I have been working to present a Flashback Friday at least each week. Here is that promised column now. I picked this book up last fall at the local shop's toy and comic show. There were some great long box finds. I got this issue for Zatanna. She is a character I like a great deal.
Brave and the Bold was and has been a series that would combine some characters for an adventure tale. Batman was a favorite of the writers and is the anchor hero here in this story. Most readers today would not recognize this Batman. He is personable and not the grim and gritty Dark Knight. He does strike fear in this issue and it has consequences.
Zatanna is in her "superhero" costume. It is the variation on the cape and spandex costume that would occasionally be used. Here we get to see her use her spells to turn bullets into flowers and make objects attack the bad guys. It is a good look at her as a fighter. She really holds her own in the action. The cover would have her seem the damsel in distress. She is not that at all. Alfred's comments on her behavior is priceless.
Batman is great as the main detective. He uses Bruce Wayne in a great way to get the fingerprints of a suspect. He gets taken and put in a coffin that ends up being the place he needs to be to aid Zatanna and the woman that is being used and abused in the story. Batman literally scares a guy to death. The circumstances need to remain secret to preserve the story.
This is a great Flashback Friday book. It also includes a back-up short tale that stars Nemesis. It is the lead up to the next issue where Nemesis will team up with Batman. That was a great short. It was complete and served to pique interest. If I see it in a back issue bin I will probably buy it.
BDS
It is another Flashback Friday brought to you by the Fifty Cent buys I made on Free Comic Book Day (FCBD). I decided to pick up Red Sonja last year because it is another book from Marvel that I see frequently at flea markets and in back issues boxes. This issue was very cover intense. There is a great deal going on. It draws one's eye to it immediately. Of course it was a quick grab for me.
This book puts the word fantasy to shame. It is a strange mix of wild backgrounds and weird creatures as this wild story unfolds. There is a tower and a missing Prince. Sonja ends up being captured and then escaping her captors in a strange way. She stumbles across this giantess lashed to the wall and tries to free her. Little insect creatures attack and soon we learn what fate these insects have for Red Sonja.
A big ogre type dude announces that she is to be the new queen, this is who the giantess is, special food is forced upon Sonja and it becomes an even crazier story from here own out. Cannot say much more or I will tell the entire story.
Issue #6 was a good buy as it is the end of a saga that had been happening. You can read this book and have closure. The other Red Sonja I bought was the start of a story and now one I hope to find out what happens in its following issues. Pure fantasy and swordplay describes this great old school Marvel book.
BDS
As promised the Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) fueled Flashback Friday begins. This is the first and only Aztek comic I have bought or owned. As I was going through the Fifty Cent long boxes on FCBD I saw the Green Lantern Symbol and what looked like Major Force. Those that know Kyle Rayner's story as Green Lantern know why this caught my attention. Major Force is probably Kyle's number one adversary. He killed and stuffed the GL's fiancee into a refrigerator and forever gave us the term "Women in Refrigerators" as a term for how women are treated in comics. The two have history and I thought it could be a neat buy.
I knew a bit about Aztek as I have read a few JLA issues with him in a supporting role. Here was a glimpse of his beginnings. Sadly, it didn't grab me all that much. I found it showing a flat character. Really, GL being in the book was its saving grace. The art was really off-putting for me as well.
It has a neat idea for a plot. The use of Major Force was a good way to have the team up. There is a secret about the Major that would ruin the read if you ever found yourself with this book in your hands. I said it felt flat, that was as an overall book. The story itself was really quite good. I just had no desire to add this to a group of books to own the complete series. That might sound at odds to some readers of my Blog, but for me it makes sense.
Aztek is named here in this issue and there is a cool registration form for being a superhero that Aztek has filled out in the back of the issue. All in all it is a neat Green Lantern side tale and a miss as for my wanting to add Aztek to my collection. Wonder if he made it into the DCnU?
BDS
I love that picture of Black Canary. She also is asking me what I plan to do next, I get it, my Blogging has been scattered. I am really trying to get my head above water with the drama my Youth have provided and the regular summer issues and stresses of my work. Still, I need to balance that with my Blogging. It has been the only constant in my writing. I have so many story ideas, but it all comes back to Blogging where I can practice.
Free Comic Book Day will be the supplier of Flashback Fridays for a bit. I scored so cool (to me) books for Fifty cents. Some were newer DC titles. My goal is to upload and place in the date and time option of Blogger a bunch that will automatically upload every Friday. I am not sure if it will also place the post in the Google Plus stream or not. It would be cool if it did.
Update about Iron Man 3. i went Thursday before the Friday opening and saw the film. It was really good. I would not recommend it to people that had not seen the first two flicks. It contained a bunch of inside jokes. I enjoyed it a great deal. What was the coolest was the trailer for Thor. That is a movie I want to see even more now. The Wolverine trailer had the opposite effect. I really didn't care after seeing it.
I bought a copy of X-Men First Class. Everybody said it was so good and that it was better than Thor. I do not know what movie they were watching. I found the beginning to be very disjointed and convoluted. When an actual story began it was a mish-mash of X-Men stories with new stuff thrown in that really was lackluster. I was not impressed. Sure January Jones looked awesome as Emma Frost, but that gorgeous woman in her underwear and the cute Jennifer Lawrence could not save this movie for me.
BDS
I know, I used an image from the Avengers movie promos last year, eh, still awesome. Anyway, I am going to a special showing in about three hours to see one of my favorites group of characters. I am not thrilled with the Iron Patriot armor, but overall I am looking forward to the film. It has been a well done franchise. Downey Jr. and Paltrow are just awesome and I am excited to see the Mandarin's rings in action.
It has been a rough month for me emotionally and I need a bit of escapism as the roller coaster does not appear to be stopping anytime soon. Iron Man is one of the best characters ever thought up and this seems like a great way to start the summer movie season.
BDS
