Having had some success with its deluxe hardcover reissues of the legendary horror anthology Creepy, Dark Horse has decided to simply reboot the title with a mix of new and old material for a summer try-out. (An Eerie revival is also on its way.) Creepy Comics #1 is a pretty entertaining way to kick things off, and should appeal to any and all fans of horror tales, not just old-school revivalists. The cover, a gorgeous piece of work by The Goon’s Eric Powell, is a companion to the feature story inside, “Hell Hound Blues,” by Dan Braun and Angelo Torres; their interpretation of the old Robert Johnson legend is one of the book’s strongest stories. The rest of the book is hit (Joe Harris and Jason Alexander’s “The Curse” and Saskia...
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Creepy returns for summer fun! Well, maybe 'fun' is stretching it a bit, but the horror anthology from yesteryear creeps its way to the new comics rack this week under a magnificent Eric Powell cover featuring the Hell Hound. For those of you Robert Johnson fans reading this review, yes, that Hell Hound. Not a Robert Johnson fan? That's still a wicked cool cover. "Wicked cool" appears to be the theme of this revived collection of deteriorating sequentials. This issue clocks in at 48 pages long and features pin-up work from the godfather of gruesome art, Bernie Wrightson. The new "Creepy" kicks off with a tale from Joe Harris, featuring painted black & white artwork from Jason Shawn Alexander. "The Curse" is a disturbing tale that gives...
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B.P.R.D. has always done a great job of fleshing out the antecedent characters of the Hellboy comic it spun out of. Only recently, starting in earnest in B.P.R.D.: 1946, has the book also started to flesh out the universe’s past as well, all while never straying too far from the proven formula of creepy stories steeped in historical legend. It’s a formula that has yet to feel old in either main title, nor the many spin-off series. It’s a difficult “genre” to categorize well. It has aspects of pulp, horror (of course), and historical fiction. All while maintaining the same tone and mood. The continuity maintained over years now of stories is very impressive, and 1947 never wavers in that execution. Mignola and Dysart introduce a new team...
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One of the best things that could have happened for Buffy the Vampire Slayer was Dark Horse securing Jo Chen for its Season 8 comic. The fact that the series has featured writers who find the original actors’ voices so well plays perfectly off of Chen’s knack for illustrating the actors exactly as you remember them; sometimes even better. *breaks for Giles swoon* Whether they’re falling through the sky at top speed or hugging doggy companions, they look almost alive enough to start talking to you. Chen’s homage to Norman Rockwell with the cover to issue #20 was skillfully realized, but one of my favorites so far has to be her vivid look at Willow “going all veiny” on the front of issue #19 with a frightened Buffy reflected in her pupil....
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As comic fans, we often become anxious about limited series that only contain a few issues simply because three twenty-two page segments usually aren’t enough to build a worthwhile tale. But once and awhile a title comes along that makes us rethink the expertise of the medium. Comics can be good, remember? And Mike Mignola and Richard Corben’s work on the three-part story, “The Crooked Man,” exceeds beyond its two-dimensional page art and word balloons. It’s short, it’s sweet, and there isn’t one panel that shouldn’t be there. “The Crooked Man” lures Hellboy to the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia. The threat of witchcraft and foul curses inspires Hellboy and the newly returned native, Tom Ferrell, to track down the alleged witch, Cora...
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The Hellboy universe and franchise has grown exponentially over the past few years, with more and more recognition coming to the popular Dark Horse series, thanks to two successful film adaptations of the characters about and surrounding the demonic hero, but also due to the intense curiosity of much of the public with all things supernatural. Enter the B.P.R.D. The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense have had their adventures chronicled for only a few years now, but their popularity has brought several limited series over that time. Now comes the latest storyline, B.P.R.D. 1947. Taking place on the heels of the end of World War II, this new mystery seeks to touch on not only a new supernatural case for Professor Bruttenholm,...
