THE DYLAN DOG CASE FILES
Dark Horse Books collection of the Itlaian Dylan Dog comics THE DYLAN DOG CASE FILES is a great introduction for people who are not familiar with the character. In 1994 there was an Italian film based on the character starring Rupert Everett called Dellamorte Dellamore (more commonly known as Cemetery Man) which became an International success and helped Everett become a star. Created by Tiziano Sclavi (with art by Angelo Stano, Andrea Venturi, Giampiero Casertano, Luigi Piccatto, and Bruno Brindisi) Dylan Dog is a womanizer who investigates strange and unusual cases that revolve around everything from zombies, monsters, freaks, vampires, and anything else that he stumbles upon. Much like Sherlock Holmes, Dog has a knack for both getting into trouble both with and without his trusted sidekick Felix, whose even stranger then Dog and whom provides most of the comic relief in the stories provided in this collection.
At an amazing 680 pages this is a huge collection to sink your teeth into both for mystery fans and horror fans. Unlike the film version, the stories contained within this collection are more focused on dark comedy and the unusual fantasy (although the film is filled with a lot of fantasy). Anyone watching the film will see very little resemblance to the graphic novel other then in the character itself which is fine since the stories contained in this collection are more entertaining then the film (and I really like the film). Dog comes off as a poor man’s James Bond mixed with a Sherlock Holmes who cares more about women then he does about solving the next case or paying the bills. This is not to say that the material isn’t dark because the stories “Dawn of the Living Dead” and “Morgana” are particularly dark while “Johnny Freak” is tragic and heartfelt. “Zed” is another standout as it deals with an alternate world that may or may not be better then our own as. Along the way Dog discovers many different loves (hince the Bond reference) and has many brushes with the law, whom don’t take him seriously half the time.
Another great aspect of the book is the fine black & white artwork, which is a compliment to the dark nature of the stories. It’s like reading a film noire (which the tone of many of the stories border upon). This collection for the first time allows many readers to finally have access to a comic which has sold over 56 million copies worldwide and since there is a Hollywood adaptation in the works (as of this writing) what better place then here to get acquainted with this detective then right now.
CITY GARDEN - "The Old Woman & The Park"
On the set of the short film "A Gift"
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Graphic Novel Review: MARVEL ZOMBIES 3
MARVEL ZOMBIES 3
The zombies of the Marvel Universe are back again but this time they have found a way into our universe and plan to take over in a very big way. I’ve written about all the previous instalments of the series, but it is here in the new story MARVEL ZOMBIES 3 that the story starts to take a new turn. Under the guidance of new writer Fred Van Lente and artist Kev Walker a small band of zombified super heroes lead by zombie-Deadpool have invaded the swamps of Citrusville, Florida prompting the military unit known as A.R.M.O.R. to send Machine Man and Jocasta to the zombies alternate home world to find a cure for the zombie plague so that the “real” Marvel Universe does not become infected by the zombie plague.
That’s generally what this new story is about. If you’ve read the previous stories in the saga you’ll know that these series have lots of violence and lots of blood. It is a zombie story after all, but unlike previous instalments more story is spent on the Machine Man story as he is a borderline drunk robot who wants nothing to do with humanity. There is lots of great action as Machine Man tears through the zombies as if they were nothing, but there in lies one of the problems of this story – Machine Man is indestructable and thus becomes an odd choice as the main character of the story. The more interesting aspect of the story revolves around Doctor Mobius (the Living Vampire) who is held captive at A.R.M.O.R. by his zombie doppleganger, who wants to secretly infect the Marvel Universe with the plague.
Much of the Zombie-Marvel Heroes carnage is absent from this story although Zombie Deadpool, Kingpin, Mobius, and Captain America, do have their moments to shine. This story just comes off lite considering everything that came before it. This and the fact that this story is just a bridging story for the next story in the series makes this a less interesting instalment on the whole, but it’s fun and crazy and good zombie-fun which should keep anyone entertained.
Although this series was lite I am looking forward to the next series as it reunites the Midnight Suns characters which haven’t been seen in quite some time and were hinted at early in this series with a guest appearance by Man-Thing (one of the Marvel Universe’s most under used characters in my opinion). This is a graphic novel that fans of the series will like but not altogether love.
