[Comic Execution] 1/9 – LADY KILLER, WOLF MOON, ESCAPE FROM NY

First Comic Execution of 2015! Don’t get too comfortable, though. There’s going to be a new Comic Execution coming your way, revamaped to time with the debut of the new Destroy The Brain. What’s going to change? Well, most importantly, we’re going to continue to narrow our reviewed titles to ones that fit better with the Destroy The Brain format. You’re already seeing quite a bit of that but here’s what you can expect, if it’s a horror comic, we’ll be reviewing it, no matter how crappy or obligatory it might be. For example; I haven’t reviewed any of the IDW “Ash vs [insert franchise here]” comics because the premise already seems like trash and I’m not interested. But from here on out, I’m going to put my personal bias aside, at least when it comes to choosing the titles I review, and make sure that Destroy The Brain becomes your source for reliable opinions on horror comics.

The “execution” process will also be a little different now. Even if I don’t like the debut issue of a series, it gets three issues before I decide to execute it. This is mainly because I feel like sometimes my emotional reaction to the first issue of a comic gets in the way of me fully appreciating it, like listening to the first track of a song and dismissing the whole album because of it. To be honest, this is more a matter of practicality; by limiting the format of the column to horror (and stuff like Bitch Planet or Lady Killer) I’m going to need more books to fill in each week. Sadly, this means some of my favorite stuff I’ve reviewed, like Little Nemo and The Storyteller, won’t be seen in these pages anymore. It’s a sad truth but I’ve got to face the music that they just don’t belong at Destroy The Brain, not if they’re taking up space that actual horror comics should be occupying.

The new format doesn’t kick off until the website relaunches and all of the stuff that’s been started now will carry over, naturally, so it shouldn’t be too jarring. Hopefully.

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ESCAPE FROM NY #2

Writer: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Diego Barreto
Colorist: Marissa Louise

Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Price: $4 (digital)

I watched several new-to-me John Carpenter films lately and I have to say, I have way more mixed feelings about him now that I’ve seen Halloween III and Prince Of Darkness. I mean, I also watched Christine, which is definitely far better than either of the aforementioned movies and Halloween III wasn’t technically directed by John Carpenter anyway but the flawless impression I had of him has been shattered. What I need to do is to go back and rewatch the movies that made me fall in love with his work; Escape From NY in particular, as well as The Fog and Assault On Precinct 13. This comic, though, makes me worry that Escape won’t be as deliriously fun as I want it to be, because there’s no way it’s as thrilling as this comic.

Writer Christopher Sebela deserves more than a little credit for that, as he absolutely holds back nothing in the pursuit of action-packed insanity. We’re introduced to a pair of malevolent brats who try to impress Plissken with their Florida stronghold only to have to rely on their “Mother” to ultimately take down Snake. Sebela establishes a rhythm with this series that proves that he might be loyal to the movie to a fault; Snake gets in trouble, kills a bunch of people, almost gets out of trouble, and then gets in trouble in a whole new way. Honestly, by the second “everyone gets killed but Snake” scene, I got a little exasperated; unlike the original film, whose plot was “rescue the President’s daughter,” there’s nothing in particular driving this comic, which both allows Sebela to really explore Snake’s post-apocalyptic USA but also creates a sense that he’s treading water. That being said, the water is interesting enough that the treading he does in this issue held my attention long enough until the last page, where things have come full circle and he’s back in custody. It’s fun, but I’m not sure I can do another issue of this meandering, world-exploring stuff alone. I need plot!

Diego Barreto’s art is solid throughout and that’s actually really impressive, given how much insane bullshit he has to illustrate. From refugee tent-cities to dingy submarines, he nails each panel, only simplifying the backgrounds when mood calls for it or when the action is the focus. His characters all look distinctive and convey emotions well enough. The action has a big screen, pulpy power to it thanks to his dynamic POVs and rigorous layouts. The colors, by Marissa Louise, are still a bit muted during the showdown early on but not too much, standing out where necessary and her work inside the submarine goes a long way towards establishing the mood and making the claustrophobic visuals work. Letterer Ed Dukeshire also delivers a blast of fun sound effects, sometimes dominating the panels in a way that simulates watching a loud movie. That said, there’s a lot of panels where there’s no lettering to speak of besides the dialogue and there should definitely be; one scene features the Remus and Romulus twins high-fiving has no obligatory “slap” sound at all. There’s a lot of these little missing bits and it’s puzzling, given how well the action scenes are handled.

There’s a lot of little things about this issue that I’m dissatisfied with. I’m hoping the next issue gives Snake an actual motivation (and I think the final page indicates that he’s maybe developed a conscience) so I’m hopeful about that but I think, at $4 an issue, the art could step up a notch; particularly the colors and lettering, both of which feel not quite as energetic or in your face as an Escape From NY comic should be. Let’s see if issue #3 steps up or just maintains that mediocrity.

