#IReadsYou Review: BLACULA: Return of the King

BLACULA: RETURN OF THE KING

ZOMBIE LOVE STUDIOS

STORY: Rodney Barnes

ART: Jason Shawn Alexander with Scott Hampton

COLORS: Jason Shawn Alexander

LETTERS: Marshall Dillon

EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello

COVER: Jason Shawn Alexander

ISBN: 978-1-958509-00-5; paperback (January 31, 2023)

128pp, Colors, 19.99 U.S., $26.50 CAN

Rated “T+ / Teen Plus” or “16 years and up”

Blacula: Return of the King is a full-color, original graphic novel (comic book) that is based on Blacula, a 1972 vampire horror and Black exploitation film.  Published by Zombie Love Studios, Blacula: Return of the King is written by Rodney Barnes; drawn and colored by Jason Shawn Alexander (with some contributions from artist Scott Hampton); and lettered by Marshall Dillon.  Barnes and Alexander are the creators of the dark fantasy and vampire horror comic book, Killadelphia (Image Comics).

Blacula the film starred renowned African-American actor, William Marshall.  He played the film's title role, an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde.  In the year 1780, after a dispute, Count Dracula punishes Mamuwalde by turning him into a vampire and cursing him with the name “Blacula.”  Dracula seals Mamuwalde in a coffin that he hides deep in a crypt in his castle in Transylvania.  Blacula reemerges in the United States in 1972 where he pursues a human woman in what turns out to be a doomed romance.

Blacula: Return of the King opens in modern Los Angeles.  Tina Thomas, a young African-American reporter, writes for “Dark Knights,” a blog that “chronicles all things unnatural, uneasy, and undead in the greater Los Angeles area.”  For the past six months, people have been disappearing, and the word on the street and rumors from the shadows insist that the legendary vampire that haunted Los Angeles in the early 1970s has returned to kill.  That's right; Blacula's back.

During her reporting, Tina meets Kross, a young Black man whose family has been plagued by the curse of Blacula since his first appearance.  Kross leads a group of children, a band of “Lost Boys,” if you will, and all have also been hurt by the plague of undead that follows Blacula's blood lust.  Kross and his boys are determined to hunt and to kill Blacula, and before long, Tina finds herself joining them.

Blacula is also on a mission – his own kind of hunt.  He is searching for the one who forever changed his life centuries ago and cursed him with the mocking name, “Blacula.”  His enemy's name is Count Dracula, and that's right.  Dracula's back, too.

THE LOWDOWN:  I want and need to convince you, dear readers, to read Blacula: Return of the King.  It may be the most inventive and artistically ambitious graphic novel about a vampire since Jon J. Muth's Dracula: A Symphony in Moonlight and Nightmares, which was originally published by Marvel Comics in 1986.

The art and coloring by Jason Shawn Alexander is at times regal and elegant, as if hinting at what Prince Mamuwalde once was.  At other times, it is a blustery and frantic, desperate and stormy, and impressionistic and insane.  It is in these moments that the storytelling reminds reader of the backdrop to the horrific melodrama.  The victims of both Blacula and Dracula, as well as their undead acolytes, are the lower classes, the poor, and those living on the edge of an already frayed society.

That is why what writer Rodney Barnes offers is a true sequel to the 1972 film.  Blacula the movie was a very “Black” film, and Blacula: Return of the King is a very Black comic book.  Blacula, Tina Thomas, and Kross and his lost boys are all living the legacy of slavery and bondage, which is suffering and degradation.  In a way, the characters are living the best that they can, but they are cursed by history, both national and personal.  Blacula may be a monster, but he kills for food, a fate forced on him.  It is like fate of the young African-Americans characters here, who live in a gloomy world of abandoned and ignored neighborhoods.

Barnes and Alexander have made in Blacula: Return of the King a vampire story that is an amazing layered work – literal, metaphorical, and allegorical horror.  It is a sequel that honors the original and advances the story forward in way that is faithful in spirit and in potential.  And as a horror comic book, it is a damn fun read.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Blacula, of Dracula, and of great vampire fiction will want to read Blacula: Return of the King.

[This issue contains an introduction, “Blacula and Me” by Rodney Barnes.  It also includes “Prince Mamuwalde Lives!: Resurrecting Blacula,” written by Stephen R. Bissette and edited by John Jennings.]

A+

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://twitter.com/zombieloveLLC

https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes

https://twitter.com/jasonshawnalex

https://twitter.com/MarshallDillon

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#IReadsYou Review: Nita Hawes' NIGHTMARE Blog #6

NITA HAWES' NIGHTMARE BLOG #6
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Szymon Kudranski
COLORS: Luis Nct with mar and Silvestre Galotto
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: well-BEE
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jason Shawn Alexander
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (April 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“The Fire Next Time” Part VI: “Revelations”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a comic book series created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander.  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is written by Barnes.  It has been drawn by the artists Jason Shawn Alexander, well-BEE, and Patrick Reynolds, with Szymon Kudranski being the current artist.  Colorist Luis Nct and letterer by Marshall Dillon complete the creative team.  The series focuses on a woman who is on a quest to root out the evil in her city.

In Baltimore, Maryland, which some call “Bodymore, Murderland,” there is a woman named Dawnita “Nita” Hawes.  She is the owner of “Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog” where citizens can contact Nita when they have a problem of a supernatural or paranormal nature.  Nita has just begun her quest to root the evil out of her city – with the help of her dead brother, Jason.

As Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog #6 (“Revelations”) opens, Jason chats with Anansi the Spider-God, about his life and about Nita.  Her first case is a hot mess, and Hell is threatening to spill over into the land of the living.  Now, Jason and Anansi must travel to Hell to free Nita from the one of the four demon kings, Corson, who snatched her soul from her body.  Now, he won't let go, but maybe it isn't necessarily Corson's power that is keeping her in Perdition.

Meanwhile, an elderly, wheel-chair bound Steve Carpenter waits in his mansion for a visit from the man he and his late business partner, Harry Boartfield, screwed over.  That would be one “Howlin'” Henry Hawkins, legendary blues singer and currently possessed by Corson.  Can Nita free her ass in time to save Carpenter's old white ass?

THE LOWDOWN:  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a spin-off of Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's hit vampire comic book, Killadelphia.  Nita's connections to the series play a substantial part in this opening story arc, “The Fire Next Time,” which has now come to an end.

As dark as this series has been, writer Rodney Barnes has found time for humor, and this sixth issue shows that the supernatural are willing to talk shit to one another even with all Hell on the line.  In a strange way, it makes the threat of danger more dangerous or more threatening.  This is another reason why Nita reminds me of John Constantine and his dark fantasy and multitude of moods series, Hellblazer.  However, thus far, Barnes does not make Nita all-powerful, and it seems that he will grow the character before our very eyes.  What is she really and who or what will she be?

