6. Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #187 & 188 ... Marvel ...

And now we come to the big one: the Uncanny X-Men, the start of my comics addiction and the start of modern comics mania! How many years was there only ONE mutant title? And how many years did the mutants rule the top of the sales charts? And wasn't the X-Men cartoon a huge hit? And so was the movie that led to huge revival of all comic movies, right? Hehehehehe! Yes, I know, my opinion.

Anyhow, 188 was my first purchase from the newsagents at Hutton Lane (see? I still remember even though it was way back in the 80s) and the earlier issue was from Mile High back issue bins.

This tale of the X takes place as the X-men have gone through some harrowing times and seeing their ranks severely depleted until it is hitting almost rock bottom. Cyclops had departed. Storm had lost her powers. Wolverine had gone off to Japan with Kitty. So who is left? Nightcrawler and Colossus with recently joined Rogue. Yup 3 people and 2 are more of the super-strength and near invulnerable department - rather limited eh?

And still these 2 issues rocked!

We have the team recovering from their hard earned victories especially a recently depowered Storm and what should happen except that after their guest-starring roles in Rom the Spaceknight, Rom's enemies the Dire Wraiths (aliens using sorcery) should come invade the X-Men's books. That's apparent in 187 and that's also what was slowly but surely happening across the Marvel books as the threat of the Dire Wraiths is finally coming to a boil

On a subplot end (it's by Claremont so you know that there will be tons of subplots that may take years to sort out), we have Rachel Grey (new to our timeline)
overhearing a debate amongst the X-Men and lashes out when she hears that Jean Grey is dead! You see, the X-Men has no idea that in her timeline, Jean is Rachel's mother! Yup, that's the X-universe for you. So not much in terms of a threat in 188 but more of an intense soap opera which is fine ... it's entertaining and makes them a wee bit more relatable than say ... DC heroes of that time ... hehehe!

I loved it and easily rated 187 a 7-pointer while 188 gets an 8-pointer

5. X-Factor vol 1 #4 ... Marvel ...

It had to happen, eh? A Marvel Mutant title review. Hey! I was a Marvel "zombie" fanatic call it whatever you want when I was growing up in the 80s. There was no Image or Dark Horse then and as for the alternative/ undergrounds, where the heck do you find them on those spinner racks by the drugstores and what-nots? None, that's what. It's either DC or Marvel and somehow, Marvel heroes are more relatable ... to me, that is

So X-Factor ... the original run staring the original X-Men ... somehow they are never that popular. The original X-Men run hit a sales snag and with them as X-Factor, same shit was going to happen. I don't know why ... like is it because the characters are lame? Or because of writers? Or artists? But whatever the cause, even this run of the original X-Men came to its end around 70 before a new crew comes onboard and so far, subsequent to this, whenever you have them 5 reassembled, they do not last

Still ... the first 2 years worth and the final few issues were great. And issue 4 is an example. We have decent, workable artwork - no wow factors or beautiful splash pages here but it's fine. The story continues to develop subplot showing us how the public reacts to the creation of X-Factor Inc, the mutant hunting group that the X-Men is posing as. Then we see Angel's buddy, Cameron Hodge who is advising them (waaaay before he was revealed to be a psychotic nutjob) ... and we get glimpses of something bigger (Apocalypse in his introduction story arc) in the background

Now amidst all these there are still enough pages for us to get to know a new group of villains ... except that they met Ms Frenzy who is ... super strong (whoa like we haven't seen this before) ... but again it works. I actually enjoyed this and have read it several times over the years. It's one of those told-in-one that is a nice comic to flip through

And Frenzy is hunting for someone inside X-Factor Inc. As the cover shows, she basically thumps them ... HARD! So if you have the opportunity, go buy this on the back issue bins or download somewhere (not illegally of course) and read it

Our ratings? A 7

4. Youngblood vol 1 #6 ... Image ...

Why did I do a review starting with this issue? Well for those of you who are loyal Liefeld fans, you already know but for those who don't, that's because after launching Image with a host of titles from his Extreme studios, our main man Liefeld took time off and when he finally came back, he started off with this issue. Hence why I chose this issue

Oh yeah and it has a beautiful wraparound cover and one of the best ever interior art by Rob. For all those who enjoy trashing Rob, please skip this particular review, okay? Or you can find other sites to do this in

So ... aside from a re-charged Rob who actually didn't rush the art for this issue and every panel is complete especially the main characters i.e. they don't all have the same teeth gnashing expression ... what else has this issue got going? Tons!

First up, we get a glimpse into each of the main characters private life (not to the X-Men style limit though) and then before you know it, an attack, some action scenes and a new character who is ... Shaft's dad? Badrock's dad? Diehard's creator? Ahahahahaha! I am not going to spoil it for you if you have not read this yet and am thinking of getting it. Just BUY the book. You can find it easily online at Mile High Comics.

If you like your comics fast paced, full of frenetic energy and plot that moves, then this is definitely the right book for you and check out those colours and quality glossy paper! ARGH! (8/10)

3. Books of Magic vol 2 #2 to 4 (Vertigo, DC)

And finally, we moved on from Image, eh, readers? Hehehe!

