Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures (Volume One/Panini)

In lieu of a "Marvel Select" edition this month Panini have issued the first volume of a series of Star Wars adventures licensed by Disney and oddly produced by IDW publishing rather than Marvel. Even stranger is that this is a new on-going series and the second volume is not yet complete at the time of writing though depending on the frequency of this new project should be available for publication soon. 

This first volume reprints the first five issues of the IDW series and takes place in a time well before the Skywalker saga that is at the centre of Star Wars. The action takes us to the far corner of the galaxy and sees Yoda lead a band of inexperienced padawans to Trymant IV which is under attack by the Nihil who appear to be a band of marauders who are on a mission to retrieve an ancient artefact.

Roentgen the central two characters Zeen Mrala and Krix Kamarat who like a pair of star-crossed lovers from Romeo & Juliet end up being separated by warring houses. Zeen has a secret she has hidden all her life and it's this that will separate the two on different sides of this conflict.

Overall the story is rather messy and assumes a lot of the reader though there is the occasional guide. There are so many characters it's difficult to remember who is who other than the main half dozen. The artwork which is not bad but I would have thought more suited to fantasy rather than science fiction, competent but not adding to the cosmic appeal of the Star Wars Universe.

There will obviously to be a second volume of this series unless sales really don't justify it and I'll be in the market to see how this turns out. However of all the major science fiction franchises I generally find Star Wars doesn't quite translate well into comics. Star Trek does and Doctor Who can do but when I've tried Star Wars comics I haven't stuck with them for long.

Titan did start a monthly Star Wars comic based on the Dark Horse line but it didn't take which surprised me. Maybe these oversized "bookazines" as Panini markets them are the answer, though frankly I'd have chosen something from Marvel rather than this but then it's younger set of heroes may appeal to younger readers.

Rating: 3 stars (Average)

Marvel Universe: X-Men #8 (Panini)

 

A little later than usual I finally got around to reading the latest issue of Marvel Universe: X-Men which is one of the best comics on the British market and having long ago actually given up on Marvel's Merry Mutants that is a big turn around for me. These comics are a solid read and frankly with five US editions packed into each issue a real bargain.

At the moment the comic has veered away from the main X-Men story line taking us through the British orientated Excalibur then The Marauders (which turned out to be a lot more interesting than I thought it would be to now introducing X-Force.

The X Force story takes the reader back to the world of human prejudice against the mutants. Partially out of fear but also clear racism. Secret societies with masks updated from the old-fashioned Klansmen outfits but the same old hate plus blood tests which leads to the exposure of Domino spying on these extremists.

From here we go through a tale of subterfuge, subversion and sneak attacks which lead to the death of a major character. Not sure how permanent that will be given the resurrection facilities but this time the X-Men are not hopeful.

Next up is the continuation of The Marauders with Kitty pride hard at on the high seas. There's an unexpected rescue, exposure of bigotry, international crime and yet another possible death which will not be resolved for a while as the story-line is to be continued..

However this will not be in the next issue as The Marauders are replaced by the New Mutants a group I have never bothered with . It didn't appeal so I'll have to keep an open mind on this addition to the line up. X-Force is continuing but I have to ask the obvious question:

When will we return to the main X-Men story?

Rating: 5 Stars

Batman Secret Files: Peacekeeper-01 (DC)

 

Back in the sixties the now long defunct Chartlon Comics produced what they called their "Line of Action Heroes" which saw them create several new characters, revamp one and revive an Captain Atom since the mid sixties were the era of the superhero genre.

DC had added to and expanded their line-up but this was also the time Mighty Marvel was being established by Stan Lee his Co-creators Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many others. Even Archie comics was getting in on the act with it's short lived "Mighty Comics line. Then there was Tower Comics with its T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents.

Charlton already had Captain Atom a Steve Ditko creation from earlier in the sixties with a very typically "Cold War" theme that was common at the time. Ditko who had fallen out with Stan Lee was back with Charlton where he rebooted the Blue Beetle and created The Question who was very much a controversial "hero" who with his Ayn Rand influenced philosophy left a criminal to die in the sewers at the end of his only book length story.

There was also Peter cannon Thunderbolt, Judo Master and the Peacemaker. These characters as many will know were originally to be used by Alan Moore in his Watchmen series but since they were to be killed off DC decided otherwise and all but Thunderbolt were brought into the DC Universe. 

Moore used the Charlton heroes as the blueprints for his characters and The Question became Rorschach, Blue Beetle Nite Owl and Peace Maker Edward Blake amongst others.

Of all the Charlton heroes Peacemaker was my least favourite and has never really found a role in the DC Universe until perhaps now. This Secret Files ties in to the massive Fear State crossover going on in Gotham across the Batman line of comics but it's not difficult to pick up Peacemaker's predicament.

In-between current events the reader is entreated to the new back story for the Peacemaker which is neither particularly original or that good if I'm to be honest. Although it's difficult to judge this revamp from one story I wasn't that impressed.

Frankly unless you are either a Batman crossover completist or die hard Charlton collector this isn't really worth bothering with.

Rating: 1 Star 

Batman: Guardian of the Night #7 (Panini)

 

My trip to WHSmiths was unsuccessful for the second week running. I have already had to order the latest issue of Marvel Universe: X-Men by post (which arrived this morning) but was unable to pick up The Amazing Spider-Man due out yesterday. Hopefully it will arrive next week. All down to distribution problems being experienced in a lot of places.

