MY WEEK IN COMICS - - - for the week ending Sunday, July 25
#460-#465 = BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NOBODY SEES #1-#6 with story, art, covers, and coloring by Patrick Horvath (IDW Publishing, July 2025)
How deceptive and devious this book is! . . . . and I love it. If you casually read this and gloss over certain shocking images you might think you’re reading a children’s illustrated book. The cursive lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou certainly helps enhance the effect.
After all, this is a fantasy world centered around a small village where everyone knows everyone and inhabited by cute animals dressed in clothes, walking on two legs and conversing. Plus, there are actual real animals interspersed throughout the story. Don’t miss the talking bear’s encounter with the real bear - it’s a hoot.
Samantha the talking bear dresses appropriately for the owner/manager of a small hardware store and is extremely helpful and friendly. However, she’s apparently a loner and has some serial-killer fascinations. When she gets the urge she travels to the big city for her victims and spares her village.
When a murder occurs in her town and the body is left on display during a holiday parade, Samantha will become the prime suspect as she was instrumental in setting up the parade float where the body was discovered. Are her urges becoming too strong for her to confine her murders to the big city?
By Issue #2 it becomes apparent that there is a killer within the town who is sloppy and careless and might draw attention to what Samantha has been doing. So, she decides to become the prime investigator and flush the suspect out.
Her early detective efforts take her down the wrong rabbit hole, but eventually she ferrets out the killer, who turns out to be a big admirer of her. Samantha wants a truce, but things don’t go her way and soon she is on the run. I won’t spoil it any further, but I love the turnabout that concludes the story.
Whimsical and wicked at the same time. Just how I like my children’s literature. Looking forward to the second story arc. FIVE STARS.
#466-#469 = THE EXORCISM AT 1600 PENN #1-#4 of 4 by Hannah Rose May and Vanesa Del Rey (IDW Publishing, October 2024-March 2025)
Synopsis on the Goodreads website . . . . .
The most famous address in the U.S. becomes the center of an epic struggle in this chilling supernatural-horror graphic novel!
Kelly Doyle has just been elected the first female president of the United States of America, and boiling political tension could spill over at any second. Having to balance being a mother to two teenagers and navigating the shifting media landscape, all while preventing World War III, has Kelly spread thin, but she could never predict that the nation’s hallowed halls would soon become a demonic battleground for good versus evil.
If you like well-written stories that build the suspense slowly then you may find this very satisfying. Great political drama. Great family drama. Supernatural undertones.
There’s a lot of attention-grabbing scenes in the extra-sized debut issue. I’m impressed with May’s writing as well as Del Rey’s art (much better and more expressive than her work on THE CREEPING BELOW recently).
A newly-elected female President of the United States. Mixed race family. A pending crisis. Political opposition and plenty of critics. Her kids adjusting to a new school and new attention. A creepy shadowy presence in the White House.
There are two divergent storylines that don't fully converge until mid-way through the third act. That serves to keep readers guessing whether the threat is political or supernatural. I won't give too much away, but the fourth and final act makes it clear that this is predominantly a horror story. The ending was not disappointing, but anticipated.
The art, in my opinion, was always challenging to view. Del Rey's style is not for everyone, and seemed to get a little sloppy with an unfinished look in several places. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#470 = VANISHING POINT #3 by Mark Russell and Alberto Ponticelli (Mad Cave Studios, July 2025) “Cell Structure” So far, I am loving this collection of one-shot science fiction stories, all told by the inventive Mark Russell and illustrated by a different artist each issue.
This time it’s far in the future on Earth, CE 6219. A gigantic cubic structure hovers above the land. It’s a research station studying alien species. They are isolated in single cells similar to a prison. Most do not survive the inspections and later are dissected.
“Keeping aliens under glass is no small matter . . . The slightest breach can release genetic contagion into the rest of the lab . . . A constant reminder . . . of just how toxic we can be.
Whenever we move one of the subjects, there is this whole decontamination procedure that must be followed. A basic law of nature being - - - that we carry within ourselves the seeds of each other’s destruction.”
An alien captive with a decentralized nervous system finds a way to escape, and this puts the whole project in jeopardy. You’d be wrong if you thought you could identify the “humans” or “Earthlings”. Also, the art by Ponticelli deserves a shout-out. THREE AND THREE-QUARTER STARS.
#471 = TEXARCANUM #1of 4 by Christopher Monfette and Miguel Martos (Dark Horse Comics, July 2025) It was the weird, detailed art of Martos and some cool coloring by Patricio Delpeche that got my attention and prompted me to give this a chance.
The publisher’s synopsis: “America is a melting pot for the supernatural. Ghosts and gods, angels and demons, horror stories and tall tales. They’ve traveled from across the globe to collide in the rural Heartland . . . and cowboy arcanest Avery Belle has spent a very long lifetime amongst them. . . . . . Horror noir meets Elmore Leonard in the mystic midwest.”
If only this truly was comparable to the late great Elmore Leonard. That’s a bold claim . . .and it’s not even close. Also, Avery Belle has his
moments (especially some of his wry, cryptic comments . . . but he’s also no John Constantine.
