Y’know, typing one-handed sucks a high hog.  It really does.  So, bottom line, I don’t know how long this week’s column is gonna be—owing to a mixture of time constraints and sheer frustration.  But I’ll do my best.  And if that’s not enough, well I’m sure you guys will survive.

 

The Living Corpse

Issues 0, ½, 1, and 2

Story and Art by Buz Hasson & Ken Haeser

Published by Zenescope

I met the guys from The Living Corpse the first time back at the Wizard Comic Con in Philly two years ago.  Back then, the book was simply called “The Corpse”.  It was a clever, well-drawn black-and-white indy with a sketch cover, i.e. you buy the comic, and they sketch the cover right there on the spot while you watch.  Since then, the book’s been picked up by Zenoscope, renamed, and started appearing in color.  But it’s still a clever, well-drawn kind of zombie/superhero parody. 

The backstory here is simple.  That’s why it works.  Our hero awoke to undeath after a “Night of the Living Dead” sort of experiment gone wrong way back in the 1960’s.  But then, after becoming horrified by his own undead actions, he made it his mission to keep thereafter dead dead, becoming a guardian of his own graveyard and a surprisingly deep protagonist all in one fell swoop.

I like this book because it’s a fun read with well-plotted characterization.  Most of the stories are short and simple without being simplistic.  The characters have genuine, understandable motivation, and there’s plenty of action—which is possible because these guys don’t waste time in the backstory.  Really, this is one of the great indies.  It’s got the kind of short, well-executed stories that ought to be a staple of the small and mid-sized press, and it’s well drawn.  Pick it up if you see it.  It’s a terrific break from the made-for-trade comics norm.

 

Runners: The Big Snow Job

Issue #1

Story and Art by Sean Wang

Published by ASP

Like The guys from The Living Corpse, I met Sean Wang—or rather, his girlfriend—back at Philly two years ago.  Long-time readers might remember Sean and/or my review of the first volume of Runners because it was at the time perhaps the best book I’d ever reviewed here.  And hey, that first volume is still a Top 5 book—easily.  Well, since then Sean’s been busy.  He drew the very well-received two-volume Image book Meltdown and has since started a new volume of Runners for Mark Smylie and ASP.  And the best part of that is, as Sean tells it, Runners is now gonna come out bi-monthly.

And yeah, before you ask, the new Runners IS awesome.  But hey, I was a junkie for the first one, so what do I know, right?  Heh.  Look, regular readers of this spot will know that I’m a sucker for original sci fi, especially when it’s well-drawn and clever, and this is that in spades.  Runners is great because, in addition to having great art, it also manages to capture that freewheeling, independent spirit that was lost from the first Star Wars trilogy to the second.  The plotting is strong, the characters are well-formed, and the backstory is deep without being overpowering.  I dig it the most.  I really do.

Look, you’ll like this book.  Meltdown got absolutely RAVE reviews, and if anything, the art here is even better than it was there because this is what Sean wants to draw!

Don’t miss this book.  Don’t.  It’s gonna be great!

 

Friday Mad Science

I don’t know how much of the NFL Draft you watched, but I ended up watching quite a bit of it.  I’d been feeling starved for football news anyway, and even more than that, the Draft was on at my gym when I went cycling over the weekend.  Now look, riding a stationary bike is nowhere near riding a real bike—I know that—but it’s the best I can do right now.  Y’know?  I’m afraid to run, at least until after I have my surgery on Monday, because I’m afraid of jarring my bones loose, and even worse, swimming is out because I can’t get the damn cast wet.  So that pretty much leaves riding a stationary bike, and even I can only watch the new Hillary Duff video so many times in a row before going crazy.  I mean, yeah, she’s making a decided effort to move from Mouseketeer to would-be sex kitten—and I like the effort; that’s quality beef she’s showing—but they’ve got her on heavy rotation, and after awhile it was like, “DAMMIT WOMAN! Show your tits or get the Hell off my screen!”  So then I flipped over to watch some Mel Kiper, Jr, but even though I was praying, he wasn’t gunned down by rogue terrorists, I’m sorry to say.  Guess my faith wasn’t strong enough.

*sigh*

Y’know, really, I probably shouldn’t have such a big beef with Mel, especially after he defended my Titans’ draft strategy, but I really want his job, and anyway, have you seen that hair?  You just know the big kids used to take his lunch money. 

And on that note, here are some random things, placed here to keep me from having to type more.  ‘Cause right now typing is a big pain in the ass.  First up, a video of Titans’ first round pick Chris Johnson, RB, East Carolina.

 

Here’s a picture of some dude’s scaifoid, which is important because I broke mine last week and now need a screw.

 

Heh.  As if I didn’t already need to get screwed.

And that’s all I got.  Next week, hopefully, I’ll pull my ass together and do a little more with this stupid column.

***

Dan Head is a utilities analyst and freelance writer.  You can learn more about him and his work on his ComicSpace Page or by visiting his hosted forum at AwesomeStormJustice.com.  His graphic novel Bronx Angel: Politics By Another Method is now available at WOWIO.com.

To get your comic reviewed here, email Dan at dan@paperbackreader.com.