Batman #141 - Comic Review

 

I've seen some very unfair criticisms of Chip Zdarsky as the Batman run has gone on, and it seems like because people aren't enjoying this particular story they've decided that he must be a bad writer rather than considering the fact that he's a good writer, and this particular story just isn't clicking with them. Whilst I myself have had some ups and downs since Zdarsky took over the title I've not complained about his skills, just the story that's being told. But I also understand that we're not at the end yet, and that you have to give things time to play out.  To that point, I'm glad I gave this series at least another issue, as things have definitely picked up since issue 140.

At the end of the last issue Batman wakes up to find out that Zur-En-Arrh has transferred his personality into the Failsafe robot. This issue deals with the next stage of this plan, namely, what will Zur do with Bruce now that he's out of his head. There is a moment when he offers Bruce the chance to walk away from the vigilante life, to go and retire, to embrace being Bruce Wayne, but I think that both of them know that this is an offer that's being made just to that Zur can say he tried, and that it was never going to have a chance at winning Bruce over. 

And thus begins an issue that feels like a condensed version of the very first arc of Zdarsky's story, with Bruce having to try to fight the unstoppable robot a second time, though this time around someone even more dangerous is in the driving seat. It's not a bad issue, and some of the action is entertaining, and whilst it does feel familiar it doesn't really try to re-tread the exact same ground. Bruce is having to try new tactics and doesn't end up doing the exact same things, but it's still him fighting Failsafe again. 

I don't know if it's good or not. It's definitely an improvement over the issue that came before it, and there are some good moments to be found in here, but it's also something we have seen already. I'm sure there will be some who like this, who like the fact that Zdarsky is mirroring the first arc, but there will be others who are going to criticise him for it. Like I said already, there are some who are calling him a bad writer, and this is likely to not change their minds on that. 

The issue ends with something that looks to set up the next stage in Zdarsky's plan, 'The Joker: Year One'. I don't know if it's a view that everyone shares, but I think that whenever you explore the Jokers background or origin it just makes the character less interesting. I don't care who the Joker was before he became the Joker, that just doesn't interest me. So, if this is an origin of the Joker I'm not looking forward to the next arc. However, if it's simply showing the Joker arriving in Gotham and becoming the force that he eventually turns into, his rise to becoming a threat to face Batman then it might be okay. I'm happy to see him as the Joker, but if this is Zdarksy going to before that, giving us a definitive 'here's who he was and how he became the Joker' I'm definitely not going to be enjoying that. 

There's also a back-up feature included that shows that Zur isn't the only personality inside Failsafe, but that all of the other multiversal Zur-En-Arrh's that were inside Bruce went along too. The Earth-0 Zur puts himself in charge of them, and has a little fight with the Batman Beyond Zur before they all fall in line. As with the previous issue, all of these Zur's fail to interest me in any real way. The one good thing that I can say about this is that they're out of Bruce, so when he manages to actually beat Failsafe this entire Zur-En-Arrh thing will be put to bed. 

Despite criticisms of the story, the art on the issue is great, with Jorge Jiménez continuing to do some fantastic work, with Tomeu Morey colouring it. The fights between Bruce and Zur look great, the action is full of movement and power, and there are a number of moments that are a visual treat. The same can be said of the backup art team, which has Dustin Nguyen on art with John Kalisz colouring. It's different enough from the main story that it's clearly a second chapter, whilst still feeling similar enough that it's clear that it's part of the story and something that readers should be paying attention to. Both art teams do good work with this issue, and my criticisms of the book are in no way aimed towards the visual presentation.

Whilst this is an improvement over the last issue many of the problems that I had with that remain. I'm finding it hard to stay invested, and I feel that the next arc could completely break my interest and enjoyment in the series. Hopefully a change of pace from the focus on Zur-En-Arrh will end up being a good thing.

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Miguel O'Hara: Spider-Man 2099 #1 - Comic Review

 

I've not had a whole lot of experience with Miguel O'Hara, outside of comics I've played a couple of video games with him in, and I've not yet seen Across the Spider-Verse so don't have that to draw from, and it's been about fifteen years since I read the original Spider-Man 2099 book. So I went into this series not really knowing much about him, but prepared to see what it was like; especially as this new series is set to be a horror themed one.

The book opens a year before the main events (2098?) in which a couple are walking through a graveyard at night when zombies burst out of the ground and attack them, killing the woman, Barbara (nice Night of the Living Dead reference). The man, Doctor Southey, manages to escape, and spends the next year working on a treatment to 'stop death'. Using the zombie virus, he creates a new disease, one that makes the host unkillable, but sends them into a vicious fury that brings out the worst in them, and drives them to infect others. So it's kind of like Marvel Zombies but without them actually being rotting corpses.

Unfortunately, the infection has reached the Barrio, where Miguel's mother, Conchatta, works to help the poorer people who call it home. She returns to Miguel's home with a bite wound, clearly ill. However, whilst trying to help her she turns into one of the infected, a Zero, and begins attacking Miguel, cursing him, trying to hurt him with words, whilst attempting to bite him. Luckily Miguel is able to subdue her, and takes her to Blade for help.

Studying what's happened to her, the two heroes are able to figure out what's happened, and Blade heads to a remote lab where Southey conducted his experiments in order to try and find out more, whilst Spider-Man descends into the Barrio, which has been locked off in order to contain the infected population. Thus begins a mission that sees both heroes going up against hordes of infected Zeroes.

Miguel O'Hara: Spider-Man 2099 is a lot more fun that I was expecting. I was kind of expecting a book that would be decent, but would leave me feeling a little lost because I knew nothing about this world beyond the very basic premise that I remembered from reading it almost two decades ago. But Steve Orlando manages to make this feel both like a continuing adventure set in this world, but also an easy jumping on point for new readers such as myself. You get the information you need to understand as you go, such as a brief lowdown on Miguel and Conchatta's strained relationship, or who Blade 2099 is, as we meet them, so that when you have Miguel fighting his mother and her screaming cruel things at him you understand what it means to their relationship even if this is the first time seeing these characters.

The zombie plot is something that you're likely to have seen before, it goes through the standard motions of a scientist thinking they're doing good, becoming a monster, creating monsters, and then dying at their hand. It's standard stuff, but Orlando does manage to keep it entertaining. It doesn't feel like a rehash, and thanks in large parts to Miguel being the protagonist, there was never a moment where I felt bored or even tried to anticipate what might be coming next; I simply enjoyed the ride.

The art is done by Dev Pramanik, with Raul Angulo on colours, and the book looks really, really nice. There's a roughness to things, there's a lot of linework, and parts of the book that you'd normally see as blocks of black shading in other books are instead filled with inking lines. It looks almost sketch-like at times, where the roughness and the fluidity of the drawing is as much a part of the presentation as anything else. And it's used to great effect throughout the book, as it adds a lot of motion to the panels, and when Miguel is jumping around the environment or fighting the Zeroes the art style helps to sell thr frantic motion and the danger of the moment. The colours compliment the art well, and Angulo uses a very muted set of colours, Things are very yellow, with some green seeping in a lot of the time too. It gives the book an almost sickly look, which is great for the story as it's dealing with infection and illness. I think this art team works really well together, and it's a shame that they're not working on the rest of the series, as I'd love to see more from them. 

I wasn't sure that this was going to be a book that I'd even finish, let alone enjoy, so the fact that I'm actively looking forward to seeing the next issue is a very pleasant surprise for me. Using Miguel as a horror protagonist seems to be a great idea, and if the rest of the series continues with this kind of quality then maybe he might just join Marvel's ranks of monster hunters.

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High Tension (2003) – Limited Edition 4K UHD/Blu-ray Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Contains serious spoilers.

2003’s High Tension, originally released in the UK as Switchblade Romance, is a French horror slasher film that was likely for a lot of people their first taste of the New French Extremity scene; a genre of film that wasn’t even named that until a year after High Tension was released. It’s not hard to see why High Tension would be included in that genre, and some of the visual depictions of violence and mutilation in the film are extreme to be sure, but so are some of the bizarre turns in the story.

High Tension tells the story of two young women, Marie (Cécile de France) and Alex (Maïwenn), who begin the film driving across the French countryside together, smoking, singing to music, and enjoying each other’s company, as they head to stay with Alex’s parents in their remote farmhouse. The beginning feels very relaxed, and doesn’t reveal much about the horrors to come, though the brief prologue scene before, that shows a beaten and brutalised Marie in hospital sets up tension. The two of them arrive at the family home and settle in for the night.

It’s here that it becomes clear that Marie has feelings for Alex, something hinted at in earlier scenes. Going outside for a smoke, she watches her friend shower through the bathroom window, before heading up to her guest room to masturbate whilst thinking of her. It’s during Marie’s self pleasuring that a van arrives at the farm, the driver frantically banging on the front door. Alex’s father goes to see who it is, and is brutally attacked by the man. Thus begins a series of brutal, bloody killings that turns the two women’s lives into a nightmare.

It feels impossible to talk about High Tension in any real way that skirts around the big twist of the film, so I’m not even going to try. Over the course of the film the Killer (Philippe Nahon) brutally kills Alex’s father, and kidnaps Alex, tying her up and throwing her in the back of his van. We’d seen this man earlier in the film, with a brief scene showing him fellating himself with a severed head which he then dumps on the side of the road. He’s cruel and twisted, and clearly means to brutalise, rape, and kill Alex. As such, when Marie goes after him, determined to stop him and save her friend she becomes our hero, the final girl of the piece.

Except that she’s not. Towards the final quarter of the film it’s revealed that there is no Killer. Marie is the one doing everything. She killed Alex’s family, kidnapped her friend, killed a gas station attendee, and has been imagining the whole thing as someone else doing it. Her secret desire for her friend has manifested in a rageful, murderous lust. The problem with this twist is that it just doesn’t work. Why did we see the killer using a severed head to get off earlier in the film is he’s not real (other than to mess with the viewer)? How did the car chase sequence work? Did Marie bang on the door and kill Alex’s dad, or did that happen differently?

There are so many questions as to the logic of the film this twist raises that it reveals that the movie may not have been fully thought through, that there is no internal consistency and there are no answers to those questions because the filmmakers only cared about how the twist affects the audience, and not the story. It’s frustrating, and it takes a film that already was beginning to drag and feel dull into the full realm of unbelievable and off-putting.

I’m not the only person who dislikes the twist, or other aspects of the film, but there are others who disagree loudly, who see High Tension as a subversion of the genre, and an examination of sexuality and feminism. Whilst I’ll agree that there’s possibly more to be found than just a surface viewing would allow, the film just feels too flat to really be worthy of such deep diving and investigating. Neither of the lead female actors feel like they are doing anything particularly special, and their performances never rise above fine. Neither brings anything to the film that I’ve not seen in dozens of other cheaply produced horror films.

The new release from Second Sight contains both the Ultra HD and Blu-ray versions of the film, with the new Ultra HD version of the film having been approved by the director, Alexandre Aja. It comes with an audio commentary by Dr Lindsay Hallam, a Senior Lecturer in Film, who goes into the themes of the movie in ways that might be more interesting than the film itself. There are also a number of new interviews with crew, as well as archival  behind the scenes features. The release comes with a slip-case, art cards, and a 70 page book that contain a number of essays. We were not given a copy of the book to review, so cannot comment on the quality of these writings and how they affect the experience.

Is High Tension a clever film that subverts expectations, takes pot shots at American slasher horror films, and doesn’t have to fully work and make sense because it comes from an unreliable narrator? Maybe. That depends on your own opinion. This is a film that is absolutely going to mean different things to different people. You might agree with some reviewers and analysts that it’s a masterpiece, a hidden gem that examines the roles of women in horror, and queer identities in new and exciting ways. Or you could come away hating the movie because for you it just doesn’t work, and the lack of a clear and consistent world or explanations will frustrate you.

There’s no wrong way to come out of High Tension, but giving it a go is a gamble for whether or not it’s going to be enjoyable or a complete waste, and considering the cost of this new release is a penny shy of £40, it’s a high price gamble for sure.

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Shazam #7 - Comic Review

 

We have a slight change in the creative team this issue as Dan Mora leaves the title with the close of the first arc, making way for the new art team of Goran Sudžuka and Ive Svorcina to usher in a new chapter of the series.

The issue begins with the Captain battling a Bizarro version of himself. During the fight, thanks to the greater wisdom of Solomon imparted on Billy in the last issue, he's able to figure out that a Bizarro Captain wouldn't work, that it'd be the exact opposite of what he is, that it wouldn't have the strength of Hercules, or the speed of Mercury, and in realising that the Bizarro Captain becomes a weak, cowardly creature who is more than happy to reveal his master. It's a fun little intro to the issue, and it's nice to see heroes having quick little adventures that they're able to handle fairly fast, especially when it brings in a character you recognise for a quick appearance.

Whilst this is going on, Black Adam is confronting the space dinosaur accountants who have come searching for Mr Dinosaur, who came to Earth to get Billy to fill in some paperwork, but has since chosen to become his butler at the Rock of Eternity. The dinosaurs are able to get away from Adam by firing a missile at Khandaq, which releases a shower of paperwork upon its citizens. Of course, this being Black Adam, this weird inconvenience results in him being determined to kill them all.

Billy meets up with his family, who reveal a new house for them all, one big enough that all of the kids get their own rooms. Billy's dad tells him that thanks to an inheritance they can just barely afford it, and as soon as the old house sells they can move into their new home and begin a new, happier life together. This is when Tawny gives them a call letting them know that a load of angry space dinosaurs have turned up at the old house demanding Billy answer some questions. 

Heading over there, Billy is struggling to resolve the situation without violence when Adam arrives on the scene. The two of them begin to fight after Adam insults Billy's family, and their violence ends up destroying their old home, leaving Billy in the ruins of a house they needed to sell, whose destruction means they can't buy their new home. 

After the drama of the first arc, dealing with the gods who power the Captain and how they were messing with Billy it's actually really nice to slow down for a bit and just have a silly, weird issue that doesn't feel like it has big stakes. Yes, Billy's family's future looks to be a bit uncertain and in danger at the moment, but it's not the same kind of stakes as Billy perhaps losing his powers, or the gods turning evil. 

And this is something that I really like about this series, it's not afraid to embrace the silly and the weird that a lot of modern comics seem to shy away from. Having a bunch of dinosaurs from space drop paperwork on Khandaq that results in Black Adam going wild isn't something that most writers would even consider doing, but Mark Waid not only chooses to go there, he makes it work wonderfully. Mark Waid is one of the few writers in comics who seems to remember that comics can be super silly and super fun, and that it doesn't have to be dark or realistic; and in fact a lot of comics don't work well because they try to be. I've said in previous reviews how Waid seems to be bringing back a lot of silver age sensibilities, and I really hope that this is something that catches on with other creators too (Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville is doing this well too!)

The new art team is also a great match for this tone, and whilst it is a big difference from Mora's work, its also well suited to the series in its own way. The art is simpler, with thicker lines and less detail work in the drawing, and a lot of the colouring being done in very clear, distinct shades with little blending going on. It has an older comic feel, where the art had flatter colours and simple designs, and suits the it helps to reinforce that idea of the book being something of a throwback to a different time. As I didn't know that Mora had left the book I was a bit surprised when I opened it, but quickly found myself really enjoying the new style.

