2000AD Sci-Fi Special (Rebellion)

 

Despite the gloom I see outside the window as I write the arrival of the 2000AD SciFi Special reminds me it is the summer holiday season not for me as I'm long retired but for you kids out there.! I used to love the summer special editions of comics we used to get back in the sixties. Huge volumes they were if published by Fleetway or giant sized from DC Thomson.

Today's editions are few are far between and Rebellion has cut back on them this year due to the pandemic which is understandable. However whilst the number of comics has bee reduced the quality certainly hasn't.

This Special really is what it says it is on the cover as it features one interconnected story across the Dreddverse which helps newer or less regular readers understand continuity. The action begins in a Judge Dredd story featuring an attack on one of the corporations. 

The action crosses over to Chopper now living in Australia and then hits Evelyn Waugh & Armitage in Brit City before crossing over into Japan.  It even possesses out favourite Psi-Judge! The world is under attack.

 

Humanity is under threat .

Can Dredd stop this threat from this unexpected yet understandable source? 

Humanity is guilty.

Rating: 5 Stars plus

Available from good newsagents or: 2000ad.com

The Indestructible Man (Hibernia)

 

The second of Hibernia's "Fleetway Files" volumes arrived yesterday featuring the adventures of a little known British comic book character The Indestructible Man which appeared in Jag  launched in May 1968.

Jag was a unusually large sized comic even for it's time with only The Beezer and The Topper being i the same range. It was't a comic that I remember particularly well and only had one or two copies back in the day. I certainly don't recall much of the content which means this story was quite fresh.

The introductory notes refer to influences from the superhero genre that was becoming popular as a result of the importation of American comics but The Indestructible Man was more than that being influenced by The Saint and Danger Man which were big British TV shows back the.

Certainly The Indestructible Man or Mark Dangerfield as he became known had a proper origin story and the stories were certainly comparable with much of the Silver Age output of both DC ad Marvel. It is easy to see that this could have been published in that format.

A man from ancient Egypt wrongly entombed alive for the murder of his father, the Pharaoh rises through the use of magics and fights evil wherever he finds it. Mark Dangerfield even has a weakness. Every so often he must enter fire or die of old age.

Readers should be aware that in order to producer this story the pages have had to be substantially reduced which means if you are a old git like me a strong pair of reading glasses is required but it does not ruin the enjoyment of these excellent stories. The last few pages are of "normal" sized reproductions as Jag reverted to the size of Fleetway's other titles in a short run before Jag merged with Tiger.

I look forward to further volumes of old British comics from this imprint which is produced in conjunction with Rebellion.

Rating: 5 Stars

Available from: www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia

Infinite Frontier: Secret Files #1 (DC)

 

In for a penny in for a pound as they say with this interesting but not cheap addition to the Infinite Frontier series. This is a collection of short stories by a variety of writers and artists with Bones of the Department Extranormal Operations at the centre.

Through a number of taped reports from Agent Chase we get to look into President Superman from Earth 23 and meet The Totality, well actually two of them both run by the respective Martian Manhunters of their Earths, An interesting mix of characters and a mission that the DEO will fid impossible to infiltrate it would seem.

We get to see Roy Harper get a beating plus Jade and Obsidian confront a near god-like being who has come to Earth to sing a song which despite it's inherent beauty will destroy the planet.

It seems that the recent destruction of the multiverse left some changes in our favourite Aussie villain that frighten even Bones with his cyanide skin. However it's the best that's saved till last as we meet the survivor of all the Crisis events and more, The Psycho Pirate which is best read rather than reviewed. It is important to the story overall.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Essential Reading for the Infinity Frontier event)

The Shield #1 (Archie Comics)

 

Being a fan of both the Archie Superhero line and Rob Liefeld ordering this comic was a no brainer when originally solicited and despite everything that has happened since I wasn't disappointed. 

This comic is very much a prelude to a much wider story and looks like an art showcase for Liefeld's work which is a joy for his fans though I'm aware he has his critics. The story such as it is is quite straightforward though since Liefeld got the boot before the whole four issue project was completed it's not clear whether this will ever go anywhere. One of the reasons Liefeld has his critics.

The Shield in the form of Joe Higgins the son of the original created in 1940 a full year before Captain America) is being attacked by a group known as the Burning Hand who are after his armour but are seemingly totally unprepared for the reality of it's indestructibility and the fighting abilities of it's wearer.

