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It’s Mania Week!  WrestleMania 34 is this Sunday, and the festivities are already commencing in New Orleans!  In celebration of “The Show of Shows,” Boom! Studios released WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1.

Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1 - Cover
Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1

Like the previous “big four” pay per view anthologies, this book includes four stories of Manias of the past.  We spend time reminiscing with Superstars of past and present, giving a little extra story to what you already saw on TV.  Again, each is individually written and illustrated, which adds a nice assortment to the compilation.

Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1 - The Miz
Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1

“You Can Hate Me Now” lets us into the mind of The Miz, one of the most conceited Superstars on the WWE roster today. We look back at WrestleMania 27, where he battled John Cena for the WWE Championship. Julian May’s story takes us through the main event, complete with The Rock‘s interference. The artwork of Michel Mulipola is action-packed, and he captures The Miz’s egotistical smirk perfectly.

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Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1 - Miss Elizabeth and Macho Man
Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1

Writer Ryan Ferrier and artist Kendall Goode team up again to take us on another whirlwind adventure with Macho Man Randy Savage in “When a Macho Man Loves a Woman.” After losing the retirement match from WrestleMania 7, we go on a fast-paced adventure through an amusement park with Macho Man and his reunited Miss Elizabeth, all while Sensational Sherri tries to sabotage their perfect day. The retro art is apropos, and the diagonal panels give the flow a playful pace.

Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1 - Steamboat and Savage
Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1

We get another Macho Man story in “Iron Sharpens Iron.” This time, Lan Pitts takes us back to Wrestlemania III and we meet Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and George “The Animal” Steele. Their story is fun, but I wanted a little more between the competitors’ valets, as “The Animal” had developed a crush on Miss Elizabeth, and this wasn’t touched on in this story. Jake Elphick and Doug Garbark’s artwork and colors are chunky and bright, giving an effervescent approach to the match.

Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1 - Stephanie McMahon
Boom! Studios: WWE WrestleMania 2018 Special #1

The perfect person to write about the most powerful woman in the WWE is Tini Howard. Known for writing bad-ass, dominant women, she captures the sass and sophistication of Stephanie McMahon in “The Authority Wears Prada.” Rodrigo Lorenzo’s artwork also conveys the sexiness, strength, and intimidation that Stephanie radiates. I was crazy excited for her to get her own story, as this year we’ll see Stephanie get into the ring with her husband Triple H to compete against Kurt Angle and the much-anticipated debut of Ronda Rousey.

This is another great collection of stories from the world of the WWE. While the Stephanie McMahon story was my favorite of any of the compilations thus far, I was disappointed with the lack of variety in the talent that they chose to feature. The WWE is full of amazing characters both past and present. It’s time to let them shine in the glossy pages of the comic world as well.

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Kimberly Cook
Kimberly hails from the town that brought us SLAP SHOT and ALL THE RIGHT MOVES. She uses The Force to open all automatic doors. She became a Harley Quinn fan before it was cool to be a Harley Quinn fan. She loves peeking behind the curtain of kayfabe. Ferris Bueller is her hero. She lives in a tiny castle with her husband (who she met in the video game aisle of Toys R Us), 3 cats, and Wicket the Ewok dog. Kimberly is a TV, movie, and comic critic - her cups of tea include writing about badass women, WWE, Marvel, DC, The Walking Dead, and more. Be sure to follow her adventures on all of her social media links below. And while you're at it, be sure to follow Monkeys Fighting Robots & POPAXIOM across all social media platforms, too!
review-wwe-wrestlemania-2018-specialAnother fun set of short stories featuring our favorite WWE Superstars of the past and present. I would have liked a little more variety in the featured talent, but this is still a fun book that gets me excited to see what fun the WWE has planned for WrestleMania 34 which airs live on the WWE Network on Sunday, April 8.