Review of "William Shatner’s Tekworld Plague?, number 15," written by Ron Goulart

 Review of

William Shatner’s Tekworld Plague?, number 15, written by Ron Goulart

Three out of five stars

Another installment in the Tekworld saga

 I have read a few of the novels in the Tekworld series where the basic scenario was created by William Shatner, and ghost written by Ron Goulart. While they are reasonably entertaining, I characterized them as “material you read to tuck your mind into bed at night.” In other words, engaging enough to keep you interested, but not so much that it has the power to turn you into an insomniac.

 This comic is derived from those Tekworld novels, where the powerful drug called “Tek,” it is in the form of a mind-altering microchip, and is illegal but creating incredible wealth. Jake Cardigan is a former police officer that was once framed for dealing in Tek but was exonerated and is now working for a private investigating agency called Cosmos. In this episode, people are becoming incredibly sick from an unknown disease and there is the belief that the Tek lords are involved.

Cardigan and his partner Gomez split up and each of them becomes reluctantly entangled with a female sidekick. Cardigan’s situation is complicated because the mother of his son is hospitalized with an extremely serious case. His son blames him for the problems, even though Cardigan can prove that he was not at fault.

 The action is involved and a bit formulaic. At first each of the partners tries to dissuade their female sidekicks from being involved, but that attempt is half-hearted and is easily seen to be a waste of effort. The reader knows very early which piece of furniture each pair will soon be involved with.

 The plot uses the old standby of a secret government project that somehow either went awry or was stolen for profit. That path has been used many times and not very well here.  This comic is lightly entertaining, but there no real depth to the story. Yet, you read it because it is strong enough to keep you to the end.

Review of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2, Issue 3" comic

 Review of

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2, Issue 3 comic

Five out of five stars

 Literary references within a literary reference

 The reader needs to know a great deal about English literature in the mystery/horror/adventure/science fiction genres in order to understand the characters in this League. Members include Mr. Hyde, Mr. Holmes, Mr. Griffin, Mr. Quartermain, Mr. Nemo and Wilhelmina Murray among others. In this case, these literary figures are operating within a modification of another classic story, “War of the Worlds” by H. G. Wells.

 It is the late nineteenth century and meteors have crashed in England, and it contains creatures from Mars with powerful weapons of disintegrator and heat rays. Unfortunately, not all the members of the League are committed to defeating the invading Martians, with one of them turning traitor to the human race. Like the novel, things are starting to look bleak, the British Army has suffered a stunning defeat and the Martians have emerged from their craters atop their mighty machines. At this point, they appear unstoppable.

 This is an amazing series of stories where the characters made their “names” in classics of literature. Every member was a major character in a classic work of fiction, and it is a work of genius to put them all in the same story that is in fact a fairly accurate retelling of a classic story. I loved it! Give a copy to students in an English literature class and give them the assignment of reading it and explaining all the characters.

Review of \"Axe Cop, The American Choppers Number 2," comic produced by Malachai Nicolle and Ethan Nicolle

 Review of

Axe Cop, The American Choppers Number 2, comic produced by Malachai Nicolle and Ethan Nicolle

Five out of five stars

An exercise in creative copying

 When I encountered this comic on the rack at a local used bookstore, the cover that had a winged police officer swooping down ready to chop with an axe was intriguing, so I knew I had to buy it. It was an interesting read, at times the content is borrowed and other times original, but it certainly was not dull.

 In the area of copying, there is the origin of the title character, where his parents placed him in a hollow meteor and sent him off before their planet was destroyed. That meteor then crashed on Earth where he was found, axe in hand, and eventually adopted by Bobber and Gobber Smartist. Which is a thinly disguised copy of the story of the origin of Superman.

 As an adult, the former baby is known as Axe Cop and he is the principal warrior in the ultimate battle between the white bearded, sunglass wearing head angel and the evil fallen one. Axe Cop and his cohorts must do a lot of chopping in order to rid the universe of the army of Satan. In the end, he emerges victorious and receives a major heavenly reward for his efforts. One of the oldest of stories with some significant originality.

 One quote applicable to this comic has been attributed to more than one person, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” In this case, the artists reach a level slightly above good, but do not achieve the level of great.

Review of "Dastardly & Muttley #2," comic

 Review of

Dastardly & Muttley #2, comic

Five out of five stars

Wacky indeed, just like the races

 Dick Dastardly and his sidekick Muttley first appeared in the cartoon series “Wacky Races” where they constantly engaged in schemes to cheat in order to win. Which was unfortunate for their side, for had they played it square, they likely would have won many times. As it was, their schemes always failed, and they never won. The two characters appeared in subsequent animated features where they filled various roles. One of which had them acting as the pilots of warplanes.

