When the Smoke Finally Clears, Trace Adkins is Luke McBain 4 Review

"The Beginning..."

Starts off really good. Luke grabs a shotgun. Callie begs him not to go. But it's time for a reckonin'.

Erik, Callie's son is one of the two standing guard at the gate of the McBain Mill. Inside, Paul is selling the mill to a developer who plans to turn it into a golf course. Which might end up destroying the other businesses in Eden. Paul's really not that concerned, his goal is what he makes off the deal and being free of the mill.

Luke crashes the mill gate with his truck. it turns into a glorious spectacle and unravels as a shootout. he gets to Paul's office where the Sheriff is waiting. As the Sheriff and Paul lead Luke out, they're met by their father. Who wraps everything up almost too neatly. He just tells Paul that the mill is not for sale and the deal he made is null and void, just like that. He orders Luke freed and gives him the opportunity to take his shot at Paul. He doesn't. 

And just like that, it's over. Luke and Callie are enjoying a "happily ever after."

What starts off as a thrilling conclusion wraps up just a little too neatly. How exactly does Old Man McBain undo a deal Paul has done? He could lay out the lawyer and destroy the signed contracts. That's not shown. It's just presumed. It really would have been nice to see Dad show the muscle behind the bluster.

Trace Adkins is Luke McBain would make a really cool movie, on silver screen or little screen. The concluding chapter earns four stars.

I may be biased in my assessment. Your mileage may vary.

 

  

One Step Closer, Trace Adkins is Luke McBain 3 Review!

Ladies love Country boys...

The cliffhanger from the previous issue finds Luke and Callie running through the "woods" - a gutted version of the woods - of Eden, Louisiana. Chased by a helicopter. With someone inside the helicopter. Shooting at them. The couple manage to find cover and the helicopter moves off. Under cover, Callie and Luke find comfort. An hour later when the helicopter comes back, they're gone. 

Later still, Luke starts a bar fight at The Wheel House. He uses the fight to cover heading over and looking through his brother's files. The answer is always in the files!

Elsewhere, Paul wants to send a very definite, permanent message to his brother Luke, while closing a major deal involving the mill and Eden. That message comes across loud and clear, not only to Luke, but to everyone else. What's come next is the thrilling, explosive showdown - brother versus brother!

The story and art are pretty consistent. Moody, shadowy. The story plays well into Trace Adkins' tough-guy image. Definitely a comic book version of Walking Tall or a Clint Eastwood story.

"D.O.A.", Trace Adkins is Luke McBain earns four stars.  

'Til The Shootin' Starts, Trace Adkins is Luke McBain 2 Review

Not everyone in Eden is happy to see Luke McBain. He's back in Edin, Louisiana after fourteen years in prison. For a crime he didn't commit, maybe. It was a choice between him and his brother, Paul. It's possible Luke took the fall for his brother. Now, he's come back. And he's gotten a job at the Mill that his brother runs. Working in the mill can be a dangerous thing, as Luke finds out pretty quickly.

After having an injury checked out, Luke pays a visit to the family lawyer. He finds out that his father has re-written his will, leaving some cash to Luke, but the mill to Paul, as sole beneficiary.

Later, Callie and Luke go for a walk in the woods. Where they find that a good chunk has been stripped, probably by Paul for the mill.

That's when the shooting starts. It's all fun and games... 'til the shootin' starts.

This second chapter of Trace Adkins is Luke McBain is all about Luke finding out he's not wanted around. Stelfreeze's cover is riveting, just as Tischman's script. Chamberlain's art continues the moody noir vibe. Aside from Luke getting injured at the mill and the walk in the woods, there's really not a whole lot happening here. Pretty much things just simmer, not ready to boil over or explode just yet.

"The Mill", Trace Adkins is Luke McBain 2 earns four stars. 

  

West of Judgment, Trace Adkins is Luke McBain 1 Review

I might be slightly biased about Trace Adkins is Luke McBain. I worked in Country radio for a number of years, and I remember Trace Adkins' debut as an artist. He played one of the local fairs and the station I worked for promoted his appearance. Probably with his single "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing". I got to meet him and "bring him up" to the stage. That's the fun part of being a radio personality: meeting the artist and then walking out on stage and introducing him.

Trace Adkins is Luke McBain is definitely from the mold of "Billy Jack" and "Walking Tall". It's very much like the 2004 Dwayne ("The Rock") Johnson film. Johnson plays Chris Vaughn a discharged Green Beret who returns his small hometown to find it run down. The local mill is closed and there's a new casino downtown that is a front for drugs. A number of his former friends are now part of the corruption and criminal activity. 

