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Bionic Review: Dynamite Comics’ The Bionic Man (2011)

Posted in Bionic Man, comic books, movies, pop culture, TV shows with tags Bionic Man, Bionic Review, Cavalcade Comics, comic books, movies, pop culture, reviews, Six Million Dollar Man, SMDM Comic, TV shows on March 29, 2013 by Paxton

Richard Anderson, the man who played Oscar Goldman in The Six Million Dollar Man TV series tried for years to get a Bionic Man movie off the ground. Many different writers took a stab at a script. In the mid-90s, Kevin Smith famously wrote a script for a Bionic Man movie that was a reboot of the TV series. I was very excited about this prospect as, at the time, I was a big fan of Kevin Smith and loved the idea of him re-imagining the Steve Austin universe (of which I was a big fan). Unfortunately, nothing ever happened on that project. It just disappeared. Then, in March 2011, Kevin Smith announced that his unproduced script would be re-adapted into a comic book series for Dynamite comics. The comic’s script would be written by Phil Hester and be based on Smith’s movie script. The book’s interiors would be drawn by Jonathan Lau, it would have Alex Ross variant covers and the name would be Kevin Smith’s The Bionic Man. The first issue would be released in August 2011.

Up to this point I have read the first 14 issues of Dynamite’s The Bionic Man. The first 10 issues contain the story arc that is taken directly from Kevin Smith’s unproduced script.

Essential Plot: It starts off very similar to the original TV show/novel. The events have been updated a bit and a few things changed. We actually start off, not with Steve Austin, but with a break in at a government laboratory. An unknown assailant kills all the scientists and steals what looks like a bionic arm. Then we cut to Steve Austin at home. He’s still a test pilot. He’s engaged to Jaime Sommers. Austin is about to retire as a test pilot and marry Jaime. He just has one more test flight to make. And what happens is exactly what you expect. Something goes wrong with the flight, Austin crashes and loses both of his legs, his right arm and his left eye. In this story he’s good friends with a younger version of Oscar Goldman. They convince Steve to become a part of their bionics experiment, so the government pronounces him dead and begin the operations to graft on the bionic limbs. There are several issues devoted to Steve’s recovery and coming to grips with the fact that he’s now part machine. In issue #7 Jaime returns as Steve unexpectedly finds himself at her house and reveals to her that he’s not, in fact, dead. In this issue we also discover that the earlier mysterious assailant from issue #1 has ties to Austin and the bionic program, so the rest of the story arc is discovering information about this assailant and Steve going after him to put a stop to his plans.

The next issue after the Smith arc, #11, was a standalone issue. Steve goes back to his parents’ ranch for some soul searching. We meet his parents and see that his father is dying.

Issue #12 begins the first new wholly original story arc. It’s written by Phil Hester and Aaron Gillespie and drawn by Ed Tadeo. This story introduces the fan favorite bionic Bigfoot from the TV show into the new bionic universe. Austin discovers some unscrupulous people are attaching bionic parts to Bigfoot creatures so he teams up with one of them to help.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2012: Finishing up The Astounding Wolf-Man

Posted in comic books, Halloween, holiday, monsters, werewolf, werewolves, Wolf Man with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Cavalcade Comics, comic books, Halloween, holiday, werewolf, werewolves, Wolf Man on October 30, 2012 by Paxton

Since this final week of AWESOME-tober-fest is a short week, I’m straying from the movie maniac theme and doing updates to previous Halloween reviews. Yesterday I reviewed the final book in The Strain trilogy which I had previously reviewed the first two books last year. Today, I’m going to talk about the comic series The Astounding Wolf-Man.

Two years ago for AWESOME-tober-fest 2010, I reviewed the first 18 issues of the comic that were collected in Volumes 1-3 of the trade paperbacks. The final fourth volume collecting issues 19-25 had yet to be released. However, I acquired the final collection earlier this year and read the concluding story.

