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 #29

So my last review of Dark Horse Presents was less than flattering.  In fact, it was the first issue of Dark Horse Presents that I’ve ever not recommended.  So you can understand my hesitation when this month’s issue came out.  It’s not as bad, but it still only get’s a conditional recommendation.

Chapter 2 of The Strain: The Fall – The Silver Angel is better than last time at least.  Some action, a little bit of story, but the Silver Angel doesn’t seem to have any motivation for what he’s doing, unless it’s a death wish, I guess.  Looking to next month’s conclusion of the miniseries to see if there’s any point behind his actions.

Snip Snip is a bit of a whimsical variant of the Underground series seen in issues 25-27 of Dark Horse Presents.  Themed gang wars.  It’s above ground, and very cartoon-y (the hero looks a little like Steamboat Willie).  I can’t really call it “bad” but it was in the unfortunate position of following close behind a similar story.

Alone with Mag the Hag is another Edgar Allen Poe Work brought to the page by Richard Corben.  In the last issue of Dark Horse Presents I said that this only worked as a one shot.  I realize in retrospect that that is a little ambiguous.  What I meant was that particular story did not need more pages.  I would love a collection of short stories by Edgar Allen Poe from Corben, and with any luck, this piece is an indication that he may be working towards just that.

Chapter 10 of Alabaster: Boxcar Tales is much more interesting than last time.  The big hole in the last chapter was that nothing productive really happened.  This time at least, we get some emotional plot development, even if the characters don’t get anywhere.  I do worry a little that the pace picks up too much and that they wouldn’t lay well next to each other, even though they are clearly intended to.

Chapter 5 of Nexus: Into the Past is different.  Until now it’s been a chase through time and that’s about it.  Entertaining, but straight forward.  Now, we have some intrigue, some surprise, something going on more than just Hellpop’s hunt for Clayborn.  We see a scene for Hellpop’s daughters, no clue how they’re involved in the story yet though, as well as his wife.

Chapter 6 of Trekker: The Train to Avalon Bay is the final chapter of this story and rightfully ends with a great fight scene and some witty banter.  I’ve liked this series, but I think I’m done with Trekker for a while.  Nothing against it, but it took six months to get this story told, so it feels like I’ve been reading it forever.

Chapter 4 of the Nosferatu Wars is… very strange.  Imagine watching Inception and then finding out at the end that the whole time they were in the mind of a werewolf.  It’s that level of twist ending.  It’s just a bad aftertaste for an otherwise excellent series.  The art is still beautiful, I’m just not so sure about the decisions on how to conclude it.

Chapter 3 of Mr. Monster: Dark Stearn is more of the same from last time.  It just seems like a bridge (an unnecessary one) to the finale.  I think this chapter and the last one could have been compressed into one, and we could have gotten to the conclusion a little quicker.  Still, they say the fourth chapter will be the last, so there’s a blessing.  Doc Stearn has been a really boring protagonist since he split from Dark Strean.

Chapter 10 of Blood is confusing to me.  I mentioned in my last review that I hadn’t gotten to read the first 8 chapters and that this left me a little out of the loop on the setting and situation that I found myself in last time and it just gets worse this time.  I’ve never seen someone use hemokenesis to pull blood out of their own body to attack someone (see cover of the issue).  It’s very different from anything I’ve ever read and I was just left lost from the weird place they picked the series back up.

Brainbot Jr. is just a single page this time, even shorter than the one that appeared back in Dark Horse Presents #26.  It’s still cute, and like I said then, it’s well suited to short pieces like this.

I would only recommend this issue to those who are following a series.  Trekker is a good conclusion, Nexus is interesting, at least things happen in Alabaster.  Hell, if you know what’s going on in Blood, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad of a read.  The question come down to if keeping up with your series of choice is worth $7.99 to you.  But I’d be willing to bet that if you aren’t following anything in here currently, it’s not worth that to you.

Matthew Bryant, a.k.a. Baker Street Holmes, is a writer and the lead editor for the Red Shirt Crew.  He is glad to hear there will be a number of new comers next time, and has higher hopes for Dark Horse Presents #30.  If you wish to follow him on Twitter, you can find him at @BStreetHolmes, or email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Dark Horse Presents #28

It is with great sadness that I must announce for the first time that I do not recommend an issue of Dark Horse Presents.  If you have read any of my reviews of the Dark Horse Series, you know that I tend to gush about how there’s always far more good than bad in these issues.  Not this time.

