I am going to remind everyone who reads these reviews that the grading system I use is this: instead of thumbs up or stars, I rate on hardcore moments in pro wrestling history. The more hardcore the event, match, promo or moment the more I liked the book, comic, movie or video game I am reviewing. The less hardcore the moment, the more I disliked it. An example would be anything related to Hulk Hogan would be highly NOT recommended. Onto the review...
Seeing as how the cover to this issue is the inspiration for the soon to be highly sought after copy of Youth in Asia #5 Animeland Tu Con Exclusive cover, I would think this is going to be a solid review.
Written by Howard's creator, Steve Gerber and drawn by the man Gene Colan, you have the makings of a top quality mid 70's comedy book. And it was. The story begins with Howard's lady friend and roommate scouring their tiny apartment for money for dinner. She comes up with a whole quarter, bringing their grand total of food funds to fifty cents. So Howard goes to the store to buy two candy bars. Where he peruses the comics only to find slanderous material about ducks. Howard is outraged to the point of calling in a radio talk show to voice his frustrations and set the record straight. That doesn't go so well, and Howard is forced to take other actions. To which he goes to a television station where he runs a fowl (heh) of a clown, whom he pummels to a pulp.
Forced to find a new way to earn some quick cash, Howard opens the newspaper and finds, what else? An ad proclaiming $10,000 to any man who can last three rounds with the heavyweight wrestling champion "Goat" Klout. Howard and his roommate get to the arena in time to watch "The Goat" dispatch half a dozen men with ease. The announcer asks the crowd if there's anyone left, who wants a piece? Howard steps forward dressed strangely like Mustafa of the Gangstas from the old Smokey Mountain Wrestling and ECW (odd since that's about twenty years into the future from this book). Being the master of Quak Fu has its advantages. I'll leave the ending as a surprise, suffice it to say Howard reveals himself to be a duck.
This book was so much fun to read, all the way down to the little footnotes at the bottom of the pages stating that "the story continues the page after next." This book is a funny book for the ages. This book deserves a great rating in the hardcore annals of history. I give it, the "Moon Over Philadelphia." The one title defense of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship by Mikey Whipreck, against none other that the "Extreme Superstar" Steve Austin. Yes that Steve Austin. A match stolen away from the Sandman by a sneak attack by Austin. This was, I believe one of only two matches ever in ECW by the future icon Stone Cold Steve Austin. And in true extreme style, you do get to see the full moon, complete with Austin balls from the hard camera. Damn!
Showing posts with label Mikey Whipwreck. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mikey Whipwreck. Show all posts
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
DEMO Vol. 2; A Hardcore Review *SPOILERS*
A lot of times it's fair to say, sequels don't live up to the original. There are few number 2's that out do the original. Terminator 2 comes to mind. Empire Strikes Back and Evil Dead 2 are super success stories. A lot of people would argue that I should probably place Godfather 2 on this list as well. However, unlike ever fucking movie mark out there, I haven't seen any of the Godfather movies. "Sacrilege," you say? Nope, I just never really gave a shit about it. Kinda like I wish I hadn't watched Kill Bill, although it made me wanna Kill Quentin. But back to what we came here for, the Hardcore Review of the sequel to the Brian Woods/ Becky Cloonan opus, Demo. And I am so glad I waited to get all six issues of the mini before I read it. Money problems plagued me from obtaining them in a timely manner, but a few days after I picked up issue six, I have the series read and ready for the review.
Now the original of single serving 12 issue maxi series, Demo, was critically acclaimed by critics and retailers and fans alike. And for good reason. It was one of the biggest projects at the time that either Woods or Cloonan had worked on. And the difference in the business of writing twelve self contained stories that all had to do with one another. Then there was Becky's job, illustrating one of the most prolific writers in the business. But here's the kicker, she did it in 12 different styles. Lemme repeat myself TWELVE DIFFERENT STYLES! Now mastering the style you become known for is tough enough, but doing a dozen different variations that compliment the writing is FUCKING AMAZING! But that was years ago.... and this is the last six months of comics we're talking about here. And it has been a beautiful half year of comics. And for a book, that's not in color, that was not highly advertised and as a sequel to a really beloved 12 issue run DEMO volume 2 kicked FUCKING ASS! I was so drawn into the stories. Yes, all self contained, but still somehow connected. The stories all flowed beautifully. The line work was as good as I have ever seen in a comic book, and certainly a black and white comic. People may say, "what's the difference if the book is in color or black and white?" Simple, so much art can be "made" with color. But an old rule passed down to me during design college, "color cannot make something. It has to work in black and white." And it is true. Every panel should and must work in black and white if color is going to "enhance" it. Color should never be the defining factor of a comic. With all due respect to the amazing colorists who are out there right now, color should enhance, never "make." It's the same thing with inks. Inks should help shape the look of the line style, it should never fix the pencils. However, a great inker can make a mediocre penciler good, as a great penciler can make a mediocre inker look fantastic. But here, Becky does all the art chores, pencils and inks as well as layouts. She did a fabulous job and should get a fucking big time paying job as one of the elite in the business. And not just that, Becky is a pretty down to earth person. She's fairly humble in her work. She loves what she does. And she's damn good at it. Nothing can take that away from her. Some people might lay the whole, "but she's a girl," bull shit in there. Yeah, she is a female. But that shouldn't and doesn't detract from her ability on the pages.