Here, McBain - possibly a one-off of pseudonym Ed McBain, author of the 87th Precinct crime drama novels - walks tall back to his small hometown of Eden, Louisiana after fourteen years in prison. He is immediately offered a room above the gas station at the edge of town by the son of his family's former maid. Stopping at Eden's grocery store, he uses an ax handle and his fists to stop a robbery. After paying a quick visit to his brother, Paul, for keys to a truck, then dinner with an old high school sweetheart, he's paid a visit by the sheriff.

This is definitely a pulp-style men's adventure. Two-fisted. Coarse language. Courtesy of writer David Tischman. Brian Stelfreeze's cover is album cover material. Kody Chamberlain's art is moody. Lean and sparse on color, heavy on shadows and shadowy tone. The testosterone carries a heavy musk. Luke McBain is cut from the same cloth as The Man in Black, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings. Two-fisted tough, but sensitive enough to play a Country song. Probably about Mama.

Trace Adkins is Luke McBain earns four stars for tough-guy action.

A Genuine Mystery, Batman: Gotham Adventures 38 Review

Batgirl and Robin team-up for a real-world mystery!

There's a reason why comic books feature colorful, gimmicky characters. In the very early days of The Golden-Age, super-heroes fought gangsters, saved people sentenced to death-row, and were involved in actual war. The only downside to that is it raises the question: If a super-hero can easily and simply solve real-world problems, such as crime, poverty, hunger and war, why can't those issues be solved in the actual real-world? If criminals are indeed a "superstitious, cowardly lot", why not scare them and put an end to crime? The answer is that no matter how a real-world issue is addressed, it will never truly be solved. There will always be crime. There will always be poverty. Probably because there will always be human nature.

Maybe that's why characters like The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin, Two-Face and The Riddler were introduced. A way to personify a specific trait of human nature and provide a solution. The Joker is chaos and arrogance. Batman provides order.

It's quite possible that Batman faces the deadly virtues of human nature and solves them.

Here, Batgirl and Robin solve a mystery. All across Gotham City, men of a certain age are being attacked. The attacks are quite vicious and severe. They are left nearly crippled, needing surgery and rehabilitation. The reason behind it is quite tragic. The thread-line is that Batman and his companions meet people on their worst day. It turns out that all the attacks are the result of desperation.

Cover artists Bob Smith and Terry Beatty breathe genuine mystery into Peterson's story. Loughridge once again is enjoyable. Legendary Albert T. De Guzman steps in as letterer.

"Sticking" is an off-beat story. It's atypical. Quite possibly an "After School Special" story. Peterson's story earns three stars.      

Secret Agents, Man! Untold Tales of Spider-Man Flashback Month Minus 1 Review

Richard and Mary Parker: The Amazing Parkers!

Marvel Flashback Month brings Untold Tales of Spider-Man Minus 1! A golden opportunity to see Peter Parker's parents performing in perilous predicaments! They are not quite Agents of SHIELD. Rather, they are CIA agents. Richard Parker was recruited out of Special Forces by Col. Nick Fury. Mary Parker used her education and late father's connections to land a job as a translator. Together, they become an Americanized version of John Steed and Emma Peel. They're a cute contemporary version of Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence and Hammett's Nick and Nora.

On vacation along the French Riviera, they stumble upon The Baroness! A neo-Nazi sympathizer who may have deeper espionage connections - possibly to Hydra! She works for a Supreme Leader and is aware of the capture of an Agent Ten. Which leads Richard and Mary to Bombay, and a rescue mission.

There are a few "surprises". Agent Ten's identity. The Supreme Leader's identity and the inevitable surprise that will force Mary Parker out of action - forever!

Fred Hembeck provides an outrageously hilarious back-up story featuring adventures of Petey - way before he became Spider-Man. It's Hembeck at his finest and funniest.

"Danger", featuring The Amazing Parkers in Untold Tales of Spider-Man Minus 1 earns four stars!   

Happiness is a Warmed Batman... Batman: Gotham Adventures 37

Batman has gone missing!

Dick Grayson and Tim Drake are searching Gotham's underworld to find The Dark Knight! The trail leads from one informant to another.

Meanwhile, it is a Bright Knight that fends off The Joker and The Penguin through oversized props to rescue a nameless damsel in distress! And The Batman seems to be enjoying himself!

It turns out to be a not so sinister plot by Jervis Tetch, The Mad Hatter! Now that his fair Alice is married and enjoying a "happily ever after", Tetch has noticed that The Batman never seems satisfied, or happy, after capturing a super-criminal. So, he's provided The Caped Crusader with a reality in which he can be... happy.

And that's where The Mad Hatter fumbles his plan.

Peterson's story is somewhat sentimental. Levins and Beatty capture a simpler time, when the villains and props were wacky and somewhat campy. Loughridge and Harkins are enjoyable as always. Kudos to Levins, Beatty and Loughridge for the shift in Batman's appearance as well as a Classic look for The Joker and Penguin. Tetch gets a slight makeover - in brown - here as well.

"Images", Batman: Gotham Adventures 37 earns three stars.