The body count in Buckaroo is steadily climbing as Finch and Crane try to figure out who is responsible for all of these murders. The series is finding its own darkly amusing voice that sets it apart from a lot of other horror comic books being written today. While we’re no closer to unwrapping the mystery of Buckaroo, this is a really enjoyable book that is taking off.
Tech Jacket #1 Written by Joe Keatinge Art by Khary Randolph Published by Image Comics Tech Jacket isn’t quite a revival of an old series, but it’s an opportunity for Image to revisit a character who hasn’t been written about in some time. Originally created by Robert Kirkman, “Tech Jacket” is a high-school age boy …
Southern Bastards #3 Written by Jason Aaron Art by Jason Latour Published by Image Comics The showdown in Craw County has begun, and Earl Tubb is finding out just how difficult it’s going to be to take down Coach Boss. Southern Bastards has been a critical darling, and this issue lives up to …
Trees #2 Written by Warren Ellis Art by Jason Howard Published by Image Comics It’s hard to know what to make of this series. On the one hand, this issue has a lot more going on in terms of dialogue and exposition, and the premise of human life going on around the extraterrestrial is interesting.. …
C.O.W.L. #2 Written by Alec Siegel Art by Rod Reis Published by Image Comics The series is starting to pick up steam with this issue. C.O.W.L. #2 explores the relationship that some of the heroes have with their families, the ongoing negotiations between C.O.W.L. and the city of Chicago, and the mystery of how Skylancer …
Wicked & Divine #1 Written by Kieron Gillen Art by James McKelvie Published by Image Comics Wicked & Divine is having its praises sung by critics and creators alike right now. The premise of the book certainly has a strong hook. Every ninety years, the gods are reincarnated and assume mortal bodies. They become pop …
MPH #2 Written by Mark Millar Art by Duncan Fegredo Published by Image Comics This was a middling issue, which is to be expected as it’s mostly about setting up the subsequent action. We get a bit more background on Rosa and some fun shots of the characters enjoying their newfound abilities. Duncan Fegredo’s artwork looks …
Wildfire #1 Written by Matt Hawkins Art and standard cover by Linda Sejic Published by Image Comics Wildfire #1 is the first issue of Image’s latest high-concept series, one in which the world is threatened by genetically-modified plants. It’s an intriguing and certainly unique premise, but for a series like this to succeed, it needs …
That’s Because You’re a Robot Written by David Quantick Art by Shaky Kane Published by Image Comics That’s Because You’re A Robot exists in a space between profound and asinine. With sublime art by Shaky Kane and mediocre writing by David Quantick, the one-shot presents a simple, satisfying concept marred by easy humor. Two cops …
The Walking Dead 128 Written by Robert Kirkman Art by Charlie Adlard, Stefano Gaudiano, and Cliff Rathburn Published by Image Comics After last issue, it’s inevitable that Walking Dead 128 will feel a bit slower in comparison. This is an issue that’s mostly devoted to exposition and developing the setting, which means that there isn’t …
Manifest Destiny #7 Written by Chris Dingess Art by Matthew Roberts Colored by Owen Gieni Published by Image Comics One great thing about Manifest Destiny #7 is that it assumes new readers will be picking it up. Using the device of Meriwether Lewis’ diary, it introduces the various members of the Lewis and Clark expedition and some …
The Darkness: Close Your Eyes Written by Ales Kot Art by Marek Oleksicki Published by Image Comics The Darkness: Close Your Eyes is a grim and gritty descent into the mind of a murderer Psychologists and police profilers have been delving into the minds of murderers for years in an attempt to come up with …
The Field #2 Written by Ed Brisson Illustrated by Simon Roy Published by Image Comics The Field #2 is a strange comic book. There’s a murderous biker gang, a messianic character called The Source who can’t remember who or what he is, and The Source’s middle-aged bodyguard, Christian, who is basically a Bible-thumping serial killer. …
Madame Frankenstein continues to live up to Mary Shelley’s novel in issue number two. The possibility of Dr. Victor Krall being a more nurturing creator as compared to Shelley’s Dr. Frankenstein is beginning to look a lot more unlikely as Krall’s motives for making his creature become clear in this issue. Krall’s feelings for Gail, the creature, are complicated and only serve to make his reasons for making her seem more heinous even than what was indicated in Madame Frankenstein #1. Finally, the fairies are back in a surprising twist that ties fiction with a real historical event.
