I guess it’s time for another installment of Pull List. Quick refresher, in this series I document my return to comics. Mostly, by reviewing new series and keeping track of my ‘catching up’ with older series. Click ahead to see what I’ve read since the last post.

We start with Death-Rattler # 1, a Sci Fi/Fantasy/Western created by Kelly Bender and Ryan Downing.   This ticks off so many boxes for me, and yet ‘Death-Rattler’ is a miss.

This is a simple revenge story, it's quite similar to "The Quick and The Dead", a movie I love.  We start with a flashback to the past. A man, who was once part of a gang, is visited by another member of said gang. He sends his son and daughter off to play so he can talk to the man. The talk doesn't go well and he is killed.

Jump forward and we meet our heroine. The little girl, Dawson, all grown up and now being called Death Rattler. The first image of her tells us this book is going to be heavy on the cheesecake. As I said I'm okay with that, sometimes.

Death Rattler, awaken by the flash back/dream, dresses and then kills the man she had bedded. He was a member of the Devil's Cross gang and she has sworn to kill every one associated with the gang. That's the set up. The rest of the issue is an action scene and some exposition. We also meet two other female characters, bounty hunters, that are as scantily clad as our heroine.

Here's my problem with this comic, the art and writing aren't great. The art has a very anime/manga style to it and looks awkward in places. The dialogue is clunky and uninspired. I can forgive some of those things but when you have such a basic and clichéd story there has to be something that stands out.

This is going to make me sound shallow but some nudity would have helped this book. If it went full exploitation (90's exploitation not 70's) you know, Cheesy and Sleazy, it might have had a chance.

As it is this isn't a book I plan on picking up.

As I said before I stopped reading comics in mid 2012. One of my favorite books from around that time was Pet Avengers. I have a fondness for light hearted fun and talking animals. When you combine those two things, well there is a reason I look back on shows like Road Rovers with a smile.

I bring up Pet Avengers because the next book I checked out was Hero Cats: Midnight Over Stellar City #3 (By Kyle Puttkammer and Alex Ogle). This was me breaking my own rules again. Not only was this not a #1 but it was an offshoot of a preexisting series. I don't care I loved it and now I have to track down every issue of this series.

The art in this was so atmospheric. The heavy use of black with shots of blue was very striking. Although at times the blacks ran into each other making it a little hard to make out what was happening.

I also was lost as to the story. All I got was that there were cats who protected a city. One of these cats was fighting a crow, possibly in a dream land. After the fight the cat learned it was now the size of the panther.

Then other things happened.

I honestly can't comment on the story much since I came in so late, but I enjoyed what read. A lot. This is now at the top of my "Need to get caught up on" list.

Before I start to talk about Trespasser #1 I have to warn you that there will be spoilers. So if you haven’t read it and don’t want to go in clean than skip the rest of this section. I’ll give you a very quick sum up. It’s a good Post Apocalyptic book that I’m going to read. If you want more than read on.

I thought I was done with post-apocalyptic stories. I guess I was wrong, Trespasser (Justin M. Ryan writer, Kristian Rossi artist) had me from the first page. The image of a father forgoing food so that his daughter can eat is a powerful one. When, on the next page, I saw his dog who was nothing but skin and bones but had two extra malformed legs, I had to see what the story was.

The story isn't revealed in this issue. All we know is that everything went to hell. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The father goes hunting. He shoots a bird that he doesn't eat. I assume it is irradiated. The dog is allowed to eat the bird, which if it is irradiated, would explain the extra limbs.

While on this hunt the father finds an Alien. An actual little green man caught in a bear trap. He releases it and takes it home. The man treats the aliens wounds.

His daughter is scared but the father assures her that everything will be okay.

I need to take a moment to talk about the art. For the most part it's good. The only issue is the little girl. The artist has a problem drawing this girl in a way that isn't horrifying. Her face always looks wrong. Either like a grown woman on a child’s body or like a creepy porcelain doll. It is very distracting.

Back to the story. The father tries to talk to the alien but there is a language barrier. What happens next took me surprise. He kills and cooks the alien. We don't see it, thankfully, but that's what happens. That was such a shocking turn that I was even more drawn toward this story. I am definitely checking out the next issue.

I've been saying this a lot, but Second Sight #1 is a good book that have no interest in. David Hine and Alberto Ponticelli have crafted a very interesting and even compelling first issue

We have an , apparently, disgraced psychic, a supposed ring of pedophiles, a serial killer, and asshole reporters.

