Green Hornet, Vol. 2: Birth of a Villain
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Ronilson Freire
Colors by Marcio Menyz
Letters by Troy Peteri
Collection Cover by Paolo Rivera
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 26, 2014
Cover Price: $24.99

Green Hornet, Vol. 2 contains the final chapters of writer Mark Waid‘s excellent run with Green Hornet. That’s the bad news. The good news is, we got thirteen fantastic issues of The Green Hornet from Waid, and who knows? Maybe someday he’ll come back to the character.

95% of the time, Waid can do no wrong. OK, I’m sure he’s had his misses in the past, but I really can’t think of one off the top of my head. From the industry-changing Kingdom Come to The Flash to The Fantastic Four to Empire and beyond, he’s done it all, and done it very well. This book is no exception. What we get here is what The Green Hornet is SUPPOSED to be! I’m talking about what he was created for. Fighting crime, undercover, in the 1930s. Not some updated version where changes are made just for changes sake. You get the Green Hornet being a criminal in the presence of other criminals and the police, but secretly foiling sinister criminal plots and, in a very roundabout way, saving the day. The plot is fairly intricate, but not at any time confusing or misleading. Besides that, you’ve got pretty much everything in this volume. Romance, spying, mystery, intrigue, friendship, Nazis, and a really important lesson about legacy.

Flash Gordon 2014 Holiday Special
Written by Dan McCoy, Elliot Kalan, and Stuart Wellington
Art by Lara Margarida, Stephen Downey and Joseph Cooper
Colors by Omi Remalante
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Evan Shaner & Jordie Bellaire and Ken Haeser & Blair Smith
Dynamite Entertainment
Cover A | Cover B
Release Date: December 17, 2014
Cover Price: $5.99

The Flash Gordon 2014 Holiday Special is a gift in itself. I mean, how many OTHER publishers put out Holiday specials this year? I believe Dynamite was one of only two. And what better character to get his own Holiday special than Flash Gordon? Sure, it would’ve been interesting to see a Holiday book from either The Shadow or Doc Savage or Red Sonja or even Battlestar Galactica, but in my opinion, the Flash Gordon universe offered the most opportunity story-wise, and the creative teams didn’t disappoint.

Flash Gordon Annual 2014
Written by Chris Eliopoulos, Ben Acker, Ben Blacker, Jeff Parker and Nate Crosby
Art by Chris Eliopoulos, Faith Erin Hicks, Lee Ferguson, Jeremy Treece, Craig Rousseau
Colors by Jeremy Treece, Marissa Louise, Omi Remalante
Letters by Chris Eliopoulos, Simon Bowland,
Cover art by Marc Laming & Jordan Boyd
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 26, 2014
Cover Price: $7.99

Flash Gordon Annual 2014 is a really more than just an annual. It’s a love letter to the franchise from the creators that all had their work published in it. And, boy, there sure were a lot of them. With five different stories covering the whole Flash Gordon universe, almost nothing goes untouched. But, is it worth the $7.99 price tag and your time?

Conan The Avenger #8
Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Brian Ching
Colors by Michael Atiyeh
Letters by Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover art by John Picacio
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: November 26, 2014
Cover Price: $3.50

Conan The Avenger #8 is the second part in “The Damned Horde” storyline that was started last issue. Conan and a VERY mixed up army set out to rescue the sister of one of their own, who’s being held prisoner by a weirdly SOUTHERN villain. I wasn’t aware that Cimmeria had a Mason-Dixon line.

Writer Fred Van Lente delivers another solid issue of Conan. There’s a lot going on this issue, and if you haven’t read part one of this story, I suggest you do so before picking up this issue. First, because it’s awesome; and second, just so you’re up to speed on Conan and his mission, allies, enemies, and victims. This… is the fun part of the story. Where all the action is, where the plan is set into motion. Also, we get to find out a little bit more about the “bad guy” behind all this, as well as the “damsel in distress” that was introduced last issue. There’s some great classic Conan characterization in this issue. Van Lente proves that Conan is many things besides a barbarian. In fact, he’s a LOT more: strategist, leader, motivator, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Magnus: Robot Fighter #8
Written by Fred Van Lente
Art by Cory Smith & Felipe Cunha
Colors by Mauricio Wallace
Letters by Marshall Dillion
Covers by Gabriel Hardman and Cory Smith
Magnus Logo Design by Rian Hughes
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 19, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

Magnus: Robot Fighter #8 is a pretty important issue. Now, I do have a confession to make: I haven’t been following the title for a few months, so I was skeptical as to the level of enjoyment that I would get out of this issue. Would I be able to jump right back into the title and not be lost? Would I still care? The answer to both those questions, is a great big YES!