#IReadsYou Review: FIRE AND ICE VOL. 1 #1

FIRE AND ICE VOLUME 1 #1

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Bill Willingham

ART: Leonardo Manco

COLORS: Leonardo Manco

LETTERS: Taylor Esposito

EDITOR: Matt Idelson

COVER: Bill Seinkiewicz

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2023)

Rated Teen+

Fire and Ice created by Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta

“Good in Life”

Fire and Ice is an animated epic, dark fantasy, adventure film directed by Ralph Bakshi.  The film is the result of a collaboration between Bakshi and the legendary fantasy painter, Frank Frazetta, with the film's screenplay being written by veteran comic book writers, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway.

In 2022, Dynamite Entertainment announced that it had gained the license to produce a comic book series set in the world of Fire and Ice.  The series would act as a prequel to the film.  Fire and Ice the comic book is written by Bill Willingham; drawn and colored by Leonardo Manco; and lettered by Taylor Esposito.

Fire and Ice Volume 1 #1 opens in the Riverlands, situated between the Ice Lands and the Fire Kingdom.  Larn is part of a group of young warriors led through the forests of the Riverlands by its “Hunt Father.”  Tragedy strikes, however, and Larn soon finds himself captive.  Eventually, he ends up being a prize for an ambitious witch.

Meanwhile, the Queen of the Fire Kingdom and her young daughter, Princess Teegra, are also on the hunt when they come upon the D'Kora Kai, the tribal lackeys of Juliana, Queen of the Ice Lands.  Can evil be blunted in this time before the Fire Kingdom waned and the Ice Lands surged?

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Fire and Ice Volume 1 #1,  which is the first Frank Frazetta-related comic book I have read in a long time.

I have never seen Fire and Ice, except for a few minutes so long ago that I can't remember that time or what I saw.  I am a fan of the films of Ralph Bakshi, especially of Wizards (1977).  I enjoy looking at Frank Frazetta's paintings.  I enjoy the comic book work of writers, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, and I am a big fan of the Conan movie they wrote, Conan the Destroyer (1984).  So let's say that I should and will eventually watch Fire and Ice.

In the meantime, there is this prequel comic book series.  I think readers can enjoy Fire and Ice Volume 1 #1 without having seen the movie.  As I said, I have not, but I did read the film's Wikipedia page before reading this lovely first issue.  The Wikipedia info combined with Bill Willingham's engaging script is enough to have made this issue a joy.

Willingham's script works so well because it is in the hands of artist Leonardo Manco, who easily captures the prehistoric and savage splendor of the sword and sorcery genre to which Fire and Ice belongs, in both pencil and color.  Also, Taylor Esposito's lettering creates a pounding graphical soundtrack to this first issue.

Hey, dear readers, this is really good stuff. I'm an definitely coming back for more, and you should definitely come around at least for this first issue.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta will want to try the comic book, Fire and Ice Volume 1.

A

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

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Leroy Douresseaux on DAMAGED #1

DAMAGED #1 (OF 6)
RADICAL PUBLISHING

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Sam Worthington
CREATORS: Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz
WRITER: David Lapham
ARTIST: Leonardo Manco
COLORS: Kinsun Loh, Jerry Choo, Sansan Saw
LETTERS: Todd Klein
COVER: Alex Maleev
ALTERNATE COVERS: Leonardo Manco with Kinsun Loh (Cover B) and Leonardo Manco (Incentive Cover)
32pp, Color, $3.99

Actor Sam Worthington, whose career exploded a few years ago after appearing in Terminator: Salvation and Avatar, is now in the comic book game. Worthington and his friends, Michael Schwarz and John Schwarz, have formed a graphic novel and intellectual property company called Full Clip Productions.

Michael and John have created the venture’s first comic book, Damaged. This crime comic book from Radical Publishing is written by David Lapham (Stray Bullets) and drawn by Leonardo Manco (Driver for the Dead). Damaged focuses on two brothers committed to justice in different ways. One is a commander with the San Francisco Police Department and works inside the law. The other is a vigilante who works violently beyond it.

In Damaged #1, Captain Frank Lincoln is three weeks from retirement, and the powers that be in San Fran have already appointed his successor as head of the Special Task Force on Organized Crime, a youngster named Lt. Jack Cassidy. A massacre at the home of Dimitri Oloaf, the most powerful man in the Russian mafiya, brings Lincoln and Cassidy together. Frank immediately recognizes that the crime scene relates to his past, and now he has to clean up the past without Cassidy or the rest of the SFPD finding out.

I am annoyed that Damaged seems to be in part a non-Marvel Punisher comic book. Half of the comic book is literally a police drama and the other half is The Punisher, complete with a grizzled veteran cop (the drama) and a scarred, rampaging maniac slash one-man army (The Punisher).

But I like this. I think the story’s strength will lie in a kind of love/hate triangle. There is Frank trying to fend off his by-the-book successor, Jack. Frank will also have to deal with Henry, which will be a hot mess. Henry will likely have to take on the SFPD, especially Jack. Hopefully, it turns out that way, because this does have a lot of potential.

