The Micronauts #1 & #2 (Marvel/1979)

 

On Homeworld Royal fugitives are fleeing their pursuers, followers of the mass uprising against the ruling order but this is no normal revolution. The rebellion has been fostered by blackmail by the Baron Kaza who offers the people of the Microverse immortality but only on one condition, they obey him as ruler.

Immortality via the science of the body banks is a great temptation to give u one's freedom especially if entertainment in the form of gladiatorial combat is the main release for this new civilisation. The Royals and their supporters opposed this barbarism and are now in danger as they are gradually hunted down.

Their world has been ruled by Baron Karza for a thousand years and as an ancient explorer returns from the stars and Commander Rann finds all has been in vain since warp drive has been invented in the years of his absence and Homeworld has conquered, enslaved and ravaged many alien worlds and civilisations.

Coming together in the arena the central characters of our story Commander Rann, Mrionette (the Princess in disguise), Bug, Acroyear and Biotron make good their escape to the edges of their universe and escape through the space-wall.....with a little help from the enigmatic Time Traveller.

Arriving on an unknown world they soon discover how small they are in comparison to the inhabitants of earth as they confront a monster or dog as we would know the creature and tangle with a lawn mower. It's not long before the now permanently breached space-wall allows Baron Karzas Battle cruisers through and the lad doing the gardening becomes the ally of our heroes.

Escaping they leave a wrecked back garden with a teenager wondering how to explain what just happened.

At long last I am now aware of the background of the toys turned comic book characters by Marvel. One of two I read back in the seventies, though only a handful of these as Rom was more to may taste but these things were toys and or cartoons like The Transformers and passed me by as a long haired student.

Biotron Toy (Souce Wiki: Fair Use)

The Micronauts were made by by Mego from 1976 to 1980 and I actually don't recall seeing these things. Seems the comic outlasted the toys as they were revived by IDW a few years back. The is particular comic book series lasted 59 issues which is a respectable run and there revivals and team-ups later on. I may well pick up some more of this series.

Action Comics #347 (DC/1967)

 

From simpler times comes this wonderful collection of old Supergirl adventures published in the "80 Page Giant" format that was the only way to get collections before the advent of the trade paperback/graphic novel. These tales span the first 10 years or so of Supergirl's appearance in the DC Universe which took place in Action Comics #242 back in 1959.

At first Clark kept Kara a secret as she adapted to Earth and was his secret weapon should the need arise. By the time this comic was published Earth and the universe was seemingly teeming with Kryptonians and there was lots of Kryptonite of various colours two of which did not effect Superman or his cousin as we saw in The Son of Bizarro a three part tale from Superman #140 (1960).

I

n this tale Supergirl acts as a "super-babysitter" for a young super-powered baby that arrives on Earth not knowing he is the "ugly son" of Bizarro. In a school experiment Kara thinks she has transformed the boy into a bizarro when in fact he had just hit the right age to be "bizarro". 

In a failed attempt to transform him back a Bizarro Supergirl is created who wants to keep the baby initiating a war between an army of Bizarro Supermen and the Earth. Sadly Bizarro Supergirl is killed by blue kryptonite and the Bizarro family are re-united.

Other stories saw Kara as Linda Lee find her identity as Supergirl threatened by a boy who could literally see in the dark and turned out to be yet another super-powered human-like alien race. Kryptonite makes a second appearance in Supergirl's Super-Boyfriends as the red version makes her transform humans into super-men with just a kiss. Only lasts 48 hours but still causes problems.

The other notable story is the The Secret origin Of Supergirl's Super-Horse who comes from ancient times both cursed and empowered by magic. Overall a nice collection of charming tales from my childhood that I still love to read when the whim takes me.

Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious - Echoes of Extinction (Limited vinyl edition) (Big Finish audio)

 

Another addition to the continuing Time Lord Victorious mega-adventure this time featuring two Doctors though they don't actually meet. Each one ,David Tennant & Paul McGann have a side to themselves on this old fashioned but highly collectable blue and red vinyl format. 

The story opens with the Doctor (David Tennant) landing on someone's spaceship with the inevitable question of how did you get here and him protesting about having a gun stuck in his face. Normal fare for our renegade Time Lord.

