Title: Gigantic (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Rick Remender (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Doug Zawisza (Review 1) and Timothy Callahan (Review 2) (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review:

Review 1 - Gigantic #1 - I've had this book on my radar since I first learned of it in those early solicits months ago (curse you "Previews"!). It looked like good fun to me. The basic premise is that a giant robot (man in an armor suit?) lands on Earth to defend the planet against invaders. That isn't anything mind-blowing. Remender adds in a twist that the appearance on Earth is just a backdrop for intergalactic entertainment, a wink and a nod or a dig and a poke at the state of the entertainment industry, or perhaps even the state of society and our "need" for entertainment.

"Gigantic" has been billed as a Godzilla movie mixed into the plot of "The Truman Show," and honestly, it doesn't stray too far from that billing. It does, however, offer a premise that promises big-screen adventure and visuals, magnificently rendered by Eric Nguyen and gorgeously colored by Matthew Wilson.

This issue may seem a little thin, but it is a first issue and it doesn't spend the entire time belaboring the setup of yet another self-inclusive comic book universe. We're given the high points, and set right down in the middle of the action. You almost expect to see credits roll or a commercial pop in at some point. I'm not worried about that right now. This issue provides a high-octane big-screen spectacle to grab the reader's attention. I am quite confident we'll learn more about the protagonist in the next issue.

With that in mind, this is easily one of the strongest debut issues I've read in quite some time. The concept is delivered, the settings are presented and the action gets moving. I don't want to spoil anything, but suffice to say, this story takes a more realistic look at the collateral that spills out of a giant robot stomping through a major metropolis, and I'm quite certain the initial ratings are going to be pretty high.



Review 2 - Gigantic #5 - Fourteen months after the first issue of Rick Remender and Eric Nguyen's "Gigantic" appeared on the shelves, it finally reaches its issue #5 conclusion. But I'll take quality over speed of release any day, and this final installment is a strong finish, indeed.

Between the debut of this series and this concluding chapter, Remender's work at Marvel has exploded -- doing fantastic stuff with "Punisher," and launching a new "Dr. Voodoo" series to delve into the realm of Mighty Marvel Mysticism -- and Nguyen helped usher in the end of "The Eternals" with a short run as artist on that comic. Remender has been much more successful with mainstream superhero stuff than Nguyen (whose "Eternals" didn't capture 1/10th of the dynamism of his work elsewhere), but their collaboration on "Gigantic" has been excellent.

Essentially, "Gigantic" is a mecha series -- big, badass robots in action -- but with aliens, an intergalactic reality show, and humanity. It satirizes the thirst for gladiatorial violence, or the way we seek pleasure in watching the real-life misery of others on television. But it does that with explosive action and enormous metal dudes punching each other in the face. So it makes for good comics. You won't see a lot of talking heads or people standing around debating the merits of exploiting civilians, and if you do, at least Nguyen makes them visually interesting, what with the levitating mutated humans with broccoli brains or a displaced farmer in overalls talking with an a fifteen-foot-tall alien producer of sleazy entertainment.

It all makes sense in context, trust me.

The heart of this story is the tale of two brothers, siblings who have been separated for decades -- one who has stayed home on the farm, and one who has become famous across the galaxy for his gladiatorial exploits, whether he wanted to or not. And this has been a brutal five issues, with tragic human loss (including the daughter of one of the brothers), and cataclysmic destruction on Earth. It's what makes the comic -- and this issue in particular -- work so well. It's that contrast between the big, dumb fun of robot on robot action with the real sense of pain and suffering from the humans caught in the crossfire. And it's that contrast between the humble, farmer of a brother and the megalithic interplanetary production crew that would tear apart his world for nothing but ratings. Remender integrates it all, tonally, and Nguyen's artwork makes you believe in it.

The final page of this issue implies that we may have just witnessed an origin story, the birth of a new robot-mutated human-farmer trio of heroes, ready to take on anything that would jeopardize the peace and prosperity of their planet. But it also feels like a satisfying end as well, Rick Remender's way of saying goodbye to a personal project as he devotes more time to the Marvel Universe. Whether there's more "Gigantic" in the future or not, this has been a heart-rending, yet fun, five-issue ride.

More info:

Writer: Rick Remender
Penciller: Eric Nguyen
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Genre: Action/Adventure

 

Title: The Last Days of American Crime (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Rick Remender (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Guy_Jen (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review: The Last Days of American Crime #2

The Last Days of American Crime is another Rick Remender creator-owned book that is riddled with his originality and twists. Best described as a Science Fiction and Crime book, the basic premise is, what if the government announced that in a few days it would be sending a transmission that made it impossible to commit a crime through a type of mind control. As if that was not enough we are thrust into a world that no longer has a use for paper money.

This story shows that two genres that generally do not mix are compatible and interesting when meshed together with great skill and great art. Plus, how could you not feel like you’re getting your money’s worth when you are only paying two dollars more and you’re getting three times the content as a normal comic? The issue is like a mini trade paperback.

Now take the small scenario and think about what criminals would be doing once they heard that. That’s right, everyone is committing as much crime as they can before this signal is broadcast. That can mean anything from simply feeding their drug and sex habits to pulling off one of the largest heists in all of history. Add the fact that instead of just stealing paper money that the heist has to involve extremely sophisticated hacking skills and you get the perfect mix to make an extremely compelling story. Every page has you on the edge of your seat with action and intrigue as well as disgust and shock at the actions being committed.

All right, just to break it down for you this issue takes us past a plot set up and throws us into full force action. Let me just say it’s some of the most well put together action scenes in all of comics by the way. Graham and Shelby are thrown into a really fraked up interrogation with Graham’s old partners for the heist, who basically are trying to get their cut of the money that they were originally promised. While this is all going down Kevin is trying to get the laser cutter that the group needs to pull of the safe job so that Shelby can do her hacking thing. Add all the romantic tension into the mix and the background of America fighting over whether or not it is okay for the government to control its citizens’ minds even if it is for the greater good.

