Papercutz has brought the French comic strip legend Asterix to the US, acquiring the rights to reprint classic collections of the original stories. Ya might say Asterix, because of his diminuitive size, would be France's answer to, say for example, Popeye, but without spinach. It's not the first time an American publisher has tried to introduce Asterix to American audiences, but I don't think the kiddo's would be interested.
Rating: B.
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Garth Ennis' The Boys transitioned to television last year, airing on Amazon Prime. After a short-lived run at Wildstorm/DC, Ennis moved his creation to Dynamite Entertainment. They're violent, vulgar (an Ennis specialty), and brutal. Imagine if European football hooligans gained super powers. Therein lies the basic idea for this covert operations team.
Rating: B--.
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Discovery Family may have cancelled My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but IDW is forging ahead with "season 10" in comics form. Your daughters---and maybe sons, too---will love it.
Rating: A-.
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While Boom! Studios is finishing off at least a couple of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series, a story arc involving an alternate universe and the introduction of a "Ranger Slayer" kicks off in a preview issue. Good only for true Ranger fans.
Rating: B--.
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Cullen Bunn's latest for Aftershock Comics is Dark Ark, which posits itself around the time of Noah in the Biblical Old Testament. Not this writer's cup of tea.
Rating: C.
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Dark Horse continues to mine Netflix's Stranger Things for comics, and there's also a story involving the popular Minecraft game as the back-up feature in this volume. You'd have to be a fan of Stranger Things to properly appreciate this book.
Rating: B.
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Marvel's X-Men entry is a prelude to the X of Swords event that debuts in September. Not advertised on the cover is a back-up feature that sets up a forthcoming Iron Man arc. Neither really is of interest to this writer, but fans of both franchises will pick this up.
Rating: B.
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Meanwhile, as Batman & Catwoman have been an on-again, off-again pairing in the pages of DC Comics, Marvel's answer has been to pair their Catwoman knock-off, the Black Cat, with Spider-Man (Peter Parker), but their shared history is only half as long as the Bat & the Cat. Unfortunately, Black Cat's book is being put on hiatus by Marvel, only to return for a fall event that co-stars Venom, who occupies the back-up feature in this book to set up said event, King in Black. If you've been reading Venom, you know what I'm referring to. Apparently, Peter's in an open relationship with both Mary Jane Watson (they're married in the newspaper strip) and Felicia "Black Cat" Hardy. So 21st century.
Rating: B-.
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Archie has revived its Blue Ribbon label for this year's Free Comic Book Summer, showcasing the comics version of Riverdale and that's the back-up feature behind a Betty & Veronica story by Jamie Lee Rotante & Brittney Williams that serves as a prelude to a forthcoming graphic novel. Similarly, Micol Ostow & Thomas Pitilli's "The Ties That Bind" sets up a graphic novel of the same name, due supposedly in October. Pitilli's artwork is great, capturing the tone of the dark, alternate universe Riverdale exists in. Betty & Veronica is aimed at a younger target audience.
Rating: A.
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Now, let's step back in time with Archie and his friends, shall we?
In 1988, writer Rich Margopoulos came over from Warren to develop the Explorers of The Unknown!, originally envisioned as a parody of DC's Challengers of The Unknown, but after appearances in a pair of Archie Giant Series issues, one each in 1988 and '89, the publisher spun the Explorers off into a 6 issue, bi-monthly miniseries, back when you could count on the books coming out on time. All 8 stories by Margopoulos & Rex Lindsey are collected in a nice little trade paperback that's barely bigger than what passes for "digests" at Archie these days. When your roster is double the size of the Challengers, it should stand on its own merits, shouldn't it? The miniseries was reprinted recently in digests, leading to this trade paperback release. If management had any sense, they could've brought the Explorers back sooner.
Rating: A-.
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