Dark Horse | Comic Reviews by Walt

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Dark Horse FCBD 2012: Serenity/Star Wars flip-book [Review]

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Walt

SERENITY

From this issue’s cover, I was hooked. One look, and my first thought was “Awesome!” Daniel Dos Santos perfectly captures Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds. The story itself sees the Serenity put down on a world for some business. While the others go into town, Mal remains with the ship…but quickly finds himself defending it against a local who has determined that he’s going to take the ship for himself.

The story is quite short, but for being a new, original story of the Serenity and her captain any length is quite welcome by me. I could “hear” Fillion‘s voice as I read, a definite credit to the consistency from the story being kept “in the family.”

The art was a bit less to my liking after the cover. While the cover image captures Fillion‘s image as the character, the interior art is very much its own thing. It’s not hard to follow the action or pick up on who’s who, but I would not immediately see the actors playing these characters if the adaptation went from comic to screen.

Ultimately, well worthwhile, and this should be quite a treat for Firefly/Serenity fans to get a little more Mal with a hint of the other characters still around in this series.

Rating: 8.5/10

STAR WARS

This flip-side’s cover is nowhere NEAR as appealing as the Serenity one. The image of Han and Chewie seems extremely familiar like I’ve seen it used elsewhere. But hey…the issue’s free, I already read the Serenity side, so might as well read this, right?

The basic story is rather sitcom-ish and follows Han and Chewie making a drop-off. They’re dealing with a rather unsavory character who not only refuses to fully pay the smugglers for their smuggled goods, but decides he wants the Millennium Falcon itself. Of course, that doesn’t go over well with Han or Chewie, and the buddies survive to meet Luke, Leia, etc. in A New Hope.

Story-wise, pretty simplistic, if a bit amusing. I’m not all that impressed, but reading the story wasn’t a complete waste of time. The art’s about the same…nothing impressive, but it’s not horrible.

All in all, this seems really standard fare, likely to appeal to others specifically interested generally in Star Wars. For me, it simply pales next to the enjoyment I found in the Serenity story.

Rating: 5/10

ALABASTER: SHELTER part 1

Squeezed in between Serenity and Star Wars, this issue gives us a two-page short from some title called Alabaster. The short text overview before the two-pager gave me more context than the story itself, which for a comic is a BAD thing. I only vaguely pick up any real concept, and to try to convey it in this review would be to render it pointless to read. Conceptually I’m mildly interested, to the point I’d probably look at the collected volume if I saw it, but there’s not enough here to truly “sell” me on it.

Rating: 3/10

Dark Horse FCBD 2012: Serenity/Star Wars Overall Rating: 7/10

Filed under: Dark Horse, Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), Free Comic Book Day 2012 | Tagged: Alabaster, Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, FCBD, Free Comic Book Day, Serenity, star wars | Leave a comment »

Angel & Faith #1 [Review]

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Walt

Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Angel & Faith, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 9, cxPulp.com, Dark Horse | Tagged: Angel, btvs, buffy, Buffy Season 8, buffy the vampire slayer, Bufy Season 9, Christos Gage, Comicraft, Dan Jackson, Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, dhc, Faith, Freddye Lins, Giles, Jimmy Betancourt, Joss Whedon, Justin Couch, Rebekah Isaacs, Richard Starkings, Scott Allie, season eight, Sierra Hahn, Steve Morris | Leave a comment »

Dr. Horrible #1 [Review]

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Dr. Horrible

When Captain Hammer foils Dr. Horrible’s plan to blow up parking meters, Horrible must find a way to balance things out to take on his noisy new nemesis.

Story by: Zack Whedon
Art by: Joelle Jones
Colors by: Dan Jackson
Letters by: Nate Piekos
Cover art by: Kristian Donaldson
Published by: Dark Horse Comics

I’ve been a fan of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog since the first time I saw it with a friend last year. It came across as a great "origin story" of sorts, introducing a number of characters, their relationships, and motivations…especially for Billy himself–what it was that changed him from a fairly cheesy wannabe-villain into a much darker figure able to run with the most evil group of villains known–the Evil League of Evil.

I’d read a really brief "short story" that was done for some online project (MySpace Comics?) featuring the good Doctor and his nemesis, Captain Hammer; it seemed like more of a tease than anything else, and it seemed such a shame that there wasn’t a "real" comic for the character.

