Plastic Man Lost Annual #1

December 13, 2003

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Various

A collection of Plastic Man comics to whet your appetite for the new series!

Writers: Jack Cole, Dave Wood, Arnold Drake & Steve Skeates
Artists: Jack Cole, Jim Mooney, Gil Kane, Ramona Fradon & Teny Henson
Editor: Dale Crain
Cover Art: Jack Cole, Jim Mooney, Gil Kane, Ramona Fradon & Teny Henson
Publisher: DC Comics

One of the best specialty products DC Comics puts out these days are the occasional “lost” 80-page giants with classic stories to go with their current hits. This book, timed to coincide with this month’s new Plastic Man #1, serves up six old Plastic Man comics and one prose short story.

The first two stories in this books, “The Origin of Plastic Man” from Police Comics #1 and “The Man Who Can’t Be Harmed” from Police Comics #13, both by Plastic Man creator Jack Cole, are the real treasure here. Cole had a beautiful art style and a wicked sense of humor. Parts of “The Origin of Plastic Man” were “borrowed” by Kyle Baker for the first issue of the new series. People who enjoyed that book will want to read this to see how the creator drafted those same scenes. “The Man Who Can’t Be Harmed” is significant in that it introduces Plastic Man’s sidekick, Woozy Winks. Folks who wonder who Plas wound up with this dumpy partner – here’s your answer.

“The Wizard of Light” from House of Mystery #160 is an odd addition, but delightful for fans of silver age camp. In this book Robby Reed, the first star of DC’s Dial “H” For Hero series (recently resurrected as the very good H-E-R-O) spins his magic dial and transforms into… the lost Plastic Man! Why? Well… most likely, because DC had acquired the rights to the character and needed to use him somewhere for copyright purposes, but it still made for a clever read.

“The Dirty Devices of Dr. Dome,” from 1966’s Plastic Man Vol. 2 #1, is a fairly unremarkable comedy/superhero story where Plas faces off, of course, against a goofy villain named Dr. Dome. This story is remarkable only for two reasons – it has artwork by the immortal Gil Kane, and because Kane, as magnificent an artist as he was, frankly didn’t draw a very good Plastic Man. It’s like looking at Jay Leno in the costume.

The final story is “The Hamsters of Doom” from Plastic Man Vol. 2 #11 – from 1976, according to the table of contents (11 issues in 10 years – it’s like reading The Ultimates). Another unremarkable story, but not a bad one.

The first three stories in this book are well worth the price of admission, however, especially the Jack Cole stories. It may not be required reading for the new Plastic Man series, but it’s certainly recommended reading.

Rating: 8/10

Opposite Forces (2005 Series) #1

August 6, 2005

Quick Rating: Great

If Captain Dynamo loses his power, who can save the city?

Writer: Tom Bancroft
Art: Tom Bancroft
Colors: Josh Ray
Letters: John Trent
Cover Art: Tom Bancroft & Cedric Hohnstadt
Publisher: Alias Enterprises/Funny Pages Press

This new Opposite Forces series, premiering this week from Alias, is actually a full-color reprint of a black-and-white miniseries from a few years ago, and with the bargain introductory issues Alias does, there’s no better use for your 75 cents this week. I loved every page of this comic book.

Captain Dynamo is a superhero. A pompous, arrogant, attention-seeking superhero. And his second biggest fan, unbeknownst to both of them, is living in his own apartment building. Marty Knopf is a sweet, solitary guy who spends his time watching Captain Dynamo, hanging out with his dog Bopper, and nursing an unrequited crush on his neighbor, Alexis. He doesn’t think she knows he’s alive, but he’s wrong – she just happens to think he’s a creepy guy from across the hall.

On the day Marty finally finds the courage to make his move, an armada of aliens are preparing to enact their plans to render Captain Dynamo helpless. The aliens, an elevator mishap and a pot of matzo ball soup all converge to bring Marty and Alexis together in a way neither of them ever would have expected.

Bancroft is a former Disney animator, and it shows in both the story and artwork – both have a sort of charming, wholesome quality that one generally associates with Disney (although to be frank, this is a lot better than the stuff they’ve been turning out lately. They should have kept Bancroft on staff and made Opposite Forces into a movie.) You immediately feel a connection to Marty, because let’s face it, he’s got elements of just about all comic book fans in them. Alexis comes across as slightly shallow at first, but she also shows a willingness to grow that makes you want to watch her over the next three issues.

The artwork is just wonderful. It looks like the storyboard for a cartoon, there can be no doubt that this is the work of an animator, and I mean that as a compliment. The action, even in “normal” apartment scenes, is extremely fluid and energetic. You can picture the characters moving as though you were watching a cartoon. I rather like Bancroft’s designs as well – and a few concept sketches he shows you in the back pages shows he definitely made the right choices with the designs he selected.

I heard about this comic the first time around, but I never managed to find a copy, so I’m really happy that Alias is reprinting it (in color for the first time). I’ll be even happier if Bancroft comes back after these four issues are up and makes more. This is a fantastic comic, and if you pass up this bargain first issue, you’re making a huge mistake.

Rating: 9/10

New X-Men: Academy X #1

May 16, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Here is the House (Choosing Sides Part One)

It’s the first day of school for Xavier’s newest students – time for the grand tour!

Writers: Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir
Pencils: Randy Green
Inks: Rick Ketcham
Colors: Pete Pantazis
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Mike Marts
Cover Art: Randy Green
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Out of all of the “Reload” comics coming out this month, this is the one I find I’m frustrated by – mostly because I hadn’t really intended to pick it up, but this first issue is really very good. Picking up where the second volume of New Mutants left off, Cyclops and Emma Frost take a new group of students on a tour of the school as a group of them try to find a place to fit in.

Not having read any issues of the previous series, I really don’t know which (if any) characters have carried over, but I do find that I like several of the characters we meet this issue. Noriko Ashida is our viewpoint character, the standard “mutant with uncontrollable powers,” forced to keep her electrical abilities in check with special gauntlets. It places her in a role similar to Cyclops and Rogue, unable to control their abilities and therefore walling themselves off to a degree. David Alleyne, whose limited telepathic ability allows him to copy the skills and knowledge of people nearby, comes across as the leader of the team we meet here. He also, like several of the characters, has a pretty original take on a fairly standard mutant power. He’s also somebody who probably has to take his tests in a separate room to make sure he’s being honest.

Randy Green’s artwork is a great match for this book. He has a handle on the young characters and renders the older ones in a style that meshes with their world. Even Cyclops’s new costume, which I’m not wild about, looks a lot better in this book than it has elsewhere.

As big a fan as I was of Grant Morrison’s run, the title New X-Men seems to apply to this book much more than it ever did with him. So blast it all, looks like there’s another X-title I’m going to be keeping an eye on, because with this issue out of the way, I really like these characters and really want to see where this story goes.

Rating: 8/10