EVIL DEAD – Issue #2
Dark Horse Comics
Written by Mark Verheiden Art by John Bolton
Oh Ash, you’re so groovy. Especially when we get to read your thoughts during the first Evil Dead film. Oh, how dirty and downright rotten they can be too! The Evil Dead comic book series continues to chronicle the first film, adding additional coverage from the mind of Ashley J. Williams as well what happened before the wanna-be Scooby Gang hopped into the Oldsmobile and headed for the woods. We get a glimpse here as to what Shelly was kind of like, dealing with a wounded bird, and as Ash describes it, going “ninja” on it. Though the book treads very familiar ground, it’s still a fresh take on the classic film. Think deleted scenes, director cut, or just another cameraman on set where footage was never shown until now, and artist John Bolton paints a very pretty picture to bring that alternate vision to life. In fact, when Cheryl (after her deadite makeover) flirts with the evil deadite monsters in the basement, Bolton enhances the creepiness to what evil our Ash and the gang have to face. Something hard to do after the third film, Army of Darkness made the deadite army more comedic and playful. Mark Verheiden adds consistency to the flow of the first film with these additional scenes and perspectives, almost fooling the reader into thinking he wrote the original film. I can see why Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert had no problem at all with this series because it sticks to the film, but adds relevant features and content that don’t feel out of place. Not only that, Ash is Bruce Campbell here, and every caption you read, Bruce appears to be grinning and grunting every syllable of it. I sure hope Dark Horse and Verheiden has Evil Dead 2 in the works because I’m digging this expansion feature. Get an axe. It might be a trick.
GRADE: A- CONTINUE READING? Verheiden and Bolton are having a ton of fun working on this, and so should you readers!
CRAWL SPACE: XXXOMBIES – Issue #3 of 4
Image Comics
Written by Rick Remender Art by Kieron Dwyer
This book just got sick. Almost puke-worthy! The zombies of Hollywood are just about the only real thing left standing on Sunset Blvd besides our adult film crew, the local Mafioso, and a father so pissed off that he doesn’t care about the dead coming back to life. He just wants his daughter to get her ass back home, and I don’t blame him. Hollywood, with or without zombies, just ain’t right for a sweet thang like Jenny. So back to the “sick” part. I’m forced to see another man’s penis get bitten off, almost as bad as Bill “Snakeman” Timmons from Clifford Meth’s Snaked book, but still filled with humor as this book strictly regulates. As badass dad drops off the man who is now “less than”, irking out a wimpy, “Thanks, you know, for saving my wiener.” Classic, and if I’m catching onto this book, that might be referencing a film with a certain character that likes baseballs? But then we are led back to school where zombie geeks feast on snotty cheerleaders. Poor girls. They won’t cheer another Friday again, nor cherish another viewing of Bring it On. Oh, doesn’t stop there either. The best is yet to come. Now writer Rick Remender and artist Keiron Dwyer must have raised a timeout before going forward with this next one. The scene is where one of our porno crew members walks into the hospital nursery, only to find nurses feasting on babies! NO! YES!! SICK! YES! And then one bites him, and he… oh, I can’t even say it! It’s so wrong, and yet, it feels so right. Remender and Dwyer are just letting it all out now with every sick zombie idea being plastered to the page with blood, sweat, sex, and attitude. Bad attitudes. A fun ride here folks. Get to crawling.
GRADE: A- CONTINUE READING? The notch has been turned up to eleven, so can the final issue of XXXombies be a 12? I’ll be there.
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER – Issue #11
Dark Horse Comics
Written by Joss Whedon Art by Georges Jeanty
I heart Buffy. I mean, who doesn’t heart the Buffster? Well, it appears one of the slayers is in love with the Buffmeister, and it’s a little too familiar because we already have Willow and Kennedy covering that department. So that’s where I frowned a little, but once that segment is set aside for some beatdown by the new Big Bad Dude in Black, things start shaking up again like an orgasm in Alaska. I’m glad to see Joss finally spit the story out this time and not bend around with tangents that fans have to go back and research a bit through all seven seasons, and maybe a few Angel ones as well. No, this issue stands on its own for the most part, and it’s a sign of relief. From the first page, where I was immediately hooked, lined, and sinkered by one simple sentence, “Once upon a time, I did something good”, I knew I was seeing the Joss Whedon writing I so dearly admired and idolized. Not only that, but it was in sync with the Georges Jeanty art, and I no longer had television eyes. Season 8 finally became a comic book here for me, and I believe that to be a good thing. I don’t know. Only Joss knows for sure… I think. But I’m surely excited again, and I’m happy to finally give kudos to Joss on this series. It was all BKV until now, so thank you Mr. Whedon for making it flow like the wind. Happy Valentine’s Day, Buffy.
GRADE: A- CONTINUE READING? Nice recovery here, planting a very big seed for fans to grab a hold of. Sounds like we’re back on track!
SPOOKS – Issue #1
Written by Ryan Schifrin and Larry Hama Art by Adam Archer
Devil’s Due Publishing
Well… shit. I’m actually writing a comic book using all the classic monsters in a “new, hip, modern” fashion. Guess I’ll have to take a backseat to Spooks for now, or until I learn how to freakin draw. Writer Ryan Schifrin and Larry Hama do a good job in setting up the series here, showing us some of the classic monsters getting involved in this war against mankind. I’m kind of interested in The Headless Horseman’s role, probably because I had no intention of using him in my series. I kind of like how Frankenstein is used here because really, his story has been told so many times that it’s not appealing to go through that whole origin again. It was done the right way back in 1931, right? So keep what was great… great… and use what could be manipulated to your advantage. Schifrin and Hama seem to acknowledge this, though it’s too early to tell for sure, so we’ll have to wait and see. The art by Adam Archer is pretty good with some cool looking werewolves for sure. Yep. That’s about all I got here, and that’s about all there really is for the first issue. It’s all setup, so all the classic monsters getting involved in Spooks, please raise your hand.
GRADE: B CONTINUE READING? It’s going to be hard for me to read this series for the sole fact that I have a similar idea, but for the rest of you, I think you should give it a whirl.
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