Now I would like to take a moment to feature the art by Greg Tocchini which fits perfectly. You would think that it would be hard to find someone who could make a distinct look for an original idea of Science Fiction mixed with a Crime feel but Tocchini does this perfectly. Oh yeah and if the crime aspect didn’t already tell you this the art will, this book is NOT for children. It is graphic in all the great ways. That’s right everyone gets their share of boobs, blood, and foul language. It’s fairly hard to classify Tocchini’s style but if I had to compare it to anything I would say it is a mix between Scalped and Criminal with a little bit of freshness with the color pallet.

Let me break it down for you more: Do you like Remender? Do you like crime stories? Do you like alternate futures? Do you like great art? Would you like to see someone stabbed through the temple with a screwdriver? If you said yes to any or all of these you need to go grab The Last Days of American Crime #1 and #2 and catch up before you miss out on one of the best new comics I have read since Chew and Sweet Tooth started.

More info:

Written by: Rick Remender
Art by: Greg Tocchini
Cover by: Alex Maleev
Letters by: Rus Wooton

Title: Zorro Rides Again (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Matt Wagner (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Poet Mase (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review: Zorro Rides Again #2

Sometimes effective comic book artwork is stealthy, conveying and supplementing the tale visually without drawing attention to itself. Other times, it's the main event, almost demanding that you mentally pause the story so that you can linger on each rendering. In Zorro Rides Again #2, artist Esteve Polls and colorist Oscar Manuel Martin hit that special sliver between the two where the reader can move with the story and still be floored by the artwork's contributions.

I'm not going to say that this book contains art of the highest quality, but the visual approach taken by Polls and Martin is perfect for its subject matter. From the first page to the last, this book screams spaghetti western, and nothing could highlight and improve upon the book's story more than that. Even with nearly no action sequences of which to speak, Martin's sun-bleached colors and Polls' feathered lines create the distinct impression that the book was recorded at 24 frames per second in the Tabernas desert.

Writer Matt Wagner offers a satisfactory storyline in this book, but he's clearly chosen this issue to function as an expositional repository. We learn a great deal about the relationship between Diego and his father, but the main draw of this story's script is the focus on the inability of family members (especially the males) to seek help from others. It's a strong theme made more compelling by the contrast with the story's female characters and its presentation in a manner befitting the spaghetti western presentation. The sheer volume of text occasionally dominates the page and slows the pace of the book even as it doles out important and interesting details of the characters and their relationships.

Surely, things will pick up quickly in the next issue, but it would be a mistake to overlook this book. The artwork and authenticity of the script should be enough to see even casual Western fans through the story's pacing problems.

More info:

Writer; Matt Wagner
Art: Esteve Polls
Publisher: Dynamite

Title: X-Men Noir (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Fred Van Lente (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Paul Brian McCoy (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review: X Men Noir #2

What am I to make of a comics community that disparages a work because it is, as they put it, an "Elseworlds" story? Yes, the Noir titles are not set in continuity. They are set in the 1930s and, so far, do not feature superheroics in the traditional sense, but draw their inspirations from the pulp adventures of the time. I didn't read the Spider-Man Noir that was released a couple of weeks ago since I'm not a Spider-Fan, but I thought the first issue of X Men Noir was fantastic.

No, this series will not have any bearing on the ongoing X-titles. Instead, Van Lente and Calero are giving us a fully realized alternate world, where the X-Men tropes and characters are filtered through a noir sensibility. So instead of mutant powers, these versions have criminal skills that reflect their mainstream names and personalities. It's a lot like Neil Gaiman's 1602, without the shoehorned-in links to actual continuity and super-powers.

As in most noir works, our "heroes" don't reflect your basic black and white moralities. Noir heroes are flawed, usually criminally, and on paths to self-destruction. And that's what these X Men are. Crooked cops and government officials on the take are another staple of the noir style, and we also get that here with The Brotherhood, and in this issue's introduction of Sebastian Shaw and The Hellfire Club.

What's most surprising about this work is how readily the X-Men slip into the X Men scenario. Sure, the motivations are tweaked to more of a "revenge on a corrupt system" angle, and the characterizations are less nobly heroic, but they work really well. The only overt twist from the traditional X-Men world is that Magneto and his Brotherhood are not the enemies of mankind. Here, they are The System. They are the power in town, running things almost completely, and punishing and brutalizing the more traditional criminal element to maintain their own type of order.

This allows an interesting exploration of Magneto's relationship to the rest of the mutant community in the mainstream comics. In the Noir version, Magnus ignores the law in order to force criminals, like last issue's Blackie Cassidy and this issue's references to Angelo Unuscione, or Unus the Untouchable, into line, doing what's best for the real criminal element of the city, Sebastian Shaw. Magnus, so far, doesn't feel any connection to the criminal element, seeing himself as superior. A controller, rather than a leader.

It's a nice variation on the Magneto we're familiar with. His relationship with Shaw also humanizes him somewhat, establishing that he's ultimately just a lackey of the politicos. I don't think this will sit well with him as the story goes on. Magnus isn't a character who will be under someone else's thumb forever.



Aside from telling an entertaining crime story, Van Lente has also filled this book with little nods to X-Men history. Nearly every character is some variation on a traditional character, and I would think that an X-Fan would get a kick out of spotting the references. For example, Moses Magnum is credited as the Urban Planner designing Shaw's city. That was an obvious one, though. I know I'm missing a lot of bits that would make this an even more enjoyable read.

One moment that made me laugh was the use of a recording by Dr. Xavier, describing his X Men. One of Mr. McCoy's "less attractive qualities" is pretty funny, especially when he speaks later and reinforces the Doctor's evaluation. Yes, it's a little silly, but it works for me. Also, if you're a fan of Woody Allen's film Zelig, you might like Van Lente's use of Rogue here.

The art, on the other hand, is the reason this issues drops from 4 to 3.5 bullets. For some reason, Calero's work seems more awkward here. The use of shadows is a little too much, even for a noir story. There are actually a couple of panels where I just can't tell what's happening at all. The action sequence toward the end of the issue is also too murky to follow and confusing in its staging.

And Dr. Xavier is apparently Gandhi this issue. I double-checked, and in the first issue, Ben Kingsley's portrayal of Gandhi was not photo-referenced. This time around, though, it's unmistakable. And a little annoying. There were also a few panels where Magnus seems to be modeled on Rutger Hauer, but that wasn't as distracting, since Calero plays with the reference enough to not make it too obvious. The Ben Kingsley swipe is too much, even though I don't usually mind that sort of thing.

