It's actually called FireBORN! Not Firebird.
Absolute is still best and Ultimate Marvel is pretty baller.
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Event Horizon: Inferno - I was wondering where they were going to go with this, and now I have my answer. Forward. This series is starting off 200 years after the movie. The Even Horizon wreckage is rediscovered by a super wealthy CEO with less than noble intentions. And pretty much everyone involved seems to have some skeleton in their closet. I like the art on this series better than the previous one. I don't expect much from this, but who knows? It might surprise me.
Diablo: Dawn of Hatred - I picked this up because I'm a huge fan of the Diablo franchise (going all the way back to the original game). This first issue did not impress me. Adequate story, with art that at least doesn't suck. I'll probably at least get one more issue before I decide to jettison this series.
Hello Body Horror - Not impressed at all. This was a mix of some really bad new stuff, and some really bad reprinted stories. The only thing worth a damn was the one-page done by someone who goes by Hack, but that's typical. The back of the book promised some other special one-shots. I won't be getting them.
The Crown: A Tale of Hell - So, in the end this was just a story of how Hellboy's actual father decided to have Hellboy. It was still entertaining, but it had been so long since the first issue, I had to go back and read it again just to remember what was going on.
Green Lantern - I have no idea who this chick is with Kyle. Nor do I really care anything about her at the moment. Maybe she'll grow on my, but that depends on if the writer doesn't make her more annoying. Still, if they're going to promise Kyle as taking over the book, they should keep to that. Stop giving us Hal. Move him over to GL Corps. The art was really good.
Lands Unknown - The ending of this....it really just kind of fizzled out. I was hoping for better. The world building is pretty good though. The art kind of reminded me a bit of Bryan Hitch, a bit of Alan Davis.
Barbaric: The Long Death - Lots of slaughter in this book. And some revelations about the various magical, talking weapons that show up. We've seen two of them, but I don't recall seeing the shield....yet. Now we just wait for the next series. And that's the one complaint I really have about Barbaric - I don't think they do a very good job of breaking up these various chapters in ways that make sense from a narrative perspective. Otherwise, it's kind of fun.
Infernal Hulk continues to rock out, even if Tony got slightly swindled. Definitely top shelf Marvel.
Less so was the ending for Death Spiral, even if it means Eddie and Carnage aren't together any more. (REALLY didn't feel good about how it ended.)
Still can't wait to see how Hulk War, Mortal Thor and Armaggedon play out along with Queen in Black.
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Leonide the Vampyr - The finale to the miniseries, it was very much in line with a lot of Mignola's writing. The art even looked like his at times, perhaps a protege? Anyway, a priest tries to save a young doctor's soul from Leonide and her evil family (very reminiscent of the Karnstein family from the old Hammer horror films). A fun little miniseries.
Corpse Knight - I had heard about this and it looked interesting. Set in France during the late Middle Ages, during the Hundred Years War. This is a mix of history, religion, and supernatural horror. The premise seems simple enough, with a young girl's prayers resurrecting her father as a kind of zombie protector. She sets off on a journey to find the one person she thinks can help - Joan of Arc. The cover art is by the always magnificent Jae Lee. The interior art is by Matthew Roberts. Very solid.
Giant-Sized Savage Tales - This looked cool, so I picked up this first issue. It's got stories featuring Red Sonja, Vampirella, Allan Quatermain, and Gulliver Jones. Of all the stories, I liked the Qautermain one best. They even made him resemble the great Sean Connery. Anyway, all the stories were solid, with decent to really good art.
Hellboy in Love - Another in this particular series of Hellboy stories. This was a one-shot were the hero and his lady love visit old co-workers from the BPRD, then help a ghost move on. Simple but cool little story.
Thundarr the Barbarian - Again with the two different time periods. Future Thundarr and his allies trying to stop the Council of Wizards from rewriting history. We get some interesting bits from the great disaster. And now I'm not so sure the other part, with Conan as a slave, are a version of what happens if the wizards win, or a look into Thundarr's actual past. Either way, it's fun and invokes the spirit of the original show.
Punisher - This episode was just kind of weird. Except the Jigsaw stuff, which was just sadistic. We get some good bits of Punisher...punishing. And we get some explanation (kind of) of what's going on with his head. While I was wandering the store, some kid asked me if the book was okay. I told him yes, for the most part. And that it was the only Marvel on my list.
