I don’t do too many reviews of individual comic book reviews opting instead to wait until they are collected into graphic novel form so that I can review the story as well as all the supplemental items that publishers put with the graphic novel version to entice fans to fork out more money. Well, with this all new ALIENS series I just couldn’t wait.
Having been a Dark Horse Comics fan from the very beginning (from the meager begins of the first Dark Horse Presents series to the very first black & white ALIENS limited series) I’ve come to expect new and bold things from this publisher who for the most part do not cater to the popular crowd. They were the ones behind the first ALIENS and Predator series as well as The Mask, Concrete, Barb Wire, and many, many more . The ALIENS series has been gone for many years due to over saturation in the market and dwindling value in the stories being told. After a while I began to think that the stories were all a little too similar to one another.
I was very happy to hear that they were revamping the series (thanks in part to the popularity of the two Alien Vs. Predator movies) and writer John Arcudi would be behind it (he’s also doing the new Predator series as well). Arcudi has been in the business a long time and he knows what he’s doing.
This new story concerns a group of scientists who make their way to Chione, an inhabited mining planet that has just recently unveiled the existence of alien structures of which the scientists are sent there to study and analyze. Everything seems to be going perfectly well until the mining inhabitants open fire on the scientists killing them all. It appears that the inhabitants of the planet live in fear that outsiders will come an steal their precious alien artifacts away. This uncontrollable fear is being caused by the alien artifacts themselves which puts all that come near into a euphoric state like an addictive drug driving them all into semi-madness. This madness leaves the Chione inhabitants susceptible to the alien infestation which was kept hidden until the alien structure was unearthed.
Unknown to the mining inhabitants of Chione there was a survivor of the group of scientists and the only reason he survived is because he’s a synthetic organism. This survivor David Sereda now finds himself tasks with trying to answer a distress signal on the planet before he is able to leave it. Sereda now finds himself pitted against homicidal inhabitants, an alien infestation, and the fact that some of his programming was damaged when he was originally gunned down by the natives.
Arcudi bases a lot of what follows in this series from the first two films in the series. The miners come across an alien structure that houses the embryos of the alien xenomorphs, which create an uncontrollable infestation. What Arcudi does well is present us with a sympathetic synthetic that may or may not have programming issues. Artwork is principally by Zach Howard whose work I’m not familiar with but does an excellent job with this new series. Another great asset to the series is Wes Dzioba’s colors which just make the whole series come alive like few of the other ALIEN series before. If this is a sign of new things to come for future series than I’m all for it.
CITY GARDEN - "The Old Woman & The Park"
On the set of the short film "A Gift"
Saturday, April 17, 2010
GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE: RECORDED ATTACKS by Max Brooks
Max Brooks took the horror world by storm with his breakout novel The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. This novel was a “how to” on surviving a zombie apocalypse (should there ever be one). It was hugely popular not only with horror enthusiasts but with mainstream audiences as well prompting the release of his next novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, which documented all the historical encounters that mankind has had with the living dead. What made this second novel so popular was the fact that Brooks adopted the style of having all the stories being recounted by survivors and witnesses of a zombie outbreak.
Now we come to the newest addition to the ever growing zombie world that Brooks has created with the graphic novel The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks. This graphic novel goes through history documenting stories that may have been “in reality” zombie attacks. Stories range from 60,000 B.C. to the present day and stretch from Central Africa to Siberia to Japan and to the United States. Like in World War Z, Brooks takes the time to cover a lot of ground even in the short span of this graphic novel.
Illustrated by Ibraim Roberson the stories recounted in the graphic novel are lush and so realistic that they pop right off the page. The black & white artwork is reminiscent of an old newsreel and evokes the dread of film director George A. Romero’s original 1968 Night of the Living Dead. Little to no dialogue is spoken between the characters depicted in the stories as Brooks maintains the feeling of his previous novel by evoking the “oral” tradition of storytelling. It is as if we are being told these stories from a first hand account and Robinson’s artwork brings those oral stories to glorious life.
This is a fine achievement in both storytelling and illustration and a great compliment to Brooks’ other two works. If you’re a fan of his other novels (or just a zombie fan at heart) then you’ll love what he’s done here in the comic book medium.
Now we come to the newest addition to the ever growing zombie world that Brooks has created with the graphic novel The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks. This graphic novel goes through history documenting stories that may have been “in reality” zombie attacks. Stories range from 60,000 B.C. to the present day and stretch from Central Africa to Siberia to Japan and to the United States. Like in World War Z, Brooks takes the time to cover a lot of ground even in the short span of this graphic novel.
Illustrated by Ibraim Roberson the stories recounted in the graphic novel are lush and so realistic that they pop right off the page. The black & white artwork is reminiscent of an old newsreel and evokes the dread of film director George A. Romero’s original 1968 Night of the Living Dead. Little to no dialogue is spoken between the characters depicted in the stories as Brooks maintains the feeling of his previous novel by evoking the “oral” tradition of storytelling. It is as if we are being told these stories from a first hand account and Robinson’s artwork brings those oral stories to glorious life.
This is a fine achievement in both storytelling and illustration and a great compliment to Brooks’ other two works. If you’re a fan of his other novels (or just a zombie fan at heart) then you’ll love what he’s done here in the comic book medium.
GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: TERMINATOR: THE BURNING EARTH
TERMINATOR: THE BURNING EARTH marked two milestones in comic book history. First, it was the first comic book series that extended the story first created by director James Cameron and his films THE TERMINATOR and TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY and second, it marked the debut of famed comic book artist Alex Rose, who would go on to do phenomenal MARVELS and KINGDOM COME series (among others).
Written by Ron Fortier with painted art by Ross THE BURNING EARTH was a post apocalyptic story about the last days of the residence with John Conner doing battle with his remaining band of soldiers against the sentient Skynet who plans on killing every living thing on Earth with nuclear bombs.
One of the great things about Ross’ artwork is that even though the main color pallet is blues and grey, he manages to create a style that doesn’t muddle the look of the scenes but give them a deeper and darker meaning as if the reader was thrust into a horror film of impending danger and destruction. No one is safe in this world of man verses machines, not even the conflicted leader of Conner who is just trying to hold on to what humanity he has left in this never ending war.
Although not the best of the Terminator series (Dark Horse Comics would later get the license to continue the franchise), it is still definitely one of the darkest of the series and since it was the first it has a lot of advantages over the others. This is also a great series for people who want to see some of Ross’ earliest work and where his current style came from (Ross was 19 when he did this series and only one year out of art school).
Written by Ron Fortier with painted art by Ross THE BURNING EARTH was a post apocalyptic story about the last days of the residence with John Conner doing battle with his remaining band of soldiers against the sentient Skynet who plans on killing every living thing on Earth with nuclear bombs.
One of the great things about Ross’ artwork is that even though the main color pallet is blues and grey, he manages to create a style that doesn’t muddle the look of the scenes but give them a deeper and darker meaning as if the reader was thrust into a horror film of impending danger and destruction. No one is safe in this world of man verses machines, not even the conflicted leader of Conner who is just trying to hold on to what humanity he has left in this never ending war.
Although not the best of the Terminator series (Dark Horse Comics would later get the license to continue the franchise), it is still definitely one of the darkest of the series and since it was the first it has a lot of advantages over the others. This is also a great series for people who want to see some of Ross’ earliest work and where his current style came from (Ross was 19 when he did this series and only one year out of art school).
Friday, February 5, 2010
Graphic Novel Review: 30 DAYS OF NIGHT: 30 DAYS ‘TIL DEATH
There have been approximately over ten stories to the undying 30 Days of Night franchise and with each subsequent series brings new artists brings their tale on the iconic vampires of the original series.
In this new series 30 Days of Night: 30 Days ‘Til Death with story & art by David Lapham, the Elders are tired of the ripple effects of the incident that happened in Barrow, Alaska (the original series) and believe that the American vampires need to be thinned so that all vampires will know what real fear is. The Elders send a death squad to America to kill all the “cowboy” vampires (so-called because they are descendents from the first vampire turned in America which was a cowboy).
