TEX'S BACK-ISSUE QUEST 2.0 EPISODE 13

Greeting Earthlings!!!

    How is your year weekend going so far? We made it through another week.

    To quote Dora the Explorer: We did it! We did it! We did it! YEAH! ¡Lo hicimos! :D

    To be honest, TEX has been sifting through a few ideas, and options. In the realm of education, if you're a teacher that's worth his or her salt, you just wanna do your job: teaching kids, and helping to form better citizens who can think for themselves, and keep this country going long after you've started your dirt nap. Heck, there is more to the job than teaching anyway: you feed kids who are hungry, intellectually, and sometimes physically. You teach good manners, fair play, a good work ethic, honor, and sometimes you have to protect them from themselves, or others. I love my job, probably more than anything that I've ever done - but politics always has to rear its ugly head. And wherever money is involved, there will be be greedy people willing to put a dollar over the general welfare of the people.

   I am a hopeful guy, I've trained myself to be, and I've trained myself to work towards my hopes - with belief, and elbow grease, anything is possible.

   So, in light of the education I've gotten about the inner workings of...er...education in the last few months, I've been dwelling more on the constant battles that humans have to fight to basically do the right thing. This is a battle that has probably been fought since the dawn of man - do we stand and fight for what's right, or lay down and roll over for personal gain?

   No one embodies the struggle between the light and the dark better than this character:

    It's my copy of House of Secrets #61, published in 1963. This comic features the 1st appearance of Mona Bennett, the Black Diamond (The Heart of Darkness), Dr. Bruce Gordon and his villainous alter-ego...ECLIPSO!!!

    Bruce Gordon was on Diablo Island to photograph a solar eclipse when he was attacked by an evil witch doctor who wounded him his tribe's sacred black stone, a stone which tuned out to be the Black Diamond/Heart of Darkness. After being wounded by the stone, Dr. Gordon found himself in possession of it just in time for the solar eclipse, and so became possessed by Eclipso, an evil entity who used Dr. Gordon to perform his wickedness upon the face of the Earth. Yep. This is a real Jekyll and Hyde story.

    Many changes came to be made to Eclipso over the years. The Black Diamond was revealed to have originated on the cursed planet, Apaokolips; it was used to destroy Darkseid's enemies. Thousands of years later, it was somehow mystically linked to the Eclipso, and soon found it's way to Earth. Eclipso himself became God's Spirit of Wrath, Galid, who was defeated and put aside by The Spirit of Vengeance, The Spectre, and sealed in the Heart of Darkness which was buried on Apokolips. Now, in the New 52, Eclipso is the murderous Lord Kaala of Gemworld, scion of Houses Onyx and Diamond.


FUN FACT #1: Eclipso has possessed several heroes and others to do his dirty work, including Jean Loring, Ray Palmer's (Silver Age Atom) insane, homicidal ex-wife.

FUN FACT #2: Dr. Bruce Gordon's name is a mash-up of Bruce Wayne's and Commissioner Gordon's names. Apparently Bob Haney thought it was a rib-tickler.

FUN FACT #3: These have slowly crept up in value and scarcity. Check the asking prices.

Thanks for letting me vent.

You guys rock. So, rock on. :)

Daredevil #1 (Vol 5)

Daredevil #1 (Vol 5) from Marvel Comics -

    Daredevil has returned after the Marvel 616 has rebooted, and only Foggy Nelson remembers Matt Murdock's secret identity - which is just how Matt likes it. Back in Hell's Kitchen, Murdoch is the newest District Attorney, and he's getting his feet wet taking down a deadly new threat: The Church of the Sheltering Hands, headed up by the lethal new crime boss, Tenfingers. At Daredevil's side is his new apprentice, Blindspot, AKA Samuel Chung, a genius kid with an amazing invisibility suit. Their mission: protect Billy Li, former member of the Church of the Sheltering Hands, who now wishes to turn state's evidence. Can Daredevil and Blindspot can keep Billy alive long enough to testify? Not if Tenfingers has anything to say about it - and he just may have an ace in the hole that Daredevil wouldn't suspect in million years.

