Unscripted, unedited. Just a guy talking about comics.
Transcript below...
Showing posts with label Dark Horse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dark Horse. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Comics Commentary: Dungeons & Dragons tie-in comics
We'll see what we think of this little experiment! Little video comics reviews, unscripted, unedited.
Transcript below...
Monday, May 21, 2018
Puritan Pistolier
Solomon Kane: Red Shadows #1-2 (Dark Horse, April-May 2011, $3.50)
"Skulls in the Stars" Script: Bruce Jones, Artist: Rahsan Ekedal, Color artist: Dan Jackson, Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft, Cover artist: Guy Davis, Cover colors: Dave Stewart.
Based on the work of Robert E. Howard, these comics—whole numbers 10-11 in a series, and the first two parts of "Red Shadows"—adapt the short story "Skulls in the Stars," which was originally published in Weird Tales in January 1929. In #1, Solomon Kane is on his way to Torkertown, when he comes to a fork in the road. One path leads through the moors, and the other meanders along a longer route.
Locals avoid the shorter, more direct path because of "certain death by night" and "something unspeakable." Of course, the Puritan pistolier Kane takes the less-traveled route, encountering "some hellish figure" that flees when provoked by mentions of God and heaven—and presented with the shadow of a cross. A young boy helps Kane to the hut of a miserly hermit named Ezra, who conspires to steal his gold necklace.
In #2, Kane vows to track down Le Loup, a bandit and rapist. This issue is based on the story "Red Shadows," first published in Weird Tales in August 1928—the first Solomon Kane story. Le Loup almost escapes.
Truth be told, these comics are worth getting for the Guy Davis covers alone—wonderful images, and suggestive that he'd be a good fit as penciler generally. As it is, Ekedal's artwork is fine, with #1 including several solid pictures of the three-skulled wraith in the moor and a wonderful p. 20. #2's p. 5 and 19 also resonate, but the artwork is a little too cartoony-realistic for what could be a darkly dense and brooding noir fantasy... closer to Howard's original writing.
Availability: These two issues were collected in Solomon Kane Volume 3: Red Shadows. We also recommend The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, which highlights Howard's original short stories.
This issue comes from the Henry's Green Cape collection of comics. Thank you for your donation!
"Skulls in the Stars" Script: Bruce Jones, Artist: Rahsan Ekedal, Color artist: Dan Jackson, Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft, Cover artist: Guy Davis, Cover colors: Dave Stewart.
Based on the work of Robert E. Howard, these comics—whole numbers 10-11 in a series, and the first two parts of "Red Shadows"—adapt the short story "Skulls in the Stars," which was originally published in Weird Tales in January 1929. In #1, Solomon Kane is on his way to Torkertown, when he comes to a fork in the road. One path leads through the moors, and the other meanders along a longer route.
Locals avoid the shorter, more direct path because of "certain death by night" and "something unspeakable." Of course, the Puritan pistolier Kane takes the less-traveled route, encountering "some hellish figure" that flees when provoked by mentions of God and heaven—and presented with the shadow of a cross. A young boy helps Kane to the hut of a miserly hermit named Ezra, who conspires to steal his gold necklace.
In #2, Kane vows to track down Le Loup, a bandit and rapist. This issue is based on the story "Red Shadows," first published in Weird Tales in August 1928—the first Solomon Kane story. Le Loup almost escapes.
Truth be told, these comics are worth getting for the Guy Davis covers alone—wonderful images, and suggestive that he'd be a good fit as penciler generally. As it is, Ekedal's artwork is fine, with #1 including several solid pictures of the three-skulled wraith in the moor and a wonderful p. 20. #2's p. 5 and 19 also resonate, but the artwork is a little too cartoony-realistic for what could be a darkly dense and brooding noir fantasy... closer to Howard's original writing.
Availability: These two issues were collected in Solomon Kane Volume 3: Red Shadows. We also recommend The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, which highlights Howard's original short stories.
This issue comes from the Henry's Green Cape collection of comics. Thank you for your donation!
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Roleplaying Game Comic Books
Dungeons & Dragons: Frost Giant's Fury #3-5 (IDW, February-April 2017, $3.99)
Dragon Age: Knight Errant #2, 4-5 (Dark Horse, June and August-September 2017, $3.99)
Pathfinder: Runescars #2, 4 (Dynamite, 2017, $4.99)
I haven't read roleplaying game comic books other than Knights of the Dinner Table for some time, and this batch of comics has been in my reading box for longer than I like admitting. All three series might be of interest to people who are already well versed—or active in—playing roleplaying games given their settings, characters, and concepts. Of the three, Dragon Age: Knight Errant might be best suited for someone interested in fantasy broadly, but not RPGs specifically. (That said, people interested in that series of video games might also be interested.) Even if these miniseries are no longer publishing, chances are good that each franchise has a new series going, so check the stands at your local shop.
