I Reads You: 2024

Showing posts with label 2024. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: NIGHT CLUB II #1

NIGHT CLUB II #1 (OF 6)

DARK HORSE COMICS

STORY: Mark Millar

ART: Juanan Ramírez

COLORS: Fabiana Mascolo

LETTERS: Clem Robins

COVER: Juanan Ramírez with Fabiana Mascolo

EDITORIAL: Sarah Unwin

VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jae Lee with June Chung

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2024)

Rated M / Mature

Night Club created by Mark Millar at Netflix

Night Club II is a new six-issue miniseries written and created by Mark Millar and drawn by Juanan Ramírez. A Dark Horse Comics publication and a Netflix production, Night Club II is a sequel to the 2023 miniseries, Night Club. Both series focus on a teen boy who is bitten by a vampire and decides to make the best of his new condition. Colorist Fabiana Mascolo and letterer Clem Robins complete Night Club II's creative team.

Night Club introduces 17-year-old Danny Garcia, who had ambitions to gain fame and fortune as a YouTube star. After being turned into a vampire, he passed his new found powers unto his friends, DJ Sam Huxley and Amy Chen. Now, they're the superheroes: Starguard (Danny), Thundercloud (Sam), Yellowbird (Amy). But jealousy has broken up this vampire-superhero trio...

Night Club II #1 opens with Danny and Amy, now a couple, still playing superheroes and filming it for their lucrative YouTube page. They are actively attacking the drug empire of Rufus Tee, much to the chagrin of the police. Meanwhile, former “band mate,” Sam is using his vampire powers to ball hard, and now, he's gotten an attractive offer from a man who should be his enemy.

THE LOWDOWN: This is the second time that I have been on any kind of list that provides PDF copies of titles published by Dark Horse Comics. The latest received is Night Club II #1.

Reading this first issue of Night Club II, I suddenly remembered how much I really liked the first series and how much I really missed it. I'd love for Night Club to be an ongoing series, but I know that Millarworld doesn't really work that way. Night Club will have a beginning, middle, and end, but I feel like, as far as a vampire-superhero hybrid goes, it could be like DC Comics' Teen Titans.

Instead of offering big surprises in this return, writer Mark Millar and artist Juanan Ramírez build on the narrative that began in Night Club #1 and came to a head in Night Club #6. Millar provides the character drama, and Ramirez spreads it out in big panels and in widescreen storytelling. I think this means that there will be a lot of force applied by various interested parties to other interested parties in this second installment, and I think we'll like it, dear readers.

If you have ever seen the 1987 vampire film, The Lost Boys, you might have wondered what it would be like if the vampire boys got to play to their own interests. Maybe, Night Club II is that story.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar and of vampire comic books will want to be bitten by Night Club II.

★★★★ out of 4 stars

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

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https://twitter.com/netflix

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This series is collected in the trade paperback, NIGHT CLUB VOLUME 2, which is available at Amazon.

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like these, BOOKS PAGE, GRAPHIC NOVELS, or MANGA PAGE and BUY something(s).

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: NEMESIS: ROGUES' GALLERY #2

NEMESIS: ROGUES' GALLERY #2 (OF 5)

DARK HORSE COMICS

STORY: Mark Millar

ART: Valerio Giangiordano

COLORS: Lee Loughridge

LETTERS: Clem Robins

EDITORS: Sarah Unwin; Daniel Chabon

COVER: Valerio Giangiordano with Lee Loughridge

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2024)

Age range: 14+

Nemesis created by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven

Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery is a five-issue comic book miniseries from writer Mark Millar. It is a sequel to the miniseries, Nemesis Reloaded (2023) and Big Game (2023). Published by Dark Horse comics, the new series finds the super-killer, Nemesis, on a mission of revenge. Rogues' Gallery is drawn by Valerio Giangiordano; colored by Lee Loughridge; and lettered by Clem Robins.

