Comic Book Coffee Break #49

Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. Home again and back to the Folgers Noir.  It doesn't solve gritty mysteries, but it is a dark roast. 

Let's talk Comic Books!

This was the last week of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month so I read The
Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen.  Ultimately this is about a son trying to come out to his mother.  It interweaves their lives with the folktales they share to come to a point of openness.  It looks great and serves it's purpose well. I would read more by this author.

Marvel Comics

While on vacation last week I stopped at Chautauqua Comics and picked up a random Cap comic called Captain America & the Korvac Saga by Ben McCool and Craig Rousseau.  I wasn't really familiar with the original story that this is inspired by and I found this 2011 version to be a little dull. Basically Cap and Guardians of the Galaxy go into the future to fight (?) Korvac.  I grabbed this because it looked self-contained and I loved the smaller size.  It worked fine to sit in an Airbnb and read, but left next to no impact.

DC Comics

Back to my Superman New 52 reread. I picked up Superman V.6: Men of Tomorrow by Geoff Johns and John Romita, Jr. This was a lot of fun to revisit. I think Johns' sensibilities and Romita Jr.'s style came together well to make the first truly good Superman story of the New 52 era. I've enjoyed a few stories here and there, but this might be the fist of this run that I'd recommend to someone. It looks cool and the story actually manages to feel unique. We'll done fellas.

Other

I picked up One Trick Pony by Nathan Hale.  It's a YA graphic that's an homage to the Pied Piper.  We are doing a Fairytale Adaptations theme over on Howe's Things, so I grabbed a few to read.  This was quick and distinct.  I really liked the limited use of the colors and the overall design. Check it out!

Finally, I read Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier. This is a biography of Jack Kirby, interlaced with art, comic excerpts and even full stories. I really loved it.  I knew the broad strokes of the story, but I found this to be immensely readable and very informative. This was a gift from my old co-host Eric Mikols.  Thanks Buddy!

Next Time...

I'm still chugging away at my Simon/Kirby Crime collection, plus more Superman, more Fairytale adaptations and some retro Captain America. 

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast and This Endorian Life, both for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #48

  Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. We were at a an Airbnb this morning so I had Donut Shop coffee from a Keurig with a little cream and sugar. Not bad.

Let's talk Comic Books!

I'm still reading and writing in the midst of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month so that's still my guide at the moment.

DC Comics

My copy of DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Super Hero Celebration arrived in the mail from Midtown Comics and I was pumped to dig in.  I've been really enjoying these anthologies DC has been doing. This features 11 different stories with a stellar lineup or authors and artists. Here are some of the standouts.

• Dress Code by Minh Le and Trung Le Nguyen revisits the Green Lantern character Tai Pham from Green Lantern: Legacy. I thoroughly enjoyed the original graphic novel, and while this isn't a full sequel, it was nice to check in again with that world.
• Hawke & Kong by Grek Pak and Sumit Kumar was a team-up between the Connor Hawke Green Arrow and New Super-Man. It's an unusual pairing and has a fun, buddy-cop kind of vibe.
• Finally, a new character was introduced in The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes. The story is by Gene Luen Yang and drawn by Bernard Chang. This was a lot of fun.  I really liked the team-up with Shazam. This ends with a teaser that the series will continue down the road and I'm looking forward to that.

Marvel Comics

My wife has been a fan of Runaways since the beginning, but I only became familiar with the series from the TV adaption. I picked up my wife's old copy of Pride & Joy and read through it.  This was in digest form, back when Marvel was doing that on the regular. It was interesting to read this coming from the TV show.  I really enjoyed the first season, but the premise is watered down by making the parents sympathetic. Here they are just plain villainous and it works much better. While I wasn't all in on this one, I would likely read more.  I know we have a stack of digests here, so why not?  It was interesting to see Nico's introduction because it seems her stock has risen more in recent years as Marvel tries to expand their magic characters beyond Doctor Strange. Also, interesting how quickly things changed. Some very obvious issues with words used as pejoratives here.

Image Comics

 While at that Airbnb, we had access to the streamer that is airing Robert Kirkman's Invincible and we took full advantage, binging the full season over of the course of two nights. My wife had never seen it before so it was fun to see her reaction to some of the more shocking moments. My love of the comic books series is well documented across The All the Books Show and Comic Book Coffee Break, so I was excited to see this. While I did enjoy it, it's not the kind of adaptation that really adds much to the experience. The voice cast is great and I don't really have complaints about the series; I guess it's more that I just didn't need it. When the change presents itself, I'll likely watch the future seasons, but I'm not particularly invested.