White Sky - Ouch! Ghost storm. And of course in a world overrun by spirits, the salt flats in Utah would become a precious commodity. And the new guy, Walter, is basically a medium, so this world has done WONDERS for him. And we finally get to see that Violet's dad is still alive. Slow going, but a really interesting world. I hope they start to flesh it out some more.
Skinbreaker - This is the final issue (for now?). Things end peacefully enough, with the tribe moving forward honoring it's legacy of strength, but tempered for the future with wisdom. Not a bad ending. The story was, overall, very basic. The art though, David Finch's stunning art, was really what made this project. That world he created is visually stunning. You can drink in those panels multiple times and keep finding new stuff. I really hope we see more of this world.
Viking Moon - More werewolf vs Viking action. They threw in a twist this issue, though. It looks like we might also be getting a young lovers story, as the daughter of the viking chieftain is saved from an older werewolf by a younger werewolf, the Native American youth she had befriended. I still love the homage they're paying to The Howling with the werewolf design, but I wish the issues would come out more frequently.
Swamp Thing - This is the never published until now story that ended Rich Veitch's run on Swamp Thing lo those many years ago. Hell, I was still in high school when all that happened. The story was really good. A classic Swamp Thing tale, without being disrespectful to Christianity (at least, I didn't see it that way). And we even got a sort of origin of Etrigan. I think it was worth the wait.
Conan: Tides of the Tyrant King - This was the only free comic I got for myself today (also picked up one I thought my daughter would like). As has become sort of a tradition for Titan, it's a lead in to their next event story later this year. This one had Conan, of course, as well as the variation of Steve Costigan seen in Howard's novella Skull-Face. So it'll likely be Thulsa Doom, come back for revenge. The cover for the book was done by the always great Roberto De La Torre. The interior art was by Jesus Marino. Decent enough, but not great.
Ultimates was epic and I loved the Marvel Free Comic. HIGHLY recommend!
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Ghost Machine: The Official Guidebook - This was the second, and I think finally issue. It had more character, group, and item entries, going all the way to Zigzag the mutant zebra. A lot of them were reprinted from previous books, but a handful were new and offered some intriguing insights into what might be coming up in the near future. For any fan of the brilliant and creative Ghost Machine imprint, this is a cool item.
Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner - I admit, I always liked Guy. Especially when he was getting punched in the face. So I picked this up, even though I have very little respect for Duggan’s writing. It was…adequate. It was also mis-titled, since it’s just as much about John as Guy. The story was simple enough. Lots of action. But the Manhunters were so misused it was shameful (but not surprising) and the idea of an Internal Affairs department in the Corps was just stupid. Whatever editor allowed that level of idiocy should be removed.
Batman Static Beyond - Final issue of the series. By the end, the bad guy is a good guy. They had Khunds, though. And I always liked them as antagonists. I really liked them showing how capable Terry has become, even without a suit enhancing his strength and durability. And this gave us a nice expansion of the Beyond universe. There’s some great potential there.
JSA - Ooohhh. Spectre is coming back and everyone is terrified. As they should be. We get some nice, personal moments here and there. Star Girl is back, but it looks like they de-aged her a bit. Or just made her way shorter. I’m loving more Khalid as Doctor Fate. He didn’t get a good enough chance in his own book. Still think they need to fix his costume though. I’m hope they’re not going to overuse those ghost JSA members. And I really wish they’d bring Mr. Terrific back where he belongs.
Savage Sword of Conan - There was a really solid Conan story set just a few months after the classic A Witch Shall Be Born. Conan and his Zuagir’s discovering a hidden and magical city. There was also a really good prose Conan story, just one page long. Impressive. Finally, the issue was rounded out with a pre-Conan Bêlit story. It was….adequate, both writing and art (barely).
Ryan North is a great writer and his FF is stellar. The new Daredevil is pretty baller. PJK continues to write some great Superman too!
