I Reads You Review: AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #3

AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #3
ARCHIE COMICS – @archiecomics and @AfterlifeArchie

STORY: Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa
ART: Francesco Francavilla
LETTERS: Jack Morelli
COVER: Francesco Francavilla
VARIANT COVER: Tim Seeley
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (February 2014)

Rated Teen+ for Violence and Mature Content

Escape from Riverdale:  Chapter Three – “Sleepover”

Writer Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa and artist Francesco Francavilla have taken Archie Comics to the dark side – the classic horror comics dark side – with Afterlife with Archie.  It’s the hot “zombie apocalypse” genre come to Archie Comics.

The end of Archie Andrews’ beloved hometown of Riverdale begins when Forsythe P. “Jughead” Jones shows up at the door of Sabrina (the Teenaged Witch).  Jughead is holding the mangled body of his beloved pooch, Hot Dog.  Sabrina helps her friend, but her use of forbidden magic has dire consequences for her, Jughead, and the rest of Riverdale.  Hot Dog returns from the dead and bites Jughead, and the flesh-eating fever spreads like wildfire.

Afterlife with Archie #3 finds Archie and friends finding refuge in Lodge Manor, the stately mansion home of Hiram Lodge, the father of Archie’s sometimes girlfriend, Veronica.  Mr. Lodge believes that the high-tech security his money bought him will protect everyone inside, but they cannot protect him from his memories… or bad dreams.

However, Archie is not content with staying within the safety of Lodge Manor.  He is determined to check on everyone’s parents.  Meanwhile, the surviving members of the Archie gang are enjoying the amenities of Hiram’s Lodge’s estate, without realizing that one among them is already infected.

After three issues, I can safely say that Afterlife with Archie is no fluke.  This is a genuinely good comic book.  It is also a sincerely terrifying horror comic book.  It’s like a classic scary movie, recalling George Romero, The Walking Dead, EC Comics, and other zombie horror fiction in general.

Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla come together to present a different take on the world of Archie Comics.  Yes, it is dark and thrilling, but besides the horror elements, Afterlife with Archie bears more than a passing resemblance to a television teen soap opera.  The typical “young love” of comic book romance is replaced by young love just a little more complicated.  There is desire, jealousy, want, and even (gasp) the threat of sex.  Take Afterlife with Archie for what it is – something different and exciting.

As an extra, Afterlife with Archie #3 reprints the comic book short story, “Horripilate Host” written and drawn by Dick Giordano, the late artist, editor, and DC Comics executive.  This story was originally published in the comic book series, Chilling Adventures in Sorcery (which was part of Archie Comics’ Red Circle Comics imprint), in the mid-1970s.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan - Ghost Story: Kudan

I read Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 19

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

I Reads You Review: SAMURAI JACK #3

SAMURAI JACK #3
IDW PUBLISHING with Cartoon Network – @IDWPublishing and @cartoonnetwork

WRITER: Jim Zub – @jimzub
ARTIST: Andy Suriano – @wolfboy74
COLORS: Josh Burcham
LETTERS: Shawn Lee
COVER: Andy Suriano
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2013)

Samurai Jack created by Genndy Tartakovsky

“Samurai Jack and the Threads of Time” Part 3

The Emmy-winning animated television series, Samurai Jack (2001-2004), focuses on a samurai known as “Jack,” who is trapped in a dystopian, futuristic Earth.  It is ruled by an old enemy of Jack’s, a tyrannical, shape-shifting, demonic wizard named Aku.  Jack wanders this future, trying to find a method by which he can travel back in time to the era in which he belongs, Feudal Japan, and keep Aku from creating this troubled future.

Samurai Jack returns in a new five-issue comic book miniseries from IDW Publishing, written by Jim Zub and drawn by Andy Suriano.  Samurai Jack #3 opens as Jack continues to search for the Threads of Time, which he can wind into the Rope of Eons and therefore, rewind himself home.  He already has three strands.

Jack enters the village of Grantus, a place straight out of Greek antiquity.  The villagers are not very friendly, but the village’s champion, Gloer the Great, can explain why.  Gloer is friendly and welcoming, but there is more to his story than Jack realizes.

Throughout my reviews of this miniseries, I have said that this Samurai Jack comic book is not merely an adaptation of the cartoon.  It IS Samurai Jack, simply because it captures the spirit, tone, and look of the cartoon.  Writer Jim Zub tells the kind of stories that could have been episodes of the cartoon, so much so that you would think he had been a writer on the series.

Artist Andy Suriano did work on the original Samurai Jack, as a character designer.  As a comic book artist, he brings Jack back to life, with graphics that pop off the page.  He makes the reader believe that Jack is animated again, his sword slashing across the comic book page.

I must admit that I am not too crazy about the twist or “shocking reveal” of this issue’s story, but I still enjoyed reading it.  That enjoyment is the reason why I hope this miniseries turns into a regular series.

