Comic Reviews

Brimstone #1 – Review

I’ll give Zenescope one thing, their books do not shy away from racially offensive descriptors when appropriate for the story. Even still some readers may be taken back by just how many are in Brimstone, their new western that was recently released. You may have missed it since it didn’t have a beautiful seductress on the cover, unless you tracked down the Greg Horn variant. No, Brimstone is not your average Zenescoperelease as its main characters are all male and lacks their usual Fairy Tale element.

Fathom Vol 4 #0 – Advanced Review

The world of Fathom is far more complex than simply referring to it as Aquaman as a woman, which is what a lot of people think when they see the late Michael Turner’s creation. It’s a shame then that they are missing out on a very different underwater world filled with technology and superpowers.  Aspen Matthews (the name-shake for the company) used to be just another surfer girl until learning that she was actually tied to the water she loved so much, in a completely different way. She is the combination of two underwater civilizations that don’t get along. Think of the Skrulls and Kree if you need a point of reference.

Pick of the Week – The Tattered Man – One-Shot

The Tattered Man is something that could only exist in a comic book and truly shows why the medium is one of the greatest formats to work in. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have crafted a world that is familiar and yet very different than other comic creations. The Tattered Man is one of the best comics of 2011 and hopefully this one-shot will spawn off into an ongoing series so that the creators can continue to delight us with their horrifying tales of tragedy and humanity.

’68 #2- Review

War is a nightmare and war with the undead, well that’s a
hell all on its own. Deep in the jungle of Cambodia, the young and beautiful Miss
Landers sits among a small group of G.I.s. with a film crew capturing her every
moment.  Her message is simple, to send the
thought of peace to every living room in America and get our fighting boys back
home. Declan Rule leads this small crew for this good will message back home.
After telling his team his expectations he excuses himself and makes his way
aboard a helicopter in order to do a land survey for their next location shoot.
The two airmen in charge of the chopper inform Mr. Rule that they don’t run a
taxi service. With a flip of his wrist, Mr. Rule answers back with his C.I.A
credentials. Soon Rule and the airmen are up and away to a secret L.Z.

Hack/Slash #4 – Advance Review

Has this ever happened to you? You are driving on the highway with your best friend and all of a sudden a crazy demon chick appears from the back seat and puts you in a trance. You lose control of the car, your best friend is deperate she– oh did I mention that your best friend is a hot emo girl? Well she is… Then she does the one thing that is going to put you out of the trance, she flashed her boobs and shoves them in your face. Has this happened to you right?  No… Well at least you can read about it this month in Image Comics’ Hack/Slash #4.

The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde #2 – Review

After an astounding first issue The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde returns with a second issue that’s even better. As I said in the review for the first issue this book is Hyde meets Ripper with Silence of the Lamb undertones. The story continues its same set up of showing Jekyll’s decent into madness as he became to rely more and more on the serum and its effects on him. In the present Inspector Adye is trying to use science to compare the scrapings from under one of the victims nails to the original serum of Hyde’s, but finds that all the files and evidence from the case has gone missing.

Planet of the Apes #2 – Review

Things are heating up as the deadline to find the Lawgiver’s assassin begins to run out. Alaya has sought out a man incarcerated by her grandfather in order to catch his killer. Nix is a white gorilla and is feared by everyone in the prison. Alaya asks him to make a troop and tear through “Skin Town” in order to find the killer. Nix questions her decision since not even the Lawgiver would free him and Alaya says that his crime is less than the one committed against her grandfather.

Elephantmen #31 – Review

A perfect jumping on point and a new story for fans are rolled into one in this issue of Elephantmen, along with several flaws. The fan service is not as strong as the series urges to hook new readers the same way Image did by reprinting the first issue of Elephantmen #1. This issue may have more flaws and less of an emotional impact than that issue, but it has its moments.

Sahara continues to encourage man to accept the Elephantmen and the responsibility as their creators. All the while animals are being killed by a deranged madman and Hip Flask is on the case trying to track down the killer before more innocent people die.

Carbon Grey #3 – Advanced Review

Carbon Grey is a rock. A powerful rock like the Cosmic Cube or whatever magical artifact you might know. Now that the Kaiser is dead, a political struggle is in effect. General Wolf wants the queen dead but he can’t kill her because in her belly is the new heir to the throne, but he promises her that after the birth she is as good as dead. The Grey Sisters are still fugitives and Anna and Eva encounter Howard a soldier Giselle saved, Eva kills Howard and leaves him as a message for the general. Giselle helps Elliot and Dina fight the enforcing army of the Red Baron, she kicks ass and is able to save the day. Later on Anna finds Giselle on a train and they fight and since they are on a military train (covinient) with a big cannon, Anna takes advantage of this and destroys the train. In this issue we discover that the Kaiser’s death was not really Giselle’s fault. The Kaiser took Giselle’s handgun and blew his own brains out with it.

Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Lost Command #5 – Review

A lot of comic readers shy away from reading a series when it’s in the middle or end of a storyline, but I find that sometimes you discover great issues that way. That’s the case with Lost Command as I haven’t read the first four issues of the mini-series, but still decided to give this book a chance. What I found was an actually deeply emotional story about Darth Vader that was far better than anything the movie prequels could offer.