Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: The Savage She-Hulk Vol. 1 by S. Lee et al.

Marvel Masterworks: The Savage She-Hulk Volume 1 written by David Anthony Kraft and Stan Lee, art by Mike Vosburg and John Buscema

In a panic over the success of The Incredible Hulk TV show, Stan Lee quickly rushed out a She-Hulk character. He was worried that the Bionic Woman spin-off from the Six-Million Dollar Man would inspire Hollywood to make a She-Hulk show before Marvel made the character, meaning Marvel wouldn't own the rights to the character. After Lee spit out the origin story, he turned the writing duties over to someone else.

She-Hulk's origin follows Los Angeles lawyer Jennifer Walters. She's a defense attorney going after the mob (and fighting some sexism in the legal system). The mobsters shoot her when her cousin Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk) is in town. He rushes her to the next door neighbor who is a doctor. The doctor isn't home, so Bruce works up a blood transfusion to save Jennifer's life. The situation turns into a problem after Bruce leaves, because his gamma-irradiated blood has given Jennifer abilities like the Hulk. When she gets upset, she transforms into the savage, green-skinned monster of the title.

After Lee's story, David Anthony Kraft decided to take the character in a bit of a different direction. His Jennifer Walters is still in control as She-Hulk, though she struggles to keep the savageness out of her behavior. The mob is still trying to kill her. She loans her car to a friend who dies when the car blows up. Jennifer realizes they were trying to kill her, not her friend. She-Hulk tries to reach the car in time but winds up accused of killing the friend. So Jennifer's alter-ego is branded a criminal and a savage, even though she is innocent and has much more control than Bruce has over his alter-ego.

The story moves along at a good pace and has some interesting twists. Jennifer's dad is the sheriff, so he is after She-Hulk for her "crimes." Buck Bukowski is a district attorney and gives the "lady lawyer" a lot of grief. He's also after She-Hulk since she keeps wrecking his nice sports cars as the story goes along. The legal entanglements make for interesting story fodder.

Since this work was a rush-job from the late 1970s, I had some low expectations. She-Hulk has not always been taken seriously, often intentionally turning her into a fourth-wall-breaking character like Deadpool (though she was in on the act before Deadpool even showed up). The comic hasn't been that successful either, compared to other superheroes. This series is a bit more serious, though not too serious. I found it enjoyable and not as exploitative as I was expecting. Jen is an enjoyable character and as she works through her problems, she definitely grows on the reader.

Recommended if you are a Marvel fan.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 by S. Lee et al.

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 3 written by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko

Spider-man has more adventures as the original Lee/Ditko run continues. The stories are okay but are starting to blend together. Peter Parker still has a lot of drama around his relationships with Liz Allen, a fellow high school student who is also pursued by Flash Thompson, and Betty Brant, a fellow employee at The Daily Bugle who is also pursued by Ned Leeds. MJ Watson, the actual girl next door, is hinted at a lot but doesn't not make her famous appearance here. Aunt May has started her campaign to get Peter to meet her. Those dramas are interesting and play off against his obligations as Spider-man. He fights the usual rogues' gallery, a less compelling part of the stories. 

The writing style is still very hyperbolic and has a lot of dialogue bubbles. The fights don't have a lot of distinctness (though Spidey still does a lot of wisecracking as he's fighting) and Peter's problems keep repeating themselves (no money, girl trouble, Aunt May overly protective and secretly sick, etc.). I thought this volume was okay but my interest is waning. I was hoping to make it to the famous one-liner by MJ but it wasn't in this issue. I guess I keep going but it's not as fun as it was at the beginning.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 by S. Lee et al.

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 written by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko

More early adventures of Spider-Man find him fighting "old" enemies like coverboy Doctor Octopus along with new enemies like Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter. The Green Goblin also makes his first appearance though his identity is hidden from readers. This book contains issues 11 through 19 and the initial double-sized annual with the first appearance of The Sinister Six, a villain team-up. Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Vulture, Kraven, Electro, and Sandman gang up on the teen-aged hero, though of course it doesn't work out for them. The annual includes a lot of "pin-up" one-page images of Spider-Man fighting each villain. It also has a bunch of info on the villains and Spider-Man's abilities (back in the time when you could not easily find past issues or possibly read up on things online), along with all other sort of trivia now relegated to fan web pages. 

