#IReadsYou Review: FARMHAND #15

 

FARMHAND #15
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Rob Guillory
ART: Rob Guillory
COLORS: Rico Renzi
LETTERS: Kody Chamberlain
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Burt Durand
COVER: Rob Guillory
32pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(April 2020)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Farmhand created by Rob Guillory

Chapter 15: “The Knowledge of Good and Evil”

Farmhand is a dark fantasy comic book series from comic book creator, Rob Guillory.  Guillory is also known for his award-winning tenure on the long-running comic book, Chew (Image Comics), with writer John Layman.  Farmhand is written and illustrated by Guillory; lettered by Kody Chamberlain (who also designed the Farmhand logo); and currently colored by Rico Renzi.

Farmhand's central character is Ezekiel “Zeke” Jenkins, a husband, father, and graphic designer and illustrator.  He returns to his hometown of Freetown, Louisiana with his wife, Mae, and their children, Abigail and Riley.  Zeke's father, Jedidiah “Jed” Jenkins, and sister, Andrea (“Andy”), own and operate “Jenkins Family Farmaceutical Institute.”  The “farm” grows plant-based replacement human organs and tissue, and once upon a time, people, especially transplant recipients, saw this as a miracle.  But, since he returned, Zeke has discovered that the great miracle hides a great evil.

Early in Farmhand #14, Zeke gets a call from Randall Lafayette, summoning Zeke to “Uncle Randy's” house for some information exchange.  While there, Zeke has some kind of seizure and collapses to the floor unconscious.

Farmhand #15 (“The Knowledge of Good and Evil”) opens to find Zeke in some kind of dream state or some place between life and death.  And he sees it all – everything that happened that fateful day between his father, Jed; his late mother, Anna; and his father's partner, Monica Thorne.

When he regains consciousness, Zeke joins Randy, and the two head to the church of longtime family friends, Pastor John “Tree” Moore and his wife, Nancy.  Also, gathered at the church are Jed and eventually, Mae and Andrea... and of course, Monica.  Ms. Thorne wants to show herself – all her power and her army.  And nothing will be the same again.

THE LOWDOWN:  Farmhand #15 concludes Farmhand's third story arc, “Roots of All Evil” (a.k.a. Season Three), which began with issue #11.  Like plant life, Farmhand is ever-growing and evolving with a cycle of life and death that brings about change.  [Season One is Farmhand #1-5, “Reap What Was Sown” and Season Two is Farmhand #6-10, “Thorne in the Flesh.”]

“Roots of All Evil” is about revelation, however, more than it is about change.  Yes, there are new characters, but some of the most crucial moments of Farmhand's back story explode out of the ground, the way those amazing mutant crawfish explode out of the pond in Farmhand #12.  Farmhand's origin story seems to be about its own take on the Biblical bite of the apple, but there is more to the knowledge in “the knowledge of good and evil” than any one chapter can tell.  So I would not be surprised to see a future issue of Farmhand return to the events of the flashback depicted in issue #15

I have thought of Rob Guillory's storytelling as brilliant since the day I first got a preview of Farmhand #1, but it turns out that I had no idea of what was really coming.  It is hard to believe, but I must believe it since I have read it with my own eyes.  Every issue of Farmhand is fresh from the garden of Guillory's imagination, and each one offers something new or some new things.  While I await the next bumper crop, dear readers, you must go back to the beginning and discover Farmhand.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of dark fantasy fiction will want to be a Farmhand.

[This comic book also includes the one-page comic, “Freetown Funnies,” by Burt Durand.]

10 out of 10

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


https://robguillory.com/
https://twitter.com/Rob_guillory
https://www.instagram.com/rob_guillory/


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Review: BITTER ROOT #1

BITTER ROOT No. 1 (OF 5)
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: David F. Walker and Chuck Brown
ART: Sanford Greene
COLORS: Rico Renzi and Sanford Greene
LETTERS: Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Heather Antos
COVER: Sanford Greene with Jarreau Wimberly
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Mike Mignola; Denys Cowan and Don Hudson with Rico Renzi; Brittney Williams; Sanford Greene with Jarreau Wimberly
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2018)

Rated M/Mature

Bitter Root created by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene

Bitter Root is a new comic book miniseries from Image Comics.  It is created by writers David F. Walker and Chuck Brown and artist Sanford Greene.  It follows a family of monster fighters who are based in 1920s Harlem.  The rest of the creative team is composed of Rico Renzi who colors the book with Sanford Greene and Clayton Cowles who provides lettering.

Bitter Root #1 opens in New York City of the 1920s.  The Harlem Renaissance is in full swing, and at one of Harlem's hottest spots, “Sweet Pickin,” people are shaking their tail feathers.  But all is not well.  Supernatural forces are threatening humanity, and only the Sangerye Family can save New York and the world from the demon... the monster... the “Jinoo.”