Several months ago, I was quite pleased to learn that as part of a series of one-shots Dark Horse was putting out, there would be a Dr. Horrible issue, written by Zack Whedon, that would show some of Billy’s backstory, and things that led to the story we got in the musical.

So of course, there’s all this expectation driving the standard quite high, even before ever holding the issue in my hands. Normally this can be pretty disastrous for a comic, as expectation almost always outweighs actuality by a large margin.

However, this issue measured up quite well. We begin with a scene from Billy’s youth, as he’s bullied by a kid who doesn’t "get" that Billy is smarter than him. The young Billy also sees the fall of a hero to the genius of a scientific mind, and learns from that man’s failings (though he defeated the Hero, he was unable to unite people to his Cause). 20 years later, Billy is feeding explosives into the city’s parking meters–the destruction of which will disrupt funding and bring the government to its knees. This leads to the first meeting between Billy and Captain Hammer, and a cameo of Bad Horse (and the "terrible, death whinny"). There’s a brief interlude as Billy does his laundry, and "meets" Penny, the girl of his dreams who he has yet to connect with. Meanwhile–knowing he can’t match Hammer’s brawn on his own, Billy creates a potion to give him matching strength…but the potion has unintended side-effects…and from here we see the beginnings of the Freeze Ray.

Everything’s here, really…the personalities of Billy and Captain Hammer shine through nicely, the "minor" characters carry their own presence, and the general situations feel like they’d fit well into what we already know in the musical. The primary drawback of this comic is that it lacks audio.

Particularly as this is specifically a one-shot, and a "prequel" of sorts, this is a great piece for fans of Dr. Horrible. The story elements are a particular draw, getting what ought to be "canon" regarding the characters.

At the same time, the art plays a huge role, and Joelle Jones manages to bring a look to the characters that is both its own thing–they look and feel like comic characters–and yet captures a look that evokes the appearance of the actors that played the live-action versions.

All in all, I definitely would recommend this to any fans of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. It may be of some enjoyment to those unfamiliar with the original property, but much of the charm and "in-knowledge" that informs this issue would likely be lost. Then again, if one reads this and goes to the source material, it may make for a much different viewing experience.

Ratings:

Story: 4.5/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews, Dark Horse, Dr. Horrible | Tagged: Captain Hammer, Comic Reviews, Dan Jackson, Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, Dr. Horrible, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Joelle Jones, Kristian Donaldson, Nate Piekos, Zack Whedon | Leave a comment »

Aliens #1 [Review]

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Walt

Quick Rating: Good

Archeologists find themselves on a planet that probably has more in store for them than they realize.

Script: John Arcudi
Pencils: Zach Howard
Inks: Mark Irwin and Zach Howard
Colors: Wes Dzioba
Lettering: Blambot!
Covers: Zach Howard with Brad Anderson and Wes Dzioba
Publisher: Mike Richardson
Editor: Chris Warner
Associate Editor: Samantha Robertson
Art Director: Lia Ribacchi
Designer: Josh Elliott
Published by: Dark Horse Comics

One of the books I read most back in the 90s was Aliens: Earth Hive, a novel that I did not discover until years later was based on a comics mini-series. Turned out, most of the Aliens and Aliens vs. Predator novels I enjoyed during that time were based on comics, all from Dark Horse (and all collected across the various Dark Horse omnibi). That said, the idea of new, original content created for the property, also coming from Dark Horse, was something that grabbed my attention.

We open with a fairly "typical" sorta scene for the Aliens property–introducing us to a couple people who think they know what they’re doing, but quickly find that whatever preparation you have, the creatures are what they are for a reason. Transitioning from that scene, we meet some archeologists headed for Chirone–though they’re unable to establish contact immediately with those planetside. We’re soon introduced to those who live planetside, and a few things click into place propelling us to the cliffhanger toward the next issue.

While I’m really not blown away by it, this is still a good book. You can glean contextually what’s up–and those who are already familiar with the property will be in familiar territory. The story introduces several settings and a bunch of characters; there’s just enough to get a vague idea of what they’re all about. We don’t know what’s going on at Chirone, though issue’s end suggests more than initially meets the eye.

The art is good–no huge complaints here. The visual design of the Aliens is at once familiar and yet something slightly different. That really isn’t a problem, though, as it’s been established by prior stories that there are a number of different aliens–they do not look identical, though one can still recognize ’em instantly for what they are.

