New Stuff!

Just to give you a heads up, I recently got a bunch of new comic books! Yesterday, my son Tommy and my wife Melissa accompanied me to a comic book store on the west side of Madison so that they could meet a friend of mine who works there, come to find out that he was sick that day. However, while there I did pick up a couple of new comics, and on the way home, we stopped off at Half-Price Books, where I found a couple of graphic novels that I look forward to reviewing for this site.

I also happened across a bargain. When the book store has too many comic books, they take the ones they have had for a long time that simply aren't selling and wrap them in a big bundle of anywhere from 40 to 50 comic books and then sell the bundle for $5-$6! I found one of these and when I got it home I was pleasantly surprised to find 14 issues of Daredevil as well as some other stuff that looks pretty good and even a couple of graphic novels thrown into the mix.

I am attempting to get some more of the newer releases, however, I am quite limited in my funds, so generally what I have is more of the older stuff, but that's not to say that old is bad. Comics have always been known for the artistic way that they tell stories. But yes, as I get the newer comics I will post my reviews here. I'm truly looking forward to reading all the "new" stuff and I also look forward to reviewing them and posting those reviews here for all to peruse. I hope that you enjoy!

GREEN ARROW #13

***

The Green Arrow is a classic character from DC Comics.  He is millionaire playboy Oliver Queen, who learned survival skills and archery after falling off a yacht and marooned on a deserted isle with nothing but a long bow he had purchased because it was a movie prop.  Eventually, he finds his way back to civilization and creates the heroic persona known as the "Green Arrow." 

This issue of GREEN ARROW was released as DC's Holiday issue in 1988.  Written by Mike Grell and penciled by Dan Jurgens and Dick Giordano, this issue finds our hero returning home to Seatle after an extensive encounter with the Yakuza while abroad.  Right away, he begins his heroic deeds being "Johnny B. Do-Gooder," both in and out of costume.  Some of the deeds he does include rescue a cat from a tree, stop an abusive husband, help a little old lady change a tire and stop a group of Neo-Nazis from assaulting an old man on the streets.  Then we find that Oliver is being hunted down by an unknown assailant and the book ends with the classic cliff hanger.

Grell, I would say does a decent job with the story.  It's original, however at this point, not exactly riviting.  There is an element of mystery in the the whole "who's tryin' to kill him?" storyline, but that question doesn't really enter until the last two pages.  I also found that the "Johnny B. Do-Gooder" element in the middle was a bit hoaky.  I do like the beginning of the story in which he is reunited with his girlfriend.  Grell does a great job writing her range of emotions upon Oliver's return; first overjoyed at his return, then worried concern over the wounds that he has from his battle with the Yakuza, then extreme anger that he has brought this intense worry into her life--anger enough to make her knock the crap out of him with a vicious right cross, and eventually back to the feeling of relief that he is actually home.

The visuals in this one are quite good.  Jurgens and Giordano make great use of space and have a good mix of framing.  All flows quite well visually.  Also well done would be the colors added by Julia Lacquement, they really add a lot of dimension as well as warmth or mystery to the proper scenes.  In my opinion, the graphics in GREEN ARROW #13 bring it up in the ratings.  Without the rich graphics, I would have given this issue a two and a half, however, I think that the graphics bring it up to about a three out of five.

NAZRAT #1

****

Going back to 1986 with this one, NAZRAT #1 was published by Imperial Comics out of Boulder, Colorado.  Both written and drawn by Jerry Frazee, Nazrat is a character from a fantasy world in which animals are "intelligent" beings that commingle with society.  He is a rogue rat, accomplished thief and survival expert who uses his cunning to get out of sticky situations, accompanied by his friend Kipper, who is a tender-hearted, muscle-bound dog.  Together, the two roam the countryside and steal from other robbers and "miscreants" and Kipper titles them.

Though Nazrat and Kipper are rough and tumber characters, this series seems to be one part action, one part comedy.  Frazee writes the dialog for the characters very well and does a nice job of showing the friendship between the two without being corny.  He also shows the action in the story through decent artwork and through quick banter. 

I'm not sure if there it is just a coincidence that the main character's name is really just Tarzan spelled backward, but the reference really doesn't come up in the story line, I was kinda hoping for a spoof of the theme from the Tarzan stories.  However, I guess that Nazrat is a very agile rough tough fighter and has a real good instinct about how to take care of himself, maybe that's where the reference comes in.  Mr. Jerry Frazee, if you happen to read this, please let me know more about this question I have of the origin of Nazrat's name.

Even though the book was published in black and white, I thought that the artwork was very fitting of the story and the characters.  I also like that the comic was absent of any advertising, except for previews of other comics published by Imperial located on the last two pages.  That does drive up the price of the book over all, however it allows for more room for story, which I thought flowed very well in this, the first issue of NAZRAT.  All the elements above combine, in my opinion, for a rating of four out of five stars.

and now a word from our sponser:

(well not really a sponser, just a funny picture I found)