Month: September 2023

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Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book Two

This is a review of Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Two. This volume continues fabled writer Alan Moore’s run on Swamp Thing, aided and abetted by wondrous artwork by John Totleben and Stephen Bissette. You can read my review of the first volume, here.

This graphic novel features Abigail Arcane, who has patched up her marital disputes with husband Matthew. Matt has ditched the sauce for more important things – he buys a house, gets a job, all that good adult shit. True, there are flies all over that house, his co-workers resemble dead serial killers, and don’t look at him too close in a mirror – but besides that, Matt is doing great. He also has godlike powers, because reasons.

Turns out Abby’s wicked uncle Arcane is infesting Matt’s body. Arcane might be dead, but death can’t hold a good villain down. Before Arcane reveals himself, we see the beginning and aftermath of a sexual encounter between him and his unknowing niece, which qualifies as incest and wins an award for one of the grossest moments in mainstream comic book history.

It also qualifies as a problematic scene. Later in the book, Swamp Thing and Abigail enter into an honest-to-God consensual relationship that feels real, something exceedingly rare in comics. Comic book relationships usually feature a lot of the other half being ditched at dinner or being held hostage by Lex Luthor, and often culminate in a fridging when the new writer wants to get rid of the character. It’s interesting that the same author wrote both scenes.

Not to overstate things, but this is a groundbreaking series. Alan Moore casts a shadow over comics that spans decades. His Watchmen miniseries was instrumental in bringing about something called the Dark Age of Comics. One can argue whether this was a good thing, but there’s no denying his influence. And this is the series where he made his bones (amongst Americans, that is).

So yeah, if you like horror comics you should read this.

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The New Teen Titans: Volume One

This is a review of The New Teen Titans: Volume One. I will not lie to you, dear reader. Marv Wolfman (writer) and George Perez’s (artist) run of the New Teen Titans is one of my favorite comic runs of all time. Keep in mind I’m not saying it’s one of the best, just one of my favorites. Yes, some of the content is problematic. Read: Raven manipulating Kid Flash’s emotions. But the synergy between artist and writer works very well. Along with Chris Claremont – writer of the X-Men – Mr. Wolfman is one of the most influential mainstream comic writers of the early 1980’s.

The New Teen Titans consists of seven members: Robin #1, aka Dick Grayson; Wonder Girl, aka Donna Troy, aka Wonder Woman Lite; Kid Flash, aka Wally West, aka Midwestern Americanus. These were the three members of the original team, whose adventures in the 1970’s may be readable to other people. They are joined by Starfire, aka Koriand’r, aka escapee from a Gor novel; Raven, aka Rachel Roth; Changeling, aka Gar Logan, aka Doom Patrol castoff; and Cyborg, aka Vic Stone.

The New Teen Titans are formed by Raven, an empath, because she’s terrified of her father, who is the Devil. The demon Trigon is the lord of an alternate universe who is so over-the-top evil it’s almost comical. His daughter Raven is emotionally manipulative and emotionally withdrawn at the same time, most likely because of trauma. One of the things that escaped my notice when I was twelve years old is that Raven is also a pacifist who eschews physical violence.

The villains of this volume are Deathstroke the Terminator, a villain who’s still around today. Also the Fearsome Five, who aren’t. But the star villain of this volume is Raven’s old man, Trigon, who puts the capital E in Evil. The Titans also have the obligatory brawl with another superhero team, in this case the Justice League of America, for plot reasons I didn’t quite understand at the time (mostly because it made no sense). Years later, I finally get it. Hint: $$$.

Highly recommended.

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Aliens Epic Collection: The Original Years

This is a review of Aliens Epic Collection: The Original Years, the meat of which consists of three miniseries published after the release of James Cameron’s Aliens movie in 1986. The main characters are Newt and Hicks, two characters from Aliens. These miniseries were published before the release of the third Alien movie, in which it’s revealed that Newt and Hicks are dead. They had to change their names in reprints of these series.

The plot: Newt and Hicks are back on earth. Fifteen years have passed since Aliens, with no sign of Ripley. Both Newt and Hicks have wounds, physical and psychological. Hicks’ face has been half burnt off by the aliens, and he now spends most of his free time drinking and brawling. Newt is in a mental hospital for shock. When Hicks has a chance to go back to Acheron (where the first two Alien movies took place), he jumps at the chance because reasons. He breaks Newt out of the mental hospital and takes her with him because they’re going to lobotomize her.