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Finished the new issue of Heavy Metal. Several of the ongoing story lines continue to kick ass. Some newer ones ranged from idiotic to pretty decent. They had the creator of that show Raised by Wolves introduce a new version of Taarna. It had some potential. We’ll see if he actually does anything good with it. I also see a lot of the creators harping on AI and digital art. I guess that’s all they have real experience in, so they write what they know. Not all of it sucks. They also had an article about the history of skateboarding. Not sure why anyone thought that would be a good idea. They also had a bit about some festival out in California for post-apocalypse cos players. It looked kind of fun. Anyway, I’d give this issue a 6.5 out of 10. Maybe 7.
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Got my books Friday, but wasn't able to get around to reading them until this afternoon.
Hello Darkness - Pretty solid issue. No bad stories. Some were better than others, though. It was labeled as a "Crime Issue", which I kind of liked. Doing horror stories with a running theme other than just horror is a nice change of pace.
Green Lantern Corps - Of the two Green Lantern books, I think this one is the weaker. Granted, I like seeing the Manhunters back as a threat, but they kind of already did Aya as Queen Manhunter back in the old GL Animated series. At list time they're repeating that merging with the Antimonitor crap. The issue kind of jumped all over the place. And I'm still no fan of having way too many human GLs. I thought it was bad enough when they only had three of them. Not a big fan of the art, either.
Aquaman - I had no idea Good Starro was a thing. Had to look it up. Interesting concept. And I kind of liked the whole Father Star and Mother Stars thing as well. That's a villain I think is very tough to get right. Not so big a fan of the Aquaman revenge squad that looks to be shaping up. The art was cool on this one. That Starro world was pretty interesting looking.
Conan and Dragonero - I had no idea what a "Dragonero" even was. Had to look it up. Seems it's an Italian character, but the creators (by their own admission in a back essay), were definitely inspired by Conan. So it's cool they get to play with that sandbox. The story is interesting so far... they jump right into the action in the world of Dragonero. Seems really cool, and I look forward to finding out more about it. The art was phenomenal. Some of those dragon panels were really great.
Transformers - Meh. Okay issue. Back on Cybertron, and the Autobots who fled Earth with Alita are getting their butts handed to them until Alita saves the day. And that's the issue...pretty much one big fight. Cool seeing Shockwave, even with most of his head missing. I always liked the look of him.
Geiger - Damn! That was mean. I think those Department of Historical Preservation folk stepped in the wrong hornet nest. Still, I'm glad they seem to have wrapped up the time travel shenanigans quickly. Few writers are actually good enough to write time travel intelligently. And as much as I think highly of Johns, I'm not so sure he's one of them. As always, Gary Frank's art is top notch. Now I'm just hoping next issue will finally see someone kill that butthead who invented Joe. He's really annoying.
The Fury of Firestorm - We get a slightly revised repeat of the origin story, but done in a good way. De Latorre's art really sells this story, with slight changes to the style depending on where in time the story is. And I've got to admit - no face Firestorm is kind of creepy looking. I almost hate to see what old flame head might do to the Justice League (or members of) next issue. I heard this was initially going to be just 6 issues, but that it's been pushed to 8 or 9. Not sure if that's true, but it would be a welcome change to series failing and then suddenly being a planned miniseries.
Ultimate Endgame really gave me feels! Also Mortal Thor. BOOM!!!! BOOM!!! Some great stuff there.
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The Rocketfellers - I had nearly forgotten I was getting this title. As with many of the Ghost Machine titles, the schedule isn't exactly solid. Anyway, this was a zero issue, part of a cross over with Ghost Machines "The Unbelievables" line of books. I don't collect any of the other ones, so don't care about the crossover. The story picks up where last issue left off, but mostly focuses on the family's initial arrival and acclimation to the 21st century. They also introduce a new character who I think is going to have his own book. Kind of reminds me of a high tech, more annoying version of Richie Rich.
Thundarr the Barbarian - So we finally get to see how the Sunsword ended up in Thundarr's hand, as well as how he used it to bust free and team up with Ariel and Oogla. Yet by the end they're setting up what seems to be a sort of time loop. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense yet, which is the kind of thing I expect from people who aren't smart enough to write time travel travel shenanigans. Still, the series has been fun, and very nostalgic. I always get the Michael Cho covers because they seem to be very Kirby-esque, which is fitting.
