Review: Adventure Time Annual #1

Written by Guest Contributor: Jordan North Just when I thought I’d said all I could say about the Adventure Time comic something comes along and pairs the familiar dish with a delightful garnish. Adventure Time’s first annual issue compiles a series of short vignettes set in the magical land of Ooo, six in total, each with a different artist and writer-- sometimes they’re the same person-- and lets them go nuts. The result varies in quality but turns out some of the more interesting looking and unique stories that I’ve read in an AT book. And that freshness alone warrants a read.

“A, You’re Adventurous” is a simple-minded comic strip style short by Roger Langridge that’s cool to look at but did really stick out too much.

“A Sword Most Awesome” by Alex Cox combines a breezy antidote on Jake and Finn’s friendship with a cool water color style of artwork.

“No Dogs Allowed”—probably my personal favorite-- sees Finn and Jake trying to get into a party where, as the title illustrates, Jake isn’t allowed. So he turns into an airplane. A stream of consciousness rap later and the doorman is sold. This short is silly in the spirit of the cartoon but also feels individual. I chuckled aloud. Also, the whole thing looks like an acid trip. It is by Bryce Carlson and Dustin Nguyen

“Dungeons and Desserts” by Josh Williamson and Jason Ho is the most visually similar to the cartoon and tells a very AT tale of Ice King playing a D&D style board game with his beloved penguins.

Derek Fridolfs and Whitney Cogar’s “The Summiteers” is also visually very similar to the show and to me most closely mimiced its zany and good natured humor, occasionally morally ambiguous heroes included.

Finally “The Lemon Sea” is a hilarious fly on the wall view of our favorite Earls (the ones of Lemongrab) on an average day out on a picnic. Seeing these characters outside of the context of some big event with Finn and Jake and just doing their own thing was hella funny. Kory Bing and Sfe Monster made it.

These short stories are fun and for a fan of the series or even a lover of comic strips and eccentricity. It’s worth a pickup.

Score: 3/5

Writers: Various Artists: Various Publisher: Kaboom and Boom Studios Price: $4.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Pretty Rad! Animazement 2013 Cosplay Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ONw5oEMITk It's con season, meaning that it's also hard to keep up with conventions happening all across the globe! Micah Moore shot some cool footage of Raleigh, NC's Animazement convention and while the video is a little on the long side, it's pretty damn good. Lots of great costumes that are very well made and the event in general looked fun! Check it out after the jump and get Cos on... I want to make a math joke, but we're nerdy enough.

Via Major Spoilers

Review: King Conan: Hour of the Dragon #1

Review by: Connor Russell I need to make a confession to you readers now before the hating starts. I have never read or watched anything related to Conan the Barbarian before. The closest I ever got was reading the blurb on a back of a book once. That's why when I saw an issue one I just knew that it was time I finally jumped onto this iconic character and give him a look over. Now that you've hopefully let go of your anger that was rising up, please read on.

At the start, King Conan is approached in the tomb of his first wife Zenobia. He was approached by a fledgling scribe who was asked to find out how Conan met his first wife and the story revolving around it. We cut to some men performing a ritual to revive Xaltotun (apparently a great magician, as I said I know nothing of this world). These men want his help to overthrow Conan from his throne, and the newly revived man agrees out of revenge from fighting barbarians back during his first life. The men pull strings and gather armies against Conan, all in the hopes to defeat him. More happens here and there but that is something that you will have to read for yourself.

Timothy Truman was in charge of writing duties for this issue. To me, pacing plays a very important role in a comic. Making sure the single issue has enough and not too much in such a limited form of narrative, and in this I found that Truman did a pretty good job. A lot goes on in a short amount of time but these events were all presented well without overshadowing one another. Another point I wish to raise is that with such a rich world and a long history, this could have been written with presumed knowledge disenfranchising new readers. Although I'm sure older readers would have known most things (Xaltotun for example), it is definitely written in a way that new fans can jump on without feeling lost.

Tomas Giorello was in charge of pencil duties and Jose Villarrubia took care of colors. I have never come across Giorello's work before but I found myself really digging it. This is a style I quite like. Things look a little rough and sketchy at times but pull it off well. The colors I found were generally a little dulled except for things like magic but it really helped bring the art forward in this book.

This book has done everything that an issue one should do, especially issue ones for arcs or mini-series in an already established franchise. They are meant to hook new readers and share what we are missing out on. This book has made me want to check out more Conan; in fact I may go buy a collection soon. Seriously, check it out.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Timothy Truman Artist: Tomas Giorello Colorist: Jose Villarrubia Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Released: 5/29/13

Review: Five Weapons #4 (of 5)

I love that cover. It’s sadly the thing that I enjoyed the most about this chapter. It’s not that this issue is bad, but it’s starting to wrap up and so the charm of the series is really missing in this issue. In fact we don’t spend nearly the same amount of time with our main character as we have in previous issues. In the end it’s a book where the characters spend most of their time spouting off exposition and very little else. Also there will be some spoilers ahead, but if you’ve been reading the series… you know all this already before even picking up this issue. Big surprise, it’s the servants kid. I know right, I mean it’s not like we haven’t had access to Enrique’s thoughts, seen his father the butler yell at him or pieced it together by the sheer fact that he doesn’t look like the rest of the Shainline family. That’s not how this issue starts though! It starts with of course the reveal of how “Tyler” got out of his situation in the last issue. He starts by telling Joon that the woman who claims to have saved her grandmother and gotten her into the school isn’t old enough to have saved her grandmother. Joon thinks on it while “Tyler” places his winning piece down on the board and then goes into how he beat Darryl by placing a fake the night before and exploiting yet another technicality in the system. He eases Daryl off the ledge by appealing to his reporter nature and pointing out that the other contestants were all poisoned and that really he was “had” before they began. Ultimately, “Tyler” ends up the festival King and receives a kiss on the cheek from Jade. Slow down kids, that’s how babies are made!

