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: June 1997
Cover Price: $1.95
Writer: Karl Kesel
Artist: Tom Grummett

When the DC and Marvel Universes merged in Marvel vs DC, a new one was created: the Amalgam Universe. This one-shot combined Man-Bat with Man-Thing.

Four adventurers who survived a space shuttle crash landing decided to band together to be the world’s great death-cheaters, the Challengers of the Fantastic! Now, a crisis threatens their world and Uatu, the Guardian has approached them to warn them of their impending doom. The Silver Racer heralds the coming of Galactiac, who is preparing to consume all of the life forces of planet Earth. Only the Challengers of the Fantastic will be able to stop the world-eater … but his defeat will come with a steep price: the death of a Challenger!

In this issue, Kesel puts a different, DC spin on one of the Fantastic Four’s most classic storylines. There are plenty of similar story elements incorporated with a new element. For example, Galactiac mutates Ben Grimm into his Thing form and there’s a Punisher reference worked in (a nod to one of Galactus’ enforcers). Again, John Storm is called away by Uatu with a fun word play that mentions the Ultimate Nullifier. Doctor Doomsday is seen posessing the power of the Silver Racer and, so on and so forth. Grummett’s art is in classic-FF style … and to be honest, with all this said, it doesn’t seem like there’s much left to be taken from the Challengers mythos. Which is fine with me, as I’m a Marvel fan through and through.

On Ebay: Amalgam | Karl Kesel | Tom Grummett
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: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: January 2010
Cover Price: $3.99
Writer: Todd DeFalco
Artist: Ron Frenz

Merlin discovers that Modred intends to locate the ebony blade, Chaos the Doombringer (the evil twin sword to mighty Excalibur), in an attempt to overthrow King Arthur and take the throne of Camelot. And so, the legendary wizard recruits Richard of Scandia to find the ebony blade first – and destroy it. Richard’s twin brother Percy, the minstrel, decides to come along on the quest and the two are met with witches, vampire bats, zombies and other dangers on their journey.

After securing the ebony blade, the twins bring it back to Scandia, where Merlin commands them to destroy it. However, now wielding the blade, Percy finds himself strongly influenced by its evil and he decides to hold on to it for a while. Later, while walking through a darkened alley, he’s attacked by Modred’s men, attempting to steal the sword for their master. Richard and Merlin arrive at the battle … but, not soon enough to stop Percy from being slain. The surviving twin takes up the ebony blade and manages to defeat the evil forces. Afterwards, Richard decides to implement a ruse where he will pretend to be his slain brother, Percy. And, brandishing the ebony blade (against Merlin’s wishes), he vows to use it to protect King Arthur and his throne.

Holy retcon, Batman! Sooooooooooo, the original Black Knight (who had his own series in 1955; of which, this issue is a prequel to) was not really Sir Percy of Scandia … but his warrior brother?! Wow! That’s quite a change made to a story that was published well over 50 years ago. Retcon aside, it’s a fun adventure story with great, classic-style art by Frenz that fits the tale (and its prequel status) perfectly. There’s a lot of story told here and it adds an interesting twist to a very early part of Marvel’s history.

On Ebay: Black Knight | Tom DeFalco | Ron Frenz
On AtomicAvenue: Black Knight

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: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 2011
Cover Price: $2.99
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Derec Aucoin

This tale takes during Nicieza’s original run on the Thunderbolts, after Scourge’s identity was revealed to be Jack Monroe (aka Nomad). Utilizing his image inducer, Jack hits the road to learn about the past of some Thunderbolt members from their friends, families, neighbors, etc. As he progresses from town to town, he uncovers some interesting insight into the motivation and history of Songbird, Moonstone, Atlas and Mach-IV. Afterwards, he meets up with Rock Python (another villain-gone-straight) and he encourages him to stay on the straight and narrow path.

As a Thunderbolts fan, it was fun for me to see this “lost tale”. At first, it took me a while to get into the groove of things (after all, I hadn’t read this run in nearly 10 years!) but, once I did it was great to experience some unseen insight into these characters I had once followed. It also set up a new angle for Jack Monroe as a nomad wandering from town to town, helping villains redeem themselves. Unfortunately, this direction was never followed up on but, it’s a cool look into what might have been.

On Ebay: Thunderbolts | Fabian Nicieza | Derec Aucoin
On AtomicAvenue: Thunderbolts

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: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 2009
Cover Price: $3.99
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Dan Brereton

A sect of an alien race of beings has renounced their god-figure and decided that they would create a new religion. They deemed Beta Ray Bill their new deity and were cast out of ther society by those who clung to the established religion. Now that they’re being pursued and persecuted, by the rest of their race, they turn to Beta Ray Bill to save them. Soon after defeating the religious persecutors, our hero will have to determine if he’s comfortable with his new status as their god.

