A Ride with a Pride (of Baghdad)

Hello Chums,

One of the most highly acclaimed graphic novels of 2006 was The Pride of Baghdad. This story, by Brian K. Vaughan, is based on the true story of a group (or pride) of lions that escape the Baghdad zoo after the bombs fall. The small group contains four lions: Zill a full grown male. Safa an old, one-eyed female. And Noor, the brains of the bunch with her cub, Ali.

After the zoo is rocked by numerous blasts, the zoo keepers leave the animals to fend for themselves. Of course the walls fall and the terrified surviving animals make a run for it. The lions being at the top of the food chain, simply walk off.

Although the animals talk to each other, this is no Disney story. The lions deal with nasty monkeys, avoid men in tanks, and fight a huge bear all while looking for food and shelter. During their walk through the streets of Baghdad and vicinity, there are moments of love and compassion for other animals. We realize these lions aren't just killers but they are a family on the run.

Can this story end on a happy note? Come on, they are lions in the middle of a war zone.

The art by Niko Henrichon really makes this story special. Without his fantastic art, I probably wouldn't have picked up this book. Give this book a shot. You won't regret it.

Rating: Story A-, Art A+

K.R.C.

D.L.

New Feature: Pick Of My Pile

Hello Chums,

People I know are always curious: What's good to read? or What comics are you currently reading? Since I usually buy a short stack of comics, I thought I'd let you know what I'm reading with Pick Of My Pile. Here I'll list what I bought and pick my favorite for the week.

For the week of 3-26:

All Star superman #10

Tron #5

Second Stage - Star Trek - New Frontier #1

Star Trek - The Next Generation - Intelligence Gathering #3

Marvel Atlas #2

Franklin Richards - Son Of a Genius - Spring Break #1

The New Avengers #39

The Mighty Avengers #11

The Pick Of My Pile this week is:

Star Trek - The Next Generation - Intelligence Gathering #3

Without any new Star Trek TV shows on, IDW's Star Trek books are currently filling my Star Trek void. These books are some of my favorite comics being produced.

K.R.C.

D.L.

Do You Believe In The MATRIX?

Hello Chums,

Remember the Matrix? The first movie was pretty great. The Animatrix was very good. What happened to the second and third movies? The were disappointing to say the least. That being said, I still picked up the two Matrix trades. Why? Because the Matrix was entertaining. What if the comic books were awesome. How cool would that be?

I read The Matrix comics vol. 1 awhile back. It was okay. It didn't exactly make me run over and read vol.2. But that was awhile back, maybe vol.2 would be better. And I was looking for something to read. So what the heck.

Instead of talking about the twelve stories in this volume. I thought I would focus on one story I liked entitled Wrong Number. Clocking in it a mere six pages, this tale written and drawn by Vince Evans, is short but far from sweet. This story reminds me of the opening scene of The Matrix where Trinity is looking for a phone line to use while being chased by agents.

In this story, K (a Lucy Lu type) is looking for an open phone line to return home from The Matrix. Helping her find one via cell phone is the always dependable Link. Link finds a location with a line for her being worked on by a phone repair man. K makes her was to the location and has the repair man open a line for her at gun point. Unfortunately this line is lost when an agent shows up. After an explosion the agent is gone but so is the line. As K makes the repair man go with her to the next location, the repair man tells K that even in the war he couldn't hurt anybody. Aah. What a nice guy! At the second location a new line is acquired for K's getaway. What happens next is pure Matrix.

What I liked about the story was it showed the possible consequences of living with the knowledge of the Matrix. Agents are tough.

As the first volume did, this volume featured multiple writers and artists. Many of these stories were pretty good.

Rating: Stories: B, Art: A-

Keep Reading Comics

D.L.

Back up to "The Bottom"

Hello Chums,

Are you a fan of Moon Knight? I'm not. Never have been. I have never read him in the past and never wanted to anyway. So when Marvel Comics brought him back in '05, I wasn't exactly lined up to buy his book.