Turns out that everyone wants to get them some alien – corporations, the military, scientists, wacky religious cults. They get their wish when earth is overrun with xenomorphs. In the second miniseries, Newt and Hicks meet a military man who thinks he can train the aliens like dogs and use them to retake earth. That goes about as well as expected. In the final miniseries of the volume, Ripley returns with a plan to end the alien menace once and for all. Will it work, or is it just another crackpot scheme?

I read a few of these issues back when they were published. I might even have collected them, although I can’t say I remember. To be truthful, I recalled very little about these comics. If I did, it’s likely I wouldn’t have bought this collection. I do not write these reviews to be negative. Unfortunately, these comics just aren’t very good. The pacing of the individual issues feels off, and many of the characters are clichés and/or caricatures. Sam Keith does the art for Aliens: Earth War, and his pencils look great, but his character designs are very different from the first two miniseries. In some cases, his characters look like different people.

If you loved the Alien movies, you could read this. Or you could just rewatch the movies.

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Tomb of Dracula Complete Collection: Volume One

This is a review of Tomb of Dracula Complete Collection Volume One. Reading the first volume of this series is a milestone for me, because my OCD fixated on this book, which means I read the first six issues repeatedly, with no prospect of ever finishing. But finish I did! Now how’s that book I finally read?

Very good, with the exception of some creaky material that hasn’t aged well (cringeworthy dialogue, racial stereotypes, make it up as you go along vampire lore). Dracula rises from his tomb in the first issue, courtesy of all-round idiot Clifton Graves. Graves becomes Dracula’s slave, and is so obnoxious and fawning that Dracula gets sick of him and lets him die in an exploding boat. But Grave’s best pal Frank Drake is worse. Frank is related to Dracula, and his solution to life’s problems is a left hook. Luckily, the focus of the book is Dracula himself and the ensemble cast. BTW, this series takes place in London in the 1970’s.

We have Dracula, self-proclaimed Lord of the Vampires, who is irredeemable. Depending on what issue you read, he’s either 100 or 500 years old. Then there are the ones who hunt him: Frank Drake, master of fisticuffs; Rachel van Helsing, who wields a crossbow, the most useless vampire hunting weapon in existence; Taj, who does not speak; Blade, a vampire hunter who’s part vampire himself. They’re led by Quincy Harker, who has a daughter named Edith. Long-time readers should be able to guess which cast member gets killed in the first volume.

The art, done by Gene Colan, is one of the best things about this series. Mr. Colan’s character designs are striking, and his art has lots of fun details (Dracula’s cufflinks are little bats). The writing gets off to a rocky start, with three authors (Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Gardner Fox) scripting the first six issues. Marv Wolfman took over the writing duties starting with Issue #7, and after that the book finds its legs. One of the things I like about this series is that even though it’s part of the Marvel Universe, it feels mostly self-contained. Dracula doesn’t feel like some rubber-suited supervillain.

A must read for Dracula and horror fans.

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Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreckage

This is a review of Doom Patrol: Crawling from the Wreckage, written by Grant Morrison in the late 80’s/early 90’s. The Doom Patrol have been around since the 1960’s and are the ugly stepsisters of superhero teams. They aren’t powerful, or good looking, or important; they’re an obscure bunch of weirdos in tights. Luckily, the late 80’s were sort of the heyday for obscure weirdos – in comics, anyway.

A confession: I adored this version of the Doom Patrol. By the time this series came out, I’d read thousands of comics. This one was just different. It felt like someone took a Philosophy/Modern Art class (focused on surrealism & Dada) and jammed it all into a comic book.

Cliff Steele, aka Robotman, is the normal member of the group. He’s just a Regular Joe, stuck in a robot body. It’s not even an interesting robot body, but that will change. There’s also Rebis, an amalgamation of man, woman, and negative being, who has covered their body in bandages. Finally, Crazy Jane (the writer’s name, not mine), who has a superpower to go along with every one of her 64 personalities.

The Doom Patrol’s first encounter is with the Scissor Men, emissaries of the imaginary city Orqwith. Orqwith is staging a hostile takeover of earth, overwriting it into its own image. And then there’s Red Jack, aka Jack the Ripper, aka God, who likes collecting butterflies and looks like an escapee from a deck of playing cards. The writing is great, the art a little less so. Still, a strong start to one of my favorite series.