The last and concluding story arc was called Legacy. It’s a five-parter that takes place in issues #21-25. So much happens in this concluding story. Seriously, it’s packed with a lot of action. We see the main character reunited with his daughter, we see the end game of the Elder Wolf’s plans and we see the final confrontation between Wolf-Man and Zachariah (which is awesome, btw).

astoundingwolf-man21 astoundingwolf-man22 astoundingwolf-man23

In short, I loved this series. So many great characters written so well. Kirkman really does a great job with so many characters to juggle. It was actually this series that led me to Kirkman and had me checking out his other work like Invincible, The Walking Dead and Marvel Zombies. But that’s only half of the whole. Jason Howard’s amazingly dynamic art really sells it. I love the dynamics of Howard’s action and how he designs the look and feel of the universe. Plus, his 2 page action spreads are breathtaking. It really adds a lot of character to the story.

Speaking of characters, several of them are standouts. Gary Hampton/Astounding Wolf-Man is great. Zecariah the vampire is also a great villain. The Elder Wolf is BAD ASS. And in this final run of issues, we really see some good character work with Mecha-Maid. I really enjoyed her character and I want to see more of her. You can see her in the second comic cover above. Btw, that scene on the cover never happens. But it’s a great cover, nonetheless.

Anyway, like I said, I want to see more of these Astounding Wolf-Man characters. I think he and Mecha Maid may pop up from time to time in Kirkman’s Invincible, but I want to see more. This series was just too much fun not to continue. However, like I said, as of today, issue #25 was the final issue.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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AWESOME-tober-fest 2012: Topps’ Jason vs Leatherface comic book (1995)

Posted in comic books, Friday the 13th, Halloween, holiday, Jason Vorhees, Leatherface, movies, pop culture, Texas Chainsaw Massacre with tags AWESOME-tober-fest, AWESOME-tober-fest 2012, Cavalcade Comics, comic books, Friday the 13th, Halloween, holiday, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface, movies, Texas Chainsaw Massacre on October 11, 2012 by Paxton

In 1993, Topps acquired the Friday the 13th comic book license. Their first release was a comic adaptation of Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. Then, in 1995, Topps released a crossover comic called Jason vs Leatherface.

The three issue miniseries featured the first meeting between Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th and Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The book was written by Nancy Collins and drawn by Jeff Butler.

The story is a little weird, as is how this comic is supposed to fit into the established chronology of either series. The story begins with Jason chained to the bottom of Crystal Lake where he was left after Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Jason is liberated by someone dredging the lake with the intent to drain it and build a corporate headquarters. The lake has been polluted with toxic waste by the company so the lake water is collected in giant steel containers and shipped by train to some disposal facility. However, en route, Jason escapes, gets off the train and starts killing people. He meets up with one of the members of the chainsaw family and is taken back to their house. At the house he joins the family for dinner and becomes friends with Leatherface. It’s a dysfunctional good time, but as always happens, there’s a disagreement, then a misunderstanding and so Jason and Leatherface actually fight. Jason winds up leaving and returning to Crystal Lake.

Like I said, it’s an odd story. And, also like I said, it doesn’t fit continuity. Since Jason begins this comic where he ended up at the end of Jason Lives, then the story should take place in the 90s. However, two of the family members Jason meets in Texas are “Hitchhiker” and “Cook”. The character “Hitchhiker” died in the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre which takes place in the 70s. The “Cook” character dies in the second Texas Chainsaw Massacre which happened in the 80s. Neither family member should have been alive when this comic happened. Another problem involves a flashback to Jason’s childhood. We see his father, Elias, who has only been mentioned in the Part VI novelization. We see Elias beat Jason and then Jason’s mother kills Elias to protect the child. That’s fine, I guess, but Elias calls Jason’s mother Doris for some reason when her name has been established since the first movie in 1980 as PAMELA. Weird. But I guess that just goes to prove that this is a horror “Elseworlds” tale.

I enjoyed this comic. The art was over the top and funny. Perfect for the story. The covers are really good, as you can see. It’s definitely a fun, interesting read. Give it a shot, but be prepared, because it’s a little on the goofy and weird side.