From there we receive the back story between the Nurse and the Principal and the Principal’s reason for being at the school. After that is the reveal of “Tyler” being a fake and why he’s really there and the set up for the final issue in which “Tyler” offers to help Nat the Gat graduate. Which also doesn’t make any sense since Nat is the best student, but for some reason needs “Tyler” to help him not suck… how bad do the rest of the gun club students suck?

The thing about this issue is that there are too many reveals. Obviously they couldn’t be in the next issue because we need resolution, but they didn’t all need to be in this issue either. Fake Tyler’s story could have been sprinkled throughout the previous issues in the same way presented here and it could have been dramatic. Or the entire thing could have been done in the previous issue so that the other two reveals were more interesting in this issue. There are a lot of ways it could have been cut and changed, but it still boils down to the reveal overload. I look at it like going through a haunted house, if you’re scared by one person after the other, you become accustom to it and it stops being scary. The brain needs time to reset and it doesn’t have any time to do that with this issue. The dialog was pretty basic in this issue which was strange. It was as if none of the characters were trying to be themselves. While it was annoying at times dealing with the fact that all of the characters were trying to be over the top the entire time, now none of them were which was a huge change. The balance of dialog and the pacing of the story just didn’t find the right path in this issue.

The art is the same, but how about that cover! It’s a bit different from the other covers, but I really like it. It’s one of the more creative creations to release this year. I only noticed one real inconsistency with the art and that was when Joon took off her eye patch to reveal her red-eye; the spacing was all out of whack, which seemed strange considering the next panel is a close up on another character’s eyes.

Sadly, this series has been pretty basic. I’m glad to see Robinson venturing into new territories and I still really like the concept, but it’s missing that special something to take it to the next level. Yes the next issue “How will Tyler survive” reveals are clever, but because we as the audience don’t have enough clues to guess it for ourselves it’s not as much fun.  With one more issue left, I’ll be back to finish this puppy off, but if you’ve yet to start it then you might want to wait until it’s finished at this point. If you’re more into the concept than anything else then you’ll find some enjoyment, but it’s not going to blow your mind.

Score: 3/5

Writer/Artist/Creator: Jimmie Robinson Publisher: Shadowline and Image Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Grimm Fairy Tales - Realm Knights (One-Shot)

Review by: Ed Allen

Written by Pat Shand and drawn by Noah Salonga and Wagner Souza, Realm Knights is a done-in-one comic from Zenescope and it’s my first foray into their Grimm Fairy Talesfranchise.

Regular readers of the Grimm Fairy Tales universe need no introduction to the franchise from a newbie like me but for those of who who are uninitiated it would probably help to have a little background before the rest of the review gets going. If you were expecting a modern retelling of traditional fairy tale and fantasy characters in a shared universe you’d only be half right.  Characters like Little Red Riding Hood (now known as ‘Red’) and Robin Hood (now ‘Robyn’) have been reinvented as sassy young women with deadly skills at their disposal (alongside a couple of macho guys) and they’ve all been given a new mythology to explain their powers, binding them together into a grander narrative of good ‘highborn’ against the sinister ‘falsebloods’ with ordinary humans caught in between. Amongst all this the Realm Knights emerge as a Justice League/Avengers style group of highborn heroes, tasked by a secret government agency with taking down enemies who can’t be controlled by conventional means.

In this one shot the plot is centred around the formation of the Realm Knights and their mission to rescue hostages from a group of falsebloods who have taken over the United Nations building. Events in the comic are not entirely self-contained, with an important subplot taking place behind the scenes of the government agency which promises to have wide-reaching effects upon the Grimm Fairy Tales universe.

So far so good... but Realm Knights is not without problems. Half of the 45 page comic is spent on talk and posturing amongst the Knights and their shadowy G-men handlers, which I see as something of a failure to capture the potential for snappy storytelling and immediate thrills that’s offered up by its premise. Shand’s dialogue sometimes felt forced, with many of his characters looking to one-up each other with quips that often fall flat, and there’s an unnatural quality to some of their interactions that isn’t helped by the way that some of these characters seem to have fairly interchangeable personalities (though I’m willing to admit that the committed GFT fans out there could probably prove me wrong on this). There’s also a strangely jarring moment on page 28 (several pages into the issue’s main action sequence) when the artwork switches from one penciller to another, each with their own distinct styles.

Despite my criticisms, I do still think there’s plenty of potential enjoyment to be found in Realm Knights. This might sound contradictory but amongst the sometimes awkward dialogue there were more than a few jokes and witty remarks that I found genuinely funny and I think that Shand’s script carries just enough self-awareness to be able to poke a little fun at itself, allowing us to find additional comedy in our reading of the comic. There’s an excellent moment where the Knights are told by an agent that they’ll need more “appropriate” clothing than the bare-legs and cleavage-revealing costumes they start out in, only for them to switch to armoured variations that are somehow even less “appropriate” for the task at hand, a sure sign that the creators (and probably the fans as well) are fully aware of the inherent ridiculousness of the comic and are simply trying to get as much fun as possible out of it. Neither artist’s work is bad on a technical level, especially for readers who enjoy seeing plenty of scantily-clad and ass-kicking ladies in their comics, and if you’re willing to overlook the sudden change in style between the two it actually works quite well for the dialogue-heavy parts of the comic to be drawn in a smooth yet fairly static style while most of the action is rendered with a looser, more kinetic line.

My main issue with Real Knights is that the strengths of the Grimm Fairy Tales setting and characters can only really come to the fore in the later stages of the comic, with so many of its pages being dedicated to build up, sarcastic remarks and occasionally needless dialogue. Once the action really kicks in and Realm Knights begins to deliver on the promise of its “one shot” format with some cathartic beatdowns in the punchier art style I found myself enjoying the comic without any irony or reservations. More of this sort of thing please Zenescope.

At $5.99 this isn’t the cheapest way for new readers to start finding their way into Zenescope’s Grimm franchise but with the variety of characters on show and the launch of important new plot lines, it is a viable option. At that price I'd ideally like to see more plot but for 45 pages (mostly) of self-contained action it's not an unreasonable investment.

