Comic Book Journal

Today we’re gonna have a little history lesson. If you think that independent publishers and imprints exists today in the comic book marketplace, you’re sadly mistaken. I took a look at an odd find I discovered. In reviewing Uncle Scrooge #181, which is definitely retro, I was amazed at the level of quality and care that was placed into the issue. The art was fantastic, despite being a little primitive and the colors definitely popped. The writing wasn’t bad either and the main story in the issue was plotted well. You see, Uncle Scrooge is set to loose his entire fortune (as always) if he does not find a case of horseradish buried in the depths of the sea and deliver it to Jamaica. He, of course, must dodge the devious plot of rival McSue to find the booty before he does. Chaos ensures, but ultimately Uncle Scrooge is successful thanks to his handy nephews, Huey, Dewey, and who could forget, Luey.

Now as a book for children this was not bad reading material. I would actually recommend back issues of the title for children in elementary school, or children trying to learn to read. So on a review basis I’d give the title a five out of ten. But it goes deeper than this

For those of you who may not know, and as I learned Whitman Comics was only an alternate distributing company for Gold Key Comics who was an imprint of the original Western Comics imprint. All properties were eventually engulfed by DC. The original titles, however, were impressive and could use a read even today. Whitman’s books included such titles as:

Battle of the Planets
The Beagle Boys Vs. Uncle Scrooge
The Black Hole
Buck Rogers
Bugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Daisy and Donald
Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom
Flash Gordon
Grimm’s Ghost Stories
Huey, Dewey, and Louie
Little Lulu
Mickey Mouse
The Pink Panther and the Inspector
Porky Pig
Turok, Son of Stone
Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories
Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny.

These are considered classics and still cherished by many adults and are a throwback to simpler times of the silver age. So if you’re at a convention, and keep in mind convention season will be in full swing soon, stop by the quarter bin and you’re sure to find a handful of these. If you’re feeling generous, pass them out to the local schools and libraries in an effort to promote not only the comic book market, but literacy in general. So that’s my public service announcement for today.

Also if you know anyone who loves all the classic Disney characters, and who doesn’t know Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and the rest of the crew, have them check out the Disney Movie Club. Below are links to check out all the great benefits the club has to offer.

http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2191506-10511469
Get 3 Disney Movies for $1.99 Each, Plus Free Shipping! Join Now!“>Get 3 Disney Movies for $1.99 Each, Plus Free Shipping! Join Now!

Also for all who have commented–Yes, I do read the comments and I appreciate any feedback you have to give. Often, I may not take time to respond to each one personally, but I assure you they are all read! Have a webzine or e-comic you want reviewed? If so send me a comment or e-mail at Velma92181@yahoo.com and I’ll do my best to get it out to the world wide web. That is, unless you scared of what I think. Until tomorrow, all will remain quiet on the Western front.

If you haven’t already, it’s time to check out Dark Horse Comics Presents on Myspace.com. No subscription is required to Myspace in order to peruse the offerings. You don’t even have to get a subscription to the online comics. This is completely FREE. I applaud Dark Horse in ths bold move to get new readers. And these are great comics kids. I read all of the mini issues on the site, and was extremely impressed by Ron Marz’s story with Samurai:Heaven and Earth. The art was gorgeous also and the attention to detail (notice the reflection of the rider and horse in the eyeball) along with the coloring, set the mood for a great epic. I would follow this one in print as well. Do yourself a favor: check this stuff out!

Two out of three fronts feature quite a lot, so let’s get down to it.

The last Chosen attacks in Dominic Deegan. She’s turned Quill into melting ice while flooding Rachel Hart’s body with deadly ice as well. With a spider-like ice armor, she’s now poised to destroy the town - unless Gregory can stop her. But Gregory overdosed on White Magic (an unusual problem, not that I think about it) and has been reduced to the scrawney alter ego of Buzz Beardman.

And in an awesome metaphysical twist, Ryan Sohmer has told the cast of Least I Could Do they will age as normal people (with the exception of their cat and possibly, their lamas), leading Rayne on a whirlwind quest through various comic strips - looking a home where he doesn’t age.