So, why am I not going to continue this one? It's not because of the art which really conveys a dark, gritty atmosphere. It's not because of the interesting plot or sharp dialogue.

I can't tell you why I won't be reading this book. By all accounts I should. Maybe I'm just not in the mood for something this dark. It could be that the asshole reporters, a huge pet peeve of mine, turned me off.

I think it was the first page of the comic. Look at it. That is some freaky shit.

The next page isn't much better.

I really think this is just a case of too much. A bit of dark overload. These two pages should have come at the end of the issue, been built up to. Instead it's your first taste. It was a bit much for me.

Still, if you are into dark and gritty, you can't go wrong with this.

I don't have a problem with Comic's that have  a message. I do have a problem with Comics, or any work of art, that is created just to get that message across. That's called propaganda. I'm not big on propaganda.

I'm not saying Snowfall #1 (Joe Harris writer, Martin Morazzo artist) is propaganda but the message is made very clear. This is a book about climate change.

I am not a Climate Change denier. I don't think there is anyway a person can say, with a straight face, that man has not had a negative and quantifiable effect on this planet. The thing is that we, as a species, are not killing the planet. We are killing ourselves and a multitude of higher life forms.

The Earth, however, will out live us. Even though it will be damaged it will survive. It will heal and it will hang around until the Sun goes Super Nova. We are talking about an insane amount of time. Long enough for another intelligent species, possible evolved from squid or octopi, to start fucking it up.

See this is why I don't like propaganda it causes people to go on tangents.

I got a very Aeon Flux vibe off this book. Not the story necessarily but the art. That isn't a good thing, for me at least. Aeon Flux freaked me out. The art and animation, not to mention stories, always gave me the creeps.

This is a story that takes place in a future were it doesn't snow anymore. Corporations are more powerful than ever  and weather can be used as a weapon.

To be honest the story, and the use of terrorist as possible heroes, is interesting. However the art and very obvious message left me cold.

This isn't one of those times when I say a series is good but not for me. This is a book that wants to get a message across more than tell a story. That is never a good place to start.

I'll be passing this one up.

The first thought I had when I began reading Wraithborn Redux #1 (Marcia Chen and Joe Benitez) was that if felt like an early 2000's comic. Low and behold the series originated in 2006. The Michael Turner style artwork was a dead giveaway. Honestly, the word ‘redux’ in the  title should have  been a clue.

This isn't a reprint from what I can tell. I can't say as to whether this is a reboot, remake, or continuation. Since I have no prior experience with the brand I'll just treat as a wholly new series, since to me it is.

I didn't really like it. The story here follows the "Woman has magic ancient power" or "Witchblade" formula. The issue starts out with a woman fighting vaguely Asian monsters.

It then goes back to her origin. We see her as a young girl living her ordinary life.

The issue ends with her about to gain the 'mysterious' magic power from the beginning of the issue.

Nothing about this caught my attention. Not the art, which is too busy, or the overused premise.

If I can talk about the art, I compared it to Michael Turner. I think that is an apt comparison although Michael Turner had a much cleaner and, for lack of a better word, pretty style. In fact I would say that this is Michael Turner with a little Liefield thrown in. Not the bad anatomy Liefield, but the clunky Liefield. Everything  is a little over designed. The art here isn't ugly but it doesn't quite fit with the story being told.

Our lead describes herself as plain, yes she does dress in that manner, but she looks just as pretty as the cheerleaders. Don't tell us the character isn't pretty then have her drawn that way.

This is another pass for me but with less reservations than say, Death Rattler which had a silliness to it that I like. The mood of this series was very dry and morose. That combined with the art and clichéd story, well, as I said it's a pass.

I've stayed away from all Marvel and DC books since my return to comics. The only book from the big two I read was a Deadpool book. It was OK but I have no interest in following the story. I read a lot of Deadpool before I jumped off the comic band wagon, and from I can see I left while he was firing on all cylinders. There is one character, however, that I can't pass up.

Howard the Duck. I'm a sucker for anthorpormorphic animals and Howard is one of the best. I liked the character from a far for quite some time until I picked up Essential Howard the Duck #1. When I read those first issues I instantly fell in love with the character.

During the whole Marvel Zombies era, Howard was part of a mini series with Machine Man that was a lot of fun. The worst of Howard the Duck is still more interesting than the best of most books.

