I mostly picked up this trade paperback out of my undying love for Ghost Rider.  The presence of Wolverine was just an added bonus, really.  This trade collects the Wolverine segments of Marvel Comics Presents #62-71.  Marvel Comics Presents originally contained four stories per issue, so as a result, each Wolverine segment is rather short (a quarter the length of a regular comic, appropriately).  So you’re not really getting ten issues out of the deal, more like four or five at best.

This trade collects two story arcs.  First is the two-issue “Sign of the Beast” arc, where Wolverine is roughing it through the jungles of Madripoor when he happens upon a downed plane containing two friends of his being taken prisoner by followers of Abdul Alhazred.  The entire plot of the arc is that Wolverine is going feral and picking off the goons one-by-one to save his friends.  Through-out the story, the female prisoner (named “Tyger Tiger”…ugh) is fretting about Wolverine giving up his humanity or some such drivel.  A pretty standard (ie: boring and stupid) Wolverine story we’ve all seen done a million times; certainly not the main attraction of this trade.

The eight issue-long “Acts of Vengeance” story arc, featuring a fight and then team-up between Wolverine and Ghost Rider is the real reason anybody is going to pick this book up.  Basically, goons of Ghost Rider’s then-arch nemesis, Deathwatch, have put a bounty of the heads of Danny Ketch’s (Ghost Rider’s alter ego) friend’s karate sensei (yeesh).  After Danny’s pal is injured by one of Deathwatch’s ninja henchmen, Ghost Rider swears vengeance.  Then enter Wolverine, who is tricked into getting involved by one of Deathwatch’s goons and becomes a target of Ghost Rider.  The two brawl and eventually team-up with Yuji, the karate sensei, and Yuji’s son, a crappy superhero named Brass.  They then set out to stop Deathwatch and rescue some hostages.

In all honesty, as much as I like Ghost Rider and Wolverine, this story pretty much blows.  The quarter-length format doesn’t do it any favors, with them having to recap events from the last issue or just repeat them awkwardly, then end every installment with a “dramatic” cliffhanger.  I do like Deathwatch as a villain, though, and wish Marvel would get the lead out and release trades collecting the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider series.  Deathwatch only appears at the very end of this trade and doesn’t do much.  The real mastermind behind the whole thing is some low-level crook in Deathwatch’s organization.  Weak.

Then there’s Brass.  Obviously, his character was so well-received in the early 90’s that he has completely withstood the test of time to this very day.  Or not.

All-in-all, if you’re a Ghost Rider completionist then consider checking this book out.  It’s $13 bucks and packed with Danny Ketch-Ghost Rider action, and you don’t see him any more, these days.  Otherwise, there’s no reason to buy this book.  It’s honestly pretty bad and I bet you can find the individual issues for less that $1.50 a piece.  At least that way you get all the other stories not included in this collection (oh boy, a Poison story!  A spotlight on Volstagg!  Woohoo!).

 

When I think of Space Ghost, I draw several comparisons between him and Batman.  It goes beyond the fact that Alex Toth was asked by the execs at Hanna Barbara to design Space Ghost in a manner than emulated the Dark Knight, but in the history of the character.  Space Ghost first appeared in 1966 with an action cartoon series that was, though formulaic, particularly violent and fun along the same lines as Jonny Quest.  He may not have been terribly “dark” or “brooding”, but there was no doubt that he was an action character.  Then the 90’s happened; Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Planet and the Brak Show hit the airwaves and Space Ghost was reduced to a self-parody.  As funny and popular as those shows were, the original action-oriented superhero character was lost to popular culture.  This parallels Batman in many ways.  The Caped Crusader originated as a dark action hero, was reduced to cheap comedy and self-parody in the 60’s and was finally returned to his roots in the late 70’s.

Well, the 2005 DC Comics Space Ghost miniseries takes the character and returns him to his original characterization as an outer space wraith of justice.

Writer Joe Kelly is charged with the task of giving Space Ghost an origin.  A real origin.  The miniseries is more a set-up tale, almost done as a prequel to the original television series.  Thaddeus Bach is a member of the Commandment (space police, essentially), he has a lovely (and pregnant) wife and has excelled at law enforcement so ferociously he has been selected to join the elite force known as the Wrath.  Thaddeus trains with the Wrath under the command of Temple, a rugged and no-nonsense soldier-type.  Shortly after joining, Thaddeus learns the terrible truth about the Wrath, which leads to his betrayal.  Thaddeus’ family is killed and he is left for dead on a “Ghost Planet”.  There he meets the last of the planet’s race, a sorrowful but brilliant engineer once known as the Blood Mechanic, who inadvertently aided in the death of his race.  Thaddeus uses the engineer’s weapons and technology to craft himself a new guise and heads out for revenge against Temple.  However, things become ever more complicated when a race of planet-conquering “bugs”, lead by the vile Zorak, get in the way.