A-

www.jimzub.com
www.IDWPUBLISHING.com
youtube.com/idwpublishing
facebook.com/idwpublishing

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Yaoi Manga Review: BLUE MORNING Volume 4

BLUE MORNING, VOL. 4
SUBLIME – @SuBLimeManga

CARTOONIST: Shoko Hidaka
TRANSLATION: Jocelyne Allen
LETTERS: NRP Studios
COVER: Shoko Hidaka with Shawn Carrico
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5555-3; paperback (February 2014) Rated “M” for “Mature”
218pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

The fourth volume of Blue Morning, the yaoi manga graphic novel series from creator Shoko Hidaka, was recently released.  In yaoi manga, the love story features romantic leads that are both male.  This subset of boys’ love (BL) manga can also feature explicit depictions of sex.  Blue Morning focuses on Akihito Kuze, the heir to a viscount-ship, and Tomoyuki Katsuragi, his very capable butler, to whom Akihito is attracted.

After the death of his father, Akinao Kuze, 10-year-old Akihito moves into the Kuze mansion, as he prepares to inherit his late father’s viscount-ship.  There, he meets the Kuze family butler, Katsuragi, who is tasked with raising Akihito.  By the time he is 17-years-old, Akihito finds himself relentlessly drawn to Katsuragi, but also frustrated by the distance between them.

As Blue Morning, Vol. 4 (Chapters 16 to 20) opens, the truth of Katsuragi’s lineage has already been revealed.  With this truth revealed, Katsuragi leaves the Kuze household, and enters the employment of Soemon Ishizaki, the father of Akihito’s friend, Soichiro.

Akihito is determined, however, to have his way.  He attempts to live a life different from the one meant for him, and he breaks off his engagement.  He makes such a bold move regarding the standing of the Kuze family that Katsuragi is forced to counter them with strategy of his own.

The Blue Morning manga is a romantic period drama.  It is like a comic book version of one of those Merchant-Ivory films from 1980s and 1990s.  The series does sometime earn its “yaoi” label with a sex scene.  Blue Morning Volume 4 offers a torrid love scene that leaves the characters in need of a bath.  Everything that Akihito and Katsuragi can’t or won’t say to one another is translated into urgent lovemaking, complete with pants, moans, and groans.

Beyond the sex, there are more reveals.  Through the dialogue, Shoko Hidaka opens the characters, their lives and secrets, in ways that cement Blue Morning’s status as an exceptional character drama and period romance.


A

www.SuBLimeManga.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: DEATHLOK #1 (1991)

DEATHLOK #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITERS: Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright
PENCILS: Denys Cowan
INKS: Mike Manley
COLORS: Gregory Wright
LETTERS: Ken Lopez
EDITORS: Tom Brevoort, Bob Budiansky (executive), Tom DeFalco (EiC)
COVER: Denys Cowan
32pp, Color, $1.75 U.S. (July 1991)

Deathlok is a Marvel Comics character that first appeared in Astonishing Tales #25 (cover date: August 1974).  Also known as “Deathlok the Demolisher,” he is a cyborg and was created by artist Rich Buckler and writer Doug Moench.  There have been different versions of the character, but the recurring theme is that a dead human is reanimated with cybernetic technology and becomes Deathlok.

The character, Michael Collins, was the third Deathlok and debuted in the four-issue miniseries Deathlok (cover dates: July-October 1990).  An African-American character, Professor Michael Collins was a pacifist working for Cybertek, a subsidiary of Roxxon Oil.

Collins was developing software to control artificial limbs, and he thought that Cybertek, a cybernetics corporation, was working towards the same goal of helping to make disabled people walk again.  He was wrong.  What Collins was really working on was a cyborg killing machine named Deathlok.  Collins’ boss, Harlan Ryker, attacked him after the discovery.  Ryker had Collins’ brain transferred into Deathlok.

After the 1990 miniseries, Deathlok received his own ongoing comic book series that ran for 34 issues and two summer annuals (1992 and 1993).  I read the first issue years ago, which was written by the late Dwayne McDuffie and Gregory Wright and penciled by Denys Cowan.  Whenever I came across Cowan’s name or work, for some reason, I always thought about that first issue of Deathlok, for which Cowan drew a visually striking cover.

Deathlok #1 (“The Wolf at the Door”) opens with Harlan Ryker activating a contingency plan.  Facing treason charges, Ryker needs to get rid of any witnesses to his crimes that the government has.  He activates the cyborg killing machine he developed before Deathlok – a creature called “Warwolf.”

Meanwhile, Deathlok is in Paterson, New Jersey at the home of his wife, Nancy Collins, and his son, Nick.  In hiding, he consoles himself and grieves his situation.  He hopes not only to find where Ryker hid his body, but to also be able to have his brain restored to his body so that he can be human again.  First, he has to stop Ryker, and that means dealing with Warwolf.

Rereading Deathlok, I was surprised to find it intriguing.  Other than Cowan’s art, especially the cover, I did not remember much about it – even that Dwayne McDuffie was one of the writers.  Cowan’s art is stylish and has art deco flourishes.  The pencil art has a painterly quality to it, and the compositions display varying degrees of dynamism.  Cowan just seems to know how much energy is needed or not needed to depict the mood and drama in a panel or over a sequence of panels.

