Monday, January 13, 2020

HALLOWEEN COMICFEST 2019 REVIEWS #5

What has gone before:

This is the fifth and final column in a series reviewing all of the special comics given out by retailers for Halloween Comicfest. In the first two columns, I covered all the digest-size issues created for the event. Then I moved on to the traditional-size comics, such as those reviewed herein.

Halloween ComicFest...the comic book industry’s premier fall event – a single day when participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away specially published comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. HCF is the perfect event to experience comic shops as destinations for Halloween and horror-themed comic books, collectibles and other merchandise! In other words, Halloween ComicFest is the Spooky Free Comic Book Day!

These Halloween Comicfest comics were sent to me by my dear friends at Stormwatch Comics in West Berlin, New Jersey. When I write about these comic books, I look at three areas.

QUALITY: Is the material worthwhile?

ACCESSIBILITY: Is the material presented in such a way that someone coming to it for the first time can follow it?

SALESMANSHIP: After reading the FCBD offering, would someone want and be able to buy more of the same?

I score FCBD offerings on a scale of zero to ten. Each category is worth three points with the tenth point coming from my interest in seeing more of what’s ever in the book.


First up is an old friend I scarcely recognize...

Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider #1 [Marvel] is what the front cover says, but the indicia reads Ghost Rider: King of Hell #1. The 21-page story is by writer Christopher Sebela with “illuminator” Phil Noto and letterer Travis Lanham.

QUALITY: The writing, art and pacing are all pretty good.

ACCESSIBILITY: This is a long way from the Johnny Blaze I wrote in the 1970s and, though the credits page has “what has gone before”  copy, I’m at a total loss to understand how he got from there to here. Additionally, the storytelling, which is something distinct from the art itself, was confusing in places. I sometimes felt as if panels were missing.

SALESMANSHIP: Excellent. Counting the inside front and back covers and the back cover, there are nine house ads for various titles and trades. Several caught my eye.

SCORE: Seven points out of a possible ten points.
                                                                            

Junior High Horrors Halloween Special [Keenspot] features a 21-page all ages horror parody that uses “dyslexia friendly fonts.” It was created, written and drawn by Rob Potchak with finished art, color and lettering by Billy Parker.

QUALITY: The basic story is fun, but the large panels and sparse art padded what could have been an eight-page tale into 21 pages. That may well have been intentional, given the commitment to making the comic dyslexia friendly, but we already have so many modern-day comics that are too padded to provide a satisfying experience.

ACCESSIBILITY: Mostly good. A little weak, but not enough for me to subtract points.

SALESMANSHIP: Excellent. Lots of house ads for other books. Some of them intrigue me.

SCORE: Seven points out of a possible ten points.

                                                                                 

Lady Mechanika [Benitez Productions] presents the first 23 pages of “a dark tale from the Lady’s haunted past” by creator Joe Benitez (story, pencils), M.M. Chen (story), Martin Montiel (pencils); Studio J-13 (digital inking); Peter Steigerwald and Beth Sotelo (colors), and Michael Heisler (letters). The cover by Benitez and Sabine Rich is stunning.

QUALITY: Every time I read one of these free Lady Mechanika comic books, I tell myself I need to read more. This time, as soon as I finished reading it, I went on Amazon to order the first volume in the series. That’s how good this excerpt is.

ACCESSIBILITY: Between the back cover summary and the story itself, readers will find it easy to get into this series.

SALESMANSHIP: Great. Several house ads provide information on all the Lady Mechanika books.

SCORE: Ten points out of a possible ten points.

                                                                               

I don’t get what Marvel’s intention was with Miles Morales Spider-Man #0 as their Halloween ComicFest giveaway. It reprints Ultimate Fallout #4 from 2011, nine years ago. It has nothing to do with the current Miles Morales title. I’m baffled.

QUALITY: The writing is okay, but nothing spectacular. The art is better, but not enough to compensate for the just okay writing.