On a final note, I want to mention the prose back-up, "The Sentinels" by Bolivar Trask (Fred Van Lente). I don't want to say too much, but if you're a fan of Old-School Scienti-fiction, this is a treat. Van Lente parodies the thirties pulp science fiction style while loading the story with X-Men references. Essentially, this is the story of Nimrod, a Sentinel protecting New New New York from hideous, underground-dwelling Muties. It's good stuff, and helps make this comic something special.

Yes, it is an "Elseworlds " story. But it's a damn good one, with a fully realized alternate world that isn't just a gimmicky twist, but actually utilizes the conventions of Noir to color the traditional presentations of these characters and their relationships. When did we, as a community, decide that the quality of a story isn't as important as its role in continuity? That's what I don't get. If you dismiss this book because it's not in continuity, or not "real," then you are living up to any insulting ridicule that gets hurled at comic readers. You are a cliche.

More info:

Writer: Fred Van Lente
Artist: Dennis Calero
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Title: Hellboy: The Corpse (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Mike Mignola (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Kelvin Green (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review:

It’s almost pointless to review this, since it’s only 25¢ issue, and if it’s awful, you’re not really losing out. Well, it’s not. Awful, that is. It may still be pointless to review it though. Oh well. Dark Horse have done a very good thing in releasing this for such a cheap price as it’s exactly the type of move that’ll bring in new readers, albeit new readers who already frequent comic shops, unless they’re going to pass them around in the cinemas when the film comes out. After seeing X2, I’m not sure I’d start picking up the X-Men comics (if I could find them), as two or three dollars is a bit steep for a try-out, no matter how good the film. But 25¢ for a self-contained story? That’ll do nicely.

It’s classic Hellboy (literally, since it’s a reprint). The story is rather slight, and there’s not a lot going on, but it’s told with Mike Mignola’s trademark energy and humour that make it easy to overlook such flaws. If they are flaws in this context, as Mignola has often said that the point of Hellboy, despite its horror trappings, is an emphasis on fun, and that comes across quite clearly. Similarly the art is simplistic and stylised, but it suits both the creepy horror and Kirbyesque action perfectly.

At the time of writing, I’ve not seen the film yet, and am only slightly acquainted with the Hellboy comics, but for me this comic serves as an excellent introduction to the character and his world. If Dark Horse can get this into the hands of non-Hellboy-reading comics fans, and non comics-reading-Hellboy fans, then I’m confident that they’ll see an increase in sales. And if nothing else, this shows that comics can be “Bang! Pow! Biff!” without that being the embarrassment many comics fans think. Sandman and Hellblazer might be mature and thoughtful takes on horror and mysticism in comics, but rarely are they this much fun.

More info:

Creators: Mike Mignola
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Editor: Scott Allie
Cover Artist: Mike Mignola
Genre: Horror, Action/Adventure
Publication Date: March 24, 2004

Title: I Killed Adolf Hitler (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Jason (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Matthew J. Brady (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review:

The Norwegian cartoonist Jason has a unique, fascinating style, using simplistic animal figures for his characters and deceptively sparse details in his backgrounds. While some of his books (like this one) have dialogue, many of them are wordless (or nearly so), using pantomime to convey the deadpan humor of his stories. I'm especially impressed with his character work; the faces are nearly expressionless, with large, pupil-less eyes and mouths that are either a simple line or an open gap. But even with this minimalist style, he conveys expression and emotion wonderfully, using furrowed brows, sweat drops, and body language in a very effective manner. It makes for a fascinating read, since it's hard to tell why these simple-looking stories are so compelling.

The loopy, fantastical plots probably help. In this book, the story takes place in a world where contract killing is apparently legal. The unnamed main character is one of these hitmen, and after an opening in which he goes about his job without any emotion, as if he's working in a cubicle, he gets hired to go back in time and kill Adolf Hitler. Unfortunately, the plan goes wrong: Hitler survives, steals the time machine, and returns to the present, and the killer is left in the past to live out his life and come after Hitler again as an old man. It's a funny twist and a fun idea on which to hang a story, but the real heart of the book comes in the scenes of the aged killer reconnecting with his old girlfriend, with whom he broke up just before he went to the past and has spent the last 60-or-so years thinking about. There are a series of beautiful scenes in which the two of them awkwardly talk about his life and their memories of their time together (it was a lot longer ago for him than for her), with simple gestures conveying the deep emotion. It's very resonant, with another good twist at the end that ties the story up in a nice bow.

It's really a beautiful little book, if a bit short for the price ($12.95 for 48 pages). But Jason's work deserves to be pored over, studied, and pondered. The beautifully simple art and wonderful storytelling are well worth any cost.

More info:

Writer: Jason
Artist: Jason
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
48 pages of full-color comics

Title: Helios: Under the Gun (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Jason Rand (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Dave Baxter (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review: Helios: Under the Gun #4

The first 12-issue arc comes to a close for this little small press success, with a tense, contained, well-paced finale that is as satisfying as it is open-ended.

Quote-unquote conclusions inside the comic-book medium – what with ideally forever-ongoing, never-cancelled books – are tricky wee bastards to manage well. Not only is an honest climax needed, with resolutions that both impact the characters, their world, and also reach closures that at least pretend to bring certain journeys to an end, but additionally the series hopes to continue, and that means readers should feel like coming back for more, never feel as though any given finale is a best-to-leave-it-as-it-is place to drop the title and move on. Television usually has the upper hand on this over comics, but writer Jason Rand seems to have picked up on all of the right queues, because Under the Gun #4 feels just like a "season finale," and a damn good one at that.

The skinny: Colonel Jack Shiels, along with the three original NTF neogenics (super-humans), storm the White House in a bid to capture the President’s undivided attention. They hope to reveal to the Commander-in-Chief the hidden conspiracy that has hounded them since Helios’ very first issue, oh so many a moon ago. But the vile Senator Strickland and General Harlowe have sicced the new NTF team, as well as a veritable army of armed forces and federal agents to stop them and arrest them for the cause of treason. To make matters worse, some of those other NTF men and women are in on the scheme….