The last paragraph of the review of Nailbiter #1 says, “No matter what genre this series falls into, it is sure to be a bloody, fun read.” A read-through of the second issue only confirms that as a fact. While there are still elements of a police procedural within the story’s plot, there is now no doubt about the likely gore-fest to come. This is verified within the text when Officer Finch tells the Nailbiter, “This isn’t Silence of the Lambs, murderer. We’re not teaming up.” This seems to be writer Williamson’s way of saying, “This plot isn’t really about catching criminals.”
Some things just go together well. Peanut butter and chocolate. Fries and ketchup. Salt n Pepa. John Layman’s Chew, the hit comic about an FDA detective with food-related superpowers, and Revival, Tom Seely’s gothic noir comic set in a town where the recently dead “revived”, seems like a great match. Both are about cops working in topsy-turvy worlds, both either flirt with black humor or let black humor take them to the back seat of its Dodge. But tonally, style-wise, the two comics can seem at odds. So how do you do a crossover twixt the two that doesn’t come out like a strange melange of two opposing styles? Well…you cheat. Or at least get creative with it. Rather than a traditional crossover, Chew/Revival (and Revival/Chew) is actually two takes at the crossover in one book, with the original artist teams doing what they do best, focusing on their characters, and giving their own spin on how a collision of the Chew and Revival universes would play out.
At its core, Southern Bastards is a series that is about the difficult relationship each person has with the place that they grew up. You can leave it behind, you can hate it, you can curse it as much as you want, but a part of you is always going to be stuck there. For Earl Tubb, he’s stuck there, and try as he might, he keeps digging himself into a situation that he knows he ought to run away from as fast as he can.
We are living in the midst of a boom in good Science-Fiction comic writing. Trees is the latest Sci-Fi story from acclaimed author Warren Ellis. The comic book deals with the discovery of alien life, or more specifically, the fact that alien life doesn’t regard humanity as being particularly significant. The book takes place in three different locations and examines how human society has been shaped and changed by the presence of intelligent life that has, quite literally, been placed smack-dab in the middle of our civilization.
This is it. This is the final chapter in the Krampus comic series. Writer Brian Joines and illustrator Dean Kotz go big from the very first pages of the comic, wasting no time getting right into the action.
Mark Millar seems to live just to subvert superhero tropes. Kick-Ass and Nemesis were both comic books that wanted to deconstruct the motivations of people who become superheroes and supervillains, depicting egotism and boredom as motivations alongside greed or altruism. MPH is sort of another book in this vein, with a person suddenly gaining access to super-speed. Guess what happens? Crime spree and, we can only assume a quest for revenge.
Nailbiter #1 is a conundrum. The reader is presented with a small town in Oregon, Buckaroo, which is the birthplace of no less than sixteen of the world’s most notorious serial killers and which is under investigation by an Army Intelligence officer who seems to be suffering from a psychotic breakdown of his own. One of the killers, the book’s namesake – The Nailbiter – was recently acquitted and has returned to his hometown.
Madame Frankenstein #1 Written by Jamie S. Rich Illustrated by Megan Levens Published by Image Comics Female Frankenstein’s Monster Lives Up to Shelley’s Original Any work of literature attempting to capitalize on Mary Shelley’s seminal novel of gothic horror has a great deal to live up to. More often than not, modern attempts to rework …
Southern Bastards #1 Written by Jason Aaron Drawn and colored by Jason Latour Published by Image Comics It is not what Jason Aaron and Jason Latour do but it is how they do it that makes Southern Bastards #1 one of Image Comics strongest debuts. The story of Earl Tubb, an old man returning to …