In 2021 I’d like to cross over the 1,000 comics review barrier, meaning reviews that I (Mike Clarke a.k.a. pghhead) contribute to the blog. That’s what this odyssey is about, beginning January 01, 2021. Wish me luck . . . . .
#94-#98 TURF #1-5 (Image, April 2010 - June 2011) Long, long delays between issues for this one, which is maybe why I haven’t read it until now.
I really enjoy a genre-blender of a story, especially when it’s as good as this one mixing crime with horror and science fiction.
It’s 1920’s Prohibition Era New York City. A vampire family moves in and starts killing the crime families, taking over their illegal alcohol and private club enterprises as part of their grander scheme to begin vampire nation.
It looks pretty bad for the losing side, until an alien spacecraft crashes near Coney Island, the sole surviving alien becomes friends with a reluctant mob boss after they nearly kill each other, and the alien tech is used to help the mobsters and racketeers fight back.
Seems improbable, but writer Jonathan Ross pulls it off and even develops a trio of characters beyond their pulp origins. Great, stylish era-evoking art by Tommy Lee Edwards. FOUR STARS.
#99 THE BELFRY one-shot (Image, February 2017) Written and Drawn by Gabriel Hardman. During the work on INVISIBLE REPUBLIC with his wife/writing partner Corinna Bechko, Hardman needed a break from the intensity. This one-shot horror comic was the result. Hardman also wanted to give homage to an illustration idol, Gene Colan, and altered his style for this work. It doesn’t contain the sharp angles and diagonal panels that Colan was famous for, but it’s definitely not standard Hardman art and the influence can be detected.
A passenger plane crashes into an unknown jungle with no casualties, due to the skill of the pilot who unfortunately gets a windshield-breaking tree limb through the eye. The main character, the co-pilot, tries to figure out what happened as the survivors are beset by a pack of flying bat-people. They are taken captive inside a mountainous aboveground cave (the belfry) where they are subjected to a strange ritual and a grim ultimatum. It’s not going to be good for the co-pilot, whichever path is chosen for him.
Graphic (but without blood and guts), dark, moody and unsettling. Everything that I enjoy when it’s as well done as it is here. FOUR STARS.
#100-#103 HAPPY! #1-#4 (Image, October 2012-February 2013) This is a departure from the usual Grant Morrison creator-owned fare. It’s a straightforward crime/fantasy story, and not even a little bit cryptic or vague. If I had not seen the credits page, I might read this and assume it was written by Garth Ennis - especially when the art by Darick Robertson (of The Boys fame) has the same sleazy appeal.
Some reviewers have even gone so far as to suggest that Morrison was a bit jealous of the renown and movie/television contracts that Garth Ennis and Mark Millar were enjoying, and wrote HAPPY! in order to see if he could get similar attention. Indeed, HAPPY! was picked up as a television mini-series by the SyFy Network. (I couldn’t even make it through the first episode. I didn’t feel the magic.)
HAPPY! easily outdoes the BAD SANTA film as the one Christmas story that you absolutely do not share with the children. There’s not even one scintilla of Christmas spirit or message of goodwill across the four-issue run. Well, a young girl kidnapped by a perverted Santa Claus gets rescued, but that’s not going to put anyone in a very jolly mood.
If the intention is to outrage, HAPPY gets it done page after page. This is one grim, dirty, violent, foul-mouthed, perverted, sleazy story. I accept it for what it is - - over the top and outrageous. If you can overlook that, you’ll enjoy reading this. I did, it’s the same guilty pleasure as admitting to enjoying THE BOYS.
Max, an ex-cop down on his luck, alcoholic and lonely, works as a hit man to fund his depraved and doomed lifestyle. When a hit goes awry, he’s seriously wounded and near death when an imaginary (?) creature appears to him: a blue cartoonish miniature talking horse with tiny wings. Happy the horse, which only Max can see, works hard to convince a reluctant, uncaring Max to rescue Hailey, the little girl.
There are some plot twists and surprises that also don’t help achieve that warm Christmas feeling, but they do twist and surprise. I’d have to say that this is better than the television series. At least I finished the four issues. Sometimes more than enough is just too much. Robertson’s excellent depictions of the mayhem sufficed as decorative enhancements to this sad Christmas tree.THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#104-#108 SIR EDWARD GREY, WITCHFINDER: LOST AND GONE FOREVER #1-5 (February-June 2011) Sir Edward Grey, occult investigator and agent of Queen Victoria heads to 1890 Utah in search of English Lord Glaren. We never learn why as Grey gets involved in a weird western adventure involving a disappearing church congregation and a white-haired white witch that the local Indian tribe worships as a savior/spirit finder.
Grey’s inquisitive nature doesn’t win him favor with the town folk. He’s run out of Reidlynne, Utah and utilizes a strange frontiersman, Morgan Kaler, as a guide. He encounters a huge mentally challenged Isaac who favors wearing a buffalo headdress and harbors ancient scars. Kaler and Grey swap stories over the campfire, and a flashback reveals the origins of Grey’s introduction to the occult, an encounter with a man-wolf while just twelve years old.
