MARVEL 1990s: FOOLKILLER #1

I’m working my way through Marvel Firsts: The 1990s Omnibus [$125] - all 1288 pages of it - a story at a time. I was not a big fan of Marvel during the 1990s, but I figured it was time to take another look at the characters and comics launched in what has been called “comics' most divisive decade.”

The 1990s had a lot of ups and a lot of downs for me. My comic-book store had closed in 1989 after a series of disasters including an attorney who was supposed to represent me in various matters...and who ended up doing the exact opposite of that. For years afterward, he would attempt to bully me, threaten me, accuse of me of crimes. However, when I sued him and my new attorney took him to court, my ex-lawyer got his ass handed to him. I took perhaps too much delight in that ex-lawyer’s vile habits leading him to being arrested and to doing jail time and to losing his license to practice law. He deserved all of that and more.

My writing income during the 1990s was less steady than I would’ve liked. I’d get regular work from an editor for a while...and then that editor would move on. I tried my hand at non-writing jobs and none of them worked out for me. I did some ghost-writing for over-committed comics writers, up until that disastrous month in which three different clients stiffed me.

I don’t share the above because I’m looking for sympathy. I hung in there. I endured. That stubborn refusal to surrender paid off for me quite well. Circa 2016, I’m in a great place in every aspect of my personal life. Wonderful wife, family and friends. Work I enjoy doing. Respect from my readers and my fellow professionals. Solid paychecks. It's why I laugh when the occasional anonymous coward tries to troll me here or elsewhere. Those sad creatures are so completely out of their league. They can't lay a glove on me.

Circa 2016. My life is good. 

 

The 1990s? Not so much when I was in between gigs and without cash to buy comic books. I missed the entire ten-issue run of Foolkiller [October 1990-October 1991] by legendary writer Steve Gerber, with penciler Joe Brozowski (as J.J. Birch) and inkers Tony DeZuniga and Vince Giarrano. I knew the first Foolkiller from his appearances in  Gerber’s Man-Thing run, but the second Foolkiller was introduced in other comic books I had not read.

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“Mad... As In Angry” (22 pages) is a sensational departure from the slam-bang super-heroics of the era. While the first Foolkiller was a religious zealot, Greg Salinger, his criminally-insane successor, defined "fools" as those guilty of materialism and mediocrity, or anyone who lacked "a poetic nature.”

The story begins with Salinger in the Central Indiana State Mental Institution. The Wikipedia entry on Salinger and Kurt Gerhardt (aka Foolkiller III) sums up the first issue of this series:

Kurt Gerhardt had reached a state of homicidal despair after the random murder of his father, a divorce, the loss of his bank job (part of the savings and loan crisis), and being brutally robbed at his new job in a fast-food restaurant.

The issue shows much of Salinger's life in the mental institution. He details nightmares and guilt to his doctor. He expresses a desire to write out his feelings, believing it will make him feel better. The doctor points out that the last time Salinger was given a pencil, he drove it into his own neck. Salinger promises it won't happen again. The therapist allows Salinger to use [a computer] so  he can write letters. He decides to send his memoirs and thoughts to media and publication centers. No reply comes back.

The first issue ends with talk show host Runyan Moody, having more of less threatened his way into access to Salinger, just starting to interview the killer for his show. Gerhardt is listening to the talk show. Oh, boy.

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Even revealing as much as I did about that first issue won’t spoil your enjoyment of it. Gerber’s chillingly magnificent script hits so many real-life issues: criminal street violence, the effect of the savings-and-loan scandals on average Americans, pompous right-wing media celebrities. If you’ve read a newspaper any time in the past decade, you know these evils are still with us.

Brozowski’s art contributes to the realism of the story. The world he draws, the occasional costume not withstanding, feels very real to me. The issue was colored by Greg Wright, lettered by Phil Felix and edited by Craig Anderson. Everything - art, colors, letters - works with the script. It’s a riveting comic book.

So there I am, having read this first issue and feeling what Gerhardt is going through, and knowing I must read the rest of the series as soon as humanly possible. As near as I can tell, Marvel never collected the ten issues into a trade paperback. Which seems like nigh-criminal negligence to me. Fortunately, thanks to Amazon Marketplace, all ten issues will be making their way to me before the end of the month. I’m approximately 160 pages into Marvel Firsts: The 1990s Omnibus...and Foolkiller #1 has emerged as the comic to beat.   

