Hack/Slash/Eva: Monster’s Ball #1

June 1, 2011

Title: Monster’s Ball Part One             

Writer: Brandon Jerwa
Art: Cezar Razek
Colorist: Salvatore Aiala
Letterer: Marshall Dillon
Cover: Tim Seeley
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment/Image Comics

Eva (sometimes called the Daughter of Dracula) and her pal Michael (also known as the Frankenstein Monster) believe themselves to be on a mission from God to destroy the monsters that plague the world. Cassie Hack and her partner Vlad have a similar mission: the elimination of the “slashers” that rise from the grave to kill and kill again. Inevitably, they would come together for a common mission. A trap set by Eva’s old foe Praetorious draws in Cassie and Vlad, and the two groups find themselves fighting a new breed of monster.

I am, as you may know, a big fan of Tim Seeley’s Hack/Slash, but this is my first encounter with Eva. The thing that strikes me immediately, I must admit, is just how similar the characters are. Young women, driven to slay monsters, accompanied by a gentle giant that can be viewed by some as a monster in his own right… honestly, it’s almost too close for comfort. But I applaud the creators for finding a way to make those similarities work together rather than cry Copyright Infringement. The characters don’t actually come together until the last few pages of this first issue, but that’s okay. It’s four issues long, and we expected some set-up. Brandon Jerwa nicely combines their respective worlds into one that easily works as a home for both groups, and we can see quite simply how the heroines can complement each other.

I don’t know if this is enough to make me run out and buy an Eva comic, but I’m more than satisfied with this first issue of the crossover. It gives me just what you want in a book of this sort.

Rating: 7/10

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps Special #1

June 28, 2007

Quick Rating: Excellent
Title: The Second Rebirth

The greatest threat to the Green Lantern Corps rises!

Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Ethan Van Sciver & Dave Gibbons
Colors: Moose Baumann
Letters: Rob Leigh
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Cover Art: Ethan Van Sciver
Publisher: DC Comics

For months now, a mysterious force has been going throughout the universe, recruiting beings with the ability to create great fear. In this exemplary special, the full power of the Sinestro Corps is known, and the DC Universe knows fear like never before.

While on Earth, the Justice League rounds up members of the Society to inquire about Sinestro’s whereabouts, in outer space, Kyle Rayner and a pair of fellow GLs encounter Sinestro rings spinning through the universe. The rings are only the first salvo, though, and before the book is halfway over it is clear that the Green Lantern Corps is in for perhaps the deadliest war it has ever known.

Geoff Johns does what he does best here – he pulls together disparate continuity threads to tell his story. It’s clear, reading this issue, that he has been planning this epic for a long time, as he picks up on story threads from his own Green Lantern: Rebirth, Infinite Crisis and 52, as well as several tales written by other writers (Ion, for instance), to create a story with a universal threat, but that is singularly unique to the Green Lantern titles. This is a story about fear – that’s Sinestro’s weapon. And to have any chance at victory, he has to find a way to create fear in a warrior class specifically chosen for its fearlessness.

And he does it.

Johns re-teams with his Rebirth partner Ethan Van Sciver on the artwork, and Van Sciver again proves just how good he is. His designs for the disparate aliens that make up the Sinestro Corps are the stuff of nightmares, and it’s easy to see on the faces of our heroes just how much hell they’ve been put through. They look like heroes who have already come through a war, and this is a war that’s just beginning.

Johns and Dave Gibbons team up for a back-up tale as well, re-telling Sinestro’s origin from his own particularly biased point of view. This works well as a nice primer for a newer fan who may not quite recognize Sinestro or understand what makes him such a threat.

If you haven’t read Green Lantern in a while, this is the book to come back for. Johns and Van Sciver have made magic together more than once in the past, and it’s a blast to see them doing it again.

Rating: 10

The Guild #1

March 27, 2010

The Guild #1 (Dark Horse Comics)
By Felicia Day, Jim Rugg & Cary Nord

If you’ve never watched The Guild, stop reading this right now, go over to www.watchtheguild.com and catch up on one of the greatest webshows ever. I’ll wait. :whistles: Back? Great. This miniseries, written by creator and star Felicia Day is an origin story for our favorite group of gamers, beginning with Codex, her webcam, and her discouraging life. This first issue takes us through Cyd’s lousy relationship with her boyfriend, life-crushing job, and how she purchases the game that will introduce her to the rest of our cast. Day has proven herself as a television scriptwriter, but not everyone can transfer that screen over into the comic book form. Day shows a knack for pacing and story structure that fits perfectly into the comic form. The story is funny and the characters wonderfully familiar. Rugg’s artwork is intentionally a bit bland in the “real” world. Cyd’s life is dull and a bit sad, and the art reflects that. Then, once we enter the video game, Rugg and colorist Dan Jackson explode with life and energy, clearly delineating the two worlds and selling the story with ease. If you’ve watched the show, you’ll love this comic. If you haven’t watched the show, go watch it, then come back and love this comic.
Rating: 9/10