Grey will find a transformed and possessed Glaren, a cave of the living dead, an old Indian warrior possessing the body of the church’s priest, many souls trapped in new forms, a huge Lockjaw-sized rabid dog, and a finale featuring a remarkable transformation. Grey gets wounded multiple times, near death, and seems to have an uncanny ability to recover.
This is engaging, page-turning stuff that is enhanced by the incredible art of late lamented legend John Severin - whose detailed style was always best displayed in war and western stories. If you’re a fan of Tim Truman’s style (also best seen in weird western tales) and want to view an example of his influences, look closely at John Severin’s work here. FOUR STARS.
#109 MARVEL TEAM-UP #8 (July 2005) This is the second part of the “Master Of The Ring” storyline featuring an intergalactic spy called Titannus and the Ringmaster, who acquires a ring made from fragments of the Cosmic Cube. I picked this up in a bargain bin and don’t have any other parts of this story, but no matter. This issue is kind of an interlude and worthwhile for the way that writer Robert Kirkman handles the interaction between The Punisher and Blade.
A vampire coven is meeting some gangsters to sell them guns (before devouring them). Watching from a nearby rooftop is Blade. Sneaking up behind him is The Punisher, who has been trailing the gangsters. What follows is a very amusing stare-down/stand-off between the two with some funny dialogue. The exchange goes on for most of the issue, with artist Jeff Johnson doing a stellar job of capturing the facial expressions and utilizing close-ups in the right way. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Bruce Banner is riding a bus across the mid-west with no particular place to go when he gets a bad feeling that sets his gamma radar off. He exits at a small town where a young girl has been missing for three days and gets involved in the investigation. Near the farm where she disappeared is a secretive government research center experimenting with gamma to grow super-crops. Bruce gets caught snooping around a gap in the protective fencing, and is arrested as suspect number one in the missing persons case. Not long after there are more disappearances as well as mutilated dead bodies.
This calls for some Hulk intervention.
Lemire always tells a good story, especially one that allows him to utilize his small town/countryside roots and he puts that into play nicely. A word about the art: I stopped reading Thor when Mike Del Mundo took over on art. I just didn’t like his lack of definitive lines, and his use of garish colors insulted my eyes. However, his art on this book is a perfect compliment to Lemire’s story. It seems to have evolved a bit and is more appealing. The colors are not crazy and glow-in-the-dark bright. Perhaps the assist on colors by Marco D’Alfonso has tempered Del Mundo’s usual excessive use of red, orange and yellow. I like this much better. FOUR STARS.
#111 UNDONE BY BLOOD, VOLUME TWO #1 or THE OTHER SIDE OF EDEN . .A full review of this appears on the blog for February 05, 2021.
I’m a big fan of crime comics, and also welcome a western tale when it’s done properly. This comics combines the two genres, telling both stories at the same time and using a paperback novel as a linking device.
The western genre is under-utilized in current comics, so don’t expect your local comic shop to bring in a sufficient amount of copies for everyone who wants to read this. Let them know to reserve a copy for you. Later, if you like the story, make sure to order the remaining issues. My Rating: 9 Stars out of a possible 10 Stars.
I read the Witchfinder books out of order, as this is the first appearance of Witchfinder in his own mini-series. Mignola serves up a smorgasbord of horror themes here, ties them together, and makes everything work. I’m enjoying these stories, in spite of the strait-laced, often wooden character of Grey. A longer review can be found on this blog for Sunday, February 07. FOUR STARS.
#117-#119 WITCH HAMMER original graphic novel (Aftershock, 2019)
There is a lot packed into this short (64 pages) horror graphic novel. It's a credit to writer Cullen Bunn that he managed to work it all in without sacrificing from the main story. If you want to read a good horror comic in one sitting, Witch Hammer has more than enough thrills, chills, blood, brutal murders, and witches in abundance to satisfy. FOUR STARS. A full review appears on this blog for Monday, February 08.
#120-121 MANIAC OF NEW YORK #1 and I BREATHED A BODY #1 (Aftershock Comics, 2021) Yes, I’ve written about these before but I keep returning to these issues - - so it counts in the total. Each new reading leaves me with something new to appreciate. In a very good year (2021) for horror comics, these are two of my favorites.
Maniac of New York contains my favorite line: “If you see something, scream something.” There’s some social commentary in the text back matter that speaks to the general gullibility of Americans, and how we become numb through repetition of false and/or distorted statements and images.
I Breathed A Body: I don’t know why I didn’t notice this before, maybe it’s the center image on the cover is so startling, but there’s some strange fungal growths surrounding the body that makes it seem like it’s sprouting in a mushroom bed. I think I may have figured out who the unidentified narrator is in the captions that open the front pages of the story. The statements become even more chilling if they belong to who I think they do. Big recommendation for both of these books. There should still be a few copies available.
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