I realized this week that I’ve got more books here that need reviewing than I will ever have time to review, and so the sad fact is that if I don’t pick up the pace on the reviews, we just might not get to them all.  At first I didn’t really care about that, but after giving it some thought, I decided that EVERYONE who gave me a book deserves a review, even if that review consists of the words, “This book was the single worst piece of sequential garbage that I’ve ever seen.”  So with that in mind, this week is going to be little more than a massive review-dump, and my “recommendations only” policy is going to be on hold during the entire course of this column. 

I sincerely wish that I had more time to spend on some of the really great books that I picked up at the Philly Wizard World, and I will make an effort to spend some quality time on the truly great ones, but the fact is that at our present rate, I’ll be soon be so far behind that this column will lose its relevance to today’s market.  And I don’t want that to happen.  So strap yourselves in for the first ever COMICS YOU SHOULD BE READING REVIEW-O-RAMA OF DOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

 

Artesia Afield

This second TPB in the Artesia series (published by ASP) was one of the true gems on the WW Philly show.  That came as no surprise.  Even before I read the book, I knew that creator Mark Smylie’s epic had gotten a ton of critical praise from critics with a much deeper knowledge of and appreciation for this medium than I have, but it’s always nice to see something with some hype actually live up to the hype. 

This second volume finds Artesia and her company far to the south of their home in Darajda helping the Kingdom of the Sun Court to defeat an invasion by a great Eastern Empire.  As epic fantasy plots go, any sort of humanoid invasion is usually bad news for readers since it often signals that the author couldn’t come up with his own plot and hence went for the most generic plot in fantasy literature, and when I first started reading this book, I feared that it too was headed for that well-worn territory.  However, this book separates itself from the pack once again with its scope and its comprehensive and inspired mythology.  Yet even that would have been a disappointment given that it is the same storytelling conceit that Smylie used in his first book, but in the second half of the book, Mark breaks new ground.  By going away from the warrior-of-destiny mold that he created in the first book, Mark introduces an element of tension into the story that was missing in the first book, so that when it becomes clear in the later half of the story that our heroes and their allies have made some disastrous Operational choices, there is real tension over the question of whether the main battle itself is to be won or lost.  I can’t remember the last time I thought that the likely outcome of a fantasy epic was going to be that our hero’s army would be defeated, forcing her into an extended campaign of guerilla warfare in the subsequent volumes of the story, and I cannot tell you how much I valued that genuine tension. I had no idea how it was going to end, and that was what made it all work for me.

Beyond simple storytelling, the other extraordinary thing about this book is that it attempts to tell a story of ancient warfare on the Operational level.  Briefly, there are three levels of war: tactical, operational and strategic.  Tactics is how you win battles, and strategy is how you win wars.  Although both can be complex, they are both easier to understand than operations, which is the study of how you win campaigns. Operational planning seeks to string battles together to form a cohesive campaign to achieve limited and specific military objectives above division level.  I dare say that Artesia Afield is probably the only comic in history that has attempted to deal with war at this level; the study and planning required to pull it off must have been prodigious. In fact, I recognized the influence of John Keegan’s The Face of Battle long before the bibliography noted its importance to the story.  But then again, that’s probably to be expected from a creator who doesn’t shrink from showing a battle with two armies meeting abreast, where one is executing both a penetration and an envelopment – all in a single two-page splash.  Wow!  I can barely even type that.  Mark drew and painted it in glorious detail.

This is a great book. If you’re a fan of military history or of epic fantasy, Artesia Afield is definitely for you, and it’s well worth its cover price.  If you see these guys out on the Con circuit, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.  I guarantee you’ll see some things here that you’ve never seen before in a comic. This story is one of the uniquely great stories in independent comics.

Grade: A 

 

Mouseguard 2 and 3

What can I say about Mouseguard that hasn’t already been said?  David Petersen’s story is a terrifically entertaining and hugely popular indie-phenomenon about the unsurprisingly brutal lives of mice trying to live through the day-to-day challenges of a world in which they are the food for nearly every creature imaginable.  Issues 2 and 3 get into the conspiracy that threatens Lockhaven, introducing several new characters, deepening the series’ mythos, and then coming back to Issue 1’s protagonists and putting them into new and ever more creative jeopardies.  This series succeeds because its art captures the feel of the epic and lends weight to the events even though they are happening to mice.  The characterization is sophisticated and the dialogue is tight. We get to know and like these mice. We care about them.  Having all of that in a package that is kid friendly (for those 10 and up) and well-drawn is a rare treat in any medium.  It’s a tough balance to strike, and yet this series hits the right notes time after time after time. 

