The Pull List: September 13 2017

After a small delay in catching up on September’s comic, I’ve finally made time to relax and read up on last week’s new comic book day releases. I’ve been hunting down back issues of American Gods while the TV version is preparing for its next season on Starz. I’m refreshing my Ninjak knowledge with his new series. I picked up the Big Trouble in Little China Escape from New York graphic novel and checked in with what’s happening to the kids in the Amazing Age. – Chris

American Gods Issue #7:

Issue seven picks up with the aftermath of the gathering of the old gods and  Shadow’s encounter with his resurrected wife Laura, who up to this point in the story was still believed to be dead. The shock of seeing his wife and the strange events that happen causes Shadow to shamble off into the wilderness. The disjointed Shadow reflects about his life and what factors now affect his destiny. The reality that all these gods exist and are planning a war and his beloved wife is back both weight heavily on Shadow’s consciousness. After meeting a talking raven, sent by Mr. Wednesday, Shadow is directed to make his way to “Kay-Ro” where he will find Jackal. This issue goes further in the pysche of Shadow after he learned about the lore of the old gods and gets small glimpses to understanding his role in the feud. There is a great encounter with Media, taking the form of Lucy Ricardo from “I Love Lucy”, and is a weird aggressive and pervy form that nobody is used to seeing. Fans of American Gods TV show should definitely be catching up on this series and would appreciate the more fleshed out back stories of these fun characters.

Ninjak Issue #0:

In this new volume of Ninjak, Colin King reflects about his origin that has lead to him being the world’s best ninja spy while fighting his way into a fortress to retrieve an briefcase for a client. In a series of small flashbacks, Colin talks about his childhood, his early spy career and eventually the tragedy that would lead him to become Ninjak. All of these flashbacks are told while Ninjak is slicing and dicing armed guards into bloody chunks, fighting his way until he can get to the briefcase. For new comers to the series, it’s a quick cliff notes to NInjak’s backstory and introduction to key characters that will later appear in the series. Ninjak first appeared in 1993 in a BloodShot comic and has gone through a few different versions. (Ninjak once was about a boy that transformed into a ninja. Thanks 1997!). Fans of awesome ninja movies, James Bond, Batman and good old fashion action should be eager to read up on the Ninjak series. Issue 1 comes out this November.

Amazing Age Issue #3

Issue 3 of Amazing Age follows up on Sam, Violet and Mike as they train to control their powers. Sam previously found out he has the power of super strength and flight. Violet has extrasensory perception and acrobatic abilities and Mike has electrical powers called “Knight Light”. Each of them is assigned a mentor to help them and we are introduced to Cross and Titan, former members of S.A.V.E. While the heroes are in training, a group of villains plot to team up and attack all the heroes at once to stir the world into a panic. Amazing Age is fun for any comic reader who is familiar with the classic super heroes stories, the introduction of Cross and Titan add a bit of realism to the plot. Cross is a jaded hero who left to S.A.V.E to fight crime on his rules and prefers to work alone. Titan is a larger than life strong man that left to take care of an ill brother. These characters add a bit of drama to the mix and it also bring some humanity to S.A.V.E as they train. The issue ends on a climatic battle that sets the next issues to be more action packed.

Big Trouble in Little China Escape from New York Graphic Novel

For those not in the know, Big Trouble in Little China had a follow up comic series that takes place after the movie and explores more of Jack Burton and his misadventures encountering mystical enemies and foiling the ghost of David Lo Pan. In a super cross-over from October 2016, the BTILC series crossed over with another famous Kurt Russell movie, Escape from New York for a six issue run of the most Kurt Russellish creations ever. Jack Burton is driving the old Pork Chop in 1987 and is magically transported to a future world of 2001, where the world is now a post apocalyptic wasteland and Snake Plissken is out drinking at dive bars. People mix up Jack Burton and Snake Plissken and all sorts of action filled events lead them to mix in crazy waste salvagers, ultra military soldiers and magical powers. The premise alone is worth reading the first chapter, but the comedy writing and the really colorful artwork keeps readers glued to the pages. Any fans of these movies should pick up this novel to see this crazy What If scenario play out.