With the future of Billy's family looking uncertain, and the fight with Black Adam not fully resolved, there's a lot still to be come with this particular arc, and the next issue looks set to be a lot of fun. With Waid's way of writing this series, there's no real way to predict just how this could be resolved, or what is going to happen next; and that's a very fun position to be in. 

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Listmas 2023 – Comics

 

Originally published on Set The Tape

Writing about best comics at the end of the year can be a difficult topic for a variety of reasons. In the past I’ve had people criticise my choices for being skewed more towards one publisher over others (I’ve been trying to read more Marvel, I promise I have), I’ve been told certain picks aren’t good because they didn’t start that year but ended in it, or that they started in that year but didn’t end then. Everyone has an opposing opinion on comics, and it seems that everyone wants their opinion to be the right one. I just want to share some comics that I enjoyed, series that were either just consistently strong throughout, or did something that I’d never seen before, or were just that ridiculous that I couldn’t help but love it.

This last year has had some great comics released, and whilst I’ve tried to read as many as I could there just isn’t enough time to get to them all. So, if your favourite isn’t on this list it doesn’t mean that I think it’s bad, just that I either didn’t get the chance to read it, or it didn’t quite connect with me as much as these ten did. Some books that came close to making the list but didn’t include the consistently good Nightwing, the absolutely phenomenal Birds of Prey (if I’d have read issue four when I wrote the rest of this article it probably would have bumped something to be fair), the new Wonder Woman run by Tom King, and the new Captain America series that takes a look at America’s history of home-grown fascism.

I hope that this list might help some of you find a fun new series or two to try out, and I can’t wait to see what all of the amazing creators in the industry have to offer in 2024.

Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons

Godzilla is a character and franchise that can easily be fit into any kind of setting.

We’ve had horror stories, post-apocalypse, and sci-fi in abundance. But this series does something new, and gives us Godzilla in a historical setting. Taking place during the Age of Piracy, this story reveals an ancient society of Kaiju worshippers who shape the world, and the secret final voyage of explorer Sir Francis Drake that took him to Monster Island.

Possibly one of the most creative Godzilla stories put to the page, it not only deserves more attention, but it’s a formula that we absolutely need to see more of. I can’t wait to see Godzilla pop up in another historical setting sometime soon.

Werewolf By Night

A one-shot comic that was surprisingly not released alongside the Disney+ special, it does in some ways feel very similar.

Telling the story of Jack Russel, the titular wolf-man, as he infiltrates a remote monster filled castle to try and save a young woman, the book is presented in creepy black and white and drips atmosphere. But what makes it special is the inclusion of monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone, who’s just too awesome to have her colour held back.

Whenever she’s on the page bright colour bleeds through, leading to moments of wonderfully clashing art styles. Written by Derek Landy, the relationship between the two leads is full of banter and sarcasm that will feel right at home for fans of his Skulduggery Pleasant book series.

Green Lantern: War Journal

Jon Stewart stars in this new Green Lantern series that puts his relationship with his mother and desire to be with her as her health deteriorates in the centre of things.

One of the Lanterns stuck on Earth since some space political shifts, he thinks he’s going to have a quiet life, until a evil undead cosmic being from another dimension breaks through into Earth-0, and decides that she’s going after this world’s version of her greatest enemy, John Stewart.

With some amazing writing that’s full of heart and emotion, stunning art, and a story that feels grand in scope and captures the magic of what a Green Lantern book is like when dealing with otherworldly concepts, it far outshines the Hal Jordan led series.

Jay Garrick: The Flash

Jay Garrick is my favourite Flash.

There’s something about him I just love, and the Justice Society are my favourite team too. Golden Age heroes are just fun. And now he’s getting something of a revamp. Thanks to time-travel shenanigans it was recently discovered that Jay had a daughter, Judy, who was pulled from time decades ago, with time folding around the event to make it so everyone forgot her. Now, Judy is back, still a young teen, whilst her parents are old enough to be her great-grandparents.

The series follows Jay and his wife Joan as they try to reconnect with Judy, who’s having to discover a whole new world from the one she left. Full of intrigue, action, and a ton of heart, this might be the most exciting thing to happen to Jay in several decades.

Predator vs. Wolverine

When Disney bought Fox it was only a while until Aliens and Predator would cross over with the Marvel universe, and Wolverine might be the best choice to kick off a Predator cross-over.

The series follows Logan as a Predator hunts him across the Canadian wilderness. Each issue reveals, however, that this isn’t their first encounter, and that this hunter has been coming for Logan for decades. With flashbacks set at different points in his life, the series isn’t just one Predator vs Wolverine story, but several wrapped up into one.

With some cool interactions with Logan’s history, and an interesting retcon or two, it makes for a great read that begs the question; which character could a Predator hunt next?

Alan Scott: Green Lantern

Another member of the JSA with a new solo series.

This story delves into the secret history of Alan Scott, and shows readers the true story of his early years. Having came out as gay recently, this story depicts how Alan tried to navigate a world of homophobia and hate, and doesn’t hold back. The second issue in the series features queer people being put through conversion therapy, and even lobotomies to ‘cure’ them of their queerness.