The narrative emphasis is still on Peter Parker/Spider-Man's personal problems. Aunt May gets seriously ill, forcing Spider-Man on the sidelines while Peter takes care of her, plummeting the reputation of Spider-Man to Jameson's delight and Flash Thompson's chagrin. Thompson tries to start a Spidey-fan club, which only causes more trouble for Peter and for Spider-Man. These issues start the hinting of Mary Jane with Aunt May promising to set up Peter even though he is more interested in J. Jonah Jameson's secretary Betty Brant. These stories are still fun to read even with the over-the-top antics and self-promotion.

Recommended, highly for Spidey-fans.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 by S. Lee et al.

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 written by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko

The origin story of Spider-man first appeared in the final issue of Amazing Fantasy. He was so popular that Marvel started his own comic book. The first ten issues are printed here along with Spider-man's origin story. It is amazing to see how many iconic villains were created right at the start--The Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, The Lizard, and Electro. Spidey even goes up against Doctor Doom! Stan Lee's writing style is quite hyperbolic, claiming his new hero is the greatest invention ever and each issue is even better than what went before. As a hero, Spider-man is quite different from what went before. He's a nerdy teen who is bullied at school and can't get dates with any girl he likes. He has a lot of personal problems that other heroes never seem to deal with. His plight is endearing and makes his swagger and joking as Spider-man a nice contrast. The art by Ditko is action-packed and catches all the fun nuances of the story (even if J. Jonah Jameson looks too much like Hitler early on). The old stories have a lot of dialogue and text, delivering a lot of story along with action scenes that Lee can't help but overpraise in his text. 

Overall, this trip to Spider-man's first adventures is fun and a must for fans!

Recommended, highly for web-heads.

Book Review: Fantastic Four Masterworks Vol. 2 by S. Lee et al.

Fantastic Four Masterworks Volume 2 written by Stan Lee and pencilled by Jack Kirby

This volume includes issues 11 to 20 of the original run of the Fantastic Four along with their first Annual issue, a 72-page extravaganza. As the cover suggests, the stories highlight appearances by other Marvel characters like the Hulk, Ant-Man, and Spider-man. Villains reoccur too, like Doctor Doom and the Skrulls. The Annual features a story where Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, reconnects with his lost underwater kingdom. He rallies the people to fight the humans on the surface of the Earth, leading to a global conflict that the Fantastic Four has to stop.

The stories are okay, some are more entertaining than others. Namor is an interesting villain since he is looking out for the good of his people and the ocean in general (though he does not come off like an environmentalist--he's far too aggressive). The storytelling gets a little to self-referential, especially when the characters talk about their comic books or the stories are flagged up as requests from the readers. The writing is bombastic, claiming each new issue as "the greatest challenge for our heroes" or "the direst threat the world has faced." The Fantastic Four are famous for their bickering, family-like relationships. When troubles happen, they work together well; during their down time, they get on each other's nerves. The camaraderie is playfully handled. As a writer, Lee struggles with Sue Storm/The Invisible Girl's character. At moments, she's treated very much like a damsel in distress or a woman focused on her appearance rather than a member of the team. At other times, she uses her abilities effectively, turning the tide against a foe. Overall, it's a mixed bag.

Mildly recommended--this is more for people interested in the original stories of the characters.

TV Review: The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-2009)

The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-2009) developed for television by Victor Cook based on the character by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko 

Spider-man has had plenty of television incarnations (mostly animated with one live-action show back in the 1970s). This particular version at first glance looks a little too kiddie-friendly, with a semi-anime visual style and simple art that looks more like the comics aimed at the under-ten crowd. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does lower expectations.