Writer Rand (best known for his Image series Small Gods), knows how to tell a story, and while his pacing isn’t always all that it could be, his characterization is phenomenal, and his plotting inside this big-big culmination is spot-on enough to keep readers flipping the pages faster than they should, skipping over dialogue just to get the suspense over and done with. This is absolutely one of those chapters you can barely control yourself from cheating and peeking to the end; thankfully, I kept my self-control and the result was a fabulously thrilling read, one where you know something big is going to happen, but damn it all if you just can’t tell what or when. Due to the complexity of this political-espionage-super-hero-action-thriller storyline (and also to its surprising accessibility, even after all these years and mini-series and differing publishers), Rand has kept the playing field wide open, where virtually anything could happen and the plot remains, issue to issue, completely un-guessable.



Relative newcomer Andres Guinaldo also puts forth a masterful mass of pages: his work is solid, strong, and pretty enough, but where he truly excels is in storytelling craftsmanship. The progression of this chapter’s extra-sized tale (29 pages!) is a precision example of just how much story can be packed within a seemingly insufficient number of pages without sacrificing an ounce of action or stylized effect. While he’s still more-or-less the new kid on the block, replacing long-time regular Gabe Pena, Guinaldo, in this very issue, seems to have settled in and now his version is fast on its way to being a definitive one. The characters under his characteristic pen(cil) no longer seem out-of-place. The adjustment period is quickly over with, and due to the confidence displayed here, the book and the story and the players are emphatically his.

There’s a lot to love with an "ending" such as this: there’s a big event at the end, and indeed the story does reach an actual, believe-it-or-not wrap, though the ultimate fate of the characters is far from revealed. By winding up the actual story but ending it without closure for the characters, the Helios team both pays off long-time readers and keeps everyone wanting more, more, more. A fanatical amount of nice things have been said about this series, and it’s getting to be a downright pain to have to keep coming up with new ways to give the same damn advice, but each issue manages to deserve it nevertheless. This is a very, very, very good comic. It’s proven itself as both consistent, and continuing, and even convincing, despite all the odds. Definitely give it a try and drop All-Star Batman and Robin. You know you want to, and this one’s cheaper, too.

More info:

* Words: Jason Rand
* Art: Andres Guinaldo
* Inks: Kwang-young Hyun
* Colors: Transparency Digital

Title: Memoir (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Ben McCool (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Morgan Davis (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review: Memoir #1

There’s an undeniable swagger to Memoir that’s clear from its first panel, which plays out not unlike parts of Inglourious Basterds' opening. Before anything about the story is clear we’re placed in the headspace of a man and two children, who are hidden away avoiding someone or something. There’s nothing to indicate what the threat is; all we see are the tears streaming down their faces as water flows down the front of their hiding spot in a similar fashion. The moment is rich and rewarding and that’s mostly because of the confident pencils of Nikki Cook.

Nikki Cook’s art has a strange magnetism to it, full of bold choices and risks that almost always pay off. Cook’s work on Memoir is, in a way, disturbing. Part of that is because of the ugliness she unflinchingly gives her characters, which is an ugliness that isn’t meant to be hypnotizing in the way Charles Burns or Frank Quitely’s work can sometimes be, but instead an ugliness that screams truth.

Truth is perhaps the best quality to attach to Memoir’s brand of swagger since its best moments, such as that note-perfect opening, are concerned with the darker aspects of humanity, a theme that works extremely well with Cook’s art even if the story doesn’t seem to quite know what to do with itself just yet.



We’re placed in the narrative care of one Trent MacGowan, an asshole reporter who seems to think the world belongs to him. It’s not entirely clear whether Ben McCool wants MacGowan to appear cocky or just an outright dick but Memoir’s protagonist is, so far, its least welcome component. MacGowan has been tasked with following up on the decade-old story of Lowesville, a town with a population that has apparently been mind-wiped. Something happened in Lowesville but no one living there has any memory of it, or even who they were before the incident happened though the issue’s ending twist offers up some unsavory suggestions.

Every moment with MacGowan is nearly torture as the brash, basically incompetent reporter goes about investigating his story with all of the subtlety of a rhino in a toy store. McCool could be toying with us and diverting us from the true story by putting us in the hands of such a jackass of a protagonist, but in this first issue it’s hard to tell. Working with an unreliable or unlikeable narrator is always a hard gamble, but luckily the other elements of McCool’s story flow together nicely.

Lowesville in particular, as Cook draws it, is endlessly fascinating. Looking like a hybrid of Lynchian small town eeriness and populated by figures of Cronenbergian anatomical creepiness, Lowesville is the ingredient that makes this dish. Cook’s handling of Lowesville alone makes Memoir worth the glance and if McCool can find his narrative footing and start pulling as much weight as his artist, Memoir could just be another surprise hit from Image.

More info:

Author: Ben McCool
Art: Nikki Cook
Publisher: Image

Title: Unthinkable (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Mark Sable (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Bill Janzen (Review 1) and Dave Wallace (Review 2) (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review:

Review 1 - Unthinkable #1 - When it comes to comics, I'm one of the majority--I'm into Marvel. Give me some good, new Dark Reign tie-in issues these days and I'm a happy man. So it takes some kind of special little spark to get me into a non-superhero type comic. The plot of Unthinkable has that spark.

Alan Ripley is a writer who focuses on disaster and terrorist scenarios. In reaction to the disaster the government hires Ripley and a few other people with a penchant for dreaming up bizarre threats and puts together a think tank to hopefully predict such "unthinkable" attacks so that they can stop them from happening again in the future. The project is shut down shortly later, only to have the scenarios that they dreamed up actually start happening 8 years later. Who's to blame? And what can Ripley do when no one believes him, and there's no proof that the secret think tank project ever even existed?

I love a good mystery and Unthinkable #1 is definitely a good mystery. Who can even read the summary above without wanting to know what happens? Writer Mark Sable sets up a great plot that I can't wait to keep following, with a main character and supporting cast that are quirky enough to seem real and interesting.

The art also serves the story well with just enough grit to give it a real world edge without devolving into the blobby characters that some projects from smaller studios do. Artist Julian Tedesco does a great job with everything from facial expressions, to action, to body figures, to vehicles and buildings. The coloring even adds to the effect as they bypass a straight attempt at realism and focus on a few central tones that help give a bit of an otherworldly edge to the comic's look.