   Charles Soule brings back the guardian devil with a gritty vengeance. Matt Murdoch is absolutely not mucking about in this iteration of Daredevil. He's all about destroying the foundations of crime in Hell's Kitchen, both as DD and Matt Murdoch. Blindspot is a welcome addition to the DD lore; it's nice to see DD investing in someone else, and taking such a personal risk. However, it remains to be seen if this risk might just turn out to be the worst gamble of DD's life. This story is pretty mesmerizing from beginning to end, full of fresh, new characters. Ron Garney's pencils make the action pop in this book, while Matt Milla's lifeless colors create a bleak, bleary, hopeless world - the world of the Daredevil. If you love Daredevil, you will not want to miss this book. If you are a collector, you won't want to miss it either - this book is chock-full of first appearances of great new characters that are likely to show up in Marvel's cinematic universe. 

RATING: 8.5 out of 10. 

Squadron Supreme #1 Review

Squadron Supreme #1 from Marvel Comics -


    Although the players come from different universes - dead universes - the Squadron Supreme is back together again, for the first time. There is the deadly, brilliant Nighthawk of Earth 31916; the vengeful Doctor Spectrum of Earth 4290001; the powerful, godlike Hyperion of Earth 30134; Blur, DP 7's ebony speedster from Earth 148611 (The New Universe); and the Power Princess of Earth 712 (original Squadron Supreme), the most elite and deadly of super-powered warriors on her planet. These men and women have been revived in this universe and united by one cause: to never lose this planet as they lost their own planets. To this end, they have vowed to do whatever it takes to protect the  Earth from threats, foreign and domestic...And they are beginning with a powerful, pointy-eared, wing-footed king whose underwater army has attacked the surface-dwellers of Earth on more than one occasion.

   The Squadron Supreme takes NO prisoners.

    James Robinson writes this action-packed, merciless and brutal iteration of the Squadron Supreme. These guys are no holds barred, no holding back, and never say die. Each of them is reeling from the loss of their own worlds, and each of them wants vengeance on the man they hold responsible: King Namor, and with him, all of Atlantis. Penciller, Leonard Kirk pulls out all the stops - this book is gorgeous. Panels are packed with blazing battle. I'm interested to see how this Justice League with the Punisher's mentality will fit into a world populated by heroes of a less lethal nature, like the Avengers (there are several teams that call themselves that right now). Are they heroes? Are they a threat? Is there anyone powerful enough to take them down? Although, I won't add this to my monthly pull list, I will buy the TPBs.

RATING: 8 out of 10.  The ending of issue #1 is a heart-stopper. This is gong to be interesting to watch.

Adventure Time: Ice King (Kaboom!)

The crazy, Mental Downright looney Ice King loses his penguin friend Gunter. Goes everywhere looking for him, Finn & Jake say's "what the lump man" & PB say's "your bird is not in my sock draw you sicko". 

After he give's up he finds a ransom note on his fridge that tell's Ice King that a dude named "Dark Magistar Tampli Marble" has him. He goes Wizard city to get a lead. 

I found it funny, But i'm a fan of AT, This is only part 1 of 6. What madness is imminent.

Rating: 7.5/10

Devolution #1(Dynamite)

If your offended by Religion, Apes, Dead beats, Dinosaurs or an awesome female protagonist...Then turn back.
This was a great read, Oh man! it was brilliant, I had no idea what to expect.

Not to give to much away, Think I Am Legend & make it cool Lol.
After many wars over religions views throughout the world it was decided to do something about it. They came up with a serum that will devolve the part of the brain that believes in A God.

Oh! boy, It did that & much much more, After it became air born & mutated to devolve everything (yes insects & animals as well) but a small percentage of humans...Who coincidentally are more savage then most prehistorical bad arse creatures.

Great artwork & story, Loved it, Want more please.

Rating: 10/10

PS: sorry not for kids, Has F's & C's floating everywhere & nudity. Oh! did i say that it starts like a Conan book & ends in Outer-Space Hmm.

TEX'S BACK-ISSUE QUEST 2.0 EPISODE 12

Hey, fam!!

    2016 was the year that the Punisher made his small screen debut! And it was pretty great!

    And this brings us to the focus of TEX'S Back-Issue Quest for today.

    Walking Dead's Jon Bernthal is the latest actor to take on the role of the Punisher. He took on Daredevil in the much-awaited season 2 of Netflix's series of the same name.

