The Divided Earth is a strong finish to Faith Erin Hicks’ The Nameless City trilogy. A series that has worn its influences on its sleeve while blazing its own path. I’m sure some have looked at the story and thought, “This should be an animated series!” Maybe they’re right, but this trilogy will always feel more at home in the pages of a comic.
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Media depends on and reflects or draws inspiration from whatever goes in the outside world around it. What is currently happening in America right now only adds to the power and sheer brilliance that is Days of Hate. Days ago news reports came that ICE and border control were separating children from their parents at the Mexican border and placing these children in crates. Some outlets compared them to internment camps. I only mention this because these real-world struggles are literally only small steps away from the hellhole that Aleš Kot, Danijel Žeželj, and Jordie Bellaire depict in their harrowing, bone-chilling saga that is Days of Hate. Days of Hate #6 ends the first half of the tale with a bang, placing all of our “heroes” in dire and dangerous territory.
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Slowly the iron curtain is starting to be pulled back ever so slightly in The Dead Hand #3. In the third chapter we are introduced to the smooth-talking counterpart of Carter Carlson, who is simply known as Ellis (people sound much cooler when they only go by one name). Kyle Higgins, Stephen Mooney, and Jordie Bellaire continue their triumphant run with another stellar entry into the fledging series. While the other two entries relied on superb endings (this one does too), the third chapter succeeds more so for it’s subtlety as it introduces new characters and agendas, while hinting that it may not be as it seems.
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Once again I find myself hooked by another twist so cleverly placed at the end of The Dead Hand #2. Each chapter, I feel as if I understand the world of Mountain View and am fairly knowledgeable of its rules only for the end to upheave me. Writer Kyle Higgins, artist Stephen Mooney, and Colorist Jordie Bellaire continue to contort tropes and subvert expectations in the latest issue of The Dead Hand resulting in another standout chapter for the fledgling series.
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Days of Hate #4 continues the series’ hot streak. Writer Aleš Kot and artists Danijel Žeželj and Jordie Bellaire continue to pump out one of the more harrowing and thought-provoking stories this year. Kot has made it stupidly obvious how politically driven this entire tale is as it preys on the fear many United States citizens had after the most recent presidential election. However, this series has succeeded more so due to Kot’s characterization of its core protagonists/antagonists and Žeželj’s art style that makes everything seems not quite right.
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While initially skeptical of its heavy use of narration, story, and characters the last few pages of The Dead Hand #1 throw everything prior in a new light creating fascinating new dynamics on typical cliché tropes. Writer Kyle Higgins, artist Stephen Mooney, and colorist Jordie Bellaire piece together an incredibly suspenseful and thought-provoking tale that holds immense promise for future issues.
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Analog #1 does a lot of things well, but none exceptional. It has humor littered throughout its pages, uncanny contemporary social and technological commentary, and it even resembles classic noir films at specific points. However, it seems that at this point writer Gerry Duggan and artist David O’ Sullivan are missing an element to truly set them over the edge into greatness.
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Days of Hate #2 picks up with Amanda Parker and her partner on the run and Parker’s ex-lover Huan Xing picking up the case on their heels. While this issue doesn’t necessarily advance the plot further, it does provide the quiet character moments that were lacking from the first issue. So far writer Aleš Kot and artist Danijel Žeželj adhere to a traditionally successful formula. Days of Hate #1 makes us care about the world and Days of Hate #2 makes us care about the characters involved.
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After the election in 2016, it wasn’t much of a surprise that storytellers and artists would craft tales that reflect their fears and anxieties regarding its outcome. Many of these stories would indirectly comment on the political climate, substituting President Trump for a cartoonified, easily digestible version. Some even tackled the sex and gender politics through allegory that would inevitably be affected by the new president-elect. It is a surprise, however, that it has taken this long for one story to come that is so direct, haunting, and tangible. For this reason, Days of Hate #1 is certainly not for everyone- especially if you voted for Trump. And while not perfect, Days of Hate deserves to be applauded for the courage from both its contributors and Image Comics.
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This book reminds me a lot of two other recent DC miniseries: Supergirl: Being Super and Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love. At least in terms of tone and writing style. As far as premise goes, it’s much closer to the former. Because, at its core, Mystik U is just a retcon of Zatanna Zatara’s origin. But, it’s one that attempts to justify it by introducing the “Malevolence,” a super-powered threat that has ravaged the magical world. So much so that the only way to stop it is to turn back the clock and beat it before it becomes too big. However, it’s not clear how they’re meant to do so, when it appears that no one has any more of an idea about said Malevolence then, presumably, the first time this all happened. And, if that didn’t already sound like pretense, the rest of the issue makes sure you know it is.
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I want to be completely honest here. Until very recently I had not read a single issue of Redlands. I’m not sure why this is. It’s been on my list. I own all the issues. Just never got around to reading them. So immediately before reading issue #4, I read all the previous issues. Had to catch up. And I am glad I did. Glad I finally got my head out of my ass and read this thing. Because the book’s fucking great. It’s easily the best horror book coming out right now.