Overall, Unthinkable #1 is a great start to what will hopefully be a great series. Both writer and artist have given us quality here and the first chapter of an intriguing story. If you're looking for an extra title to pick up, this is one with a promising start.



Review 2 - Unthinkable #5 - This concluding issue of Unthinkable certainly packs a lot into its pages. After last issue's cliffhanger revealed that Alan Ripley's brother, Steven, was still alive, writer Mark Sable is left with just 22 pages to explain how this twist jibes with the story of the last four issues, to explore Steven's motivations and methods, and to give the story a decent ending. It's a pretty tall order -- and, if I'm honest, I'm not sure that this issue quite manages to give the series a send-off that matches the quality of the first four chapters.

Sable gets the necessary exposition out of the way at an early stage, explaining how Steven managed to survive the 9/11 attacks and clueing us in on what he's been up to since then. It's a fast-paced chapter, with quite a lot of information to absorb, but the writer manages to lay it all out clearly whilst still finding the time to toss in a few imaginative sci-fi ideas of the kind that regular readers have come to expect of the book.

However, when it comes to tying up the series' loose ends, there's a sense that Sable has left too much to do with too little space to do it. In addition to providing a final showdown between the two brothers, Sable has to give some of the book's secondary relationships a certain amount of payoff, whilst also making it clear that there may be more stories to tell in the world of Unthinkable, should there be an audience for them. It's a lot to cram into just a few pages, and the book can't help but feel a little rushed and overly compressed during its final moments.

Julian Totino Tedesco's artwork remains strong, with a dark, shadowy quality that reflects the secretive and mysterious tone of the book well. There are one or two standout images -- such as the ballsy close-up shot of American Airlines Flight 77, the instant before it hit the Pentagon on September 11th -- but for the most part, the visuals are solidly functional, whilst still remaining stylised enough to remain reasonably distinctive and interesting.

If there's any flaw in the visual storytelling, it's that the book doesn't always convey its action smoothly and clearly (for example, the sudden entrance of Alan onto Steven's submarine took me by surprise), but it's difficult to know whether this is the fault of the script, or the artwork, or a combination of both.

The closing twists of Unthinkable give this final issue an "everything you know is wrong" quality that makes for a compelling ending for the series, but one that could really could have done with an extra issue or so, in order to fully explore the implications of Sable's plot developments. Still, if your biggest complaint with a miniseries is that you wanted another issue, I guess that's more of a compliment than anything else.

More info:

Artist: Julian Totino Tedesco
Author: Mark Sable
Cover Artist: Paul Azaceta

Title: Phoenix Without Ashes (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Harlan Ellison (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Thom Young (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review:

I grew up thinking that Harlan Ellison had scripted three episodes of Star Trek. I’m not sure why I thought he had scripted three episodes, but I was sure he had written not only “The City on the Edge of Forever” but also “For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky” as well as a third episode that I believed was either “All Our Yesterdays” or the animated series episode “Yesteryear.” I probably thought that either “All Our Yesterdays” or “Yesteryear” was written by Ellison because both are similar to “The City on the Edge of Forever.” In fact, “Yesteryear” is a sequel to Ellison’s story, which I’m sure Ellison is not pleased about.

Anyway, I was 100% certain that Ellison wrote “For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.” For one thing, that title (which is also a line of dialog in the episode) sounds like an Ellison title (and a line of Ellison dialog). I maintained my mistaken belief until about three years ago when I was researching Ellison’s canon for a project I was working on. Much to my surprise, I discovered that Ellison had only written the award-winning “The City on the Edge of Forever.” I wouldn’t have been as surprised had my research revealed that he had only written two Star Trek episodes; that’s how certain I was that he wrote “For the World is Hollow.”

For those of you who don’t remember (or who never knew), "For the World is Hollow" is the episode in which the crew of the Enterprise discover a large asteroid traveling through space on a collision course with an inhabited planet. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the surface of the asteroid (which has a breathable atmosphere) and they discover that the huge rock has been hollowed out and is actually a spaceship filled with the descendants of a long-dead planet.

These generational sojourners are led by a priestess who serves an artificially intelligent computer called The Oracle, and they have unknowingly been traveling through interstellar space on a voyage that was supposed to take them to a habitable planet that they could colonize. However, their ship has gone off course due to a programing error in The Oracle.

While McCoy falls in love with the beautiful priestess, Kirk and Spock take out The Oracle and then correct the asteroid ship’s flight plan so that it will not crash into the habitable planet. Instead, the ship is back on course and will take the inhabitants to the planet that they were meant to colonize.

Why am I telling you the plot of a Star Trek episode that I mistakenly thought Ellison had writtern?

Well, let me now tell you the plot of Ellison’s new comic book miniseries, Phoenix without Ashes--not the plot of the first issue, but the plot of the entire four-issue series.



Warning: Spoilers Below this Point!

In the 23rd century, the inhabitants of a dying Earth build an 8,000 mile-long generational spaceship of connected pods. Each 50 mile-wide pod is populated by a unique Earth culture.

One of the pods is inhabited by an Anabaptist religious sect that is sort of a cross between the Amish, other Mennonite groups, and 17th-century New England Calvinists. They live in a community called Cypress Corners, which is supposedly governed by an artificially intelligent computer called The Creator that is maintained by the community’s clergy. However, The Creator is no longer functioning, and the clergy are faking the machine's governing messages.

Sounds vaguely familiar, doesn’t it?

But wait, there’s more.

A rebellious young man named Devon discovers that The Creator’s messages are being faked by the clergy, which only fuels his suspicions about the world in which he lives.

You see, Devon is the only one who wonders such things as “why the sky is metal and the ground is not” and “where waste goes when we put it down the trap.”

I half expected Devon to tell the community elders, “for the world is hollow and I have touched the metal sky!" However, Ellison's story is not quite that blatant in its parallels to the Star Trek episode.

Yet, as in "For the World is Hollow," Devon does discover that the generational ship he is on is off course and is heading toward a collision with a star (not an inhabited planet).

In addition to the Star Trek episode, Phoenix without Ashes reminded me a bit of another television episode that I know was written by Ellison--“The Discarded” from the short-lived anthology series Masters of Science Fiction (the series was understandably canceled after four episodes, with Ellison’s “The Discarded” being the fourth).