If you’ve been keeping score on this series of reviews, we are now at 3-2 with stories I liked leading stories I didn’t like by a slim margin. It’s been too long a while since I’ve written about these 1990s Marvels, but I’m going to do my best to bring them to you on a much more regular basis.

“Rawhide Kid Wednesday” is on tap for tomorrow’s bloggy thing. See you then.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

HALLOWEEN COMICFEST: PART TWO

Previously in Tony Isabella’s Bloggy Thing...

Halloween ComicFest is a smaller and spookier version of Free Comic Book Day. My pals at Stormwatch Comics sent me full-sized and mini-sized comics from the event. I’m attempting to read and review all of them before the end of the year.

The Halloween ComicFest Challenge continues...

Zombie Camp, Vol. 1, #0 [Space Goat Productions] is another mini-sized comic. It features 10 pages from the series by Frank Hannah with artist Dev Madan, which is enough to give a new reader an idea of what to expect from the ongoing series.

Camp Wannachompya is a summer training camp for young zombies, the better to help them survive a world filled with living humans who want to shoot them in the head. That’s a funny concept, which plays out well in these ten pages. I found the Camp Director particularly amusing. Since I’m not much of a zombie fan, I’m on the fence when it comes to whether or not I’ll buy this series. But I think there is an audience out there for it.

RATING: Excellent. It does what a giveaway comic book needs to do. It presents entertaining material in a manner accessible to a new reader. The style of the art even works with the mini-size format. I’d say “thumbs up” but, if I did, some zombie kid would probably just bite them off.

                                                                                

The mini-sized BoooOOOoooM! Box Halloween Haunt 2016 [BOOM! Box] is a collection of delightful, but sadly too-short, snippets of four  series: Lumberjanes, Giant Days, The Backstagers and Goldie Vance. I’m already reading Lumberjanes and, despite the briefness of the other snippets, I plan to buy those series as well. This would bode well for BOOM!, if I were a typical comics reader.

Going mini-sized was the wrong choice for BOOM! The larger format would have allowed for more sample pages for each series. It would have also allowed room on the contents page for a sentence or two describing each series. I don’t believe the smaller size gives the new reader enough to win them over.

RATING: Just barely good. The comics themselves are wonderful. The presentation of the comics is deeply flawed.

                                                                                  

  
Johnny Boo and the Pumpkin Tiger [Top Shelf Productions] is a mini-sized comic that presents a 12-page story by popular cartoonist James Kochalka. It’s a charming tale of an impetuous young ghost, an ice-cream monster and a pumpkin tiger. It made me smile and that is almost never a bad thing.

I have never been a huge fan of Kochalka’s comics. Sometimes they work for me and sometimes they don’t. That I enjoyed this one does not mean I’m rushing to read the next one. But I recognize how much many people do love his work. Good for them. Good for him.

My only “problem” with this flight of fancy is that I think there should have been some sort of brief explanation as to who Johnny is and what his world is like. Nothing extended. Just a leg-up for the new readers.

RATING: Very good. This is a fine story, one which could resonate with a new reader and convince him to seek out more of Johnny Boo and Kochalka’s other comics. For me, the bottom line with this and other free comics is...does it sell other comics to the new reader who got it for free? That’s the true mark of success for both Free Comic Book Day and Halloween ComicFest.

                                                                             

Aspen Presents The Adventures of the Aspen Universe [Aspen Comics] is a full-sized and quite unusual comic book. It has two stories. The title story is written by Vince Hernandez with art by Siya Oum and Joie Foster.

“The Adventures of the Aspen Universe” is a 23-page story combining comics with puzzles and other activities. It’s an extremely clever idea, marred only by a lack of leg-up information about its young heroes and their magical world. I think younger readers will enjoy it a great deal.

The second feature appears to be a five-page excerpt from a comic book or graphic novel. “Charismatic Sparkles” is written by Vince Hernandez and drawn by Siya Oum. This story is much more serious than the lead. It introduces a young cat who seems to have powers of some sort, abilities that frighten its family. The cat’s mother sends her away from the family, which would be horrifying to most young readers. It’s a terrible companion piece to the frivolity and fun of the lead story...and it doesn’t do a good job of leading the  reader to the comic book or graphic novel it comes from.

RATING: Fair. As good as the lead story is, the publisher’s failure to properly promote the two included features and the unsuitability of the secondary feature torpedo this giveaway. To me, this comic feels like it needed another hour or three of editorial reflection  before it was finalized.

                                                                            

                                                                            

I really wanted to like DC’s Scooby Apocalypse and Hanna-Barbera Halloween Comics Fest Special Edition #1 and not just because it took me five minutes to type that entire title. I have fond memories of Hanna-Barbera cartoons from my childhood and beyond. I keep badgering Dan DiDio to let me write a “Ruff and Reddy” comic book. I am not even a little ashamed of my love for that ancient cartoon. However, most of the comics previewed in this full-sized free issue didn’t float my boat. Heck, most of them tried to sink it.

Scooby Apocalypse twists the core characters of the old Scooby Doo show to such a degree that none of them are likeable. I would not have thought that possible. Scooby, Shaggy and all the others are not just likeable. They’re downright loveable. I even loved those two Scooby Doo movies with Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Daphne and an unbelievably hot Velma. But these versions of the Scooby cast? They make me want the old-man villains to get away with it.

Future Quest, by contrast, is an exciting compilation of terrific action heroes. Johnny Quest, Space Ghost and so many others. Writer Jeff Parker has kept them close to the characters we love. Artists Evan Shaner and Steve Rude put the obvious love and skill into each and every page.

The Flintstones? Still trying to make my mind up about that series. The story excerpt intrigues me, but there’s not enough there to win me over. If/when I can get a copy of the first volume from my local library, I’ll give it a shot.

Wacky Wasteland? It makes me yawn. I never saw the cartoon this is based on, but I know enough about it to realize this new series is not fun. It’s sort of like the bastard child of Death Race 2000 and Mad Max. The excerpt is too confusing and too dark for the sake of dark to interest me.

RATING: Fair. While this special edition did include some “leg-up” information for every feature, the excerpts were too short, except for Future Quest and The Flintstones, to get me interested. On the other hand, I’m clearly not the audience for the other two series. Your mileage will likely vary.

More Halloween ComicFest to come in a couple days. In the meantime, I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

SUNDRY SUNDAY

Wherein Bloggy Tony digs into the pile of notes he’s jotted down as possible bloggy thing columns and tries to discuss them clearly and concisely. There may be spoilers in the mix. It’s anyone’s guess how well this will go.

Bruce Wayne will never be Batman.

Yes, of course, Bruce Wayne is Batman in the comic books and in a number of cartoon series, movie series, movie serials and a 1960s TV show that I have grown rather fond of in my dotage. But, in this case, I speak of Gotham, the TV series that airs Monday nights on Fox. The good Fox. Not the bad Fox News.

In Gotham, Bruce Wayne has been trying to uncover why his parents were murdered. He found the actual trigger man. He figured how the hit was ordered by the Court of Owls. He doesn’t know exactly why the Court of Owls ordered it, but he’s now attempting to bring them down. He’s been doing all the above as a young teenager who’s kind of sort of dating the future Catwoman.

Several classic villains have been introduced in Gotham. Penguin. Riddler. Azrael. Mr. Freeze. Hugo Strange. Mad Hatter. Someone who appears to be the Joker. All of them are a decade or so older than Bruce. By the time he becomes Batman, if he becomes Batman, some of them will be collecting Social Security...unless the Republicans of the Gotham Universe have managed to destroy that.

Gotham doesn’t need Bruce Wayne to become Batman. The show already has its conflicted and slightly crazy hero in James Gordon. Who has  committed murder and many lesser crimes in his quest to, depending on the day, protect the people of Gotham, bring villains to justice or take revenge on those who have particularly irked him.

Gotham is not a show about white-hat heroes. I’m okay with that as I have never felt every hero has to be The Lone Ranger or Superman back when Superman had a code of conduct. The acting and writing on Gotham keeps me coming back week after week.

Bruce Wayne will never be Batman in Gotham because Gotham doesn’t need him to become Batman. It has Jim Gordon filling the key role of grim bringer of justice. Personally, I’d like to see Bruce take down the Court of Owls - never been a fan of them in the comics - and then go off to college. Maybe in England or somewhere else far from Gotham. Maybe with Selina tagging along to distract him from his studies and add some adventure to his life. It’d be wonderful to see a happy Bruce Wayne for a change. Boy and man, he’s suffered enough for a dozen heroes.

As for Gordon...I think he’ll have to settle for small victories. I don’t see Lee, the woman he loves, getting over what she saw in the last episode of 2016. I could actually see an alliance of sorts with his crazy ex-fiancé on account of that could be fun in a Will Eisner’s The Spirit kind of way.

