Doctor Strange #388 - Marvel Comics

DOCTOR STRANGE No. 388, June 2018

Considering that Issue Three Hundred and Eighty Eight of “Doctor Strange” seemingly promised its readers a truly mouth-watering confrontation between the likes of Man-Thing, Moon Knight, Elsa Bloodstone, Doctor Voodoo, Wong, the Ghost Rider, Iron Fist and Blade with the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, there must have been many within its 30,155 strong audience in April 2018 who were bitterly disappointed by Donny Cates’ bizarre decision to instead have this twenty-page periodical’s narrative almost exclusively focus upon its titular character conducting a lengthy conversation with the ghost of his dead basset hound. True, this bemusing plot twist involving the Sorcerer Supreme’s dog does apparently result in the Master of the Mystic Arts finally regaining his sanity after previously believing Mephisto’s glamour upon his disembodied soul that he was being rescued from Hotel inferno by the likes of Wanda, Loki and Clea. But this dialogue-driven, incredibly sedentary and sleep-inducing solution to his precarious demonically-possessed predicament hardly compares to the sense-shattering shenanigans a blow-by-blow battle between the Midnight Sons and Avengers would have produced.

In fact, this particular instalment to the Texas-born writer’s “Bleeding Neon” storyline is arguably absolutely packed full of head-scratching decisions which genuinely seem to be at odds with the notion that a “Damnation” Event tie-in edition should provide an entertaining, or at very least eminently sensible, experience. For starters, if all it takes for Strange to shake-off his devilish opponent’s deception is his pet pooch's presence, why doesn’t “Stephen’s old magic buddy” Wong simply instruct the animal to “bail him out” straight away, rather than wait until his “team of weirdos… vampire slayers… and… uh, Spider-Man in a hoodie” are beaten within an inch of their lives..?

Equally as bemusing is just how Shuma-Gorath suddenly appears from amidst a casino packed full of lost souls, when the All-Killer of the Dawn and Devourer-God of the Eternal Ever-Was doesn’t, as even the titular character pointedly exclaims, belong in Hell..? Disappointingly, such an utterly bizarre inclusion of the Many-Angled One would debatably seem to only have been made just to provide a worthy opponent for Jane Foster’s Thor to arbitrarily clobber into tomorrow when the female physician’s super-strong alter-ego gobsmackingly appears completely out of the blue so as to supposedly save the sorcerer at this comic’s conclusion; “Yes, by all means, the mighty Thor shall handle this monstrosity for as long as it takes for you all to have a wonderfully casual and lengthy conversation!”

The regular cover art of "DOCTOR STRANGE" No. 388 by Mike Del Mundo

Wonder Woman: Come Back To Me #1 - DC Comics

WONDER WOMAN: COME BACK TO ME No. 1, September 2019

Originally published in “Justice League Giant”, one of four Walmart-exclusive “DC Comics” titles that debuted in 2018 and which were designed to put the books in places were a brand new audience “can’t normally get them”, this twenty-two page periodical’s plot is arguably reminiscent of both the mid-Seventies “Marvel Comics” book “Skull The Slayer” and the equally short-lived American science fiction television series “The Fantastic Journey”. In fact, even towards the very end of this publication, those readers familiar with John Buscema and Mike Esposito’s dynamically-charged July 1976 cover illustration of Jim Scully battling a heavily fanged prehistoric sea monster will immediately sense the resemblances in Wonder Woman’s confrontation with a similarly-sized, multi-toothed oceanic monster that rather foolishly attempts to dine upon the water-logged Amazon shortly after her invisible plane has crash-landed; “I sure hope you haven’t lost your [super] strength, too!” 

Mercifully for those bibliophiles ancient enough to recall such parallels however, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti’s narrative for Issue One of “Wonder Woman: Come Back To Me” still contains plenty of innovation in its own right, with Diana’s battle against a truly terrifying wild fire in Park County, Montana, providing a particularly compelling action sequence. True, the demigoddess’ bemusing ability to talk to the local fauna so as to gain their co-operation in rescuing a number of injured fire-fighters would debatably be more closely associated with a “Disney” princess than one sculpted from clay by Queen Hippolyta on Themyscira. But the emergency crew’s eventual rescue, courtesy of some serious tree-smacking by this comic’s titular character, at least provides this tale’s opening chapter with a unique, if not rather contrived, solution to a natural disaster.