Leroy Douresseaux on AFTER DARK #3

AFTER DARK #3

RADICAL PUBLISHING

 

CREATORS: Antoine Fuqua and Wesley Snipes

WRITER: Peter Milligan
ARTIST: Leonardo Manco
PAINTS: Kinsun Loh, Jerry Choo, Sansan Saw
LETTERS: Clayton Cowles
COVER: Tae Young Choi
56pp, Color, $4.99

His legal troubles did not stop movie producer and actor Wesley Snipes, best known for the Blade film franchise, from helping to create a comic book. With director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Snipes created After Dark, a science fiction comic book miniseries from Radical Publishing. Hellblazer alums Peter Milligan and Leonardo Manco actually produce the comic book, with Milligan the scriptwriter and Manco the artist.

Set in the future, After Dark takes place on an Earth that exists in a state of near-perpetual darkness. Civilization is mostly confined to domed cities, with Solar City being the most populated. The populace either lives in a drug-addled stupor or engages in rioting because of boredom. The rulers of Solar City decide that Angel, a messianic figure who hasn’t been seen in decades, can tame the populace. They enlist Omar, a Bedouin drifter, to guide a rag-tag team composed of specialists and known criminals into the wilds outside Solar City to find Angel.

As After Dark #3 opens, words gets out that Angel has been found and that she is coming to Solar City. That means a happy ending, right? It’s not that simple and neither is Angel, and friends become enemies.

I give credit to the creators for making this last issue of After Dark so… dark. It’s gritty, violent, tragic, and even for a few, small moments, poignant. At 150 pages of narrative, one would think that this story is long enough. It’s not. After Dark isn’t a miniseries so much as it is an epic, and there needed to be much more room in the story for the characters. It is almost as if Peter Milligan’s storytelling is too big for this miniseries. Still, After Dark is an interesting, darker-than-usual, dystopian fiction that offers a large, rich assortment of attention-grabbing ideas and elements.

B+

Leroy Douresseaux on Driver for the Dead #3

DRIVER FOR THE DEAD #3

RADICAL PUBLISHING

 

WRITER: John Heffernan

PENCILS/INKS: Leonardo Manco
PAINTS: Kinsun Loh, Jerry Choo
LETTERS: Todd Klein
56pp, Color, $4.99

Radical Comics’ action, voodoo, horror comic book miniseries, Driver for the Dead comes to an exciting, ghoulishly played ending.

Set in the heart of Louisiana, Driver for the Dead is written by John Heffernan (a screenwriter on the film, Snakes on a Plane) and drawn by Leonardo Manco (Hellblazer). The series follows Alabaster Graves, the Driver for the Dead. In his custom-made hearse, Black Betty, Graves handles dangerous (like vampires) or supernaturally-involved corpses (the not-quite-dead).

In Driver for the Dead #3, Graves prepares for his final battle against the centuries-old necromancer, Uriah Fallow. The prize is the enchanted body of beloved New Orleans-based healer, Mose Freeman, and Mose’s great-granddaughter, Marissa Freeman. The true natures of Graves, Fallow, and Marissa are also revealed.

With its wham-bam, thank-you-dead-ma’am ending, Driver for the Dead delivers what its hellishly auspicious beginning promised – a damn good horror comic book story. This mix of Hellblazer’s John Constantine and The Transporter’s Frank Martin is a thrilling read that gives B-movie horror a thumping occult upgrade.

Writer John Heffernan’s script to close out this story is darker, more violent, and certainly creepier in its occult elements. Leonardo Manco’s art, with Kinsun Loh and Jerry Choo’s perfect-for-horror-comics colors, transports readers from shadowy swamps to a cursed plantation and finally to sunny, magical New Orleans. Heffernan and Manco can take comfort in our discomfort; they’ve created ghastly magic with Driver for the Dead.

A

http://www.radicalpublishing.com/

Leroy Douresseaux on After Dark #2

AFTER DARK #2

RADICAL PUBLISHING
CREATORS: Antoine Fuqua and Wesley Snipes
WRITER: Peter Milligan
ARTIST: Leonardo Manco
PAINTS: Kinsun Loh, Jerry Choo, Sansan Saw
LETTERS: Clayton Cowles
COVER: Francesco “Matt” Mattina
56pp, Color, $4.99

After Dark is a Radical Publishing comic book series created by director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) and actor Wesley Snipes (Blade). This science fiction series is actually written by Peter Milligan (Hellblazer).

After Dark is set in the future on an Earth that exists in a state of near-perpetual darkness. Civilization is mostly confined to domed cities, with Solar City being the most populated. Some of the populace lives in a drug-addled stupor; others riot either because they have a cause or because they are bored. The rulers of Solar City decide that Angel, a messianic figure who hasn’t been seen in decades, can tame the populace. They enlist Omar, a Bedouin drifter, to guide a rag-tag team composed of specialists and known criminals into the wilds outside the city to find Angel.

After Dark #2 opens in the disastrous aftermath of Omar’s mission to save the ill Trooper Jones. Now, the Bedouin is left in the darkness with Ana, a femme fatale, and the gang brawler, “Monster” Monclare. The trio eventually rejoins the mission and the group resumes the trip to Angel’s last known location, Archipelago City, where they find more than they expected.

This second issue of After Dark is a much better read than the first. For one thing, Peter Milligan does something at which he is immensely good: write character drama for science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and After Dark is a blend of all three. Getting to know these characters makes the story a much better read, and, combined with the interesting plot twists and quirks, the characters make After Dark that much more attractive. As usual, anything drawn by Leonardo Manco is good graphical storytelling, and the paints by the team of Kinsun Loh, Jerry Choo, Sansan Saw bring out Manco’s best artistic traits.

Fans of post-apocalyptic science fiction comic books and Peter Milligan’s work will want to try After Dark.

B+