Space Ghost’s origin isn’t just dark, it’s really dark.  Some have complained, considering it out of character even in regards to Space Ghost’s original characterization.  Personally, I liked it.  Space Ghost is treated almost literally as a phantom.  Thaddeus Bach “died” and all that remains of the man he once was is a “ghost”.  Also, does the name “Thaddeus” sound familiar to you?  It should.  In Space Ghost Coast to Coast it was revealed that Space Ghost’s real name was “Thaddeus ‘Thad’ Ghostal”.  A nice little Easter Egg tossed in by Kelly.

The story covers Space Ghost’s origin in extreme detail.  We learn how he became the man he is, how he arrived on Ghost Planet, where he got his weapons and gadgets, how he came to adopt Jan and Jayce, how he was saddled with the name “Space Ghost” and even his first encounter with Zorak.  All the pieces fit together marvelously.  There are a few kind of “eh?” bits, like Space Ghost’s ability to see the specter of his dead wife and son, but not much to complain about.

The characterization of Zorak came under more scrutiny than Space Ghost did, interestingly enough.  Zorak is presented as the leader of a horde of space-faring insects called the “bugs”.  He is a “hive mind”, so to speak.  Whenever his body dies, his consciousness awakens in another bug, making it so that Zorak cannot ever be killed.  In the old cartoons he was presented as just another petty criminal, leaving him rather thin on characterization.  Not everyone liked this approach, but honestly, it added some much needed depth to Space Ghost’s arch foe.  I also liked to redesign; it stays very true to Zorak’s cartoon appearance just done in a manner that looks much less “cartoony”.  His head is a little oddly shaped, though.

The interior art provided by Ariel Olivetti is rather stunning, having this detailed “painted” look.  There are a few cut-corners which are noticeable, mostly in regards to backgrounds and environments.  Olivetti uses photographs of forests and wastelands rather than draws them.  Most of the time it blends well, though there are a few pages where it just doesn’t mesh.  The cover art by Alex Ross (a self-professed fan of classic Hanna Barbara action cartoons) is beyond gorgeous.  Space Ghost has never looked cooler or more badass; his art gives the title an “epic” feel before you even turn the page.

Only six issues-long (though a sequel has been promised), the Space Ghost miniseries is currently available in an affordable trade paperback.  I recommend it to any and all fans of Space Ghost or just sci-fi superheroics in general.

One of my favorite eras in X-Men history happens to be the original New Mutants.  They’re the third generation of the X-Men, with the first being the Silver Age Stan Lee line-up and the second being the Giant Size X-Men line-up.  When the New Mutants came along they managed to bring a great deal of change along with them.  For the first time ever, Xavier’s School for Gifted youngsters actually began to feel like a school.  It always bugged me that Xavier had this humongous, sprawling complex yet only six students.  Then, when Claremont came on board, all the X-Men were full grown adults.  It still didn’t feel like a school.  The New Mutants really helped to fill up the empty, cavernous mansion and started a trend that would eventually lead into books like Generation X and the current state of the mansion in X-comics today.

The New Mutants: Classic vol. 1 collects the earliest appearances of the New Mutants team: Marvel Graphic Novel #4, the New Mutants #1-3, Uncanny X-Men #167 and the New Mutants #4-7 in that order.  The New Mutants comic is possibly my favorite of Chris Claremont’s work as it isn’t quite as painfully cheesy as some of his more “classic” X-Men stories.  He still writes with his patented Claremont “treat the audience like they’re completely new to everything” approach, but he doesn’t lay it on quite as thick as he did with his early X-Men stuff.  The one thing that really stuck out to me about the New Mutants, and one of the reasons I continue to adore it, is the sense of humor.  There are plenty of serious moments and dangerous challenges, but the characters, being so young, just have this humorous attitude about them.

Some of the characters introduced in these stories would prove to withstand the test of times, while others would regretfully vanish into the comic book ether.  Karma, the original leader of the New Mutants, gets a healthy chunk of story devoted to her.  She was the only New Mutant to have appearances in the Marvel Universe prior to Marvel Graphic Novel #4, showing up in Marvel Team-Up.  Karma has the ability to possess people simply by looking at them and can control their body and mutant abilities as if they were her own.  Keeping with Claremont’s love of ethnic X-Men, most of the New Mutants are non-American.  Karma is Vietnamese, though she has an inexplicable French accent.  There’s Pshyce, a Cheyenne Indian with the ability to conjure up the deepest fears or fantasies of the people around her and turn them into three-dimensional images.  Her power isn’t the best, though Claremont manages to work some good stories around it.  Sunspot is from South America and can harness solar energy to morph his body into a powerhouse.  Cannonball is the Midwestern hick of the group, though he has a heart of gold.  He can channel powerful bursts of energy through his legs to propel himself at intense speeds like a cannonball.  You might recognize Cannonball and Sunspot best for their roles in the original X-Force comic from the 90’s,  which was a direct continuation of the New Mutants comic.  And, last but not least, is my favorite New Mutant of the bunch: Wolfsbane.  She’s a naïve Scottish girl who can transform herself into a wolf or a wolf/girl-hybrid.  I always liked her the most because she was so cute and innocent and a source of much humor.  Unfortunately, they eventually turned her into Havoc’s psychotic stalker in X-Factor, which was a character transition I was never very fond of.