Nemesis: Rogues Gallery finds Nemesis, once the world's greatest super-villain, with a plan to be just that, again. Now, bent on a mission of revenge against everyone who wronged him, Nemesis must rebuild his empire and his fortune.

Nemesis: Rogues Gallery #2 opens in the Tribunal de Justica in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Six counts of murder; 27 counts of aggravated assault; 3 counts of burglary, and four counts of antisocial behavior: that is Pedro Hernandez. He has been in and out of detention centers since he was six years old, and he shows no signs of rehabilitation or remorse. This is the day of reckoning for Pedro.

Or this is the day he can become Nemesis' new partner-in-crime, “Rookie.”

Meanwhile, Andy, the security guard betrayed by Nemesis, is a new man... and a new weapon of vengeance.

THE LOWDOWN: This is the second time that I have been on any kind of list that provides PDF copies of titles published by Dark Horse Comics. I mark my return with Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery #2.

Mark Millar continues to deliver the ultimate modern super-villain comic book. The Nemesis line of comics offers something like Batman as a deranged killer. However, I must point out that when it comes to Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery, the artist drives the narrative with the most power.

The artists of the earlier series, Steve McNiven (Nemesis) and Jorge Jiménez (Nemesis: Reloaded), offered art and graphic storytelling that emphasized the crazy, the sexy, and the cool of showy super-villain. Nemesis was a bad ass and a murderer, and the storytelling of the earlier series captured the exhilaration of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's Daredevil and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In the first series, Nemesis was like the Batman of DKR, and in Nemesis: Reloaded, Nemesis was like Daredevil's killer dude, Bullseye.

Valerio Giangiordano of Rome, Italy takes Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery down a different path, both visually and graphically. No longer is Nemesis a sexy killer. Valerio captures all the darkness, vileness, and evil in Nemesis and places him at the heart of some nasty, hard-hitting storytelling. In a way, Valerio turns Rogues' Gallery into something like one of those gritty 1970s crime movies. Tonally, all three Nemesis series are different, but in this third series, Valerio takes charge and takes Nemesis down a more sinister and edgier path than any comic books that feature Nemesis have previously done.

Colorist Lee Loughridge, who knows how to deal with “the dark,” perfectly accentuates Valerio's storytelling with colors that suggest murder, both muted and glaring. Letterer Clem Robins captures the darker wasteland of this new series.

Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery promises to be a good time. It may also end up being the best evil Batman comic book in ages.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar's comic books and of Valerio Giangiordano's art will desire Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery.

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

The NEMESIS: ROGUES' GALLERY trade paperback is available at Amazon.

https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/

https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar

https://twitter.com/netflix

http://www.millarworld.tv/

https://www.darkhorse.com/

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https://www.instagram.com/DarkHorseComics/

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Wednesday, June 4, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: PRODIGY: Slaves of Mars #2

PRODIGY: SLAVES OF MARS #2 (OF 5)

DARK HORSE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar

ART: Stefano Landini

COLORS: Michele Assarasakorn

LETTERS: Clem Robins

EDITOR: Daniel Chabon

EDITORIAL: Sarah Unwin

COVER: Stefano Landini with Michele Assarasakorn

VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Stefano Landini

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (September 2024)

Rated M / Mature

Prodigy created by Mark Millar at Netflix

Prodigy: Slaves of Mars is a new five-issue comic book miniseries produced by writer Mark Millar. It is the third entry in the Prodigy series, following the original 2018-19 six-issue miniseries, Prodigy, and the 2022 miniseries, Prodigy: The Icarus Society. This new series' creative team is comprised of artist Stefano Landini; colorist Michele Assarasakorn; and letterer Clem Robins. Prodigy focuses on the adventures of the world's smartest man, Edison Crane.

