. Spider-Man actually briefly runs away from the fight, completely overmatched. He screws up his courage and returns to free the Avengers. A battle royale ensues, but it’s hopeless. Order and Chaos’ plan is finally revealed. A delirious Spider-Man gets ahold of the Soul Gem and breaks it. Warlock is released to fulfill his ultimate destiny. He dies a fiery death, but takes Thanos with him.

Captain Marvel gives Warlock’s eulogy and even foreshadows his own death. Adam is reunited with his friends in an afterlife. Like I said before, Mar-vell will meet a final end, though Warlock comes back to face Thanos, as the mad Titan is brought back to life later. I haven’t read those stories, but this is a good ending to at least this story.

There’s a lot of bonus material. It’s includes the rough pencils and dialogue of an unpublished Warlock issue. It was a one-off story. Nothing to get excited about. There’s a cover gallery of previous reprints. There’s some gag pages of Starlin killing off his editor. Kill off a few major characters, you get a reputation.

Yeah, this edition is awesome. If you can find any of the other reprinted editions (three or four of them? Probably more), go ahead and get any of those. It’s a testament to how well these stories were done that they’ve been reprinted so much and that they inspired even larger sequels.

Comics Review: Dollartree Comics #3

I was shopping at Dollartree and decided to see what was left of their $1.25 comics and was surprised to see a whole new display filled with comics. They were also all different than the first batch. There were maybe 30 or 40 titles and there was no screwing around this time with second tier characters; they were pretty much all Superman and Batman related. I had to restrain myself, so I just picked up four from the display and one off the rack from the previous batch.

Crisis on Infinite Earths #1

This one was from the original batch. I’d resisted it a couple of times, since I had bought the comic when it came out in the 80’s, but finally had to have it. While there are reprint volumes available (including a multi-volume reprint that includes all of the tie-ins), it’s hard to beat the issues as they were originally published.

The first issue was memorable for being a full 32-pages with no ads with a dramatic wrap-around cover. Even the inside covers were an essay by writer Marv Wolfman about the creation of this series. It certainly starts off showing the stakes. Earth-3, with its evil Justice League that had been around since the 60’s, was vaporized. A sole survivor, a baby, is sent to Earth-1.

The mysterious Monitor and his blonde assistant, Lyla, had made cameos in various DC comics for a couple of years. They were in the background servicing various villains with weapons and information. Here is the shock reveal that the Monitor has a way bigger agenda. He sends Lyla out to gather heroes and villains for the coming conflict, while he retrieves the child.

Lyla, in her Harbinger form, gathers an eclectic mix of superpowered individuals from various times ranging from WWII, the 30-th Century, and pre-history. Where else do you get Dawnstar, Firestorm, and Arion? You also get Earth-4’s Blue Beetle and Earth-2’s elder Superman. Lyla does ask the obvious question why they don’t just gather all of the Supermen and Wonder Women. Monitor wants the heroes and villains to work together. Also, it makes things interesting and shows the breath of the Crisis. (Later in the series, Lyla does just get the most powerful heroes for a strikeforce.)

There is a perfunctory attack on the group after they are brought together at Monitor’s satellite. (Later in the series, you’ll get a much grander gathering. This is just the opening act.) The unnamed enemy attacks them with shadow creatures. Heroes and villains grudgingly work together, but it takes the appearance of the Monitor himself to stop the attack.

Crisis had lots of action, but I’d say this issue was sort of padding. In fact, the whole storyline was dragged out a bit to stretch it to 12 issues, including a couple of double-sized ones. Other than announcing the Crisis, nothing big happens here, but it is an irresistible hook to the rest of the series. Just for the peak George Perez artwork alone, this one is worth having.

Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying #1

This comic was also from the 80’s. It came out a couple of years after the death of Jason Todd/Robin II. This was not Batman’s proudest era, as Robin was killed off via a 900-number phone poll. (It was close, though.) This storyline would seek to rectify that somewhat, as it would introduce Tim Drake/Robin III. This came out the same year as the Tim Burton Batman movie, which would make this comic and what came before it look somewhat dated.