   Bernthal reportedly used "Born" and "Punisher MAX" as inspiration for his portrayal on the Punisher. This is good news for fans of the Punisher, as Garth Ennis headed up both series, a writer who, arguably, penned the best Punisher stories ever.

    To mark this exciting occasion, I thought I'd roll out some of The Punisher keys from my collection, for your eyes to see. Sound good? Sweet. Let's boogie:

It's Captain America #241, published in 1980. This features the first meeting between Captain America and the Punisher...And boy do they get the fisticuffs done! Frank Miller is on the cover and Frank Springer is on the interiors. 

FUN FACT: Mike Barr screwed the pooch when he wrote this one. While trying to convince the Punisher of the error of his ways, Cap waxes a bit holier-than-thou, telling Castle that he's "never willingly taken a life." Cap's a WWII war-hero. That was the bloodiest war the world has ever seen - you don't get that title without spilling some. Just sayin'.  

This is Marvel Preview Presents #2, published in 1975. In this B&W, non-Comics-Code compliant magazine, The Punisher tries to stop the murder of a politician that will be giving a speech on Wall Street; also, we get the very first telling of the Punisher's origin story showing the horrific murder of his family. While out for a day in the park, the Castle Family stumbles across a mob hit, and are mercilessly gunned down. Only Frank Castle survives.

Here are a couple of pages for you:

Gerry Conway writes and Tony DeZuniga rocks those pencils!

FUN FACT 1: The Punisher didn't exactly catch fire when he was created. He appeared in only 2 solo B&W stories and was basically a guest character in other books until he got his own series in 1986.

FUN FACT 2: This magazine also features the 1st app of Dominic Fortune!

Next up:

Here we have The Amazing Spider-Man #135 - the second full appearance of the Punisher (he had a cameo in #134), and the origin of the Tarantula! Isn't that cover just all kinds of swell?


And of course, I have the most important of them all:

It's Amazing Spider-Man #129, published in 1974, featuring the very 1st appearance of the Punisher and the first appearance of Miles Warren as the Jackal!! This swell cover was done by the hands of greats John Romita and Gil Kane!!

Hey, Gil. My copy is nowhere near as pretty as yours, but I sure love having it all the same. :)

And finally:

Here is The Punisher #1, published in 1986. Written by Steven Grant, and drawn wonderfully by Mike Zeck, this series was in limbo since the early 80s when Grant and Zeck first asked to do it. Marvel wasn't sure about giving a hero that killed in cold blood his own title. What would the kids think? Eventually, Marvel published the title but didn't put much effort into promoting it, and it is no small wonder. This series is hard-boiled. You will see things in this series that Marvel hadn't even dreamed of in that era: suicide, the death of a child, and even a sex scene. Yikes!

FUN FACT 3: Issues 1, 3, and 4 had banners above the title stating that this was a four-issue limited series; however, issues 2, and 5 clearly state that this is actually a five-issue limited series. Which was correct? 

FUN FACT 4: It was actually a five-issue limited series. Hurray for production errors. 

That's all for today. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I do posting!

Starbrand and Nightmask #1 Review

Starbrand and Nightmask #1 from Marvel Comics -

    Kevin Connor was a college student when the power of the Star Brand exploded inside him, giving him near god-like powers at the cost of the lives of everyone in the college that day. Nightmask (Adam; Adam Blackveil) was built by Ex Nihlo to be the perfect man, but the White Event made him something far more than human: he is a being gifted with the power to navigate the dreamscape of human potential. Both resurrected by the birth (rebirth?) of the "All-New, All-Different" Marvel Universe, Nightmask seeks to reignite Starbrand's connection with humanity by enrolling them both in Empire State University. Given pause by his last experience at university, Kevin is totally against it...Until some gentle persuasion from Adam (and his hottie R.A.), help him see the light. However, when two of the Avengers' most wanted show up to throw down, Kevin and Adam are caught with their pants down, putting everyone at Empire U in terrible danger. It looks like it's cram-time for our teenage heroes - this is one killer exam that these dudes can't afford to flunk.