Chapter 1 of The Strain: The Fall – The Silver Angel is a little strange for me since I’m only familiar with The Strain setting through Brendan’s reviews.  It’s chapter 1, but I haven’t been given anything to be excited about for the second chapter.  The Silver Angel, seems like a potentially interesting character, but we just don’t get much to go on in this comic.

Chapter 9 of Blood is likewise an odd comic, because it picks up where chapter 8 left off.  A year an a half ago.  And it’s not like a new story, it starts in the middle of the action.  I have NO idea what’s going on.  It doesn’t help that I missed the “to be continued” at the end of the The Strain and Blood didn’t have title page, so I figured the stylistic change was intentional (since it wasn’t major).  This just made me more confused and I had to read the whole thing twice.

The Assignation is an adaptation of Edgar Alan Poe’s story of the same name.  I liked this one, but I think it only works as a single issue.  It’s a great story, and this is a wonderful adaptation, though I am usually a fan of comic book adaptations of literary works.  Credit to Richard Corben, especially because his artwork here is just gorgeous.


Chapter 9 of Alabaster: Boxcar Tales just doesn’t really go anywhere.  The raven/narrator meets up with the ghost seen back in Chapter 4 and they have a little philosophical discussion of the nature of coincidence and fate.  This is never one of my favorite series, but considering the slim pickings this month, I’m pleased to see a little tease at the end that makes this seem like one of the brighter prospects for next month.

Chapters 1 and 2 of Mrs. Plopsworths Kitchen are just plain annoying.  I think these are just evidence of how desperate the editors for the Dark Horse Presents series were for comics this month, because they not only put two chapters of it in (each only half the length of a normal chapter) but split them up, and neither is all that amusing.  Patrick Alexander has always given things that were amusing and cute, but only run for one issue and I’ve typically liked both of those things about his work.  This time was not as enjoyable.

Chapter 5 of Trekker: The Train to Avalon Bay is more action packed than the others we’ve seen thus far, and for that I was immensely thankful.  Also, I may be using a Leechbear or two in my next roleplaying adventure…  Anyways, this chapter is one of the few in this issue that made reading it not quite such a waste of time.  Another bonus, every chapter since the second has helped to allay my concerns that she was a Mary Sue.

Chapter 3 of Nosferatu Wars is the other continuing series that I enjoyed.  This has been a beautiful, poetic series and it’s sad knowing that the next chapter will be the last.  We get a taste of the main character’s backgrounds this time, but also a glimpse at their cunning and brutality.  The best chapter yet!

Chapter 2 of Mr. Monster: Dark Stearn was a surprise, though it shouldn’t have been.  The first chapter I believe addressed the idea of superheroes causing collateral damage and the traditional “be careful what you wish for” lesson wonderfully.  I didn’t realize at the time that this was going to be a continuing series (though “Chapter 1” should have been a clue) and honestly, this chapter does add much, unless it is a bridge to an amazing conclusion, but at this point I don’t have high hopes.

Chapter 3 of Juice Squeezers: Squish is much like the first chapter, in that nothing happens.  Looking back at the three chapter series, I think as a whole comic, it would work just fine, but cutting it into pieces like this does the first and last chapters a major disservice.  All the interesting stuff has happened by now.

Sabertooth Swordsman was also odd. It looks like it could have huge potential, but this issue is basically a discussion between a large viper and the titular Sabertooth over the “every end is a beginning”, “when one door closes, another door opens” cliche philosophy and discussing the “why bother, we’re all going to die eventually” mentality, too.  I make that sounds like I didn’t enjoy this comic, but I think that was just the grumpy mood I was in at this point, and the fact that a Sabertooth Swordsman and a giant serpent could have made a badass fight and there is a lot of talking going on instead.  Still, there is supposedly a graphic novel coming out about the Sabertooth Swordsman, so the concept at least has offered some hope for that, even if this particular story was a bit of a flop.

All in all, if you couldn’t tell, I would not recommend this issue of Dark Horse Presents. A little Poe, some Trekker and the next piece of Nosferatu Wars are worth reading, but not for $7.99.  It’s disappointing that they get so screwed by their bedfellows.