What changed my mind? David Finch. You see, I really liked his over-rendered style he used on the initial run of The New Avengers. When he quit doing that book I missed his art. Of course his type of art takes a looong time to do. So he has to move around and do six issue arcs here and there. And lets not forget the highly lucrative covers.

When David Finch showed up as the artist on the first arc of Moon Knight, I'm interested but I'm not buying it. But then I hang out with David Finch and fellow con attender Scott in a bar at Wizard World Texas. Hey he's a pretty cool guy. We do some serious drinking and talking. Have a real good time (Wayne missed out). Fast foreword to Wizard World Chicago, there's the Moon Knight hardcover "The Bottom" at a great price. I can't pass it up. I then get the book signed by Finch. Cool huh?

But is the story cool? Not really, it's just okay. It's basically the story of Moon Knight getting back in the game. We see Moon Knight take out street level thugs and use equipment that reminds me a little too much of the Dark Knight. Huum? Dark Knight /Moon Knight- are they ripping off Batman? Okay, he does get his powers from an Egyptian god so it's not a complete rip off.

While the story was okay, the artwork was not as good as Finch's New Avengers.

Rating: Story: B, Art: A-

K.R.C.

D.L.

Welcome Aboard!

Now that I have your attention, Hello Chums.

With the influx of new readers, I wanted to mention the other sites I post at. First up is my comic Better Than Fiction. This comic features true (at times) slice of life stories that might not be for everyone. Is it for you? Check it out at:

http://betterthanfictionthecomic.blogspot.com/

Next up is First Planet Comics. This is Scott Sackett and my collaborative comic venture. Our first comic is I Am Domino, a pulp inspired story of action and adventure. Give it a shot at:

http://firstplanetcomics.com/

And our brand new endeavor is First Planet Comics the blog. This site will be about everything comics related. Comic books and graphic novels, comic book movies, toys, video games and other surprises. So check it out at:

http://firstplanetcomics.blogspot.com/

Enjoy.

K.R.C.

D.L.

HERE'S BERNIE !!!

Hello Chums,

I have been a fan of Bernie Wrightson for a very long time. I remember buying a book he illustrated back in '82. What! Yeah '82! When I first saw this guy's artwork, I was blown away by not just the creepy factor, but the level of detail he had. This guy's inked art was amazing. I had to have MORE! But getting more through the years hasn't exactly been easy. Bernie has done work in other fields that has taken from his time (and body of work) in comics. So when there is a new book or comic or cover work, I tend to latch on to it like a junkie would their fix ( this can also be traced back to the fact that I didn't buy his book "A Look Back" when it was new and have regretted it ever since).

Now here it is 26 years later and I have read a new (old material) book. Although Freak Show was published by Image Comics in 2005, the material is from the early '70s. These four stories were entirely new to me. Yeah! New material! I don't know where these stories came from, but I wish Image Comics would find and publish more. And a full size hardcover book at 14.99? What a good deal!

The meat of Freak Show is the 44 page title story. This story, written by Bruce Jones, has plenty of haunting images in the usual Bernie Wrightson style. Dark, shadowy, raining nights with mysterious creatures lurking in the woods, really Bernie at his best. What makes this great is the fact that it is black and white art. Color is not wanted or needed when it's Bernie's story. His attention to detail coupled with his inking style, give his panels depth that's rarely seen with other artists.

The other three short stories are written and drawn by Wrightson. The story "The Task" has Bernie doing an almost (painted?) Conan story and art. While "Out On A Limb" and "Nosferatu" feature his usual creepy style. These stories feel like they might have originally been published in some magazine.

I'm planning on taking my copy of Freak Show to the Kansas City Con to get Wrightson to sign it. I hope he makes the trip.

Rating: Story: A, Art: A+

K.R.C.

D.L.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS !!!!!

Hello Chums,

For me, nothing or no-one makes better use of the word "champions" than when the late, great Freddie Mercury sings it. I mean even though Freddie has been dead since '92 and the song has been around since '78, it's still used for just about any championship. It has had some real staying power. Kudos to Queen for that.