 This comic takes the weirdness of the characters and their situations even further. Both are pilots in a military context and while Muttley has the face of a dog, he has the body of a human. This issue opens with Muttley carrying Dastardly in an attempt to break him out of a military detention facility. They have been captured  by the guards when another man shows up with a bizarre weapon that shoots a large hole in humans without otherwise damaging them.

They appear to be in Germany, the waitress speaks Germanized English and fits the stereotype of the German maiden. There is some kind of jolly-juice releasing drone plane. It flies over a killer shark and turns it into a smiling creature from a Disney movie. There is a lot of incongruity in this comic, since it is the second issue, one would expect some of the context to have been established in the first one.

 After reading this comic, I emerged amused and confused. Yet, I do have a desire to read additional issues as it was entertaining.

Review of "Star Trek Starfleet Academy The Return of Charlie X"

 Review of

Star Trek Starfleet Academy The Return of Charlie X

Five out of five stars

One of the characteristics of the Star Trek original series is that many of the villains were sympathetic figures. That tone was set in the second pilot that became the episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” In that episode, the Enterprise encounters a barrier and Crewman Gary Mitchell (close friend of Captain Kirk) is transformed into a being with incredible powers. Although Kirk is forced to kill his friend, the viewer is sympathetic to Mitchell and experiences the same regret that he had to be killed.

 Something similar takes place in the second episode of the series, “Charlie X.” In it a boy (Charlie Evans) now seventeen is taken aboard the Enterprise. He was the only survivor of a crash on the planet Thasus and the natives gave him enormous mental powers so that he could survive. However, he is an adolescent boy that has never experienced the undulating phases of human existence and it is not long before his powers are a danger to the Enterprise and her crew. The situation is resolved only when the Thasians return and take Charlie away. The best point of the movie is when Yeoman Rand cries for Charlie out of sympathy for his plight.

 In this comic episode, Charlie returns as powerful as ever and just as eager to generate havoc and danger as he was before. However, this time there is a powerful telepath among the Starfleet personnel and so they don’t have to rely on the powerful male father figure to tame him. Once again the battle is for survival and again the members of Starfleet are able to overcome Charlie and beat him, but just barely.

 The timeframe of the story is during the Federation war with the Dominion with their brutal army of Jem’Hadar. This story closes with a powerful cliffhanger where the Jem’Hadar are about to attack a defenseless planet within Federation space. If they can control the creatures of that planet, they may have a weapon that will allow them to easily defeat the Federation and their allies.

Review of "The President’s Trip to China," by the American Press Corps

 Review of

The President’s Trip to China, by the American Press Corps

Five out of five stars

 This book is a snapshot report of the world changing event of U. S. President Richard Nixon traveling to China in 1972. There is no question that it was a seismic shift in the geopolitical landscape of the world. In one event, the world began the process of moving from a bipolar ( the U. S. and the Soviet block) political entity to a tripolar one (U. S., People’s Republic of China and the Soviet block) to a bipolar one again with the U. S. and the People’s Republic of China. There is no doubt that it was the first major step in China becoming an economic superpower, with an economy now on par with that of the United States.

 It was an event that astounded the world, as billions of people saw the events live. It is rare when the world changes so much in one week, yet it is clear from the text by the American Press Corps that they understood what was happening. In retrospect, Nixon’s trip to China made the world safer regarding the threat of overt war, yet it paved the way for the rise of the more subtle aspects of warfare, such as intellectual theft, economic aggression and electronic messaging. Tactics that the Chinese are very skilled at.

 This is a good book to refresh your history genes and understand once again that approximately fifty years ago the United States and China were mutually silent adversaries and China was economically miniscule.

Review of "Charlton Classics presents Hercules, Diomedes’ Curse," comic

 Review of

Charlton Classics presents Hercules, Diomedes’ Curse, comic

Five out of five stars

In Greek mythology, the eighth labor of Hercules was to steal the giant flesh eating mares of Diomedes. In the myth, there were four mares, and they were held chained in a giant stable. Diomedes had a powerful army as well and he was hostile to Hercules.

 This story strays a great deal from the myth, yet it remains true to the fundamental idea of Greek mythology that the gods can intervene in human affairs and take sides, but only to a point. Being the father of Hercules, Zeus, the king of the gods, favors him, but is bound by his own laws to only engage in limited assistance.

 Even though it is significantly altered from the original,  this story demonstrates the richness of the Greek myths and how they marveled at the heroes in their fables. In many ways, Hercules was the prototype of the hero character that is a staple of all of western literature. He was powerful, clever, resourceful, imaginative and confident. All of the characteristics that a hero needs when battling against powerful creatures and performing “impossible” tasks.