In the last five issues of Mark Russell's acclaimed Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles, DC had room for a back-up feature that turned out to be a very fresh idea.
Sasquatch Detective's five chapters have been collected into a 1-shot special, which actually hit stores in December, but Diamond Comic Distributors shorted some stores' orders, including in the home district. They're weird like that, so Sasquatch has only just fallen into my lap.
The book starts with a new origin story for the titular sleuth, Tonya Lightfoot, by series creator Brandee Stillwell and veteran artist Ron Randall. To make a long story short, Tonya decides to make her own mark in the world, and what better way to do that than integrating herself with the human race by becoming a cop?
In her own way, Tonya is sweet and adorable, and the door is open for more stuff down the road.
Rating: A-.
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It was news when Marvel obtained a new license to adapt Robert E. Howard's legendary sword & sorcery hero, Conan The Barbarian. In addition to launching a new Conan series, Marvel also reacquired the rights to their earlier material, dating back to 1970, and Roy Thomas' seminal run, bolstered by artists as diverse as Barry Windsor-Smith, Neal Adams, & John Buscema.
Marvel's 1st Conan book ran for well over 200 issues before being cancelled in the 80's, and also spun off the black & white Savage Sword of Conan (which returns as a color monthly next month), and King Conan (later retitled, Conan The King), in addition to introducing readers to more of Howard's heroes.
This month, Marvel is reprinting some of those classics as part of their True Believers series, which can be had for $1 a copy. If the original issues by Smith, Adams, et al, are priced out of your budget range in the secondary market, you can't go wrong with the True Believers reprints. Plans also call for Conan to be meeting certain fan-favorite Marvel heroes real soon.
The reprints merit an A.
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The complaints regarding writer Brian Michael Bendis include the fact that he ignores what other writers have done before him on certain books (i.e. Superman), and he'd rather tell his own stories with no regard to consequence.
Bendis' new DC imprint, Wonder Comics, launched last week with the return of Young Justice, coinciding with the revival of the popular cartoon series over at DC Universe. The streaming service has an online exclusive comic with no ties to the book on the shelves.
Anyway, Bendis not only brings back Robin (Tim Drake), Impulse, and Wonder Girl (Cassandra Sandsmark), but will include Amethyst, a heroine from the 80's, whose last series didn't fare so well, a Teen Lantern, and the great grand-daughter of Jonah Hex as part of his team, at least for now. We'll also see the return of the 90's Superboy (Connor Kent), which suggests to me that Bendis has his preferences.
In time, the other Wonder Comics titles will roll out, bit by bit. Another fresh idea, Naomi, is set to debut next week, for example, but I'd not be surprised that by the end of the summer, she'll be joining the YJ team.
Young Justice gets an A-.
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