For dedicated fans of the Grimm-niverse I would certainly recommend Realm Knights, it’s clearly of some significance to continuity and there’s quite a lot of fun to be had with it if you approach it with in the right frame of mind, but for outsiders like myself I wouldn’t be so sure. Readers who already know that they don’t like the kind of comic Zenescope publish are extremely unlikely to have their minds changed by it. I can’t honestly say that this issue appeals to my tastes but there’s enough individual elements within the story which I liked that I’m prepared to give Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales another shot.

Score: 2/5 (long term fans of Grimm Fairy Tales would probably score it higher - sorry guys)

Writer: Pat Shand (with Grimm Fairy Tales co-creator Joe Brusha)

Artist: Noah Salonga & Wagner Souza

Publisher: Zenescope

Price: $5.99

Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Danger Girl: Trinity #2

Action is all up in this comic. It walked straight through the door and hasn’t left yet. I will probably stay on board this comic for that very reason. Sydney is on the phone with her sister, Sonya. Last issue she was being chased in the jungle by bounty hunters. She was also keeping captive over a bounty hunter named Dallas. He helps her escape and I am assuming he is a good guy. They dive into the water and lose the crew looking for them. Sydney warns her sister of the people after the Danger Girls. While driving, Sydney gets ambushed. This fight scene is awesome! So many of the comics I reviewed this week have been loaded with action…makes me a lucky girl. It is difficult to pull off some action in comics and for me, car scenes are pretty hard to do. Either the action is too slow for me to feel like I am driving or the action is confusing. Here it is a happy medium and sort of puts me in the mood for Fast and the Furious 29 but I doubt I will pay for that movie. Sydney fights off all the guys after her and she books a flight out of London. Must be nice to be a secret agent and also have men to use at your disposal.

We finally see Abbey Chase again. She is the abducted chic and the reason for all this chaos. The girls believe that whoever wants Abbey wants all of them. She is going to see this Prince Amahz character. She is greeted with praise which makes her and I worry for her safe keeping. When greeted by the Prince he knows almost everything about Abbey. He is a huge fan and a creepy one at that. He wants Abbey to be his prisoner and she will live her life searching for jewels for this Prince. If she fights he will kill her.

We jumped back to Sonya and Dallas. They are trying to escape the jungle again…damn bounty hunters. They are a pain to deal with.

No other big plot points happen, hence the short reviews for this comic, and honestly I don’t read this comic for plot, I read it for the art and that intense action. If the plot gets interesting I will move my ratings up but for now I like to enjoy this comic and then think about my escape routes if someone came through my apartment right now and where I would hide all the weapons. For as long as I read this comic I will end it with different ways of how I live my life as a secret agent.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Andy Hartnell Artists: Stephen Molnar, Harvey Tolibao and John Royle Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Mind the Gap #10

Whew, there is a lot of information in this issue. A lot of things get revealed all at once. There isn’t much action in this issue. It is more along the lines of explanation. Don’t get me wrong, I still love this comic, but I like when reveals are done more secretively. If that makes any sense. I don’t need people to explain all the details but rather would have characters discover the results while other characters are left in the dark. I feel like I have been waiting forever for this issue to come out. I am glad that they gave us a quick recap at the beginning to refresh the readers. Our recap consists of a reintroduction to the hoodie, we also see who holds the power, Elle’s mother, and why Elle is comatose. I find Elle’s situation the coolest part to read. Remember she can jump bodies of other comatose patients. When she does this it wakes this patient up and she has to frankly explain herself to Jo, her best friend, in order to solve her mystery of not what happened to her but who did it.

So after Dane, Elle’s bf, is released from prison because of new evidence found in Elle’s case, he and Jo have to go face the death of his father. Dane really couldn’t care less and that is fine by me, but I would think most people would have some sort of reaction. Even if his father was terrible, abusive and turned his own son in for attempted murder. I feel like Dane should have some sort of remorse…even one panel. I think the comic just didn’t want to waste time going into such a small plot point, but I think it looks strange to just ignore it.

Elle is in her world of comatose patients and is starting to remember her life before the accident. She questions Dr. Crenshaw, who clearly has a lot more to do with her life than she thinks. The comic is making it look like Elle wanted to go to this place. For what reasons, we don’t know yet. I am assuming she is trying to solve some other mystery or got too close with the wrong people kind of deal. Elle has a badass side to her, which she shows in this issue. She pretty much torturers Crenshaw about the truth and clearly has tricks up her sleeve that she doesn’t even know about. Maybe Elle is the bad guy and everyone else is in the right. The comic does tell us not to trust anyone. Why even trust our main character then.

Right after all of this, we finally get some answers as to what is going on. Eddie Jr., Elle’s brother, wants to let Dane and Jo in on his little game. The hoodies, yes multiple people, all get unveiled to us. We still don’t get much information about what is going on with Elle, but we at least get more character development with her family. It seems Eddie may be doing all of this with good intentions. He also finds some case files of Crenshaw that show us some pretty interesting material.

Elle gets interrupted right when Crenshaw is going to say who her mother works for by more comatose patients wanting Elle to enter their body and say good-bye to their loved ones. They come out of nowhere so I don’t know if they are trying to help Crenshaw or if Elle has some mental issues. There is still lots going on and I hope I don’t have to wait as long to see the next issue come out.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Jim McCann Artist: Rodin Esquejo Publisher: Image Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Morning Glories #27

It has been a long ass time since I read or reviewed Morning Glories, at some point I just fell behind and never caught up again. With season two kicking off I decided to bite the bullet and get back in line with the series, though I may have missed the jumping on point by an issue… I’m not really sure. Twenty-six was only a dollar, but twenty-seven has a gang of covers so I’m not really sure. Regardless, I read it. Bear with me; I might not have a grasp on everything that’s happening. Unfortunately the thing that makes Morning Glories good is the same thing that makes it difficult for new readers to jump on board with the series. It relies heavily on details from past storylines and it’s clear from what I can remember of what I previously read that several of those storylines are coming together in this issue and others may have already concluded.

