Cthulhu Mythos and Doctor Who Share a Birthday! (Sort of)

August 20th serves an important distinction for the Cthulhu Mythos and Doctor Who. Sure, neither debuted on this day (well as far as I am aware anyway) but both share a birthday in common.


Thanks to the internet and global capitalism I discovered that both H.P. Lovecraft, the creator of the Cthulhu Mythos, and Slyvestor McCoy (the 7th Doctor) were born on August 20th, give or take several decades. A coincidence that's simply geektastic! As an aside, I found out about Sylvestor McCoy's birthday courtesy of Big Finish, the creator of Doctor Who audios. They are having a sale on ten 7th Doctor audios. Meanwhile, One Book Shelf is having a Cthulhu Mythos sale (20% off) on its Drive Thru Fiction, RPG, and Comics sites. Since I didn't feel like linking the OBS sale (last 12 days), out of fairness (and may not participate in) I won't link to the Big Finish sale (lasts until Monday morning London time - I may participate in this one).


The works of HP Lovecraft have been a part of my life for twenty years. In fact, my next D&D character for Adventurer's League may very well be a Warlock who serves Cthulhu (albeit played more for humor than straight). Meanwhile, I remember as a little kid watching Sylvestor McCoy's regeneration story on PBS and eagerly trying to watch each new 7th Doctor Who story to varying degrees of success as the airing of episodes had become erratic. Don't think I've watched every story from McCoy's time on the show, certainly haven't listened to every audio nor read every book. To be fair, I haven't read every Lovecraft story yet either - although I do own a copy of his complete fiction and an annotated edition of several of his works.


In any case, I had to shine a spotlight on two creative people's birthdays, HP Lovecraft and Sylvestor McCoy, whose body of work has thrilled me.

Review: Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1

Before I begin I want to note to noteworthy achievements as of this entry. Discounting my review of the very first Superman story in Action Comics #1 (1938), this is my first comic book review of 2016. Well, I suppose I could say it's my first modern comic review of the year... Only took about eight months. Got a lot of reading to but, I digress. Second note-worthy item is: I don't think I have ever, ever read a Suicide Squad comic book before. Ever. Sure, I have read comics that they've appeared in. I did buy a copy of the issue that came out during the inaugural month of DC You. However, I have never read cover-to-cover an actual issue of Suicide Squad so I'll say a milestone has been reached.


As always, I'll try to avoid providing spoilers but they'll probably creep in...






Suicide Squad: Rebirth #1 (one-shot) by Rob Williams, Phillip Tan, & Co.
Art: Worst-part out of the review out the way, the art. I confess that I have a love/hate view of Phillip Tan's artwork. There are times I greatly enjoy and then much, much less so. So when I had a choice between the regular Tan cover and the Amanda Connor cover, I chose the latter. Don't get me wrong there's incredible detail. Tan captures some of the more gory moments quite well. It's just at times the art strikes me as muddy. Plus moments where the comics literacy flow is jarring at times as Harley would be using one type of weaponry in one panel and a different weapon in another. Although I suppose that could be chalked up to it's nature as a done-in-one.


Story: The Rebirth one-shot is a done-in-one that serves three purposes: introduce the readers to the cast, introduce the readers to what the book will be about, and tell in entertaining story worthy of the three U.S.D. that the reader spent on it while wetting the appetite for more. It succeeds on all three counts. SSR#1 introduces the reader to the core cast of Amanda Waller, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Rick Flag. Within the roughly 32 pages, the book does a stellar job conveying what each character is about along with what they contribute to the book. The reader learns that the Suicide Squad is a behind-the-books black ops squad of coerced villains that perform sensitive tasks... For instance, the crisis in this particular story concerns a meta-bomb that can either grants superpowers for 24 hours or remove them temporary located in a Mongolian province.  An in-continuity milestone is that the Suicide Squad's leader Rick Flag is "recruited" to lead the team for the very first time. Let's just say the squad handles the threat in a way that only a group of villains would with Flag providing guidance and discipline. Boomerang is a mighty amusing plus he contributes to one of the gorier scenes in the book. Liked the parallel plots between Waller recruiting Flag and Harley, Boomerang, and Deadshot on a mission.