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Despite the fact that the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. franchise has ballooned over the years and creator Mike Mignola rarely has the time to illustrate any of these stories, the various mini-series and one-shots over the years have managed to achieve a surprisingly consistent visual style. Artists like Guy Davis are skilled at weaving Mignola's signature heavy blacks and Gothic stylings in with their own style. Every so often, though, an artist is brought in who deviates from this accepted style. And that's when I tend to take particular notice. In the case of B.P.R.D. 1947, two separate artists are coming on board who don't necessarily evoke comparisons to Mignola. Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon rose to prominence as the twin artists on Matt...
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If forced to pick a favorite genre of manga, my choice would be surprisingly simple. I really love comics about the recently deceased. I'm not talking about ghost stories in general, though these examples fall under that umbrella. I'm more interested in stories about the travel agents who help these displaced spirits move on to whatever comes next. There are several reasons for this. The agnostic in me likes the democracy of the afterlife systems portrayed in these stories. Everyone moves on, regardless of whatever abstract concepts of virtue they manifested in life. There's also orderliness to it; there's an infrastructure in place to make sure even the most reluctant spirit gets where it needs to go. Beyond the generally benevolent...
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Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels is a new mini-series from Dark Horse Comics, written by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola with art by the very talented Ben Stenbeck. From start to finish, it is a tightly woven, masterfully scripted and beautifully illustrated supernatural mystery. The eponymous, Witchfinder, is Sir Edward Grey, a character that first appeared in Hellboy: Wake the Devil. Since then Sir Edward has remained a rather mysterious character and not much is known about him or his past. However, it looks as though “Witchfinder,” aims to rectify that state of affairs and I for one could not be happier. The story starts off as a murder mystery set in Victorian London. Several men are dead and the nature of their deaths is so...
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Creepy Magazine was published by Warren Publishing from 1964 to 1983 and along with its sister magazines Eerie and Vampirella, was the successor to the horror comic throne previously held by EC Comics’ line in the pre-code 1950’s. And what worthy successors they were! Being a magazine, Creepy was able to avoid the restrictive code and publish moody, atmospheric tales of vampires, werewolves, voodoo dolls and haunted houses. The third volume in the Dark Horse Archives collects issues 11-15 of Creepy in all their black and white glory. With fantastically spooky stories that range from psychedelic mind-trips to standard ghost stories, there’s a story in here for every taste and a wide variety of artistic styles as well. Horror fans will...
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The third Creepy collection starts strong, but by the last of the five issues of the 1960s horror-comics magazine it presents, there’s a noticeable dip in quality as the original lineup of artists is supplemented by a number of newcomers, most of whom aren’t quite up to the standard of the original lineup. On the other hand, many of the most talented veterans remain, including Reed Crandall, Alex Toth, and Steve Ditko; and the new recruits include one marked standout, Neal Adams, who would soon revolutionize superhero comics with his innovative illustrative approach at DC Comics. - Gordon Flagg...
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This first volume of Dark Horse’s Eerie Archives reprints issues 1–5 of the classic Warren Publishing horror comic magazine Eerie. The book is a deluxe, oversized, coffee-table book, and the issues themselves are reprinted in their original black and white, save for the brilliant and dazzling covers of issues 2–5, by Frank Frazetta and Gray Morrow. The stories, originally published on relatively cheap paper, are lavishly reproduced here on wonderfully thick and white paper stock, making this book quite the weighty tome. Overall production values are well beyond first class. The book looks luxuriant and select. Holding it in your hands, it feels substantial and exclusive. The book opens with an informative and rather delightful two-page...
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April 15, 2009: Rex Mundi (Review)
Welcome to the world of Rex Mundi, the religious murder mystery Johnny Depp plans to bring to the big screen. Times Online in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics is offering you the chance to read for free the first issue of the critically acclaimed comic by writer Arvid Nelson and artist EricJ. Like Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, which came after it, Rex Mundi deals with shadowy religious societies, codes embedded in famous paintings and books, Templar Knights and the secret of the Holy Grail. The plot centres on Julien Sauničre, a doctor who stumbles onto a sinister conspiracy after a priest friend calls on him to investigate the theft of a medieval scroll, which “holds the key to an ancient riddle that threatens to drown the world in...