Artist Szymon Kudranski offers a mix of graphical storytelling styles – from clean line work and a smooth brushstroke to jarring and pitch-black compositions for the panels in Hell and from Hell.  Kudranski captures the series' signature – hope and damnation – and he conveys the right moods for a story arc that has an ending and also lingering elements and plot lines.

So, wow!  What a ride.  The series takes a quick break, which gives you, dear readers, a chance to read this first case in Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Killadelphia and of the original Hellblazer will want Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes
https://twitter.com/jasonshawnalex
https://twitter.com/luisnct
https://twitter.com/MarshallDillon
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
http://rodneybarnes.com/
https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Image-Comics-Inc/178643148813259
https://www.twitch.tv/imagecomics
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmaKLo0FXWIPx-3n6qs3vQ
https://www.linkedin.com/company/image-comics/


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: KILLADELPHIA #21

KILLADELPHIA #21
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Jason Shawn Alexander with Germán Erramouspe, Sherard Jackson, Nicole Palmquist
COLORS: Luis Nct
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: Jason Shawn Alexander
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Paul Azaceta
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (April 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Killadelphia and Elysium Gardens created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“The End of All” Part III: “The Truth”

Killadelphia is an apocalyptic vampire and dark fantasy comic book series from writer Rodney Barnes and artist Jason Shawn Alexander and is published by Image Comics.  At the center of this series is a police officer caught in a lurid conspiracy in which vampires attempt to rule Philadelphia, “the City of Brotherly Love.”  Colorist Luis Nct and letterer Marshall Dillon complete Killadelphia's creative team.

Killadelphia focuses on James “Jim” Sangster, Jr. and his father, revered Philadelphia homicide detective, James Sangster, Sr., thought to be dead.  He is actually a vampire.  Now father and son lead a ragtag team comprised of a medical examiner (Jose Padilla), a dead president, and a rebellious, but special young vampire (Tevin Thompkins a.k.a. “See Saw”) in a bid to save Philly from an ambitious and murderous former First Lady, Abigail Adams.

Killadelphia #21 (“The Truth”) finds Jose and the Zubiya werewolf pack out on a supply run.  The streets of Philadelphia may be mostly empty because of its vampire apocalypse, but those desperate enough for supplies are out in these streets.  In a ransacked pharmacy, Jose meets some of them, and before long, she the peacemaker between two packs – werewolf and predatory humans.

Meanwhile, See Saw is at a crossroads.  The young vampire is tired of dealing with all the lies he's been told.  Now, George Washington has brought someone who can tell the young blood a new story.  Meet Aelio and hare his tale of “the Eterna.”

THE LOWDOWN:  We are in the middle of Killadelphia's fourth story arc, “The End of All.”  It is outta sight, and individually, so is Chapter Three, which resides under Jason Shawn Alexander's Gustav Klimt-inspired cover.

Writer Rodney Barnes is a writer and executive producer on HBO's event series, “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.”  In Killadelphia, he plumbs the depths of America's original dynasties, in all their layers of secrets, lies, sins, and hidden truths.  One half of issue #21 offers what feels like a much needed happy ending.  The other half presents one of those wonderful Killadelphia histories – an alternative history of magic, mysticism, and secret things.  The truth, as Barnes gives it to us, is always fun to read, although this is the kind of thing that will eventually get Killadelphia labeled “CRT,”
… or woke … or politically correct...

I am always happy to see series artist and co-creator Jason Shawn Alexander and his team draw werewolves.  I may have stated previously that Killadelphia and its connecting series have some of the best drawn werewolves since the late Bernie Wrightson drew them for Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf.

Overall, the graphical storytelling here is quite good.  Here, series of still illustrations come together and flow like moving pictures of shifting moods and settings.  Even within the back story and history, the art gives a sense of change and of time passing.  The heart of Killadelphia is the changing story and the mercurial narrative, and in that, Killadelphia will tell its the truth … or maybe many truths.

Read this issue, dear readers, and discover why other readers are finding their way to Killadelphia – loving it and thirsting for it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of vampire comic books and of exceptional dark fantasy will want Killadelphia.

A+

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes
https://twitter.com/jasonshawnalex
https://twitter.com/luisnct
https://twitter.com/MarshallDillon
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
http://rodneybarnes.com/
https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Image-Comics-Inc/178643148813259
https://www.twitch.tv/imagecomics
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmaKLo0FXWIPx-3n6qs3vQ
https://www.linkedin.com/company/image-comics/


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------

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#IReadsYou Review: DARK BLOOD #6

DARK BLOOD #6 (OF 6)
BOOM! STUDIOS

STORY: LaToya Morgan
ART:  Moisés Hidalgo
COLORS: A.H.G. with Allison Hu (pp. 18-21)
LETTERS:  Andworld Design
EDITOR: Dafna Pleban
COVER: Valentine De Landro
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Juni Ba; Valentine De Landro; Tiffany Turrill
24pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (January 2022)

Dark Blood created by LaToya Morgan

Dark Blood is a six-issue comic book miniseries created and written by screenwriter LaToya Morgan (AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” “Into The Badlands”).  Published by BOOM! Studios, the series is drawn by Moisés Hidalgo and Walt Barna; colored by A.H.G.; and lettered by Andworld Design.  The series focuses on a Black World War II veteran who discovers that he has strange powers.

Alabama, 1955.  After leaving his job at the diner, “Hardy's Eats,” Avery Aldridge, also known as “Double A,” has a fateful encounter with a racist.  Double A is a highly decorated World War II soldier, a former fighter pilot, a member of the soon-to-be-legendary “Red Tails.”  He is expected to act like a boy … when he is actually a very powerful man.  But this is “The Night of the Variance,” and everything is going to start to change – even the things some don't want changed.

Dark Blood #6 opens in 1955 – late into the Night of the Variance.  Avery confronts Dr. Carlisle and Dr. Marshall, and he learns that he is the “Variant,” the one who responded “positively” to their formula (apparently dubbed "Formula 687") and treatment.  Now, his powers are raging, and powerful as he is, it comes with a devastating cost.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Wright has finally caught up with Avery.  If Avery wants to see his wife, Emma, and daughter, Grace, again, the racist lawman insists that he must play by his rules.  But does he?  Can Avery make sure that no one ever goes through what he has?  Can he protect his wife and child?  Will it cost him everything to do this?

THE LOWDOWN:  I recently learned, via “CBS Evening News,” that the United States Air Force museum had been keeping a secret.  In 1949, a team from the famed all-Black “Tuskegee Airmen” won the first “Top Gun” contest.  This contest was a gunnery competition among pilots from across the Air Force.  However, the Air Force's record book listed the winner as “unknown.”

The winners' trophy was hidden in the bowels of the Air Force museum until a historian discovered it in 2005.  Now, the trophy is on display at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.  The Tuskegee Airmen have finally been recognized with Top Gun honor – 73 years after winning the first contest.

The “Red Tails” (the 332nd Fighter Group) were part of the Tuskegee Airmen, and in “Dark Blood,” Avery Aldridge” was a Red Tail.  I didn't take this revelation as mere coincidence that I learned of it less that a week before the release of the final issue of the Dark Blood comic book miniseries.