In Prodigy: Slaves of Mars, Edison returns to New York City from an adventure in the Himalayas to find his company, Crane Solutions, in disarray. He also learns that his father, the former Senator Whitney Crane, is dead on Mars after discovering some shocking secret. Now, a wanted man, Edison only has one person left to whom he can turn. That would be his older, smarter brother, Elijah Crane.

Prodigy: Slaves of Mars #2 opens in Baltimore, Maryland. The Crane brothers are reunited just in time to discover that each feels differently about the death of their recently deceased father. Now, they are about to go on the run as Froth Schroeder, the man who tore down Edison's life and likely killed their father, sets his sights on both brothers.

Meanwhile, what does this have to do with the ancient secrets of Mars and Martian rulers on Earth? And where does the Kepler-11 star system fit into all this?

THE LOWDOWN: This is the second time that I have been on any kind of list that provides PDF copies of titles published by Dark Horse Comics. I mark my return with Prodigy: Slaves of Mars #2.

Of course, Prodigy: Slaves of Mars #2 is a blast to read, just as issue #1 was. Millar's mixture of ancient aliens, secret societies, large conspiracies, and deep history runs throughout the Prodigy comic books. You would already know that, dear readers, if you had read Prodigy: The Icarus Society #1 or read Prodigy: The Evil Earth, the trade collection of the first miniseries.

The art team of illustrator Stefano Landini and colorist Michele Assarasakorn throws caution to the wind and presents graphical storytelling that races from page to page in a loose drawing style and muted coloring style. Landini's art recalls the ancient mysteries vibe of the film, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and he uses it quite effectively to keep me reading. Landini makes me excited about following Edison and Elijah on a great adventure. As always, also, Clem Robins provides the perfect soundtrack to this chapter with his classic lettering.

Prodigy is back. The Slaves of Mars are calling us. Don't be a fool, dear readers; get this.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar and of his comic book, Prodigy, will want to read Prodigy: Slaves of Mars.

A+

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

The PRODIGY: SLAVES OF MARS trade paperback collection is available via Amazon.

https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/

http://www.millarworld.tv/

https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar

https://www.netflix.com/

https://twitter.com/netflix

https://www.darkhorse.com/

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https://www.facebook.com/darkhorsecomics/

https://www.instagram.com/DarkHorseComics/

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Tuesday, May 27, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: REBEL MOON: House of the Bloodaxe #1

REBEL MOON: HOUSE OF THE BLOODAXE #1

TITAN COMICS

STORY: Zack Snyder

SCRIPT: Magdalene Visaggio

ART: Clark Bint

COLORS: Francesco Segala with Sabrina Del Grosso (flats)

LETTERS: Andworld Design's Jame

EDITORS: Phoebe Hedges and Calum Collins

COVER: Stanley “Artgerm” Lau

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Rafael Albuquerque; Baldemar Rivas; Andrea Olimieri; Federico Bertoni; Stanley “Artgerm” Lau

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2024); on sale Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Suggested for mature readers

Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is epic space opera film directed by Zack Snyder. It is written by Kurt Johnstad and Shay Hatten and is based on a story conceived by Snyder. Rebel Moon is set in a galaxy that is ruled by the imperialistic “Motherworld,” whose military, “the Imperium,” threatens a farming colony on the moon of “Veldt.” Kora, a former Imperium soldier, goes on a quest to recruit warriors from across the galaxy to make a stand against the Imperium before they return to Veldt.

Titan Comics is producing a Rebel Moon comic book miniseries, Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe, that acts as a prequel to A Child of Fire. It is written by Magdalene Visaggio from a story by Zack Snyder; drawn by Clark Bint; colored by Francesco Segala; and lettered by Jame. House of the Bloodaxe is set five years before the events of the film, Revel Moon, and depicts the back story of the characters, siblings Devra and Darrian Bloodaxe.

Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe #1 opens on the planet Shusa, some 30 years before the main story. This is the tale of how the future Lord Shusa, Yisrael, met his future wife, Amirami. In the present, this day is the funeral of Amirami, and rather than grief his wife, the present Lord Shasu must deal with the rapidly changing present.