The zombies of the Marvel Universe are back again but this time they have found a way into our universe and plan to take over in a very big way. I’ve written about all the previous instalments of the series, but it is here in the new story MARVEL ZOMBIES 3 that the story starts to take a new turn. Under the guidance of new writer Fred Van Lente and artist Kev Walker a small band of zombified super heroes lead by zombie-Deadpool have invaded the swamps of Citrusville, Florida prompting the military unit known as A.R.M.O.R. to send Machine Man and Jocasta to the zombies alternate home world to find a cure for the zombie plague so that the “real” Marvel Universe does not become infected by the zombie plague.
That’s generally what this new story is about. If you’ve read the previous stories in the saga you’ll know that these series have lots of violence and lots of blood. It is a zombie story after all, but unlike previous instalments more story is spent on the Machine Man story as he is a borderline drunk robot who wants nothing to do with humanity. There is lots of great action as Machine Man tears through the zombies as if they were nothing, but there in lies one of the problems of this story – Machine Man is indestructable and thus becomes an odd choice as the main character of the story. The more interesting aspect of the story revolves around Doctor Mobius (the Living Vampire) who is held captive at A.R.M.O.R. by his zombie doppleganger, who wants to secretly infect the Marvel Universe with the plague.
Much of the Zombie-Marvel Heroes carnage is absent from this story although Zombie Deadpool, Kingpin, Mobius, and Captain America, do have their moments to shine. This story just comes off lite considering everything that came before it. This and the fact that this story is just a bridging story for the next story in the series makes this a less interesting instalment on the whole, but it’s fun and crazy and good zombie-fun which should keep anyone entertained.
Although this series was lite I am looking forward to the next series as it reunites the Midnight Suns characters which haven’t been seen in quite some time and were hinted at early in this series with a guest appearance by Man-Thing (one of the Marvel Universe’s most under used characters in my opinion). This is a graphic novel that fans of the series will like but not altogether love.
Graphic Novel Review: SAVAGE
SAVAGE
From creator Jeff Frank comes a new horror saga in called SAVAGE. Frank co-plotted this story with Steve Niles (one of the creators behind the phenomenal hit 30 Days of Night) and co-wrote this story with Dan Wickline. SAVAGE concerns Sam, a man with a deep urge and secret that compells him to kill people he deems “evil.” You see, Sam is a hunted of all manner of monsters that prey on the human species. In the beginning of the story we see Sam savagely kill a banshee by cutting off her head (he then carries the head around with him throughout the rest of the series). Once completely that mission Sam then heads towards Arcana, a place he has visited in the past but is now here on a recruitment mission.
Sam is in the town no longer then ten minutes before he begins to once agin sense evil and the urge to kill begins to surface. Sam has come to Arcana to inlist Peter, a family man with a wife and kid, to help him fight the evil of the world. You see, Sam is a shapeshifter who can change into a “bigfoot-like” creature and the evil he senses in Arcana is of the werewolf kind, which have taken up residence in town and kill whenever the moon is at its fullest. As Sam waits for the moon to be full and the werewolves to reveal their true nature, he tries to hold off his killer urges by selectively killing off the werewolves one by one until the killings raise the suspicions of the covert military group Sam is working for. Now time is running out as Sam realizes he has very little time to show Peter his true nature and how to use his own shapeshifting abilities to not only hunt down evil but to protect his family from those who would see them harmed.
Although not one of my favorite graphic novels as the story is very simple and direct and leaves much to be desired since this would be the first chapter of a much larger story, SAVAGE isn’t terrible bad as the werewolves verses bigfoot idea is very interesting. I do like the fact that the story spends a lot of time developing the Sam and peter characters but the werewolves come off a cliched characters with very little interest. It will be interesting to see where this story goes in subsequent chapters.
From creator Jeff Frank comes a new horror saga in called SAVAGE. Frank co-plotted this story with Steve Niles (one of the creators behind the phenomenal hit 30 Days of Night) and co-wrote this story with Dan Wickline. SAVAGE concerns Sam, a man with a deep urge and secret that compells him to kill people he deems “evil.” You see, Sam is a hunted of all manner of monsters that prey on the human species. In the beginning of the story we see Sam savagely kill a banshee by cutting off her head (he then carries the head around with him throughout the rest of the series). Once completely that mission Sam then heads towards Arcana, a place he has visited in the past but is now here on a recruitment mission.