In Dark Blood, television writer-producer LaToya Morgan (AMC's “TURN: Washington's Spies”) offers a comic book that is steeped in the history of African-American participation in World War II.  Dark Blood is allegorical in the way that it references the “Tuskegee Experiment” (a study which observed the effects of untreated syphilis in Black men).  The series also opens at the dawn of the “American Civil Rights Movement” (1954-68).  Dark Blood has been historical.

Yet it was not until Dark Blood #5 that I realized how much this comic book is also a rip-roaring science fiction yarn.  The series' narrative blood is certainly Black history and culture, but Dark Blood's DNA is pulp science fiction literature.  Its pedigree is the world of weird science fiction and fantasy comic books that emerged after World War II.  While reading issue #5, the sci-fi reality of Dark Blood came at me like a space rocket.

Morgan, artists Moisés Hidalgo and Walt Barna, and colorist A.H.G. have presented readers with a comic book series that looks and feels like it came out of the 1950s.  In an alternate reality, I can see it as something that William Gaines would have published through EC Comics.  Yes, Dark Blood would have been one more nail in EC's coffin, but Morgan's mixture of reality and sci-fi would have been a perfect fit for EC's mixture of morality and blood and guts genre.

Dark Blood #6 offers both – history and drama and also the astounding yearnings of golden age science fiction.  The drama has a powerful resolution, and the super-powers are the fireworks of comic book magic.  Superheroes and mutants – Dark Blood #6 promises readers an interesting future as the series comes to an end.  Whatever may come, what we have now in Dark Blood, dear readers, it is a blast to read.  And if you haven't read it yet, Dark Blood flows at comiXology.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of golden age science fiction and of super science fiction comic books will want to read Dark Blood.

A+

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


Dark Blood trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzzXIYr_FrA&feature=youtu.be
Dark Blood first loook: https://www.boom-studios.com/wordpress/archives/dark-blood-1-first-look/
https://twitter.com/MorganicInk
https://twitter.com/WaltBarna
https://twitter.com/AHGColor
https://twitter.com/andworlddesign

https://twitter.com/boomstudios
https://www.boom-studios.com/wordpress/
https://www.facebook.com/BOOMStudiosComics
https://www.instagram.com/boom_studios/


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------

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#IReadsYou Review: Nita Hawes' NIGHTMARE Blog #5

NITA HAWES' NIGHTMARE BLOG #5
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Szymon Kudranski
COLORS: Luis Nct with mar and Silvestre Galotto
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: well-BEE
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jason Shawn Alexander
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (March 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“The Fire Next Time” Part V: “Soul Searching”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a comic book series created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander.  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is written by Barnes.  It has been drawn by the artists Jason Shawn Alexander, well-BEE, and Patrick Reynolds, with Szymon Kudranski being the current artist.  Colorist Luis Nct and letterer by Marshall Dillon complete the creative team.  The series focuses on a woman who is on a quest to root out the evil in her city.

In Baltimore, Maryland, which some call “Bodymore, Murderland,” there is a woman named Dawnita “Nita” Hawes.  She is the owner of “Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog” where citizens can contact Nita when they have a problem of a supernatural or paranormal nature.  Nita has just begun her quest to root the evil out of her city – with the help of her dead brother, Jason.

As Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog #5 (“Soul Searching”) opens, an elderly, wheel-chair bound Steve Carpenter attends the graveside funeral of his son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.  Once upon a time, Carpenter and his late business partner, Harry Boartfield, owned the recording contract of the legendary blues singer, “Howlin'” Henry Hawkins.  Old Henry gave his body over to one of the four demon kings, Corson, to pay back Carpenter and Boartfield for screwing him over.  Carpenter's kin just happened to be on the worst end of the payback.

Somewhere down below, our new favorite paranormal investigator, Nita Hawes, is philosophizing with a big boss demon.  And if that weren't bad enough, Nita will end up in a still worse place and have to deal with an ex – someone familiar to us.

THE LOWDOWN:  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a spin-off of Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's hit vampire comic book, Killadelphia.  Nita's connections to the series play a big part in this opening story arc, “The Fire Next Time,” which has reached it penultimate issue.

Writer Rodney Barnes approaches Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog with the same force of imagination with which he brings to Killadelphia.  However, Nita Hawes is the eye of the storm in her own series in a way that no single character in Killadelphia is.  In that way, Nita has power in a manner that the character John Constantine had in his series, Hellblazer.  Since DC Comics ruined Hellblazer, Barnes' has created the perfect series to take its place.

Artist Szymon Kudranski current run as the series' artist is straight hellfire.  Kudranski brings Barnes' occult infusions to life with madness and magic, and he makes the “Nightmare” in the title stay nightmarish.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Killadelphia and of the original Hellblazer will want Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog.

A+

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes
https://twitter.com/jasonshawnalex
https://twitter.com/luisnct
https://twitter.com/MarshallDillon
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
http://rodneybarnes.com/
https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Image-Comics-Inc/178643148813259
https://www.twitch.tv/imagecomics
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmaKLo0FXWIPx-3n6qs3vQ
https://www.linkedin.com/company/image-comics/


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

#IReadsYou Review: DARK BLOOD #5

DARK BLOOD #5 (OF 6)
BOOM! STUDIOS

STORY: LaToya Morgan
ART:  Moisés Hidalgo
COLORS: A.H.G. with Allison Hu
LETTERS:  Andworld Design
EDITOR: Dafna Pleban
COVER: Valentine De Landro
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Juni Ba; Valentine De Landro; Ernanda Souza
24pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (December 2021)

Dark Blood created by LaToya Morgan

Dark Blood is a new six-issue comic book miniseries created and written by screenwriter LaToya Morgan (AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” “Into The Badlands”).  Published by BOOM! Studios, the series is drawn by Moisés Hidalgo and Walt Barna; colored by A.H.G.; and lettered by Andworld Design.  The series focuses on a Black World War II veteran who discovers that he has strange powers.

Alabama, 1955.  After leaving his job at the diner, “Hardy's Eats,” Avery Aldridge, also known as “Double A,” has a fateful encounter with a racist.  Double A is a highly decorated World War II soldier, a former fighter pilot, a member of the soon-to-be-legendary “Red Tails.”  He is expected to act like a boy … when he is actually a very powerful man.  But this is “The Night of the Variance,” and everything is going to start to change – even the things some don't want changed.

Dark Blood #5 opens in 1955 – the Night of the Variance.  But this night feels the weight of a time a decade earlier when World War II servicemen, Avery and Henderson, two pilots of the Red Tails, face injustice masquerading as justice in Austria.  Oh, how it resembles the same process of injustice in the United States.  What happened that night may have laid the groundwork for Avery's situation now.

What Avery discovered about himself six weeks before the Night of Variance seemed like a good thing, but this night, there is horror and there must be a reckoning.  As Avery's condition continues to manifest and become more intense, is his search for answers merely going to lead him to something far worse?

