Comic Reviews by Walt

Due to personal finances, this was a small week for comics for me…but the pricing for these “Halloween Ashcan Comics” was just right for snagging them. And as stuff I read after the regular comics I picked up, they very much fit the criteria as “the rest of the stack.” They’re also something I’d want to touch on anyway…they don’t quite warrant full-review treatment, but the fact they exist seems to call for something. These are smaller than normal comics–both in length (about 12 pages inside the covers) and physical size (fold an 8 1/2″ by 11″ piece of paper in half and that’s your size). I call these “ashcan comics” because that’s the term I recall for comics like this from the mid-1990s. Perhaps I’ll touch on the topic of such comics another time.

For me, this is a mixed bunch. My favorite of these five specials is the Betty Cooper Confidential–probably because it seems best suited to the format. It read very much like a short story from one of the Archie digests I’d buy in the checkout lane at Walmart or some such. Even this is largely a preview for another book, though. The story–which has Betty’s diary blown away on the wind and then recovered in pieces by her friends–is one of those that plays all the characters as being friends, with far less competition or other conflict between them than in other stories. Given this is a light-hearted piece, that works fine. I’ve never been a great judge of a good age group for Archie books…but I’d say this one’s quite mild and safe for any age that’d be interested.

The Popeye comic features a reprint of what seems to be a classic serial in which Popeye & friends encounter a “ghosk” on their ship. There’s not much to it, but it’s definitely got the feel of the old Popeye cartoons I’ve recently exposed myself to. I can mostly hear Popeye and Olive’s voices in my head as I read this, but there’s something distinct to these pages–they are not simply an adaptation nor exact source material for any of the cartoons I can recall. The Ghost theme seems chosen for Halloween (where these specials are intended to be available for giving out)…but the few pages we get does not give a complete story, and just seems to end after giving up several clues and a likely reveal, though no real details or context. Still, it’s a good sampler for what Seeger’s classic strip is like, and for seeing Popeye in comic panels rather than in motion on a tv screen.

The Star Wars issue is a brief story that sees Han and Chewie wind up on a planet in need of fuel, and discovering undead inhabitants doomed to relive the accident that claimed their lives. In a way, this story feels rather out of place for what I’m used to with the Star Wars universe. At the same time, it’s also plausible given the suspension of disbelief one needs in order to believe in aliens, space ships, and The Force. We do get a “complete adventure” in these pages, which is nice–it’s just a quick slice-of-life sorta piece detailing this one particular incident the characters faced. I couldn’t say how it holds up to Star Wars canon, but it’s certainly worth the couple minutes it takes to read!

I’d expected the Casper/Little Lulu to be my least-favorite of all of these, but it has some slight charm to it. I don’t particularly LIKE it, but I can appreciate the strips for both characters for what they are–classic strips that were well-known in their time (I at least know OF the characters, even if I can’t tell you much of anything else other than what you see in this issue). Like the Popeye issue, this is interesting as a classic of comic strips, but if you’re not interested in the characters going in, this probably isn’t going to do anything to change your mind.

Finally, the Domo issue–which was sitting next to the just-released full-sized volume of the same title (Domo: The Manga) feels very much like a previw and nothing else. I’m not even sure what to make OF Domo or whatever the character may otherwise be called. I’ve seen the image of the character represented in various elements of pop culture, but know even less about it than I do Casper. The stories contained in this issue don’t really make sense to me, and I’m relatively certain as such that I am not at all the target audience. If you like Domo, this might be worth your time. If you don’t…then don’t bother with this.

I’ve always forgotten about these until they’ve been on the shelf at my local comic store, so buying any in bulk hasn’t seemed an option, though these would be great to have to give away–whether to kids out trick-or-treating for Halloween, or just to have to hand friends who otherwise wouldn’t give a darn about comics. It’s kind of a shame DC and Marvel didn’t have any in this bunch.

If you’re interested in any of these, check with your local comics retailer–mine had these on the shelf for $.25 each or a set of all 5 for $1 (which is why I wound up with the Casper/Little Lulu and Domo issues). Taken as a whole, for the time spent just reading these, they were well worth that $1. I’d almost be willing to buy stuff like this on a regular basis, especially from DC–give me a couple 6ish-page previews of a couple titles (make it a flip book and preview two titles in one issue, showcasing a cover for each) instead of the in-issue previews that get so annoying, and I’d likely read them.

Filed under: The Rest of the Stack | Tagged: archie, ashcans, Betty, betty cooper: confidential, casper, casper the friendly ghost, comic books, comics, diamond comics, domo, halloween, little lulu, popeye, previews, reprints, star wars | Leave a comment »