And most of the drama is done Arthur, King of Time and Space
. . . for now at least . . . so now we’re back to Noah’s Ark jabs and shower jokes. Still, good stuff abound for an extremely consistent comic.

The Fourth of July stalls some comics, acclerates others. Here’s what we got.

Dominic Deegan has a shortened work week, but still a busy one. The last of the Chosen has turned Quill into melting ice while brawling with Rachel Hart and Dexter Garrit. The last Chosen is unable to accept Gregory’s white magic was to blame for her friend’s death, and the fight takes a particularly painful turn for Rachel.

Where can I begin is Least I Could Do? Somehow a blasphemous conversation leads to a flashback regarding llama cast member. And Noel tells Rayne about all the Cadbury controversy. I have to agree with Rayne - salmonella or no, they’re magically delicious.

Arthur is finally rescued in Arthur. King of Time and Space, but upon doing so, he delivers a cryptic warning about putting his happiness in front of others - possibly revealing his knowledge of Lancelot and Guinivere’s affair. And in the present, the impossibility of dust storms on Uranus leads to a bad sketch idea.

That’s all of this week!

And first, the dailies -

In Least I Could Do, Rayne is up to no good - as usual - following Noel to his date with Katie, whom he met at a speed dating event a couple storylines ago. Rayne makes a pest of himself as ever, while Noel wonders how he can keep the date going with Katie with Rayne ever-present.

In Dominic Deegan, the last Chosen strikes at “the bearded guy” - who is actually a depowered Gregory - in attempt to provoke a confrontation. With Gregory recovering, Dominic disguises Quilt as Gregory as a last ditch effort for diplomacy. The diplomatic effort by Dominic is a bit surprising to me - in most stories, he’s all about hastily confronting evil, not dealing with it, and while this “evil” is represented by a pretty girl instead of shrouded necromancer and creepy orc, ambigious characters - and more importantly, reactions to them - are Mookie’s sometimes unconsistent weakness.

And finally, in Arthur King of Time and Space, Lancelot recovers from a fight thanks to a magic shield, which the webcomic has to back-track to explain the significance. Now Lancelot now has to save his king and country from imprisonment and invasion - yet again.

In the monthly categories -

In This is Gravity, Dexter and Amanda discover the cause of the mysterious fires sweeping through town to be a bizzarely distant Maggie. This can’t be good . . .

Freelance work has prolonged any work being done on Between Two Worlds, so we’ll try back next month.

And in Bardsworth, Mike grapples with an honest enchantment, while getting a good grade in Bard class just for telling the truth - here’s the twist: the magical denziens of this world don’t believe a word he’s saying about our real world and chalk it up to assigned roleplaying!

A quiet week for once . . .

Least I Could Do returns from New York after confirming the non-existence of ninjas or turtles. Rayne gets a call from his brother, who announces he has a cat named Qui-Gon Jinn. Rayne considers injecting his cat Baby with midi-chlorians.

No new Dominic Deegan’s this week, after a move and break-up threw the creator Mookie into a major deep funk. I offer my condolesnces to Mookie.

And in Arthur King of Time and Space, Arthur is captured, and Lancelot is captured trying to rescue him. Well, things don’t go exactly like that in the Western time period, where Lancelot does something else to, uhhh, help the forlorn Guinivere.

Well, there’s major stories running in all three strips, so let’s get started, shall we?

Least I Could Do - After a musical stand-off with a puppet and then a random attack on a man dressed as an M&M, Rayne finally reaches his board room meeting, where he is seemingly tasked with whipping the NYC chapter of the company into shape. I still can’t shake there’s something more sinister way way in the background of the NYC trip - that either Rayne is tasked with firing this chapter or has a pink slip of his own waiting for him back home. But that was my impression when this whole thing began a couple weeks ago.

Dominic Deegan - Gregory uses his newfound disguise to elude the Chosen, and calls upon uber-bombastic tomboy Rachel for some sort of ploy. He also uses his alter ego to publish an article in the paper, sending a clear message to the last Chosen - he knows she’s out there, and recognized her on the battlefield long ago, but forgives her from her actions, and remains regretful for his inability to save her comrades during the battle.

