What better reason to bring back the Triple Shot of comics at FOG! than a new G.I. Joe book?
Season 4 of IDW’s run is written by Karen Traviss and has Scarlett as the head of the team. We also check in on Starlight by Millar and Parlov over at Image and try to trap them ghosts in the final issue of Ghostbusters from IDW.
Back all of that up with an all ages The Adventures of a 4th Grade Space Captain from ComiXology Submit!
Ahhh….refreshing…
G.I. JOE Season 4 #1
WRITER: Karen Traviss
ARTIST: Steve Kurth
Publication Date: September 24, 2014
Price: $3.99
Publisher: IDW Publishing
UPC: 82771400693300111
Buy it Here
IDW continues the Joe legacy with it’s fourth season of books.
Building off of the history and world building established in previous seasons is the latest from sci-fi author Karen Traviss. This new book jumps forward 5 years from G.I. Joe: Season 3 and the events in the spyfi thriller spinoff book G.I. Joe: The Cobra Files from Mike Costa.
I’m happy to report that this is a new take on the Joes, but also one that’s as thick as Dutch chocolate cake and the characters are all true to form. Fans of Hama’s military jargon will be satisfied, but also real world politics enter the dialogue and situations presented herein.
Recommended if you are enjoying Nathan Edmondson’s work on The Activity, or more recently in Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Echoes.
That should do it for the author comparisons, except to say that this is very different from the relatively lighthearted Yo-Joeing going on in Chuck Dixon or Fred Van Lente runs on the book.
Traviss is taking this very seriously, and as a long suffering Joe fan, I couldn’t be happier. Notable changes to the vibe are Scarlett taking a lead role and trying to save the team from disbanding and a course change for Cobra and the surviving Crimson Twin, Tomax.
I am eagerly awaiting the next volume of G.I. Joe with a cool new logo and very talented new female writer at the helm.
STARLIGHT #5
WRITER: Mark Millar
ARTIST: Goran Parlov
COVER: Tommy Lee Edwards
Publication Date: August 13, 2014
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Image Comics
UPC: 70985301569700511
Buy it Here
While this book is nearly a month old, in the days of digital comics, what difference can it make?
Starlight is talked about in comic book circles as a must-read, for obvious reasons that it is a Mark Millar book (though you won’t find me blowing sunshine about the last two volumes of Kick-Ass) and the amazing art from Goran Parlov.
This is as close you can get to The Dark Knight Returns meets Adam Strange.
Duke is a retired space hero, stuck living a lonesome life after his wife dies. His sons deny his claims that he is a hero on another planet, and it is not until a kid from Tantalus comes to Earth to retrieve Duke to save the underground movement does he feel he has any reason to live.
In the latest installment there are some key elements that make for a page turner. We’ve got classic American cars in space, blaster wielding hover cops, a master plan turned dire and sea creatures about to devour our hero Duke.
I mean, COME ON…if you aren’t reading this book, you are as in denial as Duke’s feckless sons. Get on top of this fun run in the comics before this gets made into the next Guardians of the Galaxy blockbuster. This is some of Millar’s finest work to date.
I mean, you like space stuff, right? Yeah, the kind with the bubble space helmets.
GHOSTBUSTERS #20 (Final Issue)
WRITER: Erik Burnham
ARTIST: Dan Schoening
Publication Date: September 24, 2014
Price: $2.99
Publisher: IDW Publishing
UPC: 70985301569700511
Buy it Here
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! I’m admittedly late to the party here on the twentieth —and final — issue of IDW’s Ghostbusters run, but I have ghost hunting fever lately with the 30th Anniversary.
This one wraps up an eight issue arc, Mass Hysteria.
Winston is possessed and plagued by evil god Tiamat and may have actually died! Venkmen, Spengler and Stanz revive Winston and contain the remaining ghosts in the Firehouse.
After a surprise cameo from our favorite Class 5 Full Roaming Vapor (Slimer!) the book takes cue from our favorite 80’s movies’ credit sequence. In the days before dancing baby trees were shots of “where are they now” with stills and a short story next to each character. Very funny and clever stuff to wrap the thing in a bow.
Now, my mission to celebrate the 30th anniversary is to watch both movies and go read this book in trade. Sure, I hopped to the end but this taste is enough to make me want to visit my favorite Proton Pack wearing heroes.
THE ADVENTURES OF A 4th GRADE SPACE CAPTAIN #1 & #2
WRITER/ARTIST: Kevin Coulston
Release date: September 10, 2014
All Ages
12 pages
Buy it Here
This week’s all ages pick comes from Kevin Coulston.
Remember when you were under the living room table twisting knobs, headed out into space in your own space capsule?
Billy is the personification of that fantasy.
His best pals — aliens Phil and Gil — help him through the day and get him to class on time after outwitting space creatures far away.
Issue #2 pits Phil and Gil against a Chupacabra here on Earth during a fateful Boy Scout camping trip!
Highly recommended read-along for the little ones, with colorful Powerpuff Girls grade illustration making for a couple of quick 12 pages stories at a dollar each on ComiXology Submit.
