Review: Dark Horse Presents #30

Chapter 1’s and one shots abound in this issue of Dark Horse Presents, which can only be for the better in my opinion.  If you’ve read my last two reviews, I’ve not been particularly fond of the latest issues.  Thankfully this one is back in league with what I’ve come to expect from Dark Horse Presents.

Chapter 1 of Saint George: Dragonslayer is the tale of a Roman hero, Draconarius Georgius, fighting to quell an Egyptian uprising.  There is action, secrets, camaraderie and the promise of adventure.  I’ve been loving Fred van Lente‘s Brain Boy and while it’s still early in this story, I have a feeling I’m going to really enjoy this too.

Chapter 1 of Integer City is a new private investigator story in the futuristic Interger City from Jamie S. Rich.  This story is okay.  There are a number of references to how Integer City was planned out to be mathematically perfect, and my mathematician side is intrigued to know more about the setting, but the plot isn’t anything exciting: Jonny Kilmeister is on the case to find an unknown stolen object.  That’s about all we know.  I won’t say this is a bad comic, but I’m not excited yet.

The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy is clearly inspired by such childhood TV cartoons as The Smurfs and the 1960’s George of the Jungle.  But where they are perfectly happy to kill characters.  The villain spells out the plot aloud, to himself, as one would expect of a kids cartoon.  Stan Sakai could have at least given him a familiar to talk to!  It’s cute but definitely aimed at a younger audience.

Chapter 11 of Alabaster: Boxcar Tales follows where Dancy Flammarion was during the events of the previous two chapters, something I was certainly wondering, seeing as she’s the main character.  It’s mostly plot and exposition, but it’s engaging enough to work.  Most every chapter in an issue of Dark Horse Presents is 8 pages, and some that are all background can feel very long, but Caitlin R. Kiernan makes it feel really quick.  Well done.

Chapter 5 of Nexus: Into the Past is better than the last issue, mostly because we now know what Hellpop’s daughters have to do with the plot.  I love mysteries, but I hate not knowing.  And the time traveling chase continues!  I still love this series, and am looking forward to the next chapter as always.

Chapter 1 of Monstrous is the new comic I am most looking froward to seeing more of.  This race of demon/alien/monsters are called the Lacerti and they methodically round up and kill the last remnants of the human race, but one victim, our narrator, found himself trapped in the body of his killer.  Great post apocalyptic setting, I can’t wait to see where this goes, though I have a few suspicions.

Chapter 9 of Crime Does Not Pay is much like the other chapters in this series, in that it’s not really my thing.  Corrupt cops running around with little to no plot.  But I do have a major complaint this time that anyone following this series should know: in my preview copy, the 55th page is replaced by a duplicate of the 49th page (the title page for this story).  If you are following this story in particular check for this before you purchase at your local store!

Chapter 4 of Mr. Monster: Dark Stern is much better than it has been.  I think it’s interesting that I like chapter 1 and chapter 4, but not the two in the middle.  And that I felt the two in the middle were too slow.  Maybe if they were compressed into 8 pages, I’d have liked this series more.  If you liked the series thus far, it’s definitely a well done conclusion.

Chapter 3 of The Strain: The Fall – The Silver Angel is the conclusion of a series that I’ve been kind of if-y about thus far.  We finally see the connection between the flashbacks the Silver Angel has been seeing and his apparent suicide mission.  I think given the conclusion, this isn’t a bad total story, but it doesn’t work well deconstructed like this.

Now & Then is a one shot by Chad Lambert which explores the curious nature of memory.  And I have a weird deja vu sensation, which if Lambert somehow induced that, then my hat off to him.  Regardless, it’s a deeper comic than most found in Dark Horse Presents and that change of pace is nice.

Finally, FINALLY, I’m back to being able to recommend the Dark Horse Presents issue.  It is once again worth the $7.99.  Thank you Dark Horse, I was starting to get a little concerned.