I think, no, I know my favorite issue was, "Volume One, Love Story." The amount of creativity and thought that went into this, is fucking insane. A woman who can only deal with life by having constant written reminders surrounding her. From the instant she opens her eyes from sleep, all the way in her route to therapy and work. The line work complimented this story like few others could. As she begins to see someone else's notes in conspicuous places for her to see. She begins, after more than a year of therapy, to reevaluate things in her life. The notes continue from her mysterious new friend, who eventually invites her on a date. She accepts and arrives at the meeting spot and...... THE FUCKING ISSUE ENDS! GAHHHHHH! This single issue had me salivating for more than any other issue I think I have ever read. It fucking down right pissed me off, especially as I finished reading the other 3 issues in the mini series and none of them were Volume 2. Jesus. Woods and Cloonan had better do the follow up for this, or I'm gonna bill them for my therapy resulting from their work.
It's super hard to pick standout moments from this series. Just because each issue stood on its own and kicked ass as it did. "Pangs" was phenomenal. And you could kinds tell what was going on early in the story, but the ending was way off my radar. Cannibal, who can only eat human meat eventually tries to quite for of all things, a woman. HE even tried chicken, cause, "everyone likes chicken" (which was a fucking genius setup line). This causes an unforeseen reaction to chicken like I've never seen.... except that one time. He runs away from the date, and stays away from work, only to start eating human flesh again, but it's not like you think. Umm, he then makes plans again with his lady friend and utters the words (as he leaves the house), "I was thinking barbeque." And then as he thinks to himself, "You can do this. You like her." And hours after reading those words it fucking hit me. I know where the meat was coming from.
I'd review each issue separately, but I want you to spend some cash and buy this series. It was packed with extras, like Becky and Brian talking about the making of this second series; layout thumbnail roughs; penciled pages and alternate cover concepts. I say, go fucking buy this mini series. And if you haven't read the original, don't worry, you'll understand Demo volume 2. But I would strongly recommend buying volume one as well.
The grade, as you know, revolves around professional wrestling, and hardcore moments in wrestling history. And the more hardcore and violent the moment, the more this reviewer liked that which I am reviewing. Just a hint, Hulk Hogan is NOT HARDCORE! The pay per view event was ECW's Heatwave 2000. The place was the Grand Olmpic Auditorium in L.A. The first time ECW ventured to the west coast. The match was the scheduled 3 Way Dance which saw Tajiri versus Psicosis versus Little Guido. But before the opening bell, the Sinister Minister's music blared through the P.A. and out came Mikey Whipwreck. Mikey interjected himself into the match, making it a four way. Mikey flew over the top rope taking out his three opponents, but was quickly eliminated from the match. Guido, Tajiri and Psicosis went at it for about another ten minutes only to see Guido hit the "Kiss of Death" finisher on Psicosis, who bounced off the canvas and into a Tajiri German Suplex for the second elimination. From there, Tajiri and Guido went mano a mano. Guido looked like he was making a comeback, when Tajiri hit Guido with the green mist and a brainbuster onto the nearby steal chair of the 1...2...3. Tajiri, Guido and Psicosis or Super Crazy. You couldn't go wrong with that combination of Japanese style, English ground grappling style and the high flying style of Lucha Libre!