Furthermore, the fact that William Marston’s creation can’t just “fly them out of here one at a time” without the various animals’ help, affords Chad Hardin the opportunity to pencil plenty of endearingly cute squirrels, rabbits, deer and raccoons, as well as a seriously intelligent-looking big brown bear. Indeed, the GLAAD Media Award-nominee’s drawing is so pleasing to the eye throughout the book, that it almost makes some of the collaborative writing partnership’s awfully hackneyed speech stomachable, and definitely makes it clear why, in an interview with the "comics and pop culture news website “The Beat”, Conner made it clear that she felt lucky to get the American artist to illustrate her story-line.

Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti, and Artist: Chad Hardin

Collapser #1 - DC Comics

COLLAPSER No. 1, September 2019

Disappointingly replacing action with ‘F-Bombs’ and other expletives, Mikey Way and Shaun Simon’s plot for Issue One of “Collapser” is a serious word-fest which debatably fails to deliver little more than a bemusing tale about a nursing home employee who desperately desires to make it as an internationally famous disc jockey. Unfortunately for Liam James though, such aspirations are ultimately side-lined when “he receives a black hole in the mail”, and this comic’s collaborative writing team decide to have the titular character literally trip the light fantastic through time and space courtesy of a seemingly sentient swirling oily goop; “Monday! I’ve been out for days? But last night was Friday. We all went to Rick’s and --"

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the majority of this twenty-four page periodical is dedicated to the orderly’s monotonously mundane changing of bed-pans, wrapping of leg bandages, washing of dentures and removal of geriatric corpses. Far from it in fact, as the hospital attendant’s desperately endearing attempts to give the elderly Mister Edgar his daily game of chess, are repeatedly interrupted with the galactic-based shenanigans of a blood-thirsty adventurer who seems hell bent on locating the Black Hole which ultimately killed Liam’s mother on a distant, garishly-coloured alien planet. But such fascinating glimpses of the universe within which “Constellation Prize” is set seldom last more than a handful of panels, and arguably just make James’ lack-lustre trips to buy cigarettes from his local store appear even more tedious than they’ve actually been penned.

Sadly, Ilia’s Kyriazis’ storyboards don’t disputably help this “Young Animal” publication’s pacing either, with the Athens-born artist’s decision to spend two and a half pages just illustrating this comic’s protagonist answering his front door setting a truly sedentary stride which, with the notable exception of Liam’s utterly surreal trip “home”, never seems to particularly quicken. Indeed, despite there being some significant backstory crammed into this series’ opening instalment, there is definitely a disconcerting sense of ‘padding out the script’ to the Panhellenic comics award-winner’s drawing.

Equally as time-consuming for the reader to negotiate are all the demoralisingly wordy, obscenity-filled thought balloons which follow the ‘helping hand’ as he goes about his day to day meanderings. Sold by this comic’s creative team as a positive insight into the young man’s battle with anxiety, these deliberations actually debatably detract from the tempo of the storytelling, and having been inked with confusing black backgrounds could initially be mistaken for the ‘voice’ of the Black Hole before its even arrived on modern-day Earth…

The regular cover art of "COLLAPSER" No. 1 by Ilias Kyriazis

Doctor Strange #387 - Marvel Comics

DOCTOR STRANGE No. 387, May 2018

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly shifting 25,918 copies in March 2018, a rise in sales of over a thousand books according to “Diamond Comic Distributors”, Donny Cates’ narrative for Issue Three Hundred and Eighty Seven of “Doctor Strange” must surely have still disappointed some with its truly depressing depiction of the “once again” Sorcerer Supreme as a thoroughly broken man. Indeed, it is hard to imagine the Master of the Mystic Arts at more of a low point in his life than that at the start of this second instalment to the American author’s “Bleeding Neon” storyline, where he lies immobile on the stone floor of “Mephisto’s Hellish Hotel Inferno”, his useless legs shattered into pieces by “a demonic Thor… with a burning hammer” and his left bloodshot eye trickling tears of despair at his utter failure to defeat the demon’s power.

