Weekend Trade: Halloween recommendations

 Here are some recommended trades for halloween. These arent about halloween per say but they are suited for halloween themed reading material. For yourself or if you expecting some friends over and want to reading material to fit the occasion , I highly recommend these graphic novels/comics.

The Walking Dead (rated: mature) , the tv show starts on Halloween , and if by some chance you like the show or the idea of a zombie world soap opera then this is definitely your graphic novel . Its entirely in black and white  , its 12-13 volumes in  so you'll have tons to catch up on. Its on going so there is no ending to this piece of hot zombie ass of comic lore.

Trade paper backs are like $12 each on Amazon.ca
The Hard Covers are $21 each , they collect 2 trades each.
The Deluxe Compendium collects the first 8 volumes for $40 on amazon .. THIS IS THE BEST BUY. $5 per volume. Plus you get bonus stuff in these collected editions.


Hack Slash. (rated: teens)A high school girl whom's mom was a crazy slasher killer decides to dedicate her life to fighting and beating down these serial slashers via Jason , Freddy Kruger , Michael Meyers... not them in particular but those kind of killers. Did i mention she's a bi-sexual scantily dressed teen with a sweet body? Its all so taboo. Of course they're making a movie of this so get on board now!

Hack Slash Ominibus volumes 1 , 2 (3 is due in nov)
TPB volumes 1-8
My First Maniac and Murder Messiah comics


Dead of Night: Man-Thing. (rated:teen) I picked this up for $4 out of the bargain bin , its a re-telling of Man-Things' origin. Its such a throw back to vintage sci-fi and horror from the 50s , its amazing. I would recommend any kind of classic collection from vintage titles such as Man-Thing , Vampirella , Tales of the Crypt , Dracula , Sherlock Holmes , Solomon Kane , ...etc. This old stuff still holds its own and its great nostalgia. I would guess this is definitely for older readers caz Im not sure how young readers would react to this. Its just cheezy geeky shits and giggles..

Dead of Night TPB - I bought mine for $4 at Golden Age's bargain bin.
Essential Man-Thing , superb value its $14 for 600 pages , you get the original origin story and first few runs of Man-Thing.


Vertigo Resurrected#1: Shoot : (rated : mature). Since this just came out its probably easiest to find on store shelves. Its a mixed collection of stories varying from horror , sci-fi , political ,..etc In the end its a hell of a read and its perfect for a Halloween read for anybody whom has likes cool shit. 

$8 at comic shops. I dont know if book stores will carry this though its the same size as a small trade paperback.

Something for the family and kids

The Stuff of Legend. (rated: family) I cant say enough about this series , except I wish I "Weird Science" it so I can copulate it. They must've took brain steroids to have their imagination level this high. Here's a quick run down : In 1944 a boy gets kidnapped by the BoogeyMan into his realm "the Dark" , the boys' toys rally together and decide they must rescue him from the dark. The characters are outstanding , the landscape is mind blowing , the art is crazy good ,the story is crackhead addicting. This is a new series , I think there's a plan 3 set volume , they're currently in the middle of volume 2. so there's still lots to go. This is a hidden gem. 

collected trade is $13 , 11 on amazon. Beautiful book.

New Comic Book Day: 10/20/10

Solid day today except I still havent recieved my Hack Slash #4!!! its been over a month over due!

Vertigo Resurrected #1 , Turf #3 , Morning Glories #3 , Cthlulhu Chronicles: The Calling #4 , Sixth Gun #5 ,

new titles: Kick Ass 2: Balls to the Walls #1

1. Cthlulhu Chronicles #4/4(boom) by

    The conclusion to this mini series. It ended good , but this issue also suffered from poor edit cuts , you can tell this comic was cut short or just editted down heavily from its original length. I paid $16 for this series , would I recommend this as a trade for the same price? I dont think so. Unless you're a Cthulhu collector , I would say its a borrow at best , no need to own this.

     I found the characters forgettable because they lacked depth and affinity with each other , common traits for a 4 issue mini series. The story starts out solid and there's some good thing that happen but they happen to far from between.The art is very good , some of the panels are laid out very well to bring some terror to the pages but again that happens too infrequently. In the end I found this series to fall short of my recommendation.

