Woodboy - Bad Place Productions

Hauntingly Good Book

Over the weekend I had the great pleasure of attending the Derby City Comic Book Convention in Louisville, Kentucky.  I also had the even greater pleasure of meeting Johnathon Hodges of Bad Place Productions.  Over the course of the afternoon we spent hours in friendly conversation sharing what was clearly a mutually shared love for comic books.  Eventually John wound up handing me a comic book with the invitation to read it.  The book he handed me was the one you see pictured above, Woodboy.

Upon returning to the table I was manning with Brandon Johnson of Studio Akumakazi I sat down and began reading what would soon prove to be one of the very best comic books I've read in a long time.  There are actually two stand alone stories in the book and even though they share no common elements they somehow fit together like Yin and Yang producing a complete vision.  

The first story is that of the main character's (Woodboy) search to find his mother and thus discover his roots and origin in the world in which he dwells. I was immediately struck by the marvelous black and white illustrations of creator and artist Dave Watt.  His work is both unique and evocative.  I couldn't help but think of Clive Barker's Weaveworld.  This is how the magical creatures of the ancient times, before the coming of man, would've drawn their stories upon the cave walls hidden deep within the mountains of Fugue.

The story read and felt like an ancient myth, passed down from generation to generation since the predawn of time. It felt as if I'd discovered a sacred scroll long forgotten.  Upon unrolling it I discovered a piece of myself I'd never realized was missing until the strange symbols drawn upon it revealed its absence to me. I loved it and felt myself a better person for having read it.  I was very impressed with the execution of this story and the emotional response it evoked in my heart.

The second story in the book, Apocalypso, is a tale about the ending of times.  Although completely unrelated to the story of Woodboy in either epoch or characters it felt as if it fit with the story I'd just finished reading and somehow fulfilled a vision neither story could have completed without the other.  Apocalpalyso is at the same time both horrible and beautiful.  There is something profoundly deep and honest about it that is difficult to label.  It damn near brought tears to my eyes at the same time I wanted to recoil in revulsion and flee in horror from it.  Apocalpalyspo was powerful and unexpected.  It left me stunned and in awe of the mind that had produced such a story.

This book and the time spent in conversation with Johnathon Hodges about it afterwards made me remember why I've loved the art form of the comic book for all these years.  It was a celebration when I ran back to Johnathon's table proclaiming, "Holy shit, that was incredible!"  

The man just smiled and said, "Wait til you see what's coming next."

I can hardly wait.  This man's got something good happening over at Bad Place Productions and I'll be keeping a close eye on this group of folks.  I suggest you do too.

Binary Gray-Assailant Comics

Solid and well executed.

One of the great things about being a comic book geek is having a small treasure trove of forgotten books sitting around in plastic tubs from past events and conventions.  Every now and then when the "Big Two" seem to be deluging the market with comic books I find less than entertaining, I'll run downstairs, grab a stack of small press material and while away a few hours panning for gold.  That's just what I was doing the other night when I chanced upon Binary Gray.

This is one of those comic books that just get's it right from page one.  The immediate flashback to childhood quickly provided some nice back story elements to the main character and got the story up to speed in a hurry.  The pacing was fluid without being forced or hurried.  I was engaged from the moment I started turning pages.

The main character is a young man named Alex Gray.  He's not a scientist or an athlete capable of super-human feats.  He's just an ordinary guy working a dead-end job as an IT guy.  One day while performing a routine fix in the server room he's zapped by an electrical discharge from one of the computers and wakes up in the hospital.  The next thing he knows he's hearing a voice in his head and the hospital monitors and television sets seem to be reaching out and attempting to interface with him.

Sure the story sounds familiar.  I've read it a thousand times involving characters like Peter Parker and Bruce Banner.  The plot is archetypical of the modern comic book origin story.  That's what made it feel familiar and believable to me without being cliche.  I bought into the character right away.  The same went for his new abilities.  He wasn't given super powers, he was simply given new abilities that didn't stretch the suspension of disbelief system beyond a breaking point.

