A Fistful Of Comics: June 2014

  Last weekend saw me returning from London with a medium-sized stack of comics. I thought it was about time I put up some scans and a few thoughts on each.

 B.A.R Maid Vol.1 (Zenescope)

Collects issues 1-5

Manchuria 1934. Cassidy O'Hara runs a saloon by day. By night she's part of a small group trying to fight back against the occupying Japanese.  Who seem to be working on something very big...


B.A.R = Browning Automatic Rifle. And she runs a bar. See what they did there?
This could have been an appalling cheesefest, but as seems to be quite common with Zenescope, the pinup art on the cover leads to something a bit darker and inside.
 The characters are all interesting, if a bit cliched, the artwork is respectable and I can truthfully say that I did not expect the plot development that happens in chapter 4.
Promising.

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Cassidy would have it on her t-shirt if there was enough space. 

As it is, I don't even think they'd get "K.I.S.S" on there.

Robyn Hood vs Cindy One Shot (Zenescope)

  Robyn Locksley is now (reluctantly) working for the US Government as part of a covert-ops team specialising in otherword incursions. A mission gone wrong drops Robyn back into the Real of Myst - and right into the laps of the Dark Horde.
 I'm not sure why this is called Robyn vs Cindy. Cindy isn't in it very much and not the most dangerous thing Robyn has to deal with.  That's not even her on the cover.
 And on the subject of the cover - It's not what you would call elegant is it? Zenescope are normally better than that.
 Inside you get a story that's there to act as a bridge between the "Knights Of the Realm" TPB and the new Robyn Hood: Legend series. Decent enough but if you wanted a quick intro to the character, you'd be better off picking up one of the TPBs.

Take a guess as to who Robyn's currently having a chat with.

If your answer was "The Dark Queen" give yourself a cookie.

The hat is a dead giveaway.  

The Royals - Masters Of War #3 (Vertigo)

Prince Henry and dickhead older brother Arthur are dispatched to the Pacific to help the US Navy hang on to a small island cluster called "Midway" But this time around, they might just find themselves outgunned.

 I spent the whole morning trying to find this one and was pleasantly surprised to find it on sale in the gift shop at the British Library. Beats a fridge magnet, I suppose.
  Still enjoying this one. Any comic that involves warships being lobbed around is definitely worth £2.50 of my hard-earned money. It's not for the squeamish though. Let's just say Arthur crosses over the line from "obnoxious wanker" into "How the hell is he one of the good guys?"  
  I'm looking forward to seeing where this is going.

Deadpool #30 (Marvel)

Deadpool and his new bride are having a slight vampire problem at the moment.
Everybody knows vampires can't stand sunlight  - so having somebody with light powers might be useful.
Hmm. Who do we know that can do that?

 I may be one of the few Dazzler fans on the planet so as soon as I saw the cover I thought "Want!" 

And I'm glad that I did. This comic was a lot of fun to read - very daft, pretty funny and a perfect andidote to all the grim shit that's out there at the moment. 

 I do have one issue though. Here Disco Dazzler is none too bright and a bit of a dingbat. I used to read the comics, remember, and the young Alison was naive, inexperienced and uncertain - but not actually a brain-dead Valley girl.  Ah well. 

So, after flipping through #30 and being impressed I then picked up...

Deadpool # 28

The Merc With A Mouth and his new bride Shiklah, Queen Of The Underworld are honeymooning in Japan.
Some local urchins with no sense of self-preservation do a runner with their luggage and things get...interesting.

 Deadpool is one of those characters I kept hearing about but never really investigated. Based on the two issues here, I've done myself a definite disservice. If anything, #28 is even funnier than the first one I picked up. The whole thing is essentially an extended screwball chase sequence as Deadpool, his missus, local mobsters, Digimon-using brats and some stray ninja rampage through Tokyo in pursuit of the case.
 Lots of quipping, lots of amusing mayhem and a sneaky cameo that makes perfect sense.
Highly recommended and I plan to get me some Deadpool TPBs on payday.

I like Shiklah. Even with the whole "eating people" thing. 

Uber #13 & 14 (Avatar)

Issue #13 - A peasant couple find a mostly-naked young woman on their doorstep. Her name is Maria and she just escaped from a Soviet experimental camp.
Issue #14 - The Germans are still struggling to deal with the events of issue #12. The decision is made to try and activate another Battleship class Uber.

Katyusha is invited to return to Soviet service. She declines forcefully.

 Out of the two issues, I think I got more out of #13. It's a little side-step away from the big picture to catch up with one of the series more interesting characters and at the same time, show that  great events happening in your hometown isn't always a good thing. Quite possibly my favourite issue of "Uber" so far.   

I admit it, the last two I bought because of the covers.

Satellite Sam #1 (Image)

 

 I was sat in a poky little Metalhead dive just off Soho, a pile of comics on the table and a can of Red Stripe clutched in my non-dominant hand. Something loud and thrashy came on the jukebox and around me heads began nodding in reflex. The man next to me contemplated my choice in reading material for a moment then leaned over. "Nice arse." he told me. I had to agree.

 If this comic hadn't been bagged, I wouldn't have bought it. It is that simple.
 Opening it up and you get, instead of the pulp-sf I was expecting, a throwback to the old B&W indie comics of the 80s, and a story about a harassed 1950s TV studio that tuns into a murder mystery.
 I wasn't overly impressed with the art either.
 If this is the sort of thing you're into, great and I wish you joy but I don't see yours truly picking up any more issues.

Vampirella #1 (Dynamite)

 Vampirella is called in to investigate a child that's been kidnapped. Word is, the father has got into some deeply disturbing Cult activity and the child is central to something very bad.
 Right on both counts, but not the way Vampi thinks.Now the bloodsucking glamour girl is in big trouble.

Vampirella is another one of those titles I have only the vaguest acquaintance with. I've stumbled across the odd issue from time to time but never gotten into it. The latest relaunch may or may not change that. It's decent enough , I like the art and I'm sufficiently intrigued to keep an eye out for #2  if only to see what happens next. Or I might just wait until the TPB comes out.

Why does her outfit have a collar? 

It's a bikini with a collar.

Does this bug anybody else? 

That's all folks.