THE LOWDOWN:  In Dark Blood, television writer-producer LaToya Morgan (AMC's “TURN: Washington's Spies”) offers a comic book that flows through multiple genres, including science fiction and fantasy, horror, and history.  It has layers and subtexts.  There is metaphor and symbolism and history made reality.  Morgan presents her readers with a beautiful and complex work.

On the other hand, I see the art of Moisés Hidalgo, who has been the regular artist on this series since the third issue.  I read his signs and graphics and symbolism, and I realize that Dark Blood #5 is just so much fun to read.  I feel like a kid again discovering something every time I read a new comic book or new issue of a favorite series.  Even if I were too ignorant to figure out the layers behind this story, Hidalgo turns this tale into a wild adventure of mad scientists, Nazis, and rotten cops.  It is pure escapism, and ain't nothing wrong with that.  Hell, Dark Blood #5 is the magic and the mystery of the Golden Age of Comics before busybodies ruined this outsider art form with the “Comics Code Authority (CCA) in 1954.

A.H.G.'s beautiful colors on Hidalgo's art makes this vintage mode (so to speak) feel so real.  I hope the upcoming final issue of Dark Blood also has a touch of escapist entertainment in it.  I also hope that it isn't the end...

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of modern science fiction and dark fantasy comic books will want to drink Dark Blood.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


Dark Blood trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzzXIYr_FrA&feature=youtu.be
Dark Blood first loook: https://www.boom-studios.com/wordpress/archives/dark-blood-1-first-look/
https://twitter.com/MorganicInk
https://twitter.com/WaltBarna
https://twitter.com/AHGColor
https://twitter.com/andworlddesign

https://twitter.com/boomstudios
https://www.boom-studios.com/wordpress/
https://www.facebook.com/BOOMStudiosComics
https://www.instagram.com/boom_studios/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

#IReadsYou Review: Nita Hawes' NIGHTMARE Blog #4

NITA HAWES' NIGHTMARE BLOG #4
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Szymon Kudranski
COLORS: Luis Nct with mar and Silvestre Galotto
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: well-BEE
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jason Shawn Alexander
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (February 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“The Fire Next Time” Part IV: “When the Music Stops”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a new comic book series created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander.  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is written by Barnes.  It has been drawn by the artists Jason Shawn Alexander, well-BEE, and Patrick Reynolds, with Szymon Kudranski being the artist on the current issue.  Colorist Luis Nct and letterer by Marshall Dillon complete the creative team.  The series focuses on a woman who is on a quest to root out the evil in her city.

In Baltimore, Maryland, which some call “Bodymore, Murderland,” there is a woman named Dawnita “Nita” Hawes.  She is the owner of “Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog” where citizens can contact Nita when they have a problem of a supernatural or paranormal nature.  Nita has just begun her quest to root the evil out of her city – with the help of her dead brother, Jason.

As Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog #4 (“When the Music Stops”) opens, we learn what drove legendary blues singer, “Howlin'” Henry Hawkins, to give his body over to one of the four demon kings, Corson.  In the present, Nita and Anansi the Spider-God take on Henry and discover the legion of monstrosities that Corson has placed in his body.

Nita, however, doesn't take Jason's warning as seriously as she should.  The paranormal investigator is going from hunter to prey.  Who is Corson's ultimate prize?  Plus, some Killadelphia references slide into the story.

THE LOWDOWN:  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a spin-off of Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's hit vampire comic book, Killadelphia.  In fact, Dawnita “Nita” Hawes is the ex-lover of one of Killadelphia's lead characters, Jimmy Sangster, Jr.

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog has established that it is a comic book that can stand on its own.  Well, writer Rodney Barnes offers so much good storytelling in this fourth issue that if it were a cake, it would put the people who tasted it into a diabetic coma.  It is so good that I think it broke my vocabulary.  I can say that Barnes presents Henry Hawkin's back story in a way that definitely made me sympathetic in the context of the “deal with the Devil” that Henry made.

Szymon Kudranski, the artist for Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog #4, does a wonderful job creating this graphical story from Barnes' magical script.  Topped by Luis Nct's splatterfest of nightmarish neon colors, and this fourth issue is a masterpiece.  The devilish cherry on top is Marshall Dillon's lettering that shouts the dialogue like curses.

We have a winner in Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog.  I curse you to read it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Killadelphia and of the original Hellblazer will want Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes
https://twitter.com/jasonshawnalex
https://twitter.com/luisnct
https://twitter.com/MarshallDillon
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
http://rodneybarnes.com/
https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Image-Comics-Inc/178643148813259
https://www.twitch.tv/imagecomics
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmaKLo0FXWIPx-3n6qs3vQ
https://www.linkedin.com/company/image-comics/


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: KILLADELPHIA #19

KILLADELPHIA #19
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Jason Shawn Alexander with Germán Erramouspe
COLORS: Luis Nct
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: Jason Shawn Alexander
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Jae Lee with June Chung; Nick Runge
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (February 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Killadelphia and Elysium Gardens created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“The End of All” Part I: “Hope Springs Eternal”

Killadelphia is an apocalyptic vampire and dark fantasy comic book series from writer Rodney Barnes and artist Jason Shawn Alexander and is published by Image Comics.  At the center of this series is a police officer caught in a lurid conspiracy in which vampires attempt to rule Philadelphia, “the City of Brotherly Love.”  Colorist Luis Nct and letterer Marshall Dillon complete Killadelphia's creative team.

Killadelphia focuses on James “Jim” Sangster, Jr. and his father, revered Philadelphia homicide detective, James Sangster, Sr., thought to be dead.  He is actually a vampire.  Now father and son lead a ragtag team comprised of a medical examiner, a dead president, and a rebellious, but special young vampire (Tevin Thompkins a.k.a. “See Saw”) in a bid to save Philly from an ambitious and murderous former First Lady, Abigail Adams.

As Killadelphia #19 (“Hope Springs Eternal”) opens, Jim Sr. and his allies make their final stand against Abigail Adams.  She is already in the process of dispatching her husband, John Adams, the second President of the United States and a vampire.

Sangster needs allies.  Enter the werewolves of Elysium Gardens.  Abigail also has new allies, including the necromancer Thomas Jefferson!  Will the demons unearthed from America's past threaten the existence of Philadelphia and of the world as we know it?

THE LOWDOWN:  Killadelphia's fourth story arc, “The End of All,” begins.  It is being described as a turning point in the series.

The truth is that most issues of Killadelphia are turning points in the narrative.  Writer Rodney Barnes continues to expand this series beyond – way beyond – its initial description as a vampire comic book.  The characters are rich and complex, and the fact that the characters are who they are … well, it is bold and visionary.  After all, the so-called “Founding Fathers” of the United States were always vampires, so Killadelphia is telling you the truth.  Seriously, just about every issue has something new, sometimes something unseen in mainstream comic books.  Thus, Killadelphia is about changing and turning, transforming the predictable into the unexpected.

