'68 Jungle Jim #3 - Image Comics

'68 JUNGLE JIM No. 3, June 2013

Creator Mark Kidwell has made it clear that he likes to keep his “readers off their footing” by jumping “to an altogether different branch of the ’68 narrative.” And clearly there are many who enjoy his “individual” and “preferred style of storytelling”, or else his Vietnam-based zombie comic book series would not be an award-winning one. But with “Hellhole: Change… It Had To Come” the special effects creature designer has arguably written a somewhat disorientating third instalment to this four-issue mini-series by having the comic’s ongoing storyline suddenly occur in the past as opposed to the present. As a result for the first eleven pages the blood-drenched action is recounted by both Private Brian Curliss and Miss Manon, and whilst the marine’s ‘voice’ is quickly recognisable, the narration of "Jungle Mother" is a little harder to fathom until the book’s twelfth page makes it obvious.

However even this revelation, a single page depicting the inhabitants of the Salut Glen Mission recovering from the presence of the Viet Cong and subsequent attack of “the Dead”, is unwelcome as it pedestrian pace jars horribly with the fast-flowing tale which occurred beforehand. For one moment the reader is having their senses overloaded with scenes of depravity and torture, most notably the already violated evangelist having her face licked by a gestalt of living corpses, and in the next instant Trang is slowly waking up in a hospital bed having had his life-changing wounds dressed and bandaged. Fortunately for the loyal “‘68 Jungle Jim” gore fans, the gruesome bloodbath of wickedness continues, almost unabated, on the following page, with one hapless Viet Cong soldier having his eyes chewed out of his head by a limbless torso, and the French missionary losing an unhealthy chunk of right forearm to a “smart” zombie. 

Disappointingly Kidwell’s decision to keep ‘mixing-up’ his storytelling methodology by occasionally flitting back from the gruesome past to the present, continues to interfere with the harrowing course of the zombies’ ‘brain-fest’ battle with the murderous guerrillas. Albeit these “quick cuts” actually allow those readers unused to such graphic depictions of sexual assault, wanton bodily mutilation and more eyeballs popping out of the head than even an ophthalmologist could track, to at least momentarily catch their breath before their senses are once again assailed with more horrifically chilling blood-letting.

Artist Jeff Zornow delivers some stunningly gruesome single-page splashes during this issue. Most notably a (worryingly cuddly-looking) tiger stalking away from the partially chewed heads of two zombies and then later the arrival of ‘Jungle Jim’ at the ramshackle children’s shelter as Curliss decapitates one living cadaver with a machete and sprays the foliage with the brain matter of several others. Infuriatingly though the Brooklyn-based illustrator’s less gruesome drawings, such as those showing the Mission staff or an unmasked Brian ‘enjoying’ some quieter moments, are far less satisfactory or consistent. Indeed in many ways the undisciplined pencilling looks positively rushed, almost as if Zornow was eager to dispense with the sedentary scenes and swiftly return to his well-detailed depictions of reanimated corpses causing carnage.

The variant cover art of "'68 JUNGLE JIM" No. 3 by Nat Jones and Jay Fotos

Batman #6 [The New 52] - DC Comics

BATMAN No. 6, April 2012

In July 1993 a burnt out and heavily fatigued Bruce Wayne was given arguably the worst beating of his vigilante lifetime by the Venom-enhanced monstrosity known as Bane. Not only did the supervillain mentally crush his opponent but he also physically broke the Dark Knight’s back. In Issue Six of “Batman” Scott Snyder depicts an eerily similar beating. But whereas the former prisoner from Pena Dura took approximately six months to ‘take down The Bat’. The Court of Owls’ living weapon, the Talon, manages to seemingly overcome his foe in just eight days and deliver an almighty ‘smack down’ which lasts five bone-jarring pages in length.

Indeed things have never looked bleaker for the cowled crime fighter, as he suffers a potential fatal knife wound straight through his back and out of his stomach, at the very start of the confrontation. Already weary from his captor’s mind games and a lack of nourishment, it is hard to imagine many non-super-powered heroes still trying to put up a fight with such a wound, especially when the organised crime group’s hitman promptly whacks Batman around the head with a vintage camera as he tries to rise from the floor. What then follows is an insane amount of punishment and pain as the helpless titular character is first thrown against a wall and then punched and kicked so many times that eventually the partition gives way and a barely conscious Dark Knight meekly awaits his humiliating fate, apparently at the clawed hands of an owl-like little girl.

But just as Bruce Wayne did in “Knightfall”, the billionaire somehow manages to ‘dig deep’ and find both the fighting spirit and endurance to battle back against his jailers, a parliament of wretched illusionary owl-people and his masked assailant. Admittedly such ‘bravado’ is hard to genuinely relate to considering how seriously injured the caped crusader is. But there again he is “sick to death of owls!” and the strength of this animosity appears enough to provide the adrenalin needed to overcome the Talon… just.

