The Hood to Become the New Ghost Rider

The Hood AKA Parker Robbins is a character with an interesting history. First introduced in a Marvel Max comic by Brian K Vaughn and Kyle Hotz, he went on to become a bit of a favorite character to write for Brian Bendis and popped up a bunch in New Avengers. Then depending on who was writing the character he was a bit of a Kingpin, almost heroic, straight-up terrible, insanely overpowered, or mostly powerless. He's bounced around Marvel and now it seems he will be taking up the mantle of the Ghost Rider, of all things. I don't love this and I don't hate it.

The Ghost Rider is not really a hero, but not a villain either. He does heroic things sometimes but he's kind of terrifying and his M.O. is punishing the wicked no matter what. He's one of the older-school anti-heroes like the Punisher. The Hood becoming a Ghost Rider seems like a way to make him a little less of a baddie and move him in the direction of being an anti-hero. We've seen that with a lot of characters who started out evil and now are vaguely good guys (Harley Quinn and Venom come to mind right away). The Hood will be appearing in, "Ghost Rider: Final Vengeance," and the current series' writer, Benjamin Percy, will pen this tale too ( Juan Ferreyra will draw the debut two issues). I'm curious how this will go as I've generally enjoyed reading The Hood's stories when he appears. We shall see when the first issue drops this March!

"Y: The Last Man," Trailer Thoughts

A friend said they were curious what I thought of the trailer for the new Hulu show, "Y: The Last Man," so I figured I'd share some scattered thoughts. First, here is the trailer:

Now, in handy bullet-point form, my thoughts:

• I'm honestly amazed this is getting made. "Y: The Last Man," was in development Hell for years. I feel like was going to be a movie, then a show, it kept failing to get off the ground, and finally we actually have something filmed and with a definitive release date (September 13th).
• The first thing I noticed, that song is perfect for this trailer. James Brown's tune, "This is a Man's World," fits the funny-yet-horrifying theme to a T with its little edits to sound a bit more abrasive and scary. Whoever thought to use that is clever.
• We have the usual post-apocalypse-trappings with the twist being it is all the cisgender men who died--except one! We've got Yorrick with his monkey, Agent 355, and more familiar characters popping up.
• I get a mix of, 'The Walking Dead," meets, "I am Legend," vibes from this trailer, and not in a bad way even though I failed to get into, "The Walking Dead," as a comic or television show. Society, as we know it, has ended, but life is trying to continue as best it can.
• I am curious how closely the show will hew to the comic and if it'll focus more on the mystery of how Yorrick survived or put that on a back-burner and have the plot be more about, "Where do we go from here?"
• I'm overall optimistic about this show. Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra made a great comic and this adaptation looks like it will--just maybe--live up to the hype of the long, long wait.

Now we just wait for September 13th and then proceed to binge this show or watch an episode a week, I'm not sure which format Hulu is doing for this show.

Local Comic Shop Day 2019 is Tomorrow

Local Comic Shop Day is always a fun little event. It is for comic-stores to sell wares you can only get by stopping by (what else?) your local comic shop! There are generally some snazzy variant-covers, exclusives, and cool trade paperbacks and hardcovers for sale. LCSD 2019 is tomorrow and I myself am intrigued by an exclusive comic collecting a, "The Walking Dead," story written by Brian K. Vaughn (which up until now has only been available digitally). I am not really a fan of, "The Walking Dead," but I do love the work of Brian K. Vaughn, so I for sure want to grab that if I can! Should your comic store be doing LCSD be sure and stop by to support them, and even if they aren't doing LCSD it is still always good to go and support your local comic shop!

Comic-Book Artist of the Year: Fiona Staples--2017 in Review

Always Amazing

I spotlighted three comic-book writes who especially impressed me this year, but I only have one artist who leapt immediately to mind when it came to who was making the best comic-book art: Fiona Staples. The reason I thought of her is that when one thinks about comics they of course take into account how without an artist someone is just reading prose. The artist's contribution is what makes the story a comic-book and the best artists contribute imagery that the reader would not otherwise be able to conjure on their own if reading simply print. Fiona Staples with her work on, "Saga," unquestionably gives us the kind of amazing imagery that astonishes with how unique and amazing it looks. With Brian K. Vaughn writing and Fiona Staples on art, "Saga," is a continuously smashing read that I bet we will be talking about for years, and which I hope continues coming out for many years as well.

Best Newer Comic of the Year: Runaways--2017 in Review

Amazing Stuff

I loved Brian K. Vaughn's series, "Runaways." It was an amazing mini-series that became an ongoing. Then it basically wrapped-up its story of kid on the run from their supervillain parents and at that point the series had not clue what it wanted to do. Besides the occasional short series or tie-in with a big comic-event it really felt like, "Runaways," was struggling to find its purpose, its identity. Marvel hired a writer of Young Adult fiction named Rainbow Rowell for their comic, probably realizing they needed some fresh blood for the series, and the resulting four issues that have come out so far are amazing stuff.

Rowell realizes that these characters have been a bit aimless since they finally defeated their parents and leans into that plot element instead of trying to ignore it. Yeah, these characters don't know what to do with their lives and some of them have gone on other adventures in various series since, "Runaways," but at the end of the day they still are struggling barely-adults desperate for purpose. Whether that means traveling back to the past to try to fix a terrible death, going to college, or trying to get the gang back together in a desperate attempt to feel like things are how they used to be, these are the characters we loved under the pen of Vaughn now being written by Rowell with that same magic. Not too many issues have come out yet, but this is already a fantastic series.

Rant-Reviews: Three Long-Running Image Books and Three New Ones

Combining Concepts
I've done plenty of articles where I discuss new first issues of titles, and have made posts discussing books that have been coming out for quite awhile as well. I also would say Image is probably the publisher I read the most of, easily making-up a third of the books I frequently enjoy. I thought I would combine all of these elements and now present three reviews of long-running Image books as well as three new first issues. Let's review them and see if we learn something, I guess?

O.G. Books
Saga #46
People will often write about how, "Saga," features parts that make them really emotional and while I've quite enjoyed the book I haven't really felt that way. Well, one segment in this issue just totally wrecked me and illustrated why Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staple's work is probably going to result in this book being on those, "Greatest Comics of All Time," lists that folk sometimes feel like making. What at first seemed like a a bit of a silly space soap-opera has evolved quickly into an epic yarn on love, loss, and God-dammit that segment where the future-specter of a potential brother fades away from his living sister still has me bawling. Fuck you for giving me all these emotions, BKV and Staples! This latest issue of, "Saga," can easily be bought at Things From Another World, on eBay, at MyComicShop, or at a fine comic establishment near you.
5 out of 5 stars.

The Wicked and the Divine #31
I wondered if WIC+DIV as the cool kids call it would run out of steam once a potential adversary that had been in the book was defeated, but clearly the worst foe these reincarnated Gods will face is arguably themselves. This is the kind of issue that starts out kind of quiet and then has a whole bunch of shocking climaxes at the end which are sure to make the next issue amazing...but unfortunately make this one feel a little bit like a bunch of lead-up to some admittedly crazy moments (a character death I did not see coming being on of them).  This still is a stellar issue of WIC+DIV, it just isn't amazing as some of the best ones. That said, I have gotta read issue #32 as soon as I possibly can now! You can buy the newest WIC+DIV at Things From Another World, on eBay, at MyComicShop, or of course in all quality comic shops.
4 out of 5 stars.