Still, this has a lot of promise and serve as an introduction to the character. Belle is called to Texarkana as a series of biblical plagues seems to descend on the small town: locust swarms, dead cattle, hailstorms, boils and sores crippling and killing townsfolk, speaking in tongues and levitating, possible contaminated water. The investigative trail leads to an encounter with a vicious Wendigo.
But that’s not all. Belle will be hanging around here for the next issue at least, and will have to deal with a supernatural blood feud.
The debut issue is prefaced in a scene from the early days of America when white settlers were still migrating westward. They encounter a curious old monocled man in black who suggests they not travel any farther and be content with their present location. That is ignored, and they pay a nasty price. That same old man is seen in present day observing Belle from afar as the issue ends. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS, and promising enough that I will come back for Issue #2.
#472-#475 = UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: THE MUMMY #1-4 of 4 written and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks (Image Comics/Skybound, March-June 2025)
Hick’s version of the 1932 film stays very close to the characters, plot, and elements of the original. It’s probably the truest version yet in these new adaptations of Universal classic monster films. The film was the least of my favorites, as I managed to catch all the Universal movies on late night Chiller Theaters, etc.; and they put a stamp on my young impressionable mind. This mini-series is also my least favorite, but it does have its’ merits.
Imhotep, the ancient Egyptian mummy, was killed for attempting to resurrect his dead lover (Anck-es-en-Amon). In 1912 Thebes, his body is discovered and accidentally brought to life. After killing a few archaeologists, Imhotep disguises himself as Ardith Bey and searches for his lost love. He finds her in the person of Helen, daughter of one of the archaeologists, who has grown up with a singular voice in her head conversing with her. Her resemblance to Anck-es-en-Amon is striking, and Imhotep plans to kill Helen and release the spirit of his lover so they can be together.
Hick’s art style is well-suited to middle-grade and young adult graphic novels, and it works well here. The only variance in her version of the story is a stronger focus on the lover relationship between the two ancient ones.
Enjoyable, and well-done - but not comparable to the amazing job done on the Dracula and Frankenstein adaptations. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#476-#477 = PREDATOR: BLACK, WHITE & BLOOD #1 (Marvel Comics, September 2025) When I hear something called a black and white comic - - I’m thinking pencil and ink only, with shades of black and gray. This title isn’t full color, but there is quite a bit more than just black and white. There’s a lot of two-tone panels, where the other color may be blue or shades of brown, etc. There’s also plenty of red and green, used with discretion, and very effective. This is a cool book to look at.
The best of the three stories here is “Bloodwood, Part 1” by Joe Kelly and Alvaro Lopez. Back in the days when Australia had a young and booming gold mining industry, papa moves his family there to work for the Bloodwood Mining Concern. He dies on company business. Young Millicent’s mother turns to prostitution to keep them from starving . . and she dies. Millicent goes to work as a serving maid.
Big Jim runs a tight ship and pushes his miners and camp workers past their limits. One night Millicent gets to witness their entertainment, which is sending a pack of dogs against a captured, one-armed Predator. I smell a rebellion.
“Once And Future” by Eliot Rahal and Brian Level places Predators back in merry ‘ole England and suggests that they had an influence on the legend of King Arthur, Merlin, and Excalibur.
“A Place Of Honor” by Sarah Gailey and Fran Galan sets the action inside the Bay-O-Net annual weaponry conference. Now, introduce a Predator into the trade show and we’ll see how brave all these gun advocates are when they become prey. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS OVERALL. I’m coming back for Issue #2, mainly for “Bloodwood, Part 2” and then we’ll see.
#478 = NEWS FROM THE FALLOUT #1 by Chris Condon and Jeffrey Alan Love (June 2025) The publisher’s synopsis:
Writer CHRIS CONDON (THAT TEXAS BLOOD, Ultimate Wolverine) teams with visionary artist JEFFREY ALAN LOVE (The Last Battle at the End of the World, The Thousand Demon Tree) for a thrillingly dark sci-fi horror story unlike any you've seen before! In 1962 Nevada, a nuclear bomb test goes horribly awry and unleashes a contaminate into the atmosphere that turns people rotten. Otis Fallows, a private in the U.S. Army who is present for the test and is the only known survivor, flees the secret army base in search of a safe haven—but does such a place exist?
That tells enough to get a feel for what’s in store here - a sci-fi/horror story with . . . fallout victims transformed into “zombies”. My excitement level has been lowered, probably because I’ve recently reached my zombie tolerance limit. I expected more from Condon (whose That Texas Blood crime stories I absolutely love).
But there are still interesting touches of his rich character portrayal style here: the manic General McCoy (who sets it all off), the domineering Corporal who brow beats the Privates, and the compliant Private Fallows of the desperate survival skills. Also, the black and white art by Love makes maximum use and effect of shadows and silhouettes. His style reminds me a little of Ralph Steadman (Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, the illustrated novella).
I’m not going to commit to this series . . . yet. I want to see the reviews on succeeding issues. If this plays out well, I’ll get the trade paperback. If it turns out to be just another in a mountain of zombie fare, then I’ll save my money. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
No comments:
Post a Comment