Back in the 90s, Chaos! Comics was the weird “horror” publisher who could. They had the genocidal zombie teen in Evil Ernie and a bevy of half-naked impossibly curvy female characters all over the place like Lady Death and Purgatori. As time went on more books were added and Chaos! created their very own version of the X-Men in The Chosen. Brought together by the werewolf Morgan Gallows this supernatural team fought other monsters, who were like them but totally evil. It wasn't the most ground breaking of concepts. But now this team is back after the Chaos! reboot to show how awesome they really are, and to stop two big threats in this one-shot. The first half has them chasing after a trio of witches who are wanting to resurrect a powerful sorcerer using a magic skull. But before we even get to see the evil they seek, we get random Chaos! character with them, Susperia. Who they naturally fight due to a horrible misunderstanding. After explaining who Susperia is we finally get a run-down of the team, a vampire, a zombie, a demon, a necromancer, a wiccan (who is described as “earthy”), and a psychomorph. They all have names too, but really every character is painfully similar, each one is a quipping smart ass with some random power.
And that is where my qualms about this issue begins, besides the necromantic leader, Vanessa Childe, everyone acts the same. She has the least quips and has the most character development out of the main characters of the book. Susperia, the random guest star has more depth than the people who are supposed to be the stars of the book. In the second story they face a Cthulhu like threat, which is better composed but kind of abruptly ends. It does allow for the characters to make a bad Scooby Doo impersonation with their VW van they drive around, also the zombie loves milkshakes, and anytime he has one, it is the highlight of his undead life. Beyond the different outfits and what stereotypical phrase they yell out, everyone is pretty interchangeable, not the best way to re-introduce a team.
The artwork is also not the best. The women are at least less top heavy then before, but their attire is still not always the most practical. But what makes the comic especially 90s is the lack of backgrounds in many panels. Random rubble exists in the first story which is really odd as most of the story happens in churches. Behind the rubble is just a color, making it look like they have entered a post-apocalyptic rubble pile. The second story ditches the stacks of random stones for many more actual detailed backgrounds, which may be a big reason I like that story more. They still cheat a bit, especially during the longer conversation pages, but the art as a whole improves vastly in the second story as does the story.
Overall this comic is pretty forgettable. Maybe if the second story was the entire thing and given time to breath instead of having a sudden ending there could be some hope. But instead it has decent build then a quick finish that actually makes half of the characters seem like complete morons to create a false sense of drama.
Score: 2/5
Writer: Michael Moreci Artists: Ivan Rodriguez and Rod Rodolfo Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $7.99 Release Date: 10/22/14 Format: One-Shot; Print/Digital