Vacation and a break from comics reading to read books and watch movies has slowed my progress through the box of independent comic books that I’m looking to pare down, but I do have six books that I can give quick verdicts on.  A number of these were books that I actually never paid for because they were given to me or I grabbed them on Free Comic Book Day, so the Keep, Sell, Donate, or Trash decision seems to be coming a lot easier.

Critters #28 (Fantagraphics Books):  A humor book that seems to be a more adult version of a funny animal book.  It’s from the late 1980s/early 1990s so it might be a dollar book on eBay or something, and someone might find this more funny than I did. Sell.

Bat Thing #1 (Amalgam Comics):  Okay, technically not an independent comic book because Amalgam was a joint publishing effort between DC and Marvel back in the late 1990s during DC vs. Marvel and subsequent other crossovers.  But I had thrown it in the independent pile (and it was the only Amalgam book that was in that box).  I had read a number of those back in the day (sold them years ago), but never this.  It’s a cross between Man Bat and Man Thing written by Larry Hama and while it was fun to read, it’s a pretty pedestrian story about a man who became a monster and can never see his family again.  If you see it in a quarter bin, it might be worth it.  Donate.

Badger #52 (First Comics, 1989); #1 (Dark Horse, 1994); “vs. Putin” (Devil’s Due/First 2016 FCBD Mix Tape):  A Mike Baron-created hero that I had heard of and going in assumed was probably something along the lines of the Ferret books I’d eviscerated earlier.  Not so.  Baron’s work here is just as fun as what he did on Flash and The Punisher a couple of years before and the book is a good mix of humor and action.  It’s not an “I’m going to collect all of this now” book, but if I come across an issue or two on the cheap, I may pick them up. Keep.

Devil’s Due Mix Tape 2016 (Devil’s Due/First Comics):  The rest of this issue wasn’t really that interesting, but I’m holding it for the aforementioned Badger story. Keep.

ROM #0/Action Man FCBD Special (IDW): From 2016, I remember picking this up because a number of my podcasting friends have a fondness for the Marvel ROM: Spaceknight series from the 1980s.  It was a fun read but not enough for me to pick up the ongoing.  There was also a printing error–one of those weird smudges on several pages that make the book appear as if someone had spilled something on it.  The Action Man story was all right.  Trash.

Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Mirror Broken FCBD Special (IDW): The main permise is a Mirror Universe story that shows promise, but as much as I enjoyed watching TNG when it was on, it’s not my favorite Trek.  There are a few other previews, including a Green Lantern/Star Trek crossover that looked promising, but none of this was enough for me to keep reading.  Trash.

Star Trek: Manifest Destiny #1 (IDW):  I remember buying this and reading it when it first came out because while it’s a “Kelvin Timeline” story, I saw the variant cover that mimicked the poster for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (which is my favorite Trek movie poster of all time).  There’ some good stuff in here including laser fights with Klingons and redshirts dying.  It’s only a four-issue miniseries, so I’m going to track the rest of it down. Keep.

Star Wars: Dark Empire II #5 (Dark Horse):  I read this when it first came out years ago and I’ve always had mixed feelings about Dark Horse’s “Dark Empire Trilogy.”  There are elements I enjoy about the first one and its sequel and remember the third series (“Empire’s End”) being rushed and lackluster.  I believe that my local library has this in a trade paperback, so I can check this out if I want. Trash.

A couple more keepers than I expected out of this batch.  I’m hoping to get back on the regular with reading and doing these quick reviews (especially since I’d love to have that box pared down/cleaned out by the end of 2019).