Comic Quickies

Bulletproof Coffin #5: The first thing I noticed about this issue was the extra heft to it when I picked it up...extra pages! I was hoping the extra thickness was due to a pop-out section or something equally sweet, but the extra pages were a preview of writer David Hine's earlier work, Strange Embrace. So, really it was pretty much the usual stuff from Bulletproof Coffin. By "usual" I mean, weird and wild stuff on each and every page.

Over the course of the five issues in this six issue series, there has been lots to love. Shaky Kane's art is always a visual pleasure, and the story itself is quite awesome. I think my favorite touch is the comic-within-a-comic that occurs in each issue, and how they tie into the overall plot of the series. Great stuff. I've been waiting for the Red Wraith comic, and I finally got it. I can't wait to see how this one finishes up.



Kill Shakespeare #6: This sixth issue wraps up the first of two story arcs for this twelve issue series. In high school, I always secretly liked it when it came time for us to read a Shakespearean play. I loved the characters. Now along comes a comic that takes a bunch of the Bard's most famous and lesser known characters, pulls them out of their given narratives and plops them down in a fantasy world where Shakespeare himself is an elusive, all powerful wizard.

The first three issues or so were quite good, pitting Hamlet as the central character, exiled from his homeland, wrecked at sea, only to wash ashore on the lands controlled by Richard III. He soon undertook a quest to kill the mysterious wizard, but in the process things become jumbled as he meets folks like Falstaff, Juliet, and Othello, who operate a rebellion against Richard III. However, I the plot has slowed down a bit, over the last couple of issues, and I'm hoping this one gets back on track soon.



Strange Tales II 2 of 3: Yet another awesome, and hilarious Strange Tales cover! More great Marvel stuff by indie creators here. There's some great gems in this issue. My favorite was Love and the Space Phantom by Jamie Hernandez, which follows the Space Phantom as he tries to crash a sexy marvel-babes beach party.

There is also a great X-Men story by Jeffrey Brown, a great stressed out Spidey tale by Farel Dalrymple, and capping off the issue, Crisis in the Lair of MODOK by Jon Vermilyea...you can't really go wrong with any story starring a Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing.



Sweet Tooth #15: Last but not least comes one of my most favorite ongoing comics. It is amazing to me how Lemire manages to keep building and building the tension issue after issue. I think the pacing might drive some people crazy, but I love it. little, yet very important things happen every issue, and those little things add up to make this one extremely compelling story.

After reading this issue, its pretty plain to see that Singh, the Doctor who has been experimenting on the Hybrids has a pretty large role to play in the overall plot of the story. It looks like he'll be trying to figure out just what the hell Gus' "Dad" was up to by reading his journals. Meanwhile, Jeppard seems poised to wage war on the Militia.

Check This Shit Out

Just thought I'd share a really great web-comic with everyone today. Hark, a vagrant is a pretty hilarious website. Kate Beaton got on my radar after reading Marvel's Strange Tales II and it turns out she has a web comic that is loaded with tons of great material. For instance, this Wonder Woman comic:



Kate doesn't just do super heroes though. Her extensive archives mostly focus on historical folks, which is definitely worth a look. There's some other funny stuff as well. Check it out, but don't be surprised if you cant stop yourself from reading more.

Review: The White Tiger

As a book lover, I hate being forced to read things. So with a large degree of trepidation, and the need for five more credits to round out my quarter, I signed up for a Post Colonial Literature course, knowing it would most certainly make me do that most dreaded of all dreadfuls: read something because I HAVE to. Luckily, the book list is nice and short, and filled with some cool novels. The White Tiger is one of 'em.

In this debut, Booker Prize winning novel by Aravind Adiga, we follow Balram Halwai, a low caste villager trying to make it big in India. Balram is from a tiny village called Laxmangarh, a village deep in the "darkness" of rural India. As a child, Balram was declared a "White Tiger", a once in a lifetime genetic specialty that is destined for great things, by a visiting education inspector.

The novel is told in a series of letters which Balram writes to the Premier of China. The letters, written over a course of seven days and seven nights tell of Balram's journey from a lowly sweet maker, to the slightly more lofty, and better paying job of professional driver for rich young Indian aristocrat.

The White Tiger is a transfixing novel. The letter to the Premier narrative style is a pretty unique one, and it made the story roll along at a great clip. Reading the letters, Balram comes off as a slightly neurotic guy, but he is definitely a guy you root for regardless of his sarcastic demeanor, loose morals and crafty ways.

Balram suffers many degrading and unjust moments in the service of his employers, from foot massages, to being framed for vehicular homicide; all of which serves to illustrate the brutal class struggles that still exist, and persist in India today. This book doesn't just explore the issues of class. Through the eyes of Balram, we also get a look at the rapid globalization of India, the tensions between Hindus and Muslims, and the continued struggle for national identity in the wake of Britian's colonial "enlightenment".

