Another of Aspen’s flagship titles returns this week with Soul Fire. The third volume takes place after magic has returned and a new period of peace between the Rahtumi and Sethoru has begun. One of the Sethoru isn’t happy with co-existence and has stolen a book from the forbidden library in order to use a dark magic that only the Sethoru can harness. Her name is Onyx and she has a lot of enemies still in this new peace filled world.
Scourge is a bit like I Am Legend (the film not the book), the streets are void of life and you can pretty much do anything you want; including driving a limo on subway tracks. Unlike Legend you have to deal with infected humans all of the time and they have grown significant strength and abilities so they can do one of the following: Kill you, eat you or infect you. Our story opens up with Officer Jon Griffin driving a limo down to the subway to escape a horde of infected. His passengers include his son, Jon Jr., Astor, a man who helped save his son and Ali, Jon Jr’s super smart substitute teacher.
The Academy
kids are back for issue #662, though this time things aren’t as calm as Psycho-Man
has isolated the fear and doubt buried in the kids’ minds. This causes them to go insane with hate and their collective powers are pointed at their
substitute teacher. Spidey has to figure out a way to calm the class down
before they kill him and anyone else within their reach without killing the
kids themselves. The task proves difficult, as the team’s past flirtation with evil
at the orders of Norman Osborne makes Psycho-Man’s hold on them all the easier.
You know life sucks when wake up to find that your only means of transportation is stuck up in a street lamp, ten feet off the ground. That’s the kind of crap day that Eddie Patron is having. As he walks back to his apartment in the projects, he is greeted by his ex, Danielle, who happens to be floating a few feet off the floor. She then begins to express how disappointed she is by laying a full blown ass-whooping on Eddie. She throws him through walls, knocks him through a window, snatches him through ceilings and flies him above the clouds just to torture him. The reason for this ex-lover spat: Eddie’s been running and hiding from Danielle because he’s got something valuable, something that she wants. After Eddie tells her that she’s going to have to kill him first, she reinstates from the before mentioned ass-whooping. Just as Eddie is about to black out he recalls when they were truly in love, when they first met. From their wedding to their first night together to their days in high school.
When we last left the
mythical
to the townspeople of Tallus: he would leave their children unharmed if they
deliver Sela and her companions, Bolder and Blake, to him at once. At this
notion, the entire town surrounded the trio in a desperate attempt to save
their family. Sela is well aware of the fact that she could decimate the entire
city if she tried to use her powers, and Blake is unable to use his sword for a
similar though less explosive reason. Druanna shows up just in time, and
commands William to either see to Orcus’s terms or deny them. He then arrests
Sela and the others, locking them away while he ponders the High Priestess’s
words.
Here’s a surprise: ANOTHER vampire title from Image. Despite the massive amounts of vampire related stories the media’s been getting ever since Twilight hit book stores, Shinku is a fun romp that I can’t help but think of in comparison to Undying Love, another comic book about vampires that takes place in Hong Kong. Shinku also has an exotic setting that is somewhat explored in this issue, and the art has a quality to it that makes it stand out on the shelf. Unfortunately there is little else that Shinku offers, but another surprise (without the sarcasm) is that this story is still fun to read.
It’s not often a book like Seeds comes along, but when it does you grab onto it and shout from the roof tops about how good it is. Originally published in the UK, the book has made it over to the US shores thanks to Com.X. In this case it’s best to use the books own summary instead of trying to add a spin to it.
The Intrepids #4, is out this week. This series was a slow start (story wise) but has sold well. This book delivers a retro fusion of indie punk comics and weird strange science fiction. It is a “team book” of bionic individuals that join forces to fight evil mad scientists. They are lead by the enigmatic Dante, a character similar to the early Professor Xavier mix between Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom but with a more mysterious background. So far the book has not shown any sings of being really a “group book” since the previous issues were focused more on the character of miss Crow and Dante’s backstory. The group has not faced any mortal foe, unless you count killer baboons and a purple cyber bear. But the internal conflict has risen in the minds of the team. Thanks in part to the previous issue when they captured a manbot named Jonah and he told Miss Crow, that they are not the first team Dante created.
It happens to everyone that enjoys a form of mass entertainment… eventually something you’re looking forward to doesn’t live up to your own hype. That’s what happened with The Tooth, Oni Press’ newest graphic novel about a crime fighting tooth that resides in a man’s jaw line; as I sat down to read its adventures. The concept of a tooth that fights crime, but then returns to some guy’s mouth was ridiculous and awesome all in the same breath. Unfortunately it fell short of greatness, but not delight.
This issue takes a break on the high octane action that the series has become known for and focuses on the two main characters as they delve into their past. The story kicks off with Jon asleep in someone else’s hotel room. He looks like hell from lack of sleep, but the tracer he’s planted has finally stopped given him the location of the new facility. They travel all night and find the building that is posing as telemarketer phone farm. Jake guides Jon through security and sure enough, it’s a front as the phones and computers are completely fake. They make their way to the files room and there Jon discovers the truth about everything.