War is looming on the horizon for the planet Shasu. Though he may be the reluctant ruler of the Bloodaxe family, Yisrael, must find balance in the conflict between living up to his father’s domineering legacy and maintaining the peace. However, a terrorist act has put Motherworld and the empire in turmoil, and, for now, the focus will be on the planet Shasu.

How will this change the lives of the Lord Shasu's two children by Amirami, his son, Darrian Bloodaxe, and his daughter, Devra Bloodaxe?

THE LOWDOWN: Titan Comics has been providing me with PDF copies of their publications for review for several years now. Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe #1 is a recent arrival.

I have not seen Netflix's first of two Rebel Moon movies, but I hope to do so in the near future. Rebel Moon has been a much anticipated film since its announcement at least two years ago.

Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe #1 is an interesting comic book. For one, the art by Clark Bin and the colors by Francesco Segala recall the art of the late, great French illustrator, comic book artist and creator, Moebius. Looking at that comic book reminds me of looking at the first issues of the American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, Heavy Metal. This first issue is both exotic and visually and graphically different from most American comic books.

The script by Mags Visaggio has a difficult job. It must establish the back story while introducing the central conflict and primary dilemma the main characters will face. And, for the most part, Visaggio's script pulls it off. I'm ready to read more of the miniseries.

Readers looking for space opera science fiction comic books may find something or even quite a bit to like about Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe #1. I feel safe in saying that fans of Titan Comics' sci-fi titles give this a try.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Rebel Moon the film may want to try at least the first issue of Rebel Moon: House of the Bloodaxe.

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

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

The REBEL MOON: HOUSE OF THE BLOODAXE trade paperback collection is available at Amazon.

https://titan-comics.com/

https://twitter.com/ComicsTitan

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https://www.facebook.com/ComicsTitan

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Tuesday, May 20, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #7

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #7 (2023)

TITAN COMICS/Heroic Signatures

STORY: Jim Zub

ART: Doug Braithwaite

COLORS: Diego Rodriguez

LETTERS: Richard Starkings of Comicraft

EDITOR: Matt Murray

COVER: Alex Horley

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Patch Zircher; Jessica Fong, Dan Panosian

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2024)

Suggested for mature readers

“Thrice Marked for Death!” Part III: “Haunted”

Conan the Cimmerian was born in the pulp fiction of Robert E. Howard (REH), first appearing in the magazine, Weird Tales (1932). In 1970, Marvel Comics brought Conan to the world of comic books via the title, Conan the Barbarian. With only a few pauses, Conan comic books have been published for the better part of five decades.

Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures are the new producers of Conan comic books, and they launched a new Conan the Barbarian series in 2023. The current story arc is written by Jim Zub; drawn by Doug Braithwaite; colored by Diego Rodriguez; and lettered by Richard Starkings. Entitled “Thrice Marked for Death!,” the arc finds Conan taking up with a thieves guild known as “The Gloryhounds,” and the target of their latest act of larceny is a fine-cut, dark stone that only Conan realizes is dangerous.

Conan the Barbarian #7 (“Haunted”) opens as Conan dreams of what a wonderful, fierce, and deadly piece of ass the late Belit, captain of the Trigress and Queen of the Black Coast, was. He awakens to find that his current piece of ass, Chaundra, fellow member of the “Gloryhounds” thieves guild, wants to emphasize how deadly poon can be. Before long, Conan finds all his fellow thieves in the throes of something supernatural and murderous. Can Conan survive the onslaught or will he too become a haunted plaything of evil?

THE LOWDOWN: Titan Comics has been providing me with PDF copies of their publications for review for several years now. Conan the Barbarian #7 is one of them.