The theme of Light versus Darkness was a theme kept popping up often in this book. The villagers are often described as being from the "Darkness", Balram makes a reference to hiding from the police, who searched for him in the darkness while he hid in the light, and many others which struck me as Adiga's way of addressing the "white man's burden" goal of enlightenment that served as one of the key justifications for colonialism. Make no mistake, while this book has a darkly comic veneer, it is very much an angry shout at the colonial powers and the greed, corruption, class discrimination, and racism that effect modern India.

The White Tiger was a nice surprise. The book tackles some very interesting and complex issues, and gave me lots to think about. Overall, the book is a fast, more or less easy read, but it is filled with some heavy material, that Adiga somehow, masterfully, managed to not bog the narrative down with. This is a great read, and well deserving of the Booker Prize it won in 2008. This is a powerful book that is accessible to everyone, an amazing achievement for any book. I highly recommend it.

Grade: B+

Comic Quickies

This edition of Comic Quickies is brought to you by the letter S.


Strange Tales II 1 of 3: First of all, take a moment to drink in that gorgeous ass Rafael Grampa cover...Mmm, MMMM! That is pretty! Stange Tales is probably the coolest thing happening at Marvel these days. Basically, they let a bunch of indie writers and artists run wild with characters from the Marvel Universe. Brilliant idea, and the results are pretty brilliant too. The cover artist, Grampa, also has a great Lucha-Wolvie story that kicks this issue off. In it, Wolverine battles Deadpool in a no holds barred style death-match. This comic short is bloody and gruesome, but has a nice, soft touch to it as well. Great stuff.

Kate Beaton also has a hilarious Kraven the Hunter story, where he's on the hunt for a prom date. There's lots of other great stuff in this issue to, you really get to experience a lot of cool indie creators, and the stories they crank out are all pretty solid. Pretty much a value deal despite the hefty $4.99 price tag.



Skull Kickers #2: The first issue didn't exactly BLOW me away, but it certainly didn't blow either. So, with a small measure of trepidation, I approached the second issue. The opening pages are action packed, as the two still unnamed mercs whoop ass on some grave robbers, but I didn't find myself enjoying the action too much. It wasn't until they hit the trail of the recently escaped grave robbers, hung a dude over a fire and basted him like a turkey so he'd spill information, and wrecked a horde of goblins, that I really got to enjoy things. However, that being said, the whole issue is pretty much one action sequence after another, which isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't say much for the story.

Another gripe I have is that in one panel the two mercenaries are overlooking a lush verdant valley, when they decide to steal some approaching horses, then on the very next page, seem to be in a dusty,dry, desert locale. Maybe this is just supposed to be yet another gag, but it bugged me. Still on the fence.




Vertigo Resurrected: Shoot: Way back in the late 90's, ancient history for some folks, Warren Ellis started what many hoped would be a long run on Hellblazer. However, he quit after only 9 issues because Vertigo wouldn't run his issue titled Shoot which dealt with recent school killings in the U.S. Then the Columbine shootings happened and Vertigo decided that it wouldn't be the best thing to run the issue without some major changes. The changes were drastic enough that Ellis, as a writer, couldn't support the changes to his material, and quit writing Hellblazer. Shoot had never been available until now.

I guess if you'd been waiting since like, 1999 to read this one issue, it would be really fucking awesome to finally read it, but I bought this not just for the Shoot story, but also for the other great re-run short comics by some of the best in the industry. Some of my favorite writers and artists have comic shorts in this gritty, heavy read. Every story is a bit dark and twisted. As an anthology, they all work pretty well together, and they are also pretty good representations of each creator. Not a bad way to sample some of the biggest names in the biz, if you are just getting started on comics.



The Sixth Gun #5: Is it possible for a Western/Horror/Fantasy to be a comfort read? If you are me it is. The sixth gun is pretty much all the reasons I read comics rolled into one. Great story, great art, cool characters, great setting, cool shit happens, crazy shit happens, when the issues is over, I instantly want more.

I don't want to gush too much, but I really think this series gets better with each issue. The good guy team of Becky, Drake, and BillJohn balance the scales a bit in this issue, but General Hume and his cronies still have some pretty diabolical tricks up their sleeves. The end of the issue sets up what I expect to be a pretty god damn amazing showdown at The Maw for the next issue.

Sneak Peak at Wynonna Earp: The Yeti Wars

I recently got my hands on a PDF of the first chapter of Beau Smith's upcoming graphic novel, Wynonna Earp: The Yeti Wars.

The first chapter starts out with some strange happenings near Mount McKinley in Alaska, as two US Marshalls meet gruesome, bloody deaths in the snow. The only clue of the killer is a giant footprint in the snow.

Meanwhile back in California, US Marshall, Wynonna Earp leads a strike force against a secret lab that is creating human/animal beasts. The science lab is run by the slippery Dr. Robidoux, a man with connections to the mysterious Immortals Consortium, and, who of course, manages to escape to the icy safety of Alaska.

Thanks to the data from the sting, Earp gets the go ahead to put together a team, and chase after the baddies.

As far as first issues go, this one was pretty solid, though not mind-blowing. The assault on the secret lab was pretty cool, and the human/animal creations were pretty cool once they got turned loose. I felt the action was pretty standard and straight forward, not all that dynamic, and lacking in intensity.

