Slapstick #6
(W) Reilly Brown, Fred Van Lente (A) Diego Olortegui, Reilly Brown (CA) David Nakayama
Parental Advisory
In Shops: May 03, 2017
SRP: $3.99
Trapped in Dimension Ecch! Slapstick is stuck in the dimension that made him a cartoon in the first place! Eek! And now he’s being forced to fight his best friend…to the death! Double eek!
Slapstick #5
(W) Reilly Brown, Fred Van Lente (A) Diego Olortegui, Reilly Brown (CA) David Nakayama
Parental Advisory
In Shops: Apr 05, 2017
SRP: $3.99
Slapstick may have met his match at last… when he meets the new ruler of Dimension Ecch! On the throne of games, you play or you get played.
Slapstick #2
(W) Reilly Brown, Fred Van Lente (A) Diego Olortegui, Reilly Brown (CA) David Nakayama
Parental Advisory
In Shops: Jan 04, 2017
SRP: $3.99
Slapstick vs. Bro-Man!
Who or what is Bro-Man? Well, look at the cover! He’s another cartoon-like character! Also, is it weird that Slapstick is hiding a mad scientist in his parents’ basement? Probably!
Slapstick #1
(W) Reilly Brown, Fred Van Lente (A) Diego Olortegui (CA) David Nakayama
Parental Advisory
In Shops: Dec 07, 2016
SRP: $3.99
Steve Harmon was an average teenager who had an average job as your average clown, living in average New Jersey. But after being zapped by weird and mysterious extradimensional energy, Steve became Slapstick, a living, breathing cartoon! Now, after joining, and then quitting, Deadpool’s Mercs for Money, Slapstick is striking it out on his own terms! Sure he’s gotta move back in with his parents, but these new business ventures take time. And anyways, he gets to team-up with the Amazing Spider-Man in his first issue. That seems like he’s doing pretty well to me!
It’s new comic book day! What has everyone excited? What do you plan on getting? Sound off in the comments below. While you wait for shops to open, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web.
Around the Tubes
Kotaku – You Did Some Good Cosplay, New York – Some great cosplay on display.
Dallas News – Why are the rich treating the value of baseball cards and comic books like Picassos? Blame the Federal Reserve – An interesting read.
Comics Alliance – ‘Deadpool 2’ Creative Differences Were Over Two Completely Different Ideas for the Sequel – Well that’s good to know.
Around the Tubes Reviews
Comic Attack – Batman #9
Newsarama – Generation Zero #3
The Beat – Houses of the Holy and Pascin
Talking Comics – Infamous Iron Man #1
The Beat – Slapstick #1
The Beat – Wilde Life
It’s new comic book day! What has everyone excited this week? What do you plan on getting? Sound off in the comments below!
While you wait for shops to open, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web in our morning roundup.
Around the Tubes
Remezcla – How 3 Latina Comic Book Artists Carved Out a Space in a Male-Dominated Industry – A great read about 3 kick-ass creators.
Kotaku – Hasbro is starting its own fan convention next year. – We knew it was coming!
GeekWire – Kindle courts manga and graphic novel enthusiasts with upgrades – Very interesting. How will this impact comiXology and vice versa?
Around the Tubes Reviews
The Beat – Deadpool Annual #1
Newsarama – Kiss #1
Newsarama – Slapstick #1
Steve Harmon was an average teenager who had an average job as your average clown, living in average New Jersey. But after being zapped by weird and mysterious extradimensional energy, Steve became Slapstick, a living, breathing cartoon! Now, after joining, and then quitting, Deadpool’s Mercs for Money, Slapstick is striking it out on his own terms! Sure he’s gotta move back in with his parents, but these new business ventures take time. And anyways, he gets to team-up with the Amazing Spider-Man in his first issue. That seems like he’s doing pretty well to me!
I didn’t read a lot of Slapstick when the character debuted in what feels like ages ago. He always rubbed me the wrong way in what I did read. It just wasn’t my thing. So, when Marvel announced a new series, I wasn’t too excited, but after reading this first issue, I’m actually somewhat impressed.
Slapstick #1 is out this Wednesday as a digital Marvel Infinite Comic and while my review copy didn’t completely recreate that experience I was able to make due a bit and come pretty close to it. Written by Reilly Brown and Fred Van Lente, Slapstick #1 is a violent Bugs Bunny meets superhero story that involves lots of blood, splatter, and creative ways to kill the bad guys. He’s a living cartoon… so duh as far as that. The comic is entertaining and if you can handle the over top nature of it all, it’s a fun adult Looney Tunes story.
What’s also interesting is the comic throws Spider-Man into the straight guy role. Slapstick is so out there, Spider-Man can’t help but be rather dry and boring. It’s a different spin that’s interesting and different.
That cartoon meets “real world” is important and really plays into the story. It’s helped by Brown (who does double duties here) and Diego Olortegui. Beyond the cartoon nature of Slapstick that stands out, the digital aspect helps too. The way the panels roll out on each page really adds to the cartoon nature of it all. It helps enhance each “wham” and it plays much better as a digital comic with each panel transition than it might as a static page of a print comic. The comic really works well with what digital offers.
As I said, I wasn’t a fan going in, but by the time I finished, I actually want to read the next issue and see where it all goes. I still might not be the biggest Slapstick fan, but the story’s humor mixed with the advantage of digital makes it an interesting read and one to check out.
The Slapstick #1 Marvel Infinite Comic is out Wednesday, October 19.
Story: Reilly Brown and Fred Van Lente Art: Reilly Brown and Diego Olortegui
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Any company that has been around as long as Marvel is sure to have some misfires. Whether it’s the constant strain of monthly deadlines or getting into a rut or whatever, bad characters make it into print. For the most part, they disappear, but some of them pop up over and over again and a few make it to heights well above what their character deserves. Here are, in my opinion, the worst of the worst of those mistakes from Marvel. These are characters that are either bad conceptually, poorly executed or both.
Honorable mentions: Frankencastle, Squirrel Girl and any of the Great Lakes Avengers, Cosmo, Rocket Raccoon, Hellcow, Doctor Bong, any of the 1970s one-note characters (Paste-Pot Pete, Rocket Racer, Egghead, Kangaroo, Frog-man, Stilt-Man, Big Wheel, The Walrus, Hypno-Hustler), dumb rip-offs (Thor Girl), and the majority of characters that have appeared in Deadpool Team-up.
5. Beak: Beak is an ugly, mostly powerless mutant bird-guy thingy. He’s mostly a liability up until the point when he is depowered and he might actually look even stupider. His name is Barnell Bohusk. Seriously. He recently got a makeover into Blackwing and it’s a major improvement.
4. Gambit: I’ll probably catch the most flak for this one, but I’ve always thought Gambit was a bad character. He has a horrible stereotypical accent, he throws playing cards as his weapon and he’s had some of the most cliched and dull stories written about him over the years. He’s been written into a corner, such that later writers have little chance but continue him down the same dull path. X-Men comics always get worse when Gambit is around.
3. Slapstick: Do I really have to explain this one? Look at the picture. He’s a cartoonish clown who has the powers of a Looney Toons character. Really.
2. Nanny: Nanny is a giant egg-shaped “woman” who steals adults and makes them her children. Literally. Plus she’s a giant egg.
1. M.O.D.O.K.: M.O.D.O.K. is a giant head with useless little arms and legs. His name is an acronym for “Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing.” That name alone is enough to get him on the list, but he makes it to the top of the list because he’s a giant head with useless little arms and legs.