So I decided to try this new series. It seems I missed quite a lot. Howard is now PI, Aunt May is his secretary, and I have no idea where Beverly is.

All of that aside, I really enjoyed the first four issues. The first Issue involves Howard heading to Florida, to the nexus of realities, so that he can finally head home. After a brief encounter with the Wizard and Titana, we meet female versions of Howard and Rocket Raccoon.

The next issue is the back story of the gender swapped duo.

Issues 3 and 4 continue with the group now dealing with cosmic nuisances. Apparently Kitty Pride, Ben Grimm, and Venom are a part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Where is Jack Flagg? Whatever, I always enjoyed Marvel Cosmic stuff. Annihilation and War of Kings were awesome.

I enjoyed these books and can't wait to read next issues. In fact the only down side is the back up story.

As I said I'm very behind on both Marvel and DC, so I only have a cursory knowledge of what's happened in those continuities in the past 4 years. I don't know if Gwenpool is a regular part of the regular Marvel universe of  just a play off of Spider Gwen, which I haven't read.

Either way this back up story isn't good. It's, to be honest, crap. The Gwen Pool character isn't funny, Black Cat's personality seems off to me, and the whole thing felt a bit rushed.

That aside this is a solid book.

It does remind me of an idea I had years ago. I wanted to write a series that stared Howard the Duck, Rocket Racoon, and Hit Monkey. Just imagining that trio wreaking unholy havoc on drug dealers in Mexico where they meet a female Chihuahua Federali, who Howard and Rocket have a thing for, brings a smile to my face. One day.

After reading the new Howard series, I had to go back and read the previous run. I couldn't help myself.  Before I get to far into the first issue I have two questions.

First, why was this series only 5 issues long? It doesn’t have a "1 of" on the front so I don't think it was a mini. I know that Marvel and DC are big on restarting their numbering now, #1s are big sellers, but after only 5 issues? If that's the goal just make each series a mini.  The last issue has a notation about the Secret War crossover. I guess that’s why the series ended. God forbid one series is kept out of these huge company wide clusterfucks.

Second, why are people still freaked out by Howard? When you have Galactus, Silver Surfer, Skrulls, the Hulk, Thing, Thor, and so many other crazy people around is a talking duck really that freaky?
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I got an answer, in the first issue, to a question poised by the new series. I didn't know that Black Cat was trying to be a Kingpin type character. That explains her, to me, out of character actions.

Other than that the first issue was a hell of a lot of fun. This is all about Howard being taken and held by the Collector. It seems as if the new series just picked up where this one ended.

In issue 2 Howard and Rocket escape the Collector with the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

I haven't seen the Guardians movie. I want to, I just haven't gotten around to it. I loved the Guardians run during the Annihilation story arc and the few years after that. So this version of the Guardians, mainly Peter Quill, was a bit of a shock.

I get that the movie was popular and Marvel wanted people who read the movie to recognize the characters but that is a drastic change, character wise and visually, from the Peter Quill I remember.

I guess I can get used to it but I liked the characters as they were. Maybe if the change was a natural, gradual progression I could get behind it but let's be honest it probably wasn't.

On a side note Spider-Man sobbing for Uncle Ben at the end of Issue 1 and sleeping next to a memorial for Howard are both hilarious images.

This is a fun series but there is absolutely no reason to restart it with a new first issue.

That aside, I really enjoyed this. I've always loved Howard the Duck and this was a, for lack of a better word, true take on the character. I still have no idea what happened to Beverly.

This was 5 issues of crazy and cameos. It was also the best version of Spider-Man I've read in 4 years.

All in all if you're a Howard fan pick this series and the current series, which isn't quite as good (the back up stories here are so much better than the Gwenpool shit), as soon as you can.

This is another case of me breaking my own rules. The entire point of these posts it to document my re-entry into comic-dom. To help with that I try to pick books that have very little to no baggage. Which is why I've been picking first issues. Sometimes I can't help but get a later issue.

Steambusters #2 is such a case. I'm not a big steampunk guy. It a cool look and setting but not something I'm super drawn to. Still, the idea of Steampunk Ghostbusters sounded interesting.

The current Ghostbusters series is published by IDW so I assume that Steambuster isn't an official take on the series. That's fine if the final product is good.

My main issue with this book was the art. Before I dropped out of Comics the growth of anime/manga influenced art was undeniable. As I get back in I can see that it never waned.

