Suspended Animation Review

The Dreamer #1, published by IDW, 32 pages, $3.99.

Ah, high school life. Many of us have been there. Best friends. Crushes. Drama auditions. Nightly dreams that take place during the American Revolution....

Okay, that last one might not be common place for most. But for 17-year-old Bea Whaley, it is. What’s more, she finds herself falling for a man who is a regular cast member in her dreams.

Continue reading...

Suspended Animation Review

Archie & Friends #117, 23 pages and $2.25 from Archie Comics. Sold in comic and other shops, and on-line at www.archiecomics.com.

The format of Archie and Friends usually includes a story focused on Archie and a story about a secondary character like Dilbert (the resident boy genius), or Katy Keene (the fashion model), or Jughead (the jughead). Not so for issue #117 in which Archie, assorted pals, and several high school teachers travel to London with promised trips to Madrid, Nairobi, Rome, and Zurich.

Continue reading...

Suspended Animation Review

Zinc Alloy, published by Stone Arch Books, 40 pages, hardback.

As a parent, I want my children to enjoy reading. As a comics fan, I want more young readers drawn to the hobby. Zinc Alloy could help on both counts.

Continue reading...

Suspended Animation Review'

Action Force #20/original price $1.50, 24 pgs., Marvel Comics/various writers and artists/sold in some comic shops, on ebay, and on-line comics dealers.

I got a freebie, I got a freebie (stated in a sing-song, irritating manner).

For those obsessed with sex, that actually means that when I won a magazine on eBay, the merchant included a free book with my purchase-Action Force #20 from 1987.

Yes, I am easily excited.

Continue reading...

Suspended Animation Review

Speed Demonz #1/32 pgs. & $3.99 from Angry Viking Press/words and art by Gabriel Lamberty/sold at comics shops and at www.angryvikingpress.com.

Let’s do the math. Comic books in the early 1930s were 64 pages of art and story at about 12 panels per page. Most stories were eight pages in length. That equals about 768 panels for 10 cents, or a tiny fraction of 1 cent per panel.

Speed Demonz is 32 pages and most of those feature one, two, or three panels per page. There are 77 panels in the first issue. Cost: $4.00. That’s 19.25 cents per panel.

Is Speed Demonz worth it?

Continue reading...