TFAW Grab Bag #31: The Authority #18 and #19

My only exposure to WildStorm's The Authority were in the pages of Wizard so it was nice to have two issues of the latest series as part of the grab bag from TFAW. George Perez did the cover for The Authority #18 (March 2010).

Mark Bagley and Trevor Scott did the cover art for The Authority #19 (April 2010).

Pretty good issues but I needed a score card to keep all the characters straight. All of the characters from the WildStorm universe unite but only a few escape Earth with a bunch of normal people on an alien space craft. Members from StormWatch, WildCats and Gen13 form the new Authority.

TFAW Grab Bag #30: Sky Pirates of Neo Terra #4

Camilla d'Errico was the cover artist as well as the interior penciller and inker for Image's Sky Pirates of Neo Terra #4 (January 2010). From my understanding, this five issue series was based on the fantasy video game for the Nintendo DS and Wii. I would have never picked up this series on my own so it was a nice surprise from TFAW.

TFAW Grab Bag #29: God Complex #3

Daniel Berman and Michael Avon Oeming did the cover for Image's God Complex #3 (February 2010). They also wrote the seven issue series about the Greek gods living in the modern world. Medusa makes an appearance before Paul the hero makes an reference to Raiders of the Lost Arc.

TFAW Grab Bag #28: G-Man: Cape Crisis #5

Chris Giarrusso did the cover for Image's G-Man: Cape Crisis #5 (January 2010), which is also the last issue of the limited series. He also wrote the story and drew the interior art. I like this issue and would like to see more. This was a pleasant surprise in the grab bag from TFAW.

2011 Hot Wheels #66 The Batman Batmobile

I gave up looking for the 2011 Hot Wheels #66 about a week before Christmas at the local stores. I was at the grocery store a few days ago when I decided to take a look at their rack. Not only did I finally found one, I actually found three of them. However, I only picked up one since they were marked $1.29 as opposed to $0.98 at Wal-Mart's. So I am closing out 2010 with a few pictures of the diecast car.

I am not a big fan of the package showing just the front three-fourths of the Batmobile. Also, I would have liked a Batman logo of some sorts. I almost passed it by but thankfully I read the text on the lower right hand side.

TFAW Grab Bag #27: Fall Out Toy Works #3

Stanley "Artgerm" Lau did the cover for Image's Fall Out Toy Works #3 (February 2010). The five-part limited series is about an inventor falling in love with his android creation. I would have never picked this up even for the science fiction elements.

There is a trade paperback available for those interested in picking it up:

Christmas 2010 Swag

The only comic-related swag that I received for Christmas this year were two beanie and shirt combos from Bioworld that features Batman's bat symbol and Superman's S shield. I was surprised by the white sleeves instead of the black sleeves that the DC Comics shirt had that I got in the Christmas Swag 2009.

TFAW Grab Bag #26: CyberForce/Hunter-Killer #4

Kenneth Rocafort and Christina Strain did cover A for Image's CyberForce/Hunter-Killer #4 (January 2010). Rocafort also did the interior pencils and inks. This is part of a five issue mini-series written by Mark Waid that teams up the two groups. The only CyberForce comic that I had before getting this one as part of the TFAW grab bag was CyberForce Universe Sourcebook #1 (August 1994). I have never heard of Hunter-Killer before reading this issue. I need a sourcebook just to keep track of the characters. I do like the cover featuring Samantha Argent.

TFAW Grab Bag #25: Broken Trinity #3

Celestine, a dragon and a horde of demons adorn cover B of Image's Broken Trinity #3 (November 2008). The artist was Stjepan "nebezial" Sejic and I got this issue from TFAW as a grab bag comic. The avenging angel arrives to battle Witchblade but ends up stabbing Jackie Estacado aka the Darkness with her light sword. There is also some purple guy running around fighting the dragon that turns into a woman.

The mini-series has been collected in the following trade paperback:

TFAW Grab Bag #24: The Transformers #3

Andrew Wildman did the B cover for IDW's The Transformers #3 (January 2010). This issue seemed more like a bridge from whatever happened in #2 to the coming action in #4. I never realized how much time those robots spent moping and talking.

TFAW Grab Bag #23: Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ghosts #2

Joe Corroney did the cover art for IDW's Star Trek: The Next Generation: Ghosts #2 (December 2009). I like this issue and would love to read the rest of the series.

TFAW Grab Bag #22: Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: Cardassians

While I enjoy Star Trek, I am not particularly fond of the Cardassians. The cover artist for the IDW's Star Trek: Alien Spotlight: Cardassians was Agustin Padilla, who also did the interior pencils. I thought the story by Andy Schmidt was so so.

TFAW Grab Bag #22: Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden #3

Like Grimjack: The Manx Cat, IDW's Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden was originally published online by ComicMix (you can still read the entire series here). I received #3 (December 2009) as part of the TFAW grab bag. The cover and interior art were done by Mike Grell, who also wrote the series. I greatly enjoyed the issue and probably be reading the entire series online soon.

Merry Christmas From Super Santa

Hopefully, Big Red will give you all nice presents this year.

TFAW Grab Bag #21: Grimjack: The Manx Cat #6

The handful of First's Grimjack issues that I have were obtained by grab bags so it was nice to see an issue of IDW's Grimjack: The Manx Cat #6 (January 2009) in the grab bag mix from TFAW. Timothy Truman returns as the cover and interior artist with John Ostrander returning as writer. Those two co-created the character so it seems natural that they would be back. The six part mini-series were originally published online by ComicMix and can still be viewed here.

TFAW Grab Bag #20: G.I. Joe: Origins #10

I received two copies of IDW's G.I. Joe: Origins #10 (December 2009) in the grab bag from TFAW but with two different covers. Cover A artist was Tom Feister while cover B artist were James Brown and Andrea Mutti. Unlike the cartoon series, there is blood in this comic series.

TFAW Grab Bag #19: The Ghoul #2

Bernie Wrightson did the cover and interior art for IDW's The Ghoul #2 (January 2010). There is even a five page text story as a backup written by Steve Niles, who also wrote the main comic feature. I love this horror comic and was glad that it was one of the grab bag comics from TFAW.

Yes, the three part series has been collected in a trade: