New Comics

As the last shipment before Halloween, this week naturally brought a ton of horror books. Let’s look: FVZA: Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency #1 (of 3) — Writer: David Hine;  Art: Roy Allan Martinez This is the most expensive, at $4.99, but it’s squarebound, with nice production values and something like 56 pages of story. The 44-page lead involves an alternate-history US that always had vampires and zombies around, eradicated them in the ’60s with vaccines, but now has them coming back. Moody, effective art, showcased on decent paper stock, helps quite a bit; so does a real sense of … Continue reading →

Beasts of Burden #2 (of 4) — Writer: Evan Dorkin;  Art: Jill Thompson As I said in reviewing the first issue of this, you’d think that a comic about dogs (and a cat) solving supernatural crimes in a leafy little suburb would be too cute for words — but you’d be wrong. This second issue offers a perfect little Halloween tale, haunting and affecting. Dorkin gives each animal a distinct personality, and he’s a rare writer who trusts his readers; he gives us all he information we need, and lets us put the pieces together. As for the art, it’s … Continue reading →

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 →