“Mandarin and the Unicorn: Double-Death!” I Dare You to Say "The Unicorn" Three Times Without Laughing! Before I start this review, let’s get all the laughing and snickers out of our system. Yeah, I know one of our villains is called The Unicorn. But I’ve got an entire issue to cover. So, I’m going to say “The Unicorn” several times and wait until we’re all done laughing before moving on. Done? Hold it! I see you, Greg. You’re still chucking over your coffee in Pewaukee,

Jim Starlin...You're Fired! "You're travelling through another dimension, whose boundaries are that of imagination. You've entered... The Twilight Zone! In this world, people are still talking about a movie called “The Infinity Endgame” which featured Darkseid’s attempt to take over the entire universe with the Infinity Lanterns, opposed by the Justice League and their remarkable allies, Gamora and her rather unsavory, but ultimately affable colleague Pip the Troll. This mo

Thanos and ...Lurch? Does anyone remember Ted Cassidy? Big guy who played Lurch on the Adam's Family back in the 60's? Had various roles on Star Trek? Used his voice for oodles of cartoon characters in the 60’s and 70’s? Reason I ask is that from the first moment I came across Thanos in this comic book, it was Ted Cassidy’s deep, somewhat unsettling voice that I heard in my head with the evil Titan’s every utterance. That remained the case until the first Guardians of the

Cover Art: Sal Buscema The North Pole on Christmas Eve of this past year with Santa about to start his deliveries. “Hey guys, why is my sleigh a bit lighter this year?” "Uh, well," the head elf begins sheepishly, “W e meant to tell you about that. Seems we ran short of coal for the stockings for everyone on the Naughty List. So, we had to find a substitute.” “Well, with that new administration in that certain nation, I guess I’m not surprised. What did you use as a substit

"Revenge!" Introduction “Alex, I’ll take ‘Atrocious 1970’s Comic Book Crossovers’ for $500.” “This comic book has both Daredevil and Nick Fury as guest stars as they’re attacked by four lame supervillains for the control of some silly apparatus called the Zodiac Key.” “What is Iron Man #35?” Bad Jeopardy parodies aside, there’s so much going on with this issue that it’s hard to know quite where to start. We've got another eye-catching Sal Buscema cover. I’m not always a fan

“Crisis .. and the Calamity” Introduction Dah-dah, dah-DAH-DAH, dah-dah, dah-DAH-DAH, Bah-bah-bah-BAH, bah-bah-bah-BAH, Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh... Yes. That’s the "Mission Impossible" theme. An earworm that's nearly impossible to remove. But I can't help it. Researching this issue for this review inevitably plants that theme smack into the center of my brain. And you know what? It's really the best part of having to dive back into the Spymaster's first tussle

Starting November 14, I will publish weekly reviews of Iron Man, commencing with #30 from way back in 1970. While I acknowledge these are not exactly classics, it's my intent to have some fun with each review. What I mean by that is demonstrated with this post where I'll share excerpts from upcoming reviews. The intent is to offer a preview that also serves as an invitation for you to sign up to receive my reviews . Enjoy ! Introduction (from the upcoming review of Iron M