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Several leads in Endo’s sf epic repair to Australia. En route, Elijah, who stumbled into drug-gang-ridden Peru bearing discs full of something momentous way back when, goes from sniping on a drug bust to having a cyborg girl get him out of an airliner under attack the hard way. Scientists Mishima and Shivan get Down Under, too, to inspect the new manifestation of the Disclosure Virus, descendent of the humungous plague of a generation ago. Maya, the “‘human consciousness and personality’ design” on those discs of Elijah’s, figures in both developments; in fact, Elijah’s new sidekick contains Maya. Eden’s still riveting, still good-lookin’ in its eleventh installment. - Ray Olson...
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Finally what Vampire Hunter D fans have been yearning for - a set of figures based on renowned Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano’s illustrations within Hideyuki Kikuchi’s classic and legendary Vampire Hunter D series. The figurine set is based on the novels by Hideyuki Kikuchi that has gone from cult classic to become an international sensation, Vampire Hunter D has spawned a manga series and two animated feature films that have all captured the imagination of vampire fanatics around the world. But none has done so more than the original novels that held the fantastical and utterly creative imagery of artist Yoshitaka Amano. This set of three PVC figures are based on the characters from the first novel which became the story for the first...
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Well the double dare challenge in Steve Niles newest CRIMINAL MACABRE series CELLBLOCK 666 is to keep his main character grounded in reality while taking a shortcut through witchcraft. Thing is, once you cross that line, there’s no going back, even if it is a one time gig. Because if Cal McDonald never uses a magic trick again, it will always be questioned against him and writer Steve Niles as to why he used it in the first place. Granted, Cal is sitting in a jail cell, getting death threats from other prisoners and beatdowns from the guards, he’s still been through worse. And that’s a particularly good memory to not only draw the symbol on the prison grounds, but also to recite the words without coughing through it like a certain...
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In the introduction to this first volume of Weird Tales, editor Scott Allie has penned a loving homage to any fan who's ever taken up a pen or pencil to write or draw their favorite comic book characters. He indulges in a bit of hyperbole, perhaps, when he says that the character of Hellboy has probably inspired more artistic fans than any other character. However, judging by the contents of this volume, comic professionals sure have a hankering to draw Big Red. Their clamoring for a chance to draw him led directly to the creation of this series -- their own outlet for indulging in their wildest Hellboy imaginations. Weird Tales, Volume One collects the first four issues of the series, with thirteen stories that differ vastly in art...
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The Goon is the product of a contentedly demented mind. You've got a Hobo Demon God terrorizing children because they've eaten cake and refuse to share it. You've got a birthday party (see: cake). And you've got an interlude involving Eric Powell, Frank Darabont, and Animal-Costume-Related Rape. This issue also happens to signal the comic's 10th Anniversary. One gets the impression that Powell created The Goon just so he could have twenty to thirty pages at a time where he could just draw whatever he felt like, whether it's ratty newsboys or a thug punching a slithering hobo god in the gut. While that might not lend itself to the most in-depth mythology, that lack is made up for a hundred fold in the comic's insurmountable charm....
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Very few comics went through as many permutations as Matt Wagner’s Grendel, and none were more satisfying in the long run. Beginning as an interesting anti-heroic twist on the standard superhero actioner, it quickly grew into a more profound meditation on the nature of violence, with “Grendel” growing from the masked pseudonym of the main character to a demonic stand-in for the persistence of madness. Grendel: Devil’s Reign was the final story arc when the series wrapped up in 1990; written by Wagner and drawn by Tim Sale, it takes place in the far future, where corporate titan Orion Assante helps restore order to a world wracked by vampire attacks and the collapse of a corrupt Catholic Church. Eventually consolidating his political...
