Tradio #39 - Marvel 1602

Howdy Howdy!  How is everyone this week?  Well, this week we continue giving some love to Marvel and continuing on a theme from the past couple weeks where we look at back at a specific time in the Marvel universe.  This week, we review Marvel 1602 written by Neil Gaiman, with art by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove and published by Marvel Comics.

Marvel superheroes?  In 1602 Europe?  What the crap is going on?!?! Those are totally acceptable questions for this collection of the eight issue mini series penned by a writer that holds a seat right next to Moore as changing what a comic book could be.  The story does take place in Europe at the beginning of the 17th century and we see Marvel characters that we know very well thrown into a world where they do not belong.  We get to see interesting new takes on the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and even Daredevil in a fairly historically accurate Elizabethan Europe.  Is this just a "what-if?" tale or is there something more going on?  Have these characters really been shifted back through time and what could that possibly mean for the future of the Marvel Universe?  To tell too much would spoil the surprises along the way, but needless to say, you are in for an epic adventure that stands convention on it's ear and shows just how versatile these characters can be. 

Yeah...it is really good.  This is honestly the first (but definitely not the last as you will see in the coming weeks) thing that I have ever read of Neil Gaiman's.  He does an amazing job.  The amount of research that went into this is great and it shows a deep fondness for these characters that you would not expect from the writer of Sandman.  Paired with amazing art by Andy Kubert and you really get a comic for the ages that takes you on a grand adventure that few creative teams could pull off to this degree.  Do yourself a favor and read this trade if you have any love for Marvel characters...it will take you places you have never, ever gone before with them.

Tradio #38 - Marvel 1985

Welcome back!  In the coming week, we will be continuing the Marvel love in the lead up to the big Avengers movie premier.  This week, we go back in time again in Marvel 1985, written by Mark Miller, illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards, and published by Marvel Comics.

Marvel 1985 takes a look back to the glory days of superhero comics and what would happen if the Marvel Universe spilled over into the "real" world.  We get to follow an average kid, Toby Goodman, who is reading Secret Wars and dealing with his very real life of dealing with his family and getting picked on by the other kids at school.  His average life gets turned upside down when he thinks he sees the Red Skull and on further investigation gets chased by very real villains in his very real world.  Suddenly he and his family is thrust into a race for their lives as Toby tried to figure out why super heroes from his comic books have suddenly overrun his world the fate of his world is in jeopardy.

The book is a lot of fun.  Miller's story is fun and really hearkens back to a simpler time when we all wished that super heroes were real.  The art by Edwards is great for the materials and is naturalistic without being super-realistic.  If you read comics in the 80s, this will strike a cord with you and hopefully put a smile on your face...it did mine.

Tradio #37 - Avengers 1959

Well come back to Tradio...your weekly place for sub-par reviews of great comic material.  With a big Avengers movie on the horizon, I thought that in the coming weeks we can focus on a couple recent Avengers trades. This week, we look at Avengers 1959 by Howard Chaykin; published by Marvel Comics.

The 1959 was an interesting time in American history.  The second world war was over and we were getting into the space race and the cold war.  In the middle of this turbulent time is set the throwback comic, Avengers 1959.  A ragtag team of adventurers led by Nick Fury as they battle Nazi super soldiers trying to make a comeback.  Fury, Sabretooth, Kraven the Hunter, Namora, Dominic Fortune, and The Blond Phantom band together against a mysterious new threat to the free-world that is trying to steal Wakandian technology for their evil purposes.  We get to see how these contrasting individuals work together to stop evil across the globe.

Overall, I liked the book, but I am conflicted.  Howard Chaykin delivers some great art for much of the book that harkens back to his work on American Flagg and Power & Glory.  At times though, it is a little inconsistent and I really think a good inker could have helped with.  Additionally, the story is very, very wordy and seems overly complicated.  See how I really didn't explain a lot about the story in the previous paragraph...it's cause I am not totally sure what all was going on.  It's Nazis...no...it is Americans...no...wait it is Americans working with Nazis because...well, I have no clue... At lot ends up feeling contrived to me.  Additionally, I think the trade could have really benefited from Marvel including the issue of New Avengers that introduced this team, because frankly, without any explanation as to how and why these people are even working together, it kind of makes no sense.  It would have been nice if there had been another issues of the series itself to let things breathe and actually showcase some of the fights that are just kind of glazed over.  Anyway, it is worth a read, for the Chaykin art alone, but take it with a grain of sand.  You will be confused...or maybe I am just dumb...either way...ENJOY!

Tradio #36 - Astronaut Dad

Happy April everyone!  Expecting an April First Tradio post?  Not a freakin' chance!  I hate that so called "holiday".  Anyway, this week's Tradio looks at a fun series by writer David Hopkins and artist Brent Schoonover called Astronaut Dad: Volume 1; published by Silent Devil.

Astronaut Dad is a series focusing on three families living in Houston, Texas where each of the fathers are NASA astronauts.  We get to see a slice of life during the Kennedy years of America and how each of the families deals with the stresses that the cold war and space race had on families of the time.  Smoking, girls, siblings, pranks: just normal day in the life stuff that add to the adventure and stress of being involved in the space program.  With Astronaut Dad you get a one-of-a-kind series full of fun and sincerity that will make you long to watch reruns of The Wonder Years.

Astronaut Dad is a really good series.  Not a fake superhero to be found, we get to see actual hero who flew into space and helped to pave the way for so many scientific breakthroughs that we take for granted today.  The writing by David Hopkins is tight and funny, but sincere with good characterization.  The art by Brent Schoonover is very clean and deceptively cartoony.  In very few lines, Schoonover is able to convey a lot of emotion and adds to the charm that a lot of us feel about this time in American history.  Overall, you can't go wrong with this trade and the series as a whole.  An all ages read for the ages.  Enjoy kids!