iZombie #3 – Review

by Chris Roberson (writer), Michael Allred (art), Laura Allred (colors), and Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: The hunters continue their vampire-chase with Horatio meeting Gwen in the process, someone discovers Scott’s secret, and Gwen meets the mummy.

What’s Good: Without a doubt, the best thing about iZombie, this issue included, is Michael Allred’s art.  It has a wonderful life to it and its pop-art style suits the comic perfectly.  Everything has a delightful air of kookiness and eccentricity that truly gives colour to Roberson’s world.  Indeed, Allred gives the world of iZombie a sort of poppy timelessness.  All of the characters, Gwen in particular, are adorable thanks to Allred and the designs are solid throughout.  I particularly enjoyed Allred’s depiction of Gwen’s powers, where the images are grainy and rendered in black and white.  While the world looks wonderful, Allred’s work on his characters’ faces is also very human and perfectly expressive.

Once again, Roberson’s three main characters continued to grow on me this month.  Scott is the perfect example of the “lovable loser.”  From his condition, to his forced isolation, to his being ribbed by Gwen, the guy is the perfect combination of nice and pitiful; it’s hard not to constantly feel bad for the guy, while also smiling at the inherent comedy of his tribulations.

Gwen, on the other hand, remains as cool as ever and Allred and  Roberson both make a wonderfully awkward “love at first sight” moment between her and Horatio this month.  She’s a solid combination of snark and vulnerability and scenes like this highlight that.  Meanwhile, Ellie continues to be a source of fun in her own right, as Roberson makes her sound humorously out of date.

Moon Knight #20 – Review

By Mike Benson (Writer), Mike Deodato Jr. (Artist), and Rain Beredo (Colorist)

This book is actually good. I certainly didn’t expect it to be. Let’s face it, Moon Knight is a B-lister. He’s always been a rip-off of Batman, and he always will be, except when he’s ripping off Daredevil. And he’s always been a bit of a disappointment. Even at their best, Moon Knight stories only disguise mediocre plots with beautiful art by Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Finch, or in this case, Mike Deodato. (And make no mistake, the art here is great.)

The story this time is sort of a return to Moon Knight’s roots, squaring him up against the Werewolf by Night. Jack Russell (yes, that’s the Werewolf’s real name…yes, like the terrier…) has been kidnapped by some shady characters who keep taking samples of his blood. Without giving too much away, a serum is created from his blood that has something to do with mutilated corpses found around the city, as well as a form of entertainment that takes the concept of “Ultimate Fighting” to a whole new level. Naturally, it’s up to Moon Knight to figure out what’s going on before more people are killed, and wouldn’t you know it there’s a full moon coming up, so the next event is going to be extra-special…

The plot doesn’t make perfect sense (after all the detective work, Moon Knight’s cabbie personality just happens to pick up two guys that just happen to be going the place Moon Knight needs to go?), and it’s full of clichés (the superhero scares confession out of the stoolie, the cynical, chain-smoking detective gives him a hand, etc.), but the mood is perfect and the dialogue is clever (like when the detective keeps referring to “wild dogs” instead of werewolves because he has to “report to a NYPD shrink couple times a year.”)

So will this be the issue that turns things around for Moon Knight? I doubt it. No matter how well he’s written, he’s still a derivative character with a dull supporting cast and a lousy rogues gallery. But this issue, at least, is worth picking up. (Grade: B+)

– Andrew C. Murphy

NEWS: Ben Templesmith’s New Miniseries, Welcome To Hoxford

Werewolf necrophilia and talking rats are just a small part of the dark, creepy action in Ben Templesmith’s new miniseries, Welcome to Hoxford, debuting in August from IDW Publishing. The co-creator of 30 Days of Night (with writer Steve Niles), Templesmith has built quite a fan following in recent years, including critical and sales successes with titles he has both written and created artwork for, including Wormwood Gentleman Corpse and Singularity 7.

Written and illustrated by Templesmith, Welcome to Hoxford is a horrific new series that features a unique and nasty take on werewolves. In the debut issue, Raymond Delgado is the newest inmate at the Hoxford Correctional Facility and Mental Institution. He has no hope of release, parole, rehabilitation, or decent conversation. Ray hasn’t been taking his medication. No surprises there. On a good day, he’ll tell you he’s Zeus and only bite your arm off—literally. On a bad day, you won’t have time to scream to the prison guard for help. But Dr Jessica Ainley, his doctor for five years, wants to help Ray and can’t understand why the newly privatized, corporately-run prison won’t give her access to her patients. And why people are always transferred into Hoxford, but no records show anyone ever transferring back out.

“It’s odd,” said Templesmith. “But the whole reason this book exists is because my work has been banned from a few prisons. I’m told it’s among the darkest work I’ve ever done, and I don’t mean the amount of black ink I’ve been using.”

IDW will also release Templesmith’s The Art of Wormwood in August, the third such art book he has produced.

Welcome to Hoxford #1 will be available from Comic Book Retailers in August 2008.

Spooks #1 (of 4) – Review

By: R.A. Salvatore, Geno Salvatore (story), Ryan Schifrin (story & script), Larry Hama (script), Adam Archer (art), Jonny Rench (colors)

I picked this comic just for the great cover art! It reminded me of the old box art for computer games from the 80s. Check the awesome animated cover at www.spooksthecomic.com – first time I’ve seen something like that.

The United States Department of Supernatural Defense (BPRD… I mean DPSD) has specially trained forces on its payroll to protect us from supernatural enemies. We first meet Zach Ramirez, who’s using silver bullets to kill a loose werewolf, but the beast doesn’t die. I guess the “normal” rules don’t apply here. The werewolf bites Zach on his arm but he’s one of the 0.0001% of the population that is immune to werewolf bites.

The main plot goes on about this witch who is raising an army of evil doers to conquer the world once and for all. She has the werewolves on her side and even a headless horseman that she animates from the dead. Vampires join her swelling army as well, but each race has their own agenda. This group from hell is completed by a bodyguard figure in the form of a Frankenstein-esque monster.

I really don’t like having all these monsters together in a kind of crossover world. I’d rather deal with one species per story. I hope the book gets enough sales to make it into an ongoing series (right now it’s a four issue miniseries). I’m intrigued on what’s going to happen next but I don’t mind if I have to skip on it. The only way to guarantee a buy from me is if issue #2 cover is done by Staples. (Grade: C-)

-Daniel Yanez