Pale Horse #1 – Review

By: Andrew Cosby (story), Michael Alan Nelson (writer), Christian Dibari (art), Andres Lozano (colors) & Johnny Lowe (letters)

The Story: In Civil War-era Wyoming, a mad seeks vengeance for the murder of his wife while trying to raise a son.

What’s Good: I’ve always loved good westerns and there really should be a few more western-themed comics.  Pale Horse is much more on the Clint Eastwood side of the genre (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Outlaw Josey Wales, Unforgiven, etc.).  That’s good as I don’t really enjoy the more heroic western where the sheriff runs the bandits out of town.

The first issue does a good job of establishing the central character of Cole.  He really kinda has the deck stacked against him.  For one thing, being a black man in the 1860’s wasn’t that easy and the comic plays up the redneck, racist crap in the early pages.  For another, he is avenging the death of his wife who was Native American.  Now….I don’t know what things were really like in the Old West, but from watching the movies, it is pretty clear that the authorities back then didn’t care if Native Americans were murdered.  And…..for a third thing, he is trying to take care of his young son.  So, dude really has some problems!  Not to mention how screwed up the kid is going to be going bounty hunting with daddy from birth.

But, the good thing is that Cole appears to be a complete bad ass.  He’s big, mean and good with his guns.  He’s a black Josey Wales!  It’s always a good start for a comic when the main character is a bad ass!

Swordsmith Assassin #1 – Advanced Review

By Andrew Cosby (story), Michael Alan Nelson (Script), Ayhan Hayrula (artist), Andres Lozano (colorist)

The Story: This is a new 4-issue limited series by BOOM! Studios. We start in a Prussian army camp in 1870, where Toshiro Ono has traveled from Japan to retrieve a sword he made. As payment, he tells his story to the Prussian general who owns it. Ono’s story begins in his youth as an apprentice to his father, a Swordsmith. Ono learns his father’s craft, but neglects one small part of the honor of the elder Swordsmith. That flaw has terrible consequences for him as it sets him on a quest to re-balance his life and retrieve all the swords he made for less honorable men.

What’s Good: This is a fine piece of historical fiction. Historical fiction is not done well often, but I really like the setting choices of Prussia and Japan. They’re underused settings, so even though they are historical, to the reader they seem alien and real. Moreover, they’ve found an effective character in Ono, one who is justifiably motivated to atone for his mistakes. He is compelling and we understand his quest for the balance that he refused to learn from his father.

Also, the colors throughout the book are forceful. The Prussian army camp is grounded in browns and grays and muddy tones. The youthful views of Japan are warmed by orange, except for the blue and sterile gray tones around the telling of the core of his hubris. The scene of his confrontation with the villain are set in red. These coloring choices are not realistic, but stylistic, and they are effective at communicating each moment’s mood.

What’s Not So Good: Unfortunately, this very compelling story and script didn’t get the art to really meet the book’s potential. This was for three reasons. Firstly, I felt that Hayrula’s art had some proportion problems. Sometimes the body parts didn’t seem to be properly sized, like the Prussian general’s legs as he emerged from his tent. I felt the same thing looking at the grave of his father, which seemed tilted. Secondly, there is a stiffness to the poses, such as when the general passes Ono a glass of water. The general has already been established as a warm, confident character, but his body language here erases the good will, warmth and humor he’d been showing until now. Thirdly, the shadowing is also a bit heavy. Both the Prussian general and Toshiro Ono in different panels appear to have no left eyes at all, when in fact, both do and the apparent lighting we see in the rest of the panels don’t seem to be so poor that shadows should completely blot out one eye each.

Conclusion: Great idea for a story and well-written, although the art doesn’t meet the same standard. Worth a try. I’ll take a look at the next one.

Grade: C

-DS Arsenault

Mr. Stuffins #2 – Review

by Andrew Cosby & Johanna Stokes (writers), Axel Medellin Machain (art), Andres Lozano (colors), and Johnny Lowe (letters)

The Story: We finally get to see Mr. Stuffins beat some faces as the NSA attacks Zach’s home and family.

What’s Good: This quiet title really came out of nowhere. After reading this issue and the last in quick succession, I can safely say that this miniseries is fantastic! One part action movie, one part “Toy Story,” there’s simply nothing else like this right now.

