Having survived the terrors of World War I, Frank returns home to discover his family's farm inexplicably vacant. Isolated and haunted by gruesome visions, Frank's suspicions devolve into paranoia. And as the mysteries of the farm unravel, so does Frank. Independent creators Jordan Thomas and Clark Bint intertwine unsettling suspense and ghoulish horror in the first two issues of their four-part limited series.
I had the absolute pleasure of reading issues 7 and 8 of Ronin Island back to back, and it was awesome. When issue 7 came to an end, I verbally projected my joy with a rousing whoop (or about as close as someone can) and was really thrilled that issue 8 was waiting there for me.
What an exceptionally good time. Sea of Stars reminds me what it’s like to be a kid, to want to adventure into space, and to do amazing things. It brings the joy of space adventure - full throttle - back to sci-fi, landing more on the “fi” side than the “sci,” but so, too, did John Carter of Mars.
Previously on… Hellmouth #1, Drusilla successfully opened the Hellmouth and entered it to claim whatever dark destiny awaited her. Hot on her heels are Buffy and her mysterious (rather broody, definitely handsome) acquaintance, Angel.
The nitty-gritty: This is a pretty massive graphic novel with 110 pages of story that reads entirely like a feature film starring the female crew of the Serenity who team up with Saffron for a one-night caper that is most certainly a wild ride. When exactly it’s set isn’t absolutely stated, but given certain context cues, it’s definitely set before the Serenity movie but presumably after Book had left the crew.
In Our Encounters with Evil: Adventures of Professor J.T. Meinhardt and His Assistant Mr. Knox, we return to the world created by Mike Mignola and Warwick Johnson-Cadwell. For this new anthology of capers and hijinks, the eponymous duo is joined by Ms. Mary Van Sloan, vampire huntress and demon slayer extraordinaire.
I just sat in a car for twenty minutes and explained how special Black Hammer is to someone. This series that began as a microcosm in a barn has expanded into a universe that wraps around the past, the future, alternate realities, and the deconstruction of the story and stories in general. It feels like I’ve lived through decades of Black Hammer comics, and it’s only been two years.
If you are not up to date on Gideon Falls, stop reading this review. Part of the magic of this book is that you only know as much as the main characters know at any given point in time, and I need to talk to some degree about what’s happening, which means spoilers would be ahead for those unfamiliar with the series.
Monster Matador #11 departs from the gritty, monster-of-the-week (or issue) format and focuses on the danger of humans in a post-apocalyptic society. Ramon and Adelita attempt to get home (somewhere in Mexico) with the help of their Han Solo and Chewey-esque pilot and furry copilot only to be shot down by members of the Guapo Cartel. (Is guapo ever used as a name, or is this literally the “handsome cartel?”) Ramon’s fame as a matador works both as a blessing and a curse with the cartel’s leader, since he isn’t condemned to immediate death or imprisonment. He’ll get a chance to fight something… even if El Chango feels sure that our hero will die after a final fight in the ring.
The last time we were in Sunnydale, the Hellmouth was just opened and Buffy and Angel were quite literally in it. Hell was breaking loose everywhere. Fast-forward a few days, and that’s where we are now. It’s pretty clear that despite both the Buffy and Hellmouth titles being set in Sunnydale, the focus of each series is clearly divided, with the Hellmouth series focusing on Buffy and Angel, and the Buffy series shining the spotlight on the rest of the gang.