zondag 29 oktober 2017

Superteam: The Red Raptor Files - Part 2 by Christopher Valin

I read this one right after Sidekick The Red Raport Files - Part 1. That was a pretty fun book as well, but it suffered a bit too much from the fact that it read like the Batman and Robin of an alternate earth. With this one stuff gets a bit more original.
Red Raptor, sidekick of dark vigilante Black Harrier sets out to create his own superteam when he's fed up with the rules of the superhero guild that wants him to use his old name Red Kite again. He gets together a pretty cool group of sidekicks together, just like Robin did in the classic Teen Titans comics. There's a powerhouse, a speedster and a Wondergirl-like character but they never feel like rip-offs I had to admit. There's also this hugely entertaining less able hero called Cricket who could be this universe's own Squirrel Girl.
When the biggest heroes of this universe seem to have gone bad it's up to Red Raptor and his team to save the world. Pretty harrowing, just like the job Red Raptor now has flipping burgers...
What makes this one such a great read is the incredibly fast-paced style of writing. You can really picture the comic book panels in your head as you read the fight scenes.
I hope there's third book soon.

zaterdag 21 oktober 2017

The Edge: Revenant by Marvin Wynne

This is a comic series, created by Marvin Wynn with a pretty original feel to it without losing what we love in superhero comics. In this paperback collecting issues 1-4 we follow the adventures of a striketeam in their hunt for the villain called Revenant, whose look reminded me of DC's Nightwing.
 The superpowered folks in this series have been infected with a virus called The Edge that gives them their powers.
There are some overtones of Extreme's Brigade and Bloodstrike here, both in the look of the striketeam involved and the violence. The costumes look pretty original and where many other indy superheroes look like copies of the bigger icons like Superman and Batman all characters here look pretty unique.
The art by Mark V is pretty solid most of the time, though not all pages look as good.

woensdag 11 oktober 2017

Double Lives (Johnny Wagner, Godlike PI) by Matt Cowper

I don't just read superhero comics. I love superhero novels as well.
I enjoyed this one more than I thought. I love PI fiction but I've come across a lot of superhero novels that combine that with superhero fiction. The writing and fun plot in this one really won me over though.
John Wagner is  a PI with the arm of a god. When a popular superhero is killed by a second class supervillain the widow asks him to investigate. Along the way he encounters many superheroes and supervillains among which his old girlfriend and the hot assassin called Deathrain.
The dialogue between Wagner and the god that inhabits his arm are very funny. The heroes and villains aren't knock-offs of popular comic book characters but very original creations. I loved that.
Very eager to see this character return.