I have no problem with that art style, even after I dropped out of comics I still tried to stay up to date with the few manga I read.

The problem here is that this artwork isn't just anime/manga inspired, it is very reminiscent of the old web comic Mega Tokyo. I don't mean that in complimentary way.

There is a very amateurish and sketchy feel to the art here. Some of it is rather nice but overall it didn't feel like a professional work.

The writing wasn't bad nor was the premise. Both were very simple and straight forward in a good way. Unfortunately the writing wasn't strong enough to overcome the art.

I won't be picking this one up again.

Quick tangent here. This issue contained a preview of a steampunk Star Wars take called ‘Steam Wars Bounty Hunters‘. I also remember seeing a Star Trek/steampunk thing as well. Is steampunk that hot right now?

Citizen Jack #1, by Sam Humphries and Tommy Patterson, has a very interesting premise. You have a sad sack loser who was once mayor of a small Minnesota town who sells his soul to the devil to become President.

That is a hell of set up. The writing and art in this are both very good. When coupled with the interesting premise there is very little reason to turn this one up.

So why am I doing that?

I just am not interested enough to follow the story. Politics, even when controlled by supernatural evil, just don't interest me.

This looks like a good book but it just falls out of my circle of interest.

Afterburner Tales of the Cool and Wicked #1, by Robert Stuwart, falls right into that circle of interest I mentioned.

It's a Sci-Fi Noir story with a bit of exploitation thrown in.

The plot is simple, but a lot happens in this book. You have a guy named Renfield Briggs who is working for a company that’s knee deep in weird science. This issue is all about exposition and retrieving a Mcguffin.

I really liked this. The thing is the writing is a little heavy handed, expected from Noir, and the art can be a bit hit or miss. It's a striking black and white that oozes style but can be a little wonky in places.

Even with those issues I dug the hell out of this. And it's not only because of the nudity, but that is appreciated. This is right in my wheel house. It peaked my interest and because of that I can look past a few technical mistakes.

This book did a great job of getting me invested in the characters and making me want more. This is definitely on my list.

                       
It's funny how many times I type a variation on the words "this is good but not for me". Johnny Red #1, by Garth Ennis and Keith Burns, is another opportunity for me to do that.

This is a WW2 story with a modern day wrap around. A rich man is paying to have a WW2 fighter plane resorted. In doing so he meets an old Russian man who tells him the story of the plane and it's pilot, Johnny Red.

The writing in this is sharp, it's Garth Ennis what do you expect? The art is good and the set is up interesting.

Once again this is a technically solid book with a good premise that just isn't for me. I hate that that keeps happening.

Red Fury  #1 (Artem Gabrelyanov, Serbey Volkov, and Oleg Okunev) isn't another case of "this is good but not for me". This book is average at best.

The art, there is something off about the art, I think it's either the anatomy or the, I guess, aspect of it. That is to say the angle at which it is being drawn. There is just something distracting about it.

The writing also suffers a bit. It was translated from Russian, and you can tell.

The plot is simple. You have a thief, the titular Red Fury, she is so good that a secret organization kidnaps her for the good of mankind.

I have a problem with people being forced into things. It's a pet peeve of mine. Let alone when it's done by a supposedly good organization.

Anyway this is an easy pass for me. The plot is bit run of the mil and neither the art or writing overcame that.

So that’s it for this week. Let’s take a look at the totals.


Books That I am Definitely reading.

Atomic Robo (Whenever the new Mini is released.)
Invincible
Chew
Tarot Witch of the Black Rose
American Monster
Pencil Head
Escape From Monster Island
Kennel Block Blues
Shaft
The Dark and Bloody
Trespasser
Howard the Duck
Afterburner Tales of the Cool and Wicked

Books I might read.

Badger
Image

Books I need to get caught up on.
Zombie Tramp
Ghostbusters
Elephantmen
Hack Slash
Mouse Guard
Project Superpowers
The Goon
Mice Templar
Super Dinosaur
Hero Cats

Books that didn’t make the cut.
Jonesy
Fake Empire
King’s Road
Rat Queens
Insexts
Devolution
Collapse
Death Rattler
Second Sight
Snow Fall
Wraithborn Redux
Steambusters
Citizen Jack
Johnny Red
Red Fury

Books that I’m taking a break from.
The Walking Dead.

That’s the updated list. See you next time.