Bitch Planet earns its name handily with its debut issue, riffing brilliantly on classic exploitation cinema, wielding razor sharp dystopian satire like a prison shank and generally being completely inhospitable to anyone who can’t handle reality, including real female bodies. I’M TALKING ABOUT TITS, KIDS. You know that saying about kitchens and heat? Well there’s an inferno in this comic and its made of boobs of all shapes and sizes, so if you’re not comfortable seeing women’s bodies NOT being objectified in your comics, don’t read this issue. Hell, Deconnick even uses a holographic “sexy nun” as a jab at the fake bimbos that pop culture parades around obliviously. It’s a smart book that’s not afraid to get nasty and while the art could use a bit more energy, it’s a must have at only $3 an issue.

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WOLF MOON #2

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Jeremy Haun
Colorist: Lee Loughridge

Publisher: Vertigo/DC Comics
Price: $4

Werewolves are such risky business, especially in comics. I’ve got the debut issues more than a few werewolf comics; In The Blood, by the prolific Steve Niles (30 Days Of Night) and Welcome To Hoxford by, ironically, 30 Days Of Night illustrator Ben Templesmith. I also have the sadly unfinished Willow Creek debut, whose fantastic artist, Josh Medors, past away a few years ago. Intriguingly, while digging up the exact nature of the comic’s incompletion, I discovered that Willow Creek’s publisher, Zenescope (whose trite and half-assed Tales of Terror we looked at recently) decided to openly repurpose one of the late Josh Medors’ Willow Creek covers for another werewolf comic set in the Grimm Fairy Tales universe with no obvious credit being given to Josh, who had died the previous year. Thankfully the comic isn’t available to purchase anywhere and one hopes Zenescope has sacked whoever at their editorial staff gave the go-ahead on such a boneheaded stunt. Regardless, much of the rarity of Werewolf comics has a lot to do the difficulty of drawing werewolves. Much like creating them in movies, getting a werewolf to look both frightening and wolfish isn’t as easy as, say, making a zombie look frightening.

But there’s also the matter of making the werewolf story compelling but not contrived. We all know the basics and telling a werewolf story that’s worth reading requires riffing on that concept cleverly but not too cleverly. Writer Cullen Bunn has an unenviable chore so instead he deflects the inevitable by giving us flashbacks of how our frowny protagonist ended up with a vendetta against his furry nemesis. I don’t want to spoil too much but the nearly indefatigable angst of the main character makes way more sense now and his flight from a loving partner doesn’t seem nearly as stupid. That said, there continues to be a disappointing absence of female characters outside ones being ogled at. We’re also introduced to a new character who fills us in on the finer points of the werewolf’s “curse,” linking it to the skin-walker legends of the Native Americans. The twist on this well-worn trope is that… well, again, I can’t say too much, but what we learn definitely earns that qualification I mentioned earlier about being clever but not too clever. And thankfully, there’s something suspicious about this new character that’s intriguing, almost as much as the revelation in the last couple of pages that adds a layer of suspense to the whole affair.

The art by Jeremy Haunt continues to kick all kinds of ass. When he introduces new characers, they’re always somehow as interesting visually as they need to be to accompany the somewhat predictable plot. He’s also asked to bring his A-level gore game to this issue and he does not disappoint; pretty sure I haven’t seen someone ripped in half as brutally depicted in a comic, well, EVER. The action scenes that lead up to and follow it are well executed, if surprisingly tame compared to how the last issue went down, though in this case the wolf is facing down hunters, so it certainly makes sense. The rest of the issue is mired in the mundane horror of small town rural life, impeccably realized by Haun and colored with equal deftness by Lee Loughridge, whose hues and shades are bathed in expressive tones but never washed out and the flashback scenes are effectively conveyed as being in darkness without details being obscured. Letterer Travis Lanham dials up the action of every panel he has the chance to, augmenting the horror movie vibe of the comic. It’s a shame so much of this issue is story development as he makes the action and horror such a blast to read, but what he does here with the wolf’s primal growls and howls is wonderful.

But this is a Vertigo book, and with that comes the absolute torture of their horrible fucking adverts. No where else in the comic book business will you get to the most exciting moment in the issue and find that the next two pages (the centerfold) are a giant annoying advert delaying your enjoyment. This is NOT the industry standard and it is NOT okay anymore, especially not when paying $4 an issue! Thankfully this is still 22 pages of a nearly perfect horror comic and that’s hard to knock nowadays. Still, the series is in desperate need of some diversity in the cast of characters so hopefully, at some point in the series, Bunn will bring on board someone who isn’t a lonely, angry white guy, sympathetic or not.