   Greg Weisman writes this super-fun, kooky adventure full of chuckles, good vibes, teen-angst and Marvel-style snark. The relationship between Starbrand and Nightmask is baked to teen-buddy perfection; these dudes were made to be a team. Kevin is probably in his late teens, and outside of his identity as Starbrand, he is totally lost, while Adam, at just about three years old has got it all together, discovering his own identity, all while looking out for Kevin. These guys shine on the page - Weisman has made a buddy comic that is the best I've read of its type in a very long time. Domo Stanton's art is kinetic and cartoony - it is absolutely perfect for the tone of this book and totally ramps up the fun to the red line. As a fan of the New Universe, I can't say that I don't miss the old versions of these guys, but I sure as heck don't hate the new versions...Now, can we get some D.P. 7 please, Marvel? Huh?!

   RATING: 9 out 10. I just have to hang out with these dudes.

Thanks for reading.

Mystery Girl #1 Review

Mystery Girl #1 from Dark Horse Comics -

   Trine Hampstead is a fun, flirty girl from London. She is kind, caring street detective who knows what she wants, and she knows everything there is to know about, well, everything there is to know. You see, Trine has a singular gift - she knows things. Lots of things. Like everything. No matter where it's hidden, she can find it. No matter the problem, she can solve it. No matter what the mystery, she can unravel it...Almost. The only mystery that eludes Trine is how exactly she knows what she knows, and it's a mystery she is determined to solve. But first, she's off to Siberia - she and desperate scientist, Jovie Ghislain, are off to find pre-historic beasts in a desolate, icy no-man's land. But they'll get more than they've bargained for - a deranged killer is hot on Trine's trail. Will this be The Mystery Girl's last mystery?

   Paul Tobin has come up with one great character in Mystery Girl. Trine is lovable, strong, and lots of fun. She's hounded by a real baffler: how can you know everything, but how your power works and how you got it in the first place? It's a real "physician-heal-thyself" conundrum - Trine constantly helps everyone else, but she cannot help herself. But she doesn't let it shake her. One reason for that is that she is surrounded by great characters - from Alfie, the lecherous, lovable old detective that trained her, to Ken, her boyfriend (kinda) who really doesn't believe in her powers at all. Paul Tobin has built fun, interesting characters who inhabit a fun, interesting world that I really want to hang out in. Alberto J. Alburquerque is on the pencils, and his pencils are lively and expressive with a soothingly cartoony way about them. What a really fun, hip, cool first issue.

  DISCLAIMER: This comic isn't for kids. It has nudity and some harsh language. Dark Horse really should have age ratings on their comics. I initially bought this for my 13 year old daughter. She brought it to me and said she didn't think it was a good idea that she continue reading. I dropped the ball on that one. It's a shame that this couldn't have been an all-ages comic. Trine is just the type of character my daughter would love.

RATING: 8.5 out 10. I think Mystery Girl has got staying power. I wouldn't be surprised to see a film or TV adaptation for this one.

Thanks for reading.

Judge Dredd #1 Review

Judge Dredd #1 from IDW -


   In Mega-City One's Angela Davis Block, people are disappearing without a trace. Even the Psi-Division can't get a vibe on where the people are disappearing to, and what perps might be involved. Enter Judge Dredd, a heavy-handed crime-fighting machine of a man, looking to dole out justice, one perp at a time. However, Dredd's case goes south almost immediately, as he himself becomes one of the vanished denizens of Mega-City One. Dredd awakes in a strange new world unlike any he has seen; the grass grows, flowers bloom and the air is clean, and there is no Cursed Earth. Unable to fully grok his surroundings, Dredd soon gets back to dispensing the law, but when he encounters a huge Mega-City block, with no Mega-City surrounding it, guarded by killer robot Judges, Dredd realizes that this case may be his biggest case ever...And his last.

   This may be a reboot for our beloved Judge Dredd, or not. It's hard to say just yet. What I can tell you is that this is the Dredd that fans know and love thrust into a world unlike any that we've ever seen before in the 40-year history of Judge Dredd. For me, the familiarity given to an unfamiliar world deepened the mystery of the book, and held my attention page after page. Ulises Farinas and Erick Freitas have their fingers on Dredd's pulse - this is your father's Judge Dredd, but this isn't his world. Not to worry - the biting wit and craziness that identifies a Dredd story is still there. The writing coupled with Dan McDaid's busy, clunky artwork makes this feel like classic Judge Dredd in a not-so-classic Dredd tale. I really DIG that.

