Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1 Review

 

Writers: Jason Aaron & Tom Waltz

Artists: Chris Burnham & Gavin Smith

Colorist: Brian Reber & Ronda Pattison

Letterer: Nathan Widick

Cover Artists: Chris Burnham & Brian Reber; Gavin Smith; Esau & Isaac Escorza; Vicenzo Federici; J. Gonzo; Rod Reis; Sophie Campbell; Chris Burnham (Gold Foil)

Publisher: IDW

Price: $6.99

Release Date: June 5, 2024

 

A safari park reinvents itself as a mutant fight club. A researcher experiments with a new and improved mutagen. How will these unrelated incidents reshape the mutant landscape? Let's grab our bō staffs, leap into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1, and find out!

 

Long Way From Home

Story

When Sunshine Safari Park closes its doors, the security guards discover a lucrative new opportunity. Two thousand dollars buys customers five minutes with the mutant of their choice. If they bag the mutant and want a trophy to show their friends, taxidermy services are available for an additional fee. But wait, these mutants are just animals, aren’t they?

 

In Long Way From Home, a white-collar worker needs a reason to hold his head high. The captured mutants want to survive and escape. A Turtle eggs on customers until they agree to fight him. But can they survive the battle with this trained warrior? Jason Aaron's ten-page story finishes too quickly and doesn't end well for the guards or the man who paid to take down a Turtle.

 

 

 

Art

Chris Burnham’s gritty art in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1 pulses with vitality and drama as the office worker attempts to prove himself to the dismissive guards and the hungry, determined Turtle. The customer grows furious while the guard grins behind his back. Panels reveal a foot, then intent eyes, before a hooded Turtle leaves his cell. The pens and fencing fade as the mutant dwarfs the would-be hero. The reptile bursts into action. And the guards watching the monitors lose their lunch.

 

A dark blue sky welcomes visitors to the glowing arena. Overhead lighting paints the ground yellow as the tanned guard in a blue shirt leads the gray suit toward barred pens. Highlights brighten the intent man's features and the green hands clutching the gray bars. The customer picks up a blue crowbar, and a star bursts behind him, shooting orange rays in every direction. Brian Reber lavishes a loaded palette on this dark story illuminated only by the artificial lights, Sunshine Security's cattle prods, and one Turtle’s determination to survive.

 

 

 

Monster Island

Story

Old Hob watches over Mutant Island, aka North Brother Island. Beside him crawls Herman the Hermit Crab, ready to shoot down any drones his boss spots. But while Old Hob worries about outsiders spying on his new home, he ignores growing problems among those in his care. After the crab destroys his latest surveillance drone, Colonel Wesley Knight sneaks onto Mutant Island under cover of darkness. What is his unsanctioned mission?

 

Monster Island updates readers on crime and politics in Mutant Town and lets Jennica and Angel Bridge reconnect. But the central focus of Tom Waltz’s story is Colonel Knight's mission on behalf of his mutant-traumatized wife and a research experiment gone wrong. It's a fraught action feature starring unlikely partners and a monster who begs forgiveness as she kills.

 

 

 

Art

A full moon shines down on Mutant Town’s three-story buildings and clustering tents in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1. The moon illuminates the Cat and Crab on the wooden pier. As the sky darkens, a boat pulls onto the rocky shore, and a soldier clad in armor holds a rifle in readiness as he charges across the grass. The Colonel trades night vision goggles for a flashlight and ventures into the compound. He follows a trail of blood and finds mutants wrapped in webbing and hanging from the ceiling. 

 

Ronda Pattison lavishes a loaded palette on Gavin Smith’s art in the thirty-page Mutant Town. Pattison portrays darkness while hiding nothing as combatants seek their prey. The subdued coloring energizes the moonlit fight as guns blaze, a rotary cannon smokes, and a fierce creature with deadly talons bursts from the shadows.