Savage Dragon #226
If these are some O.G. books this is the grand-pappy O.G., as besides, "Spawn," this is essentially the only title since the dawn of Image in 1992 to keep somewhat-continuously running since then, and the only long-running one from Image almost always done by a single creator (various people have done, "Spawn,") with creator Erik Larsen occasionally taking breaks.  Larsen, the writer and artist on the book, should be applauded for having been able to evolve his book about an extraterrestrial Dragon all these decades from a general super-hero book to a title with characters that have aged, had children, died, and so forth all while making a comic that clever manages to riff on current trends to stay popular.

One of those trends right now is how our *shudder* President Donald Trump is working his hardest to destroy our Nation and turn everyone against each other, so Larsen takes this to a logical place where Trump would try and outlaw literal aliens from space just as much as he is railing against, "Illegal aliens," from other countries. The political allegory is piled-on here thick and with little subtlety, but it works. A fun read, it is amazing to think this has been chugging along since 1992 and that is itself admirable--that the book also manages to continue to be good is an even more impressive feat. You can currently find, "Savage Dragon #226," for sale on eBay or at MyComicShop and of course in stores.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Brand-New Titles

Retcon #1
Yeah, I wasn't feeling this. When I heard the idea of this comic discussed, that it has these characters who keep living life a little differently--e.g. getting retconned--that sounded interesting, but this issue just seems like a big of a disjointed mess of various plot devices and storytelling ideas--secret government agencies, paranormal forces, drug addiction, and more! Perhaps this is a case where things will make more sense as the book proceeds and this issue purposely seems a bit trite because it is going to be, "Retconned," next issue as a brand-new story or something? That would be cool, but if the next issue just follows-up on the tedium here I'll be disappointed. At least the art is good. Should you want to get your own copy of, "Retcon," then Things From Another World, eBay, and MyComicShop are all good resources.
2 out of 5 stars.

Scales and Scoundrels #1
I knew very little about this book as I don't generally go for fantasy-titles much, preferring sci-fi. That said, having read this, I quite like this Young Adult-friendly tale of a scoundrel (as per the title) and the mischief she gets up to. Despite, "Scales," being in the title and dragons having some discussion, there isn't too much in the way of dragons this issue. That's alright though, because we do get a solidly-told yarn that introduces our main characters, their quest for riches, and hints at more trouble to come. It is a well-told story that looks good, and that makes it an engaging read. I don't normally dig fantasy titles, but this cracks my cold indifference with its sheer enthusiasm, so that's impressive. I would recommend grabbing this book and you can do so at Things From Another World, via eBay, or on MyComicShop.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

Realm #1
This is a weird one (that's good though). Were this not clearly a first issue I would almost feel like I had dipped into a comic a few issues in, as a whole lot happens and very little is explained. I actually appreciate this however, as many comics often want to give you an info-dump in the first issue and overwhelm readers with background-stuff. "Realm," doesn't do that, however. We simply follow some characters in a world that is clearly very messed-up and had some terrible things happen to it that gives everything a weird mixture of post-apocalypse with orcs and magic.

I'm immensely confused as to what exactly is going on, but that is clearly intentional as we are told what we absolutely need to know as readers and allowed to wonder about everything else. We don't have to be made aware of what made everything so fucked-up, it just is, and we're along for the ride. It is refreshing to see this storytelling technique followed of letting us readers puzzle things out and with the fantastic artwork this book is one that has my interest piqued. eBay and MyComicShop are both good resources for buying the first issue of, "Realm."
4 out of 5 stars.

Old(er) and New, Done With Review(s)
Image puts out a lot of winners and will sometimes miss too, of course. That said, the books that have been running for awhile clearly succeed thanks to their ability to hook-in readers with incredible worlds, great plotting, and impressive artwork. Assuming these newer books can manage to have all that they may very well climb-up high in their issue-count too (or if mini-series, get multiple minis, you know what I mean). We shall see!

Reviews of Assorted Books I've Read From the Library

Library Learning!

I like to check-out books from the library, as I have discussed before. Whether I'm getting physical books from the library itself or digital copies thanks to how my library system does Hoopla, I often enjoy these publications. Many are comic book-related, but not all. Here is an assortment of some I've read.

The Books
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Volume 1

I heard this comic involved Inhuman-business and was worried.I don't care about the Inhumans despite Marvel's best efforts. Thankfully, this comic is about  a pre-teen super-genius named Lunella Lafayette who just happens to have the Inhuman gene. The comic discusses how she is scared to be exposed to the Terrigen mist that transforms people because she doesn't want to have to put-up with being an Inhuman. He fears of having to deal with Inhuman-ity mirror my own, and I'm happy this comic is moreso a fun all-ages romp than it is the latest attempt by Marvel to shove Inhumans down our throat.

Featuring Lunella AKA Moon Girl, and a time-traveling Devil Dinosaur, the focus of the comic is actually about how Lunella struggles with being different (she's a literal super-genius) and has to come to terms with either being herself and fitting in, or being unique and standing-out. Her parents try to be supportive but just don't understand, just like her teachers, and basically everyone else besides the time-traveling Devil Dinosaur she meets. The new, "Totally Awesome Hulk," I've heard about shows up, but besides that and discussion of the Terrigen mist (and thankfully little-to-no talk about why the mist is flooding the Earth due to lame Marvel events) everything is pretty self-contained...I mean, putting aside the comic is dragging the Devil Dinosaur from some decades-old comics into the modern day, but I have zero knowledge about him and I followed the comic fine.

This was a good read with Lunella being a sympathetic protagonist and the bond she forms with the Devil Dinosaur seeming legitimately sweet. I liked this book a lot and am interested in seeing where volume 2 takes everything.
4 out of 5 stars.

The Private Eye

Brian K. Vaughn is of course a fabulous writer (almost everybody loves, "Saga," and his multitude of other works) and Marcos Martin is a stellar artist. They came together to make an internet-only comic about a future where the internet is no more due to it one day revealing the secrets of everyone and necessitating we all take-up secret identities. Within this world a P.I. takes up a case that turns into am murder mystery and things get more and more complicated in ways that are as humorous as they are darkly fascinating. The story was happily collected into a book that replicates the wide-screen style of the comic by being quite short and wide. It's a snazzy format and results in some lush imagery to compliment the superb writing. I'm a sucker for stories about the future and technology so I was already, "Sold," on this comic before I even started reading it. The fact it is fantastic only helps in my adoring it. Stupendous stuff!
5 out of 5 stars.

Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World

I'll be honest and tell you I didn't read all of this book as it came due at the library and I haven't re-checked it out yet. That said, what I did read of Richard C. Francis' book was extremely interesting. It basically discusses how when an animal becomes domesticated, it has actual biological features that change with it over time, with it all tying together. We as humankind have domesticated a variety of creatures (and as the book also discusses, we have domesticated ourselves) and basically our control of nature has resulted in some interesting creations, from a long-running science experiment to domesticate foxes that over more than a half-century has showed some astonishing results, to our old friends the dog and cat, humans have done some fascinating things with nature. I maybe haven't read all of the book, but I've loved what I have read and hope to finish it in the nearer future.
5 out of 5 stars.