This story takes a departure from the other stories as it puts a vampire at the forefront of the story. Rufus is a vampire who knows that the only way to avoid being detected by the death squad is to blend in with the humans, so, he gets a lame dog for a pet, takes a junkie woman as his fiancée, and decides to forego killing any humans (at least within city limits) all for the sake of blending in. His plan begins to work perfectly to the point where he begins to like the humans who share his apartment complex. His tranquility is threatened when other vampires from his past decide to crash in on him.
Now Rufus must prevent these new vampires from his past from destroying everything he created before the death squad comes pounding on his door.
I didn’t really care for Lapham’s story as it was so far removed from the original 30 Days of Night series. Although there is a lot of blood flowing throughout (which will keep the fans happy), one of the things I liked most about many of the previous series is the sense of “location” which this series does not have. Most of the story takes place within Rufus’ apartment complex.
Another thing I didn’t like about the series were the cliché characters. I just never became vested in the characters and therefore never really got into the story. It feels as if the series is finally running out of steam and that it should be laid to rest for a time before another series is crafted to cash in on the current popularity of vampires.
In this new series 30 Days of Night: 30 Days ‘Til Death with story & art by David Lapham, the Elders are tired of the ripple effects of the incident that happened in Barrow, Alaska (the original series) and believe that the American vampires need to be thinned so that all vampires will know what real fear is. The Elders send a death squad to America to kill all the “cowboy” vampires (so-called because they are descendents from the first vampire turned in America which was a cowboy).
This story takes a departure from the other stories as it puts a vampire at the forefront of the story. Rufus is a vampire who knows that the only way to avoid being detected by the death squad is to blend in with the humans, so, he gets a lame dog for a pet, takes a junkie woman as his fiancée, and decides to forego killing any humans (at least within city limits) all for the sake of blending in. His plan begins to work perfectly to the point where he begins to like the humans who share his apartment complex. His tranquility is threatened when other vampires from his past decide to crash in on him.
Now Rufus must prevent these new vampires from his past from destroying everything he created before the death squad comes pounding on his door.
I didn’t really care for Lapham’s story as it was so far removed from the original 30 Days of Night series. Although there is a lot of blood flowing throughout (which will keep the fans happy), one of the things I liked most about many of the previous series is the sense of “location” which this series does not have. Most of the story takes place within Rufus’ apartment complex.
Another thing I didn’t like about the series were the cliché characters. I just never became vested in the characters and therefore never really got into the story. It feels as if the series is finally running out of steam and that it should be laid to rest for a time before another series is crafted to cash in on the current popularity of vampires.
Graphic Novel Review: THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN
In 1992 DC comics decided to do a bold thing and shake up the comic book world in a big way. They decided to alter the course of one of their most beloved and flagship characters. They decided to kill the Man of Steel. Superman.
Over the course of seven comic book issues and five separate titles Superman (with the help of the Justice League of America) would do battle against an unstoppable force of evil which would soon be called Doomsday. This storyline made all types of headlines and broke all kinds of sales records and the graphic novel The Death of Superman reprinted it all in one volume for fans of the iconic character. The graphic novel would become one of the biggest selling graphic novels of all-time with over 14 reprints currently in release.
It took me almost twenty years before I bothered to pick up the story despite how famous the story is. I’m not a big fan of Superman and, in fact, I was actually glad when DC announced they were going to kill him off (but I always knew it would be short lived). He was never a character that interested me like Batman or Green Arrow or the Green Lantern Corps (a far superior group to the abysmal Justice League). The only reason I picked up the graphic novel now is because I was finally curious about what the fuss was about).