 

 

Nathan Widick contributes large, uppercase black letters to white balloons and colored narrative boxes in both stories. The words grow bold for inflection and shrink for lowered voices. A monster hisses white letters into blood splatter, while vicious sound effects intensify the struggle for survival in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1. Paragraphs of white letters accompany portraits for profiles of nine characters in Mutant Town. Thanks to IDW for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

One leader rallies the drugged and dispirited captives of a mutant trafficking ring, while another realizes that Humans and Mutants need each other in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alpha #1.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

Preview "Long Way From Home," the prelude to Jason Aaron's forthcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, on my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Amazing Spider-Man #51 Review

 

Writers: Zeb Wells

Pencilers: Ed McGuinness & Todd Nauck

Inker: Mark Farmer, Todd Nauck, Cliff Rathburn & Wade Von Grawbadger

Colorists: Marcio Menyz, Erick Arciniega & Bryan Valenza

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Ed McGuinness & Marcio Menyz; Ivan Bigarella; Tony Harris; Skottie Young

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: June 5, 2024

 

The Beyond Corporation turned Ben Reilly's life into a bad dream. Queen Goblin tried to help him with the Hobgoblin's Winkler Device. But since Ben used it, he's suffered from a recurring dream. Is his broken mind trying to tell him something, and will it benefit Ben or others? Let’s thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #51 and find out!

 

Story

Doc Ock burns for revenge. Among the Sinister Six, Electro, Mysterio, and Sandman are up for anything. But Vulture is concerned. Kraven seems lost in a world of his own. Will the Hunter be an asset or a liability if they storm Norman's palace?

 

King Norman’s not bothered by anything. He’s reassumed the throne as a goblin born. He calls Doc Ock to boast of his imminent triumph. Norman even accuses Ock of telegraphing his plans when warning the eight-limbed wonder that his days of living the good life in his underground lair are nearing the end.

 

The Living Brain killed itself. But before it committed suicide, it gave birth. Composed of a smaller brain in a metal body, the Walking Brain leads Dr Curt Connors on a call to arms in Amazing Spider-Man #51. But is the entity that gave them the code phrase to turn Norman back into the Green Goblin on Peter’s side?

 

 

 

As for Ben Reilly, he's sat where many have sat before. Dr Ashley Kafka, Ned Leeds, Roderick Kingsley, and Peter Parker have used the Winkler Machine. Can Ben take something from Peter's time in the chair to make himself whole? At least, now that Dr Kafka told Ben that Beyond stole his memories, Ben should feel more kindly disposed toward Peter. Perhaps he can even help Peter. But is Peter even Peter Parker anymore?

 

Amid so many uncertainties, one fact is beyond doubt in Amazing Spider-Man #51. Peter Parker is not Spider-Man. He’s Spider-Goblin. Unfettered by convention or sentiment, he'll do anything to help others achieve their full potential. 

 

 

 

Art

Electro worries that someone has discovered the Sinister Six's landline in the sewers. The phone cord unites fractured panels to portray both sides of the conversation before Spider-Goblin swoops in via a two-page spread. Slanted panels showcase a frantic fight with Doc Ock before the camera returns to Oscorp, where the Living Brain resembles a used tin of Jiffy Pop. Kamala gives Norman a ring. Her smile suggests she's no longer traumatized over dying. But the icon on her shirt signals the approaching storm.

 

Ed McGuinness, Mark Farmer, Todd Nauck, Cliff Rathburn, and Wade Von Grawbadger deliver strong visuals in the action-packed Amazing Spider-Man #51. They also imbue the characters with personality, as Electro sticks out his tongue, Sandman monsters out, Kraven expresses remorse, and Spider-Goblin can’t wipe the grin off his face. But standout honors belong to the Walking Brain. Did our Mars Attack visitors fuse Dr Johann Krauss with one of their cool cerebrums?

 

 

 

Marcio Menyz, Erick Arciniega & Bryan Valenza bring bright, bold characters that stand out amid the darkness of Ben Reilly’s mind, the gray-blue sewers, white-suited workers in the no-longer-clean Oscorp laboratory, and Kamala’s pale green room. But no one, not even Kraven, who wields a spear with a red gem, outshines green-skinned Spider-Goblin in his black and purple suit. “Calm your worried mind,” Spider-Goblin urges, cradling Kraven’s tanned face in his purple gloves. “Be at peace.”