    If you are a hardcore Dredd fan, you will probably love this series a lot. If you're a fly-by-night Dredd fan, or just into the movies, this book might not be your cup of tea.

RATING: 8.5 out 10.

Red Wolf #1 Review

Red Wolf #1 from Marvel Comics:


     It is 1872 in Timely, a little town in America's wild west. After the death of Sheriff Steve Rogers, his protege, Red Wolf has taken over as the town's head lawman. It's not easy for Red Wolf - as a native American, he walks the dangerous line between the world of the white man and the world of the native, a line easily demarcated by mistrust, war and blood. When strange, grisly, seemingly supernatural murders begin to take place in his town, Red Wolf sets out to find to find the killer. What he encounters is mistrust from those he's sworn to protect...And he finds a killer with a power far beyond Red Wolf's skills...The power of science and future tech!

    Spinning out of Marvel's Secret Wars, comes Red Wolf! Written by Nathan Edmondson, Red Wolf is a classic western lawman tale with some sci-fi tossed in for good measure, all with a Native American wearing the white hat in the role of the primary protagonist. Red Wolf is a breath of fresh air. He is a cunning, classic do-gooder with the weight of the world on his shoulders who still manages to preserve his innocence, in a manner of speaking. Red Wolf does what is right, simply because it is right, despite the hatred and hindrances thrown his way - he does his best to honor his people and the laws of white man. The fact that Red Wolf is amazingly likable established, for me, a quick empathetic bond with the character. Dalibor Talajić's art is total fun and high octane; his panels are filled with great rough-and-tumble western action. This book is a throwback to those great Bronze Age western comics I loved, adding in a nice sci-fi touch. This is definitely a fun first outing for Red Wolf! No colorful superheroes and villains, just six guns, knives, horses and wild west fun.

RATING: 8 out 10! Red Wolf rides right onto my pull list.

Original Art Showcase Episode 5 - Manuel Calles González's El Pantera Part IV

Okay!

   And we're back with part 4 - the continuation of my published artwork from El Pantera #345, done by the hands of Manuel Calles González!

   

STAY TUNED!!

One last installment and you'll have seen my entire collection of El Pantera published art!!

ENJOY!!!

Thanks for visiting! 

Symmetry #1 Review

Symmetry #1 from Image Comics -

    In the distant future violence, sickness, and hunger have been eliminated. The price? Human diversity, ambition, creativity and instruments of capital. In the absence of these, and with the guidance of supremely advanced AI, human existence is free of strife and need, and bolstered by a guaranteed longevity unseen in human history. SOL (System Optimizer for Longevity), through its agents, RAINA and the Pacifiers, oversee and construct the optimal human existence on the planet. But perhaps all is not as it seems. When a powerful solar flare decimates SOL, humanity is on its own for the first time in centuries. When the door to human nature is opened fully, what will we find standing there staring back at us? Will we step through and embrace ourselves, or will the horror of the revelation of ourselves make us seal the door once more?

   Matt Hawkins is easily one of the best writers in comics today, and in Symmetry #1 we are again reminded of that fact as he challenges the reader with one question: "What would you be willing to give up to create Utopia?" In Symmetry #1, we find a vast, beautiful, organized world where every human is provided for, and no one makes or plans violence or war anymore. Children choose their own sex after a proper term of societal assimilation, marriage is unnecessary, all work is done by robots, and all human functions and consumptions are optimized for the greater good of each individual and by extension, the community. The reason that this comic works is simple: this is a subject that is near and dear to Hawkins' heart. He needs to explore the theme of utopia, to establish it, deconstruct it, and see if he can reconstruct it all over again. The writer is on a journey as much as the reader, and the is going to make for an amazing, unpredictable story, and possibly, a new classic in the science-fiction genre.

RATING: 10 out of 10. If you love sci-fi with a philosophical edge (the best sci-fi always has a philosophical edge), you simply cannot miss Symmetry.

Thanks for reading.

TEX's BACK-ISSUE QUEST 2.0 EPISODE 11

It's TEX!!

    I'm back again to check in! Hello my brothers and sisters!