Arthur King of Time and Space - Not really a lot happening, but the story is going in an interesting direction. Guinevere and Lancelot continue their affair, while King Arthur is away - apparently having an affair of his own!

Well, its 12:12 up here and I’ve been up while my town - and in fact the entire surronding region - has been in the path of a superstorm!

The damage has subsided and I don’t see any shattered windows or downed trees out my window, but I don’t dare look - there were 80 mph winds out there just a minute ago!

On that note, today’s update will be slightly abbreviated, since the only one of our normally watched webcomic - Dominic Deegan - has yet to update until the morning. So I’ll provide comments on the remaining two webcomics before soundly retiring to sleep, before updating the Dominic Deegan watch sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Least I Could Do - Rayne’s New York escapades continue, and frankly, I want him back in the old routine again. Rayne watches Avenue Q on Broadway, spends a night with one of the leading lady, and gives an awesome comeback to the play’s creators. Which leads me to something I’ve always wondered - does Ryan Sohmer have to get permission for every real person who shows up in his hilarious webcomic, or do some sort of parody-protecting laws apply?

Arthur King of Time and Space: Boy, do we learn about the origins and layout of Arthurian legends in this webcomic! Sometimes the commentaries - regarding the various works which mark up the King Arthur source material - is just as interesting if not more so than the webcomic itself! More plotting around the budding relationship between Guinevere and Lancelot - hopefully next week will be more heavier on the plot directly than this week.

Dominic Deegan: Over in Dominic Deegan, Gregory has to deal with his lack of White Magic through his body changing in some weird ways. More to the point, he’s a skinny dark-haired guy who looked pretty much the spitting image of his brother. Gregory uses this new body to his advantage when one of the Chosen comes looking for Dominic for revenge. The female Chosen is immensely baffled by the faux Dominic’s willingness to change -as well as his forthright kindness. The Gregory-Dominic lookalike scernario is a bit too coincidental for my taste, but I really like the female Chosen - I’m not sure her name has been mentioned yet - could Mookie finally be on the way to creating a villain for whom we care?

Expect something different for the list this weekend. I’m going to go to my local grocery store and compare their findings with my local comic book store. Just what’s on the newstands these days? The answers might surprise you.

Okay, we have plenty to cover even in the dailies, so here we go!

Dominic Deegan brings plenty of interesting developments. Dominic’s brother Gregory turns himself into a comically bulky hulk by overdosing on his own white magic. Dominic “fixes” it - only to turn Gregory into a short, skinny, scruffy guy nearly unrecognizable - which works to his advantage when the sole remaining Chosen comes looking for him.

Least I Could Do began by finding Rayne kicked out of several Broadway shows for riding the actors. It was cute in the Lion King, but downright disturbing everywhere else. Rayne is currently intrigued by the actress behind a puppet play, but I’m wondering if Rayne might have bigger problems when comes back down to Earth, as I think his boss, or perhaps, his boss’ boss, might be eyeing Rayne for downsizing.

Arthur King of Time and Space is finally dealing with the fallout of Lancelot’s night the with deceptive Elaine. The reactions run through all time periods - past, present and future - in many perspective and hilarious implications in the relationship between Lancelot and Guenevere. In one entry, Lancelot tells his forbidden love in medieval times it would have been better if they had met before she was married. The very next panel is in the future - same set-up - where Lancelot it would have been better for their relationship it they had met after she had been married.

This is Gravity finds Amanda - Dexter’s literally visionary friend - trying to discover the truth behind a series of arson plaguing a routy part of town known as the Wild West. Also, a superhero - or a guy running around in a ski mask - named the Watchman is involved. I’m so hooked.

In the epilogue of Between Two Worlds, Juhani responds to lame earth-bound fireworks by shooting up a freeze way from the other side into the sky. Let’s hope he knows what he’s doing, because he doesn’t, the whole cast might get frozen - what a weird twist ending that would make!