The most evident strong-point for this series is without a doubt the writing. Zach really does sound like a genuine nine-year-old, which is quite the achievement considering the number of comics that sport children who either sound too mature or too moronic. Meanwhile, nearly everything that comes out of Stuffins’ mouth is as hilarious as you’d expect. Hearing an action hero’s voice come from a teddy bear never gets old. In this issue though, Cosby & Stokes write him particularly well; they not only succeed in making him a badass, but this month, he becomes more multifaceted, showing a softer side as well as hinting at how lost and confused he really is. You’ll witness the teddy bear manage to become a real character and not just a mere walking punch-line.

The main attraction of this issue though is seeing Mr. Stuffins in action, and I can assure you that it delivers. Seeing a teddy bear kick the asses of twenty highly-trained commandos, with banter, is just as awesome as it sounds and watching him stitch his shoulder afterwards, calling it a “fleshwound” as he bites the thread with his teeth, really sums up this series.

Machain continues to shine on pencils, giving the book a “Disney Channel” feel.  It looks like the afternoon cartoon that you’ve always wished existed. I continue to adore Machain’s work on Stuffins himself. It’s amazing how much character Machain is able to give a relatively drab-looking, plain brown teddy bear. As was the case last issue, a good part of this comes thanks to Stuffins’ facial expressions, particularly his perpetual “Steven Seagal like” scowl. Stuffins’ face alone is enough to guarantee laughs.

What’s Not So Good: Not a lot to say against this comic really. I did however notice a couple of mishaps with the art. One frame showed Stuffins and Zach running up a flight of stairs, only for the next frame to see them standing at the bottom of those same stairs. In another case, a character’s gray suit magically turns brown for a frame. These are the only two such errors in the book, but they are head-scratchers.

Also, Cosby and Stokes occasionally like to use dialogue snippets to segue from one page to another.  However, I’m not sure why they opted to use word bubbles instead of textboxes, as the end result is a little confusing.

Conclusion: Mr. Stuffins continues to be one of the funniest comics I’ve ever read.  With it’s lead character and its “family drama” backstory, it plays out like a Pixar movie. This is a book that will make even the most hardened “mature comics” reader feel like a kid again.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

Dead Run #1 – Review

By Andrew Cosby (Story), Michael Alan Nelson (Script), Francesco Biagini (Art), and Matthew Wilson (Colors)

The Story: In a post-apocalyptic future, Nick Masters is a courier that risks life and limb to travel from town to town, delivering packages (whatever they may be). With his kidnapped sister’s life on the line, Nick has 72 hours to get a package through the “Dead Run” to San Francisco for a powerful drug lord. But before leaving, Nick makes a visit to Waylon Biggs, the only man to ever travel the “Dead Run” and live to tell about it…

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: If your thinking that the story sounds like a cross between Transporter and Mad Max…You’ve got the right idea. Though unoriginal, the concept of Dead Run is decent enough to base a comic around (fortress cities for the win). The problem however, is that the latest Boom! release doesn’t have a whole lot going for it beyond concept.

While the story by Andrew Cosby is solid enough, the script by Michael Alan Nelson is incredibly weak. There isn’t a single memorable character that Dead Run #1 introduces. Everyone comes across as generic and cliché. You’ve got the rough, cocky, serious hero that needs to do what’s right. You’ve got the older, wiser cautionary veteran. Hell, you even got the spunky female sidekick looking for a bit of adventure… It makes the whole comic feel rather boring because the characters have been seen many times before.

The artwork by Francesco Biagini and Matthew Wilson, thankfully, is much stronger than either the script or the story. While Biagini’s style is rather simplistic, everything looks quite cinematic and keeps Dead Run #1 from being a total waste of time. In addition, Wilson’s stylish color work is surprisingly distinct and compliments Biagini’s art rather well.

Conclusion: Dead Run #1 looks nice, and that’s really the best thing I can say about it. Now that I think about it, my opinion is that the issue should have been used as a template for the opening moments of a Mad Max re-imagining starring Jason Statham rather than released as the debut of a new comic series…

Grade: D+

-Kyle Posluszny