The show starts with Peter Parker already swinging around and fighting crime as Spider-man, with an eventual flashback to the origin story. He is a high-school student by day, an amateur photographer for the Daily Bugle after school, and a crime-fighting superhero as often as he's needed. He has the usual teenager complications, dealing with girlfriends and other classmates while trying to help Aunt May make the ends meet in their small home. His efforts as Spider-man often cost him time and credibility with his aunt and his friends. He has plenty of villains to fight, from organized crime bosses to an ever-increasing wave of supervillains (since the crime bosses have deep enough pockets to finance the creation of supervillains). 

The show sets itself apart by the quality of the writing. In addition to fighting a "problem/villain of the week," Peter has to deal with on-going issues. At one point, he has a lab job with Doctor Curt Conners, a man who has lost an arm. In an attempt to fix himself, he crosses reptile DNA with his and winds up as the villain The Lizard. Peter winds up fighting his boss, who is more of a tragic villain than a scheming one. His Spider-man activities keep him from having regular hours, annoying is workmates and his boss. When the Venom symbiote first shows up, it is brought to the lab, leading into a multi-episode story arc where Peter deals with the alter-ego created by the black suit and eventually with Venom when fellow lab-mate Eddie Brock bonds with the symbiote. All the while, Peter is confused as to whether Norman Osborne, head of Oscorp, or Harry Osborne, best friend and high-school pal, is the Green Goblin. Norman seems like the villain type but Harry has been secretly taking the "Green Globulin" formula to enhance his mental and physical performance. Peter also struggles with his feelings for Gwen Stacey and Liz Allen. The show does a great job having multiple narratives and recurring characters strung throughout the series.

The character of Peter Parker/Spider-man is well realized. He is a teenager with familiar problems and a naive optimism about life. Even so, he gets the short end of the stick so many times. He has fun and creative combat with his villains, sometimes using clever tactics to take down foes. His wise-cracking banter from the comics comes across as natural and funny. Spider-man is an easy character to root for and the creators build on the best parts of his personality.

Recommended, highly for Marvel fans.

Book Review: Fantastic Four Masterworks Vol. 1 by S. Lee et al.

Fantastic Four Masterworks Volume 1 written by Stan Lee and pencilled by Jack Kirby

The original Fantastic Four stories were the beginning of Marvel Comics. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby decided to try a new idea. The team-based comic The Justice League was popular but the superheroes worked and played together fairly well (this was the early 1960s, not today). Lee and Kirby wanted to make a team that was more realistic--when they weren't fighting bad guys, they had problems and got on each others' nerves. Sometimes they'd have personal problems as they were fighting the bad guys, making a different kind of drama, a different kind of comic book.

The team naturally has four members. Reed Richards is a brilliant scientist who wants to fly a rocket to Mars. He works with Ben Grimm, the ace pilot to fly the ship. Reed also brings along Sue Storm, his girlfriend. She brings along Johnny Storm, her hot-headed brother. They fly up out of the atmosphere and are hit by Cosmic Rays, which transforms them. Reed's body becomes super-pliable and calls himself Mr. Fantastic. Sue gains the ability to turn invisible and takes the name the Invisible Girl (later she becomes the Invisible Woman). Johnny turns into living flames for short periods of time and calls himself the Human Torch. Ben is transformed into a rock monster with incredible strength and endurance, called the Thing. They use their powers for the good of others. 

But Johnny has a smart mouth that really annoys Ben (and sometimes Reed). Ben is a bit of a sad sack, wishing he'd turn back into a regular guy. He's very grumpy and constantly threatens to leave the group. Ben has also taken a liking to Sue, creating another tension. Reed can be a little full of himself or a little too scientific in dealing with personal problems. They all have some difficulties with their celebrity status too.

The villains have more character than the usual supervillains. Mole Man starts removing atomic power plants (an early eco-terrorist?) though that's mostly to support his overthrow of a world that rejected him for his bad looks. The Sub-Mariner mourns the loss of his Atlantean underwater kingdom and wants revenge on the surface world. Sue Storm catches his eye and he catches hers, making her sympathize with the villain. On the other hand, Doctor Doom just wants to rule the world and show off how great he is (he's the sort of guy that talks about himself in the third person). He was a scientific rival to Reed back in grad school but a horrible accident disfigured him. Doom is interesting in his mixture of science and "dark arts," i.e. sorcery, so he has some extra challenges when fighting him. I feel compelled to state that a lot of the science in the book reads like magic (which I think is true of modern fiction as well). 