Welcome back, Killadelphia.  And dear readers, you don't need to have read the previous issues to enjoy Killadelphia #19.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of vampire comic books and of exceptional dark fantasy will want Killadelphia.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Read You"


https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes
https://twitter.com/jasonshawnalex
https://twitter.com/luisnct
https://twitter.com/MarshallDillon
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
http://rodneybarnes.com/
https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Image-Comics-Inc/178643148813259
https://www.twitch.tv/imagecomics
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmaKLo0FXWIPx-3n6qs3vQ
https://www.linkedin.com/company/image-comics/


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: DARK BLOOD #4

DARK BLOOD #4 (OF 6)
BOOM! STUDIOS

STORY: LaToya Morgan
ART:  Moisés Hidalgo
COLORS: A.H.G.
LETTERS:  Andworld Design
EDITOR: Dafna Pleban
COVER: Valentine De Landro
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Juni Ba; Valentine De Landro; Jonboy Meyers
24pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (October 2021)

Dark Blood created by LaToya Morgan

Dark Blood is a new six-issue comic book miniseries created and written by screenwriter LaToya Morgan (AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” “Into The Badlands”).  Published by BOOM! Studios, the series is drawn by Walt Barna and Moisés Hidalgo; colored by A.H.G.; and lettered by Andworld Design.  The series focuses on a Black World War II veteran who discovers that he has strange new abilities.

Alabama, 1955.  After leaving his job at the diner, “Hardy's Eats,” Avery Aldridge, also known as “Double A,” has a fateful encounter with a racist.  Double A is a highly decorated World War II soldier, a former fighter pilot, a member of the soon-to-be-legendary “Red Tails.”  He is expected to act like a boy … when he is actually a very powerful man.  But this is “The Night of the Variance,” and everything is going to start to change – even the things some don't want changed.

Dark Blood #4 opens in 1955 – the Night of the Variance.  Avery is on the run with Sheriff Wright closing in on him.  Avery is certain that the police have blamed him for an accidental death that occurred behind the diner where he works.  His younger brother, Theodore “Theo” Aldridge, is waiting for him, and li'l bro will be shocked by what Avery has to reveal.

Those revelations include what happened ten years ago in World War II – behind enemy lines – when Avery had an encounter with ... werewolves.  Can Avery clear his name and find out what's really happening to him?

THE LOWDOWN:  I thought that the term “Nazi werewolves” was merely some B-movie or cheap sci-fi/horror trope.  Though Pocket, the reading list service, I discovered Lorraine Boissoneault's article for Smithsonian Magazine that detailed the World War II guerrilla fighters referred to by that name.

In Dark Blood, television writer-producer LaToya Morgan (AMC's “TURN: Washington's Spies”) offers a comic book that flows through multiple genres, including science fiction and fantasy, horror, and history.  It is a reality-based drama that treads the borders of the fantastic the way Rod Serling did in his legendary TV series, “The Twilight Zone.”

On the other hand, Dark Blood #4 throws readers into the thrill of the hunt, as two similar kinds of human wolves hunt Avery, ten years apart.  In this way, Morgan reminds us that there are thrills, chills, and action flowing in Dark Blood.  Like EC Comics' famous war comics titles, Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales, Dark Blood drops readers behind enemy lines into the treachery and menace of war.  In 1955, as Avery eludes his pursuers, fans may be reminded that there is nothing like the thrill of watching an unsuspecting person wander into the Twilight Zone and end up being hunted.

In Dark Blood #4, Moisés Hidalgo, who also drew issue #3, delivers the kind of comic book storytelling that will have readers burning through the pages, and rereading much of the it.  The naturalism of his illustrative style keeps the story from being constrained by time.  What happens is more important than when it happened, making the story feel timeless.  In a sense, what occurs in Dark Blood #4 is always an occurrence – to one person and another, at one time and another.

A.H.G.'s beautiful colors on Hidalgo's art brings forth the power of this story, and for me, it's like riding lightning through Avery's (mis)adventures.  As usual, Andworld Design's lettering throws gasoline on the fire.

So, dear readers, at least you who need a change from what you read every month, here it is.  Like Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's Killadelphia (Image Comics), Dark Blood is the … new blood your imaginations need.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of modern science fiction and dark fantasy comic books will want to drink Dark Blood.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


Dark Blood trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzzXIYr_FrA&feature=youtu.be
Dark Blood first loook: https://www.boom-studios.com/wordpress/archives/dark-blood-1-first-look/
https://twitter.com/MorganicInk
https://twitter.com/WaltBarna
https://twitter.com/AHGColor
https://twitter.com/andworlddesign

https://twitter.com/boomstudios
https://www.boom-studios.com/wordpress/
https://www.facebook.com/BOOMStudiosComics
https://www.instagram.com/boom_studios/


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: GOOD ON BOTH SIDES - A (th)ink Anthology

GOOD ON BOTH SIDES – A (TH)INK ANTHOLOGY #5
KEITH KNIGHT PRESS/Microcosm Publishing

CARTOONIST: Keith Knight
ISBN: 978-0-9788053-5-7; paperback; 6" x 7.5" x 0.4" (June 2022)
128pp, Color, $20.00 U.S.

Good on Both Sides is a new collection of the socio-political, single-panel comic strip, (th)ink.  Debuting in 2000 on the now defunct website, Africana.com, (th)ink is the creation of Keith Knight, a cartoonist, comics creator, and musician.  Knight is also the creator and an executive producer on the recent Hulu series, “Woke.”  (th)ink currently appears in several outlets, including the Nib, Daily KOS, Antigravity, and The Funny Times.

Good on Both Sides, the fifth (th)ink paperback collection, takes its title by paraphrasing Donald Trump's moral equivalency after the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.  It covers (th)ink episodes published during the early years of Donald Trump's masquerade as the 45th President of the United States.  Knight captures the absurdity of the time under an absurd leader and chronicles and depicts everything that made non-white supremacists cringe.

THE LOWDOWN:  In a sense political cartoonists are a dime a dozen.  The truth is that I have a hard time finding many that are really bad at their chosen professions.  What makes Keith Knight different?

I first became acquainted with Knight's work in late 2006 when I received a copy of Are We Feeling Safer Yet? (2007), the second (th)ink collection.  Sadly, I lost touch with him and had not thought of him until I heard about his Hulu TV series, “Woke,” last year.  I recently reconnected with him to request a copy-for-review of Good on Both Sides.  On the back cover of this book is a quote from Dawn Tol, part of which reads, “Keith Knight has never been more overtly Black.”

That is what makes Knight different from other political cartoonists.  He is Black.  Yes, there are other African-American political cartoonists (Walt Carr, David G. Brown), but for now, we are talking about Keith Knight, who is from a particular tradition.  That tradition involves Coloreds, Negroes, Afro-Americans, African-American, etc. who do not bite their tongues, metaphorically or otherwise, for the sake of propriety and for the feelings of good White folk and cautious, fretting Black folk.