Turns out the crew are heading to what turns out to be a very dead planet. One the Doctor should remember from a millennia ago or was it more recent. Either way there's danger here and using a sonic screwdriver to revive a robot lying amongst the ruins of a fallen civilisation isn't perhaps always a good idea.

There's a bounty to be had by Captain Frye and her crew but will they live to collect the ten million credits.

Meanwhile in the past a lone survivor and her robot await certain death when a mysterious blue box appears and out pops a Doctor, Paul McGann who declines to take Jasmine away preferring to deal with the evil within this space station. 

Two interconnected stories across time but why does the Doctor not remember.

Also available on CD from Big Finish: 

Rating: 4 Stars (Entertaining)

Planet of the Apes #3 (Marvel black & white magazine/1974)

 

In 1968 cinema goers were shocked, horrified and thoroughly entertained by the release of the film Planet of the Apes. So popular was the idea that it spawned no less than four sequels of which the last was actually pretty bad. My first experience of the franchise was the TV series launched in 1974 and became regular Saturday feature for a lot of families though interest did decline after a while.

It was inevitable that a comic would come along and Marvel made two attempts. The first launched in August 1974 was aimed at the adult readers market in a black & white magazine format that was popular at the time and allowed writers to avoid the restrictive Comics Code. 

This issue contained two continuing stories Spawn of the Mutant Pit plus an adaptation of the main movie. The former story was an interesting exploration of the possibilities of the world of the apes. 

Planet of the Apes lasted for 29 issues until 1977. In 1975 a bi-monthly four colour title was issued for the main comics market called Adventures on Planet of the Apes. It lasted for just 11 issues. However in the UK Marvel ran a weekly comic Planet of the Apes which ran for 123 issues which was so popular they ran out of original material and even put ape heads on character in Killraven to fill the gap. 

Of course it's all been revamped now for better or for worse and I did pick up some of the more esoteric crossovers published by Boom! Studios with Star Trek and Green Lantern which were fun if you come across them.

Deathsquad (Hardback Edition/Rebellion)

One of the most innovative and well remembered British war comics was the weekly Battle which featured a number of famous strips including this one which bucked the trend of content by feauring not British or Allied soldiers but that of the enemy.

Of course Deathsquad wasn't the first such attempt to view the war from the "other side" so to speak I recall reading others including Charlton Comics Captain Willy Schultz DC Comics Enemy Ace though the latter from the First World War was probably less controversial all round.

The Germans or "Krauts as we used to call them were all Nazi's as far as we were all concerned, the ultimate enemy of humanity. Plainly this was not entirely true. Many Germans resisted Hitler and paid for it with their lives such as The White Rose organised by a group of students from The University of Munch. 

Whilst most Germans held their heads down and avoided politics some retained their humanity as best they could which on the Eastern Front where this tale takes place was probably the hardest thing for any combatant to do. This was total war between two monolithic ideologies, two dictatorships as murderous as each other. The Russians however were our allies and without them the war may have had a very different outcome but that is a matter for another day.

This is the tale of five men in a Punishment Battalion "Grandad", "Swede", "Gus", "Frankie" and the resident Nazi "Licker". At best they can be considered anti-heroes since they were not all bad even though they fought for the enemy.

Most of the action takes place on the eastern front and is brutally portrayed by both the writers and artists involved. There is a lengthy sequence on the Atlantic Coast where the squad face British commando's before returning to the Eastern Front never to be heard of again. 

Deathsquad appeared in Battle from July 1980 to June 1981. One further story is taken from the Battle Annual 1982.

This volume is still available from Rebellion: 2000ad.com

Rating 5 Stars (Recommended)

Fusion (Three issue mini) (Top Cow ft Marvel/2009)

 

Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (w) Tyler Kirkham (a)

Having just read the Captain Atom crossover with Wildstorm I thought I'd re-read this mini series published by Top Cow utilising Marvel characters in an obvious attempt to promote their lesser known properties including Hunter Killer which was new at the time and Cyberforce one of their nineties efforts that were occasionally revived.