Deathlok/Michael Collins’ quest to recover his body recalls the wandering of Bruce Banner/Hulk.  The last panel of this issue reminds me of the end of The Terminator (1984), as Sarah Connor heads off down a lonely highway to an uncertain future.  This is a good comic book, but it isn’t great.  That’s alright; not everything can be spectacular, but being good is good.  I don’t remember if I read the second issue all those years ago, but I want to now.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Manga Review: GANGSTA Volume 1

GANGSTA, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Kohske
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Katherine Schilling
LETTERING: Eric Erbes
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6077-9; paperback (February 2014); Rated “M” for “Mature”
194pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Kohske is the penname of manga creator, Kohske Koosuke.  Kohske made her manga debut in 2009 with the short story “Postman” in Shonen GanGan magazine.  Her first manga series is Gangsta, which began running in Monthly Comic Bunch in 2011.

Now, Gangsta is VIZ Media’s latest graphic novel series from the VIZ Signature imprint.  Gangsta is set in the city of Ergastulum, a city filled everything from mafia types to petty thieves.  There are crooked cops, and prostitutes are plentiful.  Enter the “Handymen,” 34-year-old Nicolas “Nic” Brown and 35-year-old Worick Arcangelo.  They are the guys who take care of the jobs no one else will handle.

Gangsta, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) opens with a whore named Alex Benedetto getting her assed kick.  The 24-year-old has not made enough money to please her pimp, but it is about to get worse for Alex.

Police Inspector Chad Adkins has just delivered an assignment to the Handymen, Worick and Nic.  Barry Abbot and his gang are expanding their criminal enterprise into restricted territories, and the mafia bosses want Worick and Nic to kill Barry and every member of his organization.  Alex is part of Barry’s organization.  And Nic and Worick don’t fail.

Later, Nic takes on a man much like himself.  Alex picks up a few more tidbits about Nic from Big Mama Georgiana, madam of the “Pussy” Brothel.

The Gangsta manga is unapologetically violent.  I used to hear people refer to certain movies that were rated “R” by the MPAA as being “hard R.”  Gangsta is a hard R.  The setting, Ergastulum, is a world without mercy, but I don’t want to spoil how Kohske shows that lack of mercy.

I will say that I really like this first volume.  It reminds me of such body-count VIZ Signature titles as Black Lagoon, Dog: Bullets & Carnage, and Jormungand.  All the Gangsta characters, even the “guest stars,” are good, and Kohske sprinkles hints about the mysterious Nic throughout these early chapters that will tempt readers to return for more.  Readers looking for some seinen action will want to go Gangsta.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for February 19 2014

DC COMICS

DEC130280 ANIMAL MAN #28 [DIG] $2.99
DEC130292 BATMAN 66 #8 [DIG] $3.99
DEC130261 BATMAN AND TWO FACE #28 [DIG] $2.99
DEC130291 BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE #7 [DIG] $3.99
NOV130255 BATMAN LIL GOTHAM TP VOL 01 [DIG] $12.99
DEC130263 BATWOMAN #28 [DIG] $2.99
DEC130257 BIRDS OF PREY #28 (GOTHTOPIA) [DIG] $2.99
DEC130342 FABLES #138 (MR) [DIG] $2.99
NOV130274 FBP FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS TP VOL 01 (MR) [DIG] $9.99
DEC130276 GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #28 [DIG] $2.99
OCT130240 GREEN LANTERN WRATH OF THE FIRST LANTERN HC (N52) [DIG] $29.99
DEC130269 HARLEY QUINN #3 [DIG] $2.99
NOV130223 HE MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #10 [DIG] $2.99
DEC130202 JUSTICE LEAGUE #28 (EVIL) [DIG] $3.99
DEC130204 JUSTICE LEAGUE #28 COMBO PACK (EVIL) [DIG] $4.99
NOV130245 MARTIAN MANHUNTER SON OF MARS TP [DIG] $19.99
DEC130270 RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #28 [DIG] $2.99
DEC130290 SCRIBBLENAUTS UNMASKED CRISIS OF IMAGINATION #2 [DIG] $2.99
DEC130249 SUPERGIRL #28 [DIG] $2.99
DEC130322 TEEN TITANS GO #2 [DIG] $2.99
DEC130216 TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #8 (EVIL) [DIG] $2.99
DEC130349 UNWRITTEN VOL 2 APOCALYPSE #2 (MR) [DIG] $3.99
NOV130270 WE3 TP NEW ED (MR) [DIG] $14.99
DEC130227 WONDER WOMAN #28 [DIG] $2.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES

SEP130318 DC COMICS ICONS BATMAN 1/6 SCALE STATUE [DIG] $99.95
SEP130330 VIOLET LANTERN 1:1 SCALE POWER BATTERY PROP W RING [DIG] $199.95