Dark Night: A True Batman Story

Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso give us an autobiographical comic by Dini about when he was brutally assaulted and robbed one night during his time working on the, "Batman," animated series. Dini is painfully honest which is admirable, talking about how his own past self-destructive tendencies to drink too much, date women who only are interested in him for career-advancement, and even at one point self-harm. Dini discusses how with his active imagination growing-up and continuing into adulthood, during his recovery from the brutal violence he faced often he would have the characters from the Batman cartoons and shows, "Talk," to him. He makes it clear these weren't hallucinations he lacked control over, but his own mind trying to process the horrendous beating he took the best way it knew how.

Dini's past comic and television-work has already proven he is a master storyteller, and Risso's illustrations are always welcome be it on, "100 Bullets," or his past, "Batman," work. The heart-breaking moments Dini faces make us really feel for him, while his admittance of not being perfect and at times behaving pretty poorly towards others proves he knows he's got some flaws of his own that needed work. A solid read with some awesome art!
4.5 out of 5 stars.

Wonder Woman: Earth One

Another DC book not in the, "Regular," continuity but this one of course isn't autobiographical but instead a long-awaited book by Grant Morrison and Yannick Paquette. I love Morrison but this is a bit of  misfire. In his effort to provide a mixture of camp but also look like he's making some deep statements on feminism and race the whole book just kinda falls apart, quite badly. I mean, much props to DC for allowing Morrison to acknowledge the sapphic-themes people have often ascribed to the character and without hesitation acknowledge she has had female lovers, but this even comes off as a faux-progressive, with Wonder Woman at the end confirming she wants to live in the, "Man's World," and be with men--kind of almost reminding me of the weird theme of Batman, "Curing," Catwoman of her lesbianism in, "The Dark Knight Rises." To be totally honest, it's a pretty shitty story.

Putting aside how Morrison really let me down with this comic (which is surprising as I love most stuff he does) at least Paquette absolutely nails it with the artwork. His layouts and the spreads are just incredible, with the imagery astounding my eyes as they darted across the pages and back over them again due to how fantastic it all appears on the page. Paquette saves the book from being a complete bummer and it makes me sad that Morrison failed so much writing a character he has done a fine job with in past DC-work he's been on. Oh well, at least that's some snazzy artwork.
2 out of 5 stars.

Vargic's Miscellany of Curious Maps: Mapping Out the Modern World

When my wife saw this huge book and asked what it was about I told her it was a big collection of maps. I realized this sounded kind of odd in our era of being able to access an atlas on our phone so I then clarified it was a book that used maps as a metaphor. That description is an apt one as this cool publication has both fictional maps that create a symbolic geography of subjects, and replications of the real-world with interesting data overlaid. There is a massive map of stereotypes that breaks-down all the cliché and offensive things that pop into the minds of people when they hear about a particular location in the world, there also are imaginary maps that show the landscape of the internet when it comes to video-streaming, more fact-driven maps such as ones that break-down the legality of cannabis or prostitution, and plenty more incredible geographic illustrations that are just wonderful.

Hours could be spent pouring-over the highly-detailed large and medium-sized maps, and the smaller ones are pretty cool too. If you want something that takes an older art (map-making) and incorporates intriguing discussion of new technology and stats this a great book to read. I would highly recommend giving these maps at least a once-over!
5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks Again to my Library!

Thanks again to the Saint Louis County Library system for all the great books!

A Scholarly Reading of, "Mighty Bubble," a Free Comic That Comes with Bubble Bath

I have a friend who likes to de-stress by taking bubble baths. One brand they will use is Mr. Bubble, "America's Favorite Bath-Time Buddy." They noticed with their most recent purchase of bubble bath that it actually came with a comic covering the adventures of, "Mighty Bubble," as he tackles, "The Moontastic Mess." My friend figured, "Hey, David loves comics, I'll give him this," and here we are.

Mr. Bubble is in fact a brand that is over 50 years old and apparently prides itself on making bath-time extra fun, as well as providing fun activities on the website to do for the moments of your life you're not in the tub--you poor fool, you could be soaking in bubbles right now! Anyways, it seems that recently Mr. Bubble developed a heroic alter-ego known as, "Mighty Bubble," which grants him the ability to help make things clean. I would make fun of this super-power but considering how Batman doesn't even have powers and succeeds pretty well at brutally beating-up criminals, I can't hate on Mighty Bubble for succeeding at his niche of keeping things bubbly and fresh.

Mr. Bubble has got bath-time covered, clearly.

Anyway, the comic, how is it? Well, considering it is a free comic that comes with bubble-bath mix it is a little surprising to state it actually is well above the quality of a decent number of things I've read from everyone such as smaller publishers to Marvel and DC. True, it does open with the hackneyed plot-point of the whole story taking place in form of a flashback, but Brian K. Vaughan's beloved comic, "Ex Machina," did the same thing, and if having your whole story take place via flashback is good enough for BKV it's good enough for Mighty Bubble.

As I stated, we open in the present with a young boy sitting in the tub whilst he's covered in grime being asked by his mother, "How did you make such a mighty mess?" The young man, named Jake, proceeds to tell his mother about how he and his friend Olivia were having fun on the playground when the jungle gym--which resembled a space-ship--turned into an actual ship and blasted them off into space towards the Moon. This of course raises the question of if Jake and Olivia somehow discovered the way to activate a secret spaceship hidden in plain sight by the Government, or if Jake is just a Goddamned liar. Us readers must suspend our disbelief at Jake's claims, however, lest his whole story fall apart.

So, Jake and Olvia land on the moon, and discover some friendly space bugs who enjoy sloshing around in the strangely-colored goo on the moon. The bugs want to play, so Jake and Olivia leave the ship and proceed to jump directly into some hideously-orange space-slop. I couldn't help but be reminded of how the last time I saw an astronaut exposed to space-goo it was in the movie, "Prometheus," and that resulted in a whole bunch of hideous deformities and aliens, so at this point I was worried the kids were either going to start puking-up their guts or have an alien burst from their chest (thankfully neither of those things occurred as the material was safe).

Things get weirder however, as Jake and Olivia realize the moon is actually made out of cheese and proceed to throw the sticky cheese at one another--thankfully they know better than to eat moon cheese, even if they aren't smart enough to avoid mysterious space-goo.

You may have noticed now we are about 1/2 of the way into the comic and Mighty Bubble has yet to appear. I too observed this, and was pleased when on the next page of the comic the kids get stuck in some purple alien goo and the mysterious Mighty Bubble appears to save the day. Using my scholarly-reading skills I can determine that much in the way that the popular series, "Marvels," had the reader view heroes from the same perspective as everyday folk, "Mighty Bubble," is taking a similar tone. It keeps us--the reader--out of Mighty Bubble's head, instead presenting him as a surreal and imposing force, not unlike the Superman comics that treat the character more as an otherworldly deity as opposed to the tales where we have first-person narration from the heroes' perspective.

By making Mighty Bubble a character that only appears for a shorter amount of time in the comic, it emphasizes how rare and special a moment spent with him is, much in the way a regular civilian would be in awe of a super-hero (hence my comparison to, "Marvels.") Despite Mighty Bubble being the primary character, we actually witness the story from the perspective of a secondary character, itself a clever plot mechanism, and one I applaud the comic's writer, Alex Gaterud, for doing.

In case you're wondering if I'm being sarcastic with my praise and comparison of this book to popular series, the answer is, "Actually I'm not," as this in fact really is a better constructed comic than a lot of other books out there (I mean, I'm reading zero DC books and can count on one hand the ones that I maybe would be interested in reading if I had a never-ending budget). Sorry for that digression there; so we pick-up with Mighty Bubble appearing and bringing with him the ability to fly and produce bubbles. He uses this power to free the children and aliens from the space-goo, fly them over the sticky Moon-mountains to their spaceship, and then gives them bubble guns so that they clean the ship up.