I had forgotten just how screwed up the first half of Trump's occupation was … because the second half turned into … well,you know.  Knight's commentary via political cartoons is both incisive and relentless.  I won't say that he is “unapologetic” because apologizing is irrelevant in the context of what Knight does.  It isn't just Trump that is wrong with this country; it is also the rotten culture and society.  Honestly, much of that rot comes from White racism, supremacy, and privilege:  those that perpetuate it; those that enjoy the advantages while letting someone else do the dirty work; and those who benefit and give nominal lip service in criticizing it.

In Good on Both Sides, nothing and no one is spared.  Warts and all, Klan robes and hoods:  Knight reveals the stains without a thought for decorum.  Political commentary, words, pictures, or cartoons need that, especially when so many commentators want us to “turn down the temperature.”  Knight is the triple truth, Ruth.

Good on Both Sides isn't all about Trump.  As I said, there were plenty of awful people during that time who deserve Knight's punches.  Knight also offers several nice memorials and tributes to such luminaries as W.E.B. Du Bois, Dick Gregory, and Josephine Baker, to name a few.  I am not crazy about everything in Good on Both Sides, but it's close.  I could have read another hundred pages just to see what Knight has to say about the time period this collection covers.

Keith Knight's political cartoons are timely, and many are timeless.  The timeless ones will always have bite, but the timely will cut like a knife for years to come.  And Good on Both Sides is just plain funny.  I laughed a lot, and I practically always need that from political cartoons.  I encourage you, dear readers, to get a copy of Good on Both Sides.  Maybe if enough of you read it, someone will get the notion to shortlist Mr. Knight for a Pulitzer Prize.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of great political cartoons and of Keith Knight's work will want to read Good on Both Sides.

A

★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


You can buy copies of Good on Both Sides at indie book stores or at the following online shops: here or https://keithknight.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-good-on-both-sides-the-new-th-ink-collection and here or https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/1446.


Find Keith Knight on the Internet:
https://keithknightart.com/
https://kchronicles.com/
https://twitter.com/KeefKnight
https://www.patreon.com/keefknight
https://www.instagram.com/iamkeithknight/?hl=en
https://keithknight.bigcartel.com/
https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/1446
https://www.facebook.com/keithknightcartoonist/
https://www.gocomics.com/thekchronicles


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------------

#IReadsYou Review: ARE WE FEELING SAFER YET? - A (th)ink Anthology

ARE WE FEELING SAFER YET? A (TH)INK ANTHOLOGY #2
KEITH KNIGHT PRESS/Top Shelf Productions

CARTOONIST: Keith Knight
ISBN-13: 978-0-9788053-0-2; paperback; (January 2007)
128pp, B&W, $12.95 U.S., $16.95 CAN

Keith Knight is a cartoonist, musician, and television creator and executive producer (Hulu's “Woke”).  Knight also produces a weekly multi-panel strip, The K Chronicles, and he has previously contributed to MAD Magazine and ESPN The Magazine.

One of Knight's other comics is (th)ink, a socio-political (mostly) single-panel cartoon.  It began life in 2000 as a digital comic on the now defunct website, Africana.com.  Over the years, (th)ink has appeared on numerous websites and has been published in daily and alternative newspapers (including the San Francisco Chronicle, The Rocky Mountain Chronicle, and the Haight Ashbury Beat).  It currently appears in the Nib, Daily KOS, Antigravity, and The Funny Times, to name a few.

Published in 2007, Are We Feeling Safer Yet? was the second paperback collection of Knight's (th)ink cartoons.  What follows is the edited and revised text of a review of Are We Feeling Safer Yet? that I wrote for another website in late 2006:

THE LOWDOWN:  Although Knight probably calls (th)ink a comic strip, it's more like an ongoing editorial cartoon.  Knight's work is certainly related in terms of comic strips to work of cartoonist, Garry Trudeau, who is best known for his award-winning newspaper comic, Doonesbury.  As an African-American cartoonist, Knight's work is similar in tone to Aaron McGruder newspaper comic strip, The Boondocks.  However, while, Trudeau and McGruder deal with a cast of continuing characters and use them to comment on politics, society, and culture, Knight's cast is America itself.  Essentially, that is what an editorial cartoonist generally uses as his cast – our nation, even if, as a group, editorial cartoonists seemed fixated on politicians and in particular, the sitting President (in this case George W. Bush).

Knight is sharp and clever, and his humor and commentary are even sharper.  He is, though, not mean-spirited, and he only draws blood when he has to do so - such as when he uses a guy discovering that his color and white laundry have been mixed to comment on integration (p. 46).  Sometimes he cuts a subject because they handed him the blade, as in a cartoon featuring Snoop Dogg which comments on the rapper-actor's behavior on stage (p.78).

Knight is probably often compared to McGruder because both are Black cartoonists/commentators and both take the Bush Administration to the shed, but there, the similarity ends.  Knight belongs on the editorial page.  Because he uses Black characters and often deals with African-American or Hip-Hop culture doesn't make him different from white cartoonists and commentators who ply their trade on our nation's newspaper editorial sections.

Keith Knight is a funny guy, but he is astute like the good editorial cartoonist should be.  What Knight says with pen and ink makes sense, and he's ready for the big time. [End of text of original review.]

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Keith Knight and (th)ink will want Are We Feeling Safer Yet?

A
★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


Readers can buy copies of Are We Feeling Safer Yet here or at https://keithknight.bigcartel.com/product/are-we-feeling-safer-yet-th-ink-book-2 or https://lastgasp.com/products/are-we-feeling-safer-yet-a-think-anthology?_pos=1&_sid=19da0e2ca&_ss=r.


Find Keith Knight on the Internet:
https://keithknightart.com/
https://kchronicles.com/
https://twitter.com/KeefKnight
https://www.patreon.com/keefknight
https://www.instagram.com/iamkeithknight/?hl=en
https://keithknight.bigcartel.com/
https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/1446
https://www.facebook.com/keithknightcartoonist/
https://www.gocomics.com/thekchronicles


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------

#IReadsYou Review: CHAOS CAMPUS #43

CHAOS CAMPUS: SORORITY GIRLS VS ZOMBIES #43
APPROBATION COMICS

STORY: B. Alex Thompson
ART: Ricardo Mendez
COLORS: Alivon Ortiz
LETTERS: Krugos
POST-SCRIPTING/POLISH: John P. Ward
EDITOR: B. Alex Thompson
MISC: Ricardo Mendez with Alivon Ortiz
COVER: Ricardo Mendez with Alivon Ortiz
28pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (2019)

Rated: Teen 13+

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies created by B. Alex Thompson

“She Blinded Me With Magic”

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies is the long-running zombie apocalypse comic book series from Approbation Comics.  Mixing in elements of comedy, horror, adventure, and magic, it is the creation of B. Alex Thompson.  The series is set during a zombie invasion and follows the adventures of three members of the sorority, Epsilon Alpha Zeta Upsilon (EAZY):  ass-kickin’ Jamie Lynn Schaffer, brainy and magic-wielding Paige Helena Patton, and sexy goddess-type Brittany Ann Miller.  The series is written by Thompson.  It is currently drawn by Ricardo Mendez; colored by Alivon Ortiz; and lettered by Krugos.