Lara and Georgina are walking in the woods for a surprise that Lara has kind of sort of planned. Out walks Casey and while this was probably some huge payoff for long time readers… it meant nothing to me. Casey slugs Lara in the face and says, “Let’s get this over with.” The story flashes back to a year before in which we see Casey before joining the academy. She’s meeting with a teacher and while she’s waiting she picks up a paper weight that has “the hour of our release draws near” written inside. After a quick explanation of the story that the quote is from is given, they move on to the real reason that they’re there… the MGA admission application. Ms. Clarkson wants Casey to apply, but Casey knows her parents would never go for it and asks Ms. Clarkson to talk to them on her behalf at parent teacher conferences. After Casey leaves we meet her boyfriend Mr. Reed and frankly he creeped me out.

Other stuff happened with characters I’m not familiar with and some that I am familiar with. Hunter is hanging out with the older version of Zoe and she speaks in riddles. Eventually the story swings back around to Casey and Ms. Clarkson’s story at parent teacher night. Ms. Clarkson receives a pep talk from Mr. Reed and decides to talk to Casey’s mom. She pulls her outside and talks to her one-on-one for some reason and bluntly tells her to let Casey reach her full potential. Casey’s mom shoots back all the reasons that she doesn’t listen to other people’s advice about her daughter and the main reason is that they’re only concerned about her brain and not her happiness. At this point it became clear to me that Ms. Clarkson was the older version of Casey and that she’s hearing all these great things her mother thinks about her. It was pretty moving even for someone that hasn’t kept up with the series.

It’s hard for me to say that this was a great jumping on point. There is still a ton I don’t understand about the plot, but at least a lot of what happened in this particular issue was somewhat clarified either with the dialog or with some resolution. Honestly if there wasn’t this bigger mystery going on that required you to have some knowledge of a little bit of everything happening in the story, it would be like riding a bike with this series. Sure there were faces that I didn’t recognize and some characters were either completely gone or not present in the issue, but for the most part it was like I never left. In some ways, this series reminds me of Planetary in that the smaller story is feeding into the larger story. The difference is that Planetary was for the most part told in single issues and those single issue feed into the larger story. You could basically pick up any issue and continue on with the series because it was practically a one-shot issue, but that’s not the case here. Its strength is also its weakness.

As with the story, the art was exactly how I remembered it. Sure there have been some improvements to the art and coloring, but for the most part it’s exactly as I remember it. My only issues is that older Casey looked way too similar to Georgina; granted that may have been intentional as I can see Casey doing that in jest or something, but as a lapsed reader it was kind of a question mark. Also I think that the coloring could help differentiate between the characters better as the glossy shine fooled my eye more than once about which character I was looking at. In particular I would have liked to have seen different coloring or lighting techniques used for the flashback to make it stand out more.

Is it a book about time traveling or just the supernatural or likely both. I’ve missed a lot and if this issue accomplished one thing, it was to convince me to go back and get caught up. I’m glad to see that Spencer has a long term goal for the series, but with this issue marking the “second season” I’m curious as to just how big this story is going to get. If I get caught up in time for the next issue I may check it out, otherwise I might end up a trader waiter until that day comes. If you’ve never tried Morning Glories before, then I guess this as good of a place to begin as any to start. If you don’t want to track down trades or back issues then a least hit up a wiki as it’s sure to answer a few of your questions.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Nick Spencer Artist: Joe Eisma Publisher: Image Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Kill Shakespeare: The Tide of Blood #4

Every time I read The Tempest I learn to hate Prospero more and more. He is evil and I don’t know why Shakespeare gave him his closing speech in The Tempest anyway. I like the version of him in this comic. I think a lot of people would agree that Prospero is rotten and secretly wish him to be more rotten so people could see what we do. Also, Prospero’s character in the comic fits perfectly because he wants the power of Shakespeare because his magic isn’t good enough. He is too arrogant to ever admit this about his power, but still seeks out Shakespeare’s. We get our first mention of Ferdinand, Miranda’s husband in The Tempest. Miranda mentions him when Prospero is torturing Hamlet. Miranda wants to keep Hamlet as some sort of pet because of Ferdinand’s banishment. She also wants to get off this island, the only world she has ever known. Prospero promises her that she will get what she wants in good time. I think in parent talk that means never. Can we say creepy? He clearly holds all this power over his own daughter and will not let her be with anyone. I don’t think anything is happening I am just saying that he has some bad purpose for her as well as everyone who is on his island.

We then run into Juliet as she runs into yours truly, Ferdinand and Caliban’s mother, Sycorax. They are not humans but trees planted on the island to live there forever. They both hate Prospero and tell Juliet of how he banished both of them to live as trees. In the play, Sycorax is only mentioned and believed to have died before the play takes place. I think it is cool how this comic twists that idea around and makes it Prospero’s fault and also it shows how Prospero is using Caliban too.

Romeo is off with Lady Macbeth disguised as Miranda. She is telling Romeo that he must murder Hamlet in order to get what he wants, Juliet’s love. Lady Macbeth doesn’t feel bad about this action because she tells Prospero that she is only giving Romeo what he wants and I have to agree. He is in love with Juliet and can’t forgive Hamlet for stealing her love. Lady Macbeth tells us that murder and love is a thin line. Needless to say they all met up during this issue and it is an epic showdown. The elements this comic brings out in all its characters is pretty sweet.

