Joe Hill: Rain (Complete Series)

Comics: Joe Hill: Rain 1-5

Where Purchased: Earth Prime Comics in Burlington, Vermont

When Purchased: 1 - January 13, 2022 // 2 & 3 - March 19, 2022 // 4 - May 7, 2022 // 5 - June 29, 2022

When Read: November 3, 2024

I picked up this series as it came it out on the strength of the author's name.  Though I had not read anything by Joe Hill,  I knew who he was and had heard good things about his Locke & Key series.   It still took me over two years to sit and read this.

It is very good.  The story is from Hill's original novella, adapted by David M. Booher with art from Zoe Thorogood.  It fits into world-ending apocalypse genre but is a really intimate look at how that world-ending apocalypse impacts one person on the cusp of beginning her real life.

It involves a mini-journey through the ruins and focuses on only three characters.  There is a twist that I did not see coming.

The art is gorgeous but might not be for everyone.  There are some gruesome scenes.

I still get my comics in their traditional format but this might've been one to pick up in a collected edition. I am surprised that this didn't make a bigger splash when it came out. It is a solid 8 out of 10.

And a minor nitpick...the publisher lists this as Joe Hill's Rain while mycomicshop.com calls it Rain (2022 Image) Joe Hill's and my database software has it as Joe Hill: Rain.  The covers just say Rain, while the indica has both Rain and JOE HILL'S RAIN.

Here is the official write up from Image Comics (https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/rain):

On a seemingly normal August day in Boulder, Colorado, the skies are clear, and Honeysuckle Speck couldn't be happier. She's finally moving in with her girlfriend Yolanda. But their world is literally torn apart when dark clouds roll in and release a downpour of nails-splinters of bright crystal that shred the skin of anyone not safely under cover. RAIN makes vivid this escalating apocalyptic event, as the deluge of nails spreads across the country and around the world, threatening everything young lovers Honeysuckle and Yolanda hold dear. So begins a gripping 5-issue presentation of New York Times bestselling author JOE HILL's acclaimed novella, adapted by rising stars DAVID M. BOOHER , ZOE THOROGOOD, and CHRIS O'HALLORAN.

 

Marvel Team-Up #13

 

Comic: Marvel Team-Up #13

Where Purchased: Most Excellent Comics & Gaming in Enfield, Connecticut

When Purchased: September 26, 2024

When Read: November 2, 2024

I've never been a huge Spider-Man fan.  Only one series ever was in my pull list and that was 2019's  Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.  And that I picked up because of the writer...which I am pretty sure I told him on social media when it was coming out and had a pleasant back and forth with him.  

Marvel Team-Up is another one of those books that I had picked up issues here or there...when a character I liked would guest star or if I needed a sympathy buy at a store I stopped in.  And then it reached the point that I had enough of them to justify adding the missing ones to my Want List in an effort to complete the series.

Which brings us to issue 13.  This was a fun little romp.  I like the way the story unfolds in that Spider-Man comes across some bad guys who exclaim "No...not him!  Not him, too!?!" when they see him.  I like that, in theory, there could've been a whole other comic running parallel to this that meets up at this point (ala Avengers Annual #14 and Fantastic Four Annual #19 in 1985) as Spider-Man finds out a few panels later that Captain America is fighting them.

I am not sure why I didn't pick this up sooner in my collecting history.  Avengers were my go to group (despite not collecting any of the solo titles) and the villain of this issue is the Grey Gargoyle who was the baddie in some of the first back issues I ever bought.

All in all, a story indicative of the time and a way to show the interconnectedness of the Marvel Universe.  I gave it a 7 out of 10 in the database.

I bought it at a cool little store in Connecticut called Most Excellent Comics & Gaming.  I first visited the store on Nan's birthday in 2019, at which time I picked up 15 gap filling comics.  I went back in November 2022 while Nan attended a photography class in Brattleboro.  I grabbed 33 gap fillers on that trip (and more at three other stores the same day!).  I am pretty sure I snagged a few action figures, too.

When we moved last year I was closer and able to go again in October after giving blood nearby.  The shop had changed a bit...back issues were a little less organized and a little less robust.  I was still able find some comics I wanted.  And when I stopped in around a work trip this past September, I found this issue along with some other issues on the want list.

As of today, this was the most recent issue of the title I have purchased.  With being able to check this off my list, I am only missing issues 2, 3, and 15.  All are obnoxiously hard to find at a reasonable price right now.  But my fingers are crossed.

Marvel Two-In-One #90

 

Comic: Marvel Two-In-One #90

Where Purchased: Richie's Comic Cabana in Waterbury, Connecticut

When Purchased: May 4, 2024

When Read: October 29, 2024

For the longest time, for series like this or Marvel Team-Up, I would get the issues that either had characters I liked as guest stars or featured a creative team that I enjoyed.  And then titles like this became easy books to snag if I visited a shop that didn't have much to offer me but I wanted to buy something to support them.

Then I'd assess my collection and recognize that I was getting near a full run so the missing issues would end up on my want list so that I could complete the run.  This series is now on the "Need to Complete" list so when I found this in the wild it was an easy pick up.

This is a fairly standard, straight-forward comic from the era.  Basically, Spider-Man and the Thing team up to fight a medieval wizard that possess a Renaissance Fair magician. Written by Jan Strand who also wrote a mini-series about the Atom for DC around this time that I really liked and have been hankering to reread for a while now.

I gave it a solid 6 out of 10.

I picked it up on Free Comic Book Day this year.  One of the benefits of our move is the proximity to so many comic shops.  I'll save the big story about this year's adventure for another time.

One of our stops was at Richie's Comic Cabana.  I had ordered a few comics from Richie's via eBay the previous August.  I'll share all about that purchase sometime soon, too.

But I knew about the physical location and we made it one of our three stops.  It was delightful chaos.  So many great books and such great prices. 

And after a few other recent purchases, I am only missing issues 2, 3, 6, and 8 of this series!  Nothing too crazy so I should stumble across them any day now!