2. Morning Glories #3(image) by Nick Spencer , art: Joe Eisma

     Excellent issue.This arc further entangles the reader deeper into its web of "Oh No you did'ent". The panels just come to life at times , the story moves  fluently with Esima's sharp pencil work. The expressions of frustration , anger , fear are exuberant . They continue to baffle you with a situatin and hook your mind with the unravelling.  For three straight issues they leave you with a ass slappin cliff hanger.

    Simply put , Im not going anywhere , Im in for the ride and want to see this through...

3. Sixth Gun #5(oni press) by

    Superb and I was ecstatic to discover this is a 7+ issue series , I thought it was a 5 issue mini but I know there's #7 for subscription... YAY. This issue is straight out of Lord of the Rings:The Two  Towers , and leaves you with that as a cliffhanger.. sorry that was a bit of a spoiler but who cares its worth it. This is one of the great series flying under the radar if you like westerns and the undead this was manufactured for you to swallow whole and shit out jelly beans. I can already say I recommend to check this out as a trade!...

4. Kick Ass 2 #1(icon) By Marl Millar , art: John Romita Jr.

      Kick Ass 2 starts out very well as Mark Millar would. Highly recommend you read Kick Ass volume 1 before starting , this isnt a great jumping on point. I wouldnt just rely on the movie either , the comic differs slightly in various areas.

     There's nothing out of character in this new run , so KA fans will love this too. Its.... wait for it.... KICK ASS. Kick Ass is being trained by Hit Girl as the war between good and evil rises , Kick Ass seeks out to fullfill his dream to form a team like the Avengers or Justice League. This sets up a fun volume...

5. Vertigo Resurrected #1:(one shot)

PICK OF THE WEEK. In a very tough week this book doesnt exactly live up to its reputation nor hype but its still a fantastic read from front to back.

I say it doesnt live up to the bad ass hype because this was "banned" for the title story of Shoot.. its really not that big of a deal. None of the stories are anything that hasnt been already printed in comics so whats the big hub bub?!?! This was a collaboration of shorts that fit perfectly to the Twilight Zone , Tales of the Crypt , Hitchcock Presents , Strange Tales , ... this would have made my anus explode of lollipops and gumballs if this was a full length graphic novel and the stories were full 20+ pages long , a bunch of 1 shots. It still works fine , this felt like the neverending comic book , everytime I finished a story there was another ! and I could believe my eyes when I felt there were no more pages to be had there was still one more story waiting to be read.. amazing. Nothing individually is shoot your load all over the tv awesome but collectively its pretty sweet.

9 short stories from various writers and artist:

Shoot by Ellis , art:P Jimenez , A Lanning

The Kapas by B. Bolland

Native Tongue by B. Azzarello , art: E. Ribic

New Toys by G. Morrison , art: F. Quietly

Nosh and Barry and Eddie and Joe by Garth Ennis , art: Jim Lee

Diagnosis by T. Seagle , art: T. Sale

The Death of a Romantic by P. Milligan , art: E. Risso

It takes a Village by B. Willingham

Resolve by

6. Turf #3(image) by  , art: Tommy Lee Edwards

       There was a bloody long wait between #2 and #3 , I have no idea why the 3 month hiccup but it finally came out. The back cover and front cover dont even match ! just to show this was a little rushed. But it picks up where we left off and the pace goes up a few notches as we move along.

The Underground online for free

http://www.undergroundthecomic.com/2010/10/whole-book-for-free-or-learning-something-from-4chan/

Image comic's The Underground by Jeff Parker , art: Steve Leiber is available digitally online for free. I've been wanting to check this out ever since Blair Butler recommended this on Fresh Ink last spring.

Plot: I wish I could say its The Descent meets Die Hard caz that would make my underpants explode but its not A local wealthy businessman wants to boost the local economy for their small town in Appalache Kentucky by turning a natural attraction , a cave with an intricate tunnel system into a tourist attraction. He secretly hires some shady characters to prep the cave by illegally blowing up parts of it. Local park rangers in charge of this area investigate  cross paths with these shady men and begins a chase thriller through the caves.