The Marvel characters involved included the Avengers and for me the unfamiliar Thunderbolts who were also a "thing" back then, certainly Venom has become a major part of the Marvel Universe in the decade that followed this series but I have to confess have never read.

The story takes place just after the Civil War (for which I will never forgive Tony Stark) and in order for the reader to understand what is going on and who is who there is a character guide at the front of each issue. Reminded me so much of Mighty Comics' Crusaders story Too Many Superheroes published very tongue in cheek back in the sixties.....

Deep in the woods Ellis is sitting by a fire when something happens and the Avengers are alerted to fact  and head towards a reported "superhuman incident".  A lorry thrown in the sky knocks their Quinjet out of the sky and the team find themselves up against a creature that looks like a cross between Lobo and Wolverine. 

Turns out this is some kind of alien symbiote that has an effect on Ripclaw (an actual Wolverine rip off) who is part of the Cyberforce team who suddenly appear and the inevitable hero on hero fight takes place. Add the Thunderbolts, Norman Osbourne and The Morningstar (from the Top Cow Universe) and all you have to is allow for other Hunter Killer operatives to arrive and it's all a bloody mess.

Not a bad story, not a great one either.  Great art though! Far too many characters in too few issues and the mix that suggests they all exist in the same shared universe is best ignored. I can't remember if this crossover was reciprocated by Marvel using Top Cow's characters but if I find it whilst going through my collection I'll let you know.

New comics out this week

 

Wednesday sees the release of the latest issue of Judge Dredd Megazine which comes poly-bagged with part five of the 2000AD Encyclopedia. There are no less than three new stories this month starting with part one of a new Judge Dredd epic Don't Drokk With Bobb plus a new Brit Cit based adventure in Diamond Dogs (Book Two). Also u is a compete Devlin Waugh story Lord of Lies which appears to act as prequel for a new multi-part adventure starting in the next Meg.

The alternative universe Megatropolis ends it's first outing in part eight of Book One. There is more to come in the future which is good news for fans of this rather classy version of Mega-City. Finally the living and the dead clash in Deliverance as the kids try to save their parents from Judge Death but are they too late?

Also out on Wednesday is the latest 2000AD which brings us the long awaited conclusion to Slaine's latest adventure Dragontamer from Pat Mills with great art from Leonardo Manco who also provides the cover to the latest prog.

Also concluding with an almighty bang this issue is the three part Thargs Thriller Chorus & The Ring, plus continuing instalments of Judge Dredd, Thistlebone and Feral & Foe.

Finally Panini release the second issue of their new Amazing Spider-Man series which continues the story begun in the first issue. (Image not available at time of writing)

Still Available: Marvel Universe: X-Men #1, Commando #5427 to #5430.

Fast Forward #126 (Feb 12 -18 1992) (BBC Magazines)

The main TV related magazine/comic combo for most kids of the seventies and eighties was ITV's Look-in which actually ran from 1971 to 1994. The BBC launched a short lived rival BEEB in 1985 which passed most people by and lasted a mere 20 issues. I picked one of these up out of interest and included a review in my recent Look-in to the Eighties series.

However the BBC did try again in 1989 with another magazine Fast Forward. Of course by then I was well past taking any interest in such magazines but Fast Forward went on to outsell Look-in and lasted until 1995 by which time ITV's long lived magazine had folded like so many publications and comics in the nineties as tastes and times changed.

Having never read a copy I picked up one from random on ebay sadly sans some of the pinup pages. frankly I was really only interested in the comic strips and Eastenders in particular.  

Whilst the Grange Hill story was normal comic fare, the Eastenders was literally a cartoon strip and this edition featured Arthur causing mayhem in his car. Disappointing and certainly not worth bothering about. There was a third story featuring New Kids On the Block and Take That which didn't interest me either.

Frankly Fast Forward was not up to the standards of the Look-in magazine that I had seen or read over the years. The only innovation was the inclusion of multi channel TV guides which resulted from a change in the law. Look-in was also able to take advantage of this.

I've not seen any issues of Look-in from this period so don't don't know how they compare. Maybe one of these days I'll pick up a copy or two.

Number one in the charts that week were the fabulous Shakespears Sister. I still have an album of theirs plus a couple of 12" singles of their which get played from time to time!