And finally Flatwood finds its hero Zack oh so closer to finally meeting the mysterious Mr. Milk whose been haunting his dreams like some Kubrick reject from the Shining. Though this comic has sporadically updated as of late, its always worth checking out for its sheer creativity and atmosphere!

Well, I have a Star Wars Top 10 to finish today, so let’s get started.

Dominic Deegan: For most of the week, its been just what Dominic does on his time off - which in some cases include prancing around merrily. But of course, every cloud with a silver lining has darker filling, and a mysterious woman - a survivor of the Storm of Souls - has come to finish the job and destroy the town of Barthis. After she finishes her salad. And chocolate cake.

Least I Could Do: Least I Could Do finds Rayne and company in New York for some kind of business. Thus far, Rayne has hired a helicopter service and a limo-complete-with-swimming-pool to drive him from place to place. But I can’t beat the suspicion that there’s something darker to this story - that his bosses might have used the opportunity to get him out of the office to discuss something Rayne might not like very much.

Arthur: King of Time and Space: We’re thankfully back in the medieval storyline for the majority of the week. Lancelot is conspicously absent during a feast (perhaps due to his Elaine troubles) much to the chargin of Guenvere. And just when we’re about to make some headway in the story, it jumps to present day Guenever angry about something. I can’t take this suspsense!

Plenty of going-on’s in the web dailies, so let’s hope right to it!

First, in Dominic Deegan, Dominic is able to convince his dark necromatic brother Jacob to help him solve the mysteries surronding the plains of Maltak, the storm-ridden homeland of the orcs. His girlfriend Luna stays in the kitchen - afraid of Jacob - and with good reason, as the elder Deegan has ripped off half o his face already. Sparks, Deegan’s talking cat, reminds Luna that if anything happens to Dominic, it will be on her hands - all in a ploy to eat all the muffins. Luna bursts into find Dominc on the verge of a breakthrough - but Jacob has disappeared, boding potentially darker developments on the horizon.

Then, in Least I Could Do, Rayne has an economic idea - giving all the money charged to him to put on a poverty benefit directly to the homeless, and then using any leftovers to give the guests a real eye-opening look in poverty - in the streets of the city. The guests aren’t all happy, but will surely never forget the experience. Even though, Rayne ends up cancelling out all his good deeds with plenty of bad - namely his many, many, many obscene pick-up lines to co-charity organizer Emma, who still refuses Rayne’s many, many, many advances.

And in Arthur, King of Time and Space, Lancelot saves a princess from imprisonment in a bath tub (not making this up, this is how things went down in the legends!). Now the grateful king - the descendant of Joseph of Arimathea (who brought Christianity to England) wants to “merge” his bloodline with Lancelot - himself a descendant of Jesus Christ - in a way that involves plenty and plenty of wine. And modern day Arthur moons a crowd to keep up with female flashers. We live in such intense times!

That’s all for today. Expect a list (hopefully) over the weekend.

Here’s the real stuff - today we have several weekly webcomics in addition to all the dailies we cover on Fridays anyway. So without further delay, let’s get this mash-up started.

I’m really excited about Dominic Deegan. My biggest problem with Dominic is, in my estimation, he’s very rarely wrong about people. There are good people in the world, and Dominic knows it, and there are bad people in the world, and yes, Dominic knows it. I can understand if he was really wrong a lot he wouldn’t make a good seer, but all the same, your hero has to be wrong sometimes.

Though its a minor case, one character just might surprise Dominc Deegan - if he lives long enough. Reinholt is a disgraced Knight who crossed paths with Dominic on one of his bad days, his racist tones earning Dominic’s wrath, who cast a pretty depressing forecast for Reinholt. This week, Reinholt disobeys a direct order to return home in order to escort headstrong mage Cassaflinn on a mercy of mission to the orc homelands. Too bad Cassaflinn herself has disobeyed a warning from Dominic Deegan NOT to participate in the food drive, as a nasty clan of orc mages is on the march too. I’m really interested to see what happens in the next two days.