Following the cleaning of the ship it blasts-off back towards Earth (with a space-alien in the ship too!) and we re-enter the present where Jake has now become clean and his Mother observes that getting clean, "Is just as much fun as getting dirty," which makes me think his mom is a liar too, as while I enjoy a good bath or shower it is extremely fun to just jump in a big old mud puddle when you're a kid, even if your parents scold you for getting your clothes dirty after they explicitly told you to not jump in the mud (as happened to me). The story then concludes with Jake stating how he can't wait for his next messy adventure.

Oh, and the space alien that had been drawn as being in the ship that I figured must have been forgotten by the writer and/or artist (the art is by Spectrum Studio), actually then appears on the last page chilling by the tub--whether it is an actual alien or just a toy is left unclear, again making it up to us if Jake's story is real.

The fact that the writer and artist actually gave their comic enough of a continuity to have the alien appear on the last page after hitching a ride on the spaceship shows incredible forethought compared to say, Marvel's X-Men comics, which recently started making a big deal out of how the Terrigen Mists that turn people into Inhumans is harmful to mutants--which would have been a good story-element to mention when the mists first spread across Earth something like three fucking years ago and only suddenly became a relevant plot-point in the last 6 months, maybe.

If a free comic that comes with bubble bath has a more concise and logical plot than the stories found in the comics of popular characters such as the X-Men, than clearly either we have some true talent writing the, "Mighty Bubble," comic or the X-books just really are getting shitty lately--maybe it's a little of both?

In closing, this comic that comes free with bubble-bath mix is better than a number of comics found on the newsstand for $2.99 or more (generally more, what with prices going up). I'm not sure what that means other than that it gave me the opportunity to diss other comic companies in this article, but should you be looking for something entertaining to read whilst you fill your tub up before adding bubble bath, I would recommend finding some Mr. Bubble that comes with this comic and buying it. Should you especially enjoy the book you can actually buy a Mighty Bubble towel-cape and mask.

I'm seriously considering doing so and then running around my house wearing nothing except for the cape and mask yelling, "I'm Mighty Bubble, dirt's worst enemy!" My wife is a very patient woman, as you can imagine.

Rant-Reviews of Some Science-Fiction Comics I Liked (and a Dash of Horror Too)!

Sci-Fi and Scares
When it comes to, "Genre," works people will generally discuss science-fiction and horror in the same breath, be it to promote them as quality pieces of entertainment or denigrate them as, "Lesser," works. Now, while both can involve themes, characters, and ideas that are outside our so-called norm, science-fiction and horror do often stand apart, but to be fair it isn't unheard of for them to co-mingle--after all, isn't, "Alien," as much of a horror flick as it is a piece of sci-fi? With that in mind  I have some comics that fall in various spaces on this spectrum, with some being your general sort of science-fiction works, others being straightforward horror, and of course those comics that straddle the line between the two.

The Comics
Raygun #1
A new digital release from publisher Alterna Comics (who make physical and digital comics), I quite enjoyed the first issue of this comic geared toward young adults. Focusing on a young boy named Matthew who is sent to live with his estranged Father by his mother (who is having some problems of her own that inform a lot of his personality), the comic follows Matthew as he stumbles upon an old weapon that despite its age is still well ahead of its time thanks to being kept secretly safe by its original creator, Nikola Telsa. Telsa is portrayed as a bit of a madman in this comic, which is odd as historically he was actually a kind and caring person, but for the sake of this story it makes sense he is shown in a more dangerous manner. Basically, the comic opens with Telsa, we jump to Matthew, and by the end of the comic we get the, "High-concept," of Matthew discovering the laser-gun (or, "Raygun," hence the title of the comic) and wondering what he might do next.

As we all have been young kids there doubtlessly have been times in our lives where we wished we had some amazing device that could help solve our problems, so this comic touches upon that childhood fantasy of being able to go wherever we want, do whatever we want, and strike fear into the hearts of  bullies (as I imagine Matthew might do next). The only odd thing is that it is made clear Matthew's father is a bit of an inventor himself, which slightly takes away from the, "This kid could be you," feeling of book, but probably will be important later if Matthew shares his discovery with his Dad.

The artwork is solid and gets across both the mundane aspects of everyday life as well as delightfully illustrates the more exotic and bizarre elements of the story such as robots and Telsa's inventions. This is a stellar debut issue and I am eager to see just what kind of mischief Matthew gets up to with his new, "Toy."
4.5 out of 5 stars.
Note: The first digital issue of "Raygun" can be found at this link.

Saga #34
The fantastical series from Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples continues to impress with its mixture of surreal sci-fi, and mixture of characters dealing with the same stresses many of us all know so well from friendships and relationships, to child-rearing, and etc. As we near the end of the latest arc it is becoming more and more apparent just how everyone's story is going to sync-up, with some characters evidently cruising-for-a-bruising and others possibly about to happily reunite...or also have to get in a tussle. Vaughn and Staples have created a fantastic series that consistently impresses through its mixture of wild ideas, down-to-earth emotions, and gorgeous artwork, even if this issue is mostly set-up. Comics that are a, "Sure thing," for bringing entertainment when you pick-up an issue are few and far between, but basically with any issue of, "Saga," your're guaranteed to have a good time, even in quieter issues such as this one.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Mercury Heat #8
This series started out as just being straight-up science-fiction, with its discussion of colonies on Mercury, implants in bodies, the usual socioeconomic allegories, and the like. However, with the end of issue #7 and now during this eighth issue a surprise cross-over has occurred with another entity from Avatar Press--the, "Crossed,"--now appearing in this comic set well into the future, and in a world where, "Crossed," is little more than a piece of fiction just as within our world. "Crossed," was of course much more of a horror-comic with some science-fiction leanings (with certain off-shoots of the main comic exploring the sci-fi concepts to a greater or lesser degree as with, "Crossed +100,") so it is interesting for this mixing of intellectual properties to suddenly come out of left field.

It could be discussed that, "Mercury Heat," deserves more than just a single story-arc to establish itself before getting all tied-up in mixing with other intellectual properties, but writer Kieron Gillen actually has written, "Crossed," comics before too, so it makes more than enough sense for this to occur, and I'm more on the side of believing he knows exactly what he's doing than worrying this is some kind of company-mandated cross-over with, "Crossed." I say that because we still are getting some solid plot advancement, the comic is maintaining its quirky ultra-violent humor even in the face of the terror that is the, "Crossed," and Gillen has more often than not taken whatever writing concept he's doing and made it work. With all that said, I look forward to just how it will be explained these different, "Worlds," are co-existing.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