This series is just amazing. Before I begin, the review to issue 1 can be found in my personal blog. So here's the conclusion to the first arc. Basically at the start, Tim Hunter is beginning to be suspicious of who his true parents are seeing as how his mom and dad are human (and living in loserville UK). Since Tim is being told repeatedly that he has potential to be the most powerful magician ever (cue Harry Potter - both Brits, both glasses, both have parents and friends issue, both geeky, both living in the normal world while discovering another world .... hmmm a wee bit too many similarities?!?!?!), he gets sucked into the world of Faerie

Naturally, being innocent and naïve, Tim learns the hardway that not all beautiful things and creatures are noble and everywhere he turns, danger seems to lurk. Everyone has their own hidden agenda. So who is telling him the truth? The king and queen, the nasty little evil monster or the man/ bird?

You can get this in TPB ... and we can encourage you to do so. This is such a good read! And the gentle seeming artwork by Peter Gross is brilliant! John Ney Rieber, Peter Gross and Gary Amaro - perfect team for this series! Love it, love you three!

(10/10)

2. Prophet vol 2 #2 (Image)

I was scrolling through my catalogue of images and trying to decide what to post next when I chose this. And now that I am typing this, I realized, it's my second post and both are from Image back when Image is having it's boom seasons! Way to go Image comics. Love you guys!

For those of you who didn't follow Prophet, it's basically about a guy from the future who is like the enhanced human specimen, send back to the past to prevent a guy (Ohmen) from coming to power and bringing with him the Acolytes that will some day rule the Earth. Think Terminator minus the dark landscape and metallic looking robots and you more or less have this

The only problem with John Prophet is that he doesn't have all his memories with him and what he knows, he thinks is real. So from issue 1, we have a glimpse into Prophet's past (real or otherwise, we are unsure). It seems like he has been living through our histories for many, many centuries!

And if you think the art and that chrome cover was amazing, well, issue 2 boasts an equally impressive effort from Stephen Platt. Loved me some S.Platt art! Too bad he doesn't do many comics and left more or less the comics world after this series (except for the occasional Fighting American)

So in issue 2, we delved a little deeper into the truth behind John and as he rushes to find out more, he needs to ensure he is not "shut down" before he discovers the truth. Even his friends and allies may not be so. It's a good, fast paced thriller of a book, not so much a superhero thing but when you read this, you won't realize it because it is that good (10/10). For me, this is as good as it gets!

1. PITT (Image) vol 1 #2 to 4

I had a choice of starting with the latest comics I read (Ultimate X-Men) or go with something truly memorable and as the title suggests, I decided to go for the latter. Why was PITT so memorable? Well a few things actually but first and foremost this is Dale Keown's first independent creator owned comic where he created, wrote, pencilled, inked and later even did some colouring on this series. The only sad part is that it lasted less than 2 dozen issues!!! SIGH!!!

Trivia facts: I saw this when I was studying at university in Australia (that sort of tells you how old I am, eh?) and naturally rushed to get it but you know what? Between issues 2 to 4, there is a lag of like more than 3 months and I remembered reading online a lot of people trashing Dale for the lateness but for me, it was cool. I liked my comics looking good and not rushed and I can afford to wait because it means ... I have more money for other titles as well. Hehehe! So Mr Dale Keown, my hat's off to you for taking the time out to churn out this masterpiece!

Issue 4 ends the first arc. Issue 1 is reviewed on my regular blog. And so without further ado, here's what transpired in 2 to 4. Basically Pitt is trying to track down his connection to someone from earth and he finds out it's little Timmy, an orphan who is staying with his grandpa. The 2 humans have no idea of this. In the meantime, someone else, a bounty hunter, from Pitt's world has come a calling trying to chase down and kill Pitt.

And as they descended on earth, they encountered the local law enforcement including a lady police officer who seemed to be far more than that of a normal woman who engages in regular fitness regime. So there is room for a subplot development here and no it is not romantic in nature please!

Finally, we also get a glimpse of someone potentially far more powerful than Pitt and that is dear ol dad. But on Pitt's side, is he truly alone? Nope. So who else is there lurking in the subconscious of earthlings? Hehehe! You will have to buy the book to find out

PLEEEEEEASE TRACK THIS BOOK DOWN. From artwork to the dazzling colours, you will not be disappointed (10/10)

HAHAHA ... FIRST POST ...

I loved that name ... no offence meant to KFC or all those fast foods as I eat them regularly and have the waistline to prove it, people! Seriously! I loved my KFC and will have them like once a week and if I can get to a McD or a Burger King ... why not?

The reason for the title is that this is a blog where I will post reviews on comics as I read them ... digital and hardcopies and am making fun of the fact that people think all comic readers are overgrown men living in their parents basement eating unhealthy junkfood and grossly overweight. Know what? You narrow minded SOB?!?!?! Screw you!!!

We LOVE our comics

I used to post these on my regular blog until the side bar for comics have problem. I created a second side bar and now for past few weeks also have problems. So I said what the fuck! Let's do a proper blog just for comics. So here it is!

Get ready people ...