This was an origin story that didn't suffer from the same mistakes I've seen so many small press comic books suffer from again and again in trying to create a new book.  Creator/Writer Chris Charlton didn't try to reinvent or revolutionize comic books, he simply told a good story based around a believable character using familiar and time tested plot lines. I liked the book.  It satisfied me as a reader and made me want to read more of Alex Gray's story and hopefully learn more about him and the world he inhabits in future issues of Binary Gray.  You can find this book along with other fine products at Assailant Comics.  Check em' out.  I'm glad I did.

Red Hot Rebellion

"Hell...  Frackin'...  Yeah!"

First off, this review would've been a whole lot easier to write if I hadn't been leapin' around my office wailing on air-guitar and head-banging every file cabinet that got in my way.  Seriously, by track three I was outta my seat and jammin' big time.  Wow, what a great surprise.

Red Hot Rebellion is a party band, plain and simple.  If there's any kind of message to take away from their self titled album it's this, "It's better to die behind a guitar than a gun.".  Holy crap these guys are good!  If you like your vocals raw and your guitar loud and blazing fast, you're gonna love this band.  Ya wanna hear these guys the right way?  First, find a pair of the biggest damn Marshall amps you can find, second, take em' out to the garage and hook your CD player up to em'. Next, open your garage door, set up a lawn chair in the driveway, turn on the music and get ready to blow your neighborhood away.  Dude, you crank these bad boys up and the party is gonna come running to your house.

My favorite tracks were: Wait And See, For the Benefit of Evil, Hellfire, Wild One, Devil's Rope, Cooking With Gas and Open Wide and Say Awesome.  Cripes, did I just list almost every track on the whole damn CD?  That just ain't like me at all!  I haven't heard a party band this good since the days of J Geils and Deep Purple...

You know what?  Frack my boss and frack the office!  I'm outta here!  I'm gonna go home and put these bad boys on a real stereo system.  Then I'm gonna sit down on a lawn chair in my living room and party my butt off.

Do yourself a favor, boys and girls, go out and buy this CD right frackin now!  And while you're at it, visit their website, find out where they're performing next and get yer' asses out to see em'.  You won't be disappointed.

Oh, I almost forgot!  There's a comic book I would've reviewed if I hadn't shredded it after rolling it up and using it for an air-guitar.  Maybe I can get em' to send me a new one...

Baltimore - Bantam Books

A first rate read steeped in atmosphere.

If not for a three issue mini-series soon to be released by, Dark Horse comics, Baltimore, The Plague Ships, I would never have heard of this novel. If not for my fondness for the creative team of, Mike Mignola, (writer) and, Ben Steinbeck, (illustrator) I'd have simply dismissed, Baltimore, The Plague Ships, as yet one more vampire story in a market already over-saturated with tales of the blood-sucking night-stalkers. Only because of my fondness for, Mike Mignola and Ben Steinbeck, did I decide to add the mini-series, based upon a novel I'd never heard of, to my pull file.

Not wishing to read a comic book based upon a novel I'd never read in the first place, I looked it up on, Amazon.com, found a copy of it for a fair price and ordered it forthwith. I started reading the novel the day it arrived in the mail and didn't put it down until I'd finished it. Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, is as good a read as I've enjoyed in a very long time. This novel took me back to the days of my youth when the tales of, Edgar Allen Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft, introduced me to the horror genre. Like all good classic horror tales, Baltimore, begins on a moonless night in a field covered in fog. Men are at war, a human endeavor already fraught with unimaginable horrors, but on this particular night one soldier is about to come face to face with a horror that will change his life forever.

Wounded, slipping in and out of consciousness as he lies in a tangled heap of dead and dying soldiers, Baltimore, looks on in mounting terror as a strange flock of flying creatures descend upon the bodies strewn across the recent battlefield and begin feeding upon them. After drawing the attention of one of the winged monstrosities, Baltimore, finds himself fighting for his life against an ancient and fearsomely strong vampire. During the ensuing struggle, Baltimore, manages to inflict a terrible, but non-lethal wound to the face of his adversary. The enraged vampire leaves a wound of his own upon the thigh of, Baltimore, that will eventually cost him his leg.