Also, check out the blog Countdown to Halloween for more Halloween-y, bloggy AWESOMEness.

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8 Comic covers right before/after a famous first appearance

Posted in Batman, comic books, pop culture, Superman, The Flash with tags Batman, Cavalcade Comics, comic books, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, nostalgia, pop culture, Superman, The Flash, vintage on June 4, 2012 by Paxton

First appearances of famous comic book heroes/villains are highly sought after in the comic book world. Who wouldn’t love an Action Comics #1 or a Detective Comics #27? But what about Action Comics #2? Or Detective Comics #26? Are anyone seeking these titles out?

To me, it’s fascinating to look at very famous comic titles before or after they’ve debuted a very famous character. They may not look like even the same title. It’s weird to see an issue of Detective Comics with Slam Bradley or the Crimson Avenger on the front and not Batman. You feel like you’re in the Fringe universe. Let’s check out some of these fun comic covers and you can see how strange and foreign they look to you.

Action Comics #1
Action Comics #2 – Action Comics is probably one of the most iconic titles of all time. Who doesn’t know that Superman debuted in issue #1 of Action Comics (left) in 1938? Well, interestingly enough, Action Comics was originally meant to be an anthology adventure comic with several other adventure characters. So even though Action Comics is now strictly a Superman title, back then, Supes was just one of the featured characters. Therefore, issue #2 (right) didn’t feature Superman on the cover at all. Issue #3 didn’t feature Superman either. As a matter of fact, Superman wouldn’t make another Action Comics cover appearance until issue #7 (SIX MONTHS later).

Detective Comics #27 Detective Comics #28
Detective Comics #26 and #28 – Detective Comics is as intimately associated with Batman as Action Comics is with Superman. However, Batman didn’t debut until issue #27 (middle), so there were 26 issues of Detective without Batman on the cover or in the book. As you can see, in the issues before (#26, left) and after (#28, right) Batman you get standard covers of police officers and gangsters that you would normally appear on crime comics of this time. While Batman would return to the cover for issue #29, he would be absent again for issue #30.

All-Star Comics #3 and #8 – All-Star Comics is a very famous Golden Age title. It features the first appearance of The Justice Society of America in issue #3 (middle) which is the first team-up of super-heroes into a single team in history. In issue #2 (left), you can see they still feature the heroes on the cover, but not collected together as one team as designated by issue #3’s giant round table with the team name embossed on the top. All-Star Comics #8 (right) is an interesting issue also. You wouldn’t know it by the cover, but that issue is the first appearance of Wonder Woman in an 8 page insert that was used to test the interest of Wonder Woman as a hero. Wonder Woman would join the Justice Society in issue #11…as their secretary (but she would make the cover!). She would prove popular enough to headline her own book, Sensation Comics, a year later.

Showcase #5
Showcase #3 and #5 – The debut of The Flash in Showcase #4 (middle) was one of the defining moments of the Silver Age. Showcase was a tryout book by DC to determine who would get their own series. As you can see, the issue before The Flash debuted (#4, middle) featured a story about deep sea divers called The Frogmen (#3, left). And even though The Flash was a huge hit, he wouldn’t appear in Showcase #5 which featured Manhunters (#5, right). The Flash would reappear on the cover for Showcase #8. The Hal Jordan Green Lantern would debut in Showcase #22.

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In honor of Memorial Day, 16 vintage comic covers featuring wartime superheroes

Posted in Americana, comic books, holiday, nostalgia, pop culture, Superman with tags Cavalcade Comics, comic books, comic covers, DC Comics, holiday, Marvel Comics, Memorial Day, Superman on May 28, 2012 by Paxton

It’s Memorial Day. Hope everyone has had a great holiday weekend. In honor of this day that honors our armed forces, here are some awesomely vintage, patriotic comic book covers featuring our favorite heroes during wartime. See our heroes doing their part to give Hitler a sock in the jaw!

I found many of these covers on Comic Browser.