Things are just today getting interesting in Least I Could Do. Rayne’s laziness leads him to be abandoned by his sexy co-worker in organizing a charity event. This unfortunately, gives Rayne full control of the charity funds - and he gives it directly to those in needs. Today the event seems to be giving guests a first hand look at poverty - right in their own streets. Does Rayne know what he’s doing, or is he heading headlong into the unemployment line? The fact that I can asks this question makes this webcomic interesting.

Everything’s pretty much the same on Arthur King of Time and Space. Arthur talks to a troll of the Internet variety. Lancelot gets stuck in a tree, and debates the inherent existentialism of his quest. Just wait to things get really interesting in this strip.

Now for the monthlies.

First one up is from my good friend and Pierced colorist Bryan J. Ibeas. This Is Gravity explores the supernatural through the perspective of a depressed young woman Maggie, her dead best friend’s younger brother Dexter, and his precocious pal Amanda. I think the devil runs a pet store. Figures.

This storyline focuses on Amanda, a relatively new addition to the cast, and the story is skillyfully weaved between Amanda’s conversation with a quirky fortune teller as well as her and Dexter’s investigation of suspicious arson plaguing several condemned buildings. What’s behind it all?

Dexter thinks its a Balrog.

Things are going pretty slowly in my own webcomic “Hector!”, thanks in turn to Pierced (you knew I’d find a way to plug it again). Only one update this month for the prologue to the next story, “The Man-Eating Horse of Cross Pitch”, as several outlaws ride off in for a dangerous bounty mission. Hmmm, I wonder what they’ll find.

Well, I was going to tell you all about another one of my favorite webcomics, the three-a-week Between Two Worlds, but when I clicked on the link, guess what two unfamiliar words graced the image I saw.

THE END

The End? Webcomics end? WHAT?!

But seriously, if you’re looking for a webcomic substitute to “Lost”, with an astonishing array of enjoyable, but not uncountable, characters and a storyline that makes a great deal more sense start to finish than “Lost” does in three freakin’ years . . . be sure to check out “Between Two Worlds”. You can probably read the whole story from start to finish.

Although there is an epilogue still to come. Expect frequent updates on that.

Another webcomic coming to all-too-sudden close is the Talismen series. As with “Between Two Worlds”, there is plenty of enjoyable stuff to read with “Talismen”, whose fantasy I find bold and refreshing. Writer Steven P. Jones is authoring a series of books based on the past days of “Talismen”, but I’m going to miss the excellent illustrations by Barb Jacobs.

Wow. Two of the three webcomics I set out to mash up monthly really did mash up . . . one by closing their doors and the other by way of “The End” (though there’s still more to the story) I hope I have better luck next month. We aren’t off to an auspicious start!

Dominic Deegan - Well, it looks like the seer is up to his ears in double trouble, as the storyline continues to get better and better. His older brother Jacob, a dark necromancer, is back in the mix, and Dominic recieves visions of Jacob killing a hooker as he goes after the pesky elemental Neilen just as he also forsees a horde of militant orcs preparing to swarm the border of the storm-ravaged orc nation. Dominic Deegan must save both his students and Nelien - though I think Mookie just placed the prostitute in Jacob’s path to give Dominic a (relatively) innocent life to safe, as it’s frankly hard to care much about the mischevious Neilen. Dominic appeals to Jacob’s scientific curosity to stop him from going after Nelien - but he soon discovers his students are planning on going ahead to distribute food in the disaster zone.

Least I Could Do - There’s not much story here actually. Rayne is out of the hospital and back to his old tricks. His rants range from dragon-sheep to Tazmanian devils and today he freaks out one kid by telling him the boy who cried wolf died - right after Rayne set fire to his parents! The lengths Rayne will go to in order to keep his niece happy never fail to touch my heart - or spark my terror.

Arthur, King and Time of Space - A funny and dedicated daily webcomic which profiles the exploits of King Arthur in at least three different time periods - past, present and future. There’s . . . ummm . . . not much going on actually. The characters clarify the difference between Morgan Le Fay and Morgause, Queen of Lothain - which was always confusing to Arthurian buffs like me, and the future Belvidere seems to be using her prostetic hand to Cyborg-like advantages. Expect deeper musings on this awesome webcomic next week.