Matthew Bryant, a.k.a. Baker Street Holmes, is a writer and lead editor for the Red Shirt Crew.  He is glad to have some new series, as the old ones were getting stale.  Now, if only they could get something interesting to happen in the City of Roses… You can follow him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Dark Horse Presents #24

I always look forward to a new issue of Dark Horse Presents.  Most of the stories are excellent, and even when a story goes wrong here and there, there are enough in each issue that they are greatly outweighed by the successful ones.  This is no different: a couple flops, but all in all a pretty solid issue. To get a glimpse of which stories are in this issue, follow the jump!

Chapter 1 of Blackout introduces us to a fascinating character, a thrill seeker with a suit that allows him to create portals to… I don’t really understand where he goes.  A phase shifted version of the current setting I guess?  It’s like the flash game, Shift, except gravity doesn’t reverse.  The main character, Scott, is on the cover to the right.  Cool, right?

Chapter 5 of Alabaster: Boxcar Tales is back, after not appearing in last month’s Dark Horse Presents, not that I’d know they were part of the same story from the plot.  We left off with a raven telling the story of a half crazy albino girl in the bayou.  This story is about the strange events aboard a broken down spaceship.  No raven and no bible verse narration this time, so I doubt it’s the same narrator.  The same creative team of Caitlin Kiernan and Steve Lieber is about the only consistent element, but they do a good job, and this story is arguably more interesting, so I can’t complain.  This one will have to prove itself next time, me thinks.

Chapter 2 of Bloodhound: Plain Sight is in this issue too, and other than Clevenger still being a really dumb name for a character, I’m really starting to enjoy this series.  Why?  A good balance of superpowers, real science, and “I made up this science so I could have a cool story”.  If any of those is too light, the story comes out unintelligible or uninteresting.  Also, great pacing!  As of this point, clues are starting to reveal themselves: Clev is starting to figure out what’s causing the mysterious string of deaths, but there are still plenty of things left to wrap up in the final chapter.

Chapter 2 of Brain Boy is my favorite from this series, but I’m biased by my love for superheroes.  Following the previous chapter’s massacre, Matthew “Brain Boy” Price panics.  I loved that Fred Van Lente takes us on the whole range of reactions: first we’re worried because we’re not used to superheroes having panic attacks, then Van Lente changes to an almost playful tone, and then we see his true power!  MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  But we also learn that Brain Boy isn’t the only superpowered individual.  I can’t wait for the next issue.

Chapter 1 of Trekker: The Train to Avalon Bay is a great story set in the 23rd century about a female bounty hunter, Mercy St. Claire.  St. Claire is actually not new to Dark Horse Presents, appearing back in the ’80s in Dark Horse Presents #4.  Props to Ron Randall for creating an engaging female lead who is strong and capable, without detracting from her strengths by dressing her in skimpy clothing or giving her ridiculous proportions.

Taken from http://www.darkhorse.com

Chapter 2 of King’s Road: The Long Way Home was a bit of a let down, mostly because the first chapter was action packed and really worked at establishing the strange setting.  This chapter is less involved; there are about two pages which elaborate the situation, while the rest is spent introducing the reader to the fact that the main characters have kids.  I was bored, then intrigued as the situation was explained/expanded in the middle, then bored again.

Chapter 5 of Crime Does Not Pay: City of Roses is really confusing.  First of all, I have no idea when the last chapter was, but it hasn’t been in the past four months that I’ve been reading Dark Horse Presents.  Not only that, but this chapter is basically 8 pages of the characters running around screaming “We’re corrupt cops!” at the top of their lungs.  There doesn’t seem to be any character development or plot, just “La dee da, we like drugs!”

Chapter 2: of Nexus: Into the Past was one of the comics introduced last time for which I was most looking forward to seeing in this issue, other than Brain Boy.  Time travelling to visit Sherlock Holmes! If you have a mystery to solve, he would be the one you’d want for help.  Holmes seems a little too willing to accept the time travel explanation, which I felt was uncharacteristic, but Holmes seems to notice something about the time traveler’s hands, so maybe his reasoning will be elaborated at the end in true Doyle like style.