The best thing about Bruce not becoming Batman in Gotham. He won’t start endangering children by dressing them up in bright costumes. It’s like he’s telling the villains to shoot them first.

Creators conundrums

Who created (fill in name of character here)? Current practice in the comic-book industry is to credit the writer and the artist who first wrote and drew a character as said character’s creators. As standard practices goes, it’s not terrible. But, in a many cases, it’s simply not accurate.

Aquaman is credited to Paul Norris, who did, indeed, draw the very first Aquaman story. But Mort Weisinger wrote that first story as he also wrote the first stories for Green Arrow, Johnny Quick and the original Vigilante. Weisinger does not receive credit on those heroes.

When folks ask me who created Black Lightning, my answer is “I did” and, indeed, that’s how the creator credit was listed during Black Lightning’s entire first series. Now Trevor Von Eeden drew all of those first series issues, but I have always contended every vital element was created before I ever brought my creation to DC Comics. On the other hand, Trevor did visualize other characters, including Tobias Whale, from my brief descriptions in the scripts. The first and no longer used Black Lightning costume was the work of several people, including myself and Trevor.

These days, the Black Lightning creator credit is supposed to read “Black Lightning created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden.” I’m okay with that.

When folks ask me who created Misty Knight, the character who was such a sensation in the Luke Cage series on Netflix, my answer is “Me and Arvell Jones.” Because Arvell and I saw Black Belt Jones together. Because we were both impressed by the heroine played by Gloria Hendry. Because we both thought the Iron Fist series we were doing for Marvel needed a character like that.

What about when an editor creates a character and then hands that character off to a writer and artist? Should he or she get a share of the creator credit? I would say “Yes.”

The point I want to make is this. If the comics industry is going to standardize the creator credits for the sake of character equity payments and the like, those credits are not necessarily accurate except in a legal sense. Which is fine if the creators accept this going into any agreements. However...

Comics history demands a greater accuracy. Which, of course, will spur healthy and sometimes unhealthy debates about who did what for any given character. Which debates will not always lead to results everyone will accept on account of, in many and perhaps most such cases, the debaters were not in the room when the act of creation was taking place. It can be frustrating, but that’s often the way of things in both art and life.

Comics history will never be absolute in every instance. But all of the involved parties - fans, historians, professionals - should at all times strive for the greatest possible accuracy. While allowing and accepting that certainty might forever elude us.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

THE BLACK BAT #2: THE BLACK BAT STRIKES AGAIN

The Black Bat is a cowled pulp magazine crime-fighter whose career paralleled the Batman’s and who inspired the classic Batman foe Two-Face! Like the unfortunate Harvey Dent, District Attorney Tony Quinn was attacked with acid while prosecuting a murderous criminal. Sanctum Books has started reprinting the Black Bat novels that ran in the legendary Black Book Detective magazine. I reviewed the first of these Sanctum volumes here.

The Black Bat #2: The Black Bat Strikes Again and The Black Bat’s Challenge [$14.95; January 2016] features the Black Bat’s third and fourth book-length adventures from the November 1939 and January 1940 issues of Black Book Detective. These stories are written by the prolific Norman Daniels under the Thrilling Publications house name of “G. Wayman Jones.” Here are the title page blurbs for each of these novels.

The Black Bat Strikes Again:

A series of mass murders sets Tony Quinn, lightning-fast foe of crime, on the trail of insurance killers who make a profitable business of slaughter!

The Black Bat’s Challenge:

Beggars cannot be choosers, or the leader of one of the most vicious criminal gangs of the lame, halt and blind ever assembled would never have chosen to buck that tenacious nemesis of crime - Tony Quinn!

In addition to the two Black Bat novels, this volume also features “The Belfry,” Will Murray’s informative column on the Black Bat and the character’s ties to the fledging comic-book industry. There are also features on “Raymond Thayer and the Mask” by publisher Anthony Tollin and “The Men Behind the Black Bat.”

Who is the Mask? The Mask is the comic-book adaptation of the Black Bat with the name changed as part of Thrilling’s agreement with DC Comics over the similarities between their hero and the better-known Batman. This second Black Bat volume reprints a six-page Mask tale from the May 1940 issue of Exciting Comics.

Sanctum always delivers considerable bang for your bucks. It’s why I recommend their books so highly and so often.