InSeXts #3
From newer publisher Aftershock, this is my favorite lesbian-romance-body-horror-science-fiction-comic coming out currently. Well, it's probably the only comic that quite fits into that category on the stands at the moment, but that doesn't subtract from the fact that it's great! The plot continues to thicken with this third issue, as threats to our main characters simmer and bide their time, and the delightful scenes of sexiness that morphs into abject disgusting horror continues in this issue too--I don't want to spoil too much, but let's just say a vagina grows to make up the whole torso of a woman and then bites the arm off of someone...okay, I just spoiled it, but you still have got to see it for yourself. I believe the 4th issue is out today and I know I'll be eager to read it so that I can witness what terrifyingly fascinating events occur next.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Discipline #1
I'll be honest, this isn't particularly science-y as this is more just an odd mixture of horror and sex with a little bit of sci-fi in the form of ancient orders ("The Discipline") and long-kept secrets. Such as it is, Peter Milligan brings us a story about a bored woman who meets a mysterious man and all sorts of dirty and surreal things then occur involving imaginary beasts, nightmares, and vague discussion of the aforementioned Discipline. This first issue raises a whole bunch of questions--as first issues of comics are wont to do--but thankfully they are the kind of questions that I want answers to and would be willing to keep reading a comic to find out (as opposed to the kind of questions some comics spur such as, "How did this book even get made?"). Milligan is notoriously hit-or-miss for me, but if this book can maintain its intriguing tone with the mixture of horror and eroticism we may have a winning series on our hands here.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

Karnak #2
Now we close-out my reviews on a Marvel comic dealing with some science-fiction style aliens that came out some weeks ago, but considering how it took from October 2015 till late February of 2016 for another issue to finally come out I think we can excuse my slight tardiness in discussing this (if you're wondering what the cause of the delay was, it seems the artist had some issues that necessitated someone new coming onboard). Anyhow, Karnak is of course one of the Inhumans that Marvel is so desperate to make become, "A thing," and in a funny twist the, "Karnak," comic at the same time makes the best argument for this and mocks the reader at the same time for liking such a horribly mean individual as Karnak.

This second issue picks-up with Karnak working to find and rescue a young boy who was stolen from his parents due to being a latent Inhuman...or something like that; remember when all the Inhuman-making mist spread around the Earth so Marvel could move the X-Men to a place literally called, "Limbo," due to the mist hurting mutants and made a bunch of new characters nobody cared about besides Ms. Marvel? Yeah, it is from that mist-spreading business. Anyways, the comic is about half one long fight-scene with fantastically abstract artwork and half philosophical discussion about the human desire to have faith and something to believe in (this is where the comic almost seems to be making fun of people for thinking the Inhumans could become popular). Warren Ellis is the writer, he writes angry and cynical characters well, which describes Karnak to a, "T." Therefore, this is a good comic thanks to Ellis and some spectacularly bizarre art.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

No Matter When or Where, There Will Be Conflict

As all of these comics illustrate with their mixture of science-fiction and horror, no matter when or where a story takes place, there will be conflict, and it will result in (hopefully) interesting reading. It is good I liked all these books though, that's always a nice thing to have happen.

Rant-Reviews of Some Notable First Issues Part One--Marvel and Image

Comics From The Bigger Names 
I have an assortment of rant-reviews I would like to post focused on first issues, and there is an assortment of publishers who have stuff I would like to spotlight. I figured for the first post we could cover the big names of Marvel and Image (I haven't read any new #1 issues from DC in awhile) and what exciting (or disappointing) new stuff they have.

Debuts, Both Exciting and Meh
Doctor Strange #1
This is probably the most cheery or, "Fun," I've seen Doctor Strange as written since the Brian K. Vaughn mini-series that occurred awhile ago and is remembered by most as, "That comic where he hooked-up with the Night Nurse and then Bendis kept that plot point going in his 'New Avengers' comic." At least, that is how the internet seemsto refer to it. Anyways, Jason Aaron is (generally) a great writer and Chris Bachalo is always a great artist (even if the "action" of a scene can be hard to follow at times) so with their powers combined and a dash of humor thrown in we get a "Doctor Strange" comic that maybe, just maybe could have enough appeal to get the general populace interested in the good ol' Sorcerer Supreme.

Honestly, this does read a bit like a, "Doctor Strange for New Readers," primer so that once the new movie comes out and some folk go looking for a comic featuring the character a retailer can hand them this and state, "Here, this is good fun and requires little-to-no previous knowledge of the character." Still, even if it reads that way I can't knock it because it really is so damn good. It's--as I mentioned--fun, there is some good humor, the art is gorgeous, and it sets a up a potential big world-threatening mystery that has me intrigued.

Yeah, it seems like this will be a fun comic to follow and...wait, this is $4.99 for a standard number of pages plus an 8-page back-up? Well, I guess for a debut issue I understand as it seems future ones will be $3.99, but that still isn't really a good way to draw-in new readers with such a steep entry fee. Pricing aside this is easily a great...
4 out of 5 stars.

Paper Girls #1
I mentioned Brian K. Vaughn earlier and here he has a weird mish-mash of a 1980's coming-of-age tale and what looks like a story of an alien invasion until a very futuristic item throws a lot of what we've seen into question (if you don't mind spoilers this article breaks things down well). Cliff Chiang of course was killing it on "Wonder Woman" with Azzarello for their run and he continues to be equally impressive in this first issue as he illustrates the late 1980's with aplomb.

My criticism of this first issue it would be that we really don't get too much background on or development of the main characters--our paper girls--with the issue instead going full-throttle with the plot as things get incredibly crazy at the end. I'm not quite certain what to make of this book yet, but think after the 2nd issue things may be a bit more clear. As for right now though, it is kind of an underwhelming first issue considering how stellar a writer Vaughn is and how amazing the first issues of some of his other works have been.
2.5 out of 5 stars.

The Astonishing Ant Man #1
It's labeled as a first issue, but has the same creative team as before, picks up all the plot points from the previous comics that happened to be an ongoing and then a one-shot that related to the ongoing.  So yeah, this really isn't a first issue and with the confusing way Marvel has done the series between name changes and such they really seem determined to make this pretty enjoyable series fail miserably through confusing fans. I mean, the comic makes attempts to explain what is going on, but "Secret Wars" and its forced relaunch of all the books clearly messed some titles up dramatically that seem to have not anticipated that occurring.

Those complaints aside, this continues everything that been occurring previously without much of a problem and if you aren't a truly new reader who sees this #1 and figures, "A brand-new series, I'll read that!" you should be okay--I just wish you good luck if this is truly your first Ant-Man comic. The big twist at the end also illustrates that things should be getting quite interesting as we proceed and results in a comic that would be good, but struggles to both attempt to slightly fill-in new readers while keeping the plot going for old ones. In an effort to do it all successfully, it fails at it all. It is a bummer, but hopefully one the second issue will avoid now that the recaps are out of the way.
2 out of 5 stars.

I Hate Fairyland #1
Skottie Young has done so many sweet and kid-friendly comics that this reads as done by someone who is happy to be finally able to cut really loose or who was pretty wild all along but hid it well in his cute licensed titles relating to the "Wizard of Oz" or baby-sized Marvel heroes. Young both writes and illustrates this story about a little girl named Gertrude who finds herself stuck in Fairyland and wants to leave...and then 27 years have passed and she's nearly 40, but still stuck in a kid's body surrounded by cute and happy creatures she despises. This results in all sorts of violence (she literally blows-up a talking moon) drug taking (she ingests the mushroom-heads of sentient soldiers) and swearing ("Fluff," has never sounded so explicit before this).