Dark Souls: Mother of Mourning - WHAT?!?! The Mother was actually a bad thing and they were supposed to try and prevent her from being made whole?!? Why, I NEVER would have guessed that. Still, it was a cool story. I think this fourth issue was the last one. If they do more, I might be interested.
Lobo - This was a kind of flashback issue, mostly to Lobo's youth on Czarnia. I've got to say, either Skottie Young did his homework, or he's a big Lobo fan from when he was a kid. This issue was filled with some cool callouts to the original 4 issue Lobo miniseries (hard to believe that 36 years ago). The Mauve Lantern was hilarious. I was not overly fond of the art for the flashback sequence, but it did sort of fit the story. Except the Space Dolphins didn't look right.
Punisher - Ouch! Just Ouch! Frank is back to "normal". Jigsaw is just...disturbing. Nice elements of a kind of body horror. And Tombstone...I had nearly forgotten he had superhuman abilities now. What an...interesting way to showcase them. I just hope they finish up this Jigsaw story quickly and move along to other villains.
Battle Beast - So much for the unkillable monsters. I'm starting to realized some of the more interesting parts of this series are the characters who aren't BB. Salaka is trying to keep the throne he thinks he's entitled to (no matter how poorly he suits it). The former ship AI now going by Zoolah seems to be helping rebuild, but still hates Battle Beast enough to want him dead. And we've got a new character as a potential rival for the throne. And now we've got Conquest. Considering what I know about Battle Beast, I really am not so sure Conquest could put up much of a challenge to him.
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Fireborn - Second issue, and I've quickly come to realize this series ties directly into Lost Fantasy. Not sure why they need a second series to tell part of the same story. Anyway, there's a good fight between the kid (now bonded with this ancient dragon) and some mercenaries (one of whom is like the trickster Monkey King). They also introduced a few more players into the game. There was a second chapter with the villain from Lost Fantasy and his group of strange faced minions. That would have been better served being in the LF book though.
Lost Fantasy - Damn! There's more betrayal and back stabbing in this series than a convention of rogues. There's another merc who kind of seems like a Cable rip off. We also get introduced to some ancient magical being who's been imprisoned for a long time, but is being used (and vice versa?) by the villain. There's also a back up chapter where Henry and his lady friend are battling...Nazi Dinosaurs? That's....different. This series continues to be weird, but weirdly entertaining. I get the feeling it comes from other source material (like a video game or something) that I'm unfamiliar with.
Green Lantern - I don't know much about this character Odyssey, except I don't really like her. Seems like they're setting her up to be just another misunderstood villain. Add in aliens wearing skin suits, this is a really odd turn for the series to take. I think it also showcases one of DC's main problems with the GL franchise - too many human GLs. Still, it's nice to see Kyle not only back in action, but kicking some butt.
Corpse Knight - This series is starting to remind me of some of the French stories of REH. You've got the little girl and her zombie(?) father. You've got a famous French historical setting a (and figure of legend in Joan). And now in the second issue we get a haunted forest, complete with a devil worshipping murderer who has a cool mask. Fun.
BRZRKR: Light Draws Breath - I've been impressed with most of the previous one-shots set in the BRZRKR universe. Not this one. I though it was kind of idiotic and boring. And the art was, at times, very much like something out of a kid's Saturday morning cartoon from the 70s or 80s. If I see another book with the creative team's names, I'll probably skip it.
Swamp Thing '89 - The last issue was more focused and coherent. This one kind of jumps all over the place. And I see they continue to fall into that trap of thinking a Swamp Thing story can only be good if it has Constantine. As much as I've enjoyed stories with that character, I tend to think of him as a bit overblown. It was cool to see Shining Knight, though. And an elderly Anthro. Tom Mandrake's art was awesome.
Hyde Street - Though much delayed, this series is still awesome. They're definitely looking to upset the apple cart, so to speak. By the time this arc is done, things are going to look pretty different. That is, if Hyde Street still exists. I'm almost beginning to think Johns might be working towards some endgame for the series. Ivan Reis' art was phenomenal. The Butcher of Hyde Street is brutal.
Conan the Barbarian - The showdown between Conan and The Son of the Tooth. Great villain for our hero. And their battle is brutal, stretching across the entire issue. The Tooth is almost more than a match of Conan. Braithwaite's art is very dynamic, and he captures the combat between the two warriors well.