    I just wanted to stop in to let you all know that I'll be on a short vacation, so there won't be any new posts from me for a few days; however, before I go, I have a little bit of  Valiant goodness that I'd like to show.

   A couple of months back, I did a post called Valiant Goes To The Movies in which I showcased my Valiant and Gold Key Valiant-related comics, while giving the skinny on the characters that Valiant will be bringing to the big screen. Click and enjoy. :)

   Here's the latest addition to my Valiant collection:

It's Shadowman #1. While Jack Boniface first appeared in X-O MANOWAR #4, his 1st full appearance as Shadowman actually takes place in this comic. Shadowman #1 also features the 1st appearance of supporting character, Netti and that of Samedi, the serial killer.  Also inside is a partial origin on Shadowman.

Love it!

That's all for today. Gotta fly!!

Keep on Slabbin'

KEEP ON SLABBIN'

So I recently started submitting my own books to CGC, about time too, took me a while to jump on board. I feel like I have discovered a new dimension to this hobby, it has made it a bit more exciting, to me at least. When I first started collecting I hated slabbed books, my only reason for that was because I couldn't read them, so I thought it was "dumb". Jump a few years to the future, and we now have digital comics available at our finger tips. So i asked myself, "what the best way to keep my comics protected, the best way to display them, and the best way to hold them without having to worry about finger prints and other handling damages?". I got A LOT more picky with the books I bought, which can be annoying at times. New comics have to be in 9.6/9.8 range or I won't buy them. Older comics, 1990-2000, I'll settle for VF/NM bronze age in VF range, silver age in F/VF...so on and so on. Unless of course is a mega silver key in which case I would settle for a VG copy. Of course I still have reader copies of older books here and there, and they smell goooood! Keep on slabbin' will focus on my graded books. I plan to get a lot graded in 2016 so there should be a lot of slabbin' moving forward. So lets get started with some modern books I've been sending off to CGC for now.

Adam Hughes SS Slabs [AH!]

Some Adam Hughes cover. This guy has jumped at the top of my favorite artists list. Like his style. The barb wire variant is the "ultra star wars exchange variant" only two on 9.8 SS on census!!

JTHM #1 CGC 9.6 SS [Signed by Vasquez]

Talk about a true hard to find book! I've been looking for a good copy of this one since 2014!! I saw this one pop up for sale and pulled the trigger on it right away.I bought this one slabbed, but I am very happy and proud to have this one in my personal collection. I rarely see this one pop up on Ebay and when they do they are usually in VF range. 

Infinite Crisis: Fight For The Multiverse #1 [1:25 Variant]

I'll be honest, I bought this one from a comic collector in Texas, online purchase, and always wondered if it was our very own Tex! This was purchased when the boards where offline so I was always curious, until I asked the seller if he was from CPG and he said no :-( 

This book had been gaining traction and is selling for a pretty penny these days, I think with the suicide squad movie getting closer and closer people may start to find out about this Harley Quinn variant. I got two copies of these now, both are blue label 9.8s! This one had some soda droplets or something so I am surprised it came back 9.8, it was pressed and cleaned, but I was still worried. Guess pressing and cleaning can be a good thing.

I'll end it here, I got a NICE book for ya'll next time. It came in last week and it is currently my favorite book in my collection, ya'll know I'm a huge Harley fan so you can bet it is a Harley Quinn book, but which one?????? Stay tuned!

Santos out!

TEX's BACK-ISSUE QUEST 2.0 EPISODE 10

Hey, hey, hey!!

    What'cha gots ta say?

    TEX is back on the mic, on the ones and twos, with the comics to make you GROOVE!

    Check it:

David Harewood as Hank Henshaw and J'onn J'onzz

Comics fans everywhere are all abuzz because FINALLY, J'onn J'onzz, AKA The Martian Manhunter, has made his return to live-action TV in CBS' Supergirl. Although, his story differs from the one the comics fans are familiar with, J'onzz has been a great addition to an already fun, family friendly superhero show. 

Rock on.