If one were to try and get all analytical they could almost argue this looks like Skottie Young is making a statement about how he feels in regards to all the cute and sweet stuff he's drawn over the years, with Gertrude existing as a stand-in who tears it all down in a rage of being unable to escape the colorful-and-peppy world. I honestly don't think it is anything that dramatic however; I believe that Young just wanted to take advantage of the fact he can make adorable imagery and then saturate it in blood and general off-the-wall madness. Regardless of his reasons for creating this comic, Young has something hilariously crass in the form of "I Hate Fairyland" and I would recommend giving it a read should you love saccharine-sweet imagery or despise it and want to see it violently destroyed.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

Karnak #1
After his short tenure on "Moon Knight" we again have Warren Ellis writing another Marvel hero for what I imagine will only be six or twelve issues (so we should enjoy it while we can). Karnak is of course one of the Inhuman characters and has a long and confusing back-story (much like the Inhumans themselves) so Ellis thankfully breezes over most of that with a quick mention of some assorted information and then gets to the good stuff of us getting to know Karnak through his horrifically cynical attitude and ability to really hurt people.

I can't quite say why, but this almost reads more like the kind of story you would see in an anthology like 2000AD than it does a Marvel title. It has Marvel characters, obviously, but perhaps the mixture of such a dark tone as well as humor and brutal violence mixed with strange sci-fi stuff gives it that feel not too much unlike something you would see in "Judge Dredd". That, or it is the artwork by Gerado Zaffino that causes the comic to read that way. His scratchy and dark-hued style carries with its a European look that probably played the biggest role in my feeling like I was reading something from across the Atlantic (andEllis is of course British, but I've read plenty of his Marvel stuff before and not felt like it was more, "European," than other stuff).

All this talk about "Karnak" feeling different is by no means bad, in fact I mean it as a compliment because my favorite Marvel titles lately seem to be the ones that are more off-kilter or quirky. If this lacked the art it would just be a teeny-tiny bit above average, but thanks to Zaffino's incredible work this is worth...
3.5 out of 5 stars.

From The First to the Last
As is evident, sometimes you'll get a first issue from someone amazing that is merely okay but most likely worth cotinuing to read as great stuff will probably happen in the future ("Paper Girls"). Other times you get first issues that aren't really first issues at all and the book suffers for it ("The Astonishing Ant-Man"), a reintroduction to familiar characters ("Doctor Strange" and "Karnak"), and there are of course brand-new ideas that really knock it out of the park with their debut ("I Hate Fairyland").

The bigger publishers clearly have some interesting stuff, and the next post I have coming-up will cover the publishers who aren't as big as Image or Marvel but still have some intriguing releases.

Rant-Reviews--The Overall Message of a Variety of Titles

The Point Is?
A lot of times comics that come out have some sort of underlying message, a point, something that the creators are trying to say. Let's examine some comics that I think are doing that right now, and one where 23 issues I'm still not sure what exactly the main idea is.

Figuring Out The Main Idea
Crossed: Badlands #84
I've been enjoying this story-arc, which since beginning in issue #81 has been telling an interesting story with one big dark joke forming the overall message. I kind of quit reading, "Crossed," comics after the initial story by Garth Ennis a long while ago, but picked up a comic related to the, "Crossed Universe," when Alan Moore did, "Crossed +100," for its first six issues. That said, I never really followed, "Crossed: Badlands," but when I saw a creator I really enjoy, Mike Wolfer, was both writing and illustrating it I hopped on that like nobody's business.

The main idea Wolfer is employing here is presenting us with a bunch of survivors during the initial, "Crossed," outbreak who have positioned themselves safely on a torn-apart bridge but in the process have also become sitting ducks for a group of especially nasty Crossed who have found them. Two sisters came along at the end of the first issue and joined the group and that's where it starts getting pretty interesting. These sisters basically are horror-movie buffs who figure that by using the knowledge they've gained from watching countless movies about zombies outbreaks along with a fiction-book by, "Brooks Maxwell [itself a clever allusion to a real writer]," everyone could be okay. The sisters' statements about what the group should do according to the book however are starting to create some friction among the survivors and I almost wonder if that is possibly part of their plan (who is to say they actually want to share all the remaining supplies with everyone else)?

Wolfer is making a clever comment with this story-arc, as we all have those friends who insist they would be fine if a virus occurred or zombies popped-up because they've watched a lot of, "The Walking Dead," or seen, "28 Days Later." Just because you've viewed a lot of television about zombies or read a couple pop-culture books that by no means can assure your survival, and Wolfer is telling us a really clever and twisted joke by having this group of survivors think that some horror-convention fans are going to possibly keep everyone alive. It's a bit meta--which I always love--and of course contains plenty of the requisite extreme and disturbing imagery that fans of, "Crossed," comics tend to expect. A solid read and one which I am eager to see the conclusion of--after all, maybe everything will work out for the best after all? Nah, this is a "Crossed" comic, so it'll most likely be pretty gruesome.
4 out of 5 stars.

We Stand on Guard #3
A strange sci-fi comic written by none other than Brian K. Vaughn with stellar art by Steve Skroce. This is an odd series, positing a future where the U.S. basically are the bad guys of this story (some people already think of Americans as bad guys, but roll with this) and have invaded Canada. It is interesting to see a story that posits the U.S. as imperialist invader with the twist being it isn't someplace far away things are happening, it is directed right at our neighbor to the North. From new slurs to dehumanize the enemy, to commentary on, "Enhanced Interrogation," also known as torture, it has been a clever comic that seems to be asking, "So it makes you uncomfortable to see the U.S. treat people who, 'Look like us,' this way, but how come you don't flinch when it's other countries?" At least, I think that is what Vaughn is driving at, but it remains to be seen.

Speaking of what I've, "Seen," this comic is just gorgeous. Steve Skroce apparently took a break form comics to work in the film biz and boy am I glad to see him return to drawing when he's so amazingly good at it. He makes something as simple as a person glaring at another with hatred so dramatic it strikes a reader even harder when things get absurdly violent. The clever twist of showing the U.S. as bad guys helps impart a message of why we don't mind when our nation behaves this way to those who are theoretically, "Different," and if maybe, just maybe, our country plays a big role in creating this view of people being an, "Other," when it needs an excuse to invade somewhere--be it far away in the Middle East or a tad North. Still, I wouldn't mind the characters feeling a bit more fleshed-out beyond the, "Cool," Canadian rebels and, "Evil," United States.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Starve #3
The message here: Our future will be a terrible place full of rich mean people and poor hungry people--well, more of that than currently exists. Cooking reality shows will still be popular and take advantage of the fact that rich folk want fancy food. This will result in a famous chef named Gavin Cruikshank being forced to return to a cooking show he began, "Starve," and taking the whole television network down through the show, or something. That last part is still a little unclear how one man being a really good at cooking could destroy a T.V. network even if his ex-wife runs it and hates him (he married her knowing that he was actually gay, but wanted to hide it, and she is mad about being married decades to a man who never loved her, and basically left her with their kid so he could run off and tour the world). Still, the overall idea about how food should be enjoyed by all along with messages about the environment (tasty animals are going extinct even faster due to our actions as humans), and cool little scenes of cooking that feature intriguing dishes result in a great read.

I really like "Starve". I'm not sure it would be nearly as good without a character like Gavin--as I've discussed in a previous review, but thanks to him being so fascinating I quite enjoy the comic. It's weird mixture of cultural commentary and cooking has worked pretty well, and even if I still don't get quite get how cooking is going to fix society, perhaps the message is that a single person can't single-handedly fix everything, he can just fix a little. Hmmmmmm.
4 out of 5 stars.

