Jim Lemoine
Jan 31, 2002, 12:57 am
{Originally posted at X-Fan v3.0 on December 8, 2001}
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/gsmm1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/gsmm1t.jpg" align=left alt="Giant-Size Mini-Marvels #1"></a>Reviewer: Jim Lemoine, darkkelf@earthlink.net
Quick Rating: Excellent!
Story Title: Paperboy Blues
Bwah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah HAH!!!
Written by: Chris Giarrusso
Art by: Chris Giarrusso
Lettered by: Chris Giarrusso
Colored by: Chris Giarrusso
Assistant Editor: Brian Smith
Editors: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
Wednesday, December 5, 2001, saw the release of a book that had been looked forward to by comic fans all over the world for a long, long time. The book featured the return of an alternate universe, where our greatest heroes showed sides of themselves we'd never seen before. Aside from the title character (who normally is the parent company's most popular character), we saw alternate glimpses of many others, including a size-changing scientist, a super-speedster, and the greatest archer in the world. The book was almost completely done (written, penciled, inked, etc.) by one awesome creator. The most prominent feature on the book's cover was the fist of a hero.
Of course, by now, it should be painfully obvious that the book I'm referring to is none other than that marvel of modern comic literature... Giant-Size Mini-Marvels!
First, a bit of background: comic genius Chris Giarrusso became well-known among Marvel fans with his Bullpen Bits series - a comic strip based on comic books that ran in Marvel's "Bullpen Bulletins" page. The strip featured the adventures of pint-sized versions of our favorite Marvel superheroes, specifically Hawkeye, Wolverine, and of course, Spidey. Although I can't tell you for sure how popular the strip was with Marvel fans, I can tell you I've never met anybody who didn't love Giarrusso's cute characters and often hilarious strips.
Then, sadness and depression. The Bullpen Bits (and soon after, the whole Bullpen Bulletins page!) completely disappeared, leaving us sorely lacking in our weekly dose of Spidey and Hawkeye making a fool of themselves.
Now, at last, the Bits return in this comprehensive volume containing almost all of Giarrusso's past strips for Marvel as well as a brand new full-length Spidey story! And let me tell you, in this humble reviewer's opinion, it's a true masterpiece. Origin? New X-Men? X-Force? Bah, I say! Give me my Mini-Marvels any day!
Giant-Size Mini-Marvels is a book based on jokes that only the fanboy/girl would get. And since there's such a lot of us, the formula works well. There are tons of classic lines throughout the book, from old classics like the Silver Surfer telling Thanos that destroying the universe would destroy all of the shoes, to new greats like Mach-2 of the Thunderbolts practically begging Hawkeye to let him "blast Spidey outta the sky". And nowhere else would you see a a web-swinging Wolvie!
All of the biggies of the Marvel Universe show up in the main story to lend Spidey a hand in his quest to collect the newspaper money. After a fantastic battle with the Green Goblin, Spidey has dinner with Aunt May, encounters Venom, and starts his journey. This journey takes him from the X-Men's Mansion to Four Freedoms Plaza, to Avengers Mansion, and even out to Mount Charteris to visit the aforementioned Thunderbolts. Throughout it all, the art is outstanding, and the story is hilarious. Umm... and is it just me, or did Giarrusso's version of Mr. Fantastic kinda give you the willies? The egg-shaped head, the huge mouth... I don't know, I'm getting worried I might have nightmares about him!
For a real treat, after the new, main story we're given some of Giarrusso's hard-to-find early work for Marvel, including some strips that originally appeared in the old What If...? series. This is followed by an almost complete collection of the classic Bullpen Bits, and it's that "almost" in there which is the only thing that disappoints me. Missing from this collection is #1 (the first one, featuring a very Peanuts-esque Wolvie and Cyclops), #36 (the one that mocked those Godawful anti-drug Spider-Man inserts from a couple of years back), and #37 (the one that nobody got, which was a plug for Chris Eliopoulos' online strip Desperate Times). I'm not sure why these were left out... because it was too Peanuts-ish, maybe? Because nobody got it? Because Marvel doesn't want to repeat the (hilarious) mocking of their own anti-drug efforts? Anyway, it was disappointing that those strips were missing.
But still, what we're left with is an awesome collection. Aside from the self-taunting and usual hilarity, two surprisingly poignant strips are also included: "Thunderbird's Thanksgiving", which presents a fascinating viewpoint on our American holiday, and the famous Charles Schultz tribute strip starring Wolvie.
There's not much more to say, except that I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's exceptional value for your money with everything it includes. But most importantly, it accomplishes exactly what Marvel tried so hard to do with Not Brand Ecch and What The...?, which is making the Marvel Universe funny. And Giant-Size Mini-Marvels makes the MU very, very funny indeed!
More, please.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/gsmm1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/gsmm1t.jpg" align=left alt="Giant-Size Mini-Marvels #1"></a>Reviewer: Jim Lemoine, darkkelf@earthlink.net
Quick Rating: Excellent!
Story Title: Paperboy Blues
Bwah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah HAH!!!
Written by: Chris Giarrusso
Art by: Chris Giarrusso
Lettered by: Chris Giarrusso
Colored by: Chris Giarrusso
Assistant Editor: Brian Smith
Editors: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
Wednesday, December 5, 2001, saw the release of a book that had been looked forward to by comic fans all over the world for a long, long time. The book featured the return of an alternate universe, where our greatest heroes showed sides of themselves we'd never seen before. Aside from the title character (who normally is the parent company's most popular character), we saw alternate glimpses of many others, including a size-changing scientist, a super-speedster, and the greatest archer in the world. The book was almost completely done (written, penciled, inked, etc.) by one awesome creator. The most prominent feature on the book's cover was the fist of a hero.
Of course, by now, it should be painfully obvious that the book I'm referring to is none other than that marvel of modern comic literature... Giant-Size Mini-Marvels!
First, a bit of background: comic genius Chris Giarrusso became well-known among Marvel fans with his Bullpen Bits series - a comic strip based on comic books that ran in Marvel's "Bullpen Bulletins" page. The strip featured the adventures of pint-sized versions of our favorite Marvel superheroes, specifically Hawkeye, Wolverine, and of course, Spidey. Although I can't tell you for sure how popular the strip was with Marvel fans, I can tell you I've never met anybody who didn't love Giarrusso's cute characters and often hilarious strips.
Then, sadness and depression. The Bullpen Bits (and soon after, the whole Bullpen Bulletins page!) completely disappeared, leaving us sorely lacking in our weekly dose of Spidey and Hawkeye making a fool of themselves.
Now, at last, the Bits return in this comprehensive volume containing almost all of Giarrusso's past strips for Marvel as well as a brand new full-length Spidey story! And let me tell you, in this humble reviewer's opinion, it's a true masterpiece. Origin? New X-Men? X-Force? Bah, I say! Give me my Mini-Marvels any day!
Giant-Size Mini-Marvels is a book based on jokes that only the fanboy/girl would get. And since there's such a lot of us, the formula works well. There are tons of classic lines throughout the book, from old classics like the Silver Surfer telling Thanos that destroying the universe would destroy all of the shoes, to new greats like Mach-2 of the Thunderbolts practically begging Hawkeye to let him "blast Spidey outta the sky". And nowhere else would you see a a web-swinging Wolvie!
All of the biggies of the Marvel Universe show up in the main story to lend Spidey a hand in his quest to collect the newspaper money. After a fantastic battle with the Green Goblin, Spidey has dinner with Aunt May, encounters Venom, and starts his journey. This journey takes him from the X-Men's Mansion to Four Freedoms Plaza, to Avengers Mansion, and even out to Mount Charteris to visit the aforementioned Thunderbolts. Throughout it all, the art is outstanding, and the story is hilarious. Umm... and is it just me, or did Giarrusso's version of Mr. Fantastic kinda give you the willies? The egg-shaped head, the huge mouth... I don't know, I'm getting worried I might have nightmares about him!
For a real treat, after the new, main story we're given some of Giarrusso's hard-to-find early work for Marvel, including some strips that originally appeared in the old What If...? series. This is followed by an almost complete collection of the classic Bullpen Bits, and it's that "almost" in there which is the only thing that disappoints me. Missing from this collection is #1 (the first one, featuring a very Peanuts-esque Wolvie and Cyclops), #36 (the one that mocked those Godawful anti-drug Spider-Man inserts from a couple of years back), and #37 (the one that nobody got, which was a plug for Chris Eliopoulos' online strip Desperate Times). I'm not sure why these were left out... because it was too Peanuts-ish, maybe? Because nobody got it? Because Marvel doesn't want to repeat the (hilarious) mocking of their own anti-drug efforts? Anyway, it was disappointing that those strips were missing.
But still, what we're left with is an awesome collection. Aside from the self-taunting and usual hilarity, two surprisingly poignant strips are also included: "Thunderbird's Thanksgiving", which presents a fascinating viewpoint on our American holiday, and the famous Charles Schultz tribute strip starring Wolvie.
There's not much more to say, except that I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's exceptional value for your money with everything it includes. But most importantly, it accomplishes exactly what Marvel tried so hard to do with Not Brand Ecch and What The...?, which is making the Marvel Universe funny. And Giant-Size Mini-Marvels makes the MU very, very funny indeed!
More, please.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!