Every week, I can honestly say that if there is one blog post that I look forward to reading, it’s Paul’s “Best Thing I’ve Read This Week” uploaded every Thursday. And when I say that it’s the one post I look forward to, I mean that for all blogs, not just Star Clipper’s. I’ll probably never read any of the viking books that frequent his lists, but it’s always fun to read the reviews of something that are made by real people. You know, the people who actually pay for what they’re reviewing. And there’s a couple of other Star Clipper patrons out there who have their own blogs or review sites, which are also fun and entertaining to read. And if you happen to have your own reviews page or something, let me know. I’d love to read it. But for now, let’s get to my top picks for the Month of March. Hopefully, these things will feature books that haven’t been covered by the other writers.

So starting off, the last week of March saw the release of The Suicide Forest #4. This would be the final chapter of the miniseries that features the “real-life” suicide forest of Aokigahara in Japan. The final issue starts off with our “heroes” lost in the forest while the hundreds of angry and lost spirits of the forest try to convince and guilt them into killing themselves. And there’s a great reveal about the nature of the relationship between Masami (The Onryo) and Alan (Her still-living boyfriend). It totally changed my opinion on the catalyst of their current conflict. It actually kind of made me feel bad. So, good job to creative team. (El Torres and Gabriel Hernandez)

Next on the list would be Ultimate Muscle Vol 28. This is a book that I feel I can safely say that I may be the only guy in St. Louis who is reading this. It’s been years since I’ve seen a volume on a bookshelf, anywhere. Thankfully, I’ve been special ordering the series from Star Clipper since 2005… Anyway, this volume saw the conclusion of the battle between Ashuraman and Kid Muscle for the control of the final piece of Meat’s (Kid Muscle’s trainer) body. And it’s ok if you didn’t understand that last sentence. But since no one is reading this, I’m just gonna go ahead and spoil this. Kid Muscle wins, but he also loses. He wins the match, but he was unable to save Meat’s body parts from falling into bad demon water that surrounded the pillar of dead wrestlers that held the wrestling ring in the sky. Because of this, Meat’s disassembled body became the host for Akuma Shogun (He’s kinda like the devil of super-human wrestling). And if there are any followers of the original series, Kinnikuman, you’ll know that this is bad news. But then, I’m probably only speaking to 30 people in America at this point. Anyway, I loved this volume, and I can’t wait until the next one is translated. Unfortunately, Vol 29 looks to be the final volume, and it’s gonna include the special Robin Mask/Kevin Mask comics that occurred when the creative team took a break from writing the comic back in… I don’t know… 2007? 2008? Something like that. So unless Viz decides to translate the original series, it looks like we will no longer be blessed with one of the greatest manga of all time. Sadface.

And for my top pick, I choose Hellraiser #1. Clive Barker returns to the series where the “bad guys” aren’t really the bad guys. In this story, we find our favorite lead Cenobite, Pinhead, pondering the decisions of his second life as an avatar of the Hell God, Leviathan. You see, Pinhead has tired of his job. He’s tired of being summoned every so often by those who would solve the Lament Configuration, only to tear that person’s soul apart. And so the very thing that Pinhead traded away for his role as a Cenobite is now his only desire. Humanity. Also, Kirsty, the protagonist from the original novella and 3 of the films returns. I wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of the story arc, she replaces Pinhead in his Cenobite role… But regardless as to where the story leads, I’m here for the long run. Also, there is a back-up story that is actually a reprint of an older Hellraiser comic, that is set to be apart of a new Hellraiser Trade that is due to release in June. So be on the lookout for Hellraiser Masterpieces Vol 1. And if you missed out on the Sold Out 1st printing of the new comic, no worries, a 2nd printing is on it’s way. And to make things even cooler, BOOM! released totally free 8-page prelude to issue #1 on the internet. How sweet is that? It shouldn’t be too hard to find. I found at least 8 links to the download that were attached to websites, plus an absurd amount of tweets that also took you to a download.

At this point, I’m thinking that three “mini-reviews” is enough, however, there is one more comic that I’d like to add as a special mention. Cyclops #1 aka “The King of the Mutants One Shot” aka “The Greatest X-Man #1″ aka “Marvel’s Number One Hero! #1.” My friends, in the month of March, a comic was released that featured a young Cyclops on a solo adventure during his days with the Original 5 X-Men. Highlights of this adventure include Cyclops commenting on how everything thinks he’s some kind of safety nerd (He’s just trying to get everyone to be prepared), Cyclops steals some dude’s bike and leaves a note about it, and Cyclops solos Baron Zemo and his colorful henchmen. Cyclops is no nerd. And even though this was a fluff one-shot that may or may not tie into the X-Men/First Class crossover that’s happening in June, it’s still cool to see a Cyclops solo comic on the shelves.

So, that’s it for March. See ya.

-Fleet

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