War Stories #12
Garth Ennis loves to write war stories, and a comic titled, "War Stories," is a great way for him to do so. In this series Ennis can tell dramatic stories of war without having to work-in Nick Fury or The Punisher as when he does Marvel tales. Ever since this series came to Avatar Press with a new #1 Ennis has been following a format of three-issue arcs set in various conflicts but with a definite slant to discussing World War II more than anything else. The message in this series basically has been, "War makes monsters of us all, but some of us clearly are already pretty monstrous," and its' quite true.

Ennis has his usual tendency to give the reader a lot of interesting real-life facts about about various wars, breaks down the complex machinery of guns and tanks, and otherwise always turns in a solid read. Still, sometimes it can start to feel a bit routine how Ennis has these arcs go, and while this was a fine read I haven't been as, "Grabbed," by one of the arcs since the one about the Israeli-Palestine war. The message about how war is bad is a good message though, for sure.
3 out of 5 stars.

Sex #23

My weirdest comic of 2014 continues to both fascinate and confuse as we inch ever-closer to the Fall season of 2015. We've still got writer Joe Casey telling the story of multiple individuals all impacted by the retirement of, "The Iron Saint," who used to protect Saturn City. These folk include the rich Simon Cooke who himself was the hero, his former sidekick, lawyer (and best friend), as well as all the organized crime in the city. We also still have artist Piotr Kowlalski (in the majority of issues) creating artwork that is both at once stylized with a somewhat European flair, but also masterful at portraying such things as how wide and sprawling a city the home of all our protagonists happens to be. 

Oh, and what a strange place Saturn City is. Full of weird characters who serve as analogues for other heroes or whom are unique characters all their own, a strange variety of men and women have been serving to move the plot--whatever plot there is--along. This issue spotlights a variety of individuals and makes it clear we are on a slow but most likely assured path to seeing Saturn City enter terrible times, with the question of if Cooke will actually return to his (still never full-glimpsed) costume after all this time hanging in the air like an uncomfortable query no one wants to ask even though it is obvious (a metaphorical, "Elephant in the room," although in this case the, "Elephant," is a super-hero).

Whatever the case of just where the story actually is going, what will occur, and if eventually the weirdness will start making sense (as it kind of is lately, albeit slowly) I look forward to witnessing it. Whatever Joe Casey has in the form of, "Sex," is bizarre, confusing, and lacks a clear message, but I'll be darned if I don't kind of love it for that reason.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Lessons Learned

I and many others could be wrong about what the main message is of these various comics is(or on the flip-side, someone could insist they know exactly what, "Sex," is about). That said, I think I generally have a mental-grasp of what's happening and look forward to seeing myself proven either right or wrong.

Rant-Reviews: Death, Sex, and that Old-Time Religion

Getting Raunchy, Reckless, and Religious

There are a variety of topics that make people uncomfortable. Often folk don't like to talk much about death, a variety of individuals get nervous discussing sex, and many an argument has broken-out over religion. When these interesting topics begin to intersect in various fascinating ways you get some cool comics. Here is a smattering of titles that have incorporated a lot of violence, sex, and some varying interpretations of God--or Gods, as it were.

Devils and Gods

Saga #30

The 29th issue of "Saga" had my mouth agape, shocked at all the apparent deaths. Well, this issue reveals some of those deaths were just serious injuries, but then go ahead and kills some other people off just to keep us readers utterly offended that characters we've grown to care about can be so mercilessly killed by the author of the title, Brian K. Vaughn. There is of course also the incredible art by Fiona Staples to lushly illustrate all the violence and destruction, as well as the softer and quieter moments that give those bursts of blood and viscera an extra punch. 

The overall theme of these various space races fighting for beliefs, and some who realize such a fight isn't needed, has made for some great stories. Saga has been a title that often leaves me breathless at the end of issues, and it will surely continue to do so after the short break that occurs every once-in-awhile between story-arcs. We have some surprisingly explicit sex in some issues, grisly violence in others, and discussions of philosophy and religion that occur throughout it all. There's a reason this is one of my favorite titles, and it's good stuff like this issue.

5 out of 5 stars.

Rise of the Anti-Christ #3
I reviewed the 1st and 2nd issue of this series before and found it enjoyable, so I am pleased to say this third issue continues that trend and even improves over the earlier issues. Whereas the earlier issues went a bit heavy on the biblical quotes and allusions, plus they suffered from not always giving the characters enough personality, this one moreso just delivers a solid story while also very carefully walking a tightrope of commenting on religion without leaning too much into the realm of bible-thumping or bible-bashing.

A question within the comic has been whether our main character, Michael, is in fact dealing with demonic powers or is simply mentally disturbed. I'm starting to think it might be a mixture of both, as he clearly demonstrates a kind of otherworldly power when dealing with some ignorant punks, but also utterly freaks-out when given some harmless food by a homeless hippie lady that simply wants to help him.

Speaking of Michael's fight, it is interesting to see how he steps-in to defend a young gay man from being beat-up but then goes on to appear just as bigoted as them by asking the man to pray with him to "cure" his homosexuality. It goes to show how even if Michael means well, his narrow-view of what is, "Right," may end-up being his own undoing. I overall quite enjoyed this issue and am interested to see what comes next for Michael as he faces demons--both those that are possibly real and others that are most likely imagined.
4 out of 5 stars.
Note: This is a digital comic and can be located here on Comixology.

Southern Bastards #10
This title here straight-up opens with a scene of two people having sex, whilst one is being informed someone wants to save his soul. The person whose soul is being offered to be saved is named Esaw, and the man who wants to help him ends-up beaten near to death by the end of issue by the very person he thinks needs to be saved--e.g. Esaw. Perhaps the moral of this issue is that some people are just beyond any sort of saving, maybe the idea is that some folk are just so horrible the best thing to do is get as far away from them as you can. Whatever the main point of this issue is, "Southern Bastards" continues to be a fascinating examination of a variety of horrible human beings behaving in awful ways towards each other. However, Esaw is unfortunately quite possibly the least interesting person to have the story focus on them so far, and it does make things suffer.

Jason Aaron's writing may not impress as much this issue, but he continues to be amazingly complimented by artist Jason Latour's work, which with its harsh style and sharp edges gives the scenes of violence an extra degree of grotesqueness. If the earlier-mentioned Fiona Staples makes violence look beautiful, Latour makes it as ugly as sin--and I love it. Still, Esaw is just dull to read about, and not as much happens this issue to advance the plot. We instead kind of see things barely moving forward to what I bet will be an epic confrontation between Coach Boss and the daughter of the recently departed Earl Tubbs. Perhaps this is just the quiet before the storm, but does it have to be so quiet?
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Providence #2

Alan Moore, a name that inspires a wide range of emotions and opinions. Some feel he is washed-up and needs to shut-up. Others feel he has been consistently wronged by comic publishers and deserves the utmost respect. I myself think he is an immensely talented man who may not be making stuff as incredible as his most famous works, but definitely still knows how to spin a good yarn, as evidenced by this dense second issue in his 12-part epic for Avatar Press about all things Occult. After a relatively mellow first issue it is beginning to become more apparent how the concepts of Lovecraft, Cthulhu, and other mysterious forces play a part in this story of a Mr. Robert Black--and my interest continues to be quite piqued. It helps artist that Jacen Burrows does such a stellar job making things look so authentically based in the past.