Understandably with such a lengthy fist-fight there’s an awful lot for artist Greg Capullo to draw in “Beneath The Glass”. But not only does the creator of “The Creech” provide a plethora of mouth-wateringly good calcium-crunching pages, something Snyder has been quoted as saying the illustrator is “really, really good at.” But he also lives up to his partner’s praise by being “a master of expression” as he memorably shows precisely what is going on behind the Mantle of the Bat through the character’s countenance; most notably that of the hero’s blood-shot and visible left eye.

The variant cover art of "BATMAN" No. 6 by Gary Frank and Francisco Plascencia

Moon Knight #7 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 7, November 2014

Editors Ellie Pyle and Nick Lowe must have worried what was going to become of this title with the simultaneous departure of both writer Warren Ellis and artist Declan Shalvey after just six issues. Even with the devoted following of the Eagle Award winning author, “Moon Knight” was still regularly only selling approximately 37,500 copies per month, and now the Englishman along with his loyal admirers was gone. But rather than panic and allow another reimagining of the Fist of Khonshu, something so many new creative teams seem determined to do when placing their ‘unique mark’ upon a comic book character, the pair have admirably ordained that the new partnership of Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood simply pick up the baton and carry on running within the same race; and more fool the two thousand readers who dropped the magazine from their ‘pull list’ during the exchange. 

However initial (preview) impressions of “Blackout” are admittedly not especially favorable. For whilst the American comic book writer’s masked vigilante does indeed follow along a similar direction to this series’ previous depiction of the schizophrenic super-hero. The actual plot to the story, Mister Knight chasing down a rooftop marksman, is far too reminiscent of the earlier issue “Sniper”. Indeed the number of narrative commonalities is discerningly high with both single-issue scenarios involving the costumed crime-fighter intercepting the rooftop assassin just as they are ‘drawing a bead’ upon their intended target, both ex-military gunmen believing they have been wronged by their ‘prey’, and both exchanging blows and punches with the cowled crusader after the ex-mercenary has ‘swooped down’ upon them using some state-of-the-art gadgetry.

The only genuine difference arguably being that Wood’s storyline actually seems to contain much more pace and work better overall than Ellis’ past periodical; that and it provides a suitably shocking ending which will doubtless stun and perturb readers as much as it clearly does Moon Knight.

Greg Smallwood’s artistic composition is also extremely impressive. Honored by the website Multiversity Comics as the Number Two Breakout Artist of 2013, the American’s artwork isn’t debatably of quite the same standard as Declan Shalvey. But what he is extremely good at doing it telling a story through page layouts. So when Mister Knight intercepts the would-be assassin with a punch to the head, the panel is shaped so as to form the word “POW”, and when an off-target bullet strikes a car the outline of the drawing spells out the sound effect “SPANG”.

In fact Smallwood appears to get cumulatively cleverer with each configuration as the adventure, and plot’s pacing, increases. So that by the end of the combatants' confrontation, the reader is breathlessly giddy, having perused a couple of incredible fifteen paneled wordless pages chock full of action and another where the drawings’ frames create the shape of an exclamation mark.

The variant cover art of "MOON KNIGHT" No. 7 by Declan Shalvey

Batman #5 [The New 52] - DC Comics

BATMAN No. 5, March 2012

There is currently much debate as to where the future of comic books resides, especially with conventional sales apparently falling by up to fifteen percent on previous years. For some commentators the simple answer lies with a move away from the printed medium and instead publishers should wholeheartedly embrace the publication of purely digital editions or rather eComics. Issue Five of “Batman” shows just why such a shift would be something of a mistake, as the magazine relies upon the tangible physicality of it being a twenty-page periodical, in order to tell its story… One which actually forces the reader to become as disorientated as the semi-conscious and delusional Dark Knight within the story.

Superbly written and paced by Scott Snyder “Face The Court” depicts an enfeebled Batman, devoid of food and sustenance for eight days, maniacally stalking an underground maze looking for a way out. Whilst all the time his captors wreak havoc with his sensibilities by photographing his mental and physical decline and creating elaborate traps for the weakened hero to fall into. Bowed but not beaten a visibly shaken and weary Caped Crusader stoically tries to persevere despite the constant assault upon his senses, whether this be giant owl statues, phantoms of his deceased parents or a harrowing picture library full of the faces of past Court of Owls victims.

All of these trials are so well penned by the American author that the reader soon becomes completely immersed in the events themselves. So when Bruce Wayne tentatively sips from the catacombs’ sole source of water, something which is invariably drugged, it is hard not to feel somewhat parched yourself. Then as the stumbling, debilitated Batman becomes increasing lost as he walks down corridor upon corridor, so too does the reader; especially when the narrative turns the book on its side by ninety degrees for several pages before requiring a further adjustment which results in the comic being read upside down and back to front. Such a physical trick, arguably impossible to achieve electronically, really brings home just how damaged the Dark Knight’s psyche actually is and how destabilised his mental process have become.

However much of this issue’s impact must surely also rest upon the magnificent artwork of Greg Capullo, as well as Jonathan Glapion on inks and Francisco Plascencia on colors. This is truly an all-encompassing creative team effort. Their combined work depicting this ‘journey into madness’ is breathtaking and clearly demonstrative of their inventive illustrative genius. Especially impressive, besides fooling the reader into unthinkingly turning the comic book upside down, has to be some of the subtle touches found within the drawings, with Batman’s single glaring blood-shot eye, and apparent manifestation of furry clawed hands and feet additionally helping highlight the character’s increasing insanity.

The variant cover art of "BATMAN" No. 5 by Adam Kubert

Zombies Vs. Robots #3 - IDW Publishing

ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS No. 3, March 2015

Naturally any reader of a comic book whose basic premise rests solely upon a post-apocalyptic world where walking corpses wrestle for control of the planet against robots, has already surrendered their judgement concerning the implausibility of the narrative. But unfortunately Chris Ryall’s writing for this title’s instalment of the “Inherit The Earth” story-arc stretches even that fantastic willing suspension of disbelief and contributes little to the “splice of horror/sci-fi excitement” “IDW Publishing” have been aiming for with “Zombies Verses Robots”.

Indeed the co-creator of the Eisner Award-nominated series really seems to have allowed himself to stray far too much into the mythical world of fantasy as his “space-faring humans” return to the Earth to find their immediate threat isn’t the zombies or robots, but Mermen and a multi-tentacled giant octopus which wouldn’t look out of place in a Doug McClure motion picture from the Seventies. Bearing in mind it has only been a year since the surface was ravaged by nuclear bombs, the presence of these fish-people somewhat jars with the planet’s semi-possible future.

In addition Ryall completely ruins the mystery surrounding the seemingly sentient gun-toting warbot 7-G by explaining that rather than being a glitch in the artificial being’s programming, the machine’s personality is due to the fact that it actually houses the ‘soul’ of Fritz Winterbottom. A situation the dying scientist was able to manufacture by turning his ‘essence’ into a wireless signal and transferring himself through a dimensional gate and into one of Throckmorton’s robots!?!

Anthony Diecidue’s simplistic illustration work is also rather disappointing, though the Los Angeles based artist’s more detailed depictions of the Mermen and their multi-limbed monstrosity are rather well drawn.

Fortunately this title is an anthology, and despite only being two-pages in length, Ashley Wood’s charmingly simple tale “Of Metal And Bones” is full of both sentimentality and foreboding in equal measure. Continuing the adventures of a small child and his mini-bot out naively looking for his long-lost mother, things appear to be about to take a turn for the worse as they decide to spend a night sleeping on top of a warbot whilst a zombie stirs nearby. The Australian’s artwork is as stylised and instantly recognisable as ever but genuinely seems to provide the double-splash story with an air of innocence.

“The Orphan” by Steve Niles continues to be this comic’s most satisfying read. Although some of the American author’s logic would appear to be off-key with this third instalment. Having provided the reader with an enjoyable series of panels depicting Bot-Bot enthusiastically clubbing and gunning down a horde of hungry zombies, the pace of the plot settles back down to the duo carefully picking their way through the derelict though dangerous landscape.

But before doing so Rosemary’s robot apologises to her for previously ‘slaying’ her zombified parents. Bearing in mind the hysterical reaction the young girl gave when this very recent event first took place, her causal “It’s okay. They were kind of gross” response is an annoying understatement of the child's previous extreme emotion.

Val Mayerik’s drawing style appears particularly suited to the gruesome scenes within which the undead are gorily dispatched; predominantly as a result of some grisly head mutilation. But there is little wrong with the commercial artist’s detailed pencils even when illustrating the less action-orientated panels, and he somehow manages to impart Bot-Bot with a personality which isn’t necessarily present in the actual writing.

The regular cover art of "ZOMBIES VS. ROBOTS" No. 3 by Ashley Wood

Batman #4 [The New 52] - DC Comics

BATMAN No. 4, February 2012

Ever since Batman’s origin was first presented in Issue Thirty Three of “Detective Comics” Bruce Wayne has always been haunted by the murderous double deed of small-time criminal Joe Chill. For without the mugger’s cold-blooded shooting of Doctor Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha in front of their eight year-old son, there would be no need for the orphan to subsequently dedicate his life to fighting crime and thus create the persona of the Dark Knight. Over time however the character of the gunman within the “DC Comics” universe has continued to slowly develop with the petty robber first evolving into a hitman working for the Mafia, and then becoming one of two sons belonging to the housemaid of Bruce’s guardian, his Uncle Philip Wayne.

