Man do I love Halloween! Why, do you ask? Well, beyond the obvious reasons (it’s cosplay heaven and good practice for the zombie apocalypse) it means tons of fun new stuff in the world of comics. There are some fantastic new offerings this week, and two of my favorites just happen to have some of the same fingerprints all over them, so let’s get to it!
Let’s Play God #1 is the first of the two offerings this week featuring or created by Brea Grant. Ms. Grant is quite the geek renaissance woman: she’s acted in fan faves like Heroes and Dexter and was the driving force behind the Suicide Girls comic book endeavor, with her brother, Zane. Now the siblings have teamed up for a new comic tour de force with Let’s Play God, a slasher murder mystery extraordinaire. It focuses on the girl punk band Doomed Earth, whose members Mel, Billy and Kira have at least a couple of particularly unpleasant fans. One’s a photographer with a bit of a stalker in him. The other is a killer who blind folds and murder the pervy photographer with a straight razor! This book is all razor sharp punk rock, tattooed tough ladies, and bloody intrigue, but it’s also the beginning of a solid murder mystery, with tons of Halloween fun, and it’s one that’ll be worth following. Of the three ladies, Mel seems particularly confident in herself, until she begins to suspect her friends are not who they seem. Girl power aplenty in this one, don’t miss it!
Speaking of power, DC is at it again with the next of it’s National Comics series #1’s, Madame X. Billed as “A Voodoo Zombie Mystery!” and with a beautiful cover by Fiona Staples (Saga), this title continues the quality story telling we’ve seen from the National Comics re-launch. The titular character is a former celebrity psychic whose show-biz career was destroyed and her magic debunked. Except, her magic isn’t bunk at all, but the real deal. Nima is a woman whose special gifts let her see the future through Tarot, and she’s now turned her skills to investigative work for a prestigious New Orleans law firm (run by a fellow who resembles Mr. Hal Holbrook, thanks to the deft art work by Trevor Hairsine). In her first case, Nima and her no-nonsense lawyer partner tackle the murder of a respected local mayoral candidate, and there may or may not have been a zombie and a celebrity voodoo priestess involved. Part crime procedural and part super natural thriller, Madame X is all Halloween action fun, and not to be missed either. I reread it twice, honestly.
Brea Grant also makes an appearance in Alan Robert’s: Killogy #1, but not in her accustomed role as a writer (with Robert both writing and illustrating.) No, here Ms. Grant appears as a character in the story, or at least as the inspiration for one, a blood soaked woman locked in a jail cell with two other dangerous murderers. The other two ne’er-do-wells are mob hitman Sonny Sno-Cones, written and drawn in the likeness of famed mafia actor Frank Vincent (Casino, GoodFellas, and The Sopranos) and a street thug named Cole Edwards, created in the image of punk icon Marky Ramon. These three bad-asses of pop-culture are locked away together, only to find that the other side of the bars holds (you guessed it) the Zombie Apocalypse! This one is a blood soaked nightmare of violence, adrenaline and hi-octane mayhem, and the three protagonists are unlikely to just sit back as their nightmares come to life. This is such an interesting and original idea that it can’t be passed over. Your Halloween wouldn’t be the same without it!
There’s also plenty of comic fun that’s not Halloween related this week as well. The Marvel Max series continues with Wolverine Max #1, as the X-Men favorite survives a plane crash but loses his memory (again), coming to grips with his inner monster all over again. Then Marvel’s other bloodiest anti-hero, The Punisher, hits the shelves for a limited run with Punisher War Zone #1 (of 5), as it’s the vigilante Frank Castle vs. The Avengers. This is a tale that seems to get back to Frank’s disturbed, chess-master mind games, as the Avengers – Spider-Man in particular – finally decide that Frank’s murderous one-man war on crime has finally gone too far. Wolverine makes an appearance here as well, and this is a good book for the spandex loving crowd, and doesn’t require having read every other book in the store. It’s a nice, self-contained adventure story with plenty of thrills and all the characters you love.
There’s also some weirdness out there for those who enjoy the oddities of comics (like last week’s Zaucer of Zilk). Indie creator Brandon Graham brings his unique talent to Image comics with Multiple Warheads: Alphabet to Infinity #1 (of 4), a new series starring characters he’s tackled before in a universe that has to be seen to be understood, much less believed. Honestly, I could tell you that this is the story of werewolves, organ smugglers, sentient motorbikes, Auto Barons, and talking cigarettes and severed heads, but that wouldn’t even be the tip of the steam-funk-fantasy weirdness going on in this book. I reread this one twice as well, but mostly just to try and figure it out. I did enjoy both readings, however.
The bizarre is also on offer in the Dark Horse Comics one-shot The Untold Tales of Dog Menonca and Pizza Boy. This is a gathering of previously published material from Dark Horse Presents, and is the origin story of the titular Portugese werewolf and his sidekick who is, in fact, a pizza boy, or at least he used to be. They pair travels with a six thousand year old demon, who fights bravely at their side and appears as a 9 year old girl. A 9 year old girl who smokes cigarettes. Not the best role model, but the comic itself is really funny, and a prequel to the longer graphic novel of the same name.
There are even offerings for those that Halloween is really all about: the kids out there! Marvel gives us the silly but entertaining A-Babies vs X-Babies #1, which proudly states that it’s not about the recent AvX crossover but asks the important question, “You’re buying a book where babies fight babies, so what does that say about you?” It even has the word “poopy” on the cover. Kaboom! Studios (the folks behind Adventure Time) also bring us Bravest Warriors #1, which is worth reading not just for the fun story but for the delightful Star Wars trash compactor homage cover.
And that’s that for this week. Next week Wednesday falls ON HALLOWEEN, and I’ve been promised some good stuff and even some FREE offerings by local comics retailers, so be here for the scoop!