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies #43 (“She Blinded Me with Magic”) opens on the “Campus” in the wake of the events of “Convocation.”  “The Alts” – a squad made of alternate world versions of our heroes – have injected Paige with “Nanobites” in order to kill her.

Now, the Campus heroes try to figure out a way to remove the Nanobites without killing Paige or blowing up half the country.  Since the Nanobites are anchored by Paige’s energy signature, the group decides to temporarily drain her of her powers so that they can disable and remove the tiny invaders.  Paige's mother, Morgan, is really big on the idea.  When Paige doesn’t consent to the procedure, Morgan overrides her decision. Paige doesn’t take it well…

Now, Paige has gone all “Dark Phoenix” on the people who should be her allies.  They can't stop her, but that ever scheming super-skank, Mitzy Peterson, is eager to volunteer her services – if everyone would only be good enough to help restore to Mitzy her powers...

THE LOWDOWN:  Yes, dear readers, I am continuing to review towards the conclusion of the Chaos Campus comic book series.  Every time I read an issue of this genre-busting series, however, I get deeper into the denial that the end is near.

Chaos Campus #43 continues a run of exceptionally good issues of this series.  With each issue, writer B. Alex Thompson offers what amounts to a graphic novel's worth of narrative – a trade paperback's worth of bombast in only 28 pages.  No one else is doing that.  Issue #43 joins #42 in a kind of two-fisted delivery system of “WOW!'  Thompson offers some of his best dialogue; the foul, mean-spirited crap coming outta Paige's mouth … Jeez!  It certainly makes for a good read.

Ricardo Mendez has already cemented his place as Chaos Campus' signature artist.  He makes each issue seems like a giant crossover event, as he juggles what seems like a cast of thousands.  Mendez manages to make it a better read than most big event series offered by Marvel or DC Comics.  Alivon Ortiz's colors sparkle and continue to make the graphical storytelling pop.  Krugos' lettering is the thumping soundtrack that Chaos Campus needs.

So, dear readers, it is easy to join the Chaos Campus fun.  I have placed a link where you can order issues at the bottom of this review – just for you.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of zombies, video games, and of horror-comedies will want to try Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies.

A
★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


Buy Chaos Campus here or at https://www.indyplanet.com/approbation-comics

www.ApprobationComics.com
https://twitter.com/ApproBAT
www.AlexThompsonWriter.com


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

-----------------

#IReadsYou Review: NEW MASTERS #1

NEW MASTERS #1
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Shobo
ART: Shof
COLORS: Shof with Julmae Kristoffer
COVER: Shof
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Shof
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2022)

Rated: “T+/ Teen Plus”

New Masters created by Shobo Coker & Shof Coker

New Masters is a new six-issue miniseries from brothers, writer Shobo Coker and artist Shof Coker.  New Masters is set in a version of West Africa that is under the control of alien invaders, particularly the Jovians.  The series focuses on a band of misfits and outcasts who become caught up in the struggle to control an immensely powerful ancient artifact that could rid Earth of its alien colonizers.

New Masters #1 opens in the distant future.  In the early part of the twenty-first century, the “Jovian Naviculae” slammed into Earth, spreading exotic fuels and destroying many great cities.  A thousand years later, deep in the Eko Exclusion Zone (E-Zone), a young female scavenger, Ola, hunts for a cache of Obsidium, an alien mineral.  Elsewhere, in the sinking slums of Makoko on the coast of Eko City, a couple offers the suffering residents a device that could change their lives.  Meanwhile, a high-ranking politician and her alien lover discuss The Eye of Òrùnmìlá, an ancient alien artifact that could change the fate of Earth.

THE LOWDOWN:  The wider interest in Afrofuturism, a cultural aesthetic and philosophy about the intersection of Africa, the Diaspora, the future, and technology, has been increasing for some time.  For some, their most memorable experience with Afrofuturism is the 2018 Disney/Marvel Studios film, Black Panther.  Perhaps, one of the most prominent expressions of Afrofuturism in comic books is LaGuardia (Dark Horse Comics/Berger Books), the 2019, award-winning miniseries from writer Nnedi Okorafor and artist Tana Ford.

New Masters shares a few ideas with LaGuardia.  All of it infused with (as the creators say) “...African experience, philosophy, and culture...”  I suspect that many American comic book readers will find New Masters exotic because so many of them have been exposed to science fiction that is White male, White American, and White people in general.  For some of them, anything with more than two characters that are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) must seem like a comic from another land or an foreign artifact of some kind.

As my tastes are varied and diverse, New Masters seems only a little exotic to me, but some of it feels quite familiar.  To me, some of it looks like the wild and weird alien futures that readers could find in an issue of the seminal science fiction comics magazine, Heavy Metal.  In fact, Shof's art and colors, in terms of visuals and narrative, remind me of the work of the late French comics master, Moebius.  Overall, the visuals and the narratives of New Masters is familiar from old masters.

Shobo Coker & Shof Coker spend New Masters #1 introducing characters and settings, giving tastes of the story's overall plot and subplots.  There is a lot to take in, and so much of it piques my interest.  Truthfully, I think that this first issue would have been better served as a double-sized first issue.  The 32 pages of narrative that comprises this first issue is strained to bursting with all the beautiful story elements contained inside the covers.

New Masters #1 intrigues me too much not to come back again, and it is so fresh and inviting.  New Masters could be something special and could inject what American comic books really needs – actual new creative blood.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of science fiction comic books and of Afrofuturist fiction will want to read New Masters.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/shobocoker
https://www.cokercoop.com/
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Image-Comics-Inc/178643148813259
https://www.twitch.tv/imagecomics
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmaKLo0FXWIPx-3n6qs3vQ
https://www.linkedin.com/company/image-comics/


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: KILLADELPHIA #18

KILLADELPHIA #18
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Jason Shawn Alexander
PENCILS: Christopher Mitten (pp. 21-23)
COLORS: Luis Nct
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: Jason Shawn Alexander
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Simon Bisley
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (October 2021)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Killadelphia and Elysium Gardens created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“Home is Where the Hatred Is” Part VI: “The End of Things”

Killadelphia is an apocalyptic vampire and dark fantasy comic book series from writer Rodney Barnes and artist Jason Shawn Alexander and is published by Image Comics.  At the center of this series is a police officer caught in a lurid conspiracy in which vampires attempt to rule Philadelphia, “the City of Brotherly Love.”  Colorist Luis Nct and letterer Marshall Dillon complete Killadelphia's creative team.

Killadelphia focuses on James “Jim” Sangster, Jr. and his father, revered Philadelphia homicide detective, James Sangster, Sr., thought to be dead.  He is actually a vampire.  Now father and son lead a ragtag team comprised of a medical examiner, a dead president, and a rebellious, but special young vampire (Tevin Thompkins a.k.a. “See Saw”) in a bid to save Philly from an ambitious and murderous former First Lady.