As the first quarter of a story, this does what it should–gives us some actual interaction with the creatures, introduces us to characters and gives a bit of motivation to things, and leaves one curious of what’s to come. If you’re a fan of the property, this is definitely worth a look-see. And if you’re wondering at accessibility, I think this is as accessible as any Aliens story. The beauty of ’em is that in many ways, they’re like the zombies in The Walking Dead. They’re there, they’re a definite menace…but the real story is the people and how they handle being around the monsters.

Recommended for Aliens fans new and old…all the more if you’ve enjoyed the Aliens material Dark Horse has put out in the past.

Ratings:

Story: 3.5/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Filed under: Aliens, Classic Reviews, Dark Horse | Tagged: Aliens, Blambot, Brad Anderson, Chris Warner, Comic Reviews, Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, John Arcudi, Josh Elliott, Lia Ribacchi, Mark Irwin, Mike Richardson, Samantha Robertson, Wes Dzioba, Zach Howard | Leave a comment »

Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #2 [Review]

Posted on September 11, 2010 by Walt

Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 3.5/5
Art: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: Comic Reviews 2010, Dark Horse, Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom | Tagged: Blambot, Chris Warner, Comic Reviews, cxPulp, Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, dhc, Doctor Solar, Dr. Solar, Glow, Jim Shooter, Leviathan, Lia Ribacchi, Man of the Atom, Michael Komarck, Mike Richardson, Moloch, Roger Robinson, Samantha Robertson, Solar, Wes Dzioba | Leave a comment »

Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1 [Review]

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Walt

Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 4/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, Dark Horse, Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom | Tagged: Blambot, Bob Fujitani, Chris Warner, Dark Horse, Dark Horse Comics, Dennis Calero, Doctor Solar, Dr. Solar, Jim Shooter, Lia Ribacchi, Lust and Leviathan, Man of the Atom, Michael Kormarck, Mike Richardson, Paul S. Newman, Samantha Robertson, Solar's Secret, Troublemaker | Leave a comment »

AVP: Three World War #2 [Review]

Posted on February 28, 2010 by Walt

Three World War

Script: Randy Stradley
Pencils: Rick Leonardi
Inks: Mark Pennington
Colors: Wes Dzioba
Lettering: Blambot!
Cover art: Raymond Swanland
Book Design: Lia Ribacchi
Associate Editor: Samantha Robertson
Editor: Chris Warner
Published by: Dark Horse Comics

I’ve read a lot of Dark Horse‘s Alien comics, and enjoyed those via the Omnibus volumes. I’ve yet to read much in the way of the Predator stuff, though I’m somewhat familiar with the Predator side of things from the first movie, and both of the AVP films…and a couple of novelizations of Aliens vs. Predator stories from the mid-1990s.

This issue picks up with a bunch of military people heading toward a world where Predators are present (and apparently Aliens as well), and as their guide/advisor, they have the woman who was for a time accepted amongst the Predators, who warns them of how to behave and react around the Predators if they want to stay alive. Where the title comes in–Three World War–seems to be the Aliens, the Predators, and Earthmen. Once the military arrives where the Predators are, the woman leaps into mortal combat with one, apparently following tradition by which one earns the right to speak to the Predators and be taken seriously.

The story itself seems fairly shallow, and one has to make a lot of leaps in following the action and plot, as there’s virtually no context or real sense of history given…if I wasn’t already familiar with the properties, this would seem entirely new and unconnected.

The art is where the strength of the issue lies, as the design and coloring blend for an end result that looks very much like a comic book–as it should, since this is one–and yet, also comes across as something like an adaptation of a screenplay, carrying a lot of weight of story by showing things rather than narration or exposition laying things out. The visuals seem fairly simple and not all that detailed…but these would work fairly well if this were to be an animated tv production.

As seems to be the case with most blends of these two properties, the story tends to be more about the Predators or otherwise those dealing with the Aliens, and the Aliens become a plot device…which I have no problem with. However, one really needs to either be a fan of or not mind reading about the Predators to enjoy this, as the Aliens get virtually zero presence here, and no real development…they’re just kinda there.

All in all, a solid enough issue. There seems to be more unrealized potential here than what’s already unfolded, and the book could do with a recap page (I couldn’t summarize the plot of the previous issue offhand without laying out some serious B.S.). But if you’re a fan of these properties, this is definitely worth a look-see, and if you don’t mind a highly visual-driven reading experience, this is a good series to check out. I do think this will ultimately read best as a collected volume, rather than in single issues with 6-some weeks between issues.

Story: 4/10
Art: 6/10
Overall: 5/10