ISBN 978-1-60877-193-6

Keep reading the bloggy thing for more information on Sanctum Books publications.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

BLACK LIGHTNING IS A TRUE HERO

Lee “Budgie” Barnett is one of my oldest and dearest online pals. To the best of my recollection, we have known each other since the days of the CompuServe comics forum. Since Lee lives in England and I live in Trumpsylvania, we’ve never met and have only spoken via phone a couple times. But he’s good people and our online paths do cross from time to time.

About a month ago, he sent me this e-mail with the photos appearing directly below it:

UK tv programme, CASUALTY. (Basically, our version of e.r. but with less sex). VERY long running, they just celebrated their 30th anniversary. I stopped watching for years, but started watching again a couple of weeks back with the anniversary episode.

Episode last week had a patient struck by lightning; one of the porters - dunno what they're called in the US, but they're the people who ferry beds from one department to another - asked a nurse about the patient, asked whether he can now manipulate electrical fields and energy fields. Lots of pseudo-scientific babble, then... the following sequence.

                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                 

                                                                             

Imagine my delight at learning my creation is also known in one of my favorite English-speaking countries. The path I’m traveling has always been full of mostly pleasant surprises. I hope it will take me to the U.K. sooner rather than later.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

HALLOWEEN COMICFEST: PART ONE

Halloween ComicFest is a somewhat smaller, spookier version of Free Comic Book Day. Here’s how the website describes it:

Halloween ComicFest is an annual event where participating local comic shops across North America and beyond celebrate the Halloween season by giving away free comics to fans. The event takes place the Saturday on or before Halloween each year and is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the many reasons why comics and comic shops are great! Comic shops are the perfect location to get into the sppoktacular season: from zombies, vampires, monsters, and aliens to costumes and more, comic shops have it all when it comes to Halloween fun!

Major publishers like DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and IDW Publishing put out free comics for fans to enjoy during Halloween. Also available are all-ages mini-comics, perfect to give out to trick-or-treaters or as party favors to inspire the next generation of comics readers! Popular series from past years have included Archie, Pokemon, and Grumpy Cat.
Every year, I try and fail to review all of the Free Comic Book Day offerings sent to me by my pals at Stormwatch Comics, my favorite comic-book store that I’ve never stepped foot in. I need to correct that in 2017.

This year, Stormwatch also sent me over thirty free comics from Halloween ComicFest. I figure reading and reviewing them is akin to running a half-marathon to prepare one’s self for running a full marathon. This is the first of several such bloggies, each spaced a few days  apart, wherein I will try to read and review my Halloween ComicFest goodies. Let’s see if I succeed in this endeavor or if I collapse and start puking before I reach the finish line.

The free Halloween ComicFest books come in two sizes, designated as full-size comics and mini-comics. I’ll be mixing them up in these columns until I review them all.
                                                                            

Grumpy Cat Halloween ComicFest 2016 [Dynamite] is a mini-comic that measures 5.25 inches by 8.25 inches. Counting the covers, it’s 16 pages. The front cover is a funny, nicely-drawn Steve Uy cover of Grumpy Cat with a Jason Voorhees hockey mask. Uy draws and colors the interior comics. He’s got a fun style.

“I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Just Don’t Care: is a ten-page story written by Ben Fisher. Grumpy and cheerful sidekick Pokey go to a haunted house in a wager involving their Halloween costumes. They meet a mummified cat. It’s a solid story with a funny ending. I liked it a lot. Bill Tortolini lettered the story. Rich Young is the editor.

The one-page “Grumpy Cat Goes to Comic-Con” is written by Elliott Serrano with lettering by Uy. It’s so-so, lacking the punch panel it needed. One-pagers should be thought of as the equivalent of a Sunday comic strip. You have to get in and get out, leaving readers with a laugh that will stay with them for a while.

The final comics page is “Make Your Own,” an uncredited gag about making “Grump Ray Specs” by cutting out Grumpy Cat glasses. An idea that might have worked as a full-size comics page fails miserably at the mini-comics size.

The inside back cover advertises Diamond Distribution’s Comic Shop Locator and other useful websites. The back cover advertises Doctor Strange (the movie), which was released on November 4. The ads ran in all of the mini-comics, a brilliant move on Marvel’s part and a good Halloween tie-in.

I’m looking at a number of things when I review Halloween ComicFest items. Is the material in the comic well-written and well-drawn? Does it present a good enough chunk of the comic or graphic novel to entice a reader into buying the comic? Is it reader-friendly enough to welcome rather than confuse a new reader?

