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Manga Disclaimer from The Shelver Groo by Sergio Aragones The wanderings of a barbarian named Groo and his companion Rufferto. Groo is incredibly stupid. Everywhere he goes, towns meet with destruction. His name is known by all wherever he goes and people flee from him. Inu-yasha Inu-yasha is about a girl who accidentally falls down a well and is transported back to ancient Japan. She tries to help gather the shards of an ancient jewel before it falls into the hands of demons and makes them more powerful. Demon Diary Vol. 1 Great, funny, entertaining. Love Hina This comic was my very first manga comic that I had ever read. This comic is very funny and sexy – I like this a lot. Love Hina This is greatly funny and sexy. I would highly recommend this to anyone over the age of 14. Essential Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2
(ASM 21-43, Annuals #2-3) This is a rich collection of Old Amazing Spider-Man Issues…lets go with a nice brief overview of the issues involved: Amazing Spider-Man #21- “Where Flies the Beetle…!” This issue is about a little known villain named the Beetle who seeks vengeance on guest-star, the Human Torch and inadvertently fights Spider-Man as well. Amazing Spider-Man #23- “The Goblin and the Gangsters” This is the Green Goblin’s return after a five issue hiatus. He comes with a group of gangsters led by Lucky Lobo. Amazing Spider-Man #24- “Spider-Man Goes Mad” In this issue, Spider-Man believes he is going insane. Read it and see what the deal is. Amazing Spider-Man #25- “Captured by J. Jonah Jameson” J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle wants Spider-Man defeated. So, he enlists Spencer Smythe and his Spider-Slayers. Amazing Spider-Man #26- “The Mystery of the Crime-Master’s Mask” This issue continues the story set forth in #22. The Green Goblin wants to rule the underworld, but The Crime-Master wants it too. They both know each other’s secret identity. And there is a reporter for the Daily Bugle who knows something as well. Amazing Spider-Man #27- “Bring Back My Goblin To Me!” This issue concludes part of the on-going storyline with the Goblin and the Underworld. The aforementioned reporter seems to know what’s going on. Amazing Spider-Man #28- “The Menace of the Molten Man” Peter graduates and the Molten Man strikes. His battling personas of high school student and superhero clash. Amazing Spider-Man #29- “Never Step On A Scorpion” The Scorpion is out of jail and he’s irritated from his last battle with Spider-Man (Issue #20) Box Office Poison I’m venturing out into a world I have yet to tackle. Independent Comics. My first victim is Box Office Poison, by Eisner Winner Alex Robinson. It’s a very ‘voyeuristic’, if you will. It basically shows the lives of a couple 20-somethings dealing with life. It sounds boring, but like all movies like this, its usually entertaining and may contain a moral at the end. It’s very relatable. As quoted from a review on Amazon, “Did you ever hate one of your friend's girlfriends? Feel like killing neighbors in your apartment building who don't know how to be quiet? Ice skate with a Costa Rican Olympic figure skater? Then you'll totally relate to the stories in here.” At its heart though, this is an entertaining story, but be warned, it ain’t for the young-ins. Its got manga amounts of nudity and cursing and sex. (I mean seriously. Me being a shelver and all I see little kids reading manga! And it outrages me! Because this stuff is not appropriate for them. ARGH! So says the kid who saw Mallrats in 3rd grade…) Keep in mind this is a beast of a graphic novel. It clocks in at about 600 pages. That’s about 580 more than your normal monthly comic book. Well, thus ends The Shelver’s view into the world of independent comics. Its kind of spooky, like the Twilight Zone, except its not that scary nor is it an old TV show. Daredevil: The Official Comic Adaptation This plethora of Daredevil comics is pretty good. The main part of it, based on the recent Daredevil movie starring Ben ‘Can’t Play A Legitimate Action Hero’ Affleck (I could make worse jokes using his last name, but y’know, kids could be reading this). It’s a decent adaptation of the hilarious movie (watch that movie and don’t laugh at the goofiness and campiness of it, I dare you). However, the plot is basically based off of Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Volume 2 (Read…now…or…death…) The next comic is Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra #1. I was not impressed, its kind of gawky and weird. It is young college students Matt Murdock (Daredevil) and Elektra Natchios (Elektra, for those who aren’t not stupid) and it’s really just kind of a dumb premise. Of course, Matt and Elektra fall in love, and then there’s some kind of problem…I don’t know, I kind of spaced out halfway through reading this. Next up, Daredevil #32 by Daredevil gods Brian Michael Bendis and Alex
Maleev. This is the now classic issue where Daredevil’s not-so-secret identity is officially revealed to the public. I’ll let you read the rest, being as if that doesn’t get you, then nothing will. Well, maybe the fact that Daredevil/Matt Murdock’s life goes to hell and then he fights The Owl, Bullseye (who has killed two of his former lovers) and the Kingpin. Sounds good, don’t it? Family Guy Volume One (Seasons 1 and 2) Even though this isn’t a comic, I’m reviewing this because it simply rules. Family Guy is the funniest cartoon show ever. Ya hear that Simpsons fans? So, that is merely opinion, but honestly, it’s an amazingly funny show. It’s got Peter, head of the Griffin household and kind of a rip off of Homer. There are differences, but hey, it’s like a sitcom, you have the same boring character types. (Oh, that guy is so a Chandler!) Except Peter have some differences and both him and Homer are equally hilarious in my opinion, although I have to favor the good old Family Guy. You also have Peter’s wife, Lois, who would be…*drum roll* the Marge. The smart wife who always is the level headed one (except for the Family Guy Christmas Special) and you always wonder why they fall in love with such crazy men. There’s also Brian, the talking dog, who is also a rather smart person in the family. Although being a dog, he is probably more intelligent than Peter or some other adults on the show. Brian is my personal favorite for the sheer awesomeness of him. Chris is the young teenager who is dimwitted and weird, he most likely gets it from his father’s side. He sees an evil monkey pointing at him among other weird things. Meg is the teenager who thinks everyone doesn’t understand her. She also strives to be popular, but simply isn’t. And last but not least, probably the most favored of the Griffin clan, Stewie. He is a maniacal demon baby who speaks in an English accent and plots to take over the world and kill his mother. All in all, this is an excellent series that should not be missed. Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 2: Learning Curve (Collects Issues #8-13) This is my second Ultimate Spider-Man review. Why? Because I am lazy…yes, contrary to popular belief, the man behind these reviews is extremely lazy and after the first 3 or 4 were churned out like butter, these last couple have been a chore to write. To put it in perspective, the first 4 or 5 were written in the span of a week. The rest…well, it’s been a couple months. But, anyways, moving on…Ultimate Spider-Man comes out excellent as per usual, however, in classic Bendis fashion, the story is drawn out and detailed. Not saying it as a bad thing, just a fact. If Stan Lee and Steve Ditko made this, it’d be one issue. Ok, two paragraphs in and the review has not yet begun. Let’s go. This story arc begins with old Web head knocking out what appears to be the Shocker and then after that he proceeds to get a job at the Daily Bugle. It’s at the Daily Bugle where he discovers the horrible truth about Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. He decides to take down the Kingpin of Crime all by his lonesome. While he attempts to do this, he blows off Mary Jane (the girl he fancies) and gets in trouble with his aunt. All in all, it’s good stuff. If you haven’t read this, read it now. READ IT! GO! NOW! It’s an order! NOW! 3X3 Eyes by Yuzo Takada 3X3 Eyes is about the son of an anthropologist who ends up immortal when the last of the lost tribe of the Sanjuyan makes him her guardian to save his life. To undo this immortality, they must find a statue that will make the Sanjuyan human. Very funny.
Bastard by Kazushi Hagiwara The story of an evil wizard reborn. Released by a town about to be destroyed, he saves them and sets about to gather allies to take over the world. He is lecherous and, at times, childish as he shares half his soul with a young boy named lucie Ren-Ren. JTHM: Director’s Cut by Jhonen Vasquez This is the story of a criminally insane man named Johnny. He is followed through murders and internal conversations externalized in the form of a floating bunny head and two repainted Pilsbury Doughboys. The culmination of this is when Johnny accidentally dies, releasing a demon that destroys the world. Black and white drawings. Dark humour.
Preacher by Garth Ennis Preacher is the story of a Texas preacher accidentally endowed with the Word of God. He joins forces with his friends – an Irish vampire and his ex-girlfriend – in an attempt to find God and to make him tell them why he left. The art is cool and the story fun and engrossing.
Lenore: Wedgies by Roman Dirge Lenore is the adventures of a little ghost girl and her friends. She gets advice from her ragdoll, Ragamuffin, who is a vampire under a gypsy curse. It is humorous in a twisted way and intersperced with single page adventures called “Things Involving Me” – about events in the author’s life.
Ranma ½ by Rumiko Takahashi Ranma accidentally fell into a cursed pool and now, when he is splashed with cold water, becomes a girl. He is forced to fight challengers to keep his honor and his secret while enduring abuse from his father and fiancée. Uncanny X-Men: Hope (Collects
Uncanny X-Men #410-415) Review by The Shelver Before I begin this review, I’d just like to point out that Chuck Austen, or Evil-Person-Who-Destroyed-Uncanny-X-Men as I affectionately call him, is a horrible horrible horrible X-Men writer. The only stuff of his that I’ve read that is any good, was his recent Exiles run (King Hyperion, for anyone who keeps up with current comics). He just completely messed up the Uncanny X-Men, and for anyone who wants to gaze at the shambles it is in right now, read ‘The Draco’ which recently came out in trade paperback. The next arc in this book is about this nurse who has been caring for a brain-dead Havok (Cyclops’ brother who is brain-dead for a while because he was in a different universe or something of the sort). She dreams of this so-called John Doe sweeping her off her feet and marrying her and taking care of her young son, too. Sadly, she discovers that Havok is…well…Havok. She takes him to the X-Men and ends up helping Professor Xaiver with caring for patients. I’d have to say that both are low key stories, none earth shattering or anything. Its basically Austen’s first couple of issues and has him tossing around some new characters of his. I’m not a fan of either new character, but I guess I prefer the more action-oriented first arc then the latter with the nurse. Green Lantern: New Journey, Old Path (Collects Issues 129-136) Review by The Shelver Judd Winick is the man. I happened to miss his Green Lantern run for the most part, being as I discovered him with his Green Arrow run (still going on as we speak, buy it now, it’s awesome) and he rules. This is a shining example of why he rules. After reading the older Green Lantern book, Circle of Fire (which the library also has, but HELLO! Judd Winick!) I have to say that this is why Winick is that good of a writer. Circle of Fire was a mediocre story and this story was great. I’ve read better, but it was very intriguing. He builds a relationship with the Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner, for the uninitiated) and Jade (Sentinel’s daughter). This tale is divided into three main parts in one bigger story. The first one involves Kyle being abducted by Manhunters of the Qward (the villains behind the yellow ring, the opposite of the Green Lantern’s green ring). The second tale in this saga involves a Lantern villain, Fatality, returning to fight our hero, but this time she has the yellow ring. The third part, and the conclusion and main part of this trade paperback, is about this cool villain Nero, who is an escaped mental patient who is given the dreaded yellow ring by the Qwardians. Kyle, who is a rather imaginative Green Lantern, must deal with having this extremely creative psycho tearing up the city. All in all, this is a very good story. Astro City: Life in the Big City (Contains
Astro City (Vol. 1) #1-6) Review by The Shelver Astro City is a very different kind of comic book, at least in the beginning (more recently they’ve had long storylines, not saying they are bad, but every comic has long storylines). It has many single-issue tales dealing with different characters around the world created by the crack team behind it. Its our world as if superheroes have been around for years. The second story goes with the reporter aspect again. It shows the tale of an old editor telling a story to a young rookie reporter. Its set a while back in Astro City lore and shows the vivid history created by Kurt Busiek and the many others behind this book. The fourth tale woven is about a lady who lives in an area of the city called Shadow Hill. It’s a spooky area covered with ghouls and the like. There’s not really much more to that except for it’s a lot better than my description says. After all, this is a rather quirky book. Fables Volume One: Legends in Exile Review by The Shelver This is the Eisner-award winning story arc that open Bill Willingham’s masterpiece, Fables. Fables premise is simple; it is the real world, with an underground of fairy tale characters that live amongst them. The reason? A villainous creature known as the adversary took over the many different kingdoms in the fairy tale world. By the way, when I say kingdoms, think of NBC’s mini-series, the 10th Kingdom (If not, maybe the library will get it on DVD wink, wink; nudge, nudge) where there are a bunch of kingdoms where different fairy tale characters live…eh, I honestly don’t know, it was really long and I have a short attention span. But anyway, these kingdoms are many different kingdoms where different fairy tale characters lived and the key thing is that they are extremely separate from each other. So then this adversary guy just came along and knocked them out, one by one. And since these kingdoms never cared about the others, more kingdoms fell. By the time they realized they needed to band together, it was hopeless. They all ran and sought refuge in what is called Fabletown, which is nestled in the USA somewhere (if you can’t tell, this isn’t the best review ever, because I don’t know this story in and out like I do some others, i.e. Spider-Man). This story is revolved around the death of Rose Red, Snow White’s sister and the investigation of it, led by Bigby Wolf, the local cop, and Snow White, the deputy mayor. It’s a great tale, masterfully told by Willingham. The greatest part about Fables, though, is the fact that there are so many comparisons to real fairy tales (Real? Are you sure they’re all real? Well, maybe the Disney version of Cinderella with the mice…heh, that’s classic…). When you are introduced to Snow White, you see her arguing with Beauty and the Beast about how the Beast is constantly transforming back into the Beast whenever Beauty gets angry (I think her name’s Belle, but just deal with it). Another example of hilarious references to fairy tales is when you see Pinocchio late in the tale, but you’ll have to read it to find it out, because it is not exactly appropriate. Green Arrow: Quiver Review by The Shelver Green Arrow: Quiver is what got me back into comics…Thanks a lot Kevin Smith, now finish Spider-Man/Black Cat and Daredevil: Target (sorry, a little bitterness that will only be appreciated if you know comics, and I don’t know comics, so…yea…) This is really a great tale though, filled with mystery and suspense. It is the rebirth of Oliver ‘Ollie’ Queen, also known as the Green Arrow. He died many years ago when he got his arm stuck in some thing in space that was going to explode, and since he didn’t want to lose his arm, he died (what is an archer with only one arm? Easy, an archer with one arm…haha! I sleigh myself. Oh, he did not just use a Christmas pun. Oh yea I did! And it’s January!). So, then a mysterious person (spooky) revives the emerald archer and he wanders around fighting crime with a long beard and makeshift weaponry. It isn’t long before he saves some rich dude’s life and is taken in by the guy. He fights some crime and makes a public reappearance. The Justice League of America ponders how he can be back (are they that daft? They always come back!) He visits the JLA and this sets out off a chain of events that reveals Ollie’s mysterious return. This is extremely good; I can’t enforce it anymore, its just good. Kevin Smith is an excellent writer, when he completes something on time (You could go so far as saying he does make movies and the like and he is busy, but he doesn’t get any excuses!). Being as the man did write such classic comedic cinema (WOO! Some word I don’t know that’s some thing from English class!) as Clerks, Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, it’s very humorous. For example, mostly everything with Batman is funny to some degree, because of the fact that Batman is a brooding character that’s funny, and it works really well. The author would like to point out that justice must be served to Kevin Smith because of his lateness with comics. The author is still currently at the comic book store waiting for the final issue of his Spider-Man/Black Cat comic that’s last cliff hanging issue came out over 2 years ago. Well, the comic book guy at the counter look mad, I gots to go, I’ll see you dudes later. P.S. Daredevil: Target is late too, but it didn’t end on a cliffhanger. To show how much it is dated, the first issue is Daredevil remembering the tragedy that our nation suffered on September 11th, 2001, a scant few months after it happened. So basically, January 2002, January 2004…there is a pretty big difference there. Ultimate Spider-Man Volume One: Power and Responsibility This is the first seven issues of the Ultimate Universe version of Spider-Man. The Ultimate Universe is Marvel’s attempt at capitalizing on the success of the Spider-Man movie. It restarts Spider-Man continuity from the beginning and is written similarly in a movie-like fashion, to attract new readers. So, if you want to get into Spider-Man, this is the series for you. It is written by Brian Michael Bendis (Winner of the Eisner Award for Best Writer for 2002 and 2003) with the penciling done by Mark Bagley and the inking duties taken up by Art Thibert. On a side note, this same team has been working on Ultimate Spider-Man up to, and most likely way past, the most current issue (which is #54). This book masterfully retells the tale of young teenage Peter Parker who eventually turns into the man with spider-like abilities that we all know and love. Instead of being bitten by a radioactive spider, he is instead bitten by a spider being tested on by Oscorp, that is an attempt at recreating the Super Soldier Serum that produced Captain America, but we’ll get to that if the library ever gets the Ultimates (The ‘Ultimate’ take on the Avengers) or Ultimate Six (which is a mini-series coming out single issue form as we speak). Instead of having the spider biting him being an isolated event, it snowballs and creates his first super powered foe, the Green Goblin. Besides having the Green Goblin being linked to Spidey’s origin and some changes to Aunt May and Uncle Ben, little deviates from the basis of the original 1963 origin. It expands on a lot of things from the original, mainly because of the fact that the origin is spanned over seven issues instead of the one issue that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s version had. There is a lot of focus on Peter’s high school life and his relationship with Uncle Ben. In this book, we are introduced to a plethora of characters, including a potential love interest in Mary Jane Watson. I’d recommend this book to pretty much anyone because of the greatness of the story, the way Peter is not a genius at being a superhero, the way this book is extremely human at the core. That’s the reason why Lee and Ditko hit pay dirt when Spider-Man was launched in Amazing Fantasy #15 all those years ago. It proves that not all superheroes are above everyone else, that anybody, even the person you least expect, could in fact be a superhero. The author of this is not hinting at any possibility that he is a superhero, nor is there a likely chance that people are superheroes, unless they fight crimes and save people. So, pretty much the only superheroes around these parts are the police, firefighters and the army and its various incarnations. Ultimate X-Men Volume One: The Tomorrow People This is the Ultimate Universe version of the X-Men and this little blurb coming up about the Ultimate Universe is pretty much taken word for word from my Ultimate Spider-Man review (which is my first. Yes, all great writers have humble beginnings). The Ultimate Universe is Marvel’s attempt at capitalizing on the success of the X-Men movie. It restarts X-Men continuity from the beginning and is written similarly in a movie-like fashion, to attract new readers. So, if you want to get into X-Men, this is the series for you. It is written by Mark Millar, who also wrote the Ultimates (get…book…now….library…or…Hulk…SMASH!). The batch of X-Men first used for this is Cyclops, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Beast, Colossus, Storm, Iceman and Wolverine. The first villain is Magneto and his Evil Brotherhood of Mutants. This is, as are most of my choices for reviews thus far, a very good read. There’s not much to complain about, no witty anecdote…darn. We’re done early this time. Have I lost my touch? Inspiration has struck me, thanks to some pretzels…I love them so. Anyways, back to work. The characters are well written and I have to say I prefer Brian Michael Bendis to Millar as far as writers goes
(Bendis is Ultimate X-Men’s current scribe, as well as the writer of Ultimate Spider-Man) but it’s still mighty excellent. I like the mutants they picked for this, I would of preferred Nightcrawler more for this original group, because Nightcrawler rules, but that’s for Volume Two (wink). Cyclops is still the tortured loner who likes Jean Grey. However, Jean Grey is a lot more brash and headstrong than her more reserved old continuity counterpart. Beast is still the brainiac that’s built like a wrestler. Iceman is still the same ol’ Bobby Drake who is the youngest of all of the X-Men and also the jokester. Storm is a lot different than her more mystical counterpart, but it’s more of seeing a younger just-removed-from-being-a-car-thief Storm than huge differences. Colossus is the big tough gay guy, not trying to be offensive here, he really is gay. Wolverine is still the same old ‘I’m the old guy who has tortured past’ kind of guy. He’s still cool, though. X-Force: New Beginnings Review by The Shelver Before I began this, I would just like to point out how much unneeded violence this book has and how well it works. I’m not going to blow anything, but there’s a lot of death, and I’d say it’s not for the squeamish, but its presented in such a fashion that its not like ‘Oh, another death, Milligan is sick’ or ‘HE/SHE IS DEAD! OMFG (abbreviation used to lessen the blow for readers) *cries uncontrollably*’. Its more like ‘I never liked that dude anyways, yo” or “Snap g, this shiz be crooked, *blank* died!’ (For some cases, this may be followed by ‘AGAIN!’) Now to end the barrage of quotations that were uttered by me, myself and I, on to the actual review. To delay the review even more, I’d like to give the reader a little history on the X-Force from the little information that I know. X-Force began, as all comics do, with a first issue. I bought many copies of this first issue, including some that I never opened from the packaging I received them in, thinking that they would be worth a gold mine later in life. However, due to the fact that so many people did the same, X-Force #1 is worth jack squat, and thus, I am left with many copies of a mediocre comic, but back to the point (if I had one). It was conceived sometime in the early 90s’; it was led by Cyclops and Jean Grey’s son from the future, Cable. (This would be more detailed, but this stupid computer doesn’t have access to the Internet). It wore on and I frankly, just didn’t care, until it reached number 116. This issue, it was totally revamped by two visionaries named Peter Milligan and Mike Allred. Milligan and Allred completely overhauled the sagging comic (I think it was sagging, once again, the whole Internet deal. Honestly though, if it was good, it’d wouldn’t have been changed.) This new group, led by Axel Cluney aka Zeitgeist, consists of Battering Ram, Plazm, U-Go Girl, Gin Genie, Anarchist, Sluk and some other dude that’s name is NEVER mentioned in the whole book. It’s a very good read, but I can’t go into a lot of detail, because I can’t say much without it being ruined for the good library goers. So, in conclusion, stop on by the library at 245 Pennington-Titusville Road and check it out. Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Volume 2 Review by The Shelver This grand volume of Daredevil by, I’d say, its greatest writer (Brian Michael Bendis, who writes it now, rivals him) is super excellent. It pretty much tells the tale that was told in the Daredevil movie (except no Ben Affleck, score one for us! Sorry Affleck, but seriously dude, stay in Kevin Smith movies and away from J-Lo…instead he goes and drags J-Lo into Jersey Girl (the next Kevin Smith movie, coming out March 19th, 2004; plug plug) but there’s a spoiler that I won’t reveal that makes this miscue ok). It is ten times better however, as there is a lot of development to Daredevil, Elektra, Bullseye and the Kingpin. (Note: I will be heavily comparing this to the movie) Elektra Nachos…I mean Natchios (sorry, unneeded bad joke…won’t happen again) is the daughter of an ambassador and she attended the same college that Matt Murdock (for the uninitiated, Daredevil) did years ago before he was Daredevil. Well, our boy Matt is smitten with this girl. He puts the moves on her, but since he is blind, Elektra’s all ‘Nu-huh! (No)’ Matty, being the persistent boy that he is, reveals that he’s got these powers and explains his origin. She’s all like ‘cool’ and then they fall in love. Pretty story? Nuh-uh! Elektra and her father end up in a hostage situation and Matt tries to save them. In the process, Mr. Nachos, I mean Natchios (my bad…ok, this is the last time) is killed. Elektra goes off the deep end and ends up going back to Europe. Of course, something had to trigger this flashback and that is Matt seeing Elektra again while he is under the guise of Daredevil…well, he didn’t see her, but he heard her. After that happens, Daredevil’s psychotic enemy,
Bullseye, escapes a mental hospital and is because he’s a crazy psycho, he believes everyone is Daredevil and goes nuts. Any Manga or Anime Review by The Shelver I’d just like to point out, I’m not a big fan of manga or anime and unless you want to write you own reviews, there will be nothing other than your Marvels and your DCs, because that is what I read. I know that I’ll probably receive some ‘flack’ for this, but I don’t read manga, and any that I do read and review, will have a negative tone to them. Most of these reviews that I write are because I love the book and think everybody should read it, and also an excuse for me to be goofy. So, all of you big manga readers out there, I issue a challenge. Write reviews, and they will be read. I figure I’d go Field of Dreams here. Write them, and they will come. Or was I going Wayne’s World 2? The world may never know.
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