Here’s the basic plot of “The Discarded”: People infected with a virus that causes mutations have been banished from Earth. Thirty-seven years earlier, they were forced to board a huge generational spaceship so that they could find a new planet on which to live without infecting the rest of humanity.

It’s not exactly the same plot as “For the World is Hollow” and Phoenix without Ashes, but it’s similar. Thus, I became so curious about this "For the World is Hollow" material that Ellison seems to be reworking that I decided to research Phoenix without Ashes before writing a review of the first issue.

I discovered that the original “Phoenix without Ashes” was a teleplay that Ellison wrote as the pilot episode of a television series titled The Starlost that he created, which is how I came to discover the full plot for the comic book series; it’s essentially an adaptation of Ellison’s original teleplay for the Starlost pilot.

The entire Starlost series was about Devon's discovery and exploration of the generational ship that he and the others inhabited. How it is that the people don’t know that their ancestors boarded a spaceship centuries ago is never explained. Did the original travelers collectively decide to keep the information from their offspring? If so, for what purpose?

This lack of a logical explanation for why the people are unaware that they live aboard a generational spaceship is the first strike against Ellison’s Phoenix without Ashes. Without a logical reason for these people to be so ignorant of their situation, the story lacks verisimilitude.*

Another unbelievable aspect of the story is that Ellison's Anabaptist community appears to speak a 17th-century dialect of English while wearing 19th-century clothing.** Oddly, they also live in a community that has late 20th-century public telephone stalls.

Just what culture exactly is being preserved in this pod?

Why would the 23rd-century builders of this generational spaceship have placed antiquated public telephone stalls in the Anabaptist pod?

To be fair, the unaltered teleplay for “Phoenix without Ashes” received a Writers Guild of America Award. Ellison’s original script for the pilot episode of The Starlost was greatly altered--much to his displeasure.

Due to the alterations of his script and lower production values than were originally promised, Ellison had quit the television series that he had created--which was syndicated in Canada and on some US stations. In fact, he was so upset with the show that he took advantage of a clause in his contract that required the producers to use the Cordwainer Bird pseudonym in the credits ("Cordwainer Bird" is the name Ellison uses for projects that he considers subpar).

However, Phoenix without Ashes is not a comic book adaptation of the script that Ellison was upset over (that pilot episode was subsequently retitled "Voyage of Discovery"); it is an adaptation of the original, award-winning teleplay. Obviously, the Writers Guild didn’t have the same problems that I have with the believability of Ellison’s Anabaptist community.

Finally, while the work of illustrator Alan Robinson is certainly adequate in depicting Ellison’s story, there is a sameness to many of his layouts--particularly when depicting Devon running (as he often seems to do; he isn’t a young man who tends to walk to his destinations). The sameness of the layouts ultimately seems to convey a lack of inspiration.

It’s unfortunate that I have so many problems with Phoenix without Ashes (and I don't understand the significance of the title) since I am usually a devout fan of Ellison’s work. I enjoy reading his books, and I usually enjoy television shows made from his scripts.*** However, I will be passing up the remainder of this comic book adaptation of Ellison’s 37-year-old television script.



* The ignorance of the inhabitants of the asteroid spaceship in the Star Trek episode is not a problem because computer chips are implanted in the skulls of the people so that they can be controlled (and punished) by The Oracle computer. Subsequent generations grew up ignorant of their situation because their parents were painfully punished--to the point of death--if they spoke about their world being a generational spaceship.

** While the present-day Mennonite groups may wear 19th-century clothing, the Amish speak contemporary English and/or a dialect of German. Ellison's Anabaptist group speaks in a dialect that seems more akin to that of the New England Calvinists--who, of course, were not Anabaptists.

*** I have not seen The Starlost, which Ellison separated himself from anyway, so the only Ellison-scripted television show I have not liked is "The Discarded" from Masters of Science Fiction.

More info:

Writer: Harlan Ellison
Artist: Alan Robinson
Publisher: IDW Publishing

Title: Ninjas vs. Zombies (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Thomas Chillemi (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Krys (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review:

I am going to start off by saying, if I may be so bold, that this was everything the movie should have been, and a bag of fucking amazing chips!! Not that they sell Fucking Amazing brand tortilla chips, but if they did wouldn’t you buy them? The movie’s scope, in my opinion, was way beyond it’s reach, like a sniper-rifle that fires marshmallows. While watching it all I could think out loud was “Wow this would work so much better as a comic”. And like most women I was totally fucking right!! Lo and behold my 4-color wishes were granted. A totally dialogue driven, action triple-stacked powerhouse of a comic book that came straight off the screen and right between my fingers. Don’t let the blatantly intentional cheesiness of the movie deceive you because this comic outdoes it, and it’s sequel (Ninjas vs. Vampires) in every way possible, and as such gets an FA for fucking awesome right out of the marshmallow filled barrel.

Kyle is an aspiring actor (we call them waiters around here) but instead of the normal “check please” day job he slings Pizzas. He’s a nice guy just trying to see his dreams through, but becoming very bitter as a result of his 9 to 5. His friends all have similar problems. Well as luck would have it, they’re all about to get their big break (not a leg mind you) and not a single one of them would have expected it (even if they had a crystal ball for a brain) to be in the form of zombie killing ninjas!! How the hell can you expect that?! One day Kyle meets up with his old drama teacher Dr. Wood. Wood is a pretty creepy ass dude living in an equally creepy ass house. He has something to show Kyle, but insults our hero so much, that he storms out without learning something that could have saved him a fuck load of pain. Back to the day job, delivering pizzas to the fucking park, to some jock assclown who thinks he should get a free meal, and not have to pay. In one ass-kicking moment Kyle discovers he knows Karate…… A talent he had no idea he had, and had no training for, so imagine the shock when he lands a perfect jump kick to jock-cock’s face. But that’s just the beginning of the fun. Kyle and his friends mundane worlds are about to go full fucking tilt boogie landing them straight into the heart of WTF bizarro land. They might not hack it in the world of actors, & artists, but they are the chosen few with the ability to kick some undead ass right back to hell!! Besides who the fuck wants to be an actor when you can be a muthafuckin’ ninja!!