Moore said in previous interviews how he wanted to tackle subjects Lovecraft loathed with this story, almost forcing some of the less pleasant aspects of the man and his literature to turn a mirror unto themselves and gaze at a reflection of hatred, however uncomfortable such an act may feel. Hence, we have a secretly gay and Jewish protagonist facing down horrors in 1919 before Lovecraft had yet actually entered onto the scene with his concepts of ancient ones and other horrors.

There is an almost naughty feeling to seeing things Lovecraft despised (he often disparaged Jewish people, much to the offense of his wife he would forget actually had Jewish heritage) turned into the heroic elements of the story, and Moore isn't afraid to go heavy on exposition, having characters engage in verbose conversations before also tacking on pages of additional text materials such as excerpts from Robert's journal or some choice selections from a  fictional pamphlet on the subjects our protagonist happens to be exploring. As it becomes more evident about just what kind of dangers Robert may be in I'll be eager to watch everything unfold.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Good Books of Bad People
As you've witnessed by now, there can be some fascinating stories about fictional religions, involving real ones, and the way these beliefs can inform our behavior (for better or much, much worse). The lesson here is that even if people get uncomfortable talking about sexuality, death, and religion, they can help make some great stories happen.

2014 In Review--My Favorite Comic-Book Artist

This One is Always Tough

It is always tough to say an absolute favorite when it comes to comic-book art. It is tricky because so many people create such a variety of incredible works in different styles. Who is to say that Declan Shalvey's work on Moon Knight is any better or worse than Frank Quitely's incredible contribution to "Pax Americana"? Seriously, all art is subjective, but then again, so are my lists that declare what I thought was the "best" of anything in 2014. With that in mind, and having chose to limit myself to just picking one artist I now will declare my thoughts.

Comic-Artist of the Year: Fiona Staples.

Fiona Staples is a beast. I did not really know of her work at all until I started reading "Saga", and once you enjoy that title it makes you go, "How did I not hear about this person before?" I mean yes, plenty of the joy of "Saga" comes from the masterful writing of Brian K. Vaughn, but if it weren't for Staples the book would not be nearly as awesome as it is. "Saga" is a strange space-based comic, and Staples has never met a surreal-looking alien she couldn't draw the Hell out of. Whether showing our main characters with their horns or wings, a spaceship made out of a tree, designing the strange costumes for actors on a virtual space-opera, or otherwise being incredible, Staples has made it so that anytime a new issue of Saga comes out I know it will be as much a feast for the eyes as it is good brain-food too. This is why Staples is my comic-artist of the year. I look forward to seeing more of her work on "Saga" and enjoying the premiere arc of the reboot of "Archie" comics that she will be illustrating!

Honorable Mention: Jamie McKelvie

I know I said I would only have one artist, but come'on people, we're talking about Jamie-freaking-McKelvie here! The man turns in art like nobody's business, be it through his collaborations with Kieron Gillen or when doing his own thing such as with the strangely under-read "Suburban Glamour". Therefore, having seen McKelvie's art in "The Wicked and the Divine" this year I just had to give him a shout-out and credit for being as superb an artist as he is. Anyways, I just wanted to put that out there.

Two Quick Thoughts on Marvel and One on DC/Vertigo

Thinking About the "Big 2"
I just have a few total thoughts today that I thought were detailed enough to put together in a post, but not nearly in-depth enough to stand on their own. As I have two thoughts about Marvel and only one about DC and its Vertigo imprint I think I'll post things in the order of Marvel, DC, Marvel, if for no other reason that my minor obsession with having things in a pattern will be sated that way.

Thought 1: Some of Marvel's Cancellations Are Really Causing Sadness

Marvel has been getting "props" for putting out more quirky or interesting books that don't fit into any sort of cliche "Marvel style". These titles are ostensibly in the Marvel Universe but still quite unique. Some successes of this style of letting the comics function more independently has resulted in some big critical and commercial successes such as "Ms. Marvel" and of course "Hawkeye", but other books apparently haven't performed well enough and are being cancelled. I heard a collective groan of sadness from the internet when it was revealed "She Hulk" was ending with issue #12 despite actually seeming to sell well, and you might have heard me cry out in despair when the announcement was officially made by Marvel and Peter David that "All-New X-Factor" was concluding with its 20th issue. There is a slight silver-lining to this very gray cloud in that Marvel clearly isn't yet giving up on at least trying to put out weirder titles, as the announcement of, "The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl" shows they are willing to let their freak-flag fly a little bit.

Thought 2: It Seems We Are Approaching A Vertigo Revamp

I've discussed in the past how I had concerns about the future of DC's mature-readers imprint, Vertigo. However, after expressing my worries in that 2012 blog post the imprint seemed to start having some more success, with titles such as, "The Wake" selling like hotcakes and other critical hits such as "Trillium" leading me to conclude I was wrong and Vertigo was doing okay after all. Well, interestingly enough my first post thinking that Vertigo could be in for a shake-up might have been right after all, if admittedly "calling it" it a bit too early. I say that because it has been hinted by the DC brass that come 2015 there are plans for an overhaul of the Vertigo line. How much this relates to DC moving their office to Burbank in 2015, the fact that more former Vertigo-creators are now making titles with other publishers (Brian K Vaughn and Scott Snyder with "Saga" and "Wytches", respectively, although Snyder is still writing plenty of super-hero stuff for DC), or any other reason I cannot say. Still, whatever the case for this plan to change Vertigo it will be interesting to see what is done in an attempt to draw in more writers and artists so as to boost the line--like perhaps DC will be more willing to offer creators ownership of their intellectual property if  they write for Vertigo, or something of that sort. We can only wait and see.

Thought 3: Marvel is Going Teaser-Crazy

Lately Marvel has been releasing teaser-images that mention past events with small changes in images of the past event or a name alteration. These have been ranging from Civil War, to Planet Hulk, to Years of Future Past, to what could be some kind of Marvel Zombies VS Age of Ultron comic. Apparently even creators of some of these past events have no clue what is going on with the man behind the original Infinity Gauntlet comic (Jim Starlin) remarking he had no idea that Marvel was planning to revisit the series until he saw one of these random promos for it. Now, unless Marvel is planning some sort of mega-event with weekly comics that will revisit past comic-events or such, I have a feeling this all relates to the earlier announcement of a "Secret Wars" event in 2015 which builds off of the events of Marvel's "Avengers" and "New Avengers" comics that have featured alternate earths coming into contact with one another and requiring the destruction of one to save the other.

Considering how the concept of alternate realities will play a huge role in "Secret Wars" I could see how these promotional images are in fact advertising other realities where past comic events turned out differently, and is building-up to the idea that these separate planes of existence are going to come into conflict with "our" earth, resulting in a "House of M" world fighting the main one, or such. That is my thinking at least. For all I know maybe Marvel just really wants to put out a bunch of random mini-series set in past events and figure enough people will be hungering for a new "Armor Wars" that it'll sell well. Again, as I said when wondering about what the future holds for Vertigo, we can only wait and see. All I know is with my eventitis I won't be in a huge hurry to read any huge earth-shattering events that will, "CHANGE EVERYTHING...at least until the next event."

Done Thinking...For Now
So there were my three scattered thoughts about Marvel and DC I had today. I look forward to what other quirky books Marvel puts out and hope they will do well, while at the same time I desire for Marvel to tone it down a bit with all these event-promos that may or may not be for an actual event. Also, whatever DC does with its Vertigo imprint is bound to be neat to see. If only I could glimpse into the future and then think on that, if only.