In my review of Conan the Barbarian #6, I wrote... “Halfway through this new Conan the Barbarian story arc and writer Jim Zub is still throwing down like he's been throwing down.” Zub is still in puttin' it down, and issue #7 is a fierce penultimate chapter to this second story arc that promises a fearsome end. This is especially true because, thus far, this arc, “Thrice Marked for Death!,” is constantly going towards the unexpected.

Doug Braithwaite, the artist for this story arc, continues to summon the ghosts of the shadowy textures and muscular storytelling that the late great artist, John Buscema, brought to all his Conan comic books. This issue, however, Braithwaite is at his most brutally imaginative and imaginatively brutal, and the result is some serious bloodletting. The art shines brilliantly, cursing Conan's foes, under Diego Rodriguez's remarkable colors. All the while, Richard Starking's letters give this Conan the Barbarian comic book a soundtrack of (Thulsa) doom.

People looking for good comic books should be reading Titan Comics' Conan the Barbarian.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Conan comic books will want to try Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures' Conan the Barbarian.

[This comic book includes the essay, “Robert E. Howard and His Ages Undreamed Of” Part Seven, by Jeffrey Shanks, although it is mistakenly listed as “Part Six.”]

★★★★ out of 4 stars

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

The CONAN THE BARBARIAN: THRICE MARKED FOR DEATH! trade paperback is available at Amazon.

https://titan-comics.com/

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Tuesday, May 13, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: UNCANNY X-MEN #1

UNCANNY X-MEN #1 (2024)

MARVEL COMICS

STORY: Gail Simone

ART: David Marquez

COLORS: Matthew Wilson

LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles

COVER: David Marquez with Matthew Wilson

EDITOR: Tom Brevoort

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Andy Kubert with Brad Anderson; David Marquez with Matthew Wilson; Jim Lee with Alex Sinclair; John Tyler Christopher; Leinil Francis Yu with Sunny Gho; Luciano Vecchio; Pablo Villalobos; Scott Koblish with Rachelle Rosenberg; Stephen Segovia with Jay David Ramos

40pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (October 2024)

Rated T+

X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

“Red Wave”

The X-Men are a Marvel Comics superhero team. The team was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1 (cover dated: September 1963). The X-Men are “mutants,” and Marvel's mutants are humans born with a genetic trait called the “X-gene,” which naturally grants them superhuman abilities. Being different from normal humans makes mutants the subject of prejudice, discrimination, and violence from humans. Founded by Professor Charles Xavier a.k.a. “Professor X,” the X-Men fight to protect Earth for both humans and mutants, often battling various “evil mutants” and otherworldly threats.

Over the decades, especially over the last four, there have been countless comic book publications featuring the X-Men. The X-Men flagship comic book was entitled “The X-Men” beginning with Issue #1 lasting through Issue #141. With Issue #142, the title official became “Uncanny X-Men.? Over the last decade Uncanny X-Men has been relaunched a few times, each news series beginning with a new Issue #1.

The latest relaunch began last year (2024) during the late summer. The 2024 iteration of Uncanny X-Men is written by Gail Simone; drawn by David Marquez; colored by Matthew Wilson; and lettered by VC's Clayton Cowles. The new series takes place in the wake of the “From the Ashes” crossover publishing event and finds the X-Men without a home and without Professor X.

Uncanny X-Men #1 opens in Westchester County, New York, specifically at the former “Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.” Diabolical forces have taken over the campus and are making plans to transform it from a school into some kind of detention center or prison.

Since the fall of the island-nation slash mutant paradise of Krakoa, mutants have been left adrift across the globe. Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine are in Mexico, specifically Teotihuacan, where they will face a dragon. Next up is “the University of Mississippi Medical Center,” where they engage in a mission of mercy for Nightcrawler and a low-level, dying mutant boy named “Harvey X.” Before long, the quartet will encounter what may be some new mutants, but is Rogue willing to become the new leader of the X-Men? Should the X-Men even continue to be a thing?