As Killadelphia #18 (“The End of Things”) opens, Abigail Adams and her vampire hordes and legions are tearing Philadelphia apart and tearing through its human citizens.  Meanwhile, back at the heroes' ranch, Anansi is ready to bounce, but at least he is offering some parting words of wisdom.

James Sr. is determined that Jim Jr. and Jose's unborn child – his grandchild – have a better life than he got and than what he gave Jim Jr.  So, he's off to battle … with a few friends.  There's no way they can survive Abigail Adams, so they need allies...  The reckoning for a city and a nation is finally at hand, but are all the players on the board?

THE LOWDOWN:  Killadelphia's third story arc, “Home is Where the Hatred Is,” comes to an end.  I thought that this would be the story arc that most reveals the complexities and multiple layers of Killadelphia.  I thought it would be the one that reveals this series as more dark fantasy than mere vampire comic book.  And it is.

I think I do need a break from the series.  I have run up against a rhetorical wall.  What more can I say?  Every issue I read impresses me and inspires me to create my own fiction.  So I need a few months breather before I take on the next glorious arc and more Rodney Barnes.  I'll have extra time to mine the dictionary for new words of praise and glorification.  Can you imagine what Barnes' Falcon comic book series would have been if Marvel Comics had not canceled it?

As for artist Jason Shawn Alexander:  Jason’s art continues to astound me.  He is just beyond talented.  Isn't it crazy or coincidental that we feel the say way about Jason, Mr. Barnes?  Seriously, Jason's art in this closer is like the best of elements of 1960s and 70s horror comic books, Hammer Films, and Bill Sienkiewicz – all brought together in a way only Jason can do.

Colorist Luis Nct, who has always done great work on this series, lost his mind and created a comic book coloring masterpiece in Killadelphia #18.  Marshall Dillon's lettering brings peace to the story, or at least enough so that we can read through the madness.  And I credit artist Chris Mitten for bringing his “A game” so that his guest art here blends in without a bump.

I'll end this review by saying that Killadelphia #18 is yet another chance for readers to get in now on the best of the best.  However, even if you get far behind, dear readers, it will be such fun to catch up.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of vampire comic books and of exceptional dark fantasy will want Killadelphia.

[This issue includes an afterword by Rodney Barnes.]

A+

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes
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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: DARK BLOOD #3

DARK BLOOD #3 (OF 6)
BOOM! STUDIOS

STORY: LaToya Morgan
ART:  Moisés Hidalgo
COLORS: A.H.G.
LETTERS:  Andworld Design
EDITOR: Dafna Pleban
COVER: Valentine De Landro
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Juni Ba; Valentine De Landro; Christian Ward
24pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (September 2021)

Dark Blood created by LaToya Morgan

Dark Blood is a new six-issue comic book miniseries created and written by screenwriter LaToya Morgan (AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” “Into The Badlands”).  Published by BOOM! Studios, the series is drawn by Walt Barna and Moisés Hidalgo; colored by A.H.G.; and lettered by Andworld Design.  The series focuses on a Black World War II veteran who discovers that he has strange new abilities.

Alabama, 1955.  After leaving his job at the diner, “Hardy's Eats,” Avery Aldridge, also known as “Double A,” has a fateful encounter with a racist.  Double A is a highly decorated World War II soldier, a former fighter pilot, a member of the soon-to-be-legendary “Red Tails.”  He is expected to act like a boy … when he is actually a very powerful man.  But this is “The Night of the Variance,” and everything is going to start to change – even the things some don't want changed.

Dark Blood #3 opens in 1945, ten years before the Variance.  In Alabama, Emma Aldridge, Avery's wife, feels the penetrating eyes of a member of the local wolf pack, also known as a police officer, specifically Officer Wright.  Meanwhile, near the Austrian border, Avery and a fellow pilot race for safety with another kind of wolf pack, in the form of a Nazi commandant and his soldiers, nipping at their heels.

Ten years later, back in the present, it is the “Night of the Variance.”  Once again, Emma evades a wolf, while Avery runs away from one.  As he did a decade before, Avery will once again have to decide when he should stop running and turn around and start fighting.

THE LOWDOWN:  The indignities that Avery Aldridge suffers in Dark Blood #2 are familiar to me because I have experienced some of them and others were told to me via first hand or second hand accounts.  A theme that runs throughout Dark Blood, thus far, is the notion that Black people are often being hunted.  Sometimes, even being watched is a form of being hunted; the difference is that the hunter hunts with his stare or gaze.

Television writer-producer LaToya Morgan (AMC's “TURN: Washington's Spies”) offers in Dark Blood a comic book that flows through multiple genres, including science fiction and fantasy, horror, history, and reality-based drama, to name a few.  As a television writer, she knows how to deliver action, suspense, and thrills along with the character drama.  And Dark Blood #3 offers the thrill of the hunt.

This third issue finds husband and wife, Avery and Emma Aldridge, living and surviving on the razor's edge more than once, over two time periods.  It would not be inappropriate to compare this issue's hunters, Alabama law enforcement and Nazi military personnel to one another.  After all, one was the teacher of codified racism, and the other was the student.  [I'll let you, dear readers, figure out which was which.]

Morgan delivers Dark Blood's most taut thrills and fraught drama, thus far, and this time she has a different artist as her creative partner.  Moisés Hidalgo, who drew a few pages of Dark Blood #2, returns to draw Dark Blood #3's dark nights of pursuit to life.  Hidalgo's compositions seem inspired by the surreal madness of Steve Ditko's comics and also the impressionism and and wild-eyed emotions of Japanese manga.  Here, Hidalgo makes the reader feel, as if he refuses to allow the reader to experience Morgan's story only in a rational way.  His art wants us to be fearful, desperate, and even irrational.  While reading this issue, I believed that I had to feel this story if I was really going to have a chance of understanding the characters' plights.

Once again, I must praise A.H.G.'s coloring for Dark Blood.  I read comiXology's digital editions of Dark Blood when I am reviewing the series, and A.H.G.'s colors look gorgeous in this format.  The coloring makes Dark Blood's interiors look like pages from a vintage comic book, so Dark Blood seems to be not a comic book about the past, but a comic book from the past.  It is like a memento from a time capsule, a story that has been waiting for us.

Strangely, Dark Blood #3 confirms what I have been thinking since I started reading this series.  Dark Blood is the comic book that some comic book readers need and have needed for a long time, though some may only discover this later via a Dark Blood trade paperback.  So, once gain, I highly recommend Dark Blood.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of modern science fiction and dark fantasy comic books will want to drink Dark Blood.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


Dark Blood trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzzXIYr_FrA&feature=youtu.be
Dark Blood first loook: https://www.boom-studios.com/wordpress/archives/dark-blood-1-first-look/
https://twitter.com/MorganicInk
https://twitter.com/WaltBarna
https://twitter.com/AHGColor
https://twitter.com/andworlddesign

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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

----------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).