Fortunately however, the former preeminent surgeon does not languish in the doldrums for the entirety of this twenty-page periodical, and after some significant soul-searching, as well as numerous speech-balloon riddled panels, is eventually rescued by the unlikely trio of Clea, Loki and the Scarlet Witch. This sequence is undoubtedly the highlight of the “Damnation” tie-in publication, with a seemingly physically-restored Strange trading spiteful barbs with the God of Mischief over the bearded magic user’s dead dog, Bats, and a genuinely pulse-pounding action scene prodigiously pencilled by Niko Henrichon, which promptly places the entire quartet amidst a veritable sea of heavily-horned, terrifically-tentacled devils; “If we weren’t all in mortal danger, I’d quip something about a Highway to Hell, or going from the Pan to the Fire. As it stands, all I can think of is -- Dammit, Loki!”

Disappointingly though, this brutal battle is disconcertingly short-lived and abruptly over in a supercharged flash just as soon as “the daughter of Umar and the niece of the demonic tyrant Dormammu” is quickly captured and then spirited away to the side of a tuxedo-wearing Mephisto. Of course, this Clea's situation is later perturbingly revealed to be little more than another macabre machination manufactured by the cosmic hero’s “perennial foe”, but, for a brief while at least, “Marvel Comics' new wunderkind” finally appears to have penned this comic’s titular character as something akin to the magical powerhouse Stephen Strange is supposed to be…

Writer: Donny Cates, Artist: Niko Henrichon, and Colour Assistant: Laurent Grossat

Planet Of Daemons #3 - Amigo Comics

PLANET OF DAEMONS No. 3, December 2016

Riddled with more treacherous acts than the diabolical labyrinth of Sathariel has dead ends, Kevin Gunstone’s script for Issue Three of “Planet Of Daemons” must surely have made many readers of this mini-series doubt anyone except the strait-laced Magistrate of the Qliphoth was capable of telling anything even remotely resembling the truth during "The Eye Of Lucifer". Indeed, by the time a supposedly blind Husk leads Amos Deathridge into a seemingly fatal trap deep within a demonic warren literally teeming with ungodly hooved ones, it is arguably difficult to even maintain much confidence in the Puritan’s own memories as he chillingly recalls the dread night when he discovered his wife in Salem had actually been replaced long ago by Nehema, the Succubus Queen.  

So thoroughly disconcerting a doubt as to the Seventh-Century soldier’s sanity starts straight from this twenty-four page periodical’s opening sequence and subsequently peppers the plot throughout, as an entirely innocent Silas is roughly arrested inside a New England “den of iniquity” simply because a befuddled Amos has fallen for his false spouse’s treacherous lies. To make matters even worse Deathridge is later further infuriated by his former friend’s threat to publically shame Trinity “during my trial” in front of the whole town, and resultantly doesn’t question the logic of the man's imprisonment until he investigates the so-called acolyte's apparent suicide a short time later; “He was many things, but never a coward. I believe that is the coward’s escape. The guards have deceived me in the past. They are protecting someone.”   

Equally as eloquently penned is the main protagonist’s confrontation with a cabal of truly horrific-looking devils deep within the Spirit of War’s nightmarishly configured realm. Splendidly pencilled by Paul Moore, the mass of horned ones, complete with sightless facial features, tusks, fur and chaotic symbolism, genuinely help depict the sheer depth of unholy depravity into which Amos has unwisely allowed himself to be drawn to and perturbingly illustrates just how many enemies the guardian of the Soul Key has infuriated with his past noble actions. Admittedly, there is a moment of satisfaction when the Magistrate rewards Salis’ duplicitous betrayal with a lethal lead ball in the back, but such a delightful act of retribution is soon swallowed up by the Justice of the Peace’s ultimate fate at the hands of the ethereal Despair and his vengeful sword.

Writer: Kevin Gunstone, Art: Paul Moore, and Colour: Stefan Mrkonjic

Planet Of Daemons #2 - Amigo Comics

PLANET OF DAEMONS No. 2, December 2016

Absolutely packed full of all the puritanical persecutions its fans probably anticipated from a mini-series partially based upon Seventeenth Century New England, Kevin Gunstone’s screenplay for Issue Two of “Planet Of Daemons” must have kept many within its audience thoroughly riveted to their reading chairs with its fascinating mixture of "mystery, intrigue, and dark sorcery." For whilst the twenty-four page periodical somewhat lacks in pulse-pounding action, especially once Amos Deathridge has wisely fled “the forsaken Palace of Lilith” following its partial destruction at the hands of a pair of Eligos’ winged emissaries, the reason behind just why the former Puritan magistrate now “serves as jailer of the daemons and evil spirits who cast their sinister influence over mankind” proves an utterly enthralling narrative.