THE LOWDOWN: I am not on any kind of comp list that provides me with review copies – PDF or otherwise – of Marvel Comics publications. That leaves me free to say what I want without feeling that a bad review could get me excommunicated. [Despite what the marketing people at publishers say, a slip-up of any kind can get a reviewer removed from a comp list.]

By the time I read this new Uncanny X-Men #1 and began to write the review, this series' first trade collection, Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1: Red Wave, had been in stores for a week and a half. I am still not going to post detailed spoilers, and I suspect there is a lot to spoil over the entire arc. I like the vibe that Gail Simone brings to the series. It is part traditional X-Men, but with an offbeat wild vibe that is similar to what readers found in New X-Men #114 (cover dated: July 2001). I don't know how new and original the new mutants presented in this issue are, but Simone seems to be aiming for a new direction in this first issue of her run on this venerable series. I think she is the first woman to be the regular series writer on Uncanny X-Men, which is disgraceful that it took decades for that to happen.

As for the art by David Marquez: his work has looked better and the storytelling has been much more potent. His graphical style was simpler and cleaner in the classic Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (cover dated: July 2014). Now, Marquez is more stylish and impressionistic that he has ever been, but the storytelling here substitutes flash action for meaningful drama. The great Matthew Wilson makes the art pop off the page with his rich, earthy hues. As usual, letterer Clayton Cowles is solid, but his lettering does not get in the way of the way of the story's action.

So I don't know if I will seek out the trade for this first arc of the new Uncanny X-Men. This first chapter of “Red Wave” is somewhat intriguing, but I feel like Simone put off too much of the narrative in order to focus on Rogue's melodrama. I assume the best is yet to come, so I will recommend that X-Men fans give this series a try.

Yes. You can describe me as ambivalent about this first issue. I am still curious about X-Men comic books, but my passion for them has cooled over the years.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of X-Men comic books will always want to see what's going on with the Uncanny X-Men.

[By Marvel's legacy numbering, Uncanny X-Men #1 (2024) is also Issue No. 701.]

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

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

The first trade collection, "Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone Vol. 1: Red Wave" is now available at Amazon.

https://x.com/Marvel

https://www.marvel.com/

https://www.marvel.com/comics

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Wednesday, March 19, 2025

#IReadsYou Movie Review: HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN

Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024)

Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)

MPA – R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, and language

DIRECTOR: Brian Taylor

WRITERS: Brian Taylor, Christopher Golden, and Mike Mignola (based upon the Dark Horse comic book series created by Mike Mignola)

PRODUCERS: Jeffrey Greenstein, Sam Schulte, Robert Van Norden, Yariv Lerner, Mike Richardson, Les Weldon, and Jonathan Yunger

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ivan Vatsov (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Ryan Denmark

COMPOSER: Sven Faulconer

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/HORROR

Starring: Jack Kesy, Jefferson White, Adeline Rudolph, Leah McNamara, Joseph Marcell, Martin Bassindale, Hannah Margetson, Bogdan Haralambov, Carola Columbo, Anton Trendafilov, Michael Flemming, and Suzanne Bertish

Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a 2024 superhero, horror, and dark fantasy film from director Brian Taylor. The film is based on the Hellboy character and comic books created by Mike Mignola and published by Dark Horse Comics. The film is also the second reboot of the Hellboy film franchise. In Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Hellboy and a first-time field agent unexpectedly find themselves in a mountain community dominated by witchcraft and ruled over by a local demon.

Hellboy: The Crooked Man opens in 1959. We meet Hellboy (Jack Kesy) and Special Agent Bobbie Jo Song (Adeline Rudolph), both of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD). The two are transporting a supernatural toxic spider by train when something goes awry, and they suddenly find themselves stranded in the Appalachian Mountains. They wander until they come to a backwoods community that is filled with superstition and with the belief in witches.