It’s simple: Mouseguard is the REAL event of the summer.  It’s a MUST READ!

Grade: A 

 

 

Grim Fairy Tales #6

Grim Fairy Tales #6, from Zenescope and writer/creators Joe Tyler and Ralph Tedesco, offers a fun and twisted tale of two sisters in love with the same prince.  Done in what we might think of artistically as the Top Cow House Style, this book reads like a comic version of a B-Movie, with seemingly high production values for an indie comic but with art that isn’t quite up to the standards of the Big 2.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and in fact I quite enjoyed the script and the fact that there’s a pleasantly huge amount of gratuitous T&A, but the art’s inconsistencies were noticeable in a book that was otherwise done in an expensive and professional style.  The line art looks terrific in places, but it looks rushed in others, and all semblance of detail is lost in most of the smaller panels.  Still, this is a clever and reasonably creative concept with mostly strong execution. I’d recommend it to fans of quirky horror flicks without reservation.

Grade: B 

 

Final Destination: Spring Break #1-2

Like Grim Fairy Tales, Final Destination: Spring Break is another B-Movie made into a comic from Zenescope, but this book has art that looks really good all the way through.  It might read like a B-Movie, but it looks like a Grade-A comic.  And there’s nothing wrong with this comic at all.  The plot and dialogue by Mike Kalvoda and the pencils by Lan Medina are strong throughout, and the finishes by Avalon Studios are easily the equal of anything being produced by the major companies today.  The only real problem here, at least for me, is that it’s the third movie in the Final Destination franchise, and at this point it feels like the franchise itself has little new left to offer.  That’s the fault of neither the writer nor the artist. If you liked the Final Destination movies and wanted to see a third one, then pick this one up.  It’s a very nice treatment of the subject matter.

Grade: C+ 

 

Sullengrey #1

I hate to say this, but Sullengrey #1 from Ape Entertainment was my least favorite comic of from the Philly Wizard World.  Creators Drew Rausch and Jocelyn Gajeway get points for producing a good looking book in color with what appears to me to be an original and inspired design sense.  They also get points for a creative use of the children’s game “Got Yer Nose!”  But that’s it.  Even after three readings, I still have no idea what this comic is about, nor do I know how the conflict resolved itself, and at this point, I no longer care. Ostensibly a horror story, Sullengrey is at best a confusing mess with art that’s so hard to follow in places that it fails to carry the story’s narrative.

I met Drew and liked him at Philly, and I hate giving him a review like this.  He clearly has a great deal of talent.  Unfortunately, this story does not correctly showcase that talent.

Grade: D+ 

 

Sins of the Fallen #1

Sins of the Fallen is another B-horror-movie-turned-comic from Zenescope.  Reporter Ted Banks is investigating a series of serial killings in the big city when he becomes embroiled in what appears to be a corporate demonic plot.  I confess that after reading their other comics, I was really curious to see what writers Ralph Tedesco and Joe Tyler could do with a wholly original concept, and I will readily admit that I enjoyed this book plenty.  Like their other books, this one features the same B-Movie sensibility that I've now learned to associate with Zenescope. There’s plenty of unnecessary but entertaining T&A to go along with the book’s strong writing and fun light-noir dialogue.  I could easily see this book becoming one of the better made-for-TV offerings on Sci Fi or Spike TV.  With that said, the art here again disappoints in places, especially in the S&M club scene, which looks slightly less depraved than your average big city strip club.  Artist H.G. Young may have a lot of talent, but I KNOW he’s never been to an S&M club; the art in that scene diverges so severely from the narration that I was surprised the writers didn’t go back and change the script after they saw the pages.  Still, I’ll buy the rest of this series if I see it in either of my local shops, and I’ll watch this show if and when it eventually shows up on my TV.  Of the bunch from Zenescope, this to me was the keeper.

Grade: B- 

 

The Corpse #0

The Corpse was another of my favorites from Philly.  Created and illustrated by artists Ken Haeser and Buzz Hasson, The Corpse is the story of a zombie whose undead purpose in life is to keep the rest of the walking dead in their graves. Issue #0 features the main character’s origin story as well as a half dozen or so pages from the forthcoming first issue and slew of extras as well as a sketch cover by the creators.  It was one of the Con’s great deals, and I sincerely hope that I’m not the only one who discovered it.