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Savage Town is the book that I have been anticipating most this year. Which is kind of funny when you think about it, mainly because I had no fucking idea what the thing was about before I started reading it. I was mainly excited about it because Declan Shalvey's name was attached to it and as a writer no less. But also it was the name – Savage Town's a great title – and the cover. I mean look at that cover. It's a beautiful fucking thing. It’s a cover that doesn't give one single thing about the book away, but it's also a cover that – for me, at least – leads me to want to know what the book's about. I've said this before in a past review: we're told not to judge books by their cover, but the truth is that we do. I know I definitely judge books by their covers (and I know that the saying is more about people than it is about book, but just run with me here). And this one got me all kinds of excited.
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The witches of Redlands are back! Like Dustin pointed out in his review, issue one was more of a prologue. Issue two has the witches running the town as the town’s law enforcement. Redlands doesn’t seem to be aware of who the ladies really are, while they story moves ahead some period of time pretty much to the present day. Now the ladies have a mysterious adversary bent on outing them.
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The South is hot right now, but I ain’t going to lie, it’s wearing on me. Have you been to the south? The only thing it has going for it is the humidity. If in fact vampires, lost gods, witches and high school football coaches are running amok down there then I’ll say on this side of the Mississippi. All incest jokes aside, I am really tired of the backdrop of the South. It’s this year’s dystopian future. All that said, Redlands is worth reading.
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First announced at Emerald City Comic Con, the new ongoing series REDLANDS—created by the all-female team of bestselling, Eisner award-winning Jordie Bellaire (PRETTY DEADLY, Vision, Batman) and critically-acclaimed Vanesa R. del Rey (ZERO, Scarlet Witch, Constantine)—will launch this August.
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After two issues of pretty much straight set-up, we’re back to the action in Batman #18. From the opening page spread of Batman and Bane arguing and fighting in the rain all the way back to their respective childhoods this issue really packs in an emotional/action-packed punch.
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Batman #17 is the second issue of the “I am Bane” storyline. Issue #16 had a more light and comedic tone (except for the last page), and there is a definite tonal change from that issue to this one. Here it is back to business as usual as Batman continues to prepare for the coming of Bane.
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Let me first say that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to review Batman this month. As you know, if you read my review of Batman #15, I was not a fan of that issue. I didn’t like it, but I do feel like I might have been needlessly hard on it in my review. But this issue is the first issue in a new arc (called I Am Bane) so I figured I’d give it a shot.
Read MoreWe begin Britannia #1 with some backstory; back in 60 AD, Nero was in charge of a male dominated world. The only women that held any power were known as the Vestal Virgins. These women are taken from prestigious families while young, sworn to 30 years of celibacy and seem to possess “powers.” These girls use their powers for many different very important things around Rome.
We move to a woman pleading with one of the Roman guards to break away from camp in order to save one of the Vestal girls. At first, the guard refuses, and the woman pleads with him. Meanwhile, we see that the Vestal girl is about to be sacrificed by some masked men. Moments before her demise, the Roman guards burst in and attack. All that survive are the main guard, Axia, and the girl. Soon, however, the room begins to fill with something strange...
Back in Rome, we find out that the cave emits some type of gas, and it is this gas that made the masked men see their gods. It also drove ol' Axia crazy. The Vestal women decide they can cure him and set about to do so. This eventually leads to the girl that Axia saved sleeping with him as a way to “shock” his mind back from that cave. It seems successful, but not everything seems to be right with Axia...
Let's start with the art; awesome. My favorite artist (not comics art, like museum art) is Alphonse Mucha, and this art style is very much like his work. I love the colors of everything. Things are very realistic and detailed and very charming. Even details like the inside of people's mouths (maybe a weird thing to notice) are done well, and it's clear the artist puts a lot of time into his work.
All of the writing and dialogue is good; people talk in a way that you would expect ancient Romans too, but not so over the top that it might be obnoxious to read. Nothing too unexpected with conversations between characters, but still nice dialogue overall.
I enjoyed this book. The art was fantastic, and this is an underused and refreshing time period with a little bit of supernatural thrown in. I will say that overall, and this is a plague to first issues especially, as it was a bit of a slow burn. Not to say that nothing happened, there was violence and sex and all kinds of fun stuff, it just took the very last panel before I saw something that made me really excited. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in either the time period or perhaps if you were into that Spartacus show that was on a while back.
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Britannia #1 Writer: Peter Milligan Artist: Juan Jose Ryp Colorist: Jordie Bellaire Publisher: Valiant Comics Price: $3.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital
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In comics, we tend to be spoiled by the monthly releases from our favorite creators. We forget that those few pages we hold in our hand are the results of months of work that were done months ago just so that we could hold it in our hand on time. It’s why I continue to lean more and more towards trades and graphic novels because you don’t see as many dips on the story or the art. The point of bringing that up is because it feels like ages since we last saw anything from creator Faith Erin Hicks, but in reality, it hasn’t been that long and while we didn’t see a one-shot or a mini from, she was creating an entire books series for us to enjoy. But that rages against our “what have you done for me lately” comic reading mentality, doesn’t it? Clearly, she wasn’t taking a break, but the out of sight out of mind nature of our monthly books probably made more than a few of you forget all about her tremendous work.
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