“Face The Court” puts another slight spin on the ‘Joe Chill’ story, as Scott Snyder portrays a grieving child unwilling to accept that his parents’ deaths were the result of a random act and “that some plain old… no-name” had killed them “over nothing but pocket change and pearls.” Instead the boy, desperately needing to believe that “there had to be something bigger at work”, starts to earnestly investigate the possibility that his Mother and Father were slain on the orders of the Court of Owls.

Substituting his later famed powers of deduction and intuition with youthful exuberance and weeks of book work, a foolhardy young Bruce finally believes he's found the Court of Owls and the men behind his parents’ demise. Only to discover “an old, empty room that hadn’t been used in years.” From this inauspicious beginning and the lesson learnt ‘The World’s Greatest Detective’ would be born. But for any reader of this particular issue of “Batman” it provides a slightly slow and disappointingly diverting backwards look into the past of the Caped Crusader, at a time when the current multi-issue story-arc was very much gaining momentum.

Admittedly the New Yorker both begins and ends this twenty-page instalment by penning a pulse-pounding action-packed event; be that Batman’s hairbreadth escape from an exploding building or later his falling victim to an ambushing Talon. But the vast majority of this comic book is rather bogged down in the somewhat superficial historical tale of an eight year-old boy chasing ghosts and shadows.

Greg Capullo’s pencils are marvellous throughout, whether it be depicting a grim-faced, no-nonsense cowled action hero, throwing himself out of a high-rise window, or a shadowy sleuth stalking the sewers of Gotham City spotting clues. In addition the very noticeable change in his artwork for the multi-paged flashback sequence is extremely well done. As the simpler style really helps give the entire scene the feeling that it is being ‘played out’ through the eyes of a child, during a time when life can appear far more ‘black and white’ than it really is.

The variant cover art of "BATMAN" No. 4 by Michael Choi

The Twilight Zone: Shadow & Substance #3 - Dynamite Entertainment

THE TWILIGHT ZONE: SHADOW & SUBSTANCE No. 3, March 2015

Despite a seemingly desperate attempt by Mark Rahner to capture the mystery and futuristic tone of the Sixties science fiction television series with his writing for this story, “Jailbreak” is unfortunately a rather bland, uninspiring and dissatisfying read for the entirety of its twenty-pages. Indeed it is extremely doubtful that Rod Serling’s Colombia Broadcasting System sensation would have run for five seasons if the show’s episodes had been as dull and uninteresting as the exploits of this comic’s dislikable space prisoner-of-war.

Admittedly there’s a suggestion of the unusual in the book’s beginning, as the reader is introduced to Lee, “a rocker of boats and upsetter of apple carts”, who appears to be a newly arrived inmate of a “little community” prison run by unknown ‘invisible’ aliens. But sadly the plot which follows contains none of the intensity or edginess which the creator of “The Twilight Zone” appeared to so readily create week after week for his viewing audience. 

Instead the reader must endure a lacklustre tale of a ‘mystery’ man wandering around a maze-like settlement, and becoming increasingly irritated by the apathy of his fellow prisoners towards their ‘godlike’ extraterrestrial captors. Vintage television programmes, books, ‘seriously good tasting food’ and even sexual relationships are all offered to the “malcontent” in order to try and appease his desire to escape confinement… and though he dallies with a couple of these distractions the “irritant” unsurprisingly decides to escape and gets beaten up by his fellow captives as a result.

Little of this actually makes any sense… and no explanation is forthcoming as to how Lee or any of the other detainees were abducted, nor just why his compatriots would be so easily mollified by old TV shows, free shoes, and weird-looking glowing sponges which you can eat? In fact anyone perusing this issue would actually need to read the publisher’s advertisement for the comic book to realise that Lee’s jail is actually for P.O.W.s from a space war because such explanatory detail is simply not found within the magazine's narrative.

Just as substandard is Edu Menna’s clumsily drawn artwork. There is an incredible stiffness and jerkiness to the movements of the Mexican artist’s characters, and a total lack of consistency regarding their facial features. This is especially true of the penciller’s illustrations of Lee, who as the central focus of the story is shown lurching from one anatomically implausible pose to another as the pointless plot unfolds.

The regular cover art of "THE TWILIGHT ZONE: SHADOWS & SUBSTANCE" No. 3 by Guiu Vilanova