Gillen uses a cosmic super hero story to pose some interesting concepts and questions about religion. It’s also just a cool Beta Ray Bill story, which I can always appreciate (especially since Beta stories seem so few and far between these days – and are usually pretty nifty [especially that Godhunter mini series]). I was excited to see Brereton‘s name on the cover because I can always count on him for very unique and wonderful painted art. However, I was a bit let down to discover that this story featured his pencils, instead – which don’t nearly live up to the quality of his painted art. On the other hand, the Marko Djurdjevic cover is sure nice to look at.

On Ebay: Beta Ray Bill | Kieron Gillen | Dan Brereton
On AtomicAvenue: Beta Ray Bill

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: June 1997
Cover Price: $1.95
Writer: Larry Hama
Artist: Rodolfo Damaggio with Bill Sienkiewicz

When the DC and Marvel Universes merged in Marvel vs DC, a new one was created: the Amalgam Universe. This one-shot combined Man-Bat with Man-Thing.

A creature called the Bat-Thing is watching Francie Sallis and her daughter Kelly. This green-skinned, winged monster stalks the night and Detective Clark Bullock has decided to extend the Sallis girls his aid. When some local thugs enter the mix and launch an attack on the girls the frenzy inspires the empathic monster to leap into action. But, who will he attack first? And, what’s his connection to the Sallis girls?

Hama handled this book excellently. He’s created a true horror/suspense tale and we’re along for the ride trying to figure out character motivations. If you can read this tale without looking at the cover (I know! It’s an enormously difficult task.) you’ll be in for a real treat. That’s because the artist doesn’t give us a good look at the monster’s face until halfway through the book. All great monster movies use this trick to build up your interest in what the creature is actually going to look like. Damaggio’s art fits the moody tone just right and Sienkiewicz’s inks add that extra touch of artistry that he’s so good at. I’m a sucker for monsters in almost any form of entertainment – and I’m always up for a great Man-Thing story. Put those together, and you’ve got my recommendation for this one.

On Ebay: Amalgam | Larry Hama | Bill Sienkiewicz | Roger Cruz
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: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: December 2010
Cover Price: $3.99
Writer: Kevin Grevioux
Artist: Roberto Castro

Negus, a vampire lord, captures Spider-Man and Blade and infects them with “Fang”, an addictive drug that temporarily turns people into vampires. Negus then pits our heroes against each other in his underground fight club. Can our heroes break free from the effects of “Fang”, fight through Negus’ vampire forces and put an end to the vampire lord’s criminal empire? I guess two out of three will have to do.

This one-shot pulls together the entire story that was originally available only via digital content. It’s written by Kevin Grevioux, well-known for his involvement in the Underworld movies. It’s clear that this story is meant to capitalize on the growing importance of vampires in the Marvel Universe but, it fails to actually incorporate any of the main story elements of Marvel’s current rise of vampires. It involves a small part of the vampire culture and therefore its importance to the ongoing storyline is neglible, at best. That, coupled with the inconsistent art-style, keeps me from giving this a strong recommendation.

On Ebay: Spider-Man | Blade | Kevin Grevioux
On AtomicAvenue: Spider-Man

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: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: April 2011
Cover Price: $2.99
Writer: Roger Stern
Artist: Neil Vokes

This tale takes place years ago and begins with Stephen Strange purchasing a brownstone in New York’s Greenwich Village – despite the real estate agent’s warnings that its supposedly haunted. While looking around, Doctor Strange notices that he’s not alone in his new dwelling. After further investigation, he discovers that Tyanon‘s familiar is in the house, attempting to open a portal for his mistress to enter into the Earthly plane. Can our freshly trained sorcerer figure out how to prevent an invasion stemming from his new house?

This was a fun story with neat illustrations by Vokes that seem to mix Mignola with Saturday Morning cartoons. It’s a neat, previously untold tale of Doctor Strange’s first day in his now-famous brownstone. Interestingly enough, this story was set to be printed in 1998’s Marvel Universe – but that series was canceled before this issue was published. Luckily, it’s been brought out of the Marvel Vault and dusted off for our enjoyment!