I love this comic and how it asks question that I think Shakespeare would be proud of. It s a good story filled with life’s questions. It makes me think and talk about it with friends. That is the purpose to reading for me. This comic is perfect for Shakespeare fans or English lovers. I should really start to read the other series of Kill Shakespeare.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col Artist: Andy Belanger Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: The Last of Us – American Dreams #2 (of 4)

I haven’t had any hands on time with this game (not that I could if I wanted to), but I’m already a big fan of the property. I’m even holding on to my PS3 just to play it (no fucking way I’m buying a first gen PS4). In the meantime, I have this bad ass comic book to keep me content. While this issue doesn’t have as much meat and potatoes as the first issue, it’s very good and worth the read… even if it’s just for Hicks artwork. The issue opens with Ellie and Riley running across roof tops with Riley leading the way. Riley stops for a moment to give Ellie a chance to breathe and they chat for a minute. Riley is thinking a lot about her future as her sixteenth birthday approaches. The way society works is after your sixteenth birthday you have to join the military and Riley doesn’t want that to be her only option. They arrive at their destination after traveling the rest of the way in silence and low and behold… it’s a mall. Teenagers, I tell ya, always at the damn mall.

Once inside Ellie begins running around and showing her age as she sees and experiences things she’s never witnessed before. She cutely imitates a mannequin finding the pose to be bizarre. They find an old arcade and they exchange stories about games. It sounds like Riley actually played the game she talks about, but Ellie speaks about hers as if she heard stories about it from other children. It’s very interesting and unique twist on the desolate future scenario. After that Ellie pictures what the arcade looked like back in its prime and as she sees children laughing and playing she warns them that “it’s coming…” and then eerily pictures the same group of kids murdered. It’s pretty fucking creepy.

Really this issue is just a handful of character moments and the kickoff of the plot line of Riley joining the Fireflies. It’s good in the sense that we get a feel of how the world has affected the current generation of children, but that’s kind of it. I don’t know if it really needed to be anything else, but the story was very linear in this issue. I really enjoyed Ellie’s demented imagination as it leads to the question of whether children could ever grow up normal in that situation. My gut says no since killing would be so easy for them that literally a generation of murdering, pick-pocket sociopaths would likely be the outcome.

Let’s see, what else can I possibly say about the art that I didn’t gush about with the first issue review. It’s as solid and fantastic as the first issue and I highly doubt that it’s going to change. Riley has a huge range of emotions in this issue. She starts off cocky and confident as we found her in the last issue, but slowly she begins to spiral towards typical lost teenager emotions. Ellie on the other hand is the complete opposite as she is happy, cheerful and most of all adventurous. The girls are polar opposites and it works very well for the story, but it’s mostly conveyed through the art with their facial expressions.

I’m pretty sure something massive is going to go down in the next issue and the anticipation is only amplified with this seemingly basic issue. What this issue truly does, is give you a baseline of what passes as normal in this world so that when it destroys it… you’ll fully appreciate what once was. This is definitely one of, if not the best video game adaptations ever told in comics… and the game isn’t even out yet. It’s got me hyped for two things: the next issue and the game, bring them both on I say.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Neil Druckmann and Faith Erin Hicks Artist: Faith Erin Hicks Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Amala’s Blade #2 (of 4)

I regret that we don’t have a review for the first issue; it’s a shame because it’s just as good as this issue and if you missed it you should go back and buy it. The thing is, if you enjoyed the one-shot/DHP collection; if you enjoyed the first issue… this one is going to knock your socks off. It’s pretty damn amazing when it comes to the writing and the art. My only disappointment is that this is a mini-series because I really like Amala’s character and the world she lives in. We’re treated to one page of flashback from Amala’s origin and as we quickly learn on the next page, it’s more like her life flashing before her eyes as she’s attacked by two robots. A fight breaks out and it has an amazing flow to it. It’s easy to follow and we’re basically shown why Amala is considered to be extremely dangerous. The battle ends in Amala’s favor, but she poisoned by the blade of one of the robots during the fight. She passes out and we’re transported inside of her head were she stands with a sword drawn upon all of the ghosts of the people she’s killed. The ghosts explain that they’re actually trying to help and so she asks them to heal her, which they do, but they also explain that time is moving differently and that she’s sleeping walking with the ghosts at the helm. She wakes up to a rather large pile of dead bodies and for the first time in a long time… no ghosts floating outside her brain.

There’s plenty more to read and the last few pages have rather large implications to the plot of the story. Amala is a fascinating character and her immense past is part of the drawl. Why did she become an assassin, why are some of the people in her mind friends? There are so many unanswered questions that it gives this series an endless possibility of stories. Think about it, Amala’s tale can move both forwards and backwards and that’s rare for a new series to have that ability.

The twist with the ghosts being able to “drive the ship” was a very cool. The fact that they want to help can be either good or bad. Will they eventually fight to take over the body or will she be able to call upon their individual skills in a jam? I don’t know, but I’m curious and it was another great layer for her character. The ending dialog was fantastic and actually distracted me from the art at times. I had to remind myself to look at the wonderful art because my eye wanted to bounce to the next dialog balloon instantly.

Personally, for me the art is incredible. It does a tremendous job of making the world feel alive and animated at the same time. The variety of characters is also simply fantastic and gave me the impression that I was reading something that Studio Ghibli had created. As good/great as the story is, I come for the art. It’s the biggest selling point to me and it’s the perfect fit for the story as it supports it in all ways possible. The sequence at the end is a great example because even though the dialog distracted me from the art, the art was telling another story all together which in turn distracted me from the dialog. It was the perfect dueling sequence.

We might have missed a review for the first issue, but I’m glad that I was able to tackle this issue at least. This is quite the gem and it only sinks its hooks into you more and more with each issue. Now it’s back to waiting for the next issue in what’s shaping up to be one of the best mini-series of 2013.

Score: 5/5

Writer: Steve Horton Artist: Michael Dialynas Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: B.P.R.D. Vampire #3

Written by Guest Contributor: Jordan North B.P.R.D. Vampire is always a minimalistic book, but this issue in particular is. It’s not a bad issue, that’s not what I’m getting at. It is merely succinct. It establishes and creates exactly what it means to with art, characterization and story and nothing more. That said this is a fine issue.

