Andy Mansell Comic Reviews

This is THE Ditko reprint book everyone must own. The post-Spider-Man and Dr. Strange Ditko shows off his immense talent in 15 tales from Creepy and Eerie magazines.

Tarzan by Hal Foster is an absolute classic of comic storytelling; an ideal first edition for any newspaper strip collection and well worth the money.

Domovoi is an adult fairy tale that is not strictly for fans of Hellboy and Fables, and is a treat for anyone who loves great storytelling.

Alex Raymond reaches his stylistic peak before going off to war. This belongs in every serious comics library.

An influential and justly famous series begins its ascent toward comic greatness. A must-have for every comic library.

Vol. 3 is even better than the previous omnibus. This series belongs in every serious comic library.

A well-crafted comic with a genuine love for the four-color Silver Age as well as early science fiction concepts, Six-Gun Gorilla is a must-read.

The 6,000-page samurai manga epic hits the 2,500-page mark and the series just keeps on getting better and better.

Another terrific early work by Gaiman and McKean, and even better than Violent Cases.

This book is a gentle and frightening fairy tale that digs deep and resonates within the characters as well as the readers. Hellboy: The Midnight Circus is a fiery gem in a tasteful, subtle setting that leaves us feeling melancholy, scared, and wishing our parents were around to comfort us.

Usagi Yojimbo

A marvelous Jaime Hernandez 10-pager sends this series back into hiatus with style.

The 90s begin and Schulz is in fine formnot peak Peanuts, but quite entertaining and an improvement over the previous decade.

A solid, entertaining collection of EC horror comics at or near their peak. Well worth the money for any classic comic connoisseur.

This is a magical reading experience for all agesthe next issue can't come soon enough!

An important collection of Milligan & McCarthy's early workdense and difficult, but still provocative 30-odd years on.

Bad Houses is a terrific comic that comes up just a bit short of being a classic. Ryan and McNeil's work is funny, intriguing, and painful.

A solid premise, good execution, and a believable character relationship make Colder a fun and frightening read.

Creepy enters the era of editor Louise Jones and the stories just hum with excitement and good, unclean horror. Well worth a green photo of Ulysses S. Grant!

Featuring exciting, well-written, and beautifully drawn tales of Tarzans youthful ward, Korak Son of Tarzan Vol. 2 shows off the comic genius of Russ Manning.

Very good but, disappointingly, not great. Slayground lacks the complexity of the previous three entries. Still, its Parker and Westlake and Cookeoh my!

The best volume of the S&K Library so far. It is with these Science Fiction stories that Jack Kirby's art begins to morph into his ground-breaking '60s style.

B.P.R.D. 1948 is another successful backstory mini-series; Mignola and company continue to focus on characters and the results are very good.

Richard Corben reinterprets Poe and does a bang-up jobyou may disagree with his vision, but the comics will entertain and maybe even challenge you.

Before I'd read this issue, I would have figured that the biggest problem the Kingdom of Ooo had would be flies and/or ants. But there's trouble aplenty, and our heroes are missing. I plan to stick around to see how it all turns out and so should you. Sweet!

Buffy Season 9 is better than Season 8 and overall a lot of fun, if a bit inconsistent.

A solid one-shot that is quite good, but cant possibly achieve the level of all the advance hype.

Witty, clever, uniquely told, and, above all, hotter than it needs to be. The next issue can't come soon enough.

With The Black Beetle

Another solid mid-'80s collectioneven better than the last volume...but it ends with (yet another) cliffhanger.

The first volume of the Original Daredevil Archives is a delightful volume, but is it worth $50 to you?

Another solid post-Thomas/Buscema collection. Better than vol. 14, its an ideal and cheap read for a long holiday car or plane ride!

A solid, inexpensive, and handsome collection of James Bond dailies from the mid-seventiesa decent place to start a strip collection.

Ryan Browne's God Hates Astronauts is really funny, really vulgar, and not for everyone, but its target audience will enjoy it immensely.

Adventures ino the Unknown! Vol. 3 is an enjoyable book of fun horror stories; a worthwhile collection, but still not quite worthy of the big price tag.

An entertaining but frustrating and uneven introduction to a series about a telekinetic superman working for the Secret Service.

The great run of Crime Does Not Pay is still 1.5 volumes away. Wait for volume 8!

Eerie Archives Volume 14 is a solid collection of mid-'70s Warren comics that are almost worth the hefty price tag.

A good mystery story with inconsistent art that makes for a fun summer read.

A paperback edition of the Dr. Solar Archives; typical 60s super-hero silliness, but not as fun as one might hope.

Station to Station is a solid 26-page science fiction adventure tale told in an entertaining fashionan enjoyable comic book escape.

A well-executed, fun to read late Marvel Conan story that is left frustratingly incomplete.

At best, this is far too much of an okay thing, with a sticker price too high for most of us (but ohthose Manara women).

A surprisingly entertaining and potentially multi-layered read, but there's a bit too much unnecessary crimson ink on the page.

Not really a horror comic, not really a superhero comic, and not really a memorable reading experience.

Another new twist on the Flash legend, but the wooden characterization makes the premise a rather hard pill to swallow.

Another intriguing, entertaining, and frustratingly uneven issue of this intriguing, entertaining, and frustratingly uneven series.

A mediocre bunch of comics in a volume with no direction. Any Golden Age junkie should go for the cheap Kindle version.

No comic book for old menConan is airbrushed out of his septuagenarian years and the Savage Tales morph into season 5 of Downton Abbey.

Yet another historically important but truly mediocre archive reprint from Dark Horse (incredible Biro covers, though!).

A first issue of an acclaimed comic book that will leave new readers scratching their pointless ears.

Help me Dr. Zaiusthis competently written and drawn book provides ZERO editorial context and leaves new readers dangling from The City Tree (whatever the hell that is).

The Fifth Beatle is a genuine embarrassment. Who was Brian Epstein? This graphic novel doesnt tell us, but his tragic life sure will make a swell movie!

A beautifully drawn, nicely colored, well-told but hopeless tale of super-men in a post-apocalyptic London. Dark, angry, painful, and altogether pointless.

High concept meets poor execution in the first issue of Ghosted; lets do lunch.

Yet another blow-by-blow action epic adaptation of a video game light on everything except explosives.