They meet a former local, Tom Ferrell (Jefferson White), himself a witch, who has home to atone for his sins and to settle a hateful debt he owes. Witches and witchcraft, however, are not the only things that haunt this isolated mountain community. The devil is about in the form of Mister Onselm (Martin Bassindale), also known as “The Crooked Man.” He has come to collect a debt, and Hellboy, Song and Ferrell are the resistance. Soon, the mountain church of the blind Reverend Watts (Joseph Marcell) will be the scene of an epic battle of good versus evil.

I am not a big fan of Guillermo del Toro's 2004 film, Hellboy, the first film in the series. It has great production values, and it is a gorgeous movie filled with fantastical visual elements. On the other hand, the story is executed in a clunky and awkward fashion, and the characters are not particularly interesting. However, del Toro's follow-up to that film, the Oscar-nominated Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), is one of my all-time favorite films, and I consider it to be one of the best-ever films adapted from a comic book. Director Neil Marshall's 2019 film, Hellboy, was supposed to reboot the Hellboy film franchise. It was a box office bomb, with its worldwide box office failing to recoup even the film's production costs, but Hellboy 2019 is far superior to Hellboy 2004. It is closer to Hellboy II, in terms of quality, and almost seems like a reworking of the plot of the 2008 film.

All that said, Hellboy: The Crooked Man is another try at rebooting or restarting the series. I remember reading press and promotion for The Crooked Man stating that it was the closest of the four films in terms of being faithful to the comic book. I get that being faithful to the comic book is important to comic book people, especially the comic book creators and fans, but in the larger world of the film business, that is irrelevant. What the people behind Hellboy: The Crooked Man should have been doing is telling the world that The Crooked Man is one helluva movie...

...Because it is. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a mutha f**kin' good movie. I enjoyed the hell outta it, so much so that I might owe The Crooked Man of the film a debt. I am not trying to say that it is perfect, because it is not. Hellboy: The Crooked Man starts off slow, dry, awkward, and forced, and its first act seems like a collection of contrivances.

Then, the movie loses it mind and goes bonkers, and Hellboy: The Crooked Man flips the script so fast that I didn't know what hit me. The Crooked Man's director, Brian Taylor, is known for his work with fellow writer-director Mark Neveldine, and the duo specializes in directing nutty and bonkers film like Crank (2006) and the 2011 comic book movie, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The duo also wrote the kooky horror-Western film hybrid, Jonah Hex (2010).

Going solo on The Crooked Man, Taylor busts out a film that takes the gruesome dead of the 1982 film, Creepshow, and mixes them with hoary hell hounds of director Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981). The result is the most horrifying film in the Hellboy franchise, a film with enough bone-rattling folk horror to convince many viewers that it is a legit horror flick.

I find that David Harbour, who played Hellboy in the 2019 film, didn't stray far in his performance from what Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy star, Ron Perlman, did with the character. The Crooked Man's Hellboy actor, Jack Kesy, is more like Jeff Bridges' “Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski” (from The Big Lebowski) than he is like the dark-fantasy action hero of the previous Hellboy films. It is not that Kesy is better or worse, for the matter; it is just that he takes a different path to bringing the character to life.

There are other good performances in this film. Jefferson White makes a mark as Tom Ferrell, but there are times when both White and his character, Ferrell, seem to get lost in the hell-raising of this film. Adeline Rudolph, however, does not get lost as Bobbie Jo Song, and Rudolph's robust performance makes Song not so much a supporting character as she is a co-lead. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Joseph Marcell as Reverend Watts because he is a scene-stealer in the role. I was shocked to learn that Marcell played “Geoffrey Butler,” the butler on the former NBC sitcom, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-96).

Hellboy: The Crooked Man lacks the superhero fantasy, blockbuster bombast of its predecessors, but it is a truly unique superhero movie convincingly cos-playing a scary movie. I don't want to give away too many of its chilling, goose flesh-raising frights. The film did receive mixed reviews, but here, I won't send a mixed message. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is a damn good movie, and I would be damned if I said otherwise.

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

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

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I Reads You

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