Skullkickers #8 – PREVIEW

SKULLKICKERS #8
story JIM ZUB
art EDWIN HUANG and MISTY COATS
cover CHRIS STEVENS

“FIVE FUNERALS and A BUCKET OF BLOOD” Part Two

Weaponless, weary and wanted by the law! The Skullkickers’ heroic reputation has flip-flopped in a whirlwind of faerie magic and bloody bodies. Who’s responsible and how bad are they gonna get thumped by everyone’s favorite monster mashers?

SkullKickers Vol 1: 1000 Opas and a Dead Body -Graphic Novel Review

Written by Jim Zub, Line art by Edwin Haung, Colors by Misty Coats, and Art by Chris Stevens

Story: The Dwarf and the Big Guy go around kicking the ass of anything that gets in their way…or just seems convenient to kick.

The Good: First of all, if you are a fan of comics and graphic novels and did not immediately think “I need to read that,” when you saw the title Skullkickers, then really, what’s the point of even trying? But at the same time, with a name like Skullkickers, the creative team needs to really bring the awesome.  So, do they? Do they? Well, Jim Zub definitely does. The script is lively and absolutely hilarious. The Dwarf and the Big Guy (they have no names) are extremely fun characters, working of the classic loose cannon and stoic pair up. And if there was any confusion, the Dwarf is the loose cannon. Now loose cannons are always fun to write and they get the most notice from the audience, but the stoic ones are much more challenging. The bigger the loose cannon, the more grounded the other character needs to be, and it can be challenging to create this dynamic if you create something as crazy the Dwarf. But the Big Guy is the perfect balance. Never too crazy, always calm even when things get really…really…really crazy. In fact, there were times when the Dwarf was present that I would have preferred the Big Guy…and yet never a time when the Big Guy was being featured where I was wondering what the Dwarf was up to. As fun as the Dwarf is, the Big Guy is more compelling.

Our heroes aside, there is also something very characteristic to Skullkickers that must be addressed. The “Imminent Violence” and “Sneaky-Sneak” that adorns the pages. Literarlly. Imagine if POW! or BAMM! or KRRRACCKKAAACOOOM! was used for silent moments. So, we get sound effects for Corose Stench and Stride! Stride! The other purpose these serve, aside from telling us silent action, is to—well, tell us action. Sure, we can see the Dwarf kicking a skull…but it’s must funnier to “Skull Kick” in big orange letters accompanying the action.

The Perfectly Decent: Okay…so, while I was reading, I really enjoyed the art. Edwin Huang’s style and Misty Coats colors seemed perfect for Zub’s script. But then I got to the bonus stories that originally appeared in the popgun anthology with art by Chris Stevens. Stevens has a much more realistic style than Huang, and with the absurdity of the stories Zub tells, you would think that it wouldn’t mesh well. That might have been true with any other genre (I just read a preview for an upcoming graphic novel called Massively Effective that uses a style more similar to Huang’s and worked wonderfully).  But with the fantasy setting, the more realistic approach evokes the classic fantasy feel  while the humor contradicts it—a similar match to the Dwarf and the Big Guy. Again, nothing wrong with Huang and Coats, but I would have loved to see what Stevens could have done with the material.

Also…$9.99! Damn do I love Image. They really know how to hook people in. I can’t wait for volume 2.

Grade: B+

-Roman Colombo

Skullkickers #1 – Review

By: Jim Zubkavich (writer), Chris Stevens & Edwin Huang (pencils), Edwin Hang (inks), Misty Coats (colors) & Marshall Dillon (letters)

The Story: A pair of mercenaries finds adventure in a swords-n-shields tale.

What’s Good: This book has gotten a lot of hype and was selling for several times face value on eBay before it even hit comic shops on Wednesday.  Hype around a comic is usually a good thing because it plays into the periodic nature of comic books and creates anticipation for the reader.  But, hype can be problematic if the book fails to deliver.

Skullkickers is (so far) a very solid offering featuring two nameless mercenaries (a dwarf & human) set in a medieval setting.  There is lots to enjoy as the brash dwarf charges into battle yelling in typical dwarf-speak while his more calculating partner lays back a bit.  And, that is pretty much the set-up for this first issue as only the vaguest suggestions of the bigger story are revealed.

The issue also had a mystery: why does one of the mercenaries (hint: not the dwarf) have a pistol in a medieval setting?  Is he “out of time” somehow?  Is this setting more steam-punk than it would seem?

The art is solid: characters are recognizable, nice linework, etc.  There is no “ooooohhhhh, ahhhhhhh” moment for the art, but it effectively tells the story.  It is also a very respectable effort considering that the art team seems to be fairly new to comics.