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.
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