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If for nothing else, Hellsing Volume 9 was notable for spurring me to an action I absolutely loath: visiting a bookstore merely to read manga without any intention of buying something. This was, however, an unfortunate necessity brought about by the horrid span of time existing between releases, making it all but impossible to clearly recall lesser details concerning the current battle royal fought by England, Vatican forces, and the Millennium army’s hoard of Nazi vampires. Now, I do own the previous books, but with the series’ ridiculously sporadic publishing schedule, at this point they’ve come to reside in one of many boxes littered throughout my residence. So availing myself of a local chain-store’s frequently manhandled stock was...
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Hellboy visits the baby that he saved years ago from being switched with a changeling. She's matured into an enchanting Irishwoman, and the sparks between the two fly off naturally paced dialogue. Mignola measures every word spoken. He times pauses to allow the reader to feel the impact of what was said. He makes the talk relevant to the plot, and at the same time he uses speech to draw the characters together. Duncan Fegredo aids Mignola by imbuing realistic gestures to "the girl." She brushes back her hair in one panel, a tell-tale sign that she likes the other conversant. He creates through her an illusion of eye contact with Hellboy that strengthens the growing bond. Even when Hellboy isn’t featured in the panel, she looks up at...
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Hellboy was first introduced in a comic book in 1993, and as you can imagine, many collections of those works have been published through the years. His origins begin in Seed of Destruction, and his long story continues in several more (Wake the Devil, The Right Hand of Doom, Strange Places, among others). Luckily, any book in the Hellboy storyline is a good jumping-on point, as creator Mike Mignola keeps the story open to both old and new readers, never convoluting the tale in the insular way that some older series can develop. Hellboy is, as his name would imply, a demon, but fortunately, he fights against evil rather than for it. He first came to earth in 1944, summoned by the Nazis as a tool they hoped to use to conquer the world....
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There’s a quiet mansion in the countryside of England. Deep inside, an elite force of vampire hunters trains for its secret battle against the infestation of vampires spreading across Europe. The Hellsing Organization, a.k.a. The Royal Protestant Knights, is run by the ruthless Integra Hellsing, a descendant of Dr. Van Hellsing himself. She will stop at nothing to seek out and destroy the monsters and the puppet masters that plague mankind. At the heart of Hellsing is its secret weapon Alucard, an ancient vampire bound to serve the Hellsing family by Integra’s father. At the start of the manga, Alucard offers to save a police officer named Seras Victoria by granting her eternal life as a vampire, but it has to be her choice. Die or live...
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Once more into the breach with Hideyuki Kikuchi’s prolific vampire hunter, although for this installment, D’s adventure comes in aggregate. For the series’ tenth volume, Vampire Hunter D: Dark Nocturne, a trio of short stories is on offer, attempting to distill the franchise’s essence into potent yet delicious cocktails. With most of the previous volumes clocking-in under 200 pages, rarely have the D books felt overly lengthy and in need of serious trimming; rather, I’ve usually found myself wanting just a few extra chapters, fleshing out characters, concepts, and allowing for more vivid imagery. So then it’s curious that these three brief tales manage to hit something of a sweat spot, displaying relatively ideal mixtures of exposition...
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Somehow, I was one of the few people who picked up the Berserk manga without ever realizing there was an anime. I had read what I thought was “dark” manga before. It turns out, however, that Berserk has all of those other series trumped. Executions, torture, hideous monsters, dismemberment, and gallons of blood soak the majority of the pages in volume one. That being said, Berserk is not an exercise in tasteless, mindless violence. The story follows Guts, a lone swordsman traveling through a medieval fantasy world. He is seeking revenge against a group he calls “The God Hand” although precious few details are revealed about his reasons for doing so. His quest brings him into contact with those who have traded their humanity for demonic...
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