Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween Treats

First, go check out my newest Loose Staples. It's a column so horrifying, it almost didn't see print!

And hit Zombie Tom's place for some good old-fashioned zombie fun.

And now, for some quickies!

Remains #1-5

Got this one via ADD and mostly enjoyed it. Niles adds a kind of ominous tone to the story that never really pays off. Somehow the zombies are getting smarter, and apparently they're being controlled/influenced by some kind of zombie king. It just leads to more questions than answers in the end. Dwyer's art is nice, sexy and spooky, and the play between the characters is nice. Ultimately it just feels like a retread of the Dawn of the Dead re-make, only without the mall. Too bad there hasn't been a follow-up, I'd like to see what he had planned with the smart zombies.B-

Billy the Kid's Old Timey Oddities #1-4

Excellent series. I love how Powell is able to blend an American western with this cast of P.T. Barnum sideshow characters, add in a little European locale (and Doc Frankenstein) and make it all flow so well. Kyle Hotz art is phenomenal, everything looks great, especially the "busy" pages. Each of the Doc's twisted creations feels unique, like there's actually a story behind them. One kick-ass book, I could've cheered when Billy finally takes down the evil old Doc.A+

Hellboy: Weird Tales #1

A solid book, definitely worth the purchase for the John Cassady penned/illustrated Big-Top Hellboy. He's no Mignola when it comes to Hellboy, but damn he makes him look sweet. Plus, Abe wearing a beard had me in stitches. The rest of the book I could take or leave, thought the old-school Lobster Johnson strip was neat-o (and also by Cassady).B+

Shadowplay #1

Ummm, I have no clue what the hell went on in this book. It's pretty though, with art by Ashley Wood and Ben Templesmith. I do know it has something to do with vampires, but couldn't really make heads or tales of the plots. D

Tales of the TMNT #16

Donatello hitches a ride with some Utroms and they end up outside known space. Reeks of what Whedon did in Serenity, but still works. Good script, probably one of the best this series has had, and Doug Rice is just fantastic on the art. All in all a kick-butt sci-fi tale starring one of my favorite turtles. B

TMNT #24

We almost have the plots bridged together, all the turtles are connecting again, except for Mikey, who's stranded off-world. It'll be nice to see how Laird either gets him home, or gets the other three out into space looking for him. This marks the four years point for the book, and the fact that we've seen more than out fair share of changes to the characters is the biggest plus. For most books four years represents a number of writer/artist changes and a constant return to status quo. In four years of this book we've seen the death of Splinter, a huge jump in the technology of the world (including the Turtle becoming public figures, the Earth serving as a a sort of interspatial airport, and little turtle nano bots that kick butt), Raph becoming a huge hulking creature, Donatello shrunken to the size of a dollar bill (maybe smaller), the bizarre origin of April, Mikey stranded on another planet, and so much more that it hurts my head to try and remember it all. There is no other book that has progressed the way this one has, and I've loved every minute of it.A+

Loveless #1

So, Brian Azzarello got himself a western book? He seems like the type of writer who could pull that off, and having Marcelo Frusin on art doesn't hurt. But, the dialogue is clunky and confusing, there's no real plot that I can see, and the "twist" was just ridiculous. Looks pretty though. Still, Azz can be a great writer, so I may have to keep picking this up to see how it develops. C

Undead

Very weird movie mix of comedy, aliens and zombies, set in Australia. My first thought was "this wants to be Shaun", but really it doesn't. The comedy is there, but very understated, it's more of an action flik, and when they throw the aliens at you it's enough to make your head spin. But, it's pretty exciting, and funny, and somewhat spooky. Worth a rent if you're in the mood for something truly strange, or just love zombie films. I'm gonna watch it again and try and follow it more closely. B

Finally, my favorite scary movie star ever would like to bid you a Happy Halloween:

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And you can thank Mike Allred for the new pic on the sidebar. I got his Solo issue but haven't read it yet.

-L

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