RATING: Excellent. The cover and lead story make this mini-comic. I’d buy Grumpy Cat comic books based on them. Since Grumpy is such a well-known figure, I didn’t need explanation to follow the story. Pokey’s character is obvious. Definitely reader-friendly.

                                                                               

The full-size Zombie Tramp vs. Dollface HCF 16 [Action Lab] sticks an “M” on the cover for “mature,” doubtless for the poorly-drawn boobage and the panty up shots of the title character. The 13-page lead story doesn’t give sufficient background for a new reader and is neither well-written nor well-drawn. The story is continued in Dollface #1.

The 7-page preview of The Circle is better written and drawn, but it doesn’t convey what that forthcoming five-issue series is about beyond an undercurrent of spookiness. I’m not inclined to buy even the first issue to learn more.

The rest of the issue is full-page ads for Dollface, The Circle, Oblivion (based on the movies by Peter David), Blood & Dust (wild west vampires), Vampblade (yawn) and Sleigher (“Heavy Metal Santa Claus”). That last title is kinda clever, but none of these comics look interesting. The back cover has a ad for Free Comic Book Day 2017 on Saturday, May 6. Mark your calendar.

RATING: Poor. Unless the word “zombie” in a title is now a draw by itself, this giveaway has failed its publisher.

                                                                                    

The full-size Afterlife with Archie Halloween ComicFest Edition #1 2016 [Archie Horror] is exactly what the ongoing series is: one of the most vile comic books being published today. Wrapping his stories around an obvious ripoff of AMC’s The Walking Dead, writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa betrays his dislike of the classic Riverdale characters with every issue. Only Archie and Betty have a semblance of their actual core characters and, since the “Season Two” arc is titled “Betty: R.I.P.”, I’m guessing we’re heading into “And Then There Was One” territory.

The surviving supporting characters are portrayed as horrible human beings. Chuck Clayton, the only black male in the comic book, has been emasculated. His girlfriend Nancy is having a contrived affair with Ginger Lopez. Mr. Lodge is known for cheating on his wife. Reggie and others would gleefully throw someone else to the zombies to save themselves. Cheryl and Jason Blossom have been having  incestuous relations and then she kills him. Hard to believe that a writer whose first experience with Archie Comics was rewriting a play so that a company wouldn’t sue him is now of the big wigs at the publisher. If you want to tell me artist Francesco Francavilla is terrific, I won’t deny that for a second. But his talent is well and truly wasted on this steaming pile.

In addition to the reprinted Afterlife story, this giveaway offers a second reprint from the 1970s Chilling Adventures in Sorcery. Written by Marvin Channing and drawn by Doug Wildey, the reprint is a run-of-the-mill horror story about a witch who controls murderous dogs. Nothing to write home about here.

RATING: No rating because I obviously loathe this series. It will give a new reader a good idea what to expect from the ongoing book, which seems to dribble out a new issue whenever the stars are in alignment or some such.

                                                                                

Last up today is the mini-sized Archie’s Madhouse 2016. These are older school Archie reprints, likely from the 1990s or thereabouts, with the groovy Dan Parent/Bob Smith cover probably of more recent vintage. Some good stuff inside the comic as well.

“The Secret Project” (5 pages) is by Rich Margopoulos with art by Gene Colan (pencils) and Rudy Lapick (inks). It’s a solid tale with a good punch panel and amazing Colan pencils. Gene’s style is clear to see, but he keeps the Archie characters on model as Archie and Jughead come across some scientist types.

“Rare Scare” (6 pages) is by George Gladir with art by Rex Lindsey (pencils) and Rich Koslowski (inks). Reggie is determined to scare his friends, but things don’t go as he planned.

“Chiller Diller” is an uncredited one-page gag that looks to me as if it’s older than the other two stories. I think Al Hartley drew it, but I’m only a so-so art detective.

RATING: Good. I would have rated it higher except that I don’t know what purpose it serves. There’s no current Archie comic or digest like this mini-comic. I wish there were. I’d buy it.

More Halloween ComicFest to come in a couple days. In the meantime, I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY (November 2016)

“Happy” isn’t easy to come by in 2016. We’ve lost a lot of really good and talented people. Our country is in peril from the open wounds of bigotry, misogyny, racism, xenophobia and other forms of extreme right-wing evil. Yet, for me, it’s about finding the humor and the joy in even the worst situations. Like, for example, that, every now and then, I type “zemophobia” when I mean to type “xenophobia.” Which is probably a legitimate fear if you’re Captain America and the Avengers.