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black lettering into dialogue balloons and narrative boxes in Amazing Spider-Man #51. The font grows bold for inflection, swells for increased volume, gets italicized for machine-speak, and shrinks for lowered voices. Immense letters help us hear Otto’s Octoids go wild, Spider-Goblin shatter a fragile person’s illusions, and his joyous, overwhelming laughter.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

It’s Phone A Friend Day for Norman Osborn, Spider-Goblin makes Sandman shine, J. Jonah Jameson goes wild with a red pen, and two spectacular Spider-Men have broken minds in Amazing Spider-Man #51.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Spider-Boy #7 Review

 

Writers: Dan Slott

Artists: Paco Medina

Colorist: Erick Arciniega

Letterer: Joe Caramagna & Cory Petit

Cover Artists: Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado; David Baldeón; Natacha Bustos; Rahzzah

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 29, 2023

 

Madame Monstrosity changed Bailey Briggs into Spider-Boy, his friend Eli into Hellifino, and his mother Tabitha into her feline servant Tabby. Now, she's transformed his friend Christina into a Pigeon. But can Madame Monstrosity change any of the Humanimals back? Let's activate our anti-genetic modification shields, thwip into Spider-Boy #7, and find out!

 

Story

After Madame Monstrosity transforms people into Humanimals, she forces them to work for her. Madame Monstrosity promises to change them back into Humans after a period of indentured servitude. Sadly, she doesn’t know how.

 

Perhaps she might find the answer if she looked for it. But Madame Monstrosity prefers to dabble. To paraphrase the High-Evolutionary, she's not a creator. She merges animals and Humans to observe the results. In Spider-Boy #7, she wants to know how Spider-Boy made her forget him. Madame Monstrosity can’t be bothered with time-consuming scientific tests. So, the mad scientist opts for more direct methods.

 

Yet when Madame Monstrosity tortures Spider-Boy, she reveals her greatest secret. Bailey's Spider-Sense also detects that Madame Monstrosity is in danger! How can Spider-Boy use this revelation to help his friends and escape Madame Mostrosity’s grasp?

 

In Spider-Boy #7, Madame Mostrosity’s Humanimals face a choice. Either they accept who they are or cling to the belief that Madame Monstrosity will return them to their original forms. It is a test of their character. Will they remain slaves to Yesterday or accept who they are now? The Humanimals must choose to protect their friends or bolster the influence of a powerful ruler.

 

As for Bailey Briggs, he must use the knowledge he’s gained to help others. So, should he find a way to help Madame Monstrosity? Or should he place the mad scientist in danger?

 

What a choice! Or, to quote Squirrel Girl, Holy Macadamia Nuts!

 

 

 

Art

Dan Slott packs his story with characters, forcing Paco Medina to populate panels with people. Medina brings his A-Game to Spider-Boy #7, as Toy Soldier confers with Jarvis, Captain America, Thor, Squirrel Girl, Spider-Man, and Miles Morales in the entrance hall to the Jarvis Lounge. Madame Monstrosity activates her cattle prod with a smile while Spider-Boy's lips part to reveal his Tombstone teeth. Electricity arcs off the prod, and an image of the High Evolutionary appears before the glowing laboratory lights.

 

Tabby looks confused and frightened as Boy-Spider hugs his feline mother. Braving the disapproval of her porcine and equine supervisors, Christina pauses while hoeing a field as Tabby and Boy-Spider approach. Then Toy Soldier and Thor swoop in, preceding an Avengers quinjet. Drop your garden tools, Humanimals! It’s Hammer Time!

 

 

 

 

Erick Arciniega lavishes a loaded palette on Spider-Boy #7. The rising sun fills the sky with pink, purple, and blue as a carrier pigeon joins Spider-Man on his morning thwip. The Avengers’ colorful uniforms stand out from the brown and tan walls in the waiting area. Overhead lights illuminate Spider-Boy as he crouches in his cage in the gray laboratory. When Madame Masque departs, she slams the brown wooden door behind her. Despite her house’s Victorian exterior, the gray laboratory, halls, and stairways evoke a medieval castle.

 

As Dan Slott populates Spider-Boy #7 with so many characters, Joe Caramagna & Cory Petit do a Spidey team-up to thwip uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons. Toy soldier gets green italicized lettering in contrast to the dominant black, while extreme emotions may color words or balloon borders. After wielding electricity, one of Madame Monstrosity’s balloons begins to melt. Thankfully, the arriving pigeons and their large Coos in clingy light blue balloons transform Christina's beak into a smile.