After reading so many screen-plays-turned-comics, I relished the indie feel of this book.  Done in a well-executed black-and-white tongue-in-cheek style, this book was at once gory and funny and oddly touching.  Both Ken and Buzz can draw supremely well with the result being that their characters are expressive, their jokes work, and their timing is excellent.  I found myself genuinely sympathizing with their undead protagonist, and that’s in a book that doesn’t for a second take itself seriously!  In addition to the solid one-shot #0 story, I also really dug the Corpse #1 preview pages and extras in the back of the book, so that now I literally can’t wait to see the start of this series.

Overall, this is a terrific book.  Nice job guys.  This one’s going on my Pull List.

Grade: A 

 

The Super Naturals #1

The Super Naturals is a new series from Jam Packed Productions and writer Toney Tapia, Illustrator Jamie Biggs, and Colorist Lawrence Basso.  In the far future, aliens and mutants have overrun the Earth, living much as humanity once did in the same space but ruthlessly hunting normal humans for reasons that are as yet unrevealed.  This series follows the adventures of Jason, a “norm” living in his parents’ basement in conditions vaguely reminiscent of The Diary of Anne Frank.

This is another good book. It features very strong line work, amazing colors, a tight and sensible story, and nice dialogue.  I enjoyed it immensely and will happily buy the rest of the series if I see it in stores.  Honestly it’s hard to see how an indie book from a small studio can survive with production that looks this expensive, but The Super Naturals deserves to be a survivor.  Fans of socially conscious science fiction (the only TRUE Sci Fi in my humble opinion) should definitely pick this series up.  It’s a high quality book and well worth its $2.50 cover price.

Grade: B 

 

Revolutionary Warfare / Donnie Bling-Bling, Techno Pimp

An anthology of stories from a trio of small press creators working under the banner of Alpha Godz, this one was a fun small-press romp.  The Donnie Bling Bling stories made me laugh out loud, especially “Goon Hand,” and the short story “It’s Her Wedding Day” was about as good as a three-page comic short can be.  It was leaps and bounds above the average black-and-white small press anthology story.  The other pieces in this book were a mixed bag, but most were at least done is a high-energy cartoon style that consistently entertains by keeping it fun.  And that’s these guys’ strength: cracking jokes and doing their thing with a light-hearted spirit.

I doubt you’ll see Donnie Bling Bling in your local comic shop, but if you happen to catch these guys at a Con, definitely stop by and say, “Hello.”  Their stuff is significantly stronger than a good portion of the average Con’s small press offerings.

Grade: C+ 

 

Archaic

And last but definitely not least is Archaic from writer James Abrams and Artist Brett C. Martling.  These guys gave me three and a half issues of this mini series, and I’m so glad they did because this one was another of the great undiscovered gems that I found at the Con.

Archaic is the story of a rebel prince and his family as they fight against their king, a man either possessed by or working in the company of demons.  I’ll be honest: this book doesn’t have the world’s greatest sequential art, but the design sense that’s at work here is very strong, and the coloring makes it all work nicely.  And the lettering here is simply outstanding.  The story itself is seductive: sexy, violent, and mysterious. I can’t put my finger on exactly why it worked, but the weird magical settings and obscure Slavic cursing drew me in immediately and didn’t let go, and that’s despite the fact that the dialogue is stilted in places.  Abrams overcomes that minor defect by virtue of avoiding back story and instead getting right into the meat of the plot, working hard to make us care about the characters even as he is making us wonder what the Hell is really going on. Even after three issues, there are still more questions than answers, but that storytelling misdirection neither confuses nor lessens the tension. 

I don’t know how these guys are doing in terms of sales and profits on this book, but I sincerely hope that they are able to finish this story.  I’ll be with them every step of the way if they do. 

Grade: B+ 

 

Stray Voltage

I still haven’t reviewed Sky Dog’s Buzz Boy, Dakuwaka’s Helios, and Sean Wang’s Runners, and the reason for that is that all three were very good, full story-length works, and I quite honestly think that they deserve more than to be crammed into the Review-O-Rama of Dooooooooooom.  I’ll try to cover these books next week, but in the meantime, here’s a preview of Buzz Boy: Monsters, Dreams and Milkshakes.

 

With that, I’m going to call it a week.  We’ll get back on a more normal schedule next week.  In meantime, stay safe.

***

About the columnist:

Dan Head is a utilities analyst and occasional freelance writer and editor. He is a 2006 graduate of Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business and winner of the school’s prestigious Irving S. Friedman Award for excellence in International Studies.  His ramblings occasionally amuse his wife, but they always amuse his kids.