The book also shows its age a bit. The team uses flare guns to signal each other (Reed should get to work on some walkie-talkies or some such devices). A couple of the villains are finished off only to come back two or three issues later with some barely plausible excuse of how they survived. Sue starts off as more girl than woman, i.e. as a romantic interest, but she does her share of fighting and using clever tactics. The plots show a lot of creativity, sometimes too much like the story that involves Lee and Kirby for a couple of pages as they play a part in Doctor Doom's plan to take down the Fantastic Four. The aliens from space look pretty goofy. If you make allowances for its time (like you should for the 1930s special effects in King Kong), the book is a fun read and it's easy to see how it became a hit.

Recommended, highly for Marvel fans.

Book Review: Marvel's Black Widow Prelude by S. Lee et al.

Marvel's Black Widow Prelude written by Stan Lee and others

As a preparation for the movie, Marvel has published one of its "Prelude" volumes, based on individual comics sold in the lead-up to the movie's release. This book came out a year ago, since the movie was supposed to come out a year ago. I finally read it through Hoopla. Here are the contents...

Black Widow Prelude #1-2--This two-issue lead-in to the movie is entirely a recap of Black Widow appearances in other Marvel films. This reads like a shameless money grab by the publisher. I guess if you haven't seen the movies, the content is new, but why are you reading this if you haven't been following the MCU all along? The end recommends seeing more in Marvel's Black Widow.

Tales of Suspense #52-53--The first appearance of Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff has her facing off against Iron Man as a Soviet scientist tries to defect. Iron Man's decent treatment of her (like leaving her alive after her failure) forces her to stay in America rather than face the inevitable back in Moscow. She tries to be bad but Iron Man still keeps her from doing bad and saves her life. Her fate is left for further issues to reveal. The end recommends reading more in Black Widow Epic Collection: Beware the Black Widow trade paperback.

The Avengers #43--The issue features the first appearance of the Red Guardian, the Soviet answer to Captain America. Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow has been captured and taken to a secret Chinese base. The Avengers get some intel that Hawkeye and Hercules (yes, the son of Zeus is also an Avenger in the comics) use to go free her. They wind up battling the Red Guardian. The end recommends reading more in Black Widow Epic Collection: Beware the Black Widow trade paperback.

The Avengers #196--The issue features the first appearance of Taskmaster, a villain who can imitate any move or tactic as soon as he sees it. At first, he thought of using this ability to be a superhero, but he realized there's more money on the other side. Then he realized there is more safety in training lackeys for other supervillains rather than being a supervillain himself. One of his trainees tries to defect to the Avengers, blowing Taskmaster's scheme and drawing the attention Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The end recommends more Taskmaster action in Taskmaster: Anything You Can Do... trade paperback.

Web of Black Widow #1--Natasha infiltrates one of Tony Stark's swanky fundraiser parties to take down a villain she helped back when she was a bad gal. She tries to keep Tony out of it but you know how Iron Man is. The end recommends reading more in The Web of Black Widow trade paperback.

So basically, this graphic novel is just a bunch of half stories given so that the reader will buy more comics or a ticket to the movie. Ho-hum. I'm glad I borrowed this digitally from the library. I may borrow those other trade paperback on Hoopla. 

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Black Widow: Sting of the Widow by S. Lee et al.

Black Widow: Sting of the Widow written by Stan Lee, Mimi Gold, Gary Friedrich, and Don Rico with art by Don Heck, John Romita, John Buscema, and Gene Colan

This retrospective of early Black Widow comics covers some highlights of her comic book career:

Tales of Suspense #52--First, Black Widow arrives on the scene as part of a duo of Soviet agents. They are trying to get Ivan Vanko, the Crimson Dynamo, back on the Russian side after he was defeated by Iron Man. Vanko defected thanks to the kind and compassionate treatment he got from the West. The duo pose as foreign dignitaries who want to tour Tony Stark's labs. After a bit of touring, Tony ask Madame Natasha (Black Widow) out to dinner while her comrade continues the tour. The bad guy finds and captures Vanko working in the lab, taking him to their submarine just off New York's shoreline. He goes back to Stark's labs and tears up the place. Iron Man is called in, though he is captured in the fight. He's also taken to the sub, where he rescues Vanko. They go back to the labs in time to stop Black Widow and her nefarious partner, who is killed by Vanko. Natasha escapes to the streets. She can't go back to the Motherland since she knows the price of failure exacted by the KGB.