Marvel Universe: X-Men #1 (Panini)

 

It's been a long time since I've read an X-Men comic. I read a lot of the early issues via reprints in Fantastic and Marvel UK editions plus more than a few of the Claremont/Byrne run that made the team famous but after returning from my break in the nineties to comic collecting I found that it was impossible to keep up with all the changes and the huge number of X-titles on the market.

There was an exception I did read the House of M mini-series some years back and did try out Grant Morrison's run but frankly nether raised my interest particularly. However with Panini slowly releasing a new wave of Marvel UK titles and being entertained by the new Spider-Man comic I thought I'd give this a try.

The two most noticeable things about Marvel Universe: X-Men is the size and price. It contains the page count of five US comic-books for a price of £7.99 which seems expensive but is good value. Given the general price of magazines these days it's not unreasonable but may be out of the range of younger readers.

Then there's the story. I entered a world almost unfamiliar to me. Charles Xavier seems somewhat different and I see Jean grey is alive again. Mutants are on the ascendancy and they want their nation Krakoa which seems to be sentient. Some mutants now live in colonies in outer space, mostly within the Shi'ar Empire

The story also takes place across a wide time-line which requires a re-reading for those like me whose knowledge of the X-Men is somewhat limited. This first issue with well over 100 pages reprints the oversized issues of House Of X #1 and Powers Of X #1 plus House of X #2.

I found this difficult to rate but for value it gets a 5 Star Rating. Trouble is I'm really not sold on the story-line which relies on the reader having fairly up to date knowledge of what's been going on amongst Marvel's mutants but has good art work and seriously have to consider whether to invest in this series given financial constraints.

Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars (X-Men fans will enjoy but difficult for the casual reader)

Battling Britons Edited by Justin Marriott (Out Now)

 

Growing up in the sixties and seventies one of the most popular genres of comic book stories was the Second World War, though other conflicts did feature. I recall being taken to the now closed cinema in Dorking to see Zulu as a young child by my father and being memorised by the spectacular action. A little later we went to see The Battle of Britain. These two films are two of all-time favourites.

War stories were common to all the "boys papers" I picked up like Victor and Valiant plus there were all those little "pocket picture library" books like Commando, Battle and Air Ace which despite their heavier cost often found their way into my young hands.

The Second World War was the main focus of these tales as so many peoples parents and grandparents had lived & fought their way through those difficult years. My own mother was a holocaust survivor having fled Czechoslovakia at the age of 8 when the Germans invaded. 

This country remained proud of it's stand against the Nazi's and these ideas of heroism and British resourcefulness found their way into the British national consciousness. Even Dad's Army represented the ethics of this plucky little nation.

This weighty volume contains over 200 reviews of various war stories from British comics of those two decades and later mainly focusing on the picture libraries but also looking at the later and more gritty Warlord and Battle comics launched in the seventies.

This book can be rad in two ways either straight through or as I have chosen to dip in and out in a quiet moment and am quietly considering which comics to try and grab hold of. There's quite a lot I'd like to read but despite coveting them all like most people I am limited by time, money and other interests. 

The reviews seem fair from looking at these stories I have read and these are amusingly awarded grenades" rather than "stars" as I do for new publications on this blog.  There's plenty of illustrations to tantalise the collecting bug inherent in our dna so all I can say is grab a copy direct from Amazon.

Rating: 5 Stars plus (Highly Recommended)

Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious - Genetics of the Daleks (Big Finish audio)

 

At first this seems a fairly typical Fourth Doctor adventure (sans companion which was a pity) as the Tardis lands on a colony ship where things are going missing and the Security officer has been accidentally electrocuted. No wonder this strange looking man (that they call a "space vagrant") attracts blame as usual and is locked up.

But there's more to it. Members of the crew are not who they appear to be and their onboard science officer has found a frozen Dalek. There was no creature inside (he says) when it was opened., so there is no danger.

Of course we all know there's going to be a Dalek somewhere and w the listener is not to be disappointment as the Wiley creature appears out of ha hiding place and continues to instruct his "protege" (soon to be slave) to build a machine though for what purpose is not yet revealed.