Matthew Bryant, a.k.a. Baker Street Holmes, isn’t sure he’s looking forward to the next issue of Dark Horse Presents for the first time since the Red Shirt Crew began reviewing comics.  This was just sad.  The table of contents even has formatting issues!  *Grumble, Grumble*  You can follow him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: Dark Horse Presents #27

This month’s Dark Horse Presents was a nice change in a couple ways.  Juice Squeezers was much more interesting than expected, Alabaster: Boxcar Tales continues to look up, and surprise of surprises I even enjoyed City of Roses.  Not that it’s all flowers and unicorns, as there are still some I wasn’t a huge fan of, but things are definitely looking up overall.

Chapter 2 of Juice Squeezers: Squish  is soooo much better than the chapter from the last issue.  Not only do we get some action which almost makes you forget that the last issue was almost entirely kids standing around chatting in a school, but we get a nice twist at the end that actually makes me want to know where this goes from here.  After the first chapter I couldn’t have cared less about the story, now I kind of want to know what happens.  I can only hope that this level of engagement continues in chapter 3.

Chapter 2 of Nosferatu Wars is just as great and gorgeous as the first chapter was.  We see more of how the vampires of this story fit into the black plague era setting and the main characters, Moria and Tarquin, continue to show a surprising level of humanity, contrary to many vampires set in this time period.  Still can’t get over how amazing this art is.  I love it.

Founding Father’s Funnies was one of the weaker comics in this issue.  It’s subtitled “Alexander Hamilton in Mr. Unpopularity” and is basically all about how Hamilton liked the British and this was unpopular amongst post revolution American politicians.  It’s political, it’s not funny, it feels like an attempt at making reading a biography interesting to kids, but it’s just not engaging.  Perhaps there’s just a bunch of historical humor that as a math oriented individual I don’t get.  But I was not a fan of this comic.

Mr. Monster: Dark Stearn was a commentary on the often ignored ramifications of a superhero’s actions.  The destruction and the risk to bystanders is called into question.  This is of course, not a new concept for a comic to approach, but I love that it takes the commentary into an emotional and ethical crisis for the hero and in trying to solve this cognitive dissonance, he creates his own worst enemy.  A classic story, done well.  My hat off to Janet and Michael T. Gilbert.

Chapter 4 of Trekker: The Train to Avalon Bay reminds me of that set of scenes 40 minutes into a tv show where things are going wrong, but you can feel the resolution coming.  Ron Randall continues to keep her away from the Mary Sue that she was in the second chapter and I’m growing quite grateful that that seems to be looking more and more like a fluke.

Chapter 8 of Crime Does Not Pay: City of Roses is the first time since this comic rejoined the Dark Horse Presents that I’ve actually liked it, seen much of a plot at all, and felt like I knew what was going on.  I attribute this on the addition of narration.  I appreciate it Phil Stanford.  Thanks.

Chapter 8 of Alabaster: Boxcar Tales is also improved this time, expanding (considerably) on the little red riding hood theme briefly presented in the last issue.  Unfortunately, it’s kind of late since it seems this story arch is now concluded, but still, at least it helps the whole thing fit together better.

Chapter 3 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Love vs. Life is okay.  I only say “okay” because it starts off very strong and then there is a Deus ex Machine moment that just makes the conclusion simple and anticlimactic.  I won’t spoil it, but it’s not a particularly well written conclusion, almost like Jane Espenson went “Ops!  Gotta finish now!” and crammed an ending in there.

Chapter 3 of Underground is really interesting.  I very much enjoyed the conclusion, bringing us back to the unusual chapel where this story has been a parable.  I loved the setting, and this conclusion is fabulous.  Anyone else out there who is a fan they close by announcing an Underground graphic novel!  Very exciting to see what Andrew Vachss has prepared for that!

Lastly, we have Hunter Quiad: The Only Thing We Have to Fear… which is an epic adventure reminding me deeply of some of the insane stories that come out of table top roleplaying games.  Hunter Quaid engages a one man frontal assault on a Nazi stronghold, armed with only his fists and a yeti pelt coat from a yeti he killed with his bare fists, to save President F. Roosevelt.  If I have not wet your appetite for this comic with that description, I don’t even know why you’re reading comic reviews.

Generally speaking, I like Dark Horse Presents because its wide variety makes it rare that the issue is a complete dud.  This one had fewer problems than usual and I am so relieved that some of the weaker comic seem to be shaping up, that I’m going to give it a massive recommendation.  Go buy it, it is worth significantly more than the $7.99 they are asking for.

