By David Hinspeter Features The Page 06/24/2014

New from IDW 6/18/2014

Kill Shakespeare: the Mask of Night #1

I have to say that this was an incredible read, and I find pirate tales to be droll and dull at the best of times. That said, one of my favorite comics in circulation right now is Fables. That comic, written by Bill Wilmingham takes old familiar fairy tales and writes them into a new world and with new takes on them that captures the mind and imagination. Kill Shakespeare: the Mask of Night is to the Shakespeare-verse that Fables is to fairy tales. The characters and their particular relationships and ailments are all twisted and bent to this new tale, but the poetry remains. As a man who loves literature, this is an excellent series and I’m glad i started at the beginning.

Littlest Pet Shop #2

This issue of Littlest Pet Shop has two separate stories. First, Youngmee and Blythe are joining a Pokemon like card tournament and apparently Blythe has a tendancy to become the hyper competitive player in and Collectibles Game. Second, the pets are worried about the new shop opening across the way by the name of the Scratching Post. The irony here is that it is a hipster café and the pets are over reacting. As far as the BattlePets tournament, the majority of the things you have said about playing in any card or miniatures game tournament is a joke her. Light hearted fun, actually worthy of a glance if you are part of the nerd culture.

My Little Pony: Friends Forever #6

We find Rainbow Dash in her usual pompous mood as she has been summoned to perform for a specific queen. When she arrives, she finds that it is the queen of the Diamond Dogs, a sometime enemy of the Ponies. There is an interesting satire that, like most things MLP, is skin deep, but at least it is present. Trixi and Rainbow Dash sucker an entire nation and Trixi is freed from her position as the Queen. It is kind of straight-forward with no tricks, but I imagine kids would love it.

Power Puff Girls #10

Last month the girls found themselves embroiled in a war of musical preferences against the Rowdy Ruff Boys until the Boogie Man showed up and, of course, claimed that Disco was the superior music. He then summoned an invasion of Disco Ball Space ships. The sheer amount of puns and one liners dealing with all of the different kinds of music make this worth the read all by themselves. Add to that a few interesting twists and a giant metal versus disco monster battle, and you’ve got a winning comic all day long.

Samurai Jack #9

I’m not even sure what to say about this comic that isn’t a spoiler. The dialogue in this comic is almost non-existent, but the art and action really make it interesting no matter what is being said. This time around Jack stumbled upon a gravity robot that speaks leet-speak. Upon defeating the robot by using it’s own kind of attack against itself, we are shown that it was directly controlled by Samurai Jack’s arch villain all along. Fun read.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #35

Holy Cow-abunga! This issue was chalk full of awesome. Casey’s dad, having been rejected takes his shot at him and while Casey idn’t exactly a ninja, he really holds his own. Hob and slash, the mutants from the end of last issue meet up with Raph and Mikey and Slash gets a MAJOR upgrade. Nobody, the new superhero you get when you mix Casey’s friend and Harold’s tech suit, saves Casey’s rear end and the final image of the comic heralds the return of the Rat King. Man, they just keep getting better.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time #1

I repeat, Holy Cow-abunga! If you were a fan of last miniseries involving Krang, you may in fact be in for a treat. For whatever reason, the four mean green fighting machines are in the past! Apparently they are jumping around in the time line all Quantum Leap style. This issue has some comedy and some full on Ninja Badassery, but the true coup de grace of the story is how they create elements of the over all story…on accident! I would highly suggest this issue to anyone who digs our heroes in a half shell.

V-Wars #3

V-Wars showcases a brand new character this month. He goes by the name of Taurus and he is one hell of a soldier. The comic spends so much time crying his praises that you don’t trust him. I am a little disappointed that the civil rights angle of the comic seems to be taking a back seat to nearly pointless violence. I was actually more interested in the fact that other monsters exist in this world and are also susceptible to the Ice Virus. That little expansion to the world is just awesome enough to carry this rather predictable issue into next month.

Winter World #1

If you liked the Grey and Water World or Mad Max you will most likely love this comic. It is set in a post apocalyptic future, where everything is frozen. It opens on the two main characters looking for someone and traveling across the frozen surface of the Caribbean. It is full of your typical survival tropes; man versus nature, pillaging tribes, constant searches for vehicles and resources, and even an odd pet. While it hasn’t done anything to stand out just yet, the art is amazing and it certainly looks like the beginning of a solid survival story.