Although written and drawn by a multitude of artists, the storyline does read fairly well as one cohesive story. Although the creature known as Doomsday is a formidable foe, he lacks background and purpose that would truly make him a Superman villain in the way that The Joker is to Batman. The creature is a force of pure unstoppable evil and destruction which works throughout the seven issues of the story because he is revealed slowly in pieces as the story progresses (he starts out completely covered in costume in the first two issues of the story). If he had been fully revealed in the first issue the story wouldn’t have had the impact that it did,
The story’s worst aspect is that the whole story is seven issues of one of the longest fights in comic book history which in my opinion makes it feel as though they stretched out the story only so they could make more money by selling more issues. I believe the story could have been stronger if the entire story could have been limited to maybe four issues within the same comic title (although I am very aware that the “crossover” is used to boost sales among several titles at the same time).
Since we all know that Superman is no longer dead, the events depicted in this story didn’t have as profound affect on the title in the long run (although its events did make for many subsequent changes over all the Superman titles of the time). The story strived to be as profound as Batman’s Year One or A Death In The Family or even The Long Halloween but it suffers from the simple fact that there is no subtext to this story. It is simply a bare-bones, knock-down fist fight that goes on for seven issues that was marketed extremely well.
Over the course of seven comic book issues and five separate titles Superman (with the help of the Justice League of America) would do battle against an unstoppable force of evil which would soon be called Doomsday. This storyline made all types of headlines and broke all kinds of sales records and the graphic novel The Death of Superman reprinted it all in one volume for fans of the iconic character. The graphic novel would become one of the biggest selling graphic novels of all-time with over 14 reprints currently in release.
It took me almost twenty years before I bothered to pick up the story despite how famous the story is. I’m not a big fan of Superman and, in fact, I was actually glad when DC announced they were going to kill him off (but I always knew it would be short lived). He was never a character that interested me like Batman or Green Arrow or the Green Lantern Corps (a far superior group to the abysmal Justice League). The only reason I picked up the graphic novel now is because I was finally curious about what the fuss was about).
Although written and drawn by a multitude of artists, the storyline does read fairly well as one cohesive story. Although the creature known as Doomsday is a formidable foe, he lacks background and purpose that would truly make him a Superman villain in the way that The Joker is to Batman. The creature is a force of pure unstoppable evil and destruction which works throughout the seven issues of the story because he is revealed slowly in pieces as the story progresses (he starts out completely covered in costume in the first two issues of the story). If he had been fully revealed in the first issue the story wouldn’t have had the impact that it did,
The story’s worst aspect is that the whole story is seven issues of one of the longest fights in comic book history which in my opinion makes it feel as though they stretched out the story only so they could make more money by selling more issues. I believe the story could have been stronger if the entire story could have been limited to maybe four issues within the same comic title (although I am very aware that the “crossover” is used to boost sales among several titles at the same time).
Since we all know that Superman is no longer dead, the events depicted in this story didn’t have as profound affect on the title in the long run (although its events did make for many subsequent changes over all the Superman titles of the time). The story strived to be as profound as Batman’s Year One or A Death In The Family or even The Long Halloween but it suffers from the simple fact that there is no subtext to this story. It is simply a bare-bones, knock-down fist fight that goes on for seven issues that was marketed extremely well.
Graphic Novel Review: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT: IN THE BLOOD
Marvel has re-envisioned one of their earliest characters Werewolf By Night for a new age and they do an excellent job of it in the new series WEREWOLF BY NIGHT: IN THE BLOOD, which finds Jack Russell, a man cursed into a werewolf when the moon is full, trying to live a normal life despite his wolf-like tendencies. When the story begins Jack is awaiting a newborn child with his girlfriend Cassie. He secretly steals away for the three days in which he wolf’s out to lock himself up in an impenetrable cage so that he doesn’t hurt anyone.
After the latest full moon, Jack returns home to find Cassie dead and his child ripped from her womb. Fearing that his wolf personae may have been the cause he flees just as the police arrive to see him with his dead wife. With nowhere to run Jack hides away in obscurity until he learns a cabal of secret agents are after him and may be able to help him. Now Jack must unravel the mystery of the death of his wife while also unlocking the secrets of his past which will shape his future.
Written by Duane Swierczynski with artwork by Mico Suayan, IN THE BLOOD is a violent and horrifying story as can only happen in Marvel’s MAX line of comics. Fans of horror comics will love how the werewolves are updated Marvel style as Suayan’s art is lush and made even more relentless by Ian Hannin’s colors.
