From Friendly Ghosts To Gamma Rays, No.114 : Guess Who Is Back?!
And after a week off we are back in action friendly reader, and for any newbies just checking this out, here is your weekly source for all-ages comics, From Friendly Ghosts To Gamma Rays! Last week was killer busy, I finally moved into a house I bought, and I started rehearsals directing a new musical based on Dracula! Through that all though, some great titles have popped up on our radar, so let’s check ‘em out this week!
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Popeye #5
Publisher: IDW
Writer: Roger Langridge
Art: Bruce Ozella
This week another issue of IDW’s Popeye revival hit stands, and with it some fun stuff that fans of the sailor man will enjoy.
Issue #5 features two adventures. In the first, “The Wrong Side of The Tracks,” Popeye is watching his adopted son Swee’pea, but after a debate of sorts happens between the two, Popeye claiming “cat” is spelled k-a-t, and Swee’pea wanting to spell it correctly, our favorite baby runs away and ends up on the tough side of town on the other side of the tracks. Popeye of course goes off to the rescue. In “The Adventures of Pete and Patsy,” Popeye decides to make a comic book for little Swee’pea that tells the adventures of Pete and Patsy as they face mummies, however, one by one the familiar faces of the Popeye-cast show up to draw their own pages into the story, all while little Swee’pea really just wants something to eat.
Popeye is a pretty fantastic comic book take on the source material, joining the ranks this year that has already seen comic book versions of other classic strips Peanuts and Garfield. Langridge and Ozella have a really good lock on the intended audience with this one. It is all-ages friendly, yet for fans of classic Popeye, it works perfectly by not feeling like a modern take on the character, but just the continual story back in the Golden Age world of our cast. Langridge makes good work of a few running gags, and keeps the story and jokes rolling. Ozella art wise makes this really feel like the old Popeye comic books and comic strips, so no crazy page layouts or anything, very straight forward, and that in part helps the source material excel quite well making these new stories feel like lost classics.
Popeye issue #5 is out now in print and digital from IDW.
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Bandette #2
Publisher: Monkeybrain Comics
Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Colleen Coover
Issue #2 of Bandette was released last week digitally from Monkeybrain Comics, continuing the great line of digital comics from Monkeybrain, and giving us some unique action, as well as an addicting read.
Picking up right where the first issue left off, Bandette is called in by inspector Belgique to help stop a bank robbery that was beyond the police’s control; who better than a thief to stop a thief in these situations. Bandette calls in a few of her friends on her cellphone, everyone from dancers to some teenage baseball players, and organizes a unique way to save the stolen cash and capture the robbers. Meanwhile, cat burglar Monsieur is pulling off a job when he hears something that could affect everyone.
Bandette is a great title. From its storytelling to its painted Euro-comic inspired art, there is a lot going on here. It’s main character Bandette, who is part Robin Hood, part Nancy Drew, and part Diabolik, is a charming character to follow and provides us with a few laughs along the way as we are glued page to page. From writing to art there is a lot of gold here, and if any of the Monkeybrain titles go from digital to print, this is the one you’ll want to pick up for your book shelf copy. The team of Tobin and Coover know exactly what they are doing with a story like this. In the meantime, set up a comiXology account and read it online/on your tablet, because it’s too good to wait in the hope for a print.
Bandette issue #2 is available now digitally.
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Reggie and Me #1
Publisher: Archie Comics
Writer: Bill Golliher
Art: Bill Galvan
Archie continues to create new spins on their classic characters, last week reviving the Reggie and Me title, with the team of Golliher and Galvan working on it.
In the first issue of this revival, we get part one of a story called “Rescue Me!” Reggie, typical of his schemes and jokes, sees some hot girls at the dog park and borrows Jughead’s dog, Hotdog, in an attempt to pick the girls up. However, as fate would have it, Hotdog gets into trouble, making Reggie admit it’s not his dog and burning a bridge with these girls. He tells them he really does have a dog that’s his, and so quickly finds himself having to adopt a dog, which he names Runty. Runty is a handful of trouble at first for Reggie, as he is afraid of storms, and may be more like Reggie than Reggie realized. The issue ends with a cliffhanger which we won’t give away here.
The first issue of Reggie and Me is a solid start to reviving a Reggie-centric title. The art by Galvan is typical quality Archie work, nothing mind blowing but not bad in the least, Galvan knows Archie’s house style and calmer layouts, and that is exactly what this is. Golliher has the biggest challenge, which is how to make a character a lot of fans find unlikable, likable in his own title, and begins to take us on a journey where while Reggie is a liar and plays tricks to get what he wants, he just might have a soft spot anyone can relate to as he deals with his new pet. Runty steals the issue after being introduced and makes a fine addition to the Archie-character family.
Reggie and Me #1 is available now in print and digital.
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That’s it for this week, see you next! Until then, get your kaiju-game on!
Drew McCabe
drew@comicattack.net
