Tagged: cosmic monkey

SHE-HULK #1 Misses the Charm of the 1980s!

It’s been quite a while since I visited my local comic book shop (Cosmic Monkey in PDX!!) but but the new ‘She-Hulk’ series I’d heard about gave me enough ammo to figure it would be worth finally stopping in for a visit again. I was pretty pumped to hear that She-Hulk was supposedly going back to her “roots” finally, something that’s been presented as more of a return to form to the original John Byrne series of the 1980s. Count me in!

 First I must admit, the cover(s) art for this debut issue is awesome and truly does remind me of the classic She-Hulk I grew to love back in the late eighties. I’m actually quite surprised that Marvel Comics seemingly decided to go back to the “sexy, flirtatious” version of Jennifer Walters. Especially since more recently this version of the character was to an extent considered is somewhat offensive to many.

People claimed that she was only used as a sex symbol by male writers & never truly fleshed out as a character, something that I actually highly disagree with.

 Nonetheless I was excited to see exactly what they were going to bring to the table in 2022. Unfortunately my hopes for this debut issue were squashed pretty quickly by what I consider to be weak and somewhat uninspiring storytelling.

 Most of the issue revolves around a rather pointless fight with her classic nemesis Titania, that I assume they were trying Inject some sort of witty comedy into. The rest of the issue spends a few pages getting into Jennifer Walters more personal problems as she moves back into her former apartment. That’s really about it in a nutshell. I didn’t really find much of anything to be memorable here, the dialogue was pretty flimsy and the artwork at some points was impressive and at others felt a bit rushed. 

 I guess a part of me had built up this return to form as possibly being a consisely comedic version of the character and her absurdly over the top adventures of years ago. Instead what I ultimately ended up with was yet another safely generic Marvel Comics relaunch. I guess in a way it was kind of what I was expecting and it’s certainly not the spark that’s gonna get me going back to drop another $4 to $5 on a comic book that literally takes just over 5 minutes to read in it’s entirety. I’m somewhat astounded that as comic prices dramatically increased the panels grew exponentially in size and now only take a matter of minutes to read. I would have hoped that the opposite would have occurred,  If you’re gonna charge 5 bucks for a comic book you’d better be bringing more bang for your buck!

 I can’t say I’ll be going back for more She-Hulk anytime soon, yet it has inspired me to dig out my old late eighties back issues. Who knows maybe I’m being too damn hard on things and perhaps my memory of the “golden era” of She-Hulk is something that won’t hold up in 2022. If this is any indication though of what the live action MCU series is going to be like I guess I’m gonna be pretty disappointed. There’s so much fun to be had with She-Hulk, a more of a classic “Sex in the City” style approach to the series with some clever writing is what I was hoping more for. I’ll save my true anticipation for the series launch on Disney Plus this year with my fingers firmly crossed....

Advertisement

Video Tonfa Collected: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of VHS!

I’m super excited to get this brand spankin’ new collected version of ‘Video Tonfa’ just released by Floating World Comics here in Portland Oregon. I’ve posted here before about indie comic artist, writer & publisher Tim Goodyear’s incredibly inventive & honest movie reviews which can be read regularly in Pork Magazine – But now movie maniacs can get a collected version of over 600 pages worth of them.

videotonfauniversaldork

Goodyear not only reviews them in his own words but also recreated each movie’s classic and not so classic VHS covers. Any fan of cult, weirdo, horror, action and the like is bound to dig the creativity and time put into this project. Also reviewed are probably a truckload of flicks you’ve never heard of and that alone can lead you to some pretty excellent film finds if you’re willing to take the time to track em’ down for yourself!

Luckily Goodyear has put in the long hours to weed through it all for for you and give you his own take of what’s been overlooked in the vast sea of lost VHS treasures and turds. So yeah, if you’re like me and just can’t seem to get enough of the largely forgotten cinema of yesteryear then this is a book you’ll wanna reference quite often! Check it out here!

This Week’s Comic Book Reviews! Jack Burton Returns….

Here we are with some quick comic book reviews from my haul at the shop this week! If I had a million bucks I’d be reading or testing so many more, but these books add up quickly at 4 bones each! So let’s get started here!

1. Big Trouble in Little China #1, Boom! Studios I've been looking forward to this one for quite a while as we have John Carpenter & Eric "The Goon" Powell writing it together. This one starts off literally right where the movie ends which is a cool thing for die hard fans! Though I enjoyed the issue it's tone felt a little off from the movie and maybe a little too cartoony for it's own good. It felt like it was a full on comedy, which isn't bad but it left me craving a little more adventure and perhaps slightly slower pace to bring us directly back into this sequel. I kinda imagined I was reading the lost story board for the never made second film. The dialogue was pretty fun, I will say I could totally picture Kurt Russell's voice the entire time I was reading. I'm not a huge fan of the artwork for this issue, it's not to say Brian Churilla isn't a great artist, but one thing I enjoyed about the movie so much was the awesome set pieces and most of the time in this issue the backgrounds are simply blank solid colors, which for me feels a bit lazy for something we have waited this long for. This issue is getting a lot of buzz, as I do recommend it I'm not sure yet if this one will keep me on board for the entire ride. I'll be back for issue #2 though...