Matthew Bryant, a.k.a. Baker Street Holmes, is a writer and editor for the Red Shirt Crew.  He does in fact wear a hat while writing these articles and whenever he does podcasts for the site.  If you want to follow him on Twitter you can find him at @BStreetHolmes or e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: The Strain: The Fall #2

For those of you that read my first review, just know that this one won’t be much better. Needless to say they filled in some plot-holes that came up from the first comic, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. There are certain things I understand cannot be changed at this point plot wise, and credit where it’s due, the authors (Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan as read on cover) do their best to handle that. The main issue I have at this point is continuity, and style of writing. Otherwise it seems that the second verse is the same as the first in many ways.

As with the first comic, the story looks at many “vampire cliches” without using (what I think are) actual vampires. All this was explained in my previous review, but the plot cliches seen here are a bit different, or at least modified from the ones seen earlier. For example, there’s the age old “elder vampires” punishing those who “lost control” coupled on with the “recruitment of a slayer” to kill for the elders. Put that with the savage tribe in the sewers and the rouge who wants to overcome his affliction and you have your choice of supernatural stories to read before bed. It’s not a bad thing; cliches are used because they work, but not all at the same time.

Another thing I don’t get is why there are still new characters being introduced. I know they got to keep it fresh, but its like they said “lets ignore the 90% of character that didn’t work and throw in some new ones”. The lack of focus on any one character really hurt the first comic for me, but since they didn’t even bother to bring most of them back, I don’t see why I should have cared for any of them, or why I need to care about any of the new ones. Will the bring the original cast back later? or was it just a sentimental anecdote to set the mood for the real story? I have no way of telling. The way that the characters are being over-looked its making it hard to get enthralled in the plot.

The issues I have with this comic are the same as it’s predecessor, and I am unimpressed with the sequel. Similarly, I will give it “would not recommend” because as a series, I don’t see an interest. If you wanted to get into it, you could easily start on this one and ignore the first one, but overall, don’t waste your time, or your $3.99, not until something redeeming comes out.

Bigmacd101 (I’m talking anywhere and everywhere) finally feels like a real red shirt when, for the first time, a comic was reserved for him! Now beware of personal projects (pending approval) coming up, he hopes, soon. Until then, this review has his stamp and he hopes to get some new followers (@bigmacd101… or real life if you know what I look like).

Review: Dark Horse Presents # 26

Dark Horse Presents!  I always look forward to this comic review each month.  We’ve got continuing stories, one shots, new series starting.  A little something for everyone.  Good stuff, good stuff.

Chapter 3 of Trekker: The Train to Avalon Bay portrays a more even handed version of Mercy than the last chapter did.  We see a more compassionate side, at least briefly and he abilities are shown less as a Mary Sue and more as a gung-ho, cocky type, which makes her a more believable character.  Much better, Ron Randell.

Chapter 1 of Nosferatu Wars is a medieval Vampire story thus far focused on two such creatures, Moria and Tarquin.  I am not a big reader of vampire literature or comics, but Steve Niles (who also writes The Tale of the Golem) makes them much more human in personality; they are understanding and sympathetic.  The art by menton8 is gorgeous, that alone makes me wish I had a full comic of just this story.  Beautiful.

Chapter 2 of Underground expands, and it has just made me more and more curious about the setting.  In the last issue, we learned that this subterranian culture has divided into gangs loosely based on past status.  Gameboys are the main characters, but there are also Muscleboys, Loveboys and so on.  But they all seem to be playing some competitive bloodsport, where teams earn points through killing.  I would love a peak at the bigger picture on this one.

Chapter 1 of Juice Squeezers: Squish doesn’t really give a lot to tell.  We meet a bunch of high school kids, they are in a “basket weaving” club, which is apparently a cover for a secret organization that does… well we’re not 100% sure yet.  It’s an intro chapter.  Its quality status is pending further investigation.

Chapter 4 of Nexus: Into the Past is a weird chapter.  Our time traveling main character Hellpop finds himself and his quarry, John Clayborn, on the set of a talk show. Battle! I love a good fight scene and this one was certainly entertaining.  It’s the most superhero-y thing that really comes into Dark Horse Presents (so I’m a bit of a sucker for this already), but this was a fantastic chapter.  It feels like a conclusion, but it says to be continued.  I hope it’s back next month and I don’t have to wait until December or something for the next installment.