Next Time...

I picked up a few graphic novels at a comic shop while we were away, so I'm going to read some Captain America, continue my New 52 Superman reread and dig in to my Simon & Kirby Library: Crime collection.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast and This Endorian Life, both for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #47

 Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. We left the house in a hurry this morning, but I managed some Folgers Noir with cream and a Vanilla syrup.  It served me well.

Let's talk Comic Books!

I'm reading and writing in the midst of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month so I thought I'd spotlight Agent Jimmy Woo and Ryan Choi as the Atom. 

Marvel Comics

Let's start with Agent Woo, while I may have bumped up against him sometime in my reading, it was Ant-Man & the Wasp and WandaVision, that really made me take notice. Last week I read Agents of Atlas featuring an elderly Jimmy Woo rebooted as his 50s self but in the modern day.  This week I read the digital exclusive Wolverine & the Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker & Benton Jew.  This was fun because you get to see Jimmy in his day mixing it up with a very confused Wolverine. I think the period setting worked a lot better on the Agents of Atlas vibe. This is a relatively brief 3 issues and I would have loved more. I'll likely pick up more Agents of Atlas, but I much preferred the retro feel of this.

DC Comics

Over in the world of DC, I picked up the first volume of Gail Simone's All-New Atom: My Life in Miniature. My library has this whole run and I'd been meaning to read it for years and finally picked it up. I'd read Ryan Choi in some of the Rebirth stuff and had seen him in the CW Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, but this was the first time I read something specifically devoted to him.  I'm a Gail Simone fan, primarily from Birds of Prey, so was excited to pick this up. It starts well enough, but then gets real weird, real fast. At one point a giant, naked women traps Ryan in a little ball then swallows him.  All this happened at a drive-in theater. I kept expecting these weird swings to pay off but they just didn't. It seemed weird for weird's sake and I don't think it worked. I don't blame Ryan Choi though. 

I've got a few more randos to finish out the week. Back to...

Marvel Comics

I read Deadpool: The Circle Chase by co-creator Fabian Nicieza.  (I actually started with the first appearance of Deadpool & Domino in New Mutants #98.)  This is Deadpool's first run at being a solo character.  It's worth reading for that, but I don't have much more to say.  He has some funny moments, but the characterization still has a ways to go, and honestly he hardly feels like the main character here. I haven't read a ton of Deadpool up this this point, so I don't know how it compares, but I have to assume it gets better. 

DC Comics

Finally, I got back to my New 52 Superman reread with Superman V5: Under Fire by Scott Lobdell and Ken Lashely.  The collection as assembled by DC is real mess with the tail end of Krypton Returns and a little of Doomed messing with the flow.  However, the Parasite story shoved in the middle is pretty decent.  Nothing ground breaking here, but I did enjoy the standalone sections more than I remembered. 

Next Time...

My copy of DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Super Hero Celebration arrived in the mail so I can't wait to dig in to that. See you then.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #46

 Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break! It's Mother's Day so went out and got some Starbucks.  I'm having an iced coffee, black.  Good stuff.

Let's talk Comic Books!

So May is Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage and I decided to let that steer the ship this week.  

Marvel Comics

I finally got my hands on the original 3-issue run of Sunfire & the Big Hero 6.  I only saw the movie a few years back, and I really liked it.  I read the Chris Claremont redo (as discussed on the All the Books Show), then the 2 part manga (which we detailed in issue 11 of CBCB), but this original story remained illusive. It was fun to read. It's really Hiro's story with Sunfire's journey playing out in the background of the 3 issues. My experience with Sunfire is really limited to playing him in the X-Men Legends game on Gamecube. ("I require additional energy to do that.") I found myself rooting for his resurgence and curious about the events that got him here.  I really liked the story and would read more.  But alas, I've read all of Big Hero 6. It did make we want to track down for Sunfire stories though. 

Next came Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker and Leonard Kirk. I was only familiar with Jimmy Woo from his appearances in Ant-Man & the Wasp and WandaVision. I don't remember having bumped into him in comics ever. Atlas sees and aging Jimmy Woo rebooted as his younger, 1950s-era self. The story is entertaining enough, and I do like the 50s callbacks, but it still feels a little like if Doom Patrol was a network television series in 2003. It didn't grab me, but the premise is interesting. I might check back in later on.