All of this is mixed in with a new villain, the Red Lantern, who, like Judy Garrick, was removed from history. Whilst this series is only two issues in, it’s already feeling like it might end up as the most important queer comic that DC has ever produced.

Shazam!

Shazam, or Captain Marvel for older fans, has had a tough time finding a place in recent years, with some writers trying hard to distance him from his more goofy Silver Age stuff.

Mark Waid, however, says to hell with that, and makes a delightfully silly and weird series that embraces that era. Tawny Tiger is back as a housekeeper for Billy’s family, and he’s not the only weird thing, as we get talking gorillas, space dinosaurs, and other throwbacks that just end up making the whole thing delightful.

Waid has managed to make the Silver Age silliness feel fresh, new, and modern in a lot of ways too. Add onto that some absolutely phenomenal art by Dan Mora, and this is also one of the best looking books on the shelf.

The Hunger and the Dusk

This new fantasy series has been a genuine highlight each month.

Telling the story of a world where the human and orc kingdoms have been at war for generations, with a deep hatred and distrust between them, it introduces a new threat that must unite them.

With a vicious, monster-like race of killers threatening both, an alliance is formed and sets the stage for both some amazing action, and a potential romance. Blessed with brilliant writing and some absolutely gorgeous art, The Hunger and the Dusk is a series that fantasy fans need to be reading.

Green Arrow

Oliver Queen vanished during the recent Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths event, swept away by mysterious forces.

Now, lost in a strange world, Oliver sets out to find a way home, whilst his extended family search for a way to bring him back at the same time. However, Oliver will uncover a conspiracy designed to keep his family apart, one that includes some surprising powerful people, including the villain Parallax.

This series was announced as a six issue mini-series, but was extended to twelve thanks to the sales and popularity; and just this morning the writer revealed that DC had made this an ongoing series, which just goes to show the popularity of the Emerald Archer.

Batman / Superman: World’s Finest

A second entry from the creative team of Mark Waid and Dan Mora, this series is set during the past, when Batman and Superman were younger, and Dick Grayson was still Robin.

Following the two titular characters across several adventures, it features appearances by other characters, including some lesser known and weird ones. It brings the Silver Age to life in brilliant ways, and establishes a wonderful history of friendship between Batman and Superman.

Most excitingly, in the current story, Waid uses the book to revisit his hugely popular Kingdom Come story in surprising developments. A series you don’t want to miss out on.

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Mortal Terror #2 - Comic Review

 

The second issue of the inverted vampire story, Mortal Terror, reveals more of this strange and twisted world as the vampire nation prepares to end the threat of the human terrorists as quickly as they can; and a shadowy figure visits Mina Murray in the middle of the night, preparing her for a transformation.

The first chapter of this story had a lot of promise, and it was the world that the two writers, Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, had created that really drew me to this tale, and the second chapter continues to layer in more and more interesting pieces of lore and world building that makes me really want to read the next issue as soon as possible. 

Last time I theorised as to who the vampire king character could be, thinking that it was going to either be Dracula, or Van Helsing, but both of those guesses were fairly simple ones, quick and easy go-tos thanks to them being characters from the original Dracula novel. And whilst I was kind of expecting them I was hoping that the book would give me something a bit more interesting than that; and it certainly delivers. It turns out the fabled vampire king is Rollo, the ancient Viking ruler. This just raises so many more questions for me. What does the history of this world look like with Rollo being a vampire? I feel that this reveal just throws up even more possibilities than either of my guesses, and I can't help but want an entire mini-series depicting the thousand years of vampire Rollo's un-life that led up to this point.

Elsewhere in the book Lucy Westenra and her team are preparing to find the human terrorists who attacked the train in the previous issue. This sees her and Jonathan Harker heading up to the ruins of the surface London to look for clues. Heading up during the day, they don protective suits, goggles, and helmets in order to survive up their. The surface London is a very cool environment, a long abandoned and ruined version of the city, with buildings half collapses and overgrown with nature. The level of destruction on the surface seems to suggest that perhaps the London Bellow and the vampire nation has been around for longer than we'd maybe suspect, and it could be possible that this isn't still the Victorian Era, that these characters have been vampires that long that they've forgotten being human, and it may even be a time beyond our own now.

Whilst searching for clues Lucy and Jonathan come across a map that reveals a possible location for the terrorists, and they gather up the rest of Lucy's team, including a freshly healed Quincy, who's looking to get some revenge for almost being killed. As the team head towards the location of the rebels, so does Renfield, who's been spying on the activities of Doctor Seward, who's been experimenting on humans in his asylum. It seems like he's been trying to find some kind of viral weapon that can be used to wipe out the living whilst not affecting vampires. The issue ends with Renfield reaching the humans, ready to give them the information, just as the vampire team is about to launch their attack. 

During all of this we also have Mina Murray, who is visited in the night by her 'dark man', a human lover who has promised to some day turn her into a human too. It's revealed here that as humanity was hunted to near extinction by the vampires some force in nature inverted their roles, and now if a human bites a vampire it will turn them into a human. Once again, this raises so many interesting questions that I really hope that this series has time to go into.