Steggy Wilmot and Spimps is a one shot comic by Patrick Alexander.  Back in Dark Horse Presents #22, he gave us the four page adventures of Villainman — it was cute, but silly.  This comic was much the same way.  Not bad, but I’m not too interested in seeing more things about Mr. Wilmot anytime soon.  That said, I think these one shot comics are good format for his style.  Funny, but not too long.  Steggy and Villainman would be tedious after about 8 pages.

Chapter 6 of Crime Does not Pay: City of Roses is still the same uninteresting, crooked police drama as always.  Drinking, drugs, murder, and that’s the cops.  The part I really don’t understand about this series is that there is no overarching plot, no character development.  I’m just not sure what to say about this series anymore.

Chapter 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Love vs. Life was pretty amusing.  Billy’s grandmother turns her hippie van into a bad-ass zompire killing machine, which was awesome!  Still not sure how I feel about zompires in the first place, but I think it’s better than the first chapter.

Chapter 6 of Alabaster: Boxcar Tales finally ties the last two chapters to the first three.  We have the talking raven back and a brief appearance of Dancy Flannarion. Is she there the whole time, but not remembering who she is?  I’m not really sure. At any rate, it’s finally connected to the original story.  Now I just wanna know what’s going on.

Chapter 3 of Blackout is intriguing.  We get a glimpse into Scott’s background and get to see an excellent fight scene, proving that this guy is clearly used to “thinking with portals.” We also get to see one of the rare occasions that a hero must look the repercussions of his actions in the face.  I won’t spoil it, because it’s a good surprise, but it’s definitely worth reading this chapter.  At this point, you could probably still come in cold and still understand what’s going on almost as well as other readers.

Brainbot Jr. is another one shot, this time a two page comic by Dara Naraghi.  It’s strange, mostly because 2 pages almost seems too long.  But it’s kinda cute.  I’d love to see a web comic of it, as I want to see what’s next, but I think it works well in little bits like this.  Very cool art by Tom Williams.

I pretty much always say that you should buy Dark Horse Presents issues, but really, why wouldn’t you?  For $7.99 you get a look at a bunch of different writers and artists from Neil Gaiman to teenage girls (neither in this issue, but previous ones) and maybe fall in love with a new series before it becomes a stand alone comic (Amala’s Blade fans?).

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is an editor for the Red Shirt Crew and a master of many skills such as martial arts, cooking and interior design.  He once killed a tiger with his bare hands, skinned it with his feet, cooked its meat and ate it on his new tiger skin rug (with rice, mixed peppers and naan bread)*.  You can contact him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.
*No tigers were harmed in the fabrication of this lie.

Review: The Strain #1, The Fall

I’m so excited to be reviewing this comic, because unlike my prior reviews, I actually hated The Strain #1, The Fall. Now since this is the first I’ve read of either Guillermo Del Toro or Chuck Hogan, I can’t say that they are by any means bad comic book writers (I mean I could never do what they do), but for entertainment value, this comic can only be described as swing and a miss.

www.darkhorse.com

Let’s start at the beginning. The Comic opens up to this long description of the journey of some sacred occult text that has the feel of a biblical lineage story. It may as well have been written “tablets begot texts, which begot book, which begot fire, which begot murder, which begot…” until we get to the end point of still knowing nothing about this text other than it’s still lost and it is needed to beat this parasite outbreak. In theory the journey would be interesting and worth finding out about if it weren’t in such a passive voice. It is honestly a waste of space that can be summed up in 1 sentence, “The book is important.”

Now that we know the solution to the main problem of the novel, we are introduced to what the actual problem is. Yes, the solution is revealed before the problem. Turns out, the city of manhattan is overrun with vampires. That’s right, another author suckeling from the tit of vampires before it runs dry; on one hand, at least they are staying with trends, and on the other hand, seriously another vampire story?! Well rest assured, you can just cut both hands off. Here’s the definition of a vampire in this comic: a corpse of a human, taken over by a parasite and looks like a zombie, that mindlessly kills with a razor tongue, with no evidence of actually drinking blood, and is only weakness is the sun. No fangs, no consciousness, nothing about the soul, no weakness to the holy. Catering to (and writing for a blog for) a demographic that grew up Buffy, this parasitic bastardization of a vampire is about as bad as Twilight, there I said it.