The story arcs collected in this volume tie-in directly with the stories happening in the Uncanny X-Men comic.  Thankfully, you don’t really need to read those issues, save for Uncanny X-Men #167, which is included in this trade.  The New Mutants, despite being rather wet behind the ears, take on some pretty heavy duty challenges so early on in their career.  Their first battle is against a rogue member of the Hellfire Club (Pierce, the cyborg), returning villains from the X-Men comic.  They also take on Henry Gyrick’s Sentinels in one of the better issues.  However, possibly the best arc included in this trade is their fight against the alien monstrosities known as the Brood.  This is where the New Mutants comic directly ties-in with the X-Men book, as while the New Mutants were being formed, the X-Men were out on the Sleazeworld battling the Brood for the first time.  A Brood Queen festering within Professor X makes some serious trouble for the New Mutants and really shows off their team-work and individual strengths. 

Not all the stories are winners, though.  In one of the weakest issues of the lot, the New Mutants track down a kid who has been leaving lewd phone messages to one of their teachers.  It’s pretty stupid and all turns into a trite public service announcement about child abuse.  Another arc features the terrifically obscure Marvel hero group called “Team America”.  Yeah, I had to look them up, too.  They get quite a bit of time devoted to them and their struggle with lame-o villains Viper and the Silver Samurai.  The final issue features the Hellfire Club once again, but this time with a Mr. T-wannabe kidnapping Sunspot’s mother.  Not really a good note to end on.

Save for a few weak issues, this is really one of the better trades to come out featuring classic X-Men stories.  I’d highly recommend it to any X-Men fans.  Regretfully, since this is the early portion of the New Mutants, more recognizable characters like Cypher, Warlock and Psylock don’t make any appearances.  Illyana is present as a background character, though she has yet to become a member (Magick, as she’ll eventually be called).  Still, those stories will hopefully be collected in future volumes.  As it stands, this is a fine collection of issues and a great piece of X-Men history.

There are several “must-read” Spider-Man trade paperbacks out there, collecting some of the most stellar runs on Marvel’s flagship superhero.  “The Death of Gwen Stacy”, “Son of the Goblin” and “Spider-Man Legends: Todd McFarlane vol. 1” are just a few examples of the cream of the crop, at least when it comes to Spider-Man.  Yet, among them all, one stands out as the best piece of Spider-Man fiction I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and the single trade paperback I would recommend above all others.

That’s “Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt”.

I never liked Kraven when I was a kid.  I thought he was the lamest of the lame, stagnating down there with the Beetle and the Trapster.  He just didn’t have the “oomph” that other Spider-Villains had.  He had no super-powers to speak of; he was just a tremendous athlete and hunter.  Then there was his costume, which was one of the most ridiculous outfits in Spidey’s rogue’s gallery (that’s really saying something, too).  So yeah, there just wasn’t anything about this guy that impressed me in the slightest.

Then I picked up “Kraven’s Last Hunt”, and like many others, immediately developed a new-found respect for the one-time mort.  It’s hands-down the best Kraven story ever written, and fittingly enough, the last one, too (well, last one for the original Kraven; a new one has since taken his place).  Author J.M. DeMatteis takes a deep, psychological look into what makes Kraven tick; from his iron-clad sense of honor, to his overwhelming obsession which has been whittling away at his sanity for so many years.  In 6 issues, Kraven rises from the ranks of “another stupid villain” and into a legendary status.

Kraven, his mind gradually decaying, desires only one last hunt; to restore his honor by finally defeating Spider-Man.  Kraven at last learns from his many mistakes in the past and preys on Spider-Man when he’s at his weakest.  Netting the wall-crawler then drugging him with a poison that simulates living death, Kraven buries Spider-Man alive in a coffin six feet under.  Kraven then proceeds to prove he’s superior to Spider-Man by becoming Spider-Man; masquerading in the heroes costume and violently thwarting crimes, even going so far as to use lethal force.  Kraven then hunts down the vile sewer-dwelling cannibal, Vermin: a foe Spider-Man was unable to defeat on his own.  By defeating Vermin, Kraven will have proven his superiority.  Meanwhile, after two weeks underground, Spider-Man finally digs his way to the surface.

A simple plot summary can’t hope to describe how intense and impressive this storyline really was.  Making expert use of inner-monologue, DeMatteis journeys into the minds of the heroes and villains, examining what makes them do what they do.  You understand Kraven’s desperate need to hunt, but at the same time, you realize that he’s totally nuts.  Vermin is also handled quite well; a disgusting, frightening creature straight out of a horror film.

Mike Zeck’s artwork is stunning.  He conveys the dark atmosphere of the story splendidly, but without laying it on too thick.  There are several events happening at the same time, with panels for each plotline cut into pages, developing tension and anticipation.  Particularly well-done in regards to Spider-Man’s return from the grave.

“Kraven’s Last Hunt” is currently available in a hardback edition that runs for $19.99.  A paperback version has also been released, though is currently out of print.  I can’t recommend this book enough; it’s the only Spider-Man story you just *have* to read.