Author Archives: Phil

The Zombies That Ate The World #1 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Jerry Frissen;  Art: Guy Davis This is another one of those aborted Humanoids projects from a couple of years ago, first picked up by DC, abandoned, and now being published  by DDP. The story’s pedestrian, although leavened by some satire: the returning dead are exploited as just another commodity, since they’re fairly benign and suggestible — although by the end of this first issue, that begins to change (not much of a spoiler, given the book’s title). The big attraction here is the Davis art: it’s lighter … Continue reading →

Four Eyes #2 — Writer: Joe Kelly;  Artist: Max Fiumara This tale of a young immigrant in a Depression-era America where dragons exist (and fight in arenas, and killed his father), is a gritty and brainy fantasy, the kind of thing that Jack Vance might have made a series out of in the 1950s. I don’t like this as much as Kelly’s Bad Dog, because it’s too grim to allow in that title’s anarchic humor, but it certainly knows what it’s doing, and Fiumara’s brawling dragons provide it with a dark grandeur that’s balanced nicely by its slightly-exaggerated little-kid protagonist. … Continue reading →

Fables #81 — Writer: Bill Willingham; Penciller: Mark Buckingham; Inker: Andrew Pepoy The death of Boy Blue — not giving much away, considering the cover (the last by James Jean, who writes a purplish-prose farewell on the inside that demonstrates that he’s much better at pictures than words). Eighty-one issues, and this continues to be a very smooth, very well-constructed and vast tapestry: look at all the subplots here, at how clearly the characters’ actions depend on their pasts, and at how confidently the creative team delivers another installment of their lives, and be glad at how dependably entertaining it’s … Continue reading →

Scalped #25 — Writer: Jason Aaron;  Artist: R. M. Guera I’m a fan of Aaron’s enthusiasm (he has the same what-the-hell, go-for-it plotting and dialog of Matt Fraction), but my problem with this Indian-Casino noir tale is the same one I have with 100 Bullets: the tough-guy facade sometimes slips, and underneath you can see the seams. Here, the plot revolves around a blackjack player who can count cards in his head, but has to be sneaky about it because if he wins too much, casino goons will try to break his legs.  Bullshit: no casino anywhere today would give … Continue reading →

Bad Dog #1 — Writer: Joe Kelly;  Art: Diego Greco Joe Kelly’s been watching a lot of TV lately — this week’s other book by him, Bang! Tango, reads like a cross between The Sopranos and Dancing With The Stars, and for this one you can just see him sitting eating Cheetoes during Dog, the Bounty Hunter and thinking “What if…?”  So, the “if” is we’ve got two bounty hunters, one a cheerfully profane, Danny Devito-like little guy, and one a… well, not a dog, exactly: a werewolf. Amazingly, it works — the R- (even X-) rated dialog crackles and … Continue reading →