54. Pitt #5 ... Image ...

May 1st - international labour day and this book is a definite labour of love (and a lot of labour definitely hahaha) for its creator, Dale Keown. I loved, loved, loved this book. I remembered the tons of delay and the amount of internet bitching but you know what? I don't give a damn because every issue when it is finally out is a satisfying eye-candy in terms of artwork.

Dale was doing Hulk before he started PITT @ Image. You can tell that this is how Hulk should have been. Savage, muscles, tons of action, fights and generally slamming and destroying things

This issue is no different. Even though the lead character doesn't do much and the bulk of the action is on the villain of the piece, this is so good. On hindsight, the characters here do have some significance later on the series but for the moment, you can enjoy it as it is

It basically takes place after the first story arc in what is a downtime between the next arc. Instead of giving us a filler issue, this is one filler that rocks as Pitt tries to find his role on Earth and hearing a damsel in distress he goes to help only to find a damsel that is not scared by his appearance. After he departs from the scene, he hears another commotion only coming back to find said damsel is something more and what glorious artwork it is making even a normal creature look monstrous and beautiful!

Love, love, love this issue! Get it. Get multiple copies please!

Ratings: 10/10

53. Out There #1 to 6 ... Image ...

Once upon a long ago, Image Comics various superstar creators decided to launch new "tier two" Image and the Cliffhanger Imprint was born. Unfortunately, it didn't last as people like J Scott Campbell and Joe Mad didn't stick around for long to built it. Only Humberto Ramos did. And naturally, the Imprint died

This is Ramos' second series for Cliffhanger after his smash hit Crimson

Continuing in a way in terms of theme from Crimson, we see this as a small town where everyday is happy to their neighbours, life is well and everyone is so perfect. So what is the problem? Well, there seems to be one and what a big one it is and this is what some school kids stumbled across

You see, some of them realized that they are born different with odd physical and mental talents (Mutants?). And one of these is seeing these cute little creatures with pointy ears and sharp teeth jumping all over the place. As the kids started to band together after a few incidents, the cutesy creatures stopped being so cutesy anymore. So what are they doing here? Who are they serving? And who can the kids trust to go to for help and advise?

And so the adventure begins

And it continues for a good 18-issue run although for me personally, sometimes the issues felt like too much padding. This is not manga. It is about 22 pages of story. While the artwork here is cute sy with huge empty spaces, unfortunately sometimes all it took is 5 minutes to flick through the pages and when not enough happens to move the story along, the comic lost its hook. I am not sure if it was meant to be 18 issues only but am glad it ended. I actually didn't feel compelled or attracted or hooked after this first arc and subsequently bought the loose issues only when they reached the discount bins

Sorry, Ramos, this is a negative

Ratings: 5 (7 for art but 3 for story)

52. Namor Ltd Series #1 ... Salvador Larocca ...

This series is odd. For some weird reason, Marvel decided to release a maxi (12 issues) on Namor in his younger days. Yes, Namor has always been a popular supporting character in Fantastic Four and for a time was even a member of the Avengers but in his own solo series, he was never a hit and only survived during the comics boom of the 90s

Anyway, with this series, they hooked in Salvador Larocca. If memory serves, Salva was working on one of his many hit series. He was great, he hit the deadlines and is a fan favorite. So obviously he wasn't thrilled to be moved to this but apparently it was something like Singapore's "National Service" for good old Marvel

Anyway, on my part?

I loved this. Just check out the artwork. Beautifully crafted panels, details, soft lines and awesome colours that makes you think back to innocent times. Obviously this would not work in the long run but hey! for a limited series, it is excellent

So yes, Namor is young and just becoming a teen thus feeling rebellious. So what happens is that one day he comes across a surface dweller and for some reason being kids and generally innocent ... they fell for each other first as childish love and growing older to become affectionate and more ... sincere and heartfelt?

Naturally his and her parents object. Stuff of all good romance novels, right?

So what happens in the end? We all know because we know the Namor of today but still the stories are interesting and that artwork? Wow! If only Salva still draws like that unlike his art in later X-titles or current on Iron Man.

Ratings: 10/10

51. Moon Knight vol 3 #1 to 6 ...

Moon Knight ... Marvel's twist on Batman from DC?

Well, whatever you may think, sad to say, this is one character that is unique enough in terms of origin (Hello Khonshu) but yet no matter what, the series has never been a sufficiently big hit to last long enough. There is a volume that was longer than this but you know what? It was famous for its last few issues prior to cancellation because it introduced the world to a new artist called Stephen Platt (love, love, love me some S.Platt)

After some one-shots and limited series, we are finally back to the right mix for this series to kick off with a bang and what a bang it is. We have DAVID FINCH (looooooooooooove me some Finch). He is awesome on the X-titles and on the New Avengers and now he is a superstar lifting this series from the doldrums. The only sad thing is that Finch didn't stay on long enough and neither did the writer so after more than a year it slowly died a natural death. After this, there has been 2 more incarnations but none survived a year or so even when it had Bendis as writer and Maleev as artist. Come on! Maleev is great but he is no Finch or Platt in the sense of style

Anyway back to this the first arc. What is great is that it shows us where Marc Spector is now i.e. a broken man both physically and mentally (and spiritually) ... living his days hidden in his house ... friends and girlfriend has left him because of his refusal to budge out of his downward spiral ... and in flashbacks, we get to see why

However, we are left wondering about his mental sanity and all those people and images are real or imaginary. For example: the psycho Bushman is definitely imaginary (at first) and what about the Moon God, Khonshu?