1. Big Trouble in Little China #1, Boom! Studios
I’ve been looking forward to this one for quite a while as we have John Carpenter & Eric “The Goon” Powell writing it together. This one starts off literally right where the movie ends which is a cool thing for die hard fans! Though I enjoyed the issue it’s tone felt a little off from the movie and maybe a little too cartoony for it’s own good. It felt like it was a full on comedy, which isn’t bad but it left me craving a little more adventure and perhaps slightly slower pace to bring us directly back into this sequel. I kinda imagined I was reading the lost story board for the never made second film. The dialogue was pretty fun, I will say I could totally picture Kurt Russell’s voice the entire time I was reading. I’m not a huge fan of the artwork for this issue, it’s not to say Brian Churilla isn’t a great artist, but one thing I enjoyed about the movie so much was the awesome set pieces and most of the time in this issue the backgrounds are simply blank solid colors, which for me feels a bit lazy for something we have waited this long for. This issue is getting a lot of buzz, as I do recommend it I’m not sure yet if this one will keep me on board for the entire ride. I’ll be back for issue #2 though…

Lobster Johnson "Get The Lobster" #4, Dark Horse What can I really say about Lobster Johnson? If you love movies like Indiana Jones and noir type adventure stories you'll greatly enjoy this storyline! Issue number 4 is jam packed with more weird ass characters & awesome art by Tonci Zonjic. It even has a cool ass battle that pits the Lobster against a metal armed man & giant Gorilla (who also sports mechanical arms) in a miniature model city. This goes down more like a brawl from a Godzilla movie! Anyway John Arcudi and Mike Mignola keep the bizarre story tightly intact furthering my desire to see Guillermo Del Toro tackle a big screen adaptation of this always excellent title. If you're not familiar with Lobster Johnson you're missing out big time!

Lobster Johnson “Get The Lobster” #4, Dark Horse
What can I really say about Lobster Johnson? If you love movies like Indiana Jones and noir type adventure stories you’ll greatly enjoy this storyline! Issue number 4 is jam packed with more weird ass characters & awesome art by Tonci Zonjic. It even has a cool ass battle that pits the Lobster against a metal armed man & giant Gorilla (who also sports mechanical arms) in a miniature model city. This goes down more like a brawl from a Godzilla movie! Anyway John Arcudi and Mike Mignola keep the bizarre story tightly intact furthering my desire to see Guillermo Del Toro tackle a big screen adaptation of this always excellent title. If you’re not familiar with Lobster Johnson you’re missing out big time!

 

Amazing X-Men #8 Marvel Wow I decided to add a Marvel comic to my small load this week! I was particularly X-cited to pick this one up and give it a try as it features my favorite Canucks The Alpha Flight! The five issue arc is called "World War Wendigo" and you know I love me some good Wendigo storys. This one is off to a fine start too as Wolverine travels up to Canada to visit his friend Heather Hudson (also known as Vindicator) to help her track down Guardian (her husband) who disappeared after they got into a possibly relationship ending lover's quarrel. The two of them suit up and go looking for him, but what they find ends up being and extremely dangerous situation for them both, especially Wolverine who no longer has his healing factor. This one looks and reads great so far, and i'm usually not a big Ed Mcguinness fan. The issue actually kind of reads like a horror movie which is perfect for a Wendigo storyline. I'm hoping the next issue features the rest of the Alpha Flight and generates some interest in the team again-they deserve their own monthly series again by a writer who can match the feel of the classic John Byrne run in the 1980's!

Amazing X-Men #8 Marvel
Wow I decided to add a Marvel comic to my small load this week! I was particularly X-cited to pick this one up and give it a try as it features my favorite Canucks The Alpha Flight! The five issue arc is called “World War Wendigo” and you know I love me some good Wendigo storys. This one is off to a fine start too as Wolverine travels up to Canada to visit his friend Heather Hudson (also known as Vindicator) to help her track down Guardian (her husband) who disappeared after they got into a possibly relationship ending lover’s quarrel. The two of them suit up and go looking for him, but what they find ends up being and extremely dangerous situation for them both, especially Wolverine who no longer has his healing factor. This one looks and reads great so far, and i’m usually not a big Ed Mcguinness fan. The issue actually kind of reads like a horror movie which is perfect for a Wendigo storyline. I’m hoping the next issue features the rest of the Alpha Flight and generates some interest in the team again-they deserve their own monthly series again by a writer who can match the feel of the classic John Byrne run in the 1980’s!

The Woods #2 Boom! Studios Here we are with another from Boom! Studios and it's a good one. Issue number one was one of my favorite debuts in some time. Issue #2 continues the story of the high school that's been mysteriously teleported & stranded on what appears to be an alien moon! We get a little more to the story as the teens have decided to take matters into their own hands and while the teachers spend most of their time sitting around a table, frightened discussing what their options are. It sets ups a nice teacher vs. student scenario that will be interesting to see unfold now that the kids feel they don't need to be listening to the adult anymore now that they're not on earth! Though this issue is not quite as page turning as the stellar first it's building the story nicely with even more crisp artwork than the previous. There's also some nice monster moments that I'm certain will make issue number three one not to miss. This one is becoming a favorite of mine quickly-go check this out!

The Woods #2 Boom! Studios
Here we are with another from Boom! Studios and it’s a good one. Issue number one was one of my favorite debuts in some time. Issue #2 continues the story of the high school that’s been mysteriously teleported & stranded on what appears to be an alien moon! We get a little more to the story as the teens have decided to take matters into their own hands and while the teachers spend most of their time sitting around a table, frightened discussing what their options are. It sets ups a nice teacher vs. student scenario that will be interesting to see unfold now that the kids feel they don’t need to be listening to the adult anymore now that they’re not on earth! Though this issue is not quite as page turning as the stellar first it’s building the story nicely with even more crisp artwork than the previous. There’s also some nice monster moments that I’m certain will make issue number three one not to miss. This one is becoming a favorite of mine quickly-go check this out!

 

T’was a good week at the Comic book shop! Let me know if there’s any other titles worthy of the 4 bucks a pop drop!!!