I’m going to be up front with you all. This issue wasn’t as good as the last one. It might be because the nostalgia has worn off or it might be the equivalent of a sophomore slump of a second issue. What I do know is that there are some things I liked about this comic and other things I didn’t. If you want to see me write about them take a look below.
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I don’t know if I’ll ever get sick of Firefly. Every time I see them appear in comic form it gives me that warm fuzzy nostalgia feeling that every media company seems to be trying to tap into these days. Although the previous comic series have been hit or miss, I have enjoyed them enough to look forward to any new series Darkhorse puts out. This issue leans heavy on the nostalgia, spending a lot of the time checking in on the rag-tag crew, but this issue does plant a few seeds for conflicts that could have a dramatic impact on the franchise.
Read MoreRise of the Black Flame #2 starts off on some crazy rollercoaster of which I can't even really say as to what is happening. We are in a German museum, and people are looking over all these relics of civilizations long past. We see a young man closely examine a picture, of which the picture talks to him, then they young man becomes an older grizzled man, then the face talks to him more, then he's flying through a void towards the face... then he is awoken by someone kicking him in the back. Our man, Farang, is awoken by the person that owns the house and told he has visitors. A man and a woman approach, and Farang recognize the woman as "Sarah," which appeared in issue 1. She pays the house owner to cover Farangs late rent and tells Farang that he is working for her now, which seems to upset him.
Read MoreSir Edward is very similar to the Big Bad Wolf from The Wolf Among Us. They both are misunderstood by those around them, and they both are trying to help people in any way they can. It is quite the resemblance in looks as well in terms of their grittiness and rough exterior. Although both characters have essentially been outcasts within their society, it does not stop them from pressing forward and tackling matters at hand.
Read MoreI've never had the opportunity to read a whole lot of Mike Mignola stuff. I know that this is probably blasphemy from a comic reviewer, but I simply never had the opportunity or drive like I did with other titles, which is why I decided to review this book, Rise of the Black Flame. To begin, the cover is creepy and reminiscent of other Mignola story covers I've seen in the past. The cover, art by Lawrence Campbell and Dave Stewart, shows a skull emerging from a mountain top above an ancient jungle temple, some kind of strange statue and three figures shrouded in shadow, only their knives highlighted in red. Very cool start to this book, as it sets a dark and foreboding tone.
The inside credits page sets the stage for the story, telling how young girls are disappearing from cities across Burma. Our first story page starts out great, with some flashbacks of things we don't know about yet; a character looking somewhat like a smoldering Ghost Rider confronts a woman in June of 2014, below that the same character in March of 2006 is behind a horde of what I can only describe as big frogs with teeth and radioactive tongues. We then see the same character in October of 1944, simply telling someone “I am Death.” Finally, February 1932, where there is a meeting between this character and a few regular people. He doesn't strike me as the type to simply hang out with regular people, but who am I to judge.
One final flashback leads us to May of 1923. We are in an ancient temple covered in roots and overgrowth. A lone monk speaks to the “Great Darkness”, and it is soon apparent that he, along with two masked and sword-wielding men, that they are going to sacrifice a young girl in order to revive this great darkness.
We are now in one of the British colonies of Burma. Police Sergeant Geoffrey Mcallister is investigating one of the disappearances of these young girls. The mother recaps the story of the young girl along with her caretaker are out visiting the gardens when, after a while, the caretaker was found murdered, and the girl was gone. Mcallister, along with his partner Sandhu, leave the house and discuss that although there is little hope of finding the girl, they must do their best.
We move along to a large building in which a mob has gathered out front. A man has been murdered, and our boys Mcallister and Sandhu arrive on the scene. Word from another policeman is that this guy tried to stop a man in a black hood from kidnapping a young girl, only to be strangled to death. The officer finds a coin from a neighboring country, freshly minted, which is the very first clue as to which direction to look in to find this kidnapper. Sandhu then reveals that he thinks it’s the work of a cult and goes on to describe the terrible things the cult used to do to travelers, including BUM, BUM BUUUUM blood sacrifices. This leads the two officers to go undercover and travel to Siam in order to find out more about this cult. It's here that, after some investigating, they encounter a woman that seems to be quite knowledgeable on such things as cults, monsters and the like...
This is my kind of story: a slow burn. The writers have given us just enough from the beginning to catch our attention: blood sacrifice to the “Great Darkness.” We then meet up with our two protagonists, two officers caught up in something much larger than themselves. They go on a journey to figure out what’s really going on... I speak of tropes a lot in my reviews. Is this a story I haven't heard before? No. This is a fairly typical setup, which is fine because it's all in the presentation for me. I found myself anxious to get to the next page or panel to see where the story was headed next. I'm also very interested in this “Black Flame” character, as anyone with a fiery skull for a head is a winner in my book.
The art was very classic looking and fit the time period of the story perfectly. Not overly detailed, which helped the overall atmosphere of the story, making it just feel like a classic story that's been around for years. Colors were a little muted and not vibrant, which drew me in more as it all felt so right. Overall a fantastic art style for this story.
This book has me very interested. Stories like this can always hook me in so long as they're done right. I will ding it a little for giving me that “I've read this before” feeling, though. Not that there's not enough new stuff here to make it different, but it's still not a completely original story by any stretch. Here's hoping that's just the first issue.
