Author: matthewephotography@yahoo.com
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com I enjoyed the mainline Speed Racer series so much that I thought I’d buy a physical copy of the spin-off series, Tales from the Road. A series of one-off stories that examine and expand on the Speed Racer universe, Tales from the Road has a little more room in terms of style and characters to feature. In Two Princes, Racer X is tasked with taking down a warlord known as the Vikings, and a chase across the city ensues. A backup story sees Splittle and his monkey best buds take Speed Racer’s Mach 5 car…
Image credit: IDW As the battle for Master Splinter’s soul continues, Mikey learns firsthand how thin the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is. This problem is totally crazy. Wall-to-wall action, beautiful character moments (this is a really big deal for Michelangelo fans), great apparitions, and shocking cliffhangers. This is a great piece of work by Freddie E. Williams II and Ferro Peniche who put a very unique spin on the artwork. If there is a weakness, it’s that it feels like there are too many balls being juggled at once, and the…
Image credit: Mad Cave Full disclosure: I have never watched the Speed Racer anime. My only exposure to this series was the live-action adaptation by the Wachowskis, but I thought it looked great, at least visually, and I understood what they were going for with their incredible animated style. But since I’m not the biggest fan of this movie, I had ignored this comic book reboot from Mud Cave. Still, something drew me in. Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of this movie and had never seen the original animation, something about it still drew me in. So I…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com After reading the Marvel crossover (Deadpool/Batman #1), it’s time for DC’s Batman/Deadpool #1. The first story in this anthology is very exciting in theory. A quintessentially meta, heart-wrenching story from comic book legend Grant Morrison. There are a lot of cool ideas and concepts here, and Morrison seems to be letting himself loose here, but there are some parts of the story that end up being a bit of a pretentious mess in places. Still, it’s far ahead in terms of ambition for any Marvel issue, and it’s beautifully portrayed by Dan Mora. Of course,…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com In the aftermath of the attack on the Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsen and Perry White go on a very strange journey. Discovering a somewhat reversed version of their world, they meet a particularly bizarre variant of Superman: Bizarro. This first issue of Bizarro’s origin story, co-written with Kevin Smith, is, well, certainly taking a while to get everywhere. It’s primarily about a young reporter, Jimmy Olsen, and his boss, Daily Planet editor-in-chief Perry White, as they argue, argue, and rant, page after page repeating explanations and details that don’t really go anywhere. This would all…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com While rummaging through the treasure trove of long boxes at the Resurrection Comics stall at the recent GoSport Comic Con, I came across a stash of ’70s Tomb of Dracula comics. I’ve always been a fan of Marvel’s melodramatic take on Bram Stoker’s vampire lord, and this epic melodramatic story takes place mostly in modern times. Marv Wolfman (an apt name for one of Marvel’s leading horror comics writers) and Gene Colan were the main creators of the series, which delivered 70 issues of spooky, thoroughly crafted vampire fun for most of the 1970s (from…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com So, I’m a bit of a sucker for crossovers, especially crossovers between companies. Being such great rivals, Marvel and DC have only worked together a handful of times, and Deadpool/Batman (not to be confused with Batman/Deadpool, which followed a few months later) is the first crossover between the big two in decades. That alone is pretty exciting, and an absolute flood of disguise covers and reprints keeps this title on comic store shelves. Will it live up to the hype and expectations? In the first story, Deadpool goes after Batman, while the Dark Knight has…
Image credit: Mother’s Touch Studios If you’ve been reading my reviews lately, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been catching up on the indie comic book series Otherkin. Steeped in magical realism and urban fantasy, Otherkin tells the story of Alex, a shapeshifter who faces a major threat to his existence and unwittingly draws a human librarian named Law into the dangerous battle. With a decompressed style that lets readers soak up visual cues from Mike Mignola-esque art, Otherkin has been a breath of fresh air so far. Its fascinating and unpredictable plot really keeps readers on their toes. Image credit:…
Image credit: IDW The political situation looks dire. Despite many years of preparation, the Conference of Babel collapsed. Things seem completely hopeless, but Starfleet has one last ace. It’s the resurrected Captain James T. Kirk. Will the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or even just one? I don’t entirely agree with the decision to bring Kirk into this series, but his willingness to sacrifice himself for the greater good without giving anything else here ultimately justifies his presence to some extent. The way it unfolds is also very interesting and sets up the third story…
Image credit: IDW It’s not quite that season, but the first issue of the four-part miniseries Star Trek: Holo Vienna has been in my collection for a while and I just couldn’t get around to reading it. The time has finally come! The crew of the Enterprise are all somewhat depressed after traveling through a dangerous solar storm. Ship counselor Deanna Troi senses the mood on board, and to lift the spirits of the crew, Captain Picard agrees to a Halloween celebration. However, the ship seems to have picked up something and soon the crew goes missing. Strange things are…