And there's a twist that ties in with another Time Lord Victorious audio which takes place in the future before this story,. Time travel can be so confusing. So look out for Paul McGann's Mutually Assured Destruction story in this on-going series of audio stories.

Available from: www.bigfinish.com

Project Superpowers Chapter One (8 & 1/2 issue mini series) (Dynamite/2008)

 

Alex Ross & Jim Krueger (w) Doug Klauba & Stephen Sadowski (a)

There are apparently a huge array of "Golden Age characters whose copyright has expired and are now in the public domain. Most of these were unfamiliar to me. I'd heard of The Black Terror and read a small press version of The Green Lama but otherwise this was a whole universe of characters  reintroduced to a new generation.

This issue begins with an introductory #0 issue that tells the tale of war, heroism and eventual betrayal of the USA's super-heroes by The Fighting Yank who in an attempt to prevent evil from being in the world is persuaded to use a mystical urn to imprison these forces once again but the heroes must be sacrificed alongside. This of course is a mistake and  one that in the present day or rather a rather alternate version of our world Bruce Carter comes to regret.

Persuaded by The American Spirit (don't ask) he travels to the Himalayas to link up with the The Green Lama and admit his crime. The Fighting Yank expects to be killed but isn't and is offered tea before they both go off to meet The Dynamic Family in New York who are guardians of the urn amongst other artefacts.

This family have become the powerhouse behind the American economy and have advanced science so much there are no longer "casualties" in the US armed forces (though there is a price we will discover later. The Dynamics have also turned away from the path of heroism and as the urn is produced Mr Dynamite deliberately destroys it and tells them he had it exorcised. The heroes will be long gone.

Realising their mistake too late the Green Lama and Fighting Yank are taken prisoner where the inevitable fight begins with a very vengeful Black Terror joining the fray vowing to kill Bruce for what he did but opposes the Dynamics first.

It appears the destruction of the urn simply scattered the heroes around the world an d as each issue rolls out new characters are introduced The Devil, The Flame, Masquerade and the Mighty Samson amongst others come into a world they do not know.

A war begins between the heroes and the Dynamics who are in service to "The Council" but not a part and New York is captured by the Lama who has "Swamp Thing" like powers and controls the green it seems. He uses Black terror to gather the heroes as they are found.

Samson discovers the secret behind the lack of "casualties" as in total blasphemy fallen soldiers are returned to life and enhance Frankenstein style to fight again and again.  The ensuing war between the heroes and the Dynastic sees the "death" of Dynamic Boy and the heroes are designated terrorists as the battle continues.

The story will continue in a second charterer though ther is one of those expensive h1/2 issues in between which should be  read after #7 an will reveal some of the secrets as yet untold. The story initially runs through h a a number of mini-series featuring Back Terror, Masquerade and The Devil (or original "Daredevil" if you prefer but the next stage is set.

With good story telling and great art (under the direction of Alex Ross this first chapter of the Project Superpowers saga is a great read and in time I will get around to looking at further parts. Still available in print I believe and worth picking up as Dynamite put a lot of effort into this series.

Young Avengers: Sidekicks (Panini)

 

Image: Jon Carpenter

With the lock-down gradually being lifted the comics industry is beginning to revive and appear on the shelves in shops. I've already purchased and reviewed the first issue of Panini's new Spider-Man comic though skipped over their Falcon & the Winter Soldier offering as I have never been a fan of The Falcon and remain annoyed that Marvel brought "Bucky" back from the dead. Sometimes characters should remain in their graves otherwise their "deaths" which once had such an impact on story-telling loses it's "gravitas".

I was however surprised to see this collected edition on the shelves in Sainsbury's especially as this story arises out Avengers Disassembled which was way back in (and I had to look this up) 2004 in Avengers Vol 3 issues #500 to #503. I have these buried in a long box somewhere but what I never read was the Young Avengers maxi-series that this book collects the first six issues of.

With the Avengers no more a group of super-powered teens suddenly appears and J Jonah Jameson wants the full story for his sensationalist rag The Daily Bugle. He sets two of his ace female journalist on the job including Jessica Jones a former super-hero herself and partner of Luke Cage.