 

Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

When Spider-Boy needs rescuing from Madame Monstrosity's lair, his friends discover Bailey’s greatest superpower. Amid all the Whoing and Cooing, Spider-Man battles a Crocodile with a flamethrower, Squirrel Girl gets a Toy-Boy, and Madame Monstrosity asks Bailey for a Forget-Me-Not in Spider-Boy #7.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1 Review

 

Writer: Stephanie Phillips

Artist: Federica Mancin

Colorist: Matt Milla

Letterer: Ariana Maher

Cover Artists: Nolan Woodard, Mark Brooks, Jenny Frison, David Lopen, Ernanda Souza & Pablo Villalobos

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 22, 2024

 

Gwen Stacy calls Earth-65 home. She plays drums in a band, gets along with her father, and moonlights as Spider-Woman or Ghost-Spider. So why is she on Earth-616, forbidden to use her powers, and pretending to be Lisa Rogers? Let's thwip into Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1 and find out!

 

Story

Gwen faced an apocalyptic future. She raced past destroyed buildings, pursued by a flock of angry birds. Then OB opened a time-space portal and pulled her inside.

 

Ouroborus, or OB for short, works for the Time Variance Authority. He couldn’t convince Mobius of her importance, so he ignored his supervisor’s decision and saved Gwen anyway. OB wants her to lay low in Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1. But Gwen can't help it. Her symbiote spider-suit craves action. So, like an itch she shouldn’t scratch, Gwen gives in to temptation.

 

First, it's when she sees people threatened. Next, she goes looking for opportunities to help others. But getting seen has its consequences. Soon, people come looking for her. And they're not inviting her to play drums in their band.

 

 

 

Mysteries pervade Stephanie Phillips’ story in Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1. What caused the devastation on Earth-65? Why is OB risking his job to place Gwen on Earth-616? Most of all, why does the death of her counterpart on Earth-616 haunt Gwen?

 

OB plucked Gwen Stacy from where she belonged and asked her to hide in plain sight. Untethered from her home, she yearns to fit in and belong. But OB warns Gwen that people will die if she continues to use the suit to help others. Like a pebble dropped in a pond, the ripples will travel through space-time. Could her good intentions bring about his worst fears?

 

With great power comes great responsibility. But is fear of potential consequences sufficient reason not to help people? 

 

 

 

Art

A banker stares at her application. Gwen sits across from him, dressed in a white jacket. A blue cap shelters her face. Then, people scatter papers, freeze, and collapse as masked gunmen enter. At least they're not wearing the faces of former presidents!

 

Hiding behind the banker’s desk, electricity crackles along Gwen’s left arm. Her white hoodie gives way to reddish pink with blue webbing. Masked thieves and Ghost Spider blur amid a flurry of movement. Gunmen crash into each other, and dust rises from the floor as Gwen perches atop a desk. Then Gwen thwips over street traffic and away from the bank as pedestrians cheer, gaze up, and send photos of the webbed wonder across the world wide web.

 

 

 

Matt Milla applies a loaded palette of soft and appealing colors to Federica Mancin’s dynamic art in Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1. OB's green shirt reflects the turquoise walls of Gwen's apartment. A poster of a fiercely blue sky and a tropical beach taped to a wall allures. Gwen sits on a pink blanket atop the white mattress on the hardwood floor. Her blonde hair glows while sunlight casts a green shadow across her sparsely furnished apartment. Then, black seeps across OB's shirt, and lavender falls upon Gwen as the TVA agent realizes the difficulty of her situation.

 

Ariana Maher thwips uppercase black letters into white dialogue balloons with long white arrows and reddish pink words into white narrative boxes outlined with turquoise. A Ka-Chak sounds from a rifle pointed at a bank clerk. A pink Thwip spills across a gunman clad in black. A siren floats on the breeze caused by blurring automobiles and flies past Gwen's fluttering hair. A red Fwwp signals encroaching weakness as Gwen heeds her symbiote suit's desires and ignores OB's in Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Despite the TVA's orders to lie low, Gwen makes headlines and becomes the target of a savage killer in Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #1.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

The Spectacular Spider-Men #3 Review

 

Writer: Greg Weisman

Penciler: Humberto Ramos

Inker: Victor Olazaba

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado; Derrick Chew; Lee Garbett & Yen Nitro; Stephen Segovia

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: May 22, 2024

 

Miles is dating Kamala Khan. Peter and Gwen are married with children, but Aunt May and George Stacy are going out on the town. Did the Time Variance Authority transport us to another Earth? And why couldn’t Miles and Peter find Cedric Harrison in the sewers? Let’s grab our lattes, thwip into The Spectacular Spider-Men #3, and find out!