Thus begins a tale I can only best describe as, Captain Ahab, versus the, Great White Wraith, that took his leg. Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire is a tale of revenge and retribution and the toll such pursuits take upon those who seek such bitter satisfactions. It is a good read that echos many of the great tomes that have preceded it in the genre of horror. The novel pays homage without copying or cloning other works. Once again, it is a good read and if you're planning on picking up the upcoming, Dark Horse mini-series, Baltimore, The Plague Ships, I would encourage you to find this book and read it in advance of, Mike Mignola and Ben Steinbeck's return to the world of, Henry Baltimore. If the comic book is even half as good as the novel, this will be a tale you won't want to miss.

Brody's Ghost - Mark Crilley

Just plain fun and entertaining.

It was through MDHP (MySpace Dark Horse Presents) that I first came into contact with, Brody's Ghost. There was just something interesting enough about the premise of the story that led me to pick up the first graphic novel in what will be a six book series. All I can say is that this little book gives substance to the cliche, "good things come in small packages." If you overlooked this wonderful gem while shopping in your local comic book store I strongly encourage you to call your local shopkeeper and ask him or her to pull a copy of this book from their shelves and put it in your file before there are no more copies to be found. You just don't want to miss this story.

Mark Crilley can draw. I must admit to being a newcomer to his work, but I'm a fan now and I'll be looking up some of his earlier work as soon as possible. Even in black and white his illustrations breath with vitality and life. I was immediately drawn in to Brody's world from the very first panel and held there until the last panel of the story. Judging from the youthful look of the main characters this story is aimed at the young adolescent market, but anyone could read this book and find it entertaining.

The story revolves around a young man named, Brody. He's till steeped in the throes of a broken heart and living a very shallow and depressed life. Plainly put, he's a slacker. Everything in his life is going from bad to worse until one day he encounters the ghost. Her name is, Talia, and she's been temporarily locked out of heaven until she performs A life task--think, really good deed. Being a ghost she's somewhat limited in her ability to manipulate the corporal world and she needs the help of a, ghostseer, an individual with psychic powers capable of seeing, hearing and talking with ghosts.

Brody, up to this point in his life, has remained blissfully ignorant of his latent psychic abilities. In his current slacker-state of being he isn't going to be of much use to, Talia. She decides he needs training to awaken his abilities and she arranges for him to meet, Kagemura, a ghost sensei with the wisdom to educate young, Brody, in the ways of his psychic skills. The game is then "afoot" as they say...

One of the aspects of, Brody's Ghost, I found most refreshing was that I didn't find myself having to shove aside an overabundance of female cleavage or don a welder's mask to protect my face from the flash burn of a nonstop barrage of the F-Bomb to enjoy the story. It was nice to read a book without feeling assaulted or challenged. It was more than entertaining, it was refreshing.

Mark Crilley has crafted a beautifully illustrated and delightfully written story that promises to deliver five more installments of quality entertainment. I can recommend this book without either hesitation or reservation to readers of all ages and genders. There's something here for everyone and I can't wait for more of, Brody's Ghost, to hit the shelves of my local comic book store. Well done, Mr. Crilley! I'm a fan for sure...

Mog World - Yahtzee Croshaw

I do like the cover art.

Fortunately I was spared the tragic mistake of picking this up as an impulse buy by reading the extended nineteen page preview of the book at, Dark Horse Publishing's website. Make no mistake about it, whatever qualities you might find appealing about the online antics of, Yahtzee Croshaw, you'll be hard pressed to find a single one of them between the covers of this book. Unfortunately, this is one of those marketing team projects designed to make money solely on the basis of name recognition. You know how it goes...

Marketing team: "We love what you've got going here with the whole, Yahtzee, thing and we're here to help you capitalize on it while the iron is hot. Celebrity is fleeting, Mr. Croshaw. Especially the Internet kind and if you're going to benefit financially from your current popularity we've got to act fast before the opportunities available to you right now disappear faster than the video games you review."

Yahtzee: "Well, this is all kind of new to me. What do you have in mind?"