Hunter Quaid: Armageddon Outta Here.  I’m not sure how I feel about this comic.  On the one hand, the art is gorgeous: I love the ancient chanting at the beginning being on parchment instead of speech bubbles and the SHWOOOSH of flowing water being worked into the water itself.  I even love the horrible puns, as most writers for this site will attest.  But it felt like it shouldn’t be a one shot, that it should at least be Chapter 1 of something larger.  It’s like it wanted to be, but Donny Cates and Eliot Rahal couldn’t convince Dark Horse their story was worth more than one part, and that’s a shame.

Chapter 4 of Villain House is another of my favorites, but this week, it was very political, and that lost a lot of my interest.  Basically it’s about how America has a tendency to unnecessarily involve ourselves over vague, perceived threats.  Blah, blah, blah politics.  Not really my cup of tea and it took a cute, silly, and clever comic series and made it serious and preachy.  Hopefully the next one will return to the antics I’ve come to really appreciate from these series.

While this was not one of the stronger issues of Dark Horse Presents that I’ve read, if you’re a fan of Superheroes and high tech gear, there’s enough in here to be worth the $7.99.  6 out of 10 stories I liked a lot though, and only two of the others were actually displeasing rather than disappointing. I’ll take that percentage every time.

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is an editor for the Red Shirt Crew, though he often forgets it.  This article is dedicated to all the orphans out there: remember, you probably have the best chance of becoming superheroes.  You can find him on twitter at @BStreetHolmes or email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Dark Horse Presents #21

Dark Horse Presents is an anthology of comics, both one shots and new/young Dark Horse series.  I love comics, but hate having to start a series in the middle, so I really enjoyed this collection.  A few of the pieces are a part of existing series, ones started in previous editions of Dark Horse Presents, while others are brand new.  What follows is a brief overview of each.  Who knows, maybe you’ll find a new favorite.

Dark Horse Present #21 has 11 different stories covering everything from superheroes to folk rock philosophy.  Yeah, that’s right.  Folk.  Rock.  Philosophy.  Oh, yeah, and some guy named Neil Gaiman offers up some poetry.

Chapter 4 of Alabaster Boxcar Tales is based on Alabaster by Caitlin Kiernan. This series follows Dancy Flammarion, a young albino girl haunted by a spirit and driven to kill dangerous monsters.  It has a rather morbid, biblical tone to it, with the narrative frequently quoting scripture.  Fear not, those of you who prefer your comic stay off the soapbox; the lines of bible verse are used, quite effectively, to express the uncertainty that Dancy feels in a world in which she is very much alone.

Part 2 of The Victories: Babalon Falling is the second of what I understand will be a three part series by Michael Avon Oeming, co-creator of Powers.  This comic was a little confusing at first because it jumps back and forth between two seemingly unrelated stories and doesn’t make a connection, at least not in this comic.  I took a look back at part 1, and it reconciles the two stories.  Spoiler from part 1 (highlight the blank space): The flashbacks are from Jackal’s childhood attempting to explain the source of his insanity.This makes the whole story make a lot more sense.  The story seems to have a lot of the psychological and philosophical undertones in common to Batman and his villains, but it’s a classic dark hero trope executed well, so I think it’s great.

Chapter 2 of Journeyman by Geoffrey Thorne follows Dr. Haley Shore, a young genius who has been employed to open a box of unknown nature.  The chapter opens with her having narrowly escaped a feral, wolf-like beast called a frillogan and meeting a strange man “Journeyman, J. McDuffie Swift, Esq.”  He’s a charm about him, and a wonderful accent, and very unusual wardrobe.  But there’s something odd about him.  I think it’s definitely a series worth keeping an eye on.

“The Day the Saucers Came” by Neil Gaiman, supported with art by Paul Chadwick, is a beautiful poem which speaks with Gaiman’s usual gifted prose about the our own self-obsession and lack of realistic prioritization.  It’s a short poem and I really think it’s worth the read, so I will leave it at that.