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LADY KILLER #1

Writer: Joëlle Jones & Jaime S Rich
Artist: Joëlle Jones
Colorist: Laura Allred

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.50

Our first new series for Comic Execution 2015! Went into this one with absolutely no preconceptions, as I simply picked it right off the shelf at the comic book shop, based entirely on the satirical, bloody cover alone. Both writer Jaime S Rich and co-writer/arist Joëlle Jones are from Portland and their names collectively sounded familiar; it turns out Rich has been a longtime editor of cult comics pillar Madman but, more importantly, Jones is the artist of local writer Cullen Bunn’s Helheim and Brides of Helheim, two books that sadly have never been covered here in Comic Execution, due to poor timing. Regadless, what’s even more exciting is that Joëlle Jones will be in Saint Louis in August for Project Comic Con! It really was a complete surprise that I was picking up the book of someone who’d be coming to town and the book itself was a bit of a surprise as well.

Lady Killer is a weird crossbreed of dark satire and pulp, one that kicks off evoking Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands by then descends quickly into Tarantino-esque violence before leveling off into the more complex plot and character development of the second half of the comic. It’s actually very wise of Rich and Jones to frontload the issue with such bombastic, cringe-worthy intensity, as what follows is far more subtle and nuanced and might offput readers if encountered from page one, particularly with such a promising cover. Not that there isn’t anything interest from page 12 to page 22; seeing housewife/professional killer Josie negotiate her double life is amusing, especially given how appropriately traditional her relationship with her family is (it’s set in the early Sixties) in contrast to the danger and intrigue of her secret career. There are a lot of subtle nods to the duality; her twin daughters already seem to have inherited their mother’s comfort with violence, their roleplaying as bow & arrow wielding indians highly unusual for girls in that time period. Mr Schuller, again unusual for the era, doesn’t seem to mind the tomboyish behaviors of his daughters at all, which immediately makes me suspicious, and that’s only amplified by the presence of his skulking, German-immigrant mother in their home. All in all, it’s a very unusual household but, thanks to the opening sequence, it might not seem that way unless you look closely. Great writing by Rich and Jones, especially when the introduce Josie’s handler/boyfriend. Is Josie really cheating on her husband? Does it even matter when she routinely murders people in secret? There’s a lot going on in this one issue and that’s great.

And thankfully, the art is just as thrillingly busy. Joëlle Jones is both incredibly talented and very skilled, her lines clean and crisp but expressive enough that the opening murder has a bold, in-your-face intensity that I was happily surprised by, with very dynamic POVs and a strong sense of movement, thanks to subtle but effective panel layouts and Jones’ slightly stylized art. The rest of the comic defaults to more standard POVs, imitating that oddly not of a sitcom but of a film, specifically a Hitchcock film. One of my other favorite things about Jones’ work here is that when she illustrates the background, she actually draws them by hand, as you can tell from her cars and houses, which have a concrete but not fake look to them. I’d also add, perhaps somewhat obligatorily, that Jones’ draws a fantastic female body, one that’s sexy but not sexualized, evoking precisely the pin-ups of the ‘50s and 60’s. I’m hoping that Jones’ gets an opportunity to put Josie’s male handler in a skimpy outfit but if not, I know what I’ll be commissioning when she comes to town.

Unfortunately, colorist Laura Allred won’t be present to fill in that commission with the fantastic blend of colors that pop and hues that fill in the rich details of the setting. It’s rare to find a colorist who can balance the refined tones needed to bring a period to life while still infusing it with their own energy but Laura manages it perfectly, from gory murder scene to gloomy, rainy, suburban streets. A perennial favorite known only as Crank! is responsible for the lettering, and he really helps turn up the volume in the first half of the comic, splattering the violence with bursts of sound effects. He’s almost entirely absent during the second half though, and while there’s certainly not much room for him to ply his craft, I think the sudden disappearance of his SFX seems a bit startling.

This brings up the knotty subject of the comic’s not-quite-feminist sensibilities. On the one hand, Josie’s infinitely more interesting than the average female comic book character by merit of leading this double life, one in which she’s the submissive housewife and the other where she’s a ruthless assassin with no gender bias to speak of; her first kill is a female. Her husband’s treatment of her is the sort of outwardly benign, unwitting sexism that TV shows of the era are so rife with (I Love Lucy, Leave It To Beaver) and her tolerance of it is either because she values her cover so highly or because she’s actually a willing participant. I think the former makes the most sense; her flirtations with her handler Peck reflect her inner desires to have the bad boy, whose wields his misogyny openly, making him seem more intelligent at least. Josie’s compulsive but she’s self-aware and in control of a life and resents Peck disrupting the symmetry of it, and while it doesn’t make her a “good” character, it does mean that nothing about Lady Killer offends my “delicate” sensibilities.

It’s a fantastic debut and is something that’s much needed in the world of comics right now, something that can be discussed but is also a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to the next issue and certainly feel the $4 per issue price is worth it, especially considering I’m paying the same amount for Wolf Moon and it’s stuff with annoying ads.