And you can also expect to see the Monthly Webcomic Mash-Up next week as well, in which I provide recaps for non-daily webcomics over the span of next month. You can also expect one more a fourth addition to Weekly Webcomic Wrap-Up as well.

That’s all for today - expect a list post sometime later today/early tomorrow!

Another week and lots more to tell in the webcomic world.

Dominic Deegan: Oh man, was this an eventful week. If you’re the least bit interested in webcomics, please check this one out, as it is sometimes the pinnacle of webcomic achievement. Refugee orcs have lost their homeland to a violent storm while Dominic Deegan and his students participate in a food drive - FYI, orcs are herbivores - but all is not what it seems. In today’s webcomic, Dominic recieves ill tidings his evil necromancer brother Jacob might be back in business.

Least I Could Do: Rayne is revealed to be suffering from a disappointedly non-life-threatening disease vestibular neuronitis, though this does little to calm our hero. He barrates nurse after nurse for even the tiniest bubble in his IV. But the hospital incident isn’t without its own forms of payback, as his buddy Noel tells a semi-delusional Rayne there is a “ward for unwell emo boys” in the hospital, sending the delirous Rayne scampering off muttering “Crying newage hippies . . . should send . . . them to . . . Vietnam!”

If neither of these mainstream editions floats your boat, check out the Librarianist for a full frontal play on words and scernarios just as funny as “Far Side”. The webcomic could do with a little better navigation though, and might want to try using the traditional First Previous Forward buttons on the bottom of the webcomics.

Well, that just about wraps it up here. As always, if you have any webcomics you want reviewed or recapped, be sure to let me know. At the moment I’m trying to recap webcomics that update 3 times a week or more.

Also, when suggesting webcomics to be recapped, make sure they are story-bound like Dominic Deegan and not joke-bound like the Librarianist. I just need material to include in the recap, and it doesn’t do anyone any favors if I’m not summarizing random joke scenes - something would probably prove unfunny and boring the first time.

This week I’m going to the comic book shop, so expect plenty of reviews Monday through Friday. Also, you can look forward to another Top 10 by Saturday!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

This will be a weekly webcomic segment I like to call “Weekly Webcomic Wrap-Up”. At the end of the week, I’ll recap the weekly events in the latest world of webcomics. While I hope to expand the list of webcomics wrapped to a sizable portion, today I’m just going to provide a double-edged starter list for those who aren’t too familiar with the genre. In other words, if you aren’t too big into webcomics yet, these are two comics you need to read.

Least I Could Do: This one gets me every time. For Mature (okay, semi-mature) Readers only, Least I Could Do focuses on the exploits of the mischevious Rayne Summers and friends. This has been a pretty eventful week for Rayne in particular. First, he is assigned to aid the very charity worker he attempted to woo with an elaborate ruse a year ago (with horrible results). And if that weren’t enough, Rayne is felled by a mysterious illness while walking in the park with his friend Noel. Too bad Noel thinks he is the butt of of one of Rayne’s many jokes and doesn’t lift a finger to help him immediately. This all leads Rayne to fight through the medications in further attempts to do Noel harm on the way to the hospital. The latter two strips show Rayne back to his trouble-making ways, though no explanation has been made to his illness.

Dominic Deegan: Pictured above, a disarming and addictive manga-esque comic with a lot of admirable qualities, including ample charm and a devoted fanbase. Also, an eventful week for prophetic seer Dominic Deegan. First, the gossip-mongering mage Neilen is dealt with, when his equally mischevious co-worker Runcible Spoon pretends to be his newly-elected superior and offers him more money - for more work (not Neilen’s strong point). The shifty mage resigns at that point. The later half of the week had Orc refugees finally being allowe back into their homeland, after epic storm have ravaged their countryside into rocky, uninhabitable lands.

I’ll keep you up-to-date with more webcomic happening from the two above webcomics and more. If you’d like to suggest some more webcomics for me to read, review and (possibly) recap, you’re more than welcome to it!

Expect a big feature tomorrow!