Sam is in the town no longer then ten minutes before he begins to once agin sense evil and the urge to kill begins to surface. Sam has come to Arcana to inlist Peter, a family man with a wife and kid, to help him fight the evil of the world. You see, Sam is a shapeshifter who can change into a “bigfoot-like” creature and the evil he senses in Arcana is of the werewolf kind, which have taken up residence in town and kill whenever the moon is at its fullest. As Sam waits for the moon to be full and the werewolves to reveal their true nature, he tries to hold off his killer urges by selectively killing off the werewolves one by one until the killings raise the suspicions of the covert military group Sam is working for. Now time is running out as Sam realizes he has very little time to show Peter his true nature and how to use his own shapeshifting abilities to not only hunt down evil but to protect his family from those who would see them harmed.
Although not one of my favorite graphic novels as the story is very simple and direct and leaves much to be desired since this would be the first chapter of a much larger story, SAVAGE isn’t terrible bad as the werewolves verses bigfoot idea is very interesting. I do like the fact that the story spends a lot of time developing the Sam and peter characters but the werewolves come off a cliched characters with very little interest. It will be interesting to see where this story goes in subsequent chapters.
Graphic Novel review: EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE
Creator Steve Niles has a new vision of vampires different from the ones he created in the 30 Days of Night series in this graphic novel EPILOGUE, with art by Kyle Hotz. There is a new vigilante on the streets of the city and he cannot be killed as he so boldly demonstrates when he gathers all the crime lords of the city in one place. When the crime lords try to blow him to pieces they realize that all of his wounds heal automatically and he is more vicious then them as he feasts on their blood. This vigilante has plans to clean up the city at all costs. He is a vampire and he feeds off the blood of the guilty
The story as written by Niles and illustrated by Hotz is at first cryptic with the revealing of who the vigilante is but through fashbacks we learn that he was a family man on a camping trip who watched his two kids and wife be slaughtered by a gang of vampires . He was bitten in the struggle and left for dead and barely found a way to survive in the wild. When he returns to the city he vows to find the ones responsible for the death of his family and for making him into a creature of the night. In the meanwhile, he will protect the innocent and kill anyone who gets in his way.
One of the most unique aspects of the book is that you never really know what this guy’s name is but you get a glimpse into who he was and what he has become through the flashbacks and by the end of the story it’s not important what his name is but what he stands for. Like many of Niles’ previous work this is but an opening chapter to a bigger story should he choose to go further with the material. This being a story about vampires there are buckets of blood and gutts all over the place and will make all of Niles’ fans happen who enjoyed his 30 Days of Night.
Creator Steve Niles has a new vision of vampires different from the ones he created in the 30 Days of Night series in this graphic novel EPILOGUE, with art by Kyle Hotz. There is a new vigilante on the streets of the city and he cannot be killed as he so boldly demonstrates when he gathers all the crime lords of the city in one place. When the crime lords try to blow him to pieces they realize that all of his wounds heal automatically and he is more vicious then them as he feasts on their blood. This vigilante has plans to clean up the city at all costs. He is a vampire and he feeds off the blood of the guilty
The story as written by Niles and illustrated by Hotz is at first cryptic with the revealing of who the vigilante is but through fashbacks we learn that he was a family man on a camping trip who watched his two kids and wife be slaughtered by a gang of vampires . He was bitten in the struggle and left for dead and barely found a way to survive in the wild. When he returns to the city he vows to find the ones responsible for the death of his family and for making him into a creature of the night. In the meanwhile, he will protect the innocent and kill anyone who gets in his way.
One of the most unique aspects of the book is that you never really know what this guy’s name is but you get a glimpse into who he was and what he has become through the flashbacks and by the end of the story it’s not important what his name is but what he stands for. Like many of Niles’ previous work this is but an opening chapter to a bigger story should he choose to go further with the material. This being a story about vampires there are buckets of blood and gutts all over the place and will make all of Niles’ fans happen who enjoyed his 30 Days of Night.
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