Wasteland #1

Another DC comic, this one I had never heard of before, but I saw it laying with some others that I have. The cover looks amazing, the layout and artwork come together really well, and the ‘Suggested for Mature Readers’ at the top made me really want to give it a shot.

Del Close and John Ostrander – Plot and Script
George Freeman – Cover Artist
David Lloyd – Art
William Messner-Loebs – Art
Donald Simpson – Art

December 1987

From Wikipedia:

Each issue (with the exception of the book-length final issue) consisted of three unrelated stories written by John Ostrander and/or Del Close. For the most part each issue featured a team of four artists, one of whom would illustrate each of the three stories, the fourth supplying that month’s cover (which would bear no, or at most only a thematic, connection to the interior contents). Initially, these duties were meant to rotate among Don Simpson, David Lloyd, Bill Loebs (credited under his full name William Messner-Loebs), and George Freeman, but by issue 13 Freeman, Lloyd and Loebs had all left the series (though Loebs returned for the last two issues). Later issues featured Bill Wray as a regular and such guest artists as Timothy Truman, Joe Orlando and Ty Templeton.

 

From Cloudfront

Three Different stories, all short, seem to need three different reviews… all short.

 

*SPOILS*

In the first piece you see four dead people sitting around a table, each with a massive grin. The detectives conclude it was from a mushroom called Foo Goo, and it brings a flashback to each person tasting it and then dying, each with a different background. Supposedly, one taste will make you see heaven, but one taste will also kill you. Each person at the table has a different reason for trying, be it that they have tried every other drug, that they want to be God for even a split second, or for almost no reason at all.

 

The second piece is called R.ab. It takes place in the future, also in a world similar to “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley. A couple hooks up through a computer, get married, and order a baby from the Egg and Sperm bank. The baby arrives and neither want to take care of it due to work, they talk about a divorce, get rid of the baby in a dark humor style “Retroactive Abortion” also known as R. AB. The couple then make up and order  another baby, due in 3 years.

 

The last one is called “Sewer Rat”, and is again drug based. A man is shooting rats in the sewer and he is not sure why, then hallucinates many a thing, from maps to dictionary pages, to himself, himself as a bat, and just an overall feeling of Hunter S. Thompson. In the last panel the character skates away next to a burning newspaper.

 

*SPOILS END*

 

The first one is called Foo Goo. David Lloyd did the artwork in this, and I think he did an amazing job. Fun little storyline with a bit of a look into society and humans. Overall amazing job.

Second one is called R.Ab. It is darker in the storyline, with 7/10 on the artwork. I enjoyed the look it had on society.

Third, I feel, was the best. Sewer Rat doesn’t really touch human emotions or society as a whole, it just kind of has fun with what the medium is. Great imagery in the artwork, fun little story… I would put this style as almost pre-deadpool in it’s idea of crazy.

 

9.5/10
Great Job

The World of Krypton #4 (mini series)

Those who know me well enough know that I am not too big on DC Comics nor DC characters. It was just the way I was raised, I suppose. That being said, anyone reading this would wonder why I chose the comic that I did. To be honest, the biggest reason is that I hate being ignorant on something that, on another field, I know much about. So on we go into a short review of a Superman based DC comic book.

 

The World of Krypton #4

Byrne (story), Mignola (Pencils), Garzon (Ink)

1987

Stolen from wikia.com

*Spoils!*

The opening panel is a rocket headed for the Daily Planet, where Clark Kent works, and Superman diverts it, bringing it to space for a bit of heat vision. Clark is seen on the street talking to Lois Lane and Jimmy, who are ready to write a story on it. Clark Kent tells them that Superman does this all the time, not story worthy, but that Lois should meet Superman later for a better story. Superman meets with her and starts a story about his home planet and it’s history. He goes into the war that started a new age (which resembles a life of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley), but that one man, Superman’s father, feels human emotion. When the planet is ready to explode from an ages old problem, Jor-El meets with the mother of his son for what appears to be the first time. Kal-El (Superman) is sent off on a ship to Earth, which Jor-El says is saving him by making him almost god-like under the yellow sun. By the end of the issue, you see that he sent him to Earth to feel emotions and live among people, rather than in solitude.

*/Spoils!*

Now to critique. I enjoyed the story, as it was not what I was expecting when I picked up the issue. It had a history that I never knew of Superman, and made an emotional connection to who Superman is, rather than the guy who can fly and has too many powers. The artwork in it was expected when I picked it up, and I enjoy this kind of art, as I grew up reading issues from the 80s more than any. The only downfall to it’s age is the lettering – it faded a bit on pages and was difficult to read. Aside from that, though, the issue was fun to read. It didn’t require any backstory to explain things (other than that bomb headed for the Daily Planet) and came to an actual ending rather than a ”To Be Continued…”

7.5/10

The Amazing Spider-Man #430 (Guest Starring Silver Surfer)

A few years back I was looking around online and thought ‘What would happen if Carnage took over other people?’ and ran across this set of issues where Carnage takes over the Silver Surfer. I looked at the date, and it showed 1998. I thought it would be hard to find those issues, so I put it in the back of my mind. Over the past few months my dad has been bringing a bunch of my stuff down here to Motown and in one of the boxes was comic books. I am pretty sure 98% of my comics were my dads before they were mine, so I have no idea where most of them came from. In one stack of randoms was this issue of The Amazing Spider-Man with the Silver Surfer and Carnage on the front, so I went and geeked out over actually having the issue that I thought I would never read.