Now the original of single serving 12 issue maxi series, Demo, was critically acclaimed by critics and retailers and fans alike. And for good reason. It was one of the biggest projects at the time that either Woods or Cloonan had worked on. And the difference in the business of writing twelve self contained stories that all had to do with one another. Then there was Becky's job, illustrating one of the most prolific writers in the business. But here's the kicker, she did it in 12 different styles. Lemme repeat myself TWELVE DIFFERENT STYLES! Now mastering the style you become known for is tough enough, but doing a dozen different variations that compliment the writing is FUCKING AMAZING! But that was years ago.... and this is the last six months of comics we're talking about here. And it has been a beautiful half year of comics. And for a book, that's not in color, that was not highly advertised and as a sequel to a really beloved 12 issue run DEMO volume 2 kicked FUCKING ASS! I was so drawn into the stories. Yes, all self contained, but still somehow connected. The stories all flowed beautifully. The line work was as good as I have ever seen in a comic book, and certainly a black and white comic. People may say, "what's the difference if the book is in color or black and white?" Simple, so much art can be "made" with color. But an old rule passed down to me during design college, "color cannot make something. It has to work in black and white." And it is true. Every panel should and must work in black and white if color is going to "enhance" it. Color should never be the defining factor of a comic. With all due respect to the amazing colorists who are out there right now, color should enhance, never "make." It's the same thing with inks. Inks should help shape the look of the line style, it should never fix the pencils. However, a great inker can make a mediocre penciler good, as a great penciler can make a mediocre inker look fantastic. But here, Becky does all the art chores, pencils and inks as well as layouts. She did a fabulous job and should get a fucking big time paying job as one of the elite in the business. And not just that, Becky is a pretty down to earth person. She's fairly humble in her work. She loves what she does. And she's damn good at it. Nothing can take that away from her. Some people might lay the whole, "but she's a girl," bull shit in there. Yeah, she is a female. But that shouldn't and doesn't detract from her ability on the pages.
I think, no, I know my favorite issue was, "Volume One, Love Story." The amount of creativity and thought that went into this, is fucking insane. A woman who can only deal with life by having constant written reminders surrounding her. From the instant she opens her eyes from sleep, all the way in her route to therapy and work. The line work complimented this story like few others could. As she begins to see someone else's notes in conspicuous places for her to see. She begins, after more than a year of therapy, to reevaluate things in her life. The notes continue from her mysterious new friend, who eventually invites her on a date. She accepts and arrives at the meeting spot and...... THE FUCKING ISSUE ENDS! GAHHHHHH! This single issue had me salivating for more than any other issue I think I have ever read. It fucking down right pissed me off, especially as I finished reading the other 3 issues in the mini series and none of them were Volume 2. Jesus. Woods and Cloonan had better do the follow up for this, or I'm gonna bill them for my therapy resulting from their work.
It's super hard to pick standout moments from this series. Just because each issue stood on its own and kicked ass as it did. "Pangs" was phenomenal. And you could kinds tell what was going on early in the story, but the ending was way off my radar. Cannibal, who can only eat human meat eventually tries to quite for of all things, a woman. HE even tried chicken, cause, "everyone likes chicken" (which was a fucking genius setup line). This causes an unforeseen reaction to chicken like I've never seen.... except that one time. He runs away from the date, and stays away from work, only to start eating human flesh again, but it's not like you think. Umm, he then makes plans again with his lady friend and utters the words (as he leaves the house), "I was thinking barbeque." And then as he thinks to himself, "You can do this. You like her." And hours after reading those words it fucking hit me. I know where the meat was coming from.
I'd review each issue separately, but I want you to spend some cash and buy this series. It was packed with extras, like Becky and Brian talking about the making of this second series; layout thumbnail roughs; penciled pages and alternate cover concepts. I say, go fucking buy this mini series. And if you haven't read the original, don't worry, you'll understand Demo volume 2. But I would strongly recommend buying volume one as well.
The grade, as you know, revolves around professional wrestling, and hardcore moments in wrestling history. And the more hardcore and violent the moment, the more this reviewer liked that which I am reviewing. Just a hint, Hulk Hogan is NOT HARDCORE! The pay per view event was ECW's Heatwave 2000. The place was the Grand Olmpic Auditorium in L.A. The first time ECW ventured to the west coast. The match was the scheduled 3 Way Dance which saw Tajiri versus Psicosis versus Little Guido. But before the opening bell, the Sinister Minister's music blared through the P.A. and out came Mikey Whipwreck. Mikey interjected himself into the match, making it a four way. Mikey flew over the top rope taking out his three opponents, but was quickly eliminated from the match. Guido, Tajiri and Psicosis went at it for about another ten minutes only to see Guido hit the "Kiss of Death" finisher on Psicosis, who bounced off the canvas and into a Tajiri German Suplex for the second elimination. From there, Tajiri and Guido went mano a mano. Guido looked like he was making a comeback, when Tajiri hit Guido with the green mist and a brainbuster onto the nearby steal chair of the 1...2...3. Tajiri, Guido and Psicosis or Super Crazy. You couldn't go wrong with that combination of Japanese style, English ground grappling style and the high flying style of Lucha Libre!
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