Dungeons & Dragons: Frost Giant's Fury was intended to dovetail with release of the Storm Kings Thunder adventure module for the tabletop RPG and the related season of organized play in game stores around the world. If I remember correctly, the timing was off, and it was pretty far into the season before the comic shipped. Regardless, it's a fun read. Minsc the ranger and his space hamster Boo from the Baldur's Gate series of video games join several other adventurers—sorceress Delina, rogues Krydle and Shandie, and cleric Nerys—to investigate and thwart the intrigue among and between dragons and giants fighting to control Faerun.
Jim Zub's writing is good, but it's a little too transparent in the game lineage and mechanics. (This is an issue IDW's D&D comics have had from the beginning.) Delina might say something other than "Magic missile!" when casting that spell in #4, eh? Given that much of the comic is character driven, Netho Diaz's art concentrates on the humanoids, but in #3's pages with the white dragon in its cave during the snowstorm, readers get a little bit of the sense of wonder inherent in D&D. "Okay, lockpicker... talk." #5 goes a bit broader in its scale, offering several nice moments featuring the giants, including a two-page spread on pp. 4-5, and a face off between giant and dragon on pp. 12 and 15.
D&D players will be interested in the character sheets offered in each issue for the characters Krydle, Nerys, and Shandie, who are all sixth level, incidentally.
Dragon Age: Knight Errant #2, 4-5 (Dark Horse, June and August-September 2017, $3.99)
Pathfinder: Runescars #2, 4 (Dynamite, 2017, $4.99)
I haven't read roleplaying game comic books other than Knights of the Dinner Table for some time, and this batch of comics has been in my reading box for longer than I like admitting. All three series might be of interest to people who are already well versed—or active in—playing roleplaying games given their settings, characters, and concepts. Of the three, Dragon Age: Knight Errant might be best suited for someone interested in fantasy broadly, but not RPGs specifically. (That said, people interested in that series of video games might also be interested.) Even if these miniseries are no longer publishing, chances are good that each franchise has a new series going, so check the stands at your local shop.
Dungeons & Dragons: Frost Giant's Fury was intended to dovetail with release of the Storm Kings Thunder adventure module for the tabletop RPG and the related season of organized play in game stores around the world. If I remember correctly, the timing was off, and it was pretty far into the season before the comic shipped. Regardless, it's a fun read. Minsc the ranger and his space hamster Boo from the Baldur's Gate series of video games join several other adventurers—sorceress Delina, rogues Krydle and Shandie, and cleric Nerys—to investigate and thwart the intrigue among and between dragons and giants fighting to control Faerun.
Jim Zub's writing is good, but it's a little too transparent in the game lineage and mechanics. (This is an issue IDW's D&D comics have had from the beginning.) Delina might say something other than "Magic missile!" when casting that spell in #4, eh? Given that much of the comic is character driven, Netho Diaz's art concentrates on the humanoids, but in #3's pages with the white dragon in its cave during the snowstorm, readers get a little bit of the sense of wonder inherent in D&D. "Okay, lockpicker... talk." #5 goes a bit broader in its scale, offering several nice moments featuring the giants, including a two-page spread on pp. 4-5, and a face off between giant and dragon on pp. 12 and 15.
D&D players will be interested in the character sheets offered in each issue for the characters Krydle, Nerys, and Shandie, who are all sixth level, incidentally.
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Anthropomorphic Samurai
Usagi Yojimbo #163 (Dark Horse, November 2017, $3.99)
While this is #163 of the current series, the indicia indicates that this is #227 overall. Stan Sakai's long-running black-and-white anthropomorphic samurai comic is one of my absolute favorites, and every issue is a welcome continuation of the story, which features Japanese history and myth, samurai, ninjas, adventure, and mystery. It's like Lone Wolf and Cub meets Critters, or an issue of Comic Ran if populated by funny animals.
In this issue, part one of the storyline "Mouse Trap," Nezumi has robbed Hatamoto Asano's home. A Robin Hood-like thief, Nezumi rains money down on the citizens. "The townsfolk always side with me!" Usagi Yojimbo takes chase across the rooftops but loses his footing, allowing Nezumi to escape.
While assessing his spoils, which include a silver ingot with the shogunate crest and an interesting netsuki, Nezumi witnesses members of the Black Goblin gang harass down-on-his-luck Merchant Kubo. The gang members frame Nezumi for a crime he didn't commit. That leads to Inspector Ishida and Usagi learning even more through their investigation: Perhaps Nezumi isn't the only criminal!
This is such a wonderful comic. So much love and effort go into making each issue, and the series has been so consistently excellent. While I've felt that some issues in the past have been flat—foreground and background blending together—this issue has no such problem. On page one, panel one, Sakai uses thicker and thinner lines to delineate depth. He uses a similar technique on p. 20, panel one, even incorporating very limited shading to set off a secondary image in the foreground.
