Ahead of their forthcoming animated series on Max, starting in December, the Creature Commandos have returned to comics.
Originally introduced in Weird War Tales (1st series) in 1980 as a World War II superteam, the Commandos have been rebooted and repackaged as a modern day unit that answers to General Wade Eiling, and, unbeknownst to the team, Brainiac is also involved.
You have a patchwork Monster of Frankenstein, "Lucky" Taylor, who can actually speak in this series. Vincent Velcro, the vampire, is now presented as a modern day teenage or 20-something punk with a criminal record (the original Velcro, aka Velcoro, was an Army deserter). The werewolf is now a woman, Wanda Griffith (the original was a Southern boy, Warren Griffith, with a speech impediment). Dr. Medusa is still around, and Matthew Shrieve, the team's commanding officer in the original series, has been rebooted as well, now with a prosthetic, weaponized left arm.
The splash page offers a direct shot at Marvel with the logo design recalling early 70's Marvel, before Stan Lee put his name on every splash page. The use of Brainiac almost guarantees some Justice League involvement in this 6 issue series, written by actor David Dastmalchian. We'll see how this plays out.
Rating: B.
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For 36 years (1978-2014), Metroland was an alternative news weekly that covered just about everything. In its pages. It also introduced readers to writer-artist Matt Groening, whose Life is Hell strip predated The Simpsons by a few years.
As of Friday, Metroland is back.
Singer-songwriter-stand up comic Erin Harkes acquired the rights to Metroland earlier this year, and the first issue in 10 years dropped on Friday, and it's like it never left. Former writers like OP Callaghan, Byron Nilsson, and Al Quaglieri have moved on, and Harkes has rebooted with a new staff. The energy is there, and a few advertisers (i.e. MVP Arena) from the old days are on board.
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Marvel's annual Crypt of Shadows 1-shot is more of the same as last year, this year hosted by their rebooted Agatha Harkness as a means of promoting Disney+'s Agatha All Along. This volume includes a Blade team-up with Jack Russell, the original Werewolf by Night, predating the events of the Blood Hunt miniseries, and Namor & Man-Thing are an unlikely pairing.
Rating: B--.
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Archie Comics figured that in order to sell more copies of their annual Halloween Spectacular 1-shot, they needed to add Archie Andrews himself to the mix, along with Betty, Veronica, and Jughead.
The usual all-new 5 page story has the gang meeting Sabrina's nemesis, Amber Nightstone, and the Wicked Trinity. Unfortunately, writer Ian Flynn took the Image Comics approach, and dropped us right in the middle of the action, which is always a mistake in my book. While Jug is supposed to be a Frankenstein Monster, despite that omnipresent beanie, the colorist forgot to add the green makeup on the cover. Archie does not turn into a werewolf in the story, contrary to said cover, though Sabrina does wear the same outfit, fishnet stockings included.
As for Amber, what self-respecting witch actually wears fangs?
The reprints are of more recent vintage, including appearances by the Superteens and Mighty Crusaders.
The covers declares this volume as "The official comic book of Halloween". No, it isn't, when your lead story is just 5 pages. This should've been a book lengther. We love the artwork from Steven & Lila Butler, but Flynn needs to remember how to write longer stories.
Rating: B-.
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DC Horror in 2024 lacks the hosts of yore, which were co-opted by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, et al, 40 years ago, and the aforementioned David Dastmalchian is heard from again with a Dollhouse story that, if you're not familiar with the concept, will confuse you. Superman does not appear, as the cover is misleading. Wonder Woman does figure into the 2nd story, but it is forgettable.
Rating; C-.
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