ACCESSIBILITY: Horrible. The original issue was part four of a six-issue series. I had little to no idea what was going on in any of the three chapters.

SALESMANSHIP: Okay. Nine pages of house ads, some of which actually feature Miles Morales. However, in most cases, we just get images and not much information on why we should want to read the comics and collections advertised here.

SCORE: Three points out of a possible ten points.

                                                                              

Sonic the Hedgehog [IDW] is a character/concept which I have never enjoyed. Comics based on video games have seldom held my interest. Sonic is no different. This does not mean I can’t fairly evaluate this free comics, just that it’s not my cup of tea.

QUALITY: Decent. The 20-page story by writer Ian Flynn with art by Tracy Yardley, Jim Amash and Bob Smith would entertain fans of the character. It has plenty of action, some character bits and a hint at a plot. I’m giving it full points in this category.

ACCESSIBILITY: Not so great. I could follow the story, but several elements were confusing to me. Apparently, the Sonic mythology is far more vast than I realized.

SALESMANSHIP: Good. There are house ads for various Sonic graphic collections. Building fan good will, there’s a letter column and a selection of pin-up pages.

SCORE: Seven points out of a possible ten points.

                                                                                

Star Wars: Boba Fett #1 [Marvel] features a 20-page story by writer Greg Pak and artist Marc Laming. It’s a reprint of Star Wars: Age of Rebellion - Boba Fett #1 originally published a few months prior to Halloween. Neeraj Menon is the colorist and VC’s Travis Lanham is the letterer. The cover is by Terry and Rachel Dodson.

QUALITY: This is a solid story, especially if you’re a fan of Star Wars and, in particular, Boba Fett. I did enjoy it, but as the Star Wars Universe has grown, I don’t feel a connection to it. So much mythology. I haven’t even seen all the movies. Still, as with the Sonic story above, I’m giving it full points in this category.

ACCESSIBILITY: Between a short credits page blurb and a text piece in the back of the issue, I was able, for the most part, to follow the story easily.

SALESMANSHIP: Marvel does salesmanship better than anyone. Lots of  house ads for their Star Wars books.

SCORE: Eight points out of a possible ten points.

                                                                                  

Sadly, Tales of Berseria [Kodansha Comics] is possibly the worst of 2019's Halloween ComicFest giveaway comics. It contains an excerpt from the title series and three pages from another series. Also, I am not a fan of comics based on video games.

QUALITY: Poor. The writing doesn’t entice. While there are decent images in the art, especially in the second strip, the storytelling is weak.

ACCESSIBILITY: Almost non-existent in the first story and totally non-existent in the second.

SALESMANSHIP: Okay. There are some house ads, but they don’t offer much in the way of enticement.

SCORE: Two points out of a possible ten points.

                                                                                    

Iron Man: Road to Iron Man 2020 [Marvel] reprints the first issue of Tony Stark Iron Man by writer Dan Slott with Valerio Schiti on the art, Edgar Delgado on the colors and the VC’s Joe Caramagna on the letters.

QUALITY: I praised Tony Stark Iron Man #1 when I reviewed the new series near the end of 2018. My regard for it hasn’t changed. I’m several issues behind on the title, but I’ve enjoyed the issues I have read and look forward to catching up.

ACCESSIBILITY: Very good. Though the Marvel Universe baffles me, I think this issue has everything a reader needs to know to get into the story.

SALESMANSHIP: It’s Marvel and no one beats them at this. There are house ads for various Iron Man books and titles and also house ads for some other Marvel items.

SCORE: Ten points out of a possible ten points.

That’s a welcome high note on which to end my Halloween ComicFest 2020 reviews. I may be out of the office and away from the blog for several days, but I will be back soon with more stuff.

© 2020 Tony Isabella

1 comment:

  1. Side note: Apparently, I've been mispronouncing 'indicia' for many, many years. It looks like it should be 'in-DISH-a', but for some reason I thought it was 'IN-di-ka'.

    ReplyDelete