#42 THE CAPE: Look Up in the Sky, It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a Psycho with a Magic Cape!!!

THE CAPE 
#1-4
Written by Jason Ciaramella
Art by Zach Howard
Based on a short story by Joe Hill
IDW Publishing




Hey Clashers,  Hector here and do I have a review for you. This week, we’re looking at IDW’s The Cape. If you decide to read this I must say reader discretion is advised. So without further ado strap on your magic cape and please no bears or chainsaws in the air.

Have you ever known someone who is going nowhere in life and constantly blaming their failure on others. I think we’ve all known someone like that if not have been that person at some point in our lives. Take that emotional disposition and add the power of flight and enhanced strength and we have our story. Enter Eric, our main character who as a child somehow came into the possession of a magic cape that endows him with the afore mentioned powers. As Eric grows older he does little in the ways of advancing his life and is a loser who lives with his mother. His paranoia leads him to attack his loved ones, starting with his girlfriend and the cops investigating her murder. This causes his brother to retaliate…fatally, taking the  cape into his possession.

I must say it was an interesting tale but not really worth the wait. The pace of the story was slow with very little action yet it was compelling. The characters were well developed for such a short story and you really get to know them. The downside would be the inconsistency with which the book was released which almost caused me to drop it because the books were not very eventful. I am on the fence about this book because it was compelling yet slow. The art was kind of sloppy but not entirely bad in closing I’d give this a Red Robin not good not bad in the middle. Next week, I take a look at the 5 men to take on the Spiderman mantle. Until then friends, keep clashing.

#31 GHOSTBUSTERS (#1-4): THE RETURN OF GOZER

Ghostbusters 1-4: The Return of Gozer

IDW Publishing


Written by Erik Burham


Art by Dan Schoening

by Hector Ramirez

RATING SYSTEM:
Red Hood (Jason Todd) - 1
Robin  (Damian Wayne)- 2
Red Robin (Tim Drake) - 3
Nightwing (Dick Grayson) -4
Batman (Bruce Wayne) - 5


      Happy New Year Clashers! Hope you had fun ringing in the New Year and good luck with your resolutions. My resolution to keep giving you my readers the lowdown on what’s going on in all comic universes.
That being said let’s take a visit to IDW’s New York where ghosts are going rampant so you have to ask yourself, “Who you gonna call?” everyone’s favorite paranormal investigators are back in their own ongoing comic series picking up where the movies left off.

      Gozer is trying to make a comeback and with the key master and the gate keeper gone Gozer’s third minion Idulnas has been sent to make sure Dr. Ray Stantz to choose a more deadly form for Gozer to return in. Meanwhile the ghosts seem a lot more threatening; even Slimer gave the guys a run for their money. To deal with the overpowered ghosts Egon developed Proton grenades and a mega trap. As the Selector, Ray has been having odd dreams about Gozer, with John Belushi in his Blues Brother character as his soul guide. In all the ruckus caused by the over powered ghosts Idulnas has kidnapped Ray and tries pumping his head full of terrifying avatars for Gozer. The rest of the Ghostbusters show up to save them just as Ray chooses the easily defeated Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as Gozer’s form and upon his defeat Idulnas also was defeated. What thanks do the saviors of New York get? A list of complaints and compliances they need to meet in order to get paid for their services delivered by Walter Peck, head of the city’s Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission.

Well Clashers, I enjoyed this story. It could be a good premise for the upcoming Ghostbusters 3 movie. It was a nice continuation with plenty of movie references. They even played on Dan Aykroyd’s role in the Blues Brothers series, random but pretty cool. IDW has done great things with the franchise. It was better than the old Ghostbusters comic series based on the cartoon series. I only read two issues of the series but they were pretty cheesy as most cartoon based comics are. Although I did like the art of the book better because it was identical to the cartoon where this series has extremely cartoony versions of the movie cast. I rate this a Nightwing. I really enjoyed the story but not too big a fan of the art, it didn’t really fit the feel of the story. Despite that I will be following this series and hopefully write more reviews for it. We may not fight ghosts but who you gonna call for anything you need to know about comics? J1 Studios and the Comic Book Clash of course. Until next time friends keep clashing.

#28 - GUYTRON: HOMECOMING - A One Title Chich`e Encyclopedia

by Hector Ramirez


    Greetings clashers! It’s your friendly neighborhood reviewer, Hector here with a not so friendly review of Guytron: Homecoming; created, written, penciled, and inked by Raymond Leonard; colored by Virginie Menard; lettered by Ryan Leonard and edited and published by Michael McClain of M-studios.

     We start with an alien invasion of epic proportions. The Hakillian Empire has sent out their Scandroids to destroy any resistance. After Commander Vicon of the Macron defense council is killed, Lycon, one of the final soldiers under his command, crash lands on Earth in his attempt to escape. Who should happen upon the crash site but our reluctant hero, Galvin Fry, on his way home from work. In his dying moments, Lycon passed on his Gadgetron, the source of his power, to Galvin. Upon receiving the Gadgetron, Galvin gets attacked by Scandroids and is rescued by Sable, an Earthbound Macronian bonded to action star, Brett Cruz. After explaining the Gadgetron to Galvin, Sable leaves a little too soon and the military comes for Galvin.


    I'm going to start off saying this: I did enjoy the story to a certain extent it was suspenseful. The hero was relatable and I’m really interested in seeing how it goes. I encourage the team at M-studios to continue this story but I do have some criticism about it. First off, everything ends in “on” very cliché. And that’s not the only overused element in this comic. Starts off with an alien empire trying to take over the universe. Gee, never saw that before. It continues with a dying alien passing on his power to a relative nobody; where does he come up with this stuff. And finally the overzealous military sending out their top agent to acquire the alien technology; Nope, sure didn’t see that coming. Another thing that pissed me off is the 3 part story ended in a serious cliffhanger AND THE HERO NEVER DAWNS HIS ARMOR, smh. The dialogue was a bit forced; like he was trying too hard to make it seem believable……. and failed. If Mr. Leonard works on these things he’s got himself a fan.

That’s all for now until next time friends, keep clashing.

#26 : Shadowboxxer - The One Man Riot

SHADOBOXXER: THE ONE MAN RIOT

Toro Comics

Written, Drawn & Created by Victor Toro

Edited by Marion N Beal

Shadoboxxer: The One Man Riot From Toro Comics



Welcome back Clashers! Hector here, reviewing my first indie comic, ShadoBoxxer : One Man Riot. This is a story about a young man who feels the need to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. It starts out with the main character sharing a moment with, who I’m guessing, his mother as a child. Skip forward and we see our hero in full uniform; shuriken around his neck, leather jacket with a Puerto Rican flag on the back (Viva Boricua), and a red ninja mask. He gets a call to save two kids from a fire which is apparently a sentient being. After getting the kids out of the fire, he then goes back in to fight the fire demon type creature.

I enjoyed the book. It was well drawn in an anime style (which seems to be popular with indie artists). The hero seems pretty cool looking and  seems somewhat relate-able. The first issue sets up for a decent series but there were a few negatives to mention. First the story is kind of vague doesn’t really give you much information on why the main character does what he does what he does no mention of the creature’s motives. The characters weren’t really defined as people, you don’t really know anything about them . don’t get me wrong I see serious potential for this series it just needs to be reached . if the writer really works on this story I see myself becoming a devoted fan and I’m sure there will be others..
`` signing off for now, until next time friends keep clashing.