Peter Bergting's art really fits the tone and feel of the book well, and Chris O'Halloran's colours add to this. The book is dark and gloomy, with a feel of oppressiveness whenever we're in the London Bellow; appropriate to both the location and the tone of these scenes. However, when we go above ground things change considerably. The book gets brighter, with splashes of almost golden light, and the first panel of the surface world, seen as the sunlock doors open and bathe Lucy and Jonathan in daylight is so well constructed. The light is blinding, almost washing everything out before they get used to seeing the daylight world. 

Mortal Terror continues to be a really interesting and expanding world, one that I'm very much enjoying and want to spend more time in. However, with us now being at the halfway point in this four issue mini-series I'm beginning to wonder that all of these questions the book raises won't be answered, and that there just won't be enough room to see everything I want to see by the time it comes to a close. Hopefully, if that is the case, this is just the beginning of a number of stories set in this universe, and this creative team can continue to play around in this toybox. 

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A Call to Cthulhu by Norm Konyu - Book Review

 

'Part comic book, part artbook, part children’s storybook, A Call To Cthulhu is a fun, irreverent trip through the classic stories of HP Lovecraft, the influential horror writer, and a perfect introduction to his work for your little terrors! His stories and Cthulhu Mythos would inspire later writers such as Stephen King and Alan Moore, and today form the backbone of many movies, TV series, books, comics, and games.'

Whilst H.P. Lovecraft was an awful person (no, he wasn't a product of his times, he was extremely racist even then) the worlds and characters that he created have lived on long after him, and have inspired some truly fantastic works and creators. It's even easy to argue that he invented a whole new form of horror, cosmic horror, and that there are dozens, perhaps even hundreds of works of fiction and art that can draw a line back to him. Call to Cthulhu is a new entry in the ever expanding Cthulhu universe, and it might just be one of the most delightful ones that I've ever read.

Deep in the middle of the night, out in his remote, isolated home, the elder god Cthulhu receives a telephone call, from a person who wants to make it clear to the big guy just how much he thinks he sucks. Written in poetic verse, the book chronicles this call, as the human on the other end of the phone lays into the ancient being, telling him all of their problems with the entire mythos.

Thus begins a wonderful series of pages that touch upon a load of Lovecraft's stories, making nods towards tales such as 'Rats in the Wall', 'The Color Out of Space' and 'At the Mountains of Madness'. Each of these comes as part of a two page piece of art that's frankly, absolutely gorgeous. Every single page in this book could be framed and hung on the wall as a piece of artwork that any Lovecraft fan would love to show off.

The way that the artwork goes with the content of the rhymes works really well, and the fact that Konyu injects a lot of humour into the way that he describes the stories and the things in them had me chuckling multiple times. I found myself in this tough situation where I'd want to turn the page immediately so that I could find out which story or character would get the focus next, and what fun writing we'd get, yet also wanting to stay on the page so that I could soak in the art for even longer. This is absolutely a book that will have you returning to it multiple times just to revisit the images.

A Call to Cthulhu is designed to appeal to a wide range of readers, but its simplicity, its sense of fun, and the way that it's written in verse makes it ideal for younger readers. In some ways it reminds me of the work of Doctor Seuss, and as such I think that this is the kind of book that any parent with a bit of fun and a love for horror would be more than happy to read to their kids at bedtime.

The work of Lovecraft has gone beyond what it originally was, and has almost taken on a life of its own. It's influenced a lot of people over the years, and has given us some amazing new work, and A Call To Cthulhu feels like a light-hearted, playful celebration of those original stories and what made them great. It might not be a particularly long or challenging read, but it's a book that I'd say any fan of Lovecraft should pick up and read at least once.

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Birds of Prey #5 - Comic Review

 

The last issue of Birds of Prey was something special. The team fighting their way though Themyscira, having to go up against Wonder Woman in some of the best fights not just in the series, but that DC has done all year, and an art style that felt different from other books and was really growing on me. It became an easy 5 star issue, and one that was making me think that perhaps this series should take a spot on my top books of last year list. But issue five really undoes a lot of the good work of the last issue.

We pick up where things left off, with Megaera having taken over the island in her attempt to get hold of Sin, forcing the amazons under her control, leaving the Birds to have to try to save the day. Sadly, things kind of screech to a halt after that. For an issue about fighting a huge god monster and saving the day there's not a whole lot of action happening, and that that does feels less interesting than what we've had before. Plus, things get very dialogue heavy.

For me, a large part of why this issue just doesn't work as well is that the art team have changed. Up to now we've had Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire drawing and colouring things, giving the book a old-school, slightly pulpy comic feel that was a style that I wasn't completely on board with to begin with, but had grown on me across the last four issues. The book had a look that made it stand out, and the stylised fight scenes worked so well. This issue, in contrast has Arist Deyn and Clayton Cowles on art and colours, and is so different to what we've had before that it's jarring as soon as you open the book.