Indeed, this slowly unfolding tale of the god-fearing man’s harrowing fate on Earth, courtesy of a foul deception “by those closest and dearest” to him, becomes particularly compelling once the esteemed “man of experience and wisdom” starts to doubt the chasteness of any town resident who even so much as dares to ask a question of him, and simply has them arrested. Such an oppressive atmosphere of disquiet and suspicion is genuinely palpable, and resultantly it comes as no surprise when Amos’ conspiratorial wife seemingly uncovers a treachery beyond the mortal realm being committed by one of his closest friends; “I saw Silas pray to the evil spirits of beyond. His call was answered by a succubus called Nehema.”

Of course, that isn’t to say that the main protagonist’s pursuit of a daemon of war on the world of Sathariel, prodigiously pencilled by Paul Moore, isn’t equally as absorbing. Deathridge’s discovery of the nude Heinous and her subsequent rescue from a collapsing royal residence provides the lone traveller with a much-needed companion, as well as an opportunity to illuminate this book’s audience with more insights into his tragic backstory, even when it is made abundantly clear straight from the start that “this was an act I would live to regret…” In fact, by the time the past justice of the peace has witnessed the disturbingly bizarre demise of a trio of daemonic concealers, who stalk “doomed souls trapped in the maze”, he has acquired a second intriguing acquaintance in the guise of the “misplaced soul” Salis and unknowingly already entered the Labyrinth within which resides the fortress of Count Eligos.

Writer: Kevin Gunstone, Art: Paul Moore, and Colour: Stefan Mrkonjic

Judge Dredd: Toxic #4 - IDW Publishing

JUDGE DREDD: TOXIC No. 4, January 2019

Despite providing a finale which is a far cry from the “shocking conclusion” publicised by “IDW Publishing”, Paul Jenkin’s storyline for Issue Four of “Judge Dredd: Toxic” still must have pleased the vast majority of its 4,101 readers in February 2019, with its entertaining mix of graphic violence and over-the-top politics. Admittedly, the twenty-page periodical debatably contains one of the most contrived set-ups seen upon the streets of Mega-City One as the titular character discovers the “entire cavern system” making up “literally half the Spillover” is actually an English-speaking, peace-loving extra-terrestrial entity which only wants to keep the humans safely protected from the poisonous sewage running beneath the metropolis.

But once this lazily manufactured premise has been explained, the British novelist’s narrative gathers pace at a pulse-pounding rate, especially when the hostile metal-eating environment leaves the three lawmen woefully under-gunned against a raging mob of die-hard anti-alien fanatics. In fact, the “suicide mission” of some “sixty to seventy armed individuals neither “harbouring symbiotes” or “the necessary protective gear” to survive their “one-way ticket” is undeniably the highlight of this publication, with the bearded Judge Scammon proving a thoroughly intriguing addition to the Grand Hall of Justice following the loss of his Lawgiver and admirable determination to at least “draw a few of the intruders below” with nothing more than two handheld batons; “Remember your training: Hand-to-hand against any perps who break through the outer cordon.”

Likewise there’s some delightful interplay between Cassandra Anderson and the titular “old curmudgeon” once the grim-faced Senior Judge finally accepts the underground monstrosity is trying to save the scrubbers, and actually goes so far as to politely thank the gigantic species “for your service” to his people. The telepath’s quips as to Dredd being a “closet Empath” and his stern retorts concerning the female Judge’s sentimentally doubtless brought many a smile to the lips of this comic’s audience, and additionally proves a welcome reminder as to just why the two heroes from the Apocalypse War work so wonderfully well together as a crime-punishing pairing.

Sadly this book’s somewhat rushed and sickly-sweet conclusion does debatably result in “acclaimed writer Paul Jenkins’ first Judge Dredd story” ending on something of a low note; albeit Scammon’s miraculous resurrection following his ill-fated meeting with a laser blade wielding maniac does offer the possibility of future adventures featuring the fearless Noah. For no sooner have “the pugilists taken their blows” than the entire sprawling city’s noxious skies are almost instantly cleaned, and having caused so much prejudicial hatred Citizen Spencer Richards, undoubtedly modelled upon American President Donald Trump, is unsurprisingly revealed to have been carrying an alien symbiote of his own all the time…

The regular cover art of "JUDGE DREDD: TOXIC" No. 4 by Mark Buckingham & Chris Blythe