Beautifully cartoony and painstakingly done. Awesome.
Availability: You can buy this issue online. This issue will be collected in Usagi Yojimbo Volume 32, expected in July 2018. The most recent collection is Usagi Yojimbo Volume 31: The Hell Screen. We also recommend Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 1.
While this is #163 of the current series, the indicia indicates that this is #227 overall. Stan Sakai's long-running black-and-white anthropomorphic samurai comic is one of my absolute favorites, and every issue is a welcome continuation of the story, which features Japanese history and myth, samurai, ninjas, adventure, and mystery. It's like Lone Wolf and Cub meets Critters, or an issue of Comic Ran if populated by funny animals.
In this issue, part one of the storyline "Mouse Trap," Nezumi has robbed Hatamoto Asano's home. A Robin Hood-like thief, Nezumi rains money down on the citizens. "The townsfolk always side with me!" Usagi Yojimbo takes chase across the rooftops but loses his footing, allowing Nezumi to escape.
While assessing his spoils, which include a silver ingot with the shogunate crest and an interesting netsuki, Nezumi witnesses members of the Black Goblin gang harass down-on-his-luck Merchant Kubo. The gang members frame Nezumi for a crime he didn't commit. That leads to Inspector Ishida and Usagi learning even more through their investigation: Perhaps Nezumi isn't the only criminal!
This is such a wonderful comic. So much love and effort go into making each issue, and the series has been so consistently excellent. While I've felt that some issues in the past have been flat—foreground and background blending together—this issue has no such problem. On page one, panel one, Sakai uses thicker and thinner lines to delineate depth. He uses a similar technique on p. 20, panel one, even incorporating very limited shading to set off a secondary image in the foreground.
Beautifully cartoony and painstakingly done. Awesome.
Availability: You can buy this issue online. This issue will be collected in Usagi Yojimbo Volume 32, expected in July 2018. The most recent collection is Usagi Yojimbo Volume 31: The Hell Screen. We also recommend Usagi Yojimbo Saga Volume 1.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Learning to Cope
Black Hammer #10, 12 (Dark Horse, June and August 2017, $3.99)
Winner of the 2017 Eisner Award for Best New Series, Black Hammer is a wonderful comic written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Dean Ormston or David Rubin. It's a slightly retro take on superheroes, somewhat in the style of Alan Moore, if not the tone. The general gist of the series is a group of superheroes is trapped in a pocket universe or dimension and learning how to cope with their new day-to-day existence, shades of a Twilight Zone episode.
Abraham Slam remembers an ill-fated new uniform back in his Spiral City days. His new girlfriend Tammy has a run in with her jealous ex-husband. Barbalien misinterprets a friend's intentions (or doesn't).
In #12, Black Hammer's daughter becomes old enough to be entrusted with access to her father's secret hideout. Rubin's artwork serves this flashback well, and I look forward to seeing how it ties into the rest of the story.
I'm not surprised this comic won the Eisner. Lemire is one of the better comics writers active today, and the characters in this series are just astounding. The back-and-forth storytelling showing the connections between past and present is quite effective. And the overall tone is one of memory and mystery—each issue eagerly awaited to see what happens next as the heroes lost in time and space try to return home... and conspire against each other so doing.
Availability: Black Hammer #10 will be reprinted in Black Hammer Volume 2: The Event, expected in January 2018. Otherwise, #10 and 12 are available online.
Winner of the 2017 Eisner Award for Best New Series, Black Hammer is a wonderful comic written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Dean Ormston or David Rubin. It's a slightly retro take on superheroes, somewhat in the style of Alan Moore, if not the tone. The general gist of the series is a group of superheroes is trapped in a pocket universe or dimension and learning how to cope with their new day-to-day existence, shades of a Twilight Zone episode.
Abraham Slam remembers an ill-fated new uniform back in his Spiral City days. His new girlfriend Tammy has a run in with her jealous ex-husband. Barbalien misinterprets a friend's intentions (or doesn't).
In #12, Black Hammer's daughter becomes old enough to be entrusted with access to her father's secret hideout. Rubin's artwork serves this flashback well, and I look forward to seeing how it ties into the rest of the story.
I'm not surprised this comic won the Eisner. Lemire is one of the better comics writers active today, and the characters in this series are just astounding. The back-and-forth storytelling showing the connections between past and present is quite effective. And the overall tone is one of memory and mystery—each issue eagerly awaited to see what happens next as the heroes lost in time and space try to return home... and conspire against each other so doing.
Availability: Black Hammer #10 will be reprinted in Black Hammer Volume 2: The Event, expected in January 2018. Otherwise, #10 and 12 are available online.
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