I will continue to note the people, events and creations that bring joy to my life. Every day, on my Facebook page and on Twitter, I remind myself of my wondrous blessings in a segment I call “Things That Make Me Happy.”

At the end of each month, for my bloggy thing readers who might not be following me on Facebook or Twitter, I collect the items posted during that month. With additions and/or corrections in italics, here’s what I posted in November...

November 1: The Halloween episode of The Daily Show, set in a post-apocalyptic world with Trump running for his second term as POTUS. Scary satire at its best. And, now, unfortunately, it could well be considered prophecy.

November 2: Great medical check-up. I was told my cholesterol was “spectacular” and my other results were good.

November 3: Christopher Chance - the Human Target - make his first appearance in the DC/CW universe. Hope we see more of him.

November 4: When shows I watch take a week or four off, it gives me a chance to catch up on other shows I watch..

November 5: The amazing Akron Comicon. Consider this my home show. I’ll be there every year!

November 6: WBNX-TV. The CW in Cleveland. My favorite TV station. The best people. As always, they were super at Akron Comicon 2016.

November 7: Seeing so many old friends at Akron Comicon and making new friends. It’s one of the best comics events anywhere!

November 8: Guy N. Smith’s “crabs” series. Cheesy monster movies in prose form. Just right for my Kindle reading.

November 9: The DC and Marvel productions that credit the writers and artists who created the characters who appear in them.

November 10: Michelle Wolf of The Daily Show. Her commentary on the election was both funny and heartbreakingly emotional.

November 11: Hasan Minhaj. His Daily Show piece on his mom’s fears after the election made me want to hug them both. Our country needs them.

November 12: Craig Yoe’s Super Weird Heroes anthology. What a wild ride. I’ll be reviewing it soon. You can find my review of this way cool book here.

November 13: President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama. They are models of class, decency and intelligence.

November 14: Doctor Strange. The movie is breathtaking and took me into the humanity and magic envisioned by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

November 15: My Marvel Collectors Corps and DC Legion of Collectors subscriptions. Always fun stuff in those bimonthly boxes.

November 16: Comics pros standing strong against right-wing racism, misogyny, xenophobia and lies, even when that hate comes from other  comics pros.

November 17: Making part of Sainted Wife’s Barb lunch in the wee hours of the morning. Sorry, ladies, I’m taken.

November 18: The Daily Show’s funny, moving memorial service for “Facts”. The correspondents rocked that segment..

November 19: Finding missing Comic Book Professionals Association screwdriver set. The CBPA was an organization that didn’t last too long. But, with my membership, I got this screwdriver set, which I used constantly until it went missing. I’m glad to be reunited with it and will pack it with my survival kit when the Trump apocalypse forces me to go on the run.

November 20: The very funny Brian Posehn as Bert Kibbler on The Big Bang Theory. This great series needs such recurring characters to keep it from being too inbred.

November 21: Thanks to Sainted Wife Barb, we can again fit two cars in our garage. At least until I start setting up for garage sales in April.

November 22: Don Thompson’s great phrase “If you like this sort of thing, you’ll like this.” I will use it soon. And I did use it in this review. But not as convincingly.

November 23: Working my way back to normal in an America that has become anything but normal. We will endure. We will fight. We will win. Never doubt that.

November 24: Working Daze by John Zakour and Scott Roberts. One of my favorite comic strips.

November 25: Staying home on Black Friday except to get poinsettias for Sainted Wife Barb. Except that, this year, Barb had to go into work earlier. Read all about it here.

November 26: Japanese candy, sent by a friend. I’ve tried and loved the Japanese Saki and Premium Mint Kit-Kats, and the Black Thunder bars. Still working up the courage to try the rest.

November 27: Ohio State Buckeyes’ thrilling victory over that team from up north.

November 28: Going to a surprise 65th birthday party for my boyhood pal Joe Rutt. “Grampa” Joe has a great family.

November 29: Posting birthdays and remembrances on Facebook. Never forget our comics creators, past and present.

November 30: Our dentists Camm, Golian and Kudla. We’ve been their patients for three decades. Unfortunately, a change in our medical insurance might force us to find new dentists. We’re hoping to come up with a way to avoid that.

Keep looking for that brightness in your lives, my friends. I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2016 Tony Isabella