Marketing team: "We've already started production on a series of tee-shirts, coffee mugs and buttons, none of that cheap crap mind you, this is all first rate material, assembled in the, United States, and produced to order. All it requires on your part is a link on your website and a small percentage of each sale to cover shipping, handling and manufacturing costs."

Yahtzee: "That's all there is to it?"

Marketing team: "That's just the beginning! Have you ever thought of writing a book?"

Yahtzee: "I read one once, Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy, or something like that."

Marketing team: "Don't worry about it. Just throw something together, we'll clean it up in editing, slap a, Grateful Dead, looking cover on it and find a small publisher to sell it online."

Yahtzee: "Well, I'm really not much of a writer per sey..."

Marketing team: "Yahtzee, my man, don't worry about it. You see, we're not selling the literary contents of the book, we're selling the name on the book, Yahtzee Croshaw. Besides, your fans are primarily gamers, not exactly top of the food chain, if you know what we're talking about. They'll probably never even bother to read it once they get it home. It's an impulse purchase..."

Yahtzee: "So that's it?"

Marketing team: "Why, that's just the tip of the iceberg! We're in the final steps of negotiating the closing details on a deal with an online hemp-jewelery company out of, Korea. We're very excited about the, Yahtzee, one hit wonder, line of glass bongs and we just received an email from our perfumer in, China, that they've just begun human testing on the first in your new line of cologne for men called, Joystick."

Sorry, Yahtzee, but in the words of, The Beatles, "You may be a lover, but you ain't no dancer."

Better luck with your cologne...

R.E.B.E.L.S. - D.C. Comics

The best book nobody knows about.

This is one of the very best comic book titles being produced right now. Tony Bedard is just flat out writing his arse off. Issue after issue he's creating perhaps the most original book to come out of the D.C. talent pool and he's doing it with a cast of characters no one else really seems to care about working with. Tony seems to have found a way to circumvent the stranglehold, Geoff Johns seems to have over the creative process at D.C. and is producing original work that is both engaging and entertaining. R.E.B.E.L.S. is a book you can read without needing a degree in molecular engineering to understand it. There is an elegant simplicity to Tony's story telling that is a breath of fresh air in the current age of convoluted obscurity that passes itself off as dark and edgy adult entertainment.

R.E.B.E.L.S. has managed to do in just eighteen issues what, Geoff Johns has failed to do in series after seemingly endless series of crossover events involving an average of thirty titles each. Tony Bedard has advanced his premise, developed his characters and provided genuinely poignant and compelling moments of story telling in the process. And most impressively of all, he's managed to do it without dropping the F-Bomb in every other sentence, covering up gaping plot holes with with bucketful after bucketful of T&A and offering more adult examples of creative problem solving than, "My powers-penis is bigger than your powers-penis!".

Before I journey much further along I'd like to point out how wonderfully the illustrations of the artistic team of, Claude St. Aubin (Pencils) and Scott Hanna (Inker) enhance this book. This team manages to flesh out more than breast size. The worlds and environments they create are beautifully rendered and a joy for the eye to behold. Theirs is a vision of the universe containing more than nipples, breasts and camel toes. Every time I turn a page I'm treated to alien landscapes filled with lush flora, fauna and architectural designs that spark my imagination and take my breath away. Truly this team engages the highest intellectual functions rather than stimulating the basest part of human nature.

Tony Bedard and his team are creating a genuinely articulate and intelligent piece of work. It is truly sophisticated and adult in every way. Unlike the elitist, pseudo-intellectual group of bohemian extremists currently in charge of the industry who're more concerned with force-feeding their vision of morality and artistic integrity upon the marketplace, Tony is doing what matters most to a real writer. He's telling a story in a manner that engages and entertains as many people as possible rather than alienating all, but the most narrow of demographic. Tony is using the art form to entertain, not to engage in some ludicrous, political crusade against the moral windmills of imaginary censorship.

If you're a reader seeking content more substantial than titillating pinup art to decorate your school locker with, R.E.B.E.L.S. is the book for you. This is a title that shows the very best of what comics can be. It may not be getting the push that some of the bigger projects at D.C. are receiving, but it delivers far more quality for the dollars you'll spend on it than just about anything else you can find in their catalog of books.