Detective Anders is in a pickle, down and out in a derelict tomb and abandoned by his tour guide he has nothing but anger and wits to propel him forward. And he’ll need them, as in this issue he comes into contact with the famed vampire Lord Wilheim. Who, if I can just say is actually successfully made hella scary when we’re introduced to him, sitting motionless in a crumbling throne. The fact that he’s moving seems wrong. He’s a figure all grey and lifeless like a thing mummified—except the eyes-- whose contrasting ember red actually manage to feel like a real threat to our agent. We do not envy his position. When Wilhelm snatches him up and he looks more like a scared ass-less Charlie Brown than a hard case special agent, we don’t blame him.

From here our hero is tossed around like a kid’s toy and it isn’t until the intervening of the jealous ghosts of some of old Wilhelm’s old girls on the side that agent Anders manages to stand a chance. Anders allows himself (I think) to get possessed and from there wipes his ass with his crusty old adversary. It was a weird scene though, story wise. Anders takes on a different personality when the ghosts merge with him. What exactly is happening? Do the ghosts make him a hard-ass? It just seems like he gets much more knowledgeable and cocksure suddenly. A panel near the end where the agent stands, backed by vast black space, holding the vampire’s heart while standing over him and watching his dying breaths is one of the most kick ass I’ve seen in quite a while.

Kudos to the art team who does a wonderful job on the issue as always and to the writers too, who make the absolute most out of only a few words in these books.  This is another solid and gorgeous issue for Mr. Mignola and his team.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Mike Mignola, Gabriel Ba & Fabio Moon Artists: Gabriel Ba & Fabio Moon Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Lost Vegas #3

“I will impale you in places you did not know existed.” Nice try, “Science Deer.” I’ve tried that line before ... and in my experience, it works about 35% of the time (every time), and usually only on people for whom English is a second language. And besides, I bet you say that to all the girls, you silver-tongued trollop.

But for serious, the above line exemplifies everything that isright with McCann and Lee’s Image book Lost Vegas. It’s got this instantly distinctive feel: a sort of phosphorescent pop, electro-pastel, non sequitur vibe, which makes it look like a stained glass window version of that old Star Trek animated series from the early 70s. But there’s only one problem ... I just can’t seem to dig it.

As sharp as it can sometimes appear, I can’t get away from a sense that this story is kinda dull, or at least one not befitting the highly-regarded reputations associated with such a talented team. And they are talented, but here only in flashes, like the fun bit of writing above and some, though not all, of the art. I know this puts me in the minority of the comic book community, and because of that, I’m trying to understand the appeal, which is why I’m determined to stick this one out.

In issue three, we start out 10 years in the past, meeting up with our two main humanoid characters, Roland and Loria, as they power-walk for their lives from a burning forest, wearing adorably matching low-cut, quasi-futuristic onesies. This whole scene is apparently the destruction of the human outpost known as Janus at the hands (and by “hands,” I mean “space lasers”) of a fleet of alien ships, and with the help of something called a Godspark: a sentient explosive who is used to pop the planetoid like you might a small child’s balloon. I guess you could say “he’s the bomb,” but I’d rather you didn’t.

Three years on, we have followed the fortunes of Loria after her escape from Janus and separation from Roland, finally seeing how she reached the Lost Vegas space station in the first place, and why she has remained there since. We then fast forward to Today, where Roland and his chums’ plans of escape from the pleasure/grifting cruiser are flustered by the arrival of the nefarious Ensign Scotsorn.

It was this noseless, blue alien who was apparently responsible for the destruction of Janus, and whose devilish schemes now include a bid for power involving a forced marriage and leveraging the power of his dreaded Godspark ... which, to again clarify, is not a nickname for his penis, or whatever genitalia aliens have. Ooh, hang on. Genitaliens™. Goldmine.

As we are left to ponder the final scene, which promises a cage fight or two next issue, I instead try to think about why Lost Vegas doesn’t rub me the same way it seems to everyone else. Well (and not to make yet another poorly-veiled innuendo), I think it’s because the whole thing feels a bit stiff.

This book just doesn’t feel as unique as it wants or considers itself to be, and its execution, while trying to be bright and shiny, is so rough, it almost doesn’t feel pro in some places. The dialogue, apart from the measured cadence of Science Deer, often feels forced, too tightly-wound and clichéd. Then again, maybe that’s its charm?

The art is okay, but it follows suit, in terms of quality, with the story. Exactly like in previous issues, there are no more than two to possibly three truly astonishing, type-defying layouts and iconoclastic pages in this book, while a majority of the rest feels rigid. What it makes up for in its stained glass stoicism, it loses in fluidity and polish, and that inconsistency bothers me.

Lost Vegas #3, like issues previous, isn’t bad, it’s just not breaking any new ground yet, content to be another space story about the last humans making good in the galaxy. That’s fine, but it doesn’t inspire or leave me wanting more, and with so many other space titles out there, this one feels a little lost.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Jim McCann Artist: Janet Lee Publisher: Image Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Grimm Fairy Tales #85 - Unleashed #2

Unleashed is one of those comics that I can’t put a finger on why I like it. It doesn’t have anything out of the ordinary, but I can’t stop reading it. Although it does hold tons of fight scenes and good ones too. The action really comes to life and I can see the movement within the 2D. There is actual forcefulness in their faces and not just human faces with an expression they make while they pooh. So props to the team for that one. We left last issue with us meeting Belinda and the start of this issue gets right into her back story. I flipped to the end of this comic because sometimes I just do those sorts of things. Sometimes I get lucky when doing it to. This was one of those issues. The last panel was of this badass team ready for battle. Ok I hope I didn’t ruin this comic for you, but since I took the privilege to flip to the end I thought I could reveal it to you. It got me all pumped to see what the issue had in store. I can’t help but get excited when in movies or comics there is the scene where they put the team together. I get that is overdone but every time it sets up to be sweet, so I don’t care. Like in Three Ninjas when they all get their masks and names. Oh man at that point I was so ready to make my own Tum-Tum mask and eat lots of rope candy.