A synopsis page details Black Widow eventually falling in love with Hawkeye. They date for a while but break up. She works briefly with the Avengers and SHIELD. She tries going back to being just the socialite Madame Natasha, but the shallow life is not for her. This leads her to...

The Amazing Spider-Man #86--Natasha decides to reimagine herself as a hero. She ditches her old costume (fishnet leggings and a purple cape with a mask just like Hawkeye's) and designs the now-familiar black suit with chain belt and wrist shooters. Her powers are similar to Spider-Man's (she uses suction cups to climb walls and shoots ropes to swing from building to building). She fights Spidey in hopes of learning what gives him his powers and how he uses them. Her timing isn't so great--Peter is feeling woozy from fighting Kingpin and he's easily defeated by Black Widow. She decides to go her own way with her own style of fighting. And her own comic book...

Amazing Adventures #1 to 8--Black Widow starts some solo adventures (though the book was split between her and the Inhumans). Her housecleaner's son is in trouble, so she helps out by beating up the shakedown artists who have been harassing him. Then she gets involved with the Young Warriors, a group of young men who want to set up a soup kitchen in Spanish Harlem. Their main problem is they set up shop in a corrupt congressman's building. The congressman works to kick them out with less than legal means. His thugs have a run-in with Black Widow. They manage to waylay her back at her apartment since she's now recognizable without a mask. She beats the bad guys and heads back to Harlem just in time to settle the stand off between the police and the Young Warriors.

Her second solo adventure has her facing off against The Astrologer, who plots his crimes based on what he sees in the stars. He and his gang of teenagers have mostly done petty crimes but now they are going after New York's blood supply! One of the teenagers flees and runs into Black Widow, who is ready to stop the gang. She has a rooftop fight with some gang members who try to get the teen back. The battle ends with the teen knocking a gang member off the roof. Both plummet to their deaths. The Widow feels guilty but keeps working the case. A few more adventures and another death leave the Black Widow in a funk over how people die around her.

Her last adventure in Amazing Adventures finds her and her henchman Ivan being captured by the Watchlord. He was exposed to radiation as a child in Germany--Soviet radiation! He naturally has an aversion to Russians, so he wants to eliminate Black Widow and her henchman. She manages to escape him. In the final conflict, Watchlord dies and she feels guilty again.

Daredevil #81--Black Widow was dropped from Amazing Adventures (which only lasted two more issues with the Inhumans). She moves over to Daredevil (hey, they're both in New York City so it's not surprising). Daredevil is tossed in the river by The Owl, a fairly nondescript villain who thinks he's a genius. Black Widow happens to be nearby and saves Daredevil from drowning. They separate before he knows who saved him. The Owl is the minion of a bigger villain (who is also smarter, but don't tell Owl!) who wanted DD captured, not killed. The Owl goes off on his own, which turns out to be a bad decision when both Daredevil and Black Widow show up to defeat him. Thus a partnership was formed between Daredevil and Black Widow. Their subsequent adventures are not in this book.

I found the stories interesting but they are definitely products of their time. Initially, the Soviets are Red Commie menaces who can do no good unless they defect to the welcoming West. As the stories progress, the writers are a little softer on her Russian background. She is occasionally drawn like a pin-up rather than a superhero, which hasn't changed much over the years. The Young Warriors seem like any hardcore youth group from that era, fighting "the man" in City Hall. Some of the dialog, like the quips during the fights, are occasionally wince-inducing but mostly fine. If you can handle that stuff, you will enjoy this book.

Slightly recommended as some historical filler and background on Black Widow.

Book Review: Essential Thor Vol. 3 by S. Lee et al.