Moving past that not-actually-a-vampire issue, we reach a city destroyed by riots with rebel group trying to save everyone cause apparently humanity has lost it’s common sense enough to just say “let’s not try to piss off the thing that is killing everyone.” On top of it all, the protagonist has to fight off his late wife who is now infected and his son wants to hug this decaying bloodthirsty corpse of his mother, because nothing says “hug me” like a murderous zombie. So there are these crazy drones that do nothing but kill for no reason and out of nowhere, there is some leader who miraculously held on the his consciousness and has some diabolical plan, but don’t ask me, I honestly have no clue. As far as the rest of characters go, the little developement they’ve been given hasn’t exactly made me like them. They mostly seem belligerent and blindly following some self proclaimed messiah with a sob-story so they can go down in history as being a part of someone who actually did something when everyone else just ran to their deaths.

www.darkhorse.com

But at least the art redeems it some, right? WRONG! Don’t let the cover fool you, the art leaves something to be desired. The simplicity of the art is on such a level that you can’t actually know what someone properly looks like unless their face is the only thing in the frame. This just makes the characters seem all the more generic.

Overall, I would not recommend this comic for $3.99. Even if the series does end up getting better, this piece seems overall unimportant. Not only that, it just wasn’t enjoyable; it lacked some of the key elements to make a comic good: artwork, dynamic characters with development, plot, etc. I hope the next comic redeems this one, until then I would say skip this one and move on to something more worth your time.

Brendan, know in the weberverse as bigmacd101, is so freaking pumped to write his first “would not recommend” review. He’s kinda scared the the authors might read this, so in case you don’t hear from him in a while, it’s probably because he has gone into hiding. He will let you know he’s alive and safe on his twitter (@bigmacd101) so you can sleep easy. 

Review:Dark Horse Presents #25

Dark Horse Presents!  My favorite time of the month.  Those of you who read these comic reviews regularly, already know that, though.  We’ve got lots of returning stories, two new “Chapter 1’s” and two one shots.  As always with Dark Horse Presents, we’ve got a lot to cover so let’s get going.

Chapter 1 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Love vs. Life is a continuation from the season 9 story arc regarding a fairly new slayer named Billy, which our writer Mischlings covered a while back.  It’s a strange story because while it continues the ‘zompires’ story from season 9, the zompires are really just a backdrop for the romance story between Billy and Devon. There is no need for it to be in the Buffyverse, and honestly it sort of detracts from the romance storyline which is clearly the real focus for comic, not the zompires.

The Time Ben Fell in Love is a one shot by Matt Fraction and acts as a cautionary tale against time traveling to talk to yourself.  It’s a deep work, metaphoric and philosophical.  For a one shot, I think this is the way to do it; with a message, not a story (especially in 8 pages).  The art is beautiful, it’s just so smooth and flowing, very much like watercolors in a lot of places, but bolder than watercolors usually are.

Chapter 1 of Underground doesn’t leave a lot to be said.  A story is being told by a man who we know little about in a setting we know less about.  The story told is the actual meat of the comic’s plot, but mostly in this chapter we get the set up: people living underground in some kind of organized gang system based on common interests like videogames, potion making and so on.  I don’t really know what’s going on.  I’m going to reserve my opinion on this series until Chapter 2.

Chapter 3 of Brain Boy is the conclusion to Fred Van Lente‘s series.  But it’s not the end.  In the last chapter, Brain Boy learned he’s not the only super powered person in Albright’s employ, while trying to hunt down a special ops team that attacked the president.  This is a good solid conclusion to the story and even an announcement to return in the Fall with issue #1!  Very pleased with this series as a whole and cannot wait for it’s return.

Chapter 2 of Trekker: Train to Avalon Bay is a little disappointing to be honest.  I was quite impressed with the first chapter in last month’s Dark Horse Presents, but this one took an interesting character and sort of turned her into a Mary Sue.  Problem arises, problem solved by the end of the page.  Boring.  I don’t know if Ron Randall was just trying to fit a bunch into the middle to get to the conclusion faster or what, but it’s not his usual work.

Chapter 3 of King’s Road: The Long Way Home is probably the best chapter I’ve seen in this series.  The first chapter piqued my interest, the second was a little too backstory heavy and slow.  This chapter gives a good balance of action, plot and setting development.  Hopefully it was just a little introduction/settling in that is out of Peter Hogan‘s system now.

Chapter 5 of Crime Does Not Pay: City of Roses is… well, I didn’t understand the last one, but I guess at least this one had a plot?  Honestly, I’m already tired of this series.  This time it was a little romantic tryst, presumably in the same town, but it might as well be a whole different story.  I don’t feel any connection to the characters (admittedly, I missed the first 3 chapters) and while there was a plot this time, still very little happens.