Ma Etta does the root work to create the curing serum.  Blink assists her, but the young woman wants to be out in the field fighting monsters with the boys.  The burly and loquacious Berg puts young Cullen through his paces.  The family, however, is not as large in number as it used to be, worn down by tragedy and conflict.  They must heal and recover or watch the world be destroyed.

Black science fiction and fantasy – in film and television, in prose, and in comic books – is in full bloom.  Comic books like Black Panther, House of Whispers, and Jook Joint provide a regular and consistent view of black and brown faces in speculative and fantastic fiction.  Writer David F. Walker has been at the forefront of “Black Comics” thanks to his work on titles like Cyborg, Luke Cage, and Nighthawk, to name a few.

Walker and co-writer Chuck Brown, in Bitter Root, deliver a concept with quite a bit of potential.  Even after one issue, it seems that five issues will not be enough to contain what they have created.  I like the idea of hate being a thing that creates monsters, but Bitter Root seems to want to explore evil in ways that are layered if not complex.  Plus, there are the dynamics of the Sangerye Family.  They are four strong individuals, each one truly unique from the others, and all with glorious black and brown faces.

As an comic book artist and illustrator, Sanford Greene is bold and dynamic.  The influence and manga and anime on Greene's graphical storytelling is evident, even in Bitter Root.  Characters emote with kinetic ferocity and the suggestion of figures in motion here makes the characters move like a cat on a hot tin roof.  Green's storytelling is alive and hypnotic.  Is it okay to say that this is like crack for the comic book readers' eyes.  Greene's coloring, done with Rico Renzi, is equally heady and kinetic.

The ever reliable letterer, Clayton Cowles, also goes shaka zulu with his lettering.  A nervy story needs nervy lettering in order to be a nervy read, and Cowles work here is quite nervy.  Bitter Root keeps the black gold flowing in our “Golden Age” of “Black Comics.”  I recommend it and can't wait for the second issue.

9 out of 10

[This comic book includes text pieces by David F. Walker and Chuck Brown (“Bitter Truths: That ain't nothing but the Devil!”); Toni Morrison (excerpt from Beloved); and John Jennings (“Deep Roots / Rich Soil: Race, Horror and the Ethnogothic”).]

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Review: COSMIC SCOUNDRELS Trade Paperback

COSMIC SCOUNDRELS (TPB)
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Andy Suriano and Matt Chapman
SCRIPT: Matt Chapman
ART: Andy Suriano
COLORS: Andy Suriano with T Dang
LETTERS: Christa Miesner and Andy Suriano
COVER: George Caltsoudas
SERIES COVERS: Andy Suriano
MISC. ART: Andrew MacLean; Warwick Johnson Cadwell; Dan McDaid; Alexis Ziritt; Aaron Conley; Veronica Fish; Ron Salas; Tanner Johnson; Paul Maybury; Jake Wyatt with Rico Renzi; Paul Harmon; Derek Charm; Chris Schweizer; Rob Schrab; Terry and Rachel Dodson with Rico Renzi; Derek Hunter; Wilfredo Torres; Tony Fleecs; Michel Fiffe; Scott Kowalchuk; Kali Fontecchio; Jeffs Sims; Rico Renzi; Nick Dragotta; Andy Suriano
ISBN: 978-1-68405-024-6; paperback (December 2017)
144pp, Color, $19.99 U.S., $25.99 CAN (December 19, 2017)

Cosmic Scoundrels created by Andy Suriano and Matt Chapman

Cosmic Scoundrels is a five-issue miniseries published by IDW Publishing in 2017.  In December 2017, IDW collected Cosmic Scoundrels as a full-color trade paperback that reprints all five issues of the miniseries and reprints all of the miniseries' covers and variant covers.  There is also a 20-page dossier of characters, ships, planets, concepts, etc. used in the minseries and miscellany like faux-advertisements and comic strips.  Cosmic Scoundrels is written by Andy Suriano (story) and Matt Chapman (story and script).  It is drawn by Suriano; colored by Suriano and T Dang; and lettered by Christa Miesner and Suriano.

Cosmic Scoundrels was created by two veterans of American television animation, Andy Suriano and Matt Chapman.  Suriano is a character designer, storyboard artist, and concept designer who is known for his work on “Samurai Jack” (2001-2004) and “Star Wars: Clone Wars” (2003-2005), and Suriano is also an Emmy Award winner.  Chapman is an animation writer and voice actor for animated series, having worked on the Disney Channel's “Gravity Falls” (2012 to 2016) as both a writer and performer.