The pulpy quality with the colour palate that used more muted colours, and went for the less traditional options is gone to make way for brightly coloured pages with hyper feminine, sexualised art that makes me think of early 2000's Michael Turner. Everyone in the book is super skinny, with very pointy faces, and sharp features. The style is almost the exact opposite to what the book had before, and I just don't understand why they'd go for someone so vastly different to do this issue. I also don't really like the hyper feminine, male-gaze like art that this issue has, so it was really off-putting to have it on a female team in a series that hadn't tried to make the characters look pretty or sexualised up to this point, but just presented them as strong women.

The change in art, along with things getting kind of slow as Sin has long conversations with Megaera, then Dinah has long conversations with Megaera, left me feeling kind of bored in places. The book wasn't nice to look at, and there was just too much going on for me to really feel invested. And 
I don't know if Megaera was supposed to be funny in scenes where she was using sarcasm and slang, but it felt like it was trying to be subversive and silly 'the ancient god is more hip than you thought, haha' and it just didn't do much for me.

Last issue was one of my favourite books of the year, but this one had me rethinking if I was wrong about that. If this is just a stand in for the art team for a single issue I'm hoping that the quality will start to improve again next month; however, if this is what the book is going to be going forward I can't see myself enjoying the series much anymore.

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Marvel Studios' The Infinity Saga - Iron Man: The Art of the Movie - Book Review

 

'The 1st of the 24 Marvel Cinematic Universe Infinity Saga film titles being published as a complete set. Packed with exclusive content, this fully illustrated tome treats fans to a comprehensive, unique and privileged behind-the-scenes look at the creative process behind the state-of-the-art technology used in the blockbuster motion picture. Follow the film’s complete artistic evolution, from initial concept through armour design and on to the final rendering seen on screen.

'Here is everything you need to know about the making of the movie from all the key players – including director Jon Favreau; the special-effects gurus at Stan Winston Studios; and the award-winning concept illustrators, visual-effects designers and storyboard artists who worked on the set and behind the scenes to create the art of Iron Man .'

Art is hugely important when it comes to comics. Not only would the medium just not exist without artwork, but projects can be made or wrecked with art. Pair the wrong artist and writer together and a story can fail to grab people, and the wrong colourist can change an artists work in huge ways. Art is super important for comics, and for bringing comics to the big screen. In the first of a new 24 volume set, which will chronicle each of the movies in the three phase Infinity Saga, we dive deep into the art and the creation of the very first Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Iron Man.

Iron Man: The Art of the Movie is a big book, one that at first might feel a bit daunting when you pick it up (I was surprised at the size of the package that arrived at my door the day it appeared), but once you take a small peek inside you find that this huge book is actually super accessible, split into several chapters that focus on various aspects on the design stage of the movie. 

After a brief introduction that goes into the comic origins of the character, complete with some great classic artwork, we get to the part that I imagine is going to be the biggest draw for the book, Iron Man's suit designs. One of the best things about Iron Man is that his look can change at any time, and the character has probably been through the most number of changes across his comic career. From new full time suits, to one off designs made for specific purposes, he's a character who goes through a lot of evolutions, and as such coming to just a few designs for the film appears to have been a far from easy task.

© 2023 MARVEL

This segment of the book features some fantastic concept art, with several different versions of the Mark I armour that show off various different ideas for how Tony Stark would create it out of scrap. I loved looking through these designs, seeing how some were a lot less recognisably Iron Man and clearly made from old machines and vehicles, whilst others would be sleeker, and more like his second set of armour. The book talks about the different stages of bringing it to life too, including model work, and some behind the scenes shots of the practical suit used in the filming. 

From here we dive deep into designs for the other suits that would appear in the movie, and these contain perhaps some of the most surprising variations. All of them are clearly going towards the same end goal, but there are several designs in the book that are very different in style and tone, and you can't help but wonder the direction in visual style the entire MCU could have taken if some of these other designs were used. Would the chunkier, more mecha looking suit have changed the tone of the film too much, and whilst I absolutely love the comic inspired 'sleeveless turtleneck' design I just don't think that would look anything but a bit goofy on the big screen.

Even when coming to the final design the book still has a lot to go into, as we get detailed looks at things such as the design and creation of the inside of the Iron Man mask, a feature that's not even a huge focus on the screen but still requires a lot of work. This gets rounded out by a few designs for alternate armours such as the stealth armour and under water armour that never made it into the film, and a War Machine armour (a great tease for things to come in the second film). 

But it's not just Iron Man who gets to wear armour in the movie, and as such the armour design segment of the book is far from over. It was through reading this book that I learned that the films villain, Iron Monger, was not the originally intended final battle of the movie, and that another villain would be the main focus. A villain that would be a combination of two. The Mandarin wearing a Crimson Dynamo armour. The couple of designs for this that are included in the book are interesting, and it does get you thinking about how different things could have been if the film went down this route. The designs for Iron Monger are, in contrast to what we see for Iron Man, a lot more on point here, and follow a much stricter design philosophy, with most of them being quite close to what appeared in the final film. 

© 2023 MARVEL

The third chapter is Technical Support, and focuses on all of the small things that help to shape the world of the movie, and showcase the kind of tech and design that Tony Stark has access to. Most of this is stuff that tends to be background features in the movie, objects that are present but never the focus, yet their inclusion helps to separate this world from our own. There are things like holographic keyboards, Jarvis' AI computer, Tony's robotic service arms, and how the heads up display inside the suit would look. This section is interesting to look through to see how much work goes into the parts of the movie that you tend not to notice or think about, and showcases how important even small design elements are.