 

Taken from Collectingcomix.com

 

As you can see, it is by DeFalco, Bennett, Larosa, and Milgrom. January 1998.

 

*Possible Spoiler Alert*

The issue starts with Spidey swinging around when he shouldn’t be, knowing that there is a bounty on his head. He says that he found out that the Avengers are not dead as presumed (a fight with onslaught near wiped them clean) and he goes to visit the Human Torch. Basic stuffs, it includes pieces of other story lines from other series (Marvel is great at looping everything together in it’s own universe). Cut to the Silver Surfer coming in to Earth for a nice visit, then cut to Cletus Kasady in a cell. The person running the joint says there is too much money wasted watching over Kasady, and when he lowers some security Carnage breaks loose. The red crazy symbiote goes on a search for Spider-Man, and Parker finds out. He suits up even though there is definite danger and almost one hundred percent chance of failure. In comes the Silver Surfer, seeing that Spidey is in trouble. The symbiote is freaked out, and some backstory comes in. The Surfer has visited a symbiote planet before, and the symbiotes fear and hate him. Kasady is left naked and alone on the street, the Surfer goes looking for the red destructive blob, and out of nowhere he comes back as the Carnage Cosmic. End Scene.

*Spoiler over*

The story was fun to read, it included some spots from JJ and Robbie, Mary Jane and Peter Parker. The artwork was good, better than some that I see nowadays. It was very comic book like, with attention to the right details and not too cartoon like, yet not too realistic. The only thing I noticed was that in the catch up included in the front, one characters name is spelled incorrectly. Not just a minor mistake, but total flip on spelling. The cover art was really good, and the full pagers are really good.

Overall, I give the issue a 9/10 for content and artwork, and I would say a 10 if the story was more involved, but I suppose that is my fault for not having the issue before nor after.

 

WVU Prison Project (News)

I read in the Dominion Post Extra about books to send to prisoners. Part of me says ‘They are in there for unlawful acts, why should they get to read a book?’ but then a bigger part said ‘Well, they are human and need something to occupy their time. It could be reading a book or it could be fashioning a weapon.’

Here is the link to the program’s WordPress: http://aprisonbookproject.wordpress.com/

I think it’s a great thing and I plan to volunteer and donate when I can. If you want to help in any way, it would be great. Also, if you think there is something wrong with this and think you can sway me to not send a book or money, leave a comment or email me. I am only doing this out of the knowledge that I currently have, and since I do not know how a prison works or what they get to do, I might be swayed another way.

In either case, whether I am doing something stupid or something worthwhile, it’s a better thing to spend my time and money on than playing video games all day.

You Stink Soap – Sage Pomegranate

I remember at some point when I was younger I had used a home made (hand made) soap and thought it was really cool how it looked and felt – clear like a candy and really thin and smooth, not a lot of suds. When I visited my mom in Gulf Shores, Alabama, she had some hand made soap in the bathroom. She wanted to show me the place where she got it, but it had shut down. I asked her about it a few months back and she told me to try Etsy, which is an amazingly awesome site, and she showed me the You Stink Soap page.

 

You Stink

I looked around on the page with my girlfriend and saw a lot of soaps and a lot of scents. None of them were that clear marbled soap that I had seen before, but reading the description made it look great. Quality oils, moisturizing, light scent, and no detergent. I have terribly dry skin and hated using bar soap or liquid body wash because they ripped my skin up so badly. Miranda and I looked around and I asked her what scent she wanted me to get – there was Passionfruit Guava, Jasmine, Stormy Nights,  Tobacco Caramel… we decided on Sage Pomegranate. I also ordered some chapstick for her (Blue Raspberry Slushie Scent/Flavor) since we both seem to love chapstick.

It arrived quickly and came with a free sample (about the size of a pink gum eraser) of what was called Tall Grass which I set by the bathroom sink to use as a handsoap. I started using the Sage Pomegranate and wanted to rub it all over my body… so I did! It smelled good, felt soft and smooth, and didn’t dry out my skin. Well, what do you know, the product description was accurate! The hand soap smelled even better, I loved washing my hands with it so much that I wore it down to a sliver within two weeks. The chapstick I have yet to use, but I think Miranda has kept it in her purse or lost it in our room.

What I love most is knowing that someone made this in their home, rather than it being a big factory thing. I have always loved the self reliant lifestyle idea (though I doubt I could ever make my own clothes and farm my own crops) and knowing that I am spending money helping someone who loves what they do makes me feel so much better. The only downside, a small one, is the look of the soap – its obviously cut from a larger slab and my room mate had asked me what the big pink lump in the shower was. Aside from that, it was amazing and I love using it.

9/10

The same user on Etsy makes whipped cream soap, body polish, body butter, and both solid and oil perfumes.