One thing I look for when reading the first issue of any comic series, is some sort of hook that really drags me into the world of the comic, and leaves me craving for more once that final page is turned. Great characters, an intriguing plot, and hints at bigger and better things to come are just a few of the hooks that have gotten me in the past.

So how does Wynonna Earp: The Yeti Wars measure up? Well, from just looking at the title and I expect some explosive action, which I generally appreciate. The plot of the first issue hints at deeper layers to the story. I think where this preview fell flat for me was the characters. I didn't really get any kind of sense of the title character Wynonna Earp. Sure, I can see that she's tough, and can handle herself, but I didn't see anything to set her apart from all the other tough female leads we see in comics, tv, film, and literature these days. As far as other characters go, Dr. Robidoux gets very little attention, yet seems important to the story, and a fellow Marshall, named Smitty seems to play a larger role in the future as well.

Like I said earlier, a solid effort, but I'm not totally convinced. Truth be told, I am firmly on the fence. I actually wish that this one was serialized before being collected in a graphic novel, so I could buy the first couple issues and get a better sense of the story.

If you are interested, you too can get a free PDF of the fist chapter. Just check out Beau's weekly column at CBR, and email the man asking for a PDF. Or just wait until December when the graphic novel hits comic shops. My thanks to Beau Smith for sending me the PDF.

Halloween Double-Shot

Halloween might be one of those bullshit, made-up holidays, but it is like the best day of the year for Goths. (That last statement is in no way based on fact, it is simply the kind of shit I spout when I want to set up a sweet Type O Negative video.) So what better way to celebrate with a Halloween song from the greatest of all Goth-Metal bands? (I say "greatest" because I can't name you another goth-metal band off the top of my head.) Yeah, Type O Negative fucking rocks though... Some of you Type 0 fans out there may be thinking: wouldn't All Hallows Eve be more appropriate? Yes, it would, but there isn't a good enough you tube video to satisfy my demands. Enjoy the clip! Oh, shit, I nearly forgot! I added Blood and Thunder by Mastodon too, since every single person in that video is in some sort of freaky costume. If you don't listen to Mastodon on at least a monthly basis, you gotta get your shit together.

Black No.1





Blood and Thunder

Review: The Damned

In the mood for demon mobsters who traffic in the typical prohibition era vices like booze, drugs, gambling and souls? Wait, souls? Ok, so The Damned isn't your typical mobster story, it's better.

In the reimagined prohibition era created here by Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt, demons run the Chicago crime syndicates, and soul trafficking is a big part of the game. Two of the Windy City's biggest mob families are about to broker a deal and consolidate power, but before the deal can go down, the middle-man, tasked with helping the two rival families iron out the details, goes missing. That's where our hero Eddie comes in.

Eddie has been dead for three days when we first meet him, but before too long, he's alive and more or less well, helping the Aligheri family track down the missing middle-man. See, Eddie's been cursed, and he can only sorta die. Whenever he dies, the next unlucky bastard to touch him gets Eddie's deathly injuries transferred to their body, and Eddie, well, he's alive. So Eddie is sent to find the missing middle-man, but what he finds is one tangled-ass web of double crossings, deceit, murder, and soul thievery. Eddie might just be able to get to the bottom of things too, if he can stay alive.

The Damned is a pretty awesome hunk of crime/horror. Writer Cullen Bunn does a great job of creating a fascinating world, and also a great job of setting things up with the first few pages. I found that there was so much more I wanted to know once the principle plot had been introduced. The demons also add a great twist to the classic mobster storyline.

The characters in this graphic novel are also quite well done. Plugging evil demons in as mob bosses and muscle was a nice touch and a few of the demons are very entertaining characters. Where Bunn's character building really shines is with the hero, Eddie. Eddie's pretty much a bad-ass who can get the job done, and while his tactics aren't necessarily the most humane, or kind, I definitely came to appreciate his unique style. It might help that he's one of the few human characters in the story, so at the very least he's easier to relate to.

The hierarchy between humans and demons was sort of an interesting side story. The relationship between the two beings never gets explained, but a lot can be learned just from the text, and the art.

Speaking of which, the art, done by Brian Hurtt is great. Hurtt draws both humans and demons with skill, and knocks the scenery and the setting out of the park as well. I really got a real sense of time and place as I read. The 30's come to life with Hurtt's eye for detail, architecture, not to mention, clothing, and technology. Normally, I'm a bigger fan of color with comic art, but Hurtt's black and white art was great, and I actually think the black and white treatment was more appropriate given the setting of the story. All in all, very solid work.

When I had finally read the last page of The Damned I found myself wanting more, and supposedly there is more of The Damned to come in the future, but for now, the creative team of Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt are hard at work on their ongoing comic, The Sixth Gun, which is also quite awesome. I would be hard pressed to say which I'd rather have these guys working on as both are high quality and highly entertaining. My advice is buy this graphic novel of The Damned, then start reading The Sixth Gun and thank me later for helping to improve your quality of life. You're welcome.

Grade: B+