Overall: I greatly enjoyed this first issue. Fresh off of seeing the live-action film I was primed for more Suicide Squad action. Absolutely loved the appearance of, what will probably be among his last comic book appearances, President Barack Obama as well as his... reaction toward the squad. The realism of the book is nice; and it should be a hoot watching how a rough-and-tumble group of characters work in future stories intrigues me. I suspect we've been introduced to the core cast of the new Suicide Squad title (which launched this Wednesday). A stellar example of what an introductory done-in-one should be.


Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (loses half a point merely for art quibbles). Truly top-notch!

Thoughts on Comic Book-ish News the Week of Aug 5, 2016

Had a blast composing my thoughts about some of the revelations that came out of SDCC 2016. My inner geek enjoyed fan-boying over the latest developments. So much so, that I realized that as much as I follow the news in the comic book industry, I rarely comment here. After all, what comic book fan doesn't like to rant/rave about the latest news within the comic book world? Don't know if this will be a one-off or become a new regular feature; but here's my thoughts on some of the latest developments in the world of comics of the week of August 5th, 2016. Links are provided, of course.


Season One vs Season Two of DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Legends had it's problems with Season One. At the link HERE, the producers explain why that was so as well as lessons learned. Good job of explaining why the show felt off. In many ways, Legends of Tomorrow was like a D&D campaign covering the Lord of the Rings except instead of taking a more efficient route chose a path that made the all shenanigans taking the One Ring to Mordor look speedy and professional. So the Legends are more like the D&D party that barely pursues the campaign goal while getting themselves into a ton of trouble. Cool. Glad I don't have to worry about Flashpoint in Flash messing up this show - and by extension Arrow. Absolute love that Season Two will have a generational contrast with the Legends being the Millenials and the Justice Society being the Greatest Generation. Heck, I'm just glad the Justice Society will go back to their WWII roots, which is something missing from the New 52/DC You/Rebirth comics. Plus the one-off episodes shouldn't be as infuriating either as the team isn't pursuing a definable mission with a definable end goal.


When Tony met Riri: Huh? No wonder no copy of Invicible Iron Man #12 was on the rack when I went to my comic shop Wednesday! A major milestone occurred! For those, like me, who didn't get the issue as many comic shops probably experienced unexpectedly high demand, details at this link.  Couple major moments here. Depending how Marvel Now the sequel goes, both this segment and one other may very well earn spots in Top Panels contests for years to come.


Why No Marvel's Mosted Wanted?: As a fan of Marvel's Agents of Shield, I was disappointed that Marvel's Most Wanted was passed on by ABC. Now, we know why. You can read why HERE. Sadly, as with many passed-over shows, ABC didn't like the pilot. Disappointing.  However, apparently, Marvel can shop the show elsewhere. Won't hold my breath though...


Never Say Never to More Peggy Carter: I'm quite happy that actress Hayley Atwell is more than willing to reprise the role of spy Agent Peggy Carter. Kind of like another actor for another famous spy role, she's never saying never albeit without the 'again' part. For the time being, I'll just have to check out her show Conviction. You can read more in-depth HERE.


Since I mentioned Flashpoint: While the time-hoppers of Legends won't be affected by Flashpoint, it appears Flashpoint won't last the entire season of Flash either. Here's a link.  What a sigh of relief! Don't think they could stretch the story arc of Flashpoint for 22 episodes and maintain a high-quality throughout. Wonder what the permanent changes will be?


Lucas loves the Marvel Han Solo comic: 'Nuff said. Simply incredible! The creative team should be proud. Here's the scoop.


Cap creators receive their due on the Cap statue: Absolutely love that a Captain America statue has been erected. Absolutely ecstatic that his creators, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, are being credited on the statue itself. Simply fantastic. The power of a petition. You can read the story HERE.


First Look at the Justice Society of America's Logo: In other Legend's of Tomorrow news, the logo of Justice Society was unveiled. Very elegant indeed. You can look at it HERE.


Riverdale Cast/Creators on the show's Twin Peak's tone: First, here's the INTERVIEW. I admit I was leery over the changes to the Archie canon for the show Riverdale. After reading this, I feel much better. Changes make sense. And it is just one universe within the multiverse that is Archie. Besides, Sacasa's work is top-notch; and I did grow up watching 90210 so Luke Perry's casting fits the CW aspect of the show...


JMS leaves comics - In somber news, writer JMS is leaving comics. Sad news indeed as I loved his work. Was wondering why his output had diminished. He had developed vision problems. You can read more at this LINK. I wish him the best of luck becoming a novelist and playwright.


That's it for this week. Next week, perhaps?