Me: I enjoyed it. There were no null moments in this nor does it get borish , Parker has a nice touch with the pacing in this story. The villians arent as "evil" as you would want them to be in any action thriller , you need the antagonist whether its human , beast or supernatural to stir up the hate juice a little.

   The art is a tad inconsistant to my liking , Leiber does his best work in the caves with the monotone shadowing and tight action sequences. I found the above ground panels to look a like vintage art from the 50s. Parker pieces together a solid , formulaic thriller that doesnt disappoint in the end. If you want a change up from your regular pull , this is well worth checking out. Especially now that its free online!

Verdict Buy/Borrow/Bury: Its a. Borrow. If you want to purchase , it goes for 11-13 bucks on  Amazon or Heavy Ink if you look hard enough. It is a cool book to lend out for the same reasons you would want to read it yourself.

Weekend Trade: RED , Zomnibus

Two trades I read was Warren Ellis' RED and IDW's collective ZOMNIBUS which includes three zombie stories.

1. RED(wildstorm) by Warren Ellis , art by Cully Hamner                                                                            

    PLOT: retired CIA agent/assassin Paul Moses just wants to live his golden years in peace but unfortunately he knows too much. The new head of the CIA wants to take zero chance of any of their secrets getting out so he orders Moses to be eliminated. Unaware they only re-activated and awoken the most dangerous CIA agent ever in service who doesnt appreciate the government betrayal.

  Me: This was straight to the point , balls to the walls violence and fun. It wont challenge you in any capacity , this is a leave your brain at the door , kick your feet up and enjoy kind of read. Its unfortunately really short and goes by incredibly fast. I get the feeling this was a story Warren Ellis wrote in 10 minutes while taking a dump and the majority audience being dummies that we are , ate it up! and now its a blockbuster movie.


Verdict: BORROW. The price point effects my verdict. Its a $15-18 book and I cant recommend this , they fill up the majority of the pages with "extras" but when it comes to comics and books , we dont want DVD like extras we just want story content , which this lacks. Its still a goofy fun read , and well worth borrowing if you can get your hands on it but I wouldnt make it a top priority either.

****BONUS****
RED prequel comics

Its a 4 issue prequel comic series for the movies , one for each major character.

Bruce Willis: Very good , it carries along routinely but finished very strong leaving you intrigrued and educated about the movie character

Morgan Freeman: Not the impact ending Willis' story had but still engaging.

Helen Mirren: Easily the most empathetic of the four. Victoria is probably the most humane of the four but you can see where the heart turns to stone.

John Malkovich: Mad , crazy ,

Verdict: Again , its a borrow. They are $4 a piece which means this will be a $20 trade probably , I cant recommend this either , the price point cant be ignored. Despite being enjoyable reads , the standards for value has to remain high otherwise we will continue to get "passable" material for $4+ mini series.

                                                                                                                                                                   

2. ZOMNIBUS

  Zomnibus is a collective trade of three IDW zombie tales

1. Zombies ! Feast by Shane Mcarthy and Chris Bolton , art:

 plot: A prison bus carrying the country's most 8 of the country's most dangerous criminals has engine problems. With two guards and a federal marshall guarding the convicts , they run into some more "problems" and the chaos ensues....

me: I had a blast with this. Its zombie formulaic but it doesnt mean it still doesnt work. From the first page you will guess and wonder whom are the main prototagonists that you will latch on to and it becomes a game of survivor , who will be the last ones standing. A fantastic appetizer in this full course zombie meal...

2. Eclipse of the Dead by El Torres , art : Yair Herrera

plot: a mysterious plague hits the city of Los Angelas and the world and survivors are rounded up at LA Coliseum. It is here a makeshift social structure is developed amongst the survivors but when the parameter is breached by the zombie hordes , everything changes for out odd ball cast of survivors.

me: I would say this is the weakest of the three stories it still was worth the read. I liked the variety in the characters and the bottom line is it was balls to the walls fun. There were heros and villians within this mayhem of dead flesh , and of course lots of zombie slaying. I found this to be another solid appetizer for the main course ahead...