This could have been a fairly routine story and series but together Swierczynski, Suayan, and Hannin create one of the highlights of the MAX comics line. This is work that will put the Werewolf By Night character back into the minds and hearts of horror fans everywhere.
As an added bonus, included in this graphic novel are reprints of Tomb of Dracula #18 and the original Werewolf By Night #15 which is the character’s first encounter with Marvel’s version of Dracula.
After the latest full moon, Jack returns home to find Cassie dead and his child ripped from her womb. Fearing that his wolf personae may have been the cause he flees just as the police arrive to see him with his dead wife. With nowhere to run Jack hides away in obscurity until he learns a cabal of secret agents are after him and may be able to help him. Now Jack must unravel the mystery of the death of his wife while also unlocking the secrets of his past which will shape his future.
Written by Duane Swierczynski with artwork by Mico Suayan, IN THE BLOOD is a violent and horrifying story as can only happen in Marvel’s MAX line of comics. Fans of horror comics will love how the werewolves are updated Marvel style as Suayan’s art is lush and made even more relentless by Ian Hannin’s colors.
This could have been a fairly routine story and series but together Swierczynski, Suayan, and Hannin create one of the highlights of the MAX comics line. This is work that will put the Werewolf By Night character back into the minds and hearts of horror fans everywhere.
As an added bonus, included in this graphic novel are reprints of Tomb of Dracula #18 and the original Werewolf By Night #15 which is the character’s first encounter with Marvel’s version of Dracula.
Graphic Novel Review: TRICK ‘R TREAT
Over two years ago a little film was produced to great acclaim at film festivals and screenings for those lucky enough to see the film. This film would then go on to sit on a studio shelf with no release date on the nearby horizon. The film in question is TRICK ‘R TREAT. Written & directed by Michael Dougherty the film is a Halloween anthology in the same vein as CREEPSHOW and as such Dougherty wanted to craft a graphic novel that depicted the film in all its gory detail and thus there is now this adaptation by Marc Andreyko with artwork supplied by Mike Huddleston (chapter 1), Grant Bond (chapter 2), Christopher Gugliotti (chapter 3), and Fiona Staples (chapter 4).
The graphic novel follows the film pretty faithfully considering how much has to be trimmed in order to accommodate the format and the four artists do a great job in giving each chapter a unique identity of their own. The who thing comes off as a nice little gift for the Halloween season.
For those of you not familiar with TRICK ‘R TREAT it is the story of several groups of people celebrating the traditions of Halloween and what happens when those traditions are not honored. To make sure that everything goes off as befitting those traditions is the enigmatic Sam, a small child-like person who wears a burlap sack over his head. He is the window through which all the stories are connected.
Although a brief and very fun read, this graphic novel doesn’t have the punch of the CREEPSHOW graphic novel which is partially due to the fact that all the stories interconnect in one way or another, so, each individual story cannot be viewed as such (even though a different artist focuses on each chapter). As a whole the project is not so bad and it may become another great addition to the CREEPSHOW, CREEPY, EERIE, or TALES FROM THE CRYPT mode.
The graphic novel follows the film pretty faithfully considering how much has to be trimmed in order to accommodate the format and the four artists do a great job in giving each chapter a unique identity of their own. The who thing comes off as a nice little gift for the Halloween season.
For those of you not familiar with TRICK ‘R TREAT it is the story of several groups of people celebrating the traditions of Halloween and what happens when those traditions are not honored. To make sure that everything goes off as befitting those traditions is the enigmatic Sam, a small child-like person who wears a burlap sack over his head. He is the window through which all the stories are connected.
Although a brief and very fun read, this graphic novel doesn’t have the punch of the CREEPSHOW graphic novel which is partially due to the fact that all the stories interconnect in one way or another, so, each individual story cannot be viewed as such (even though a different artist focuses on each chapter). As a whole the project is not so bad and it may become another great addition to the CREEPSHOW, CREEPY, EERIE, or TALES FROM THE CRYPT mode.
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