PGHHEAD'S 2022 COMICS ODYSSEY, Part Twenty-Nine

PGHHEAD’S 2022 COMIC ODYSSEY, PART 29

    In 2021 I set a goal to post reviews here for 1,000 comics, and finished the year at 1,008 reviews. It was a stretch  - - not to read that many comics, because I actually read quite a bit more. The challenge is to find and take the time to write a fair review of what I read - - but I made it. I’m up for a new year, and a new challenge. My goal for 2022 is to read and document 1,200 comics. That’s an average of 100 books per month, easy enough to check and update. Wish me luck!

# GOAL FOR July 30, 2022 . . . 700 comics documented

CURRENT COUNT . . . . . 671 comics documented

 

#644 - #648  DAMNED, CURSED CHILDREN Trade Paperback by Howard Wong and Josh Stafford with art by Robin Simon Ng (Source Point Press, 2021)  Some classic zombie films have started straight out with action scenes (Night Of The Living Dead, 28 Days Later, for example). Here's the threat, right in your face, and off we go. The good ones maintain that edge-of-your-seat pace throughout, never mind the details - - we'll get to the why's and how's later or not at all, maybe just hint at the causes. 

     DAMNED CURSED CHILDREN starts out exactly like that, as if we just walked into the movie twenty minutes after it began. However, it's harder to maintain that pace in a comic compared to film. Give the creative team credit - - they certainly tried. But, after five issues of chase and evasion, escape and flight, chase and evasion, escape and flight, on and on - - it gets to be a bit much.

     As much as we learn about the group of characters thrown together by circumstances, it's difficult to empathize with any of them- especially since a few are real shits. Naturally, they don't all make it to the last page. There is a resolution of sorts, as the remaining survivors hear a bit of news on the car radio. But it's too vague. 

     I would have liked some explanation. Why are only children affected? What caused this? Instead we get five issues of chase and evasion. The saving grace is the intriguing black-and-white art, which recalls the glory days of EC Comics, Creepy and Eerie magazines. Worth a look, but don't expect too much. Pure escapist entertainment.  THREE STARS.

#649 - #656  MARJORIE FINNEGAN, TEMPORAL CRIMINAL trade paperback by Garth Ennis and Goran Sudzuka (AWA/Upshot, 2021)  

Garth Ennis writes a science-fiction humor book, and it works incredibly well! I thought his well-known satirical bent, cynicism, less respectful attitude toward established organizations, and general snarkiness would make this hard to pull off and still be funny - - but it is! 

     Also, the choice of Goran Sudzuka, the same artist that Ennis collaborated with on the grim but superb A WALK THROUGH HELL seemed odd to me, but Sudzuka shows his lighter side, and the images are very expressive and add to the humor. 

     Of course, the trademark ultra-violence and foul language are here along with some sexy sidebars and innuendos and school-boy humor, but it just wouldn't be an Ennis creation without it. If you want to introduce your friends to Ennis' works (and you should) but feel THE BOYS might be too over-the-top and extreme an introduction, try suggesting this one. I'm still laughing. 

  FOUR STARS.

#657 - #671  SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN, BOOK ONE DELUXE EDITION hardcover by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’edera (Boom! Studios, October 2021)  This over-sized deluxe hardcover edition that collects the entire 15-issue story arc is the perfect way to read this engrossing and disturbing tale of horror. If you're bothered by stories featuring child or animal killings then let the title of this book serve as an appropriate disclaimer/warning.

     While I was pulled into Tynion's crazy story from the very beginning, it took a few issues to warm up to Dell'edera's art style and Muerto's colorations. However, as I read further I began to appreciate how much the art team fully embraced this story and enhanced the atmosphere of dread with specific choices of images and shading. 

     Main character Erica Slaughter is a fascinating blend of Buffy and other strong female characters. Her depiction begins as mysterious and dark and then becomes more absorbing and empathetic as the situation progresses and gets worse for the troubled town. The supporting cast (James, Tommy, and others) is strong and well-developed. 

     The main story/conflict was deeply troubling and provided plenty of suspense. Tynion begins to reveal more layers of Erica's background as the story moves beyond the initial single monster threat and morphs into a bigger problem that involves the secretive order that she reports to. I love rebellious characters with integrity and a personal code of morality, and Erica has it in spades.  FIVE STARS.