This is reflected in the fourth chapter, Setting The Stage, which is all about location design. This includes things like the design and set building for the caves where Tony is held hostage, the creation of his mansion home, and his company headquarters. This is the biggest chapter in the book, and considering how each and every location has to be thought through and is used to help craft how this world works it's no surprise. There are a number of pages dedicated just to Tony's house, a location that sounds simple on paper, but needs to have considerable thought due to it not only being a main location in the movie with a lot of screen time spent there, but because Tony's house has to tell a story in itself, revealing insights into the character and his personality. 

The book also comes with a lot of storyboards, showcasing the breakdown and planning that goes into a number of the films key sequences, such as the attack on the army convoy that opens the movie, and Iron Man's first test flight. This chapter really highlights how the design and art of the film isn't just limited to creating costumes and sets, but plays an important part in the entire filming process, and can help to shape how the film is shot. 

Iron Man: The Art of the Movie is a hugely impressive book. It goes deeper into the design and art side of the film that you get with the special features on the films physical release, offering more insight into the making of the movie than anywhere else. The information collected here, along with the quality of the art and the story that it tells, makes for a hugely enjoyable read. With this being the first of 24 volumes I really can't wait to see what the others contain, and really hope that I'm continued to be allowed to review the series as this first entry is simply superb. 

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The Hunger and the Dusk #5 - Comic Review

 

Sending a lone scout off to track a deadly enemy into the heart of their territory is the kind of plan that carries a lot of risks with it, and Cal is learning this the hard way in the latest issue of The Hunger and the Dusk as Mikil has gone missing, and the rest of the Last Men Standing will have to put their lives on the line in order to save him; a rescue that might cost something more than just lives.

The issue focuses solely on the human side of the story this month, with no cut aways to show what the orcish side of the new alliance are doing; which is a good decision as the last issue's politics focused scenes need some time to breathe, and the human led drama of this issue would feel underserved if it was having to be interrupted.

We open on Cal deep in thought, wondering where his tracker has gone, and what their best course of action would be. Luckily, Tara still has a magical connection to Mikil thanks to healing him, and can at least tell Cal that he's not been killed. Whilst this is a useful skill to have, it does give the human warriors hope of finding their friend, and drives them on to try and save him even though that course of action puts the rest of them in danger.

Driven into a marshland thanks to summer wild fires, they eventually find Mikil, having been tied up outside a small Vangol camp. Despite knowing that it's a trap, the team goes in to save him, and end up getting into a skirmish with several of the towering creatures, including what appears to be one of their leaders; a creature covered in ornamentation, carrying a giant sword, and able to speak the human language. Whilst Cal ends up in combat with this Vangol, he doesn't have the skills to beat it, and looks set to die until Tara uses her magic to save him.

Despite having won the day, the Last Men Standing are in bad shape, and Tara has reached a breaking point. Cal went into the trap despite her warnings, and is demanding that his people keep travelling despite their wounds, a course of action that would undo much of Tara's healing. This makes her snap, and the two of them end up arguing, bringing up long festering arguments that humans and orcs have had for years. It ends with Tara and Cal having given up on the alliance, and Tara leaving the group.

This issue manages to pack a lot into it, with some great action sequences that look fantastic and really show off how good the art on this series is, but it also throws a lot of character development and world building at the reader too. Tar and Cal are at the heart of this part of the story, and their argument here is really disheartening as they've gotten on so well up to now, and you can see that the two of them really do care for each other. But, they're having to deal with generations of hate and distrust, and it pours out of them when things finally reach a head.

And the arguments they use, the things that show us more of what this world is like. Through them we see how both sides see the conflict, how one side is complaining about their farms are destroyed, whilst the other yells back about stealing land. You can very much see that both orcs and humans see themselves as the wronged party, and it shows that if perhaps they'd have come to the negotiation table before this, had just talked to each other, then maybe centuries of conflict and hate could have been avoided. It's a nice way of adding to the lore and world building in way that feels natural that G. Willow Wilson has done wonderfully across the series. We also get some insight into the Vangol at the start of the issue that doesn't make them seem any less of monsters, but absolutely makes them feel richer and more thought out than just 'big scary people'.

The art on this issue is absolutely superb, and Christian Wildgoose does phenomenal work during the action scenes. Everything is packed with movement and speed, and you feel like you're in the middle of a fight that's raging all around you, rather than just looking at a static image. There's always a character swinging a weapon or charging at an enemy, so things always feel in motion. The action scenes in this series have been great since the start, but this issue feels a lot more frantic and fraught with danger than ones that we've had before, and you get a big sense that the Last Men Standing could die at any moment.

The Hunger and the Dusk has been one of the books I've looked forward to each month since it came out, and made it onto my top comics of 2023 list, and the quality looks set to continue on into the new year. With the relationship between Cal and Tara at an all time low, and her leaving the group at the end, I'm going to be counting down the days until the next chapter comes out, as I need to find out what happens next. 

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