On Ebay: Doctor Strange | Roger Stern | Neil Vokes
On AtomicAvenue: Doctor Strange

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: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: February 1995
Cover Price: $2.95
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Mike Kazaleh

This special an all-new framing sequence of Mr. Yak channel-surfing on Christmas Eve – flicking back and forth between Ren & Stimy “reruns”, the Muddy Mudskipper show and It’s A Wonderful Christmas Carol, Santa. The first story is reprinted from the Ren & Stimpy Show #3: In the spirit of Christmas, Ren starts working a bunch of jobs in order to save up enough money to buy Stimpy the Log he’s always wanted for Christmas. But, when he’s finally able to buy the prized Log – it’s quickly eaten by Mr. Horse! Will our duo be able to put this aside and spend a peaceful evening enjoying the things that really matter? Of course not! The second story is reprinted from the Ren & Stimpy Show #15. In this tale, Ren discovers that he’s on Santa’s dreaded naughty list! And, he’s quickly driven insane with paranoia that Santa is watching him at all times. In the final story, also from the Ren & Stimpy Show #15, our boys dress up as North Pole elves in order to get a sneak peek at all of the new Christmas toys. Too bad for them that their charade doesn’t pan out – and they soon find themselves under attack from a gun-toting, commando-ized Rudolph! They manage to get away and happen upon Santa’s Record Room. Always one to capitalize on other’s mistakes, Ren steals the files that Santa keeps on everyone and uses them for blackmail. Powdered Toast Man caught eating a competitor’s cereal! Mr. Horse in a rubber walrus protector! And you won’t believe what Ren’s got on Santa himself!

If you enjoy the madcap, lunacy of the Ren & Stimpy cartoons then you’ll surely be please with this issue – and any issue done by Dan Slott and Mike Kazaleh. Kazaleh is a perfect pick for this book – the only thing missing is a zoomed in gross-out painting – but we’ll let that slide. And, as for the writing – Slott is amazing! He captures the voices perfectly and writes them so you can easily picture cartoon voices in your head! His Ren & Stimpy stories are so good – and so similar in tone to the cartoons that it’s surprising to me that he wasn’t a writer on the show. If you’re a fan of the show – you really should read this special (and the other issues written by Slott). If you’re not … then this’ll probably just read bunch of weird nonsense.

On Ebay: Ren & Stimpy | Dan Slott | Mike Kazaleh
On AtomicAvenue: Ren & Stimpy

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: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: October 2010
Cover Price: $3.99
Writer: Dwayne Swierczynski
Artist: Tim Green

Blade discovers that Xarus (the son of Dracula) has killed Dracula and is now slaughtering every vampire slayer! In an attempt to stop the new lord of vampires, Blade assembles a team of twelve remaining slayers to take on Xarus and his army of vampires. Unfortunately, for our heroes, they’re outnumbered by at least 8 to 1 and the only one to make it out alive is Blade. Afterwards, the “daywalker” moves to San Francisco because he fears Xarus’ next move is to convert an army of mutants into vampires.

This was kind of an inconsequential addition to the Curse of the Mutants storyline. Yeah, a bunch of characters got killed off – but were they important? Nope. In fact, I don’t remember seeing them in any of the other previous Blade series (and there have been five of them). So, they may have even been created just for this story – which certainly didn’t have enough room to make us care about eleven of them. Our main hero made it out alive – that’s what really matters to anyone reading this book. And, we know the villain’s next target – the X-Men (although if you’ve been reading any X-book recently, you probably already knew that). And, finally – while the cover looks excellent – the interior art leaves a lot to be desired … especially for a regular-sized comic priced at $3.99.

On Ebay: Curse of the Mutants | Blade | Dwayne Swierczynski
On AtomicAvenue: Blade

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: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 1996
Cover Price: $3.95
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Mark Texeira

Three Green Goblinettes kidnap young Norman Osborn (the original Green Goblin’s grandson) right in front of his mother (Liz Osborn), reporter Ben Urich, and Spider-Man. The silent villains left a telepathic message with Liz: they inted to bestow the Green Goblin legacy upon young Norman. As the issue progresses, Spider-Man, Liz, Ben and the Molten Man (Liz’s step-brother) track down old leads and shake down informants in an attempt to locate where the Goblinettes have taken the young boy. The heroes finally find the boy and are able to rescue his moments before he’s exposed to the formula that will warp him into the latest Green Goblin.

This is a beautifully painted Spider-Man tale that does a wonderful job of analyzing the past history of the Green Goblins – and even their spin-offs. It also moves the Goblin story forward – if even just a bit. After all, the Green Goblin persona is indeed one of the more prominent familial legacies in the Marvel Universe. Of course, a lot of this tale is kind of a moot point now that both Norman and Harry Osborn are back but, at the time this was published, they were both assumed dead for the long-haul. The end reveal of who was behind the Goblinettes was a bit of a letdown … although, at the time, there weren’t many other people that it could have been. I suppose the most lasting part of this story was that it showed the beginning of Ben Urich’s book that exposed the Green Goblin’s true identity to the world. This book has showed up quite a bit in Marvel continuity and it’s interesting to note that it got its start from this one-shot.

On Ebay: Spider-Man | Kurt Busiek | Mark Texeira
On AtomicAvenue: Spider-Man