Essential Thor Volume 3 written by Stan Lee and art by Jack Kirby

This extra-thick volume includes issues 137 to 166 of the original Thor comic. These stories were published from 1967 to 1969. The story starts with Thor admiring fellow Asgardian deity Sif, who takes over as his romantic interest now that Jane Forster is out of the picture. The origin story of Thor (which is recounted in this book) has Thor banished to Midgard (that's Earth to us Earthlings) with amnesia by Odin, the main god and Thor's father. Thor shows up as Donald Blake, a medical student with a bum leg. He graduates from medical school, has a successful practice, and learns humility and service for others along the way. Blake takes a vacation in Europe and winds up in a cave where he finds a walking stick that, once struck to the ground, turns Blake into the Mighty Thor.

In these issues, he faces a good variety of opponents and challenges. Loki, Norse god of mischief, is a key background player. He endows the Wrecker with magical power at a time when Thor is deprived of his divine power, so the battle is close, but naturally Thor wins. He also faces Galactus (a world-devouring giant), the Ringmaster (a criminal mastermind who runs a carnival as a front), Kang the Conqueror (a time traveling villain), and the Super-Skrull (a Skrull who has all four powers from the Fantastic Four), among other villains. He also faces the loss of his powers because he's not obedient enough to Odin; the kidnapping of his girlfriend more than once; and a short stint in jail(!). Through his persistence and courage, he manages to win out every time.

The stories are interesting but have a particular style. Sif is a goddess and warrior who does a lot of fighting, but she's also an object of affection for Balder the Brave (another Asgardian hero). The situation is not so much a love triangle as an unrequited love on Balder's side. Sif is probably too self-assured and aggressive for stereotypical modern-day conservatives and too protected and submissive for stereotypical modern-day liberals. A lot of the dialog is pseudo-Shakespearean, with nods to the King James translation of the Bible thrown in. The style is fun but it gets a bit thick at times. Reading it once a month rather than back to back might make it easier. The outfits look a little weird. I understand they are supposed to be otherworldly but the minor characters look a bit blocky and awkward. Sif and Balder have caps that look dorky by modern standards. The action sequences are fun and have a good variety. Thor doesn't always win by brute force; sometimes he uses his wits too.

A set of thirty comics is bound to have better and lesser stories but overall I found these enjoyable if quaint.

Slightly recommended.

Book Review: Ant-Man/Giant-Man: Growing Pains by S. Lee et al.

Ant-Man/Giant-Man: Growing Pains written by Stan Lee, Steve Englehart, George Perez, and Christos Gage with art by Jack Kirby, Don Heck, George Tuska, Jeff Moore, and Tom Raney

This anthology of stories focuses on Hank Pym, the scientist who discovered Pym Particles and was the original Ant-Man. The first story reintroduces him as Giant-Man--he uses the particles to make himself bigger rather than smaller! In the second story, he renames himself Goliath. In the third story he's going by the moniker Yellow Jacket. In the fourth and fifth stories, he's back to being Giant-Man (with occasional moments of being ant-sized if not Ant-Man).

In case you didn't deduct it, Hank Pym is both a brilliant scientist and a man suffering from a massive insecurity complex. So he has to fight both super-villians and his own feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt--often at the same time. The balancing of the two is hard to do from a story-telling perspective. The fourth story is the longest (a four-parter, the rest are single stories) and most successful at telling a story that combines outer conflict and inner conflict. Hank is working with a partner to use a variant of Pym Particles to end world hunger. Some side-effects cause monstrous insects to appear and various other characters exposed to Pym Particles (like The Wasp and second Ant-Man Scott Lang) to have serious difficulties with their powers. The overall problem is labyrinthine and eventually Hank Pym figures it out, but not until he's gone through a lot (including a stint in a straight-jacket).

Mildly recommended-the book is interesting but full of hits and misses.

Book Review: Spider-Man/Doctor Strange: The Way to Dusty Death by S. Lee et al.

Spider-Man/Doctor Strange: The Way to Dusty Death written by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Chris Claremont, et al., with art by Steve Ditko, Frank Miller, et al.

