Twitter reviews: Rocketeer, Shinku, Gladstone’s, True Brit, Spider-Woman, Tigra, Mighty Isis, Alpha Flight, Star Wars,The Smurfs

I review comics on Twitter at twitter.com/johnsimcoe. Here are the July 2011 reviews! … And yes, I plan on posting all of them since I joined Twitter.

Shinku No. 1 (2011): It’s samurai vs. Vampires, via Lee Moder’s amazing
art. Coloring makes it better. Alas, only limited interest in vamps.

Shinku No. 2 (2011): Still unconvinced the story is something I want to
follow, but I do love the art by Lee Moder. Excellent coloring too.

Wonder Woman: Love & Murder (2007): Fine and all, but perfect
example of writing for the trade. Got this in floppy form and quit at
Issue 1.

Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors No. 2 (2011): A lot of “sitting
around” for the main characters in this ish. Hard-to-follow ending.

Tales of Evil No. 1 (1975): An Atlas horror title about a doll that
possesses a girl and forces her to kill the neighborhood cats. Ewwwwwww.

True Brit (2004): John Cleese writes a British version of Superman? John
Byrne draws. Sounds good, huh? Well, it wasn’t. Not enough Python.

Reed Gunther No. 2 (2011): Another charming issue as cowboy Reed battles
mine-dwelling goblins. This book is worth checking in on, folks!

The Mighty Isis No. 1 (1976): I finally understand Isis’ powers: She
can do anything! Not dull thanks to a Isis being a likeable character.

Spider-Woman No. 6 (1978): A nonsense issue featuring Morgan Le Fey,
Werewolf by Night and some magic spells. Read it and try to understand!

The Incredible Hulk at Bay (1974)
: The comic part of a book & record
set. Nothing special, but I would have loved to hear the audio to it.

Rocketeer Adventures No. 1 (2011):
Comic greats put the Dave Stevens
hero back in action. Fun expansion of his world, but not the old magic.

Rocketeer Adventures No. 2 (2011): Is it really a surprise that had the best story this time around. That man’s amazing!

Usagi Yojimbo: Shades of Death: The samurai rabbit is always a fantastic read. Should be on every library shelf in the world.

Fear Itself: Home Front No.1 (2011): Got it for Speedball story, but the
photo-real art is quite off-putting if you ask me. The rest? Ehhh.

Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein: Starting in the 50s, the artist took
multiple stabs at making a Frank comic. Some serious, some funny. All
good

Conan: Road of Kings No. 1 (2011): It’s still hard for me to accept a non-Buscema Conan, but the action scenes here are great.

Elvira’s House of Mystery No. 5 (1986): This was retro even as it was being published 25 years ago.

Warlord of Mars – Dejah Thoris No. 2 (2011): Drool worthy art keeps you
turn thw pages. A little light on story, but its all butt-kicking.

Alpha Flight 0.1 (2011): Competently brings back the classic team and
shows superheroes doing superheroy things, which is kind of rare.

Alpha Flight No. 1 (2011): It’s what I like – A diverse set of heroes
protecting their country. The updates Marrina rocks, by the way.

The Classic Marvel Figurine Collection No. 118 – Tigra: Makes me kinda
want a solo title that’s a horror/humor mix. Wait, that’s Hellcat.

The New Yorker Cartoon Album (1975-1985): The cliches you hear about the
mag are evident here. Some funny gags, but awfully high-falluting.

Batman-Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader: Gaiman explores various
incarnations of Bats. Know what? Sometimes I just don’t get Gaiman.

Captain America and Batroc No. 1 (2011): Finally, ze leaper takes a
starring role. Mon dieu! Zees iz zee perfect glimpze at France’s ace!

Star Wars: Tales of Mos Eisley (1996): A sci-fi Tales of the Crypt for
the Jedis. Wish I recognized more of those aliens be-bopping around.

Star Wars Tales No. 20 (2004): Stories of jawas, gungans and ewoks. By
far the “ewoks as post-RotJ technicians” story was most fun. Hoo-boy!


FILM REVIEW BONUS — The Smurfs (2011)

When no one’s looking in the theater, I also try to do reviews via Twitter in real time. Here’s what happened at “The Smurfs.”

  • The character design really trollified the Smurfs. You do get used to the new look, but I would have preferred Peyo’s.
  • The plot is not deep, but it has kid-appropriate “heart.” Would have loved some Peyo-style satire though. Try the comics!
  •  Good god, why didn’t they let Jonathan Winters ad lib
    even a little? The movie would have been 10 times better!
  • Hank Azaria is the best thing about it. He needed
    more ad-libbing though. NPH and Jayma Mays were serviceable enough.
  • I do wish the writers knew how to smurf the word properly. You don’t say “it was smurftastic,” you say “it was smurfy.”
  • The kids in the audience loved it, and I laughed quite a bit. The 3-D smurfed though. Just see it in a regular theater.


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