EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m introducing a new irregular column to shine a spotlight on select comics publishers, beginning here with MAD CAVE STUDIOS. Thanks to Captain Blue Hen Comics for sharing their Mad Cave sampler bundle with me. I’m already familiar with some, but not all of these titles. My first introduction to Mad Cave’s offerings was BATTLECATS #1, an impressive debut and a fantasy world similar to the Thundercats but not a direct copy of that classic cartoon/comics series.
Here’s the introductory summary/about us statement from Miami, Florida MAD CAVE STUDIOS:
Driven by madness and committed to quality. Mad Cave Studios, established in 2014 by Mark London, provides quality entertainment with a fresh take on an array of genres. From fantasy and action to sci-fi and horror, Mad Cave Studios publishes stories that resonate with unapologetic and authentic audiences.
By visiting Mad Cave website readers can download a free sample Issue #1 of each of these profiled titles, with the exception of DRY FOOT.
NOTTINGHAM #1 (Fourth printing, 2021) I’ve written about this mini-series before, which I consider the best title to emerge from the Mad Cave.
I’m assuming it’s their best-selling title as well, based on the quick rise in valuation on comics pricing websites and the number of second, etc. printings of various issues.
NOTTINGHAM is a spin on the Robin Hood legend, with Hood and his Merry Men going well beyond the “rob the rich, give to the poor” mantra.
As they dispatch various heads of state in bloody fashion, the new chant is “England is sick. We are the cure.”
New roles (compared to the legend) for Maid Marion and Everhard Blackthorne, the Sheriff of Nottingham and the most interesting character here with a fascinating back-story. The art and colors are gorgeous, with a very appealing angular style.
If you want to sample what Mad Cave has to offer, I recommend you begin here. NOTTINGHAM is available in trade paperback. FIVE STARS.
The coloring throughout is interesting - lots of monochromatic color schemes and an abundance of pink and blue tones. I'm not sure there is a method to their placement, perhaps just a means to create a strange, unnatural feel to the events that occur here.
In 1999 Colorado, Shae and her two teenage friends plus tag-along younger brother Kenny are hanging around outdoors, chatting about a role-playing game while Kenny watches the stars. They all experience a lapse in memory and find themselves on the observation deck of a water tower. Kenny suffers a dangerous fall, and needs a wheelchair to recuperate. The incident raises many questions from both police and family, while Kenny insists they were taken by "sky people" which causes his parents to suspect that he's gone mad or possibly suffering from a drug (LSD) overdose.
Flash forward to the present. Shae works as an astronomer. Kenny is still obsessed with aliens that speak to him in his dreams and is interviewed by a podcaster obsessed with alien abduction and government coverup theories. Kenny disappears and this brings all the friends back together to try and find him. Who, what, why, when and where are revealed in the final issue. FOUR STARS.
SAVAGE BASTARDS #1 (First printing, 2020) This is the final book reviewed here that I was already familiar with, although I did not follow this one after Issue #1. SAVAGE BASTARDS is an interesting western with two lawless bastards together on the run from the law.
The art is a little different, a lot of small panels, often with great detail that reminds me of the feel and style employed on THE SIXTH GUN (Oni Press), although there are no mystical elements to this story.
Rose Franklin is a gunslinger, and a black woman who’s been running for most of her life. She ends up being cornered by cruel The Spider and his posse. Elliot Wright is a young barber from a small Texas town with weird disturbing dreams. He meets Samuel Franklin, the son of Rose and learns that he and Samuel share a unique bond: both of their mothers were abused concubines of the cruel Darragh MacDougal who rules from the Tower of Eternity in the center of the Red Sands. Wright, through his new association with Franklin, becomes a wanted man. THREE STARS.
A horror story set in the Depression era involving a traveling carnival and a monstrous beast killing farm animals wherever the show sets up camp.
A young orphan (not necessarily) girl wanders into the carnival and lands a job cleaning up after the animal curiosities. A gypsy vouches for her, identifying young Loralye as possessing something hidden, dark and fantastic that will make her right at home with them.
Loralye makes quick friends with Flipsy, the mentally challenged acrobat who shares the bond of abandoned orphan with her. When the townsfolk suspect the animal raids are related to the carnival they show up with guns to demand the show move on. Flipsy has an accident that marks a dramatic change in Loralye’s makeup. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
DRY FOOT #1 (Second printing, 2020)
This is an interesting crime story which normally appeals to me, but is the least favorite of this quintet of samples.
Miami, Florida 1984. A quartet of young disgruntled residents of Little Havana come up with a sketchy plan to rob a violet, nasty drug kingpin.
They plan to hit Del Oceano, the night club owned by El Viejo used as a base for moving drugs, by entering through an unguarded locked door in the back alleyway. Can they pull it off? I don’t know, but I suspect something is going to go horribly wrong.
THREE STARS.
This was a great read!
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