DC Comics

I picked up the Cassandra Cain Batgirl series with v.3, Death Wish by Kelly Puckett & Chuck Dixon, art by Damion Scott. I read v.2, A Knight Alone, a full 10 years ago, but I was able to pick it right up. I like the character, but this art was rough. It's done in a very purposeful style and is very consistent, but it just doesn't work for me. I know that's subjective, but it really sort of ruined the story for me. My favorite issue was the Spoiler team-up, but that was not enough to raise it a star.

Finally, and I feel like this is a wild card among wild cards, I read Beware the Batman.  This is a 6-issue series based on the short-lived cartoon of the same name. In it, a younger Batman is partnered with Katana rather on one of the various Robins or Batgirls.  It's an unusual pairing that really brings out a new vibe for a Batman title. Katana is used well, particularly in issue 5 which is written by Katana creator, Mike W. Barr. There's also an issue that features Barbara Gordon/Oracle and Tim Drake. I don't recall these characters appearing in the show, but I don't think I ever finished it. 

I really like the Katana in this book.  I wish both the series and the comic had been given more time to grow. It feels incredibly original which is hard to do in a Batman story anymore.

Next time...

I plan to read some of the Ryan Choi/Atom series by Gail Simone and I might pick up Wolverine & the Agents of Atlas as well. What about you?

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Quarter Bin: Star Wars Crimson Forever

 

This is a bit of a cheat, because I read this in trade paperback rather than diving into to the random single issues.  BUT, the zaniness of the story does honor the spirit of the quarter bin. 

Star Wars Legends: Crimson Forever collects several of the early issues from the Marvel Era.  We see the cyborg bounty hunter named Valance hot on the trail of Luke Skywalker.  Then in the follow-up story, Luke gets infected with the Crimson Forever virus.  Finally, we get a more modern throwback issue that unites the two stories.

What I love about this era is the pulpy vibe.  It harkens back to the original concept of an old movie serial. This collections feels more Star Trek than Star Wars at times, and in fact even references going "to warp." It has a great frontiersy kind of vibe that just makes for a fun read. It's unlike anything we have in the franchise now and very worthy of a revisit.

Outside of the movie adaptations I haven't read many of the early Star Wars comics, though I loved the ones that spun out of the Droids and Ewoks animated series. (Tune in to my Ewoks podcast to find out more!) Checking in for these vintage stories made me want to read more of the early days. 

Keep an eye out in upcoming issues of Comic Book Coffee Break for more.

Comic Book Coffee Break #45

 Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break.  This week I'm having Starbucks' Pike Place roast, with cream and French Vanilla syrup. (I've been getting this more regularly after Eric and I visited the original Starbucks in Seattle.) 

Let's talk comic books!

I had bold ambitions last week and made good on a few. 

DC Comics

My only DC title this week was Green Arrow V.6: Trial of Two Cities by Benjamin Percy with art by Juan Ferreyra.  I'd been following a reading list of DC Rebirth and was making good progress.  Then I kept getting hung up on old stuff or digital originals. This was me getting back on track. I would generously call this run uneven, though truth be told none of these 6 volumes managed to rate about 3 stars. This one harkened back to the Mike Grell run quite a bit.  I'm a big fan of that run.  If you haven't read it, it's definitely worth it. (The Wonder Year is my all time favorite Green Arrow story.) If anything it made just want to reread that, but I still liked revisiting those themes and characters.  My favorite part about this was seeing the Mike Grell variant covers.  That was worth the price of admission alone. 

Marvel Comics

In the world of Marvel, I picked up Ta-Nehisi Coates Black Panther. I'd read book one of A Nation Under Our Feet a while back and didn't really care for it, but after reading some more of the author's work for Howe's Things, I decided to go back and finish this first arc. It's collected in a hardcover or as 3 trades. My feelings here didn't change much. It's like on Black Panther and pretty heavy on the talking. Interesting themes are being explored, but it doesn't make for interesting reading. I've learned I much prefer the authors non-fiction work, particularly In Between the World & Me. I don't think this will be a series I'll follow. (A while back I read the World of Wakanda spinoff and interviewed award-winning illustrator Alitha Martinez.  That was a very entertaining conversation.  She's fun.)

Finally, I finished Secret Avengers by Rick Remender V.3, art by Andy Kuhn. Talk about a book that evolves over the years. This went for a special ops Captain America book to Captain Britain guarding a portal to other dimensions while robot duplicates play out Shakespeare. While I wouldn't say I was all in on this ride, it did come to a pretty epic end. 

Next Time...

I've got a special Star Wars themed Quarter Bin. (Plus a new Star Wars Podcast!) Also, May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month so I'm going to let that guide my reading. I know for sure I plan to pick up some Cassandra Cain.  Other suggestions?  Let me know.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.