In the '70's, Marvel comics also used the word "Champions", for their newest super hero group. Did it have the same staying power as the famous song? Heck no. The Champions comic book ran for a measly 17 issues. That is not much of a success, when you consider the books line up. The Champions featured Hercules, The Black Widow, The Angel, The Iceman and Ghost Rider.

That's a pretty decent line up with a strong man, Russian agent and two former X-men.

So what's the Ghost Rider doing there? He's not a team player. Remember when the Avengers started out with the Hulk as a founding member? He didn't work out. He left the team and was soon replaced by Captain America! Ghost Riders not that popular of a character anyway. He deals with the dead and spirits of hellfire. Not really the right fit for a fun team book set in southern California. Maybe if he'd been replaced by a better character the book would have made it. Imagine if the book had Hawkeye, Spider-woman, The Vision or Scarlet Witch. Add any of them to the line up for an interesting book.

I recently read The Champions Classic vol. 1 & 2. These two volumes feature all 17 issues and their appearances as guests in other books. While I liked the story of how the team came together, as the their story progressed it got weaker and weaker. So weak in fact the Iceman contemplates leaving the group early on. I just wish it could have been Ghost Rider.

After I finished reading the 22 issues, I couldn't help but wonder; What if there had been a little better story through out the run? Maybe a slightly different line up of characters? Would the Champions still be around today? Maybe so.

Even though the art went through numerous artists, it was always adequate. For me the BIG eye sore is the terrible 70's coloring. I wish that they would re-color these trades as they release them.

Rating: Story C+ Art B+ Coloring D-

Keep Reading Comics

D.L.

GETTING READY FOR CON SEASON!

Hello Chums,

Spring is almost here! That means con season is right around the corner! Last year I went to four cons: Kansas City, OKC, Chicago and Dallas. All good, except OKC. It Was Very Bad. Although it's put on by comic book people, it's not much of a comic-con. That's too bad since I live in OKC. I have had numerous people tell me that they won't be returning this year. AND THEY LIVE IN THIS CITY. Once again, that's too bad.

I was told (by the powers that be) that they want the con attenders to have the complete con experience. Meaning get a room at the con-hosting hotel and stay the whole weekend doing con activities. What The ? You mean spend 10 minutes in the lousy dealers room, then go hear some too-bit hack talk about their latest book, then play some role playing game, follow that up with a movie in one of the hotel rooms, then go see the crappy costume contest and finally filksing the night away? Are you effing kidding me? What am I twelve? I have a car, I don't have to stay in some shit hole hotel, play a role playing game with people that I don't know or even want to talk to. And if I wanted to watch a movie I wouldn't do it during the con with a bunch of questionable bathers. That's what the red box, blockbuster or netflix is for. And don't even bring up filksing or the costume contest. As William Shatner once said: Those people need to get a life.

This show focus' on third tier media guests and local writers. That kind of line up will not attract many (if any) returning retailers or attenders. I asked a big retailer (based out of Texas) I see every year at San Diego and Dallas if he would come to OKC. He said: "I heard that show sucked". I couldn't disagree with him.

I think all it would take to make the show a winner would be to get a few (known) comic-book writers or artists as guests. They don't have to be expensive "superstars", just creators people have heard of. These name creators could be enough to bring in a few big regional retailers. Better guests = better retailers= more attenders. Do that for a few years and the con would be off and running. It could rival Kansas City.

But enough griping about the OKC con (for now). This year it's back to sunny/fun(ny) San Diego,

for hands down the best show of the year. The best dealers room and by far the best panels. Period. I absolutely can't wait.

Is it okay if I wish for a little less media and their fans in San Diego? It would be nice if the con would take up the policy: Comics first! All other fandom...to be treated like the clingers on that they are! Comic books are what made comic-con, let's not forget it!

First con stop this year: Kansas City, April 5-6. See you there.

Now go to a comic book convention.

D.L.