However, like it or not, there are some people who will not leave Marc alone and amongst some of the more interesting people they assembled to take Marc down includes a new chap who is like some sort of super profiler and even the trainer for villainous goons, Taskmaster

So Marc was jolted out of his depression and in no uncertain times forced to take up arms. There are some super nasty scenes but in this series, it makes sense. No punches were held back in this series and with that awesome FINCH artwork? It's a treat

Dude this is as good as it gets. Naturally not long after this, Finch went to work on Batman! Hehehe! But even then his work there cannot match this. This is like the perfect vehicle for Finch!

Ratings: 10/10

50. New Mutants vol 1 #18 to 20 ... Marvel ...

The big 5-0 ... deserves something meaningful and for me, it is the New Mutants. This is the first series that I collected almost regularly from #17 to about the #60s ... after that it became spotty because of 2 things: Bret Blevins on art and the meandering storyline ... but that's another story for another day

For these 3 issues, I got them off a mate who decided to sell and I was so glad because I had 17 and then 21 and 23 onwards. This is back in the old old old days before internet orders for back issues. So getting back issues are never easy and a hunt to be treasured. Sometimes, I think that adds to the charm of comic collecting, eh? Kind of like stamp and coin collecting

Okay. The cast consists of Cannonball, Sunspot, Magma, Magik, Rahne and Dani Moonstar (Psyche or some such lame ass name that she uses). This arc focuses on Dani. In the past few issues, there is a hint that she is fearing a mystical bear that supposedly made her an orphan coming back after her. Her teammates thought it is a groundless fear but then Dani started programming the Danger Room with bear scenarios. As her power is Psyche and will not really kill a demonic bear, she decided to practise with real arrows

Anyway the bear turns out to be real and not in her imagination and it comes from some nasty badlands in an alternate earth where its power is strong and it is trying to break through to our world. So it comes after Dani and injures her badly. However, it could not finish its job in one go and comes back for round 2 only to find the Mutants around. They were stunned the first time and almost got their asses handed to them. However, marshalling all their limited resources together, they decided to go after the bear next and prayed that it was enough

Highlights from these issues? The Bad Ass Artwork

Bill Sienkiewicz showed everyone that comic art can be real art. Check out the 3 covers. They have the same techniques on background but different styles on foreground. 18 is almost real. 19 is cartoony and 20 is a mix between real (Magik) and cartoony exaggeration (Magma). And as for the interiors? It's a lot of shadows, blobs and splashes of inks everywhere. I also loved the way he uses a chart to show the bear's influence on the grounds spreading. Good work!

Ratings: 10/10

49. Marvel Team Up vol 1 #150 ... Marvel (obviously) ...

Back in the 80s, even though the sales of comics were good, there are not many spin off tales and when there are, there is great interest. The idea of Marvel team-up is great. Spider-Man being the most popular solo character (sorry Wolverine) at that time has had many titles and the powers-that-be decided to create one where each month Spidey gets to hang out with his friends in the Marvel U

Almost all the issues had Spidey as one-half of the team-up with the occasional break only. And almost all the issues are standalones but there are the few that continues with the next issue. And all in all? It's a good series

I started almost at the end ... as I was not a Spider fan and only commenced with issues 148 ... I have since then gone back and bought nearly 50 issues worth from the back catalogue but time and fund permitting will try to get more

So this 150 is monumental because it is the final issue of this series. Subsequent incarnation of Team-Up has never recaptured the energy and appeal of this and always fizzled out fast

For this issue, we have a few specials to highlight:

1. It continues somewhat on a personal note from 149 where Spidey encounters Cannonball of the New Mutants

2. X-Men was at their peak popularity and by having both of them in one book guarantees a great sales numbers for the final issue of this series i.e. end on a high note

3. And the villain of the piece is none other than Juggernaut. The right villain for huge fisticuffs without too complicated a storyline

Conclusion: we are not going to tell you the actual story except that you will not be disappointed!

Ratings: 8/10

48. Magik #1 to 4 ... Marvel ...

Well, we are back to the world of Marvel. Is there any doubt? Hehehe! This is a 4-issue limited series during the time when limited series were the rage and they were generally slightly more expensive than the regular comics. However, as there were not that many spin off, total titles or even big publishers, such books become a mini event of itself

I remember being a new X-Men fan and seeing this on back issue lists but so much more expensive than cover price that I wondered when I would ever be able to afford this! Now I could but that's because I got them off the dollar bin after their popularity fell off the charts

So basically this comic is about Magik - Illyana Rasputin, the younger sister of Colossus who is a mutant teleporter and sorceress. Here is a quick rundown of her back ground. Basically she is young like pre-teen when she got caught up in the world of the X-Men. However, before big brother can take her home to Russia, they got stuck in a mysterious islands that had teleportational discs and before you know it, a demon from another realm named Belasco has nabbed Illyana

The X-Men sought to save her and Kitty did but she sort of lost her grasp of Illyana for like the fraction of a second between dimensional gates but that was all it took. Why? Because those discs move people through time and space and a kiddie Illyana became a teenager in that split second

In the main X-Men book and New Mutants, Magik's story was not disclosed. This limited series then tells the story of what happened and what happened is this. When Belasco got a hold of little Illyana, he saw within her the potential to convert her to his dark causes and started training her in the dark arts hoping to corrupt her

All the while, in that dimension, some of the X-Men went through only to be trapped there, died in fights like Wolverine or grow old and potentially die there without ever returning to their world like Storm. But would Illyana stay loyal to Belasco? This is the question

Of course modern day readers knew her to be a mainstay in the Mutants but back then no one knew the future and that's what made this such an important read

Good storyline, enough character development and workmanlike artwork

Ratings: 7/10