Anyway, Belinda tells us of how she died and came back to life. She doesn’t know why or how but a siphon stick thing helped her to achieve her goal. She is nervous to enter the world again though for all the people she has wronged. Sela helps her to realize that they need her help and she is key in their success. Again, I cannot say it enough but Sela’s glasses are so out-of-place but so freakin’ cool at the same time. What great warrior needs prescription glasses…none, but it makes geeks everywhere feel included.

Sela decides to build a team to discover the whereabouts of the Being and also to fight his sorry ass back into closing the Shadowlands. The being also holds something very dear to Sela, one of her good friends, Shang. The Being has kept him alive for some purpose. He even tells Shang that he gave him new life after Shang’s death. This makes me believe that the Being gave Belinda her life back.

After Sela puts her team together they find Samira’s hideout that the Being gave to her as a gift. It is an all out battle between them and Samira’s vampires. Like I said before it is a sweet battle and shows how well the team works together. Not to say that some of them may be crazy or leave the group when the going gets tough. The team so far seems pretty cool and I like where the comic is headed. Looks likes there are many battles to come.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Pat Shand Artist: Rodrigo Ramos Rodolfo Publisher: Zenescope Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Review: Jailbait #2

I don’t really know what to make of this series. I don’t mean to sound cruel, but nothing has really happened yet for me to decide if I should continue or not. This issue in particular is composed of two locations and three scenes and basically covers… everything that the last issue covered. While the slowed pacing of the story has left me wanting something other than dialog for the next issue, it hasn’t chased me off yet. Picking up the day after the first issue we find Mave aka Diamond, drinking and in general pissed off at the world. She’s blasting loud music and pissing off her neighbor, but really doesn’t give a shit. She decides that she’s not going to wait for Jerry to figure out anything and heads to the office to see if she can’t get a lead on her sister’s whereabouts. Once she’s at the office though, she discovers that Jerry is still there so the jig is up. Jerry begins to give her his usual lecture and Mave lets us in on the fact that she finds Jerry’s eyes creepy, like he’s always staring at her creepy. Since her plans a bust she decides to give Jerry hell about her costume that we’ve yet to see on. She calls it butt floss and it pretty much is, his logic behind it is that men will be staring at her ass rather than paying attention to the ass kicking she’s delivering… it’s an argument for a skimpy costume that’s for sure.

From there Mave heads back to her apartment and after a bit receives a knock on the door from Moonstone. Things… get a little weird here. I think that it’s being implied that Moonstone “likes” Mave and if she were a male character there would be no doubt about it, but it’s not clear. Eventually they receive some info on Mave’s sister and she chi’s up revealing her Diamond form to Moonstone.

The story isn’t bad, but I kind of hate Jerry. He does seem like a total creep and I still don’t understand how their business model of catching pedo’s works, but hey it’s a comic book. I wish I had more to say about the story, but it was just two conversations. Moonstone and Mave’s conversation was a bit strange and I felt like I was reading an intimate moment between two people, which I’m sure was the point. Diamond’s anger issues are getting a bit old and I’m hoping she works some of it out of her system in the next issue with some ass kicking.

The art is the same as the last issue. If anything the inconsistencies were less in this issue. All of the characters have terribly dated hair styles, but otherwise their design is fine. Unfortunately there’s also not a lot to say about the art for the same reasons as the story. Not much happens. I did like that Mave grows in size when she’s in Diamond form.

I’m definitely on board for another issue, but I hope something other than taking about the missing sister happens. I have a good feel for Mave’s character now, but she’s far too angry and needs to be upfront about her relationship with Onyx to the entire crew. Also she should stop telling everyone about her plans for murder or at the very least they should respond to her. It’s an okay series, but if the pace doesn’t pick up it could lose me.

Score: 2/5

Writers: Mary Jo Pehl & CW Cooke Artist: Nestor Vargas Publisher: Blue Water Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/29/13

Everything Wrong With... Green Lantern

It was bound to happen, but here it is finally... everything wrong with Green Lantern the movie. I can save you six minutes and just say that it's the entirety of the movie. To be honest, the charm of these have worn off and this one isn't even remotely funny. Rather it serves as a painful memory of an "I told you so" to many a nerds that actually thought it was going to be good. The alternate opening is actually good, but everything else sucks balls. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qv0pD-Nfag

Review: The Unemployment Adventures of Aqualung

Review by Connor Russell: Every now and then I find myself tired of the more mainstream comics, which is starting to happen more and more often, that's why I decided to pick this book. The name says it all really, although it doesn't. With the title and the image on the cover, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and well I enjoyed what I experienced.

Aqualung is the best agent in the Department of Defence, a secret government team created to keep the earth safe from the weird and paranormal. But the title of the book is “unemployment adventures” for a reason, at the beginning of the book the Department is disbanded because nothing has happened for fifteen years. For the most part of the story, the focus is on Aqualung trying to adjust to normal life, even though he definitely doesn't look the part. During this time, Aqualung develops a crush for the lady trying to help him find work and if that wasn't enough he believes that Mathim (a powerful demon) has something planned. All the while he has his talking orange tree friend by his side.

This book was created by Chris Rhodes and Ben Fontana, written by Alex Schumacher and Scott Tamanaha. The pacing is done well, though towards the end, things felt a little crammed in for a quick resolve. I think maybe a little too much was planned for a short length, but putting that aside I still found myself being invested in the story and the lead character, Aqualung.

Alex Schumacher was also in charge of the artistic duties. The art overall was generally pretty sweet to look at and worked well with the narrative. My main gripe with the art however is that at times; character's faces looked a little off. Coloring was taken care of by Sara Machajewski, mainly consisting of flat colors and sometimes looking almost painted, it suited the art style well.

All in all I did enjoy what I read. Its use of humor was done quite well and never came across as forced. Although in some ways the book came across as being akin to Hellboy, that doesn't mean it’s a bad thing, it could be an influence. I hope a second book is made as I would like to see more of these characters and the world they are a part of. I recommend it to fans of Hellboy and adventure, or just like paranormal stuff. Check it out.