“Cat’s in the Cradle” is by Shaun Manning and is a one page, truly insightful look at the song of the same name by Harry Chaplin and at the true significance of it’s lyrics.  I think Manning has really looked at it from a very different perspective, one that is much more uplifting than the most obvious interpretation.  The scratchy, sketchy style of Andrew Drilon‘s art goes almost eerily with the work in a way that is absolute brilliance.

Chapter 1 of Arcade Boy is just the beginning, but I’m pretty sure I’m already hooked.  Written by Denis Medri, the story follows an arcade savant, Hiroshi Noto, and a child (his son?), Alex Raje, in scenes spanning from 1985 to 2025, where it seems the main plot will take place.  I’m going to make two predictions here, not spoilers because I’m just guessing:  Alex will learn to fight crime using virtual reality gear developed by Noto and the main theme will be either big game companies versus indie games OR classic games versus modern gaming.  I’m totally getting a Feedback vibe on it, and lovin’ it.

Chapter 3 of Station to Station is a bit of a shift from the other works in this anthology which have more of a superhero or fantasy (or philosophical) theme to an action hero/scifi feel.  It’s by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman and has just about everything: giant amorphous beasts, dinosaurs (that people are RIDING!), explosions, ray guns, et cetera as a result of collapsing bounds between realities.  This is the conclusion (or is it?) of a very action filled story.  If you’re willing to go back to read the first two chapters, it’s definitely worth the read.

Chapter 1 of Tiger Lung by Simon Roy and Jason Wordie shows the beginning of what I think is shaping up to be an interesting adventure.  In 30,000 B.C.E., Tiger Lung enters a cave a right of passage with his tribe, but will he come out again?  And if he does, will he emerge in the same place or even the same time as when he left?  We’ll only know when we see Chapter 2, but I look forward to finding out.

Chapter 3 of X by Duane Swierczynski follows the titular character breaking into the safe room of a criminal kingpin.  With a crowbar.  Not a crowbar and bunch of other stuff.  Just a crowbar.  This guy is a badass.  But he might be in more trouble than he thought.  This comic is grim and gory and very much a classic iron age story of a half-psychotic antihero out for vengeance.  I have to say I loved the comic, but Swierczynski is one twisted dude.

Chapter 1 of Villain House was hilarious.  It begins at a medium security prison for “mediocre, midlevel mooks” where Shannon Wheeler begins a tale of two criminals, and long time associates, the Squid and Pachyderm.  They escape and antics ensue.  It’s the most cartoony of the comics presented in this anthology, but in a refreshing sort of way.  I’m not sure if I want the story to continue to follow the Squid and Pachyderm, or if I’d rather see what other semi-effective heroes Wheeler has up his sleeve, but I’m really looking forward to more from this series.

And lastly, chapter 18 of Finder: Third World by Carla Speed McNeil is a little too far in for me to go back and find all the background since McNeil has been writing the Finder series for seventeen issues.  The story takes place in a futuristic, transhumanist setting and follows a courier, Jaeger Ayers.  Now, if you’re thinking, “Wait a second, I’ve played Skyrim! He’s a mailman! Why do I want to read about a mailman?” then you need to calm down.  In a world were the country side is wide open and not everything that walks the planet is terrestrial being a courier is harder than you might think. In this issue, his employers have found out that he has a knack for moving about undetected. But will he give them his secrets, if it means his freedom?

All in all, I think the Dark Horse Presents series is a great collection for those interested in a wide variety of stories who want to get into a story before it becomes too deep to navigate.  For $7.99, this collection of 11 comics is a hundred kinds of worth it.  Honestly, I’d pay eight bucks for Neil Gaiman’s “The Day the Saucers Came”, “Cat’s in the Cradle”, Arcade Boy and Villain House alone.  Can you guess what my favorites were?

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is a writer and editor for the Red Shirt Crew.  He loves comics, especially Garfield, the X-Men, Batman and Serenity.  You can follow him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.