Author Archives: Phil

D.C. Halloween Special ’09 — Creators: Mark Bagley, Duncan Rouleau, Kelley Jones, Dustin Nguyen, Billy Tucci and many others Some good talent here, as you can see from the (partial) credits. However, none of the stories get enough space to offer much of a payoff, and for a Halloween special there’s precious little thrills or chills. Billy Tucci probably offers the most interesting art, and the most charming story; on the other end, there’s a tale involving Wonder Woman watching The Blair Witch Project on TV that’s… well, stupid, with one of those “bwuh?” plots where nothing actually happens. You’d … Continue reading →

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #7 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Mike Mignola;  Art: Duncan Fegredo and Patric Reynolds B.P.R.D.: 1947 #4 (of 5) — Writers: Mike Mignola and Joshua Dysart;  Art: Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon Two entries from the Mignolaverse this week — the Hellboy is wrapping up a major turning point in the life of the character, while the B.P.R.D. is finishing a spooky post-war haunted-chateau tale. Both combine economical, sophisticated storytelling with wonderful art — Fegredo’s style is as inky and moody as Mignola’s, and gets better every issue, while the twin Brazilian brothers, Ba and … Continue reading →

Deadpool #900 — Creators: Jason Aaron/Chris Staggs/Juan Vlasco;  Fred van Lente/Dalibor Talajic;  Mike Benson/Damion Scott;  Joe Kelly/Rob Liefeld;  Duane Swierczynski/Shawn Crystal;  Victor Gischler/Sanford Greene/Nathan Massengill;  Charlie Huston/Kyle Baker;  James Felder/Pete Woods/Walden Wong … plus one of those all-900 covers deals, although of course they’re lying (this is sort of the 200th issue, although even then they’re bringing in every Deadpool book ever published, and then squinting a little and counting alternate covers and stuff). Covers 201-900 are part of an actually-pretty-elaborate visual gag, helping to justify the joke. This does offer over 100 pages for $4.99, and if you’re a … Continue reading →

Strange Tales #2 (of 3) — Creators:  Peter Bagge, Max Cannon, Jacob Chabot, Jonathan Hickman, R. Kikuo Johnson, Matt Klindt, Tony Millionaire, Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca, and Jhonen Vasquez Indie fans have had a lot to be happy about over the last few weeks, between the Simpsons: Treehouse of Terror book and this series. This cover-features a Peter Bagge Hulk story, which is as good as you’d suspect, but the best offering is Tony Millionaire’s Iron Man, a visually stunning, lushly-colored tale that looks like a cross between Tales of Suspense-era Gene Colan and Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot. Honorable … Continue reading →

Kill Audio #1 — Writers: Claudio Sanchez and Chondra Echert;  Art: Mr. Sheldon Strange enough to be worth a look, like some hallucinatory cartoon episode you’d see on Adult Swim, loaded with obscure music references and weird violence but with added drug references (those, plus the violence, are kind of startling coming from a Boom!  book, especially considering there’s no “mature readers” label or anything). You’ve got a dwarf, a skeleton, a chicken and a pillow (I think) all on a quest, one that moves from an urban setting to a sort-of steampunk/medieval one; the story can be sophomoric at … Continue reading →