Batman: Gotham After Midnight #11 – Review

By Steve Niles (Writer), Kelly Jones (Art), and Michelle Madsen (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I’ve been enjoying the Gotham After Midnight series almost entirely because of the ridiculously unique artwork provided by Kelly Jones and Michelle Madsen. While the story isn’t necessarily bad or anything, it’s definitely overshadowed by the art. It helps make even the most basic or generic elements of the story into something incredibly fun to look at. That said, the length of the series is definitely starting to wear on me.

The Story: The penultimate chapter of Gotham After Midnight features Batman facing off against some of his greatest foes as he tries to bring down Midnight. The catch is that all the foes are being controlled by Midnight. But worry not, Batman has a plan…

What’s Good: The latest issue of Gotham After Midnight is very much like the others. If you have been enjoying the series so far, then I see no reason why you’d feel any different about #11. As usual, the crazy visuals and striking (slightly trippy) colors take center stage while the story sets up situations for the art team to go wild. Sure the Midnight story is pretty mindless and downright hokey at times, but it’s pretty hard to care when everything is so much fun to look at. I mean c’mon, how can you not dig a Batman branded Man-Bat catcher?!

What’s Not So Good: Simply put, Gotham After Midnight isn’t a series for everyone. The visuals, the “Adam West” (to steal a term from a colleague) style gadgets, and the generic, predictable storyline will inevitably (and understandably) turn people off. Considering that (thankfully) there is only one issue left, I’m sure you know by now if Midnight is right for you.

Conclusion: What more can I say other than that Gotham After Midnight #11 maintains the status quo. The story remains below average, the visuals remain the highlight, and the series as a whole still feels like it has gone on for too long.

Grade:  C

-Kyle Posluszny

Mesmo Delivery – Review

By Rafael Grampa (Writer & Artist) and Marcus Penna (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I decided to pick up Mesmo Delivery after seeing the slick looking preview pages and hearing nothing but good things about the book for the past month or so. So is Rafael Grampa’s first solo work a true indie gem or is it a victim of the dreaded hype machine? Read on to find out.

The Story: Mesmo Delivery follows two men, a burly truck driver and a company hand, as they make their way through a rural town to deliver a package to its intended destination. The only company rule is that the back of the truck must remain closed so that the package cannot be seen by the driver or anyone else. As you might have guessed, things don’t exactly go smoothly. Rufo, the truck driver, finds himself in way over his head upon accepting a bet with a local and soon all hell breaks loose in two very different ways.

What’s Good: Part mystery, part thriller, and part gory action-horror story, Mesmo is one trippy trucker tale. It easily overcomes a few generic plot points by providing a mystery laced with a number of unexpected twists and buckets of well-executed gore. Trust me when I say that, in both style and execution, you haven’t seen anything quite like Mesmo Delivery.

Rafael Grampa’s kinetic, well-choreographed visuals offer a unique mixture of meticulous detail, the surreal, and disturbing hyper-violence. As strange as that may sound, the style proves to be a perfect fit for a story that definitely takes a few readings to fully appreciate. By revealing some, but not all of the necessary information, Grampa manages to transform a fairly basic trucker tale into something incredibly compelling.

What’s Not So Good: Simply put, Mesmo Delivery is not a book for everyone. The insanely graphic violence and a few odd shots featuring the female anatomy keep it strictly for a more mature audience. In addition, I can easily imagine more than a few readers being frustrated by the obtuse story and the lack of any concrete resolution, especially for a comic that goes for around twelve bucks.

Conclusion: While it is almost certain to be one of the most divisive releases of the year, there is no denying how impressive the presentation and artistic execution displayed in Mesmo Delivery. Personally, I found the book to be an imaginative, cinematic mix of genres that worked on a number of levels. As such, I highly recommend it to mature readers looking for something quite a bit different from the usual Marvel or DC fare.

Grade: A-

-Kyle Posluszny

House of Mystery #1 – Review

By Matthew Sturges, Bill Willingham, Luca Rossi , Ross Campbell, Lee Loughridge

Horror and mystery fans gather ’round, your book has arrived. After being canceled in 1983, DC’s flagship horror title makes its triumphant return. And while the House of Mystery never really disappeared off the radar (it played a role in many of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series), it has been too long since we’ve been without this series (and its brother title, House of Secrets). If you’ve never read an issue of House of Mystery have no fear. Because the dynamics and the format are for the most part completely different than the original series, you’ll have no problem getting into this book.

What immediately came to mind after finishing this issue was one of the later Sandman storylines called World’s End. That story featured a group of people trapped in an inn where stories from different walks of life and cultures were exchanged. House of Mystery’s premise is very similar in that manner. The house has disappeared from “reality” (I’m sure this will all be explained as the series goes on), and seems to be caught in a weird purgatory style dimension. Trapped in this house are a group of strangers – each from a wildly different dimension or time.

This first issue gives us the story of a woman who lived in a town infested with human-sized flies and how she fell in love with one of them. The story ain’t pretty – in fact it’s grotesque near the end – but it serves in many ways as a satire and analogy of sorts. I’m not going to go into what I took away from it, because it can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide. No matter what you take away from it, on the surface it’s a chilling and disturbing story not for the weak-hearted. And that’s just the way I like it.

The art teams do an excellent job of translating the spooky atmosphere to the comic page (especially that creepy fly story), and the writing teams both turn in stellar scripts. There’s a bit of confusion involved with a few of the opening plots that may throw off some people, but I urge you to keep reading. As the issue progresses, things begin to unravel. And while you won’t get all your answers from this first offering, you will get just enough to make you come back next month. The industry needs more comics like this. Highly recommended. (Grade: A-)

– J. Montes

High Moon – Review

David Gallaher (writer), Steve Ellis (artist)

We here at the WCBR have been enjoying DC’s online imprint Zuda Comics and being a fan of free comics I dutifully strolled on over to the cyber comic rack to peruse the offerings. This one, High Moon, jumped out at me. Had to be werewolves, right? Right. Werewolves in the old west, no less – I liked it already.

The story opens with a child abduction in the Texas town of Blest. A mysterious bounty hunter with a secret (Matthew Macgregor), rolls into town looking for a wanted man and is offered a deal by the townspeople: find the missing child and they’ll help him find his man. A quick, simple intro and we’re on our way.

Macgregor is aided by the town’s deputy who believes wolves are responsible for the abduction, but of course nobody believes him and Macgregor obviously knows more than he’s letting on. The story is well paced, grabbed my interest very quickly, and kept me turning the page. The protagonist is intriguing as is the nature of the man, Conroy, whom he is pursuing. The artwork by Steve Ellis is solid as well. The style of his art really suits the tale and is evocative of the hot and dusty setting where the story dwells. The highest compliment I can pay this comic is that by the end I found myself needing and wanting more. I don’t yet how often the site gets updated and when the next issue gets posted but I will keep my eye out for it because I want to see what happens in the mines!

I think a few words are in order about the reading interface. I found it very user friendly and easy to navigate. One comic page fills the viewer and controls for zooming and turning pages are located on the bottom. Use of the full screen mode, my preferred method of reading, renders the pages much easier to read. In full screen mode, the controls disappear from view but when the mouse is rolled over the bottom of the screen they return. Also in full screen mode you can still zoom in on the page to the point to where it fills the screen. When this is done an icon appears that allows the reader to use the mouse to pan around the different parts of the page. I like to do this when there’s a certain panel or piece or art gets my attention. I found the Zuda viewer a pleasure to use and fun to play around with, and High Moon is a story worth looking into. It’s free – what do you have to lose? (Grade: A)

– Arthur Cooke