Chapter 3 of Nexus: Into the Past sees our hero Nexus working with Sherlock Holmes to track down the murderer who stole H. G. Well’s time machine.  And that’s before the events of this episode.  Nexus is a little bit of a Gary Sue (male Mary Sue, see above), but unlike in Trekker, he really only has one moment of “well that was far too easy”.  And honestly, he has superpowers.  Superman could have done it, and he’s not overpowered at all.  (In fairness, Superman isn’t always a god.  It depends on the writer.)

The Chapel Chronicles is not only a one shot, but a one page comic.  It’s not that impressive, to be honest. Very amusing, just not long enough to really make anything exceptional of itself.  The author/artist is, however, pretty impressive.  Emma T. Capps is only 15 years old, and this comic is from the style of her webcomic of the same name.  So yeah, it’s not a Spawn or a Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it’s still a heck of a lot more than you probably had published when you were 15!

Chapter 3 of Boodhound: Plain Sight completes the story as Clev and Agent Bell set a trap for their invisible killer.  It’s great end to the story, and gets to show Clev in “fight mode” which was less prominent in the last chapter.  There is also a collection of other Bloodhound stories out this week, if you like comics if you like action films, check it out.  If I have the time, I may be reviewing that too?  There will be a link right here, if I do, how about that?

Chapter 2 of Blackout is a bit of a let down, just because the action sequence is over, the novelty of his weird portals has started to wear off and the main focus is on the chapter is saving a woman who has information about this suit he’s using, but they don’t really give enough of a teaser to really get you excited about what she has to say.  But there is a promise of a fight scene in the next chapter, and if we’re lucky we might get some real information too.  This chapter wasn’t great, but if it were the middle third of a 25 page comic, with what happened in the first chapter and what they’ve set up for the third, I think it would come together quite nice.

As always, the good definitely outweighs the bad this month and I would definitely say this is worth the $7.99.  But seriously, I don’t get City of Roses.  If someone understands what’s going on, please comment below and fill me (and other readers) in.  I’m just so bored of it.

Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is an editor for the Red Shirt Crew and if he could be any fictitious character he’d be his inner self.  His inner self is a wizard-ninja, with his own pirate ship and a brand of timepiece named after him.  You can follow him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or you can e-mail him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.

Review: The Victories #2 AND The Victories – Touched

A month ago, I wrote a glowing review for Michael Oeming’s The Victories #1. I was so happy to be reading an ongoing about a new superhero team that didn’t have to stick towards the strict family-friendly guidelines that books at Marvel and DC have to do that I couldn’t stop myself from writing my longest review on a single issue to date. It also left me wondering where the series came from and what kind of future it would have. Now that I’ve looked at The Victories #2 and The Victories: Touched, I can only say that the future of this ongoing…really looks like a mixed bag. This is a long one folks, so hang on tight. Let’s do this.

Let’s start with The Victories: Touched, the original miniseries that spawned the full ongoing. Honestly, I didn’t really care for it. The story focuses on Faustus, one of the key members of the Victories, a team of superheroes during the time of…well, actually, despite being a prequel series to that first issue I reviewed, there’s a lot less setup here, just letting the world speak for itself. Honestly, given how well the opening narration built the world in the first issue, I wish there was more here, but I guess it’s not all that relevant.

It’s hard to talk about the plot of this one without giving it away, but the basic gist is that Sai, another team member, asks Faustus to track down his brother, a former hero turned drug addict known as The Strike. You might remember me talking about the Strike in the last issue as a really interesting character I wish I knew more about. Well, it turns out that Strike used to study at The Mark’s School of Self-Defense with Faustus, but they don’t get along anymore, as he blames Faustus for what happened during their training. In this volume, he’s a lot more bitter and angry than he appeared in the ongoing, so it will be interesting to see how Oeming ties the two series together, though I definitely hope he sticks more to his current persona as this mysterious being taking advantage of his deformities in the shadows of this newly darkened world.

The rest of the story is…really, really dark. I’m serious. If you’re one of those people with a faint heart, or you’re thinking of buying this for a younger person because there are superheroes involved, don’t do it. I will give Oeming a lot of credit for his decision, though. I’m not sure if such a dark place was necessary, but it was an interesting take on the concept, and the ending really packs a punch, which is all one can really hope for from a story I suppose.