As a result I chose to pick up the latest issue of their sole DC title Batman: Guardian Of the Night which has reached it's seventh edition. I had avoided this until now as the second feature was Batman: Universe which I purchased as a hardback collected edition during the lock-down. A worth while story if you haven't read it. 

That's now finished and the second feature is a reprint of Batman/Superman #7 featuring Ras-al-Ghul, Zod and the dead citizens of Kandor. Not having kept up with regualr DC comics I wasn't aware that Kandor had been wiped out. I have to say this looks like it might be a promising story so I'll stick with it.

Of course there was a problem with the main Batman feature for a first time reader as this is you might have guessed part seven of Dark Designs. It's not too difficult to pick upon at least part of the plot and since it features an entirely new villain I'll be back for the next issue. The comic also introduces the Joker's new beau Punchline who I had already come across in one of the Batman collected editions I purchased not to long ago. 

A but sad that Panini only publishes one DC comic. I'd like a Justice League comic but I guess given the fact Titan gave up the DC licence shows the market is not yet there more's the pity. Still they haven't published an Avengers comic either so one day....

Rating 4 Stars

Doctorwho: The Lost Resort and Other Stories (Big Finish/Audio)

 

This box set featuring Peter Davision was actually released back in September but I only just decided to pick it up in lieu of the fact there are no longer "Monthly Adventures" series to collect. These box sets are a bit more expensive and as a result I've had to cut back on collecting these.

This latest set is pretty good value as I discovered since unlike all the others it actually has four instead of three CD's. However I am sure I paid far less than they are currently charging on their website. It appears the first story The Lost Resort may have been originally planned as one of the monthly releases and is a traditional four parter. This sees the Doctor and his companions Nissa and Tegan arrive on what appears to be a peaceful hospital planetoid. Of course being Doctor Who it's far from peaceful.

Photo: By This image was screencaptured and cropped by Alan-WK Fair use,

The team find themselves in a world of ghosts, lost voices a multi-bodied android intelligence and the Count who is far from being either honourable or even nice. There's even an appearnace from Adric. How is that even possible?  Traditional run of the mill Doctor Who but not a story I'd be in a hurry to listen to again.

Next up and thankfully confined to one CD in two parts is one of those "historical" type stories that always bored me to tears. The Perils Of Nellie Bly set around a journalist trying to beat the fictional Jules Verne 80 Days around the World adventure is something I will never bother listening to again.

The redeeming story from this box set is Nightmare of the Daleks. Set on a rig built on a water-world the workers are having nightmares in their sleeping pods about "robots". Some never wake and others die. What is going on and what sacrifice will the Doctor and his companions Tegan, Nissa and Mark have to make to beat these evil creatures? A good story with a sad ending.

There are plenty of better Big Finish releases to purchase so if your budget is limited avoid this one.

Rating 2 Stars

Ant #1 (Image Comics)

 

A little later than expected but the first issue of the re-launched Ant series is here and under new ownership with writer Eric Larsen creator of Savage Dragon. This will be the fourth attempt to give life to a character originally created by Mario Gully when he was in prison for robbery.

The first four issue series was published by Arcana Studios way back in 2004. I'm not quite sure why I chose to pick up this small press series but I was glad I did since the imaginary super-hero in a young girls mind provided an interesting back story for a "real" series which then appeared as an on-going series from Image comics. It lasted 11 issues and just petered out which was a shame but then lots of characters don't always make it. 

I also discovered (which will teach me for not paying attention) that Eric Larsen published the 12th and final part of the old series back in June. Guess I'll have to try and track down a copy as it's the only Ant comic I don't have!

Ant was just one of several characters I liked and have disappeared over the years. It's just the nature of comic book publishing. However Ant suddenly reappeared for a new series from Big City comics but that more "mature readers" effort was dropped after just three editions.

Mario Gully sold the rights for Ant to Eric Larsen and here we are with a fourth and I hope more successful attempt to give this character an outing. The hero is a young black girl Hannah Washington. This first issue presents her origin story and shows a lot of promise for the future. I certainly wish Eric luck with this.

Rating: 5 Stars (Recommended)

Sentinel #9 (Sentinel Publishing)

 

The latest issue of the pocket library sized Sentinel arrived on Saturday just in time for Halloween. I had intended to publish a review on the hallowed day itself but sometimes not everything goes to plan! In any case these kind of horror anthology comics should be read all the year round.

I published a gallery of the old horror and mystery comics I used to read yesterday. None of these are around anymore though there a couple of black and white mags available from Warrant publishing. 
This issue of Sentinel contains three stories set in the seventies framed with a host who is a "very naughty boy" according to the writer publisher Alan Holloway.

The first tale takes into the world of conspiracy theories. You know Lizards, the Illuminati and such like. In fact the tale simply entitled Illuminati sees a royalist hit on the head and not sure what he is seeing. You might not want to eat whist reading this one...

Next up are a couple of Geordie's who really shouldn't be going around painting graffiti in haunted houses. They really shouldn't. The story has an explosive outcome! Read Monster Ink at your peril.

Last but by no means least is  Seven Penny Nightmare which will particularly appeal to British comic nerds like me. No spoilers just read and remember.

Rating: 5 Stars (Recommended)