This anthology of team-up tales featuring Spider-Man and Doctor Strange ranges from 1965 to 1999. The stories start with Spidey and Strange fighting the sorcerer Xandu, who gathers powerful mystical artifacts (and steals them from Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum) in a effort to bring his beloved Melinda back from death. In later stories, they face foes famous (Doctor Doom, Dormammu) and not so famous (Silver Dagger, The Wraith).

An anthology like this has lots of advantages. The thematic core, Spider-Man helping out Doctor Strange, makes a great blend of contrasts--Spidey's wisecracking street smarts and brawn with Strange's esoteric magical abilities. Many battles happen in a mystical dimension, putting Spider-Man out of his comfort zone and enabling exposition about the bizarre mystical mumbo-jumbo that the writers make up. The anthology also cherry-picks stories from thirty years' worth of comics, so the reader gets the best ones.

Recommended.

Parental Advisory--the book is rated T+ on the Marvel Rating System, which may be for the occultish elements of Doctor Strange's life or also for an unusual amount of scantily-clad women (Melinda's outfit gets skimpier and skimpier from story to story, eventually down to a Princess Leia bikini). The violence is pretty standard and not particularly gory.

TV Review: Daredevil Season One

Daredevil Season One created by Drew Goddard based on the characters created by Stan Lee and Bill Everett

Matt Murdock had a tough childhood in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. His mom died when he was young; his dad was a boxer who never won that much and always needed patching up. If that wasn't bad enough, one day nine-year old Matt saves another person from an oncoming car and a truck involved in the accident spills some chemicals in his eyes, leaving him blind though his other senses became more acute. His dad's boxing career continued under the guidance of the Irish mob, eventually landing him in too much trouble. Matt became a orphan. He went to law school and returned to Hell's Kitchen to practice law with his college roommate Foggy Nelson. Being a lawyer isn't enough to stop some crimes or right some wrongs, so Matt dons a mask and fights crime at night with his heightened senses and the amazing combat skills he picked up along the way. Matt just wants what's best for Hell's Kitchen because he loves his neighborhood.

Wilson Fisk also had a tough childhood in Hell's Kitchen. His dad had political ambitions when Wilson was young and borrowed money from the mob to run for office, figuring he'd make enough in kickbacks and bribes to repay the debt (plus, he'd get respect from the neighbors). Things don't work out well and Wilson disappears, only to return as a crime boss trying to fix up Hell's Kitchen after the devastation that happened when the Avengers fought those aliens in the first Avengers movie. Wilson just wants what's best for Hell's Kitchen because he loves his neighborhood.

Naturally, the two men come into conflict more than once. Matt struggles to be a hero and keep the people he loves safe. Wilson struggles to stay in the shadows as he tries to redevelop the neighborhood for a brighter future. Their paths have interesting parallels that make the well-written drama even more compelling.

The drama is very heavy, easily earning its TV-MA rating with a variety of violence including death by decapitation twice, death by burning, death by multiple gun shot wounds several times. Plenty of menace, torture, and anticipated violence add to the oppressive atmosphere. This mood is balanced out with humor, especially from Matt's law partner Foggy Nelson who does an amazing job switching from comic relief to dramatic tension in several episodes. The rest of the supporting cast is equally good.

The other tricky balancing act the show does quite well is dealing with Matt Murdock's Catholic faith. He goes fairly regularly to consult a priest, sometimes in confession. Matt's conversations deal with the borderline between good and evil that he has a hard time discerning. The priest doesn't give him pat answers but engages him in a real dialogue about the issues and presents the Catholic faith accurately and sincerely. The priest isn't quite a mentor figure but is a sounding board and, again, helps to enhance the dramatic tension in Matt's story.

The show is a very satisfying dark action drama, though I wouldn't recommend it for children. In addition to the violence (and a lot of stitching up wounds after fights), there's a fair bit of drinking and some swearing. Two affairs go on during the show but are discreetly depicted; Foggy does go on and on about how blind Matt can tell who are pretty women and implies that he sleeps with a lot of them, though we viewers never see that.

As a write this, the show is only available through Netflix streaming service. It's worth signing up for a free month just to watch, in my opinion (just remember to cancel if you don't want to continue!).