 

Story

Cedric wanted to earn bucks while having a blast. Turk hungered for his next rush. Kenny and Shelly needed extra cash to rent an apartment for the next semester. Now, Cedric and Shelly explore America in a red convertible. Kenny is back on the football team. Turk makes money hand over fist as a mob boss. The lovers’ European tour continues. An actor achieves popularity and acclaim. And Miles and Peter are living their fondest dreams.

 

Or are they? Do we dream about what we desire most? Or do we explore paths previously rejected to ensure we made the correct choice? In The Spectacular Spider-Men #3, Peter enjoys domesticity with Gwen. He plays with his children, and his career as Spider-Man is a bad memory. Miles and Kamala take their friendship to the next level. Sorry, Starling. It’s been real.

 

 

 

Peter and Miles’ Spiderific adventures began with their weekly visits to The Coffee Bean at the ESU campus. After Dr Seymour Krepps opened Miles Warren's old laboratory, Miles and Peter fought a Hulk-like version of the Jackal. Miles Warren experimented with cloning. He made clones of Gwen Stacy after she died. And then there was that familiar black, white, and pink form thwipping away from a foiled bank robbery. Why wouldn’t Gwen be on Peter’s mind?

 

Kamala's death hit Miles Morales hard. Her return to life and help fighting villains like Rabble has reinvigorated him. Miles has started surprising Kamala with hugs when she least expects it. Is Tiana Toomes falling off Miles’ emotional radar? Or is this just one of those unspoken things Miles has to explore before deciding where he belongs?

 

In The Spectacular Spider-Men #3, past and present tumble into a cauldron of churning dreams. Even if they’re not living their ultimate fantasies, Peter and Miles are happy. They don't want to check out. But why would they ever want to leave?

 

Beware those steely knives, guys!

 

 

 

Art

Peter and Miles separately face their front doors. Gwen hugs Peter from behind as her father offers Aunt May a bouquet of roses. Miles seems taken aback by the wonder in Kamala’s eyes. Yet in the morgue, Carlie Cooper regards Detective Sebbens and Coroner Jane Foster. Ignoring the skull X-rays on her desk, the Police Forensic Scientist crosses her arms over her chest as she and Jane Foster report their findings.

 

Miles and Kamala hold hands across the table of a restaurant's outdoor seating area that intrudes into the street. Peter sits with his children as they play, tickles and wrestles with them, and gazes at them while they sleep. Yet, as Miles and Peter enjoy their evenings with the women in their lives in The Spectacular Spider-Men #3, a familiar form lurks in the corner of their eyes. Can you hear the mission bell, guys?

 

Edgar Delgado lavishes a loaded palette of appealing colors on Humberto Ramos and Victor Olazaba’s art. Shadows stretch across a shiny tile floor. Background fades in closeups, replaced by a haze of diffused, colored lights. The Eiffel Tower glows yellow as lovers gaze upon the City Of Light. Blue and purple characters stand before a red control bank and gaze up at faces arrayed on a wall of monitors.

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase letters into white balloons and colored narrative boxes. The appealing font rarely shrinks. Dialogue often grows bold, changes color, or enlarges. Musical notes nestle in fanciful balloons as Peter sings and plays with his children. Red laughter surrounds his head as Peter tickles his son and daughter. Yet screaming fills a panel as sparks fly, turning the air red in The Spectacular Spider-Men #3. 

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

While students go missing at Empire State University, two emotional vampires suck the life of people by fulfilling their cravings in The Spectacular Spider-Men #3. But is this real life or just a fantasy that could detonate every cell in their bodies?