3. Zombies vs Robots by Chris Ryall , art: Ashley Wood

plot: three scientist fucking around with a portal time machine they built leads to a world survived by zombies and robots. 1 human baby still exist and the robots following their core programming must aide her survival. Eventually this stories takes us to a third party ... Amazons! there's actually a teaser to a fourth to leave you craving more but we never actually see it through...

me: First and foremost , I love the sketch book , mono tone coloured look of comics. Im not saying I wish all comics would look like this but sometimes it compliments a story perfectly. It works here , Ashley Wood's pencilling is hypnotic and alluring. I had a great time with the story , a decent rollercoaster ride. Just when I thought i had it figured out , shit hits the fan , just when I think this is FUBAR it settles into a routine zombie tale.. but it all comes together in the end.


FINAL VERDICT: BUY. Individually I might say borrow for 1 or 2 of the titles but for the price? $16-17 on Amazon for this lovely collection is superb value. There's some pin up art in the back from Wood , .. that is cherry on top of the already awesome cake you bought.

New Comic Book Day : 10/13/10

Slow day: Hack Slash Muder Messiah but I still havent got my goddamn My First Maniac #4!!!! , Warlord of Mars #1 , Superior #1

1. Superior #1 (icon) by Mark Millar art: Leinil Yu

   Kick Ass's Mark Millar kicks off a new series on the eve of the release of Kick Ass 2 , a new Icon series titled 'Superior'.

  plot/premise: A lonely kid with multiple sclerosis gets visited  by a mysterious talking space monkey during the night and gets granted one magical wish...

  me: It was typical Millar , straight to the point delievered with purpose. I was hooked the moment I realized the opening sequence was from a movie that the kid was watching and this was going in a different direction I anticipated.

  verdict: Pick of the week in a weak week , but this would've stood out in a good week too. Its Mark Millar , there's a handful of writers that bat 1.000 and Millar is one of them.

2. Hack Slash Murder Messiah (image) by Tim Seeley

   We are getting ever so close to the new on going series , this annual and one more next month and then we get to Cassie Hack full time!

  This is apparently the unreleased issues #33 and #34 of the IDP series.I havent caught up completely so I feel my review is incomplete. That said this was a fantastic balls to the walls issue tracking back and forth between two story arcs 15 years apart that are connected hand in hand. Once you figure out where Seeley is going you are hooked and glued to this. Perfect halloween comic.

Verdict: Hack Slash has to shit the bed pretty bad for me not to enjoy , this was fantastic.. a $6 price tag for a double sized issue was a little steep but it was a enjoyable book.

3. Warlord of Mars #1 (dynamite) by Arvid Nelson art: S. Sadowski , A.Lucas , cover: Alex Ross

   Another reboot project from Dynamite. They like taking old classic series and pumping life back into it , this was a buck debut issue so I thought I give'er a go.

   the plot:
story 1:  end of the civil war , confederate captain John Carter is now without an army and job with the South defeated. Looking for work , Carter sets out for gold in the southwest where he runs into some Union soldiers and Carter's story ensues...

story 2: On mars , a native green martian warrior Tars Tarkas  rescues his kind from the clutches of the White Apes ...

  me: Sadly the comic was as brief as my plot summary. Two short stories to introduce the characters , story and lore of WoM. Not enough comic to do this , both stories fell increidbly short , the cover of the comic is completely misleading caz John Carter is nowhere near to getting to Mars.I appreciate the buck price tag but I would've been happier with a $4 price tag and a double sized 48 page debut issue. (on a side note I wonder if Dynamite and IDW will follow Marvel and DC with the 2.99 flat rate)

  All that said , Im not giving up nor dropping this , Im just saying there wasnt enough and thats a good thing. Sadowski's art is very solid , the action sequences were smooth , character designs were good considering he's rebooting established identities. Same with the writing , all in all its a solid debut.

  verdict: lots of promise , Im definitely curious to see how #2 goes but Im not exactly waiting on the edge of my seat for this.

