The Most Fun Comic I Have Read In Ages

Hey All,


Just thought I'd throw up a little review for what I believe is an incredibly impressive comic.





That comic is Strange Tales issue 2 of 3

This little gem is a collection of many of comics great indie creators having some incredible fun with Marvels well known heroes.

I won't ruin the stories but I shall point out a few of my favourites.

Tony Millionaire creator of Sock Monkey does a hilarious Iron Man tale where he faces some meat-headed (literaly) foes. He sticks to his usual wacky humour roots and it works well even with such a rigid character like Iron Man that has become very serious these days.

Another one that blew me away and was just a pleasure to see being a huge fan anyway was Jhonen Vaquez's M.O.D.O.K. 'N' Me. Being largely absent from releasing new content in comics for a while it was nice to see him pick up his pencil and give us a new slice of sick humour and it was all improved by involving M.O.D.O.K., who is in my opinion criminally underrated.

The last one I shall give my full opinion on is Matt Kindt's Black Widow story. Unlike many others in the collection this one uses far less humour and it is just as strong for it. It is a nice slice of indie espionage. I could easily see this kind of story in mainstream comics. The art not so much but I would like to but it is not the normal style of art and the public can be quite picky.

Other artists that graced this issue with thier talent were: Peter Bagge, Johnathan Hickman, Nick Bertozzi, Jacob Chabot, Jim Rugg, Max Cannon and R. Kikuo Johnson

This issue is a joy to read for any fan that loves both indie and mainstream. It is the characters you love being crafted by some of the most fun artists in the business. None of the characters look odd when not drawn in the usual styles. They are all well crafted and I mean no offence to the pros that work for mainstream Marvel but some of these stories are far better than some of the stuff in the mainstream. Indie is about substance and the mainstream is about flash this brings the two together and makes an incredible package. If you like indie comics and want to get into marvel give it a try. If you love Marvel but can't get your head around the indie scene then this could be the gateway drug. If you like me just love comics then this is perfect.

I cannot wait for the next issue of this in which Becky Cloonan one of my favourite artists tackles Namor one of my least favoutite characters. I wonder if she can change my mind.



Peter-Maggs