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #2 Review

 

Writers: Dan Watters & Ram V

Artist: Matthew Roberts

Colorist: Dave Stewart

Letterer: DC Hopkins

Cover Artists: Matthew Roberts & Dave Stewart; Francis Manapul; Dani & Brad Simpson; Stephanie Pepper; Christian Ward

Publisher: Image

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 29, 2024

 

Journalist Kate Marsden was on the trail of a hardened killer. Then she saw something she couldn’t comprehend. As Kate fled, she slipped while crossing a river. The current sucked her down. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't fight free. Has the Amazon claimed another victim? Let's strap on our masks and flippers, leap into Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #2, and find out!

 

Story

The Marine Corps kicked out Darwin Collier for violent conduct. Police suspect him guilty of seven drownings. He tried to make Kate his eighth victim. Kate tracked his movements to Peru, where he purchased items from a local pharmacy. But then Collier left town, and Kate couldn’t find him.

 

Lately, boaters have pulled bodies from the river. Kate followed a local man who picked up the latest victim and transported it to the river. As Kate watched a boat carry it away, she heard a noise. She thought perhaps it was Collier. Instead, a strange creature met her gaze.

 

In Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #2, Kate awakens in a house with an IV drip in her arm. These days, she fights the urge to sleep. Dreams follow, and they often return to the time Collier tried to drown her. The attempt left Kate feeling violated. She is strung out on amphetamines and can’t bear to let anyone touch her. She also suffers from Anoxic Brain Damage due to brain cell death from lack of oxygen.

 

But Kate isn’t frightened now. She remembers how Christiano found her by the river and that Christiano’s employer, Dr Edwin Thompson, took her in. She goes to Edwin’s laboratory, where she learns the drowning victim had black sand in his lungs. Edwin believes a mythical creature killed the drowning victim. Although Kate doesn’t want to admit it, she glimpsed the monster. But she's a journalist, grounded in accepted truth and facts. So, Kate asks Edwin to take her to the Black Lagoon. She must know she is not slowly losing grip on reality.

 

Kate Marsden claims she wants justice in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #2. Like any victim, she struggles with anger from Collier's savage attack. But Kate isn't in the United States anymore. The law doesn't work the same way in Peru. Her chances of utilizing the Peruvian legal system or getting Collier extradited to the United States (assuming she could capture the former Marine) are low. Besides, she suffers from Anoxic Brain Damage. Why should anyone trust her judgment when she's unsure she can trust her memories and perceptions?

 

 

Art

Kate Marsden awakens on a cushioned rattan couch. Pulling the IV from her hand, she ignores the tropical potted plants and the jungle outside the wall of windows and heads down a hall toward Edwin's lab. Clad in surgical gear, Edwin speaks into a microphone connected to an 8 Track Tape Recorder. As smoke rises from a pipe near the table, he cuts into the body with a scalpel. Wrinkles navigate his face and neck like rivers on a map. Kate's straggly hair frames her confused expression as her wide eyes behold the dark granules on the bloody blade. Then the wind whips her hair as she sits near Christiano at the back of the boat while Edwin sits upfront, staring grimly at the jungle ahead.

 

Dave Stewart applies a loaded palette to Matthew Roberts’ realistic art in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #2. Stewart paints Edwin’s lab in pale greens, blues, beiges, and grays, while Edwin’s surgical gear, lab surfaces, and a hanging screen reflect the more vibrant greens glimpsed through the tall windows. The white drowning victim looks lavender in closeups, while dark red shows within rents from whatever also tore off a portion of the man’s ear. The lavender reminds Kate of two amorphous circles shining in the darkness. The twin circles evoke jellyfish, floating wherever the currents take them. But Kate knows they're not.

 

DC Hopkins carves uppercase black letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The font grows bold for intonation, swells for elevated voices, and rarely shrinks. Spotting the man who nearly killed her sends green words into a yellow balloon. Darker green words emerge from the Burnt Umber lips enclosing a mouth filled with sharpened teeth, while yellow words signal a hail of gunfire in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #2.