It’s one of those comics that reads better the less you think about it, sadly. There were some odd choices that really stood out to me. It begins with melodramatic, omniscient narration coming from seemingly nowhere, as the source is never explained. The first chapter has several moments that scream Frank Miller, namely an interview sequence and the first signs that Faustus is clearly an alcoholic; nowadays, that’s not what I’d call a good thing, and it reads as clumsily here as it did there. In the second section, the concept of Float is awkwardly jammed in through a flashback sequence of a character we hadn’t met yet, which made initial reads quite confusing. 

And most egregiously, Oeming commits the cardinal sin of giving us first person narration from a character, but refusing to actually give us the full info of what’s happening in his mind. Faustus does this on a regular basis, and it continually irritates me, as it’s a major pet peeve of mine. No one thinks to themselves ‘I hope Vladimir doesn’t discover my secret.’ They think ‘I hope Vladimir doesn’t find out that I’m the one who took twenty dollars from his wallet when he wasn’t looking’ because there’s no reason to hide something like that when it’s your own head. If you want vagueness, stay out of a character’s head. It’s that simple.

The big saving grace for this book is the Jackal, who is the central villain of the miniseries. He presents a very interesting moral dilemma for Faustus, and the dynamic is similar to what would happen if the Punisher decided to mess around with Dick Grayson and show him vigilantism was the only way to get anything done. Actually, the Punisher with the foulest mouth imaginable and a dab of Joker for good measure is probably the best way to describe the Jackal. It’s that captivating personality that keeps you reading this book. Well, that and the glorious art on which Oeming once again delivers.

Do I recommend it for $9.99? Kind of? I know that seems weak, but you are getting five issues here, as well as some interesting art at the back of the book detailing the process of how Faustus and the Jackal came to be, for about $2 each. That’s a major steal in the comic world. As long as you’re aware that the book definitely has its flaws, you can have some fun with it. That said, I will say that it doesn’t compare to the ongoing very well. Characters are far more complex and fleshed out (D.D. Mau especially got a major overhaul between the miniseries and the ongoing that makes her far more interesting) now that Oeming’s had time to figure some things out, so I’d only read it if you’re a completionist or someone who really loves seeing a world come together.

This brings us to The Victories #2, a comic that…is the definition of a mixed bag. I can’t get into the why as much as I did for the miniseries because a single issue only has so much content I can cover without devolving into spoiler territory. While the last issue focussed on D.D. Mau, this one centers on the team’s leader, Metatron, still recovering from his fight with Bacchus. While he’s out of sorts and trying to determine the cause of some visions he’s had recently, he and the rest of the Victories must respond to the threat presented by Tarcus, who escaped from jail at the end of the previous issue and is now wreaking carnivorous havoc on civilians and heroes alike.

The best part of this issue by far is Metatron’s character as he’s presented in this issue. Again, I’m not willing to give much away, but his attempts to maintain a strong persona as leader of the group despite being out of sorts presents a lot of depth to his character, and the issues with which he struggles are in equal measures foreign and identifiable. That won’t make sense until you read the issue, but making a character both human and superhuman at the same time is something only the best writers can do, and Oeming does it brilliantly.

What he unfortunately does not handle so brilliantly is the villain of the piece. This is actually starting to look like a trend in this book, so I figure I should throw up the warning signs now while I still can. The Victories is a book about heroes. It is not, however, a book about the villains. As of now, these villains serve as nothing but revolving doors. Even in the miniseries, smaller villains would emerge and take center stage for a chapter before switching back again. And worst of all, any power that one might have seen in Tarcus is taken away by a decision that completely undermines his authority. In an attempt to avoid spoilers, let’s just say I’ve had enough of a certain trend in comics, and seeing it here is disappointing.

For $3.99, you can do far worse than The Victories #2, which earns it my recommendation, if much less strongly than the first issue earned it. The Metatron bits are really well done, the action scenes are a lot of fun, and the art on this series continues to blow me away. That said, I’m starting to worry about the writing of this series, as seeing new villain after new villain with only a tenuous connection at best gets old quickly. Let’s hope this series comes out swinging for issue #3.

Chase Wassenar, aka MaristPlayBoy, is the Lead Editor and Founder of the Red Shirt Crew. He believes in Oeming and loves the heroes; he just wants a villain he can sink his teeth into. Is that so wrong? Probably. You can read his other articles at ToyTMA, follow him on Twitter at @RedShirtCrew or email him at theredshirtcrew@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.