Guest Contributors (494)
If I’m being completely honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I saw The Legend of Tarzan on opening day. I didn’t know if the CGI would be cheesy, if Alexander Skarsgård was the right choice for the lead role, if they would put Edgar Rice Burroughs’ beloved book through a wood chipper, or if Margot Robbie would get along well with the phrase “period piece.”
It’s only been back for a few issues, but Sons of the Devil has returned once again, and the Brian Buccellatto/Toni Infante series brings another wrinkle into the life of our protagonist, Travis. In the last several issues, we’ve learned a lot about Travis, including his life growing up without a family. Of course, this all changed pretty recently, when Travis found out that he not only has a pretty large biological family, but one based in mystery, since his father is a well-known cult leader.
Sometimes, you take a flyer on a new book. It’s always a risk, because new series, especially ones that you’ve not only never heard of but one that has an unfamiliar creative team, are never certain to even be good, let alone good enough for a new reader to grasp on to. But, sometimes, that risk pays off. Every once in a while, a book comes out of nowhere and totally takes over your interests. This time, that book goes by the name Crytpocracy, and it’s something that totally took me by surprise.
There comes a point in a great series when there’s not much else to say about it, aside from how awesome it is. That’s the case here, as the fantastic Gail Simone / Jim Calafiore series continues on its psychotic path. With the deranged heroes now meeting up with the team sent in to stop them, it’s up to the Crimson Shadow and his sidekick, Mina, to put an end to it. Anyone reading this book knows that any good intentions don’t seem to go well, and that’s absolutely the case as not only does the mission for the planned rescue of Mister Valiant go a bit awry, but so does the exploratory mission of Ethan and Rainwater. The two of them, on a quest of their own, really end up with more than they bargained for, and it really takes the series to another level with its insanity.
The Blacklist #10 (The Arsonist: Part Five) wraps up the case against The Arsonist in an issue rife with suspense and excitement. Raymond “Red” Reddington and Elizabeth Keen have been investigating the dangerous Cabal organization. They discover the new threat of The Arsonist, Ethan Donovan, who is after one of the Cabal’s scientists, Dr. Isak Vogel, in a mission of revenge.
For the past ten years, Classic Comics Press has been collecting and republishing American comic strips, many originating from newspapers from decades past. Their flagship line has been Leonard Starr’s Mary Perkins, On Stage, but the publisher has republished many other comic series as well, such as Stan Drake’s The Heart of Juliet Jones and Frank Godwin’s Rusty Riley, both that ran during the 1950s.
Fight Club, the book and subsequent film, were staples of my youth and one of the cornerstones on which I based my current tastes in art. Both were masterpieces, one solely for its existence and overall awesomeness, and the other for taking something so strong and adding to its mythos is a unique and incredible way. I’ve loved the work of Chuck Palahniuk for years. I’ve read all of his books (most of them multiple times), seen the film adaptations, and marveled at his genius. My reverence for his work and my worship of the comics medium made the announcement of a sequel to Fight Club as a comic one of the greatest ideas I’ve ever heard. Now, having finished its run, the entire hardcover edition of Palahniuk’s first foray into comics exists for all to see.
Almost eight decades after his passing, the influence of H.P. Lovecraft on contemporary speculative fiction remains profound. With many of his works in the public domain, other writers have sought to continue his legacy by either writing their own stories in a Lovecraftian vein, or by taking Lovecraft’s original source material and building on it with successor stories. Since the publishing barrier has been set extremely low due to the accessibility and affordability of self-publishing, a literary landscape has sprung up, saturated with Lovecraftian stories penned by both proficient writers and imitators. Almost any speculative writer can lay claim that they write in the Lovecraft fashion; hence, readers must be able to sift through the sea of stories of dubious merit to find interesting and competently written tales of cosmic horror.
The “Rising Action” arc of Wic/Div returns as Laura, reborn as the goddess Persephone, continues her war against the leader of the Pantheon, Ananke. This war has raged through the entire group of gods, with many taking sides and others still not showing their true allegiances.
Matt Hawkins and Rahsan Ekedal are at it again with another issue of the terrific series, Think Tank. Despite already being in some trouble, both with those inside DARPA and with his own moral code, David Loren is back to do what he does best: make it worse. His work has helped keep America safe, but it’s come with a price: his sanity. The implications of his actions have made him lash out a bit more than usual, and those around him have become his targets.