 

Thanks to Universal Studios, Skybound, and Image Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Kate Marsden grapples with local legend, an obsessed scientist, drug traffickers, a serial killer, and the limits of her exhausted body and damaged mind in Universal Monsters: Creature From The Black Lagoon Lives #2.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4 Review

 

Writer: Amy Jo Johnson & Matt Hotson

Artist: Nico Leon

Colorist: Dono Sanchez-Almara

Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Cover Artists: Goñi Montes; David Nakayama; Miguel Mercado; Kevin Eastman & Andrew Dahouse; Ivan Tao; The Escorza Brothers; Chrissie Zullo; Mel Milton; R1C0; Nico Leon; Justine Florentino

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 29, 2024

 

Selena Repulsa abducted Kimberly from her remote mountain cabin. She imprisoned Kimberly with Jason, Billy, and Zach. Selena has their power coins and Trini’s. So, who just teleported into the Bandora Palace? Let's grab our power coins, leap into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4, and find out!

 

Story

Selena is the daughter of Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. Before Rita died, she transferred her essence to the Morphin Grid. Selena gives Finster the surviving rangers’ power coins to upgrade his Monster-Matic machine into a Morphin-Matic. He uses the last of his magic clay to bring Rita Repulsa back to life.

 

When Kimberly’s daughter Olivia returned to her ransacked home, she knew enough of her parents’ history to realize what happened. So, in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4, Olivia found Tommy’s power coin and teleported to the moon.

 

Ransacking Kimberly’s house wasn't Selena's only mistake. She assumed Billy's Benevolator destroyed Tommy's power coin when it bit a chunk out of the moon. So she didn't search Kimberly's house for Tommy's power coin. Then, when her first attempt to bring Rita back to life failed, she let Kimberly get her goat. In her anger, Selena reached inside her forcefield and pulled Kimberly out. So now, Kimberly can team up with her daughter and attack Selena.

 

Sadly, Kimberly has spent the years in hiding since Tommy's death. She has never used her power coin. Nor has she trained her daughter. By comparison, Selena has worked hard to master Rita’s skills since learning of her mother’s presence in the Morphin Grid. Selena also harnessed Finster’s expertise. Now, Selena can accomplish her plan. All she must do is wrest Tommy's power coin from Olivia.

 

Billy, Zach, and Jason's activities may have placed them in danger, but at least they helped others. Without using her power coin, Trini Kwan also benefitted her community. But in hiding away and not training her daughter, Kimberly Hart wasn't prepared when the danger she feared arrived. Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson’s story reminds us that hiding accomplishes nothing. Kimberly and Olivia have good hearts. But is that enough to defeat a trained, resourceful villain who can also command the rangers’ power coins?

 

 

Art

Olivia finds Tommy’s power coin in the dark cabin. Green lightning shoots into the heavens. The Green Ranger stands before Selena’s fallen silhouette. Kimberly’s mouth gapes as she regards her daughter on hands and knees. Billy, Jason, and Zach clench their fists and adopt fighting stances within the crackling energy shield. Then shock overcomes Selena and the men's faces. What happens next, you ask? Selena brings her mother's magic wand down on Olivia's head!

 

After Kimberly frees her friends, they crash into sword-wielding putties. Kimberly brings a knife to a wand fight in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4. Nico Leon makes the action easy to follow, as rangers pound putties and mother and daughter combat Selena. Energy sparks, blasts rangers, and more electricity than Dr. Victor Frankenstein ever summoned fills the air as a daughter stands in one of two pods in the Morphin-Matic machine. Guess who appears in the other one?

 

Olivia's suit scatters a green reflection of the crackling blue-white energy dome on the floor of Bandora Palace. Selena’s pink and purple clothes harmonize with the energy from Rita's power wand and provide an intriguing link with Kimberly's pink sweater and burgundy slacks. Dono Sanchez-Almara surrounds the gray putties with yellow and orange, while Selena’s attacks on Kimberly and Olivia turn the air purple. Pink and lavender fill the air as Selena orders Finster to activate his machine. Amid the swirling purple energy, a familiar Z shoots white energy toward the heavens.

 

Ed Dukeshire casts large, black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4. Words grow bold for inflection and morph in size and color when rangers activate their power coins. Sound effects help us hear a dagger skitter across the floor and rip through a power shield, the putties charge to Selena's rescue, and Olivia crash into Selena amid the thrumming air and rumbling palace.

 

Thanks to Boom! Studios and Hasbro for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

As family fights family, older and wiser Power Rangers confront the next generation of villains, and Finster’s genius resurrects the dead in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return #4.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.