A sci-fi action-comedy, Cosmic Scoundrels focuses on Love Savage and Roshambo, two space-fairing scoundrels and thieves.  Love Savage, with his long blond hair, looks like a rock star and is indeed in a rock band.  Roshambo is the tough-guy, military type and sports a pair of powerful gauntlets on his wrists.  These two bachelor scalawags travel the spaceways aboard their ship, “the S.S. Fistpuncher,” and get a little mothering from the ship's artificial intelligence (A.I.), “Mrs. Billingsley.”

Trouble starts for the two when they rob the Dimetrotron Brothers of some supposedly valuable cargo.  What they find in one of the crates is a toddler with a huge electronic collar around his neck.  Alternately calling him, “Tad Jr.” and “Roshambo Jr.,” our scoundrels fight to keep the baby from the clutches of very powerful forces that insist on obtaining the child.  By the end of this adventure, many secrets will be revealed, and Love Savage and Roshambo will find themselves exposed.

You don't have to read many pages into Cosmic Scoundrels to see that it is a celebration of the spirit of animated television series.  Cosmic Scoundrels is basically the kind of Saturday morning cartoon we wish existed.  The story's vivid colors seems to emanate from a cathode ray tube, blasting electron beams from behind animation cels.

The lettering is like a cat on a hot tin roof which gives the story a wild and crazy vibe.  The narrative is kind of all over the place, but readers can use the protect-the-baby plot line as a kind of yellow brick road that will take you to the back-to-Kansas ending of the story.  Sometimes, the story is a little too wild and wooly, so focus on Cosmic Scoundrels' explosive graphics and graphical storytelling.

Cosmic Scoundrels does have a flavor that recalls films like The Fifth Element and Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, as well as the 1981 animated film, Heavy Metal.  Fans of anime and animation will feel the groove of “Cowboy Bebop,” “Futurama,” “Galaxy High,” and “Samurai Jack,” to name a few.  It is as fun to read Cosmic Scoundrels as it is to watch such animated series.  This comic book does have some story padding, and the lead characters, Love Savage and Roshambo, beg for some character development.  Hopefully, the Cosmic Scoundrels have a future that reveals more about them.

7 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

Review: LOVE AND ROCKETS Vol. 4 #1

LOVE AND ROCKETS VOL. IV No. 1
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez – @BetomessGilbert @xaimeh
ARTISTS: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds – @earinc
COVER: Jaime Hernandez
BACK COVER: Gilbert Hernandez
VARIANT COVERS: Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez with Paul Baresh; Jacob Covey; Rico Renzi
36pp, B&W, $4.99 U.S. (October 2016)

The seminal alternative comic book, Love and Rockets, produced by brothers Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (“Los Bros”), has been published since 1982 by Fantagraphics Books.  It started as a magazine-sized comic book that ran for 50 issues (1983 to 1996) and later returned for a 20-issue run as a standard-sized comic book, (Vol II, 2001-2007).  Then, it became an annual graphic novel series which ran for eight volumes, Love and Rockets: New Stories (Vol. III, 2008-2016).  [It is important to note that Gilbert and Jaime do not collaborate, and that each brother had his own characters and stories.]

Late last year, Love and Rockets Vol. IV returned the series to its comic magazine format that fans of the original series fell in love with and probably still love and prefer.  Actually, I am one of those fans who prefers the original format, but I understand that for various reasons the creators and publishers felt the need to initiate format changes at different times.

Under a front cover by Jaime, Love and Rockets Vol. IV #1 offers four stories, three by Jaime and one by Gilbert (Beto).  In Gilbert's story, which is this issue's centerpiece, Baby Fritz, daughter of Rosalba  “Fritz” Martinez (actress, dancer, film producer), is plumbing the secrets and secret history of her mother's life.  Meanwhile, Fritz's wife, Pipo Jimenez, is demanding a divorce, which Fritz is reluctant to grant.  However, the bigger bombshell is a secret child.

Jaime's entries begin with “I Come from Above to Avoid a Double Chin,” the continuation of his recent “punk-reunion concert” story arc.  Maggie discovers that some of her old friends don't want to be punk anymore, and that some don't want to hate on Julie Wree anymore, either.  And there is a fight and minor bloodshed.  Next, Tonta Agajanian is attending a mini-comix show to sell her comix, but her half-sister, Vivian “Frogmouth” Solis wants to steal the show.  Plus, the adventure of Anima and Lumina continue with long-dong Katak.

I knew that I would like the return of Love and Rockets to a magazine-sized publication.  For me, there was something magical about that comic book at that size when I picked up my first issue all the way back in 1985 (probably Love and Rockets #11 – cover dated April 1985).

I think that when I read a Los Bros. comic book in a larger size, preferably magazine-sized, I undergo a sensory experience that goes beyond just reading a normal comic book.  I feel a sense of mystery in the black and white comix of Jaime, his pages filled with solid blocks of black to contrast the perfect cool white spaces.  That graphical style defined Jaime's early B-movie sci-fi, monster, and wrestling stories and made me feel as if the magical mystery tour had dropped me in a fictional world that was wild, weird, and wonderful.  I couldn't get enough.

In Gilbert's comix, the size did matter.  The drama of Palomar was big without being melodramatic, although I assume melodrama and soap opera influenced Gilbert's comix.  That dramatic heft made even Beto's weird fiction comics seem solid, as real as they were surreal and fantastical.  Thus, the violence in a story of aliens, superheroes, and other unreal beings was sudden and shocking as the violence that took place in stories starring Luba or Fritz.

For me, the bigger Love and Rockets Vol. IV #1 is a return of the real, unreal, and surreal.  It's bigger drama and the return of the mystery in live – in Locas, in Mechanics, and in outer space.

A

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


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

"Spider-Gwen #3" is Pretty and Amazing

SPIDER GWEN #3 - Reviewed by Albert Avilla

STORY: Jason Latour
PENCILS: Robbi Rodriguez
COLORS: Rico Renzi
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles

SPOILER ALERT

When I saw the title of this book, I said, “Spider what? Huh?”  Then, the old saying came back to me, “Don't judge a book by the cover.”  My new saying is don't judge a comic book by its title, because the covers have been awesome.

I have been enjoying this reality where Peter Parker dies and everyone lives.  The direction that the characters' lives have taken is compelling.  It's like the old “What If” stories on steroids.  My favorite is “What If... the Punisher was a cop?”  I can't wait to see what direction that is going.  Are there any police brutality considerations?

The relationship dynamic between Gwen and her father is interesting.  You raise a child to stand up for what is right; then, when she has the power to make a difference, you are concerned about her safety.  Uncle Ben and Aunt May are hinted at being more than the elderly-couple-next-door.  Gwen is going to have all these righteous people influencing her.

While I am reading, I am imagining all of these story lines that can arise from all of these fragments, but I know this is all going on a completely different tangent.  That is what makes this book so intriguing; there is so much potential for fascinating stories.

The action scenes in the story are thrilling.  You get a different style of Spider-Man fight.  Shout out to whoever came up with the idea of getting Gwen to use bowling pins and a trophy as nunchucks.  This is a story that keeps the neurons in your brain firing and your breath short.

Robbi Rodriguez has a unique style of art.  The art is just as important as the text in the storytelling.  Spider-Gwen's costume is amazing.  When she is in a panel, your attention is drawn to the character; the character is glowing in the panel.  The use of white and red is artistic brilliance.  It gives Spider-Gwen a unique look in the “Spider World.”  The covers have been beautiful with Gwen in some cool “Spider-poses.”

I rate Spider Gwen #3 Buy Your Own Copy (#2 on the Al-o-Meter)

The text is copyright © 2015 Albert Avilla. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

The New 52 Review: STATIC SHOCK #2

STATIC SHOCK #2
DC COMICS

WRITERS: Scott McDaniel and John Rozum
PENCILS: Scott McDaniel
INKS: Andy Owens
COLORS: Guy Major
LETTERS: Dezi Sienty
COVER: Chris Brunner with Rico Renzi
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Static/Virgil Ovid Hawkins is an African-American teen superhero who first appeared in comic books produced by Milestone Media. With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” Static stars in a new comic book series entitled Static Shock.

As Static Shock #2 (“Disarmed”) opens, Static takes on a big-talking bad guy named Virule. The battle leaves Static grievously injured… or so he thinks, and suddenly, Virgil has to pay attention to the development his powers. As he navigates the halls of his new high school, P.S. M101 Dwayne G. McDuffie Center for Science and Mathematics (good name), Static discovers that he can get some clues about his other current adversaries, the Slate Gang. Meanwhile, the conspiracy in which he is a part grows with new players.

For readers to fully enjoy the new DC Comics Static Shock, they will need to be somewhat familiar with the Milestone Comics Static stories, but that is less so with this second issue than it was with the first. I must have missed something, because something screwed up is going on with Virgil’s sister, Sharon.

Anyway, everything about Static Shock has improved from issue 1 to issue 2. The action and fight scenes are brief, but are explosive and also effective for the story. Co-writer/penciller Scott McDaniel and co-writer John Rozum jump around a lot from scenes with just Static or just the villains to scenes at home and at school, but each one is necessary to the story and moves it forward by offering more tantalizing details. These scenes form one big structural backbone. This time, Static Shock is not just another superhero comic book; it is also an engaging mystery and drama.

The art by McDaniel and inker Andy Owens is also better. The composition is solid, even if this isn’t the prettiest art around. The graphic and page design are dynamic and certainly more lively than last time, which makes the storytelling less stiff and formal. Static Shock #2 gives me hope that I can, at least, expect good things from this series. After the first issue, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep reading.

B+