Greetings Walkers and Brain-munchers, and welcome to Comic Book Quick Hits! Every week I’ll be writing a “Quick Hits” review piece to give some brief highlights to a handful of great comic books that have come out in the last week or two, so you can swing by your local shop and snag an issue or two while they are still hot on the shelf. I’ll also be writing “Comic Cluster” reviews, which will be focused on 3-6 consecutive issues of one specific title, so that you can get a more in-depth feel for an over-arching storyline, art, etc., to see if you’d like to commit to a specific series for a longer haul. Here are your Quick Hits for the week of August 24!
Blue Beetle: Rebirth #1
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: August 24, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $2.99
Digital Price: $2.99
Quick Hit: To me, this is one of the “Rebirth” titles that best allows new readers to come in and acclimate to the new world that DC is building, without having been previously too familiar with a title character. This issue does an excellent job of providing back story on teenager Jaime Reyes and the blessing/curse he lives with of having an ancient mystic scarab attached to his spine, causing him to transform into the heroic character of the Blue Beetle. He’s trying to live a normal life, but that’s understandably hard to do with an eons-old magical bug ingratiating itself into your nervous system.
Duck Avenger #0
Publisher: IDW Comics
Release Date: August 24, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $4.99
Digital Price: Not available (at time of posting)
Quick Hit: Now this – THIS is a Disney comic that fans have been clamoring for, and thank goodness that IDW is awesome enough to deliver it. Scrooge McDuck buys out a company that owns Ducklair Tower, a hi-tech building shrouded in mystery; Donald Duck sneaks into a restricted area of a forgotten floor and finds an artificial-intelligence machine that transforms him into Duck Avenger, a mighty(ish) superhero – just in time for the machine to thrust him into an interstellar battle on an alien planet! Oh my gosh, it’s so much fun to read. Just go buy it already.
Tank Girl: Two Girls One Tank #4 (of 4)
Publisher: Titan
Release Date: August 24, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: It’s the climactic conclusion of this hard-hitting mini-series based on our classic comic heroine – and it’s a darn hard issue to talk about without giving away too much info. Suffice it to say, if you’ve been following this series, then this issue is a must-buy for you. If you haven’t had the pleasure of checking this one out yet, you can read the mini-review for the first issue in this Quick Hit column, and then go buy all the back issues! Or just wait for the collected trade paperback to be released in a few months, whichever option puts the most wind in your sails.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Annual #1
Publisher: Boom! Comics
Release Date: August 24, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $7.99
Digital Price: $7.99
Quick Hit: Ah, the Annual – gosh, I remember looking forward to every summer in the 1990s when Annuals were in their prime and seemingly every company was producing them for every title. Ah, memories… but I digress! This fun, oversized issue features “What If?” style short stories like “What If Bulk and Skull Became Power Rangers?” and tales focused on secondary characters like “The Origin of Goldar.” Some big-name guest writers have come out for this special issue, including Terry Moore, Rob Guillory, James Kochalka, and more – so yes, it is definitely morphin’ time!
Generation Zero #1
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Release Date: August 24, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: The “next generation” of Valiant’s superheroes has arrived! not simply content to roll through this summer with one big event in progress (see the ‘4001 AD’ coverage in previous Quick Hit columns), the company is working to do a bit of future-proofing here with this series. It’s a fun read, and one that should appeal to teenaged readers as well as the adult comic fans. Fred Van Lente handles the writing duties with Francis Portela taking care of the artwork; the story surrounds the former Generation Zero special-forces strike team, whose children have been raised in secrecy as super-powered weapons. Now, the kids want to help other teens across the nation, super-powered or otherwise. It’s a fun concept, and a perfect spot to jump onto a new series!
Tony Schaab mixed up all this fake puke at home and then he went to this movie theater, hid the puke in his jacket, climbed up to the balcony, and then he made a noise like this: hua-hua-hua-huaaaaaaa… and then he dumped it over the side, all over the people in the audience. And then – this was horrible – all the people started getting sick and throwing up all over each other… and he never felt so bad in his entire life! A lover of most things sci-fi and horror, Tony is an author by day and a DJ by night. Come hang out with Tony on Facebook and Twitter to hear him spew semi-funny nonsense and get your opportunity to finally put him in his place.