As is, Drake isn’t introduced in this issue, but is a mysterious person stalking Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson and knows who their alter egos are. Meanwhile, Batman is becoming reckless and getting hurt worse than usual in his crusade fighting crime. Alfred finally has to say something, but gets no answer. Batman continues his current case with abandon, as Two-Face is back with a new scheme.

If you didn’t know what was coming, you would not be impressed with this single issue. It’s set firmly outside Batman’s current reign as the biggest superhero. Putting an Absolute Batman preview in the back definitely emphasizes that. It’s not bad, but you need the rest of it to make it interesting.

Batman/Superman: Planet Brainiac #1

As opposed to the new World’s Finest title (5-22-26), this title is from the mainline DC universe just without the classic title. This begins with Batwoman and Steel finding the Batcave wrecked and Batman and Superman missing. Flashbacks show that a computer virus turned all the defenses of the Batcave against them and nearly set off the self-destruct mechanism.

It’s Brainiac behind this. A Batman and Superman head off to the moon to investigate a lead and are captured there. Batman sends a message telling anyone finding it to not follow them. Unfortunately, the message is garbled and Batwoman and Steel take this as an invitation. What they’re going to do that the World’s Finest couldn’t do themselves, I don’t know.

This was one was fun on some level. There’s also an Absolute Superman preview, which made no sense whatsoever. As this, some of these Dollartree comics I’ve gotten show that these characters don’t need to be rebooted or reimagined. Just do good stories.

Trinity: Dark Destiny #1

That’s pretty clearly Gal Gadot on the cover as Wonder Woman. This is, I guess, another updated version of the World’s Finest title, but with Wonder Woman added. The trio is teamed up with some of DC’s supernatural squad in Zatanna, Constantine, and Deadman. The threat is decidedly paranormal.

Red Hood (that’s Jason Todd, who was dead, but got better) has been possessed by a demon. The demon is resisting attempts at extreme exorcism, so Constantine has to find a unique way to get into Heck. He has Superman hold open the demon’s mouth and jumps in. (I hope this image doesn’t stick with me too long.)

Bizzaro and Artemis enter the fight and they’re possessed, too. This trio is the Trinity’s opposite number in strength. In a flashback, it turns out they’re part of a plot by Circe and Ra’s Al Ghul, a couple of Wonder Woman’s and Batman’s arch-enemies. (Luthor walked away from this scheme. Perhaps the plan ends up falling apart because they lacked his technical expertise.) It’s a good start for the story. In the back is a short black and white Batman story. He beats up some thugs. It’s not hugely worthwhile.

Action Comics: Revenge #1

This is some heavy-duty Superman here. Don’t let the interlude where he’s with his wife, Lois, buying an apartment to raise their son in Metropolis fool you. Superman is super in this. He has a Himalayan refuge where he stores dangerous artifacts and imprisons villains.

The Superman Revenge Squad has broken out one of the inmates and retreated to Batman’s moon base. (Moon base? Damn.) And these guys are heavy hitters too: Mongul, Cyborg Superman, Metallo, and the Eradicator. They’re about as eager to throw down with each other, as they are Superman.

This almost more comic book than I can take. Unfortunately, it’s also only the introduction, but what a tease! Here’s where I almost have to demand they publish more issues of this. I have to ask, since these comics don’t have their correct numbering, if I bought the DC Universe Infinite subscription that’s advertised on the back, how would I find the next issue?

These comics were all sporting a $4 or $5 price tag on the cover (though in a bag marked $1.25). When I was at Zia Comics the other day looking over their racks, I almost picked up a couple of new comics (in addition to the trade I bought), but the prices were $5 and $6 each! I sort of noticed the last time I bought a couple of floppies (which was when I bought those World's Finest issues).  $6 is “too rich for my blood,” as the gamblers say. I could afford it, but I’m not going to.

Basically, if you want a new floppy, these Dollartree comics seem like to the way to go. However, I’m deeply ambivalent about getting more. On the one hand, I’m enjoying most of these, but they’re leaving me blue-balled since they’re just the opening of a continuing storyline. If only they were putting out more issues to complete these stories and/or putting out non-continued issues. I guess the point is to be a tease to buy the online service, but finding the follow up issues could be a bit difficult. I question DC’s strategy here. If they can sell $1.25 old comics and still make money, why not do that? This is only making new comics look really overpriced.