No sooner than out of the building they are joined by Iron Man and Captain America who want to stop these "kids" as they see them. Steve Rogers still remains in mourning for Bucky which is why junior sidekicks never formed part of the Marvel Universe, plus the fact Stan lee hated the concept!

We don't have to wait long for the team to re-appear as hostages are taken at a local cathedral and enter Patriot, Hulkling, Wiccan and Iron Lad. They ed up buggering up the rescue but with a little help from the future Hawkeye the criminals are stopped.

The team return to their hiding place deep within the Avengers Mansion where they are confronted by Cap and Tony Stark and told to stop. They are waiting for Kang to attack but Iron Lad has a secret that will out and may doom the time-stream itself.

I have no idea as to whether this team are still around in modern day continuity but odd as Panini's choice may seem I'd like to see more especially with the great artwork of Jim Cheung. Depends on sales I guess. So get out there and pick up a copy or order direct if you can't!

Rating: 4 Stars (Recommended)

The Incredible Hulk Annual 1978 (World Distributors)

 

The Incredible Hulk was always one of the mainstays of Marvel UK having appeared in their first British comic the well remembered Mighty World of Marvel in 1972 which ran for some 329 issues untill the format change when  the title was changed to simply Marvel Comic and the Hulk got his own weekly which ran for some 60 odd issues before merging with Spider-Man Weekly.

In addition the Hulk had a number of Annuals of which this was the first from 1978 from World Distributors then Grandreams and finally Marvel UK itself intermittently up until 2009. There was also a Spider-Man/Hulk Omnibus and Pop-Up book.

This particular annual starts off with a three page recap of The Hulk's origin story by Stan lee and Jack Kirby before taking us into the main feature which reprints the Hulks Adventures from Tales To Astonish #62 to #66 from 1964 to 1965.

Captured by General Ross the Hulk is helplessly trapped as a mysterious villain called The Leader sends in one of his agents, the Chameleon to investigate what has happened to his agent. In this story sequence The Leader discovers the existence of the Hulk and seeks either to destroy or use old Greenskin for his own nefarious purposes.

We are also told the gamma ray induced origin of the Leader and the President of the United States is told by Rick Jones the secret that Bruce banner is hiding. Of course  th jealous Major Talbot is determined to prove Banner is an agent of the "reds" which coincides with Bruce being "rescued" and kidnapped by a commie submarine.

Of course neither the Hulk or Banner are prisoner for very long in this story by Stan Lee with artwork from Steve Ditko. The annual is published in full colour unlike Marvel's own UK output back in the day. Worth picking up and a lot cheaper than collecting the original US editions!

Green Lantern: Season Two Volume One (DC)

 

Grant Morrison (w) Liam Sharp & Xermnico (a)

If there's one thing that Grant Morrison can create with his writing it's something surreal and alien which makes his foray into the intergalactic world of green Lantern a joy to read, though I'd be the first to admit that the stories always benefit from a second reading a little later on.

And so having read and digested his "Season One" adventures of Hal Jordan there was for me a necessity to dive into "Season Two" continuing Hal's adventures with the Blackstars and the Universe of Mu. I was not to be disappointed.

This bulky volume collects Green Lantern: Blackstars #1 - #3 plus Green Lantern: Season Two #1 to #6, a total of nine comics in all. The first part of Morrisons's story addresses the Blackstars plot to bring peace through genocide and control to the universe and sees the manipulation of both Mongul of Warworld and Superboy (Jon) of Earth.

Brother Parallax (Hal Jordan) has a mission but will his impending marriage to Belzebeth may scupper his plans to bring back a Universe in which the Green Lanterns still exist.

Of course the fact that the Green Lantern series returns as was is a bit of a giveaway though it's unlikely any reader would have expected anything different and we begin a new adventures in which some rather young, more "nubile" Guardians will make an appearance along with some wonderful creatures saved from Earth's past who adopt "Uncle Hal".

Then there's anti-matter Lanterns, space stations and Ultra-villains galore all of which must be faced regardless of the cost to Hal himself. However the despite being warned bu the Guardians will our favourite Green lantern survive? 

After all he's died before hasn't he......will Hal listen? Nah....

Rating: 5 Stars Plus (Highly Recommended)