Basically all three of the Marvel reprints are ads for omnibus
volumes. Since they’re essentially
teasers, it’s a bit hard to judge them individually.
True
Believers #1: Marvel Knights-Iron Fist
This was the Iron Fist origin story, kind of. It showed Danny Rand being tested and
accessing the Iron Fist power. It shows the
tragic story of how he got to K’un Lun as a child. The premise is kind of flimsy. (There might also be a bad misprint in
it.) However, the worst of it, is that there’s
no real motivation shown for why Danny wanted to be a Kung Fu bad ass. Presumably, this comes later, but for your
standard origin, you’d best spell out some things up front. (Or alternately, make everything a mystery
and start with showing the character in action as a hero.)
Anyway, Danny is shown using the Iron Fist for the first time, though just against a robot. If you’re wondering, that panel with Cobra Commander and his pals gets repeated about four times in this comic.
Marvel’s
Greatest Creators #1: Misty Knight-Iron Fist
Misty Knight, Danny’s future girlfriend, makes her debut
here. Iron Fist is fighting an Indian
Kali cult here. This issue has a lot of
good martial arts and supernatural action.
However, nobody has a gun here, even though this all takes place in New
York City. Since there’s no explanation
as to why not even the bad guys will use one, one has to severely suspend one’s
disbelief. Of course, this is a Kung Fu
comic. Presumably, readers aren’t buying
it expecting gun play.
Danny Rand is still a complete cipher and way too
functional here. For the story, he only
really interacts with Misty and that’s just a “misunderstanding” fight. (There is no formal introduction between
them.) Both this issue and the other
annoyingly use the second person narration, even though they’re scripted by
different writers. It’s obnoxious.
Marvel’s
Greatest Creators #1: Luke Cage, Power Man
For whatever reason, this comic is extremely wordy. It’s trying to impress you with its literacy,
but ends up being almost unreadable.
However, the action and the story are right there. Heck, it starts off with Cage about to be
snapped in two, strapped to the bottom of a bridge that’s about to open.
Cage is such a bad ass, he even sleeps in a tiara and
still looks like a bad ass. He is, “One
bad mutha . . . shut yo’ mouth,” as a song about him might say.
He’s fighting a couple of Batman-esqe colorful street villains. There’s the Piranha with steel teeth biting
him. (How unsanitary and sort of
alternative lifestyle-like, if you get my drift.) He’s also fighting Cockroach Hamilton, who
wields a six-barrel shotgun and hangs out with cockroaches. Cage has got superpowers and a strong moral
compass, but without a proper foil and a sense of humor, he does border on
parody.
Honestly, Power Man and Iron Fist aren’t bad characters,
but didn’t it didn’t really come together for them until Marvel combined them
into one title. Iron Fist joined Cage’s
private eye agency at some point. That
was kind of genius. The two characters
are so different that they complemented each other well. The only reason anybody other than comics
geeks know about these characters is because of their Netflix shows and the Defenders. Unfortunately, they didn’t do a Heroes for Hire show and pair these two
up. I guess it was because Cage’s
character had been more popular and had a history with Jessica Jones.
(Actually, the last issue of Power Man and Iron Fist had Iron Fist disintegrating himself
healing someone and Power Man getting framed for killing him. He ended up on the run from the law. Sweet Christmas!)
Archie
Christmas Spectacular #1
Going through one of my comics boxes, I discovered I’d
bought an Archie Christmas Spectacular #1
last year. It was a totally different
comic; it just had exact same title. This years’ edition features a classic
Harry Lucey cover with modern coloring.
It’s very attractive. Apart from
the cover, the rest of the issue is new material.
The comic features four short stories, no ads, and a
reduced price. First up, the gang has a
run in with the Bee over Christmas spirit.
I love that first panel. In the
second story, Sugarplum and Noelle, a couple of recurring Archie Christmas
characters, end up unknowingly double dating Archie at a party. That works out for Archie about as well as
you’d expect.
Next up is a baking contest, theoretically. In actuality, it’s a bunch of cheesecake-y shots
of Veronica. (Betty too, but mostly
Veronica.) It’s not a great story, but
who cares? This is the reason to buy
this issue. Lastly, Santa himself joins
the gang for some karaoke. (Yeah, I am
not over seeing Veronica in those little hearts shorts.)
I took out all of my Archie Christmas comics and
sat down and read them a couple of nights ago before bed. Archie does a great job with the season. Admittedly, some of the older issues were
better than this one, but it’s hard to regret the purchase (especially Veronica’s
sleepwear). What can I say? It’s a tradition.
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