Nightmares Illustrated 038 Grind The Hog Down

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Top Five Picks…Buy These Right Now.

1. Hellblazer #300 (Vertigo).

2. Fables #125 (Vertigo).

3. Grimm Fairy Tales Myths & Legends #25 (Zenescope).

4. Godzilla The Half-Century War #5 (IDW).

5. Mars Attacks Popeye One-Shot (IDW).

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February O February! Just kidding. I’m not really wrapped up in this month. The dead of winter here in the Northeast usually gives us a big snow or two and sometimes deep cold. Good reading weather. Even with the downward spiral of DC and Marvel, and the sad, sad cancellation of Hellblazer, there is a lot love in the bins and racks. Image is still giving us Spawn. Dynamite cranks out a lovely plethora of Vampirella lit every month. And look at all the great archive collections from Dark Horse. Even without DC or Marvel, it is a good time to be a comics fan.

After this one, twelve more remain. The countdown ensues.

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Grimm Fairy Tales Myths & Legends #25 (Zenescope). Zenescope publishes a lot of different comics, but their main line of products are based on what most people would call fairy tales. Here is how the company describes its “fairy tale” universe: “For centuries, it was assumed that fairy tales and fables were fictional stories passed down from generation to generation, however, that is not entirely true. Beings from four different realms linked to Earth do in fact exist. These realms are known as Myst, Neverland, Wonderland and Oz. Some born inside of these powerful realms grow to possess mystical powers and are known as ‘Highborns,’ while those born with both human and Highborn blood are known as ‘Falsebloods.’ And while many of these beings are good, there are many others who carry evil inside of them. Not all Highborns and Falsebloods have yet realized their destinies, and as they discover their abilities, each one will eventually need to choose a side in the war between good and evil which is on the horizon… These are their stories.” OK. Got that? There is a lot of cross-pollination here, and that phenomenon is pervasive in current comics, literature, movies, and television. I have talked about this quite a bit before so I’ll spare you the nuance this time. It is safe to say the feeling of the publishers is that people’s attention is hard to capture and maintain. Maybe they are right. In any case, sometimes the result of overstuffing the bag is a bursting sack of shit and sometimes it is a piñata of entertainment. In the case of Zenescope products, it is always the piñata.

Myths & Legends is the secondary title, second fiddle to Grimm Fairy Tales. M&L is not an inferior product by any means. Rather, it seems to house stories that wouldn’t fit in GFT but that were every bit as good writing- and art-wise. The current issue, #25, is the last for M&L and I am sorry to see it go. At least it goes out with a bang. Evil wins the day and sets up conflict for the other Zenescope books for the next year or so. Firey artwork by Josh Hood dramatically colored by Jason Embury is expertly fused with the work of what appears to be the entire writing staff at Zenescope. Even with all these cooks, somehow it works out perfectly. This special double issue is a good launching pad for the Grimm Universe if you haven’t been reading it up to now. Recommended.

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Robin Hood #5 (Zenescope). Speaking of the Grimm Universe, it is a little murky where a character like Robin Hood would fit – which realm? Myst, I suppose, the catch-all. Sorry. Sometimes I get distracted. It doesn’t matter, because the new incarnation, Robyn Hood, reimagines the popularized notions of the English folk tale, including a gender change. In the previous issue, Robyn had been imprisoned and was awaiting execution. Because this will be a recurring, episodic book, we can make a safe guess she’ll somehow escape. That’s an easy one. After that, it was not easy to guess she would time travel magically to a current era and pile bodies hither thither. But that is what happens. (…well…if you had read the first issue then…)

The writing and art are very Zenescope—no surprise there. All I mean by that is the book fits in nicely with the rest of the universe and so crossovers and versus-es loom large. In fact, the next episode has been announced: Robyn Hood versus Red Riding Hood. I guess you could call it the Battle of the Hoods. Whichever way the company goes after that, it looks like Robyn is here to stay.

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Buy These Too…

Dark Brain Quarterly #4 (Dark Brain). A year into the pornographic fantasy comic, the quality continues to rise. The writing is better in issue #4 and there is less of a concentration on rape scenes, although that theme remains prominent. It is worth a look for the so-inclined 18+ crowd.

True Blood #8 (IDW). This is a rare example of a good comic made from a TV series (that was itself based on a series of novels) that is better than the original source material. The penultimate issue of the “Shake for Me” arc is filled with shape-shifters and vampires.

The Adventures of Augusta Wind #3 (IDW). The story is goofy fun and I am absolutely in love with the frantic Vassilis Gogtzilas artwork. Monsters, magic, and mystery. Augusta Wind is a winner.

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Bargain Bin…

Aliens Fast Track To Heaven (Dark Horse). Despite the questionable title, Liam Sharp writes and draws this entry in the long-lasting Dark Horse property. Well, property – licensed property. This is a nice hardcover edition in the bin so if you have missed it up to now and you are an Alien fan get under the table and flip through those boxes.

Smuggling Spirits Book One (Ambrosia Publishing). Here is a nice little diversion I happened across from Ambrosia. It is about a bootlegger during prohibition who is harried by mystical creatures. Less than three dollars for a snappy graphic novel with an unusual setting sounds like a deal to me.

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