Score: 4/5

Writers: Alex Schumacher and Scott Tamanaha Artist: Alex Schumacher Publisher: Arcana Studios Price: $14.95 Release Date: 5/1/13

Review: Secundus #1

“Secundus fights two.” That line will have zero context for you until you read this issue, but once you do… you’ll see why it’s so badass. This book is straight forward; it’s set in the Gladiator times and a slave is about to earn his freedom, but that description captures nothing of the charm of the story. It may be straight forward, but the sharp dialog and emotions behind the story are what will make this Submit release worth picking up.

As I said, a slave is attempting to earn his freedom with his fortieth match. Instead of huge crowd though, the Emperor has decide to make it a special occasion and bring one of his mistresses to the match and strangely enough his magician. As Secundus fights two men at once, the Emperor actually explains to us why he’s called Secundus. It’s because he always fights two at once, no matter what. The Emperor complains about his magician who cut his favorite whore in half and then on top of that splashes wine in his face as if he were more of a jester. Secundus wins, but the magician says that he’ll fight him to win the Emperor’s favor again and destroy his favorite toy. Secundus looks at the magician and says, “Secundus fights two.” The magician informs him that he’ll have his two and even though he’s a free man, Secundus puts his life on the line for a second time that day.

The story is very fast paced, but it’s the perfect balance for the action and dialog. It’s well plotted and the catch of the story is great with the ending being the icing on the cake. Secundus literally only has a panel or two of dialog, but we learn everything we need to know about the man from his actions and the Emperor. The story does rely on the reader having some information about gladiator battles, but not much and really who doesn’t know a little about it at this point in our information based society?

The art is in all grey tones with the exception of one color used on only one object. It’s very effective for the story and is honestly just cool looking. The art style itself reminded me of an animated movie and would actually make for a great short. There’s just something very familiar about the art style and it mostly comes for the eyes and the nose. The action was easy to follow and was the perfect backdrop for the Emperor’s dialog which runs over it for most of the issue.

This is a great one and done type of story. It entertains and has a rewarding conclusion that while it remains open-ended enough for more stories, perfect closes out this chapter at the same time. If you’re looking for just something solid to read and don’t want the commitment of an ongoing, long running idea like most other comic titles, then would definitely recommend checking out Secundus.

Score: 4/5

Writer/Artist/Creator: Mike Thomas Price: $2.99 Release Date: 5/15/13 Available on Submit

Short Work Week? Kick It Off With This Star Sapphire Cosplay

Want your mind blown real quick? That's Margie Cox aka the Wonder Woman from the fan film Kingdom Come! If you want to hear my and Kevin's thoughts on that you can listen to this week's podcast, but otherwise you're probably just here for some kick ass Star Sapphire pictures huh? Yeah, they're after the jump.

Source

Review: Doc Unknown #1

Doc Unknown serves up a healthy dose of science fiction and the supernatural, mixed with pulpy vigilantism. It has a classic comic feel that would appease any fan of the original Batman: The Animated Series as it acts like homage in many ways; the thick line work, the punchy dialog and the simplistic, yet believable character designs. I don’t know why goons are always posted on the roof of the place they’re knocking over, but that’s the way it is as two sets of mobsters with guns stand on top of the museum roof. Doc Unknown swoops in and begins silently taking the men out with a little assistance from the lightning storm hitting the city. Inside we find a guy that resembles Killer Croc, but he’s dressed all in white and is actually one of the top mob bosses in the city. Doc Unknown gasses the room as he jumps down and makes quick work of the remaining goons. We never do learn our Croc looking villain’s name, but Unknown goes up against him only to receive a wicked upper cut to the chin. He boasts that Doc Unknown didn’t know he was once the Heavy weight champ of Gate City, but after the Doc delivers a kick to lizard faces gut he walks him through everything he knows about him… which is his entire life story.

Lizard face manages to get his hands on what he came there for, which is a magical statue. He brings a mummy to life and suddenly the Doc hears the voice of someone else, but he can’t see him. The voice tells him to run, but the mummy gets him. After Lizard face brings a T-Rex back to life, the ghostly voice tells him to break the statue to stop everything and the Doc obliges.

While the story is a pretty straight forward beat’em up, it actually introduces several layers of the world all at once. The genres I mentioned in the beginning are all present and play wonderfully with and off of each other. I don’t know a damn thing about Doc Unknown’s backstory and I didn’t need it. Very often, new series have this obsession of explaining their world/concept/main character to the point that it’s a terribly boring. Doc Unknown drops you in and gives the information you need to get through the issue and plants the seed for the world to be explored. The writing was well-plotted and the pacing fit the action just right. The world seems very tragic and the few characters introduced definitely fit the bill and gave it a tone similar to Batman: TAS.

The art is very dynamic and full of pulpy action. The world is full of suits and fedoras, but it doesn’t have a dated look to it. The style and coloring is very modern and again helped with the tone and feel of the story. Lizard face (Fabian updated me that his name is Boss Snake... not Lizard face) has a great look and while it’s a clear homage to Killer Croc, it’s actually much cooler. He’s snake like in his appearance and even though his frame is huge, he’s still wearing a suit making him look Kingpin-esc. The overall issue has a very cohesive look. It’s hard to describe, but the world doesn’t have any of those accidental drop-ins like someone on a cell phone or a car that’s a bit too modern. It has a visual baseline of what the world is and what to expect.

The name honestly almost kept me away from this series; it’s admittedly cheesy, but after you read the issue it works. I enjoyed the world and the mystery surrounding the main character and his unknown antagonists. Additionally, the quality of the series is very high giving it a step above some of the other creator-owned titles on Submit. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of any of the genres or homages I’ve listed. Let’s be honest, if you’re reading comics you probably are.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Fabian Rangel Jr. Artist: Ryan Cody Letterer: Ed Brisson Publisher: Believe in Comics Price: $.99 Release Date: 5/15/13 Available on Submit