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Rise of the Black Flame #1 Writers: Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson Artist: Christopher Mitten Colorist: Dave Stewart Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital
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You may get a feeling that you are reading a Sherlock Holmes comic. The entire issue read like a Sherlock Holmes movie or book. The main character is essentially a detective like Sherlock and lives in London. Citizens use his abilities to investigate crimes and just like Holmes; Sir Edward investigates crimes or instances that others cannot seem to understand. Although the living dead is not something Sherlock would deal with, you still can’t get past that this is essentially a Sherlock Holmes story with the characters renamed. Sir Edward was given the nickname Witchfinder based on an investigation into what is similar to what the Salem witch trials were. There were rumors and sightings of witches, and Sir Edward decided he would see to the end the investigation into the witch sightings. As he would explain, they were all just misunderstandings, and there weren’t witches per say but rather groups of people that had different beliefs than what the iconic belief system was back in the 1880’s. Even though there was never really any witches, people still identified Sir Edward as the Witchfinder because to them he had stopped the witches from continuing their shenanigans. Up till the events that take place later in this issue, Sir Edward considers himself a logical man, but when the dead begin to rise and attack people, no amount of logic can help a person understand that.
As stated before, this reads exactly like a Sherlock Holmes story. It is as if Mignola and Roberson took some stories from the creator of Sherlock Holmes and created a similar character with hopes he would be a successful hit like his counterpart. Regarding creativity and originality, this falls short except for the zombies walking around, but it seems like zombies are in every other comic series so that aspect is not really original either, rather it sets itself apart from any Sherlock Holmes story. Sir Edward is a decent character, there is a good chunk of background information on him, but besides the Witch investigation, you do not get much in terms of his investigation style. It seems as if Mignola and Roberson are banking on getting a lot of Sherlock Holmes fans to jump on board. Personally, the Witchfinder just didn’t have that gusto that would make me want to commit to finding out the remainder of the story.
Besides the eerily similar character, and story style to that of Sherlock Holmes, the dialogue throughout the issue is actually solid. There is conflict, mystery, and surprises throughout which is a positive. The artwork that Stenbeck delivers is quite remarkable. He captures 1880’s London well, all the way from the buildings and architecture to the people’s clothing and even the cars. Stenbeck does an excellent job with character emotion and background. His style is dark and quite beautiful. Without the excellent artwork done by Stenbeck, the issue would have been very bland and probably deterred a lot of new readers from continuing into future issues.
Overall, not a bad first issue, but this is likely to be a series I will not be continuing. It just lacks a lot of creativity and is far too similar to Sherlock Holmes. If you are looking for a detective story, then give this a shot. The price tag is not going to break the bank, so if you are curious check out the first issue and if you do not like it, then you are only out a couple of dollars.
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Witchfinder: City of the Dead #1 Writer: Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson Artist: Ben Stenbeck Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital
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At what point does the Hellboy franchise reach the point where you can describe a story as 'a good Hellboy story'. After all, I know what to expect from 'a good Batman story' (crime, shadows, and fisticuffs), I know what to expect from 'a good Superman story' (truth, justice, the American way, and fisticuffs), and so on. And suddenly, Hellboy is a brand with 23 years of comics, two films, two cartoons, and a whole lot of spinoffs. Which is to say, a Hellboy story is a known quantity with familiar rhythms, story beats, and twists. Mike Mignola's grumpy, large-hearted half-demon always ends up in pulpy fistfights with occult monsters. Hellboy's adventures will always split the difference between tragic folktales and dime-store fantasy novels finding a tone all of their own. This isn't a bad thing and doesn't mean every Hellboy is the same, but it means you can't open up a new story without having the frame of reference of adventures past. As such, Hellboy and the BPRD 1954 won't blow any fans minds, but it will serve as a pleasant reminder of why this character and these stories are still fun, 20 some years later.
The conceit of the Hellboy and the BPRD minis (of which this is the third) has been that they tell the stories of Hellboy's first few years as an agent of the Bureau. It's an excuse to tell the short one and done stories that made up the early half of the Hellboy core title before the scope became so apocalyptically large. 1954 see Hellboy and enthusiastic agent Farrier journey to an island in the Arctic Ocean where a group of researchers are being attacked by a yeti-like monster. I would have expected the story to mine some claustrophobia from the deadly terrain and lack of sunlight as seen in Whiteout or 30 Days of Night, but at least in the first issue, Mignola and Roberson seem to be taking a lighter approach, using the setting as a means of slightly altering the usual Hellboy monster formula.
A lot of humor is mined from the relationship between Hellboy and agent Farrier (who, as it quickly becomes apparent, is more Bill Nye than he is Jason Bourne). Farrier thinks the monster is likely a new and possibly mythic species of animal (his specialty) while Hellboy casually and correctly posits it's a mutant polar bear. It's a spin on the buddy cop relationship, with Farrier as the young, naive recruit and Hellboy as the world-weary Pro which is made much more amusing by the implicit knowledge that Hellboy is a fairly young agent himself.
As things progress there are a few fun twists in the store which is especially welcome as a typical downside to Mignola comics is a slow building first issue. But what really makes this issue a rock-solid entry into the Hellboy mythos is the art by Stephen Green. His work is clean, stylish, with a good use of negative space making the issue flow smoothly throughout. He also manages, what is to me the mark of any great artist on a Mignola book: he manages to draw Hellboy right. In the hands of many artists, including some great ones, Hellboy looks too realistic (making his horns and underbite look grotesque and silly) or too stylized, making him look like a cartoon parody of Mignola's original designs. In the hands of Green, he is once again a brawny monster fighter with a weathered face and oddly soulful eyes.
All in all, I enjoyed Hellboy and the BPRD 1954 #1 more than any of the Hellboy spinoffs of late. It takes the traditional Hellboy formula and simply executes it well which, as seen here, is enough to make for a pretty darn great read.
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Hellboy and the BPRD 1954 #1 Writers: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson Artist: Stephen Green Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital
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