The story starts off right in the fray, knee-deep in zombie ass, and is told in a series of cleverly written flash backs, and flash forwards; something I tend not to like too much, but the writing was so witty, so drop-dead fun, it really worked for it like a demon on golden time. It focuses around an archetype filled group of friends and makes no apologies for that. In fact it pokes fun at it. You have Randall the Wizard who apparently manages to bring things back from the dead… Kyle the Barbarian, Cole the Valkyrie, Fitz the Elf, and Ann the asskicker (aka Fitz’s wife). Sounds like a game of dungeons & dragons right? Of course what story would be complete without a villain, and this one comes in the form of Eric the bad guy extraordinaire, Cole’s brother and arch-nemesis. Oh and as the title suggests, there’s a fuck-ton of undead hordes looking to eat their way through the flesh of the living.



What I loved…. each issue seems to focus on the troupe one protagonist at a time, the first Kyle, the second Cole, and so on and so forth. What’s great about it is that Thomas Chillemi knows how to write a fucking story. Not every writer can effectively handle a tale that jumps in timeline the way this one does. And he did such a great job starting it off where things end in a seamless fashion like some kind of master of the time-machine. My all time favorite part was when they sung Kung Fu Fighting. Nothing says musical ass-whopping fun like Kung-fu fighting. Especially when the kicks are fast as lightening. This incited belly laughs in me like I was filled with giggly worms. For about 30 madcap minutes I was in stitches. Ellis bless good writing.

The art was decisive, coherent, honest, and as you can tell from the picture to my immediate left pretty god damn awesome!! It didn’t shy away from the blood and guts, and never detracted from the storytelling. Each of the friends had different personalities, hopes, dreams, and aspirations, and it displayed the full nature of each persona. It played very well into the storyline and made each character into their own separate individual as opposed to said character types. But the dialogue is what sold me. This is how I want & expect people, especially friends, to act & communicate!! Not the fake trash-talking shit sitcoms shove down your throat on a daly basis. Friends aren’t constantly insulting each other. Sure they may occasionally jab, but it isn’t the norm. I can’t stress enough how this was the perfect medium for this title!!! With comics you don’t need a giant special effects & wardrobe budget, just an artist who can get your point across, who can tell your story. While I did enjoy the corn-fest that was the movies, this did so much more, and worked so much better than the source material could. Would I recommend this to you? FUCK YES I would. Am I a little pissed there will be a month wait before issue 3 ninja-flips onto shelves? You bet your ass I am. With that, it earned it’s FA for fucking awesome. I can’t guarantee you’ll like the movies, they’re B-movie fun but they’re not for everyone. I can however assure you that you’ll love the ever-living ninja-back-flipping shit out of this comic. And if you don’t… it’s probably because you suffer from a lack of a funny-bone. You might want to get that checked out.

More info:

Written by: Thomas Chillemi
Illustrated by: Jamie Martinez
Published by: Azure Press

Title: The Keep (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): F. Paul Wilson (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: D. Melbye (Review 1) and QuantumCat (Review 2) (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review:

Review 1 - I used to be avid reader of graphic novels but stopped reading them for the last five years. Reading this has rejuvenated my interest in the form. It is the first peiece I have read by Wilson but look forward to reading his novels as the plot structure of this graphic novel was exceptional, with mystery layered upon mystery. The ambiguity of the characters was also brilliant. The end scene was a little disappointing but this was particially due to the level of fevourish anticipation created in the former scenes, and did not ditract from the brilliance of the work as a whole. Would recommend even if you are not a fan of the graphic novel format.



Review 2 - When I ordered it I did notice it said "illustrations", however, it wasn't clear it was a graphic novel. An comic adaptation of F Paul Wilson's "The Keep"by F Paul Wilson.

Despite my initial disappointment -yes, silly old me had expected the novel- I started reading (watching?) ...

F Paul Wilson did a great job, adapting the novel into comic material.

As for the artwork by Mathew Smith works great too, don't go expecting artwork the likes Don Lawrence, Adi Granov, Segrelles, Richard Corben or the better Superhero stuff, I think you can compare it to Sin City. Does it work! Yes. Do I care that it's not a realistic style (my preferred style to read)? Heck No!

Matthew uses a nihilistic almost over-stylized hard-line black and white + one colour graphics and they work: they capture and enhance the Gothic atmosphere of the novel and give a surreal look to the whole. Not my preferred style, but it works very well!

More info:

Author(s) F. Paul Wilson
Illustrator Matthew Dow Smith
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Fiction
Publisher IDW Publishing

Title: Jennifer Blood (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Garth Ennis (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Ryan K. Lindsay, (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review: Jennifer Blood #1

Here we have Garth Ennis dropping another hyperviolent comic on the unsuspecting masses. While it’s not his greatest work, it is still a lot of fun. It’s a deep character study as much as a blasting action spectacular. Jennifer Blood is a female Punisher by night and by day a bored housewife with thoughts and actions last seen in “Mad Men.” Ennis quite possibly should have set this comic in the 60s just so the lead’s internal dialogue didn’t feel so out of place and extreme, though I haven’t watched “Desperate Housewives” ever so maybe this is a common internal monologue of today’s retro homemaker.

Using a diary entry device to frame the comic means Ennis has to channel the voice of a bored housewife. I’m shocked that he manages to keep it consistent and does it relatively well. Certain aspects might be overplayed but, overall, what we have is a categorical mother’s eye looking over the business of killing. The juxtaposition works purely because it is something new.

Be warned, here there be violence. Heads are shot with explosive effect and wrenches are used on more than machines. It’s over the top, but it’s satire as much as it is all-out action. Ennis segues from the mundane to the grotesque too easily, as does the character, but the thoughts behind it all remain bland, like a mother inspecting a particularly nasty grass stain under red wine. The true question is, how broken is this character, and what exactly was it that broke her?



Set against this highlife of shooting gangsters and dreaming about guns, we have the home life that is picture perfect and bland. It’s supposed to come off as simple but instead feels almost creepy. The pseudo-milquetoast bird-watching husband is more leery than sweet. It is hard to reconcile why this lady is happy in this existence at all and that’s where the comic falls down. I feel like she wouldn’t care if they all got killed because of her actions. True drama should come from her protecting the part of her life she truly loves but it is the Jennifer Blood aspect that consumes and fires her more.

