Cyberspace Comics market report, reviews and more

Because publishers want you to buy their product every month, comics are typically serial in nature. However, occasionally (and more often nowadays than ever before) publishers launch a comic title that is only meant to last for one issue. While ongoing series often have multiple chances to hook in new readers, the comics highlighted in this ongoing investigations only had One-Shot At Greatness!

Publisher: Amalgam Comics
Cover Date: April 1996
Cover Price: $1.95
Writer: John Ostrander
Artist: Gary Frank

When the DC and Marvel Universes merged in Marvel vs DC, a new one was created: the Amalgam Universe. This one-shot teams Wonder Woman with the Punisher in a battle for the life of their son.

How do you bring the separated couple of Diana Prince and Trevor Castle back together again? Kidnap their infant son, Ryan. And, that’s exactly what Thanoseid does in an effort to blackmail them into telling him where the all-powerful Infinity Links can be found. But, before they can face off against Thanoseid, they must fight their way through his minions in Armaghetto, including Big Titania, Granny Harkness, Monarch, and the Female Furies. Once they get to him, Thanoseid ends up destroying the young boy … but, will this bring the couple together once again or drive them apart forever?

While Gary Frank‘s art here is sleek and great to look at, I was initially unsure of who the main two characters were amalgamations of. Because of that, the Punisher seemed like an odd match-up against a combination of Thanos and Darkseid. Once it was revealed who Frank Castle was combined with, Thanoseid’s motivation and true evil plan made a lot more sense (although it still doesn’t explain his first name, Trevor – unless it’s a reference to Wonder Woman’s beau). But, even with the revelation, the story still didn’t really draw me in and the ending didn’t do much to make me wish for more.

On Ebay: Amalgam | John Ostrander | Gary Frank | Punisher | Wonder Woman
On AtomicAvenue: Amalgam Comics

Because publishers want you to buy their product every month, comics are typically serial in nature. However, occasionally (and more often nowadays than ever before) publishers launch a comic title that is only meant to last for one issue. While ongoing series often have multiple chances to hook in new readers, the comics highlighted in this ongoing investigations only had One-Shot At Greatness!

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Date: November 1996
Cover Price: $2.95
Writer: Brian McDonald
Artist: Mitch Byrd
Cover Artist: Paul Lee

Back in 1931, three Cajun trappers discover someone’s been taking their catches and leaving the skin behind. They also come across some large, strange-looking footprints and a skinned human body. Two of the Cajuns think it was a gator that did all this but Mr. LeBlanc knows better. LeBlanc knows it was the Gollywomp! He tells the urban myth of the half-man, half-frog creature who still wanders the swamps but his friends don’t believe him.

So, they set out to follow the tracks of the gator (or Gollywomp) and kill him to keep their future catches from being stolen. But, the tracks lead them to a frightening sight … the Gollywomp (actually, it’s a Predator). The three Louisianan men try to take down the Predator with their guns but the alien creature’s got abilities and weapons of his own. In the end, it comes down to LeBlanc and the Predator. To the loser … death. And, to the winner … dinner!

This was a quick read combining some action with an ultimately unimportant urban myth. The story itself had an ending that was reminiscent of some old EC Comic and the art was pretty solid, although easily upstaged by Paul Lee’s cover. As a one-shot, it was hard to establish much concern for the three Cajuns … which becomes a bit problematic when analyzing a Predator comic. Y’see, basically the main character is always the bad guy. So, the adversaries it comes up against are the people you’re supposed to root for. Unfortunately, with the one-shot format, the story doesn’t usually contain enough characterization to make you care about the people. And, that’s what happens here. There’s not much on these three Cajuns to make you hope they’ll beat the Predator. On the other hand, the Predator is just one of thousands (maybe millions) of an alien race. And, one that we’ve never seen before … so, it’s hard to care about the Predator’s fate, either. But, even with all that in mind, I really enjoyed this quick one-shot read and I liked that it included a scene that illustrated the Predator race’s warrior respect in battle.

On Ebay: Predator | Mitch Byrd