Meanwhile a group of Crusaders from different Earths are planning to track him down led by the latest incarnation of The Shield from what I assume is Archie' "Earth One" for want of a better term. 

The only one question remains. Will this story continue or ever be completed?

 

The Verdict? I really enjoyed this comic and it joins my ever growing pile of unfinished Liefeld projects...for now.

Rating 5 Stars (Highly Recommended)

Infinite Frontier #1 (DC)

 

A rocket comes to a field on Earth. The occupant is found by a middle aged couple. This is Kansas but the occupant isn't a baby Kryptonian, it's a adult Batman. The couple aren't the Kents either. Their adopted son is President Superman.

This isn't the Earth we normally see in DC. it's elsewhere in the Multiverse.

Thing is this Batman does't know which Earth he's from and wants Barry Allen The Flash to explain but as president Superman says..which one?

And so the latest event in the continuing saga of the DC universe begins with a mystery. Meanwhile elsewhere Ala Scott the original Green Lantern fights the good fight before meeting up with his so and journey to meet his daughter Jade when there's an explosion.

Meanwhile the Flash reaches a place no one has yet been Earth Omega and there is someone familiar waiting for him though in a new uniform and with a new Master who we can only guess at.

The multiverse has been reborn but there is another crisis coming.

Did I mention a Black Lantern?

Overall a good opening issue that opens up the promise af an adventure across the rich worlds of DC's characters and their doppelgangers across multiple dimensions. Even Captain Carrot puts in an appearance as does a Black Lantern so the die is cast for DC's latest Epic.

Rating: 5 Stars. (Highly Recommended)

Captain America Annual (Marvel/Grandreams/1981)

 

One of the most iconic of Marvel's super-heroes is Captain America who has been around in one form or another since being created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby back in 1941. Cap wasn't the first all-American flag bearing character that would be Archie Comics Shield but Steve Rogers has certainly outshone all his competition over the years.

The annual is of particular interest because it is the work of of James Steranko one of the best artists to enter the comics field albeit for too short a time as his obvious talent led him to more profitable pastures. 

This volume contains three issues of Captain America which make a complete story and see Steve Rogers take on the Hulk, pick up Ricky Barnes as a new combat partner dressed as his long-dead side-kick Bucky and the duo take on the might of Hydra.

The main protagonist turns out to be the heavily scarred Madam Hydra whose commitment to the if you fail you die philosophy makes one wonder why all these jokers sign up to be foot-soldiers for the organisation. Hail Hydra they say.

There's some wonderful art by Steranko over the three chapters including a psychedelic sequence when Rick finds himself drugged in Caps apartment and of course there is the shock moment when the unthinkable happens. 

Captain America dies! Hail Hydra!

Enter the Avengers and a faux funeral in which the team find themselves prisoners of Hydra. It is only the reappearance of one thought dead that saves the day. 

Worth grabbing a copy f you come across one!

Commando: 60th Anniversary

The Commando "pocket library" "war" comic has reached sixty years of continuous publication and the celebrate has published four brand new issues to celebrate this achievement. If you order them direct from the publisher they come with four prints of artwork from the cover.

Commando was first launched in June 1961 was an immediate success and part of an industry wide plethora of comics and stories devoted mostly to the Second World War which was far more recent in those days than now and many children had relatives who had fought in that brutal conflict.

There were competitors and these were by the time I had started buying them 1/- each and each story from Commando and it's rivals was complete in each issue. there were practically no continuing characters so there was no guarantee the heroes would return alive.

In my view even as a kid they were far superior to the albeit entertaining American rivals Sgt Fury and His Howling Commando's or Sgt Rock so much more realistic. War is a nasty bushiness and people die, these comics reflected that brutality even though the plucky Brits always managed to fight off the Krauts, Eyties and the Nips as we grew up referring to the Germans, Italians and Japanese.

All the other companies books eventually faded away leaving Commando as the sole survivor of a genre that had once dominated the British comics scene. These comics were also covering other conflicts than just the two world wars and there were stories about the Napoleonic Wars, Roman legions and even science fiction thrown in!

Commando has long surpassed the 5,000 issue mark and these anniversary issues are numbered #5447 to #5450 and include a sequel to the very first issue in Die Or Walk! Three of these are set in WW2 but one After 2045 is "science fiction".

Commando Comics are available from: commandocomics.com