Prices for 2011

DC and Marvel have announced they are lowering all prices to their titles to 2.99 ... thank goodness. I was just saying that all summer wishing Marvel and DC would just make all their titles 2.99 caz I think $1per 10 pages is a fair price.

I imagine IDW and other publishers will follow suite caz you dont want to be the most expensive comic on the rack.

This is great , brings back the old days of a flat rate across for all books now.. I would like to see ALL comics sold 2.99.. enough of 3.50 and 4.00 comics.

New Comic Book Day : 10/6/10

An awesome day except I still didnt get my Hack Slash #4!!!!

today's pull: Secret Six #26 , I Zombie #6 , Whispers in the Wall #3 , Baltimore Plague Ships #3 , Neonomicon #2 , SHIELD #4

1. Baltimore Plague Ships #3/5(darkhorse) by

  This series has been up and down for me , Ill finish the series caz I have to now but Im not sure if I would recommend this as a trade at this point.

2. Neonomicon #2/4(avatar) by Alan Moore , art: Jacen Burrows

   This is a NC-17 rated comic. There's sex , gay sex , rape and more sex and nudity.

 This issue kicks up a notch in the intensity and overall plot and as mentioned graphic tone. I felt the supernatural aspect was taking away from the story , I dont think they needed the Cthlulu in this.. it was a crazy issue.

3. I Zombie #6(vertigo) by

 The origin story of Were-Terrier , a nice quick little story thats still laying the foundation to this new series. It indeed looks like this will be a Scooby Doo-esq style of comic , but we're still aways from getting there.

4. Whispers in the Walls #3/6(humanoids) by David Munoz , art: Tirsol

  They shrinked the print to save money I guess , whatever helps complete the distribution of this book.

This picks up where it left off , we discover much more whom is behind this all and whats actually going on. We also see whom the mysterious figure whom killed Sarah's family was and further more.

This is a great take on the whole monsters and vampire lore story. 

I strongly recommend the trade when it comes out.

5. Secret Six #26(dc) by Gail Simone ,

Another balls to the wall , head chopping issue.

6. S.H.I.E.L.D. #4(marvel) by

summary:
My pick of the week: I Zombie #6

My letdown of the week: Baltimore Plague Ships

Weekend Trade: 10/1/10

My LCS had a small sale today , not the greatest deals but it didnt stop me from shopping. Im very ecstatic caz I found a very rare Wonder Woman graphic novel

The Runaways: True Believers(marvel) by Bryan K Vaughan , art: Alphoma                                    

 I've been putting this off for some time and its not the easiest book to find. So I figure lets finish the BK Vaughan run of Runaways.. vol.2 at the least. I love this series. I know it went astray after BKV left but i havent gotten there yet to judge so..

Sweet Tooth v.1 (vertigo) by Jeff Lemire                                                                                                 

 I keep hearing so much about Sweet Tooth. I thought Id check it out. Vertigo just keeps pumping out solid title and title , DC just went through massive cuts including shutting down Wildstorm entirely but Vertigo keeps rockin on.

Unwritten vol.1(vertigo) by Mike Carey , art: Peter Gross                                                                        

 Another title that gets talked about a lot and I wanted to check'er out. Im unfamiliar with both Carey and Gross' work which makes this even more intriguing

Red (wildstorm) by Warren Ellis , art: Cully Hamner                                                                                    

 I bought the prequel comics for the upcoming movie so I thought I read the original and see what the hub bub is about. Looking forward to this , you cant go wrong with a Warren Ellis title.


Wonder Woman the Hiketeia(2nd printing) by Greg Rucka                                                                 

 One of my favourite covers..ever. Which Im really choked now caz I just missed Greg Rucka at our last ComicCon 3 weeks ago. FUUUUUUUU   . This is a very hard and rare book to find. Its out of print for like 7 years so its quite the find when you do find it brand new.

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summary: I have so much eye fucking to do. My eyes are going to fuck and get fucked hard.