Harrow
County #24: Writer Cullen Bunn (of The
Sixth Gun fame, a book I loved) and artist Tyler Crook continue to terrify
and amaze with tales of little Emmy and her attempt to protect Harrow County
from supernatural harm. Taking place in the 1930s, it was revealed in the
series that Emmy comes from supernatural origins herself, which causes some
folks in the town to not trust her much.
In
this issue, Emmy’s best friend Bernice turns out to be one of those mistrusting
folks. Bernice doesn’t have faith that Emmy will side with the humans against
her non-human friends, commonly called “haints.” Emmy’s latest haint friends
look like giants rabbits with razor sharp teeth, and they surround her in the
woods and cast dark glances at anyone who gets too close to Emmy. Bernice,
learning some craft from a good witch in the woods, takes it upon herself to
fight the haints surrounding Emmy and other dark denizens of the woods. She
comes in direct conflict with Emmy as Emmy steps in to protect them. Emmy
thinks all beings can learn to live together, Bernice isn’t taking any chances.
After battling it out for a while, a surprising being made of fire appears to
tell the girls to stop their foolishness. They listen, but it looks like their
relationship will be changed forever. They should be looking to the other side
of the woods, where a nefarious group is resurrecting the one monster that can
go toe to toe with Emmy.
Another
treat in Harrow County is the folksy,
homespun local ghost stories people relate in the letters pages in the back of
the book. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do love a good ghost story, and a
few of those have set goose bumps to rising. An excellent comic.
Rating:
**** stars out of 5
Normandy
Gold #1: I am a loyal aficionado of Hard Case Crime’s prose novels. They have
recently begun expanding into comics and the results, like their books, are
fun, noirish, gritty crime thrillers.
Normandy
Gold is definitely all those things. Normandy herself is the sheriff of a rural
Northeastern town. Her kid sister Lila moved to Washington D.C. some years ago
to take her chances within the corridors of power. Lila got involved with the
wrong people, and when she is brutally murdered, Normandy vows to move heaven
and earth to find the culprits. She seeks assistance from the Washington
police, but finds them less than helpful. She decides to go undercover to find
out what happened and who is responsible. Deep
undercover.
This
book is gritty, violent and not for children. However, it contains a juicy
mystery and an extremely driven protagonist. Recommended.
Rating:
**** stars out of 5
Kill
the Minotaur #1: Ever since one of my college history professors related that
archeologists found an actual maze under the ancient palace in Crete, my
imagination has been obsessed with the Minotaur myth. Was there really a
half-man half-bull in that maze who devoured the young and innocent tribute
sent by Athens? Why would Athens agree to such a thing? What happened to those
young people who were forced to leave their home and possibly be fed to a
hell-beast? Kill the Minotaur attempts
to creatively answer some of those questions.
The
time is circa 1500 B.C. King Minos of Crete has no other choice but to admit his
son the Minotaur, trapped in his maze, requires stronger sacrifices than the
cattle and livestock he is being offered. He decides to do something about it.
Cut
to eight years later. After waging a successful war against Athens, Minos has
agreed not to destroy the city for the annual price of seven young men and
seven young women. Every year, soldiers from Crete sail into Athens with a
warship, walk though the city and take whomever they wish.
This
is galling to Athenian prince Theseus, who finds Cretan arrogance and
kidnapping too much to bear. When the soldiers arrive this year, it takes
Theseus’s brother and a retinue of warriors to stop him from interfering. In
the palace later that night, Theseus receives a surprise offer from Cretan
Master of the Maze, Daedalus. Thinking he may have a chance to stop the tribute
and see what is actually happening to those taken, Theseus accepts Daedalus’s
offer and secretly returns to Crete as an anonymous tribute. His plan falls
apart the instant he departs the tribute ship.
Writers
Chris Pasetto and Christian Cantamessa set the stage well, with a good handle
on the ancient world, a wonderful plot and strong characters. Artist Lukas
Ketner captures the visuals with verve and panache, he’s an outstanding artist.
The only nit-pick I have with the script is the use of the “f” word. I’m sure the
ancient world had some analog, but this anachronism takes readers out of the
story wondering, “Wow, did they have the f-word back then?” They didn’t, so I
vote for using something else. It does give flavor to character dialog. I just like
historical accuracy when possible. Still, this is a fantasy story, so not the
end of the world.
Kill
the Minotaur is tremendously enjoyable and looks to be a roller coaster ride
through ancient Greece. I’m looking forward to issue #2.
Rating:
****½ stars out of 5
Bane
Conquest #2: I don’t buy many superhero comics anymore and miss them terribly.
Marvel is lost to SJW madness, but DC occasionally emerges from the depths with
an actual coherent comic book. Such is the case with Bane Conquest, for two reasons: Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan.
Dixon, an adventure writer and expert comic book scribe, makes writing a great
comic story seem effortless. Here he catches up with Bane, one of Batman’s
greatest villains (created of course, by Dixon and Nolan).
In
this 12-issue miniseries, Bane has lost none of his belligerence or overhoned
sense of superiority. In issue #2, he has been captured and imprisoned by his
enemy Damocles. It turns out his cellmate is another former enemy and someone
well known to readers. Together they conspire to escape and discover Damocles’
plan.
There
is nothing like watching two masters at work. This comic performs on every
level, featuring flashbacks examining Bane’s childhood in prison (through no
fault of his own) and how he became the man he is today. The story ends on a
humorous note and promises more action and revelations as the series
progresses. It’s nice to be reading something in a superhero universe for a
change!
Rating:
****½ stars out of 5
Wonder
Woman ’77 Meets the Bionic Woman #4: This is a terrible comic. Of course I was
in love with Lynda Carter and Lindsay Wagner in the ‘70s, who wasn’t? Perhaps
no comic could hold such awesomeness between its covers and a good story
featuring these two blockbuster ladies is just impossible. Or, it’s possible
that Andy Mangels, despite his obvious love for the material, is not an
interesting writer. It could be artist Judit Tondora, who captures likenesses
fairly well, but needs major work on interesting layouts and coherent
storytelling. The lukewarm plot includes Fembots and a typical villain ranting
about world domination. The cliffhanger includes a dumb, unlikely coincidence
that gets Wonder Woman hurt in the most contrived way possible. This story is
forced, not organic. It certainly doesn’t flow the way a story with two of the
‘70s greatest heroines should. Lackluster in every way. This comic is not worth
$4.00.
**½
stars out of 5
Weird
Love #18: I haven’t taken a look at this title for a while, but don’t take that
as a perceived lack in quality. If anything, Yoe, Gussoni and crew pick better
and more insane stories every issue. Let’s examine a few gems reprinted from
comics’ Golden Age this issue:
-
“So This is Love!” (from Dear Lonely
Heart #1, 1951): Yes, that cover actually happens! Katy is a bit high
strung. She’s a hot, four-eyed nerd running her own dress shop. When a brigand
arrives at close of business with a gun, she wakes up gagged and tied to a
chair! Luckily, officer Patrick Murphy (wonder what his ethnic background is? A Sikh
from India possibly?) is walking by and notices her front door forced open. He
unties her and the romance begins. Unfortuately, Pat proves to be a toxic alpha
male. On their date, he tells Katy to lose the glasses and her hat looks
stupid. No one puts Katy in a corner! Reluctantly, she agrees to another date,
where the Patster tells her to leave her hair down, not wear it up like a ...
hrumpf ... washer woman! That’s
enough for Katy! Later, when Pat brings the even hotter Peggy around, they
accidently end up sharing a sundae, where Katy tells Peggy just what kind of
***hole she’s dating. If only Peggy wasn’t Pat’s sister, whom he brought around
to meet Katy! D’oh! So naturally, when Pat proposes, Katy immediately accepts!
Writers—what’s wrong with them?
-
“Swinger” (from Teenage Love #43,
1965): Dory likes Gil, but he’s such a square! Gil doesn’t go in for all that
dancing and devil music, like Dory’s other friends. When a bored Dory attends
her friend’s dance party, she is taken with the Elvis-like Chuck. Chuck rides a
motorcycle and says “baby” a lot. When Chuck takes her for a private ride on
his bike and tries to get fresh, Dory is moderately uncomfortable! When she asks
Chuck to return her to the party, he states stoically: “Sure Chickie! I don’t
want to ruffle your feathers!” A true orator is our Charles! When Dory returns
home and puts on her Chairman Mao pajamas, she decides a life of fun and whimsy
is not for her. She chooses Gil, and a lifetime of bland curtains, boredom and the
missionary position. As it should be!
-
“My Secret Betrayed Me” (from True Life
Stories #9, 1952): Wow, here’s one that is truly twisted. Or twisted-er.
Ann lives in jealousy of her kid sister Jessica, a world famous movie star.
Growing up, Jessica got the nice dresses. Jessica got the dance lessons.
Jessica got the attention from daddy (and the actual talent). When she is
mistaken for her famous sister, Ann decides that with the right makeup and
hairstyle, she can get some of the attention and acceptance she could never get
as herself. Soon she is in full masquerade mode as “Jessica,” getting gifts,
limo rides and male interest while the real Jessica is out of the country on a
film shoot. When she discovers how easy it is, she goes to the big city and
starts to live it up, sticking Jessica with the bills! A perfect plan, until
she meets Roland Storm, a square-jawed actor who is rumored to be romantically
involved with Jessica. None the wiser, Roland and Ann start dating and fall in
love. Or, Ann thinks so, until a drunken Roland demands some of her big movie
star salary. When Ann comes clean as an imposter, Roland smacks her hard across
the face! The drunken cad! That hit smacked Ann back to reality, as she
immediately abandons the Jessica disguise and returns to being Ann. She’s
perfectly happy ... until she reads in the newspaper (Millennials, please
Google “newspaper”) that the real Jessica has married Roland! So ... everybody’s really happy now? And ... violence is good? I don’t know!
-
My First Date” (from Doctor Tom Brent,
Young Intern #1, 1963): Blonde Barbie can’t wait for her first date! It’s a
blind date to the Spring Formal, with Jud Mills—you know, that kid from
Clarksville. All week, Barbie dreams of her Prince Charming, Jud. In her mind,
he’s 6’2”, speaks seven languages and was just picked as this month’s Playgirl
centerfold. Imagine her distress on the night of the dance when Jud shows up
with flowers and—he’s kind of short! And has a pimple! Ahhhhhh! Why is fate so
cruel! WHY! In two more panels, he says something nice and everything is all
right. Teenagers, ladies and gentlemen! In the ‘70s, Barbie left Jud for Mark
Spitz.
As
usual, Weird Love is the world's finest source
of twisted, ghoulish romance. Never stop being weird!