Henry "Hank" Henshaw first appeared in the Adventures of Superman #465 in 1990, and he turned out to be one of Superman's, and later, the GL Corps', greatest enemies, the Cyborg Superman. However, J'onn J'onzz has been around since the late Golden Age, 1st appearing in Detective Comics #225 in 1955. He has a myriad of powers, but his most highlighted powers are super strength, telepathy, flight, phasing/intangibility, shape-shifting and invisibility. His kryptonite is plain old fire - something that has been exploited time and again though the years. As a shape-shifter, J'onn J'onzz has numerous of identities that he uses in several different countries; his most well-known identity (by fans) is that of John Jones, a detective. 

While I do not have a copy of Detective Comics #225 to share with you :( ...I do have a beautiful copy of this:

Later, I had it graded:

It is House of Mystery #143, published in 1964! This book features the first solo cover appearance of the Martian Manhunter, his very first full-length story ever, and the beginning of  his run in H.o.M.. 

The idol-Head of Diabolu creates a strange being that turns living things to giants with just one touch - a farmer, Zook (The Martian Manhunter's funny little ally), and finally, the wizard, Malador, who had been shrunken to microscopic size as punishment. And once they all get big...They all seem to want to attack The Martian Manhunter!

FUN FACT 1: The animated series, Justice League, got it right. The Martian Manhunter was one of the founding members of of the JLA. Here's my copy of The Brave and the Bold #28, featuring the 1st app of the JLA. J'onn J'onzz is featured on the cover:

Hey...there are two very important superheroes missing...hmm...

FUN FACT 2: While J'onn J'onzz is not what some consider an a-lister of the DCU (I think he is), he has already appeared in a live-action film. In the unaired Justice League of America TV pilot of 1997(which I happen to own on DVD), J'onzz was portrayed by David Ogden Stiers:

Next, in some episodes of Smallville, Phil Morris took on the role of the Martian Manhunter:

FUN FACT #3: Superman called the Martian Manhunter the most powerful being on Earth (JLA #86, 2003). I think his susceptibility to common fire negates that a bit. I actually think that pre-New 52 Captain Comet (one of my faves who gets no love) would be the most powerful of the three - but Comet's more of a spacefarer than a Terran now. Captain Comet is AWESOME.

Will The Martian Manhunter make his appearance in the DCU films? I sure hope so. Unlike Marvel, it looks as if DC will use it's characters in both TV and film, although they will be portrayed by different actors. 

I dig it!!

Thanks for reading.

(PS - If you enjoy these articles, please click the plus 1 buttons below, and on Google Plus, and share them with your friends! Thank you.)

Last Gang In Town #1 Review

Last Gang In Town #1 from the Vertigo Imprint of DC Comics -

 
    In England of the late 70s, Alexandria Dixon is a ne'er-do-well from the school of hard knocks - a street tough with a foul mouth, a bad attitude and sticky fingers. Heavy Mannerz is a hardcore punk group whose members do as they please, take what they want, and look for every opportunity to flip the bird at the proper British establishment. These people are all about causing a ruckus, provoking problems and bringing Merrie Olde to its knees. What do these groups have in common? A shadowy, mastermind of the fairer sex who wants to put together the most audacious group of criminal provocateurs and thieves that England has ever seen. Why? 'Cause girls just want to have fun.

   This over-the-top, raucous comic was written by Simon Oliver. Oliver tries to capture the wild, uncontainable, uncontrollable punk spirit of the late 70s and early 80s in this crazy comic. He does so by creating characters that are young, feral, and and uninhibited. Rufus Dayglo's art is rowdy.  His panels are busy, and his pencils are crazy and cartoony, all the while effectively bringing a heavy punk vibe to this book. This book is not my style - I don't take my freedom as an excuse to screw up other peoples' lives - but the book isn't bad at all. The story is a bit convoluted, and it seems to meander with no real purpose until the very end, but it wasn't unenjoyable. If you're into the punk scene, you won't want to pass on this - Last Gang In Town is a dose of that purely British irreverence that birthed the British Punk era.

RATING: 6 out of 10.

FUN FACT: This comic shares its name with a song by O.G. British Punk Rockers, The Clash:

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Original Art Showcase Episode 4 - Manuel Calles González's El Pantera Part III

And we're back again!!

    Continuing from our pause point in our Original Art Showcase Episode 3, we'll continue with Manuel Calles González's wonderful published art from El Pantera #345, which is part of my personal art collection! We'll begin with page 30, and follow along in order.

    ENJOY!!

Still more to come!!!

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