Dynamite entertainment

Lil Vampi Review

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By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

For the better part of 20 years, my wife and I have enjoyed the adventures of Vampirella. Our collection is just shy a few early issues from Warren magazine.

Our collection continues till this very day. With all this in mind, I came into reading Lil Vampi with a huge open mind. All I can say is YES!

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Lil Vampi is to Vampirella as Itty Bitty Hellboy is to Hellboy, sheer genius. The artwork is playful and, at the same time, solid. Never once does the art feel cheap or too “kiddish.” It doesn’t throw the aspect of it being a kid version in your face.

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I know that sounds dumb, but it’s the best way to describe how well the artist, Agnes Garbowska, handles the book.

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The writing fits with the art perfectly. The story reads like a noir/crime drama mixed with a young girl’s diary. Eric Trautmann and Brandon Jerwa take nothing away from Vampi and adds all her history into this one comic.

The subtle addition of Pantha makes for some amusement. Unlike how Vampi usually shared half a book with The Pantha, in this, Pantha is almost like her own inserted Bazooka Joe strip strung together at the bottom of each page.
Each funnier than the next.

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If I can give any negative feedback on this book is it’s a one shot. This book needs to be monthly or a seasonal title. Fans will buy this book as well as non fans. The style and content of this comic will somewhat douse the flames of sexism that has always been attributed to Vampirella.

Overall, the comic is fun for everyone and you don’t need to be a Vampi fan to read it (it helps, though). If you love books based on My Little Pony, Adventure Time, and cartoon greats like the Powerpuff Girls, then you must add Lil Vampi to your collection.

I give this comic 5/5. Buy it now and share the Vampirella goodness with your family.
Follow me on Twitter @AltMindz

Review- The Bionic Man

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By Edward Gambichler

“Steve Austin…astronaut….a man barely alive..

Gentleman…..we can rebuild him.

We have the technology.

We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man.

Steve Austin….will BE that man.

Better than he was before.

BETTER………..STRONGER…………..FASTER….”

Oscar Goldman, Director of OSI

 

No matter how many shows I’ve watched since the cancellation of “The Six Million Dollar Man” back in 1978…..there has never been another television series with an intro that gripping or that awesome. Based on the Martin Caidan novel “Cyborg”, it tells the story of test pilot Steve Austin who was seriously injured when the space capsule he was piloting, crashes on re-entry. Losing both legs, his right arm, and his left eye, he is given a second chance by the Office of Scientific Intelligence and its director, Oscar Goldman ( Steve’s best friend ). Through the miracle of advanced technology, scientists, headed by Dr. Rudy Wells, replace Austin’s damage limbs with cybernetic prosthetics which give him abilities far beyond norman men.

I can honestly say that Steve Austin and the actor that portrayed him, Lee Majors, was my first major male role model. I used to watch the show religiously, even when it jumped the shark by having Steve Austin team up with Bigfoot in a few episodes and had actress Sandy Duncan       ( Broadway’s Peter Pan ) playing……an alien. Hell, I even had the 12 inch Steve Austin action figure with the rubber skinned arm you could roll up to pop out his bionic chip and a viewfinder in the back of his head to see through his “bionic” eye. Between this doll and my rev up Evel Knievel motorcycle jumper……I was in XY Chromosome Heaven.

The pilot episode spawned a five season T.V. series, a “Bionic Woman” series ( with Steve’s amnesiac fiance Jamie Sommers ) two T.V. movies ( one starring a young Sandra Bullock ) and now……a comic series. Produced by Dynamite Entertainment and titled “The Bionic Man”, it is based on a story by writer-director Kevin Smith ( Clerks ) and co-scripted by his Green Arrow collaborator writer-artist Phil Hester. I’m now four issues in and I have to say I like this modern reboot. It hits all the right notes as far as my nostalgia for the show is concerned and the explanation behind the bionics procedure is thorough and scientifically sound.

All the main characters, Austin, Goldman, and Dr. Wells feel right in both look and tone. The difference this time around is the black ops edge given to the O.S.I. It is a marked departure from the public government office depicted in the show. The main villain, the cyborg Hull, has an ominous connection to O.S.I. and the early stages of the bionic program and he is set up as real lethal threat. Make no mistake. This is not a Fembot Austin will have to deal with. On a lighter note, issue number four features a hospital visit by an old character from the Bionic series canon and the retconning of his origin is brilliant. The artwork by penciller Jonathan Lau is detailed and lush and the covers by Alex Ross are nothing less than perfection. The only question I have is if Kevin Smith is actually currently involved with this title or just given story credit and lending his name to the project. Much of the technical jargon in the description of the bionic procedure is not something I could see Smith coming up with and I wonder how much of the writing is Smith and how much is Hester.