Adriano Batista should have been working with Ennis years ago. His style shows violence well, but he works the story and emotional beats just as effectively. His design work and use of the Jennifer Blood persona is amazing in parts. He sells this character in her sexy recklessness in every way.

This introductory issue is a standard shoot ‘em up in many ways. There are bread crumbs of characterization but it’s mostly the things not yet said or shown. The best mystery is internal; It’s not about asking who she is out to kill, but rather what steps led to her being this way and what is her endgame? Ennis delivers an intriguing concept coupled with explosive action and a killer female lead who is broken on the inside, no doubt about it. Watching her scrutinize her use of guns and mold stains just makes it all more hilarious

More info:

Story by Garth Ennis
Art by Adriano Batista
Colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters by Rob Steen
Cover by Tim Bradstreet
Publisher Dynamite Entertainment

Title: The Intrepid Escapegoat (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Brian Smith (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: The Comic Book Critic (Don't click it, read the review here... )

Review: CURSE OF THE BUDDHAS TOOTH #1

Thomas Fleet is the Intrepid Escapegoat, a world renowned escape artist, who along with his trusty assistant Isis, travel the world performing amazing feats of magic. The square-jawed gentleman goat’s assistant, isn’t just named Isis – She’s the real Isis – whom he rescued from a pyramid in Cairo months ago. Escape Goat #1 splash

The pair travel about, not only performing spectacular magic tricks, but also debunking those who would use “magic” to con gullible people. Fleet is like the Amazing Kreskin if Kreskin were a suit wearing goat in 19th century England with the Egyptian Goddess Isis as his assistant. Um, yeah…

Isis is depicted as a small girl in the comic, but when the part is held up by a few young urchins in the streets of London, she really shows off her powers.

Fleet is invited to a séance to be performed by Jayani, an exiled Sri Lankan princess living in London. Duchess Meghan of Windsor arranged for the séance to find the long lost Windsor Family Fortune. Fleet plans to debunk it as a hoax.

Eventually Escapegoat and Isis, along with the local police, are led on a chase when the event goes terribly awry.



The Intrepid Escapegoat is a delightful comic book in every aspect. It’s wonderfully written and the art style is perfect for the story, Brian Smith’s work on this book is very fluid and dynamic; his dialog flows easily since all of the exposition is tucked neatly in the artwork. The digital coloring effects also add extra impact to the art.

The book easily fits into the ALL-AGES category, but by no means is it just a children’s comic. The story is basic enough that a kid can really enjoy it, but at the same time, smart enough for any adult to get the same enjoyment out of it.

I read this issue with no expectations and came away from it very much impressed! Brian Smith’s The Intrepid Escapegoat is a three issue miniseries from Th3rd World Studios, and if the next two issues are anything like the first, this could be a surprise hit. Get yours now before they disappear.

More info:

Writer: Brian Smith
Illustrator: Brian Smith
Colors: Mike DeVito, Jon Conkling
Color Assists: Josh Norwood, Tim Conkling, Don Pielert
Letterer: Sarah Smith
Publisher: Th3rd World Studios

Title: Charismagic (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Vince Hernandez (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Minhquan Nguyen (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" A respectable first offering from Aspen’s newest series"
Review: Charismagic #1

The Story: The most evil and dangerous criminal magician is about to escape, and you know what that means? Pulped apples!

The Review: What makes for a compelling first issue, one that will keep you invested to see how the first arc goes? Well, pretty much the same things that make compelling second, third, and all issues that come after: engaging characters, appealing art, and fresh storylines. The only real difference is you have to hit the ground running—you don’t have the luxury to offer a weak, or even a mediocre issue; the series’ livelihood is at stake.

Charismagic #1 establishes the right tone by clearly showing it knows what it wants to be and where it’s going. Having spoken before on the importance of setting some ground rules for magic (however tenuous and breakable they may be), I’m glad they delve into some magical physics right from the get-go. Even better, the way magic exists in this world ties into the threat to come, so from the beginning you know what’s at stake for the characters.

The cost is a long, doom-ridden, explanatory monologue, which is an old fictional tool, but one that really drains the pacing in comics. Hector’s rambling warning tells straight out the danger ahead, but it also feels leaden and awkward, so it doesn’t all work. When he tries to make a point by crushing that apple, it comes off unavoidably melodramatic. But it gets the expository stuff out of the way pretty effectively, saving future issues from having to deal with it. It’d have been nice to see how magic works prior to shaking things up, however.



What’s nice about Zatara-analogue Hank’s conversation with alcoholic, magic-knowledgeable Hector is the dialogue flows naturally, showing the characters already have some history in place. Hernandez gets across the subtext of their interactions so well (helped by the occasional, revealing thought bubble) that you get a good sense of their relationships without having them spelled out to you. Even the spats between Hank and girlfriend/showgirl Alle have layers—despite their irritation, they still possess a degree of caring and empathy for each other.

Almost every first story arc involves a huge threat of some sort, but not every writer can sell the danger involved. Up until the last few pages of the issue, you might have been ready to dismiss the coming threat to Hank’s world as the typical “escaped all-powerful wizard from another dimension” plot. But when Hank steps out of his limo to find that Las Vegas’ (possibly the world’s) entire population has suddenly vanished except for him and a talking cat—well, that brings home the idea that perhaps this menace is worth taking a little seriously.

Randolph’s art is fine, but somewhat unsuitable for the tone this series is going for, at least the way it looks now: a little too kinetic and cartoony (the exaggerated facial expressions and character figures, especially the V-shaped women). The dramatic scenes lose the tension they need as a result. Still, Randolph puts some wonderful details in his work, especially the settings—that splash of a depopulated Las Vegas (with perfectly eerie colors by Lopez) really sells the monumental danger we’re dealing with.

Conclusion: A respectable first offering from Aspen’s newest series, but a lot will depend on how the initial story elements get played out before you can really put your money into it.

More info:

Writer/Creator: Vince Hernandez
Illustrator/Character Designs: Khary Randolph
Colorist: Emilio Lopez
Letterer: Josh Reed
Cover Artists: Khary Randolph & Emilio Lopez (Cover A), Siya Oum (Cover B), Sana Takeda (Cover C)
Editor: Frank Mastromauro

Publisher: