Madman Atomic Comics #7

March 15, 2008

Madman Atomic Comics #7 (Image Comics)
By Michael Allred & Laura Allred

Following up on last issues truly astonishing death of Joe, Mike Allred takes a shot at the great creative challenge of a silent issue. As Frank Einstein takes a voyage through space, his ship runs aground on a distant world. As he seeks fuel or alternative transportation, he finds himself on an even more bizarre journey of the mind. While I always admire the skill necessary for a silent issue, I’m not really sure how well it works here. Madman is such a bizarre, cerebral property already, that I’m not really sure I understand what Allred is saying with the conclusion of this issue. I’m not sure exactly what’s going on with It Girl, how it relates to what has happened before, or how everything pieces together. I can really only hope, at this point, that next issue will start to clarify things once we get the dialogue back.

Rating: 7/10

I, Zombie #17

October 8, 2011

Title: Falling

Writer: Chris Roberson
Art: Michael Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover Artist: Michael Allred
Editor: Shelly Bond
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Gwen has had better days. The Dead Presidents and the Gravediggers have come face-to-face in the midst of a zombie attack, during which her big secret has been blown to Horatio? Is there room for love between a monster-slayer and a zombie?

The amazing thing is that with a lesser writer, the preceding synopsis would be absolutely ridiculous, hokey, and painful to read. But Chris Roberson has long since succeeded in making us care about these characters and about the wonderfully bizarre world they inhabit. Gwen’s protest to Horatio that she isn’t a typical zombie is entirely true. The addition of the Dead Presidents to the mix proves to us that she’s not unique either. The causes and manifestations of the monsters in this world are turning out to be even stranger and more layered than we realized in the first two story arcs. Blending in a bit of tragic love story doesn’t hurt at all. Ellie’s subplot, meanwhile, is continuing to help that character grow and evolve in very interesting ways. And the sudden reveal on the last couple of pages is shocking and engaging. There’s no telling where this story is going to go, and that’s just the way I like it.

Once again, Michael and Laura Allred prove themselves to be the perfect art team for this book. Michael Allred’s quirky designs are uniquely suited to a comic of this nature, mixing monster movies with pop art stylings that fit everything from the action to the romance. Laura Allred’s colors, similarly, bled the styles – dark for the monsters, wild and kitschy for the girls’ clothing, and so forth.

This book is a fantastic read, and always entertaining.

Rating: 8/10

I, Zombie #16

August 28, 2011

Title: Rising

Writer: Chris Roberson
Art: Michael Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover Artist: Michael Allred
Editor: Shelly Bond
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Trapped underground, Gwen and Horatio find Scott where he was caught in a cave-in. Our group is now pursued by a much more traditional group of zombies than Gwen, the shambling, flesh-eating kind, and now it’s a fight for their lives… such as they are. As they fight their way out, Ellie and Amon discuss the nature of the universe, and the Dead Presidents join the fray. Although the zombie fighting stuff is fun (zombie fighting stuff is always fun), I think Amon’s description of the multiverse in this comic is perhaps what interests me the most. Chris Roberson has really crafted an intricate and engaging fantasy world, something that goes far beyond what appeared to be a simple updating of the Universal Monster tropes at first. As much fun as it would have been if it were just the Universal Monsters, the other layers make this book far more than it otherwise would have been. The book is packed with wild ideas, and nobody draws wild ideas better than Michael Allred. His depiction of the creatures is always cool, and I just love the battle scene. This is one of the most fun books Vertigo is publishing, but I think it’s one with the most potential, too.

Rating: 8/10

I, Zombie #15

July 13, 2011

Title: Going Down

Writer: Chris Roberson
Art: Michael Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Michael Allred
Editor: Shelly Bond           
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Horacio, the monster-hunter, is descending into the Earth to find Gwen’s missing friend Scott. Horacio isn’t aware, of course, that Gwen herself is a vampire, or that Scott is a were-terrier, and often goes by the appellation “Spot.” As the two of them do battle with a mob of zombies of the non-intelligent variety, up on the surface Ellie clues Amon in on the tunnels beneath the graveyard, and Scott’s grandfather (a ghost living in the body of a chimpanzee, duh) decides to set out and save the lad himself. I can’t think of a comic book more indicative of what Vertigo is today than I, Zombie. Chris Roberson and Mike Allred seem to have taken every weird, crazy, bizarre idea they’ve ever had about the classic Universal Pictures-style monsters, thrown them into a blender, and come up with a book that’s fresh, exciting, and frequently hilarious. Gwen’s efforts to hide her zombism from Horacio don’t really smack of similar stories that we’ve seen in other comics and TV shows. The dynamic is different, because Gwen has really stood out and become her own character instead of a clone of anybody else. Amping up the weirdness is the back-up story, The Dead Presidents, which continues this issue. Like the main story, this is a concept full of goofy, lovely weirdness that touches on lots of different monster tropes all at once. These guys love what they’re doing, and they’ve turned out a comic that is easy to love in turn.

Rating: 8/10

I, Zombie #12

March 5, 2011

Title: Next of Kin

Writer: Chris Roberson
Art: Michael Allred
Colorist: Laura Allred
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Michael Allred
Editor: Shelly Bond
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

Gwen’s latest snack has really been plaguing her. The brains she has to eat to maintain cohesion give her bits and pieces of the memories of the dead, with a compulsion to fix their unfinished business… but with her own memories scrambled since she became a zombie, Gwen didn’t realize at first that the daughter the woman in her head is bemoaning was once Gwen’s childhood friend.

Chris Roberson created a very unique, unusual status quo for the zombie character in this book, something I’ve never seen anywhere else in any form. It’s a really cool idea, something that makes you invest in this character a lot more than you would some standard, ordinary zombie. It also opens up the stories to a lot of different pathways that you never see with the typical Romero zombie, or any of the permutations that have spun out of him. The different tiers of the dead and undead in this world also makes it unique, and we see even more of that this month. Ellie the ghost starts learning some new tricks from Amon the mummy, the town’s vampires start making moves for a feast of their own, and Gwen gets a hell of a shock on the last page.

Michael Allred is one of the real greats of comic book art. His work is beautiful, evocative, full of energy and often very funny. His stuff doesn’t look like anyone else’s, and that helps the very unique story when it comes to giving this comic book its identity. What this all boils down to is this: I love I, Zombie, and I’m really excited to see where the story goes next.

Rating: 9/10

Perhapanauts (2008 Series) Annual #1

February 18, 2008

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Jersey Devil!

The team from Bedlam faces a demon from the depths of New Jersey!

Writer: Todd Dezago
Art: Craig Rousseau
Colors: Rico Renzi
Cover Art: Craig Rousseau (Cover A); Michael & Laura Allred (Cover B)
Publisher: Image Comics

One of the coolest new concepts in recent years is back in this special annual, leading into the new ongoing series that’s coming out soon. If you’re new, the Perhapanauts are agents of Bedlam, a secret organization dedicated to policing those parts of the world where the fabric between dimensions is thin and stopping the monsters that bleed through. And with a team that includes a telepath, a ghost, a Sasquatch, a Chupacabra, and a guy who utterly defies description, they’re just the guys to do it.

In this annual, both teams of Perhapanauts are sent in to do combat with a dragonlike monster that has entered our world near New Jersey. The beast is committing brutal slayings, and the pattern of his kills may be pointing to something Apocalyptic. Although this story technically takes place in-between issues of the miniseries Perhapanauts: Second Chances, it really stands on its own as a self-contained story. What’s more, it works very well as a jumping-on point. Dezago does a great job reintroducing us to each of the main members of the cast, helping us understand who they are as characters, and showing off just what twists make them unique among a rash of similar comics. We even get to meet some of the supporting characters and find a clue about the mysterious MG’s big secret.

From a storytelling standpoint, the only real problem is the ending. It’s not a bad ending, but it’s rather abrupt – the story is going at a rocket pace and then it just stops. There wasn’t quite enough room for the falling action here.

Craig Rousseau’s art really works here. He’s got a knack for designing monsters that can be hideous or monsters that can be cute, and he nails the facial expressions of the many characters. Rico Renzi’s color work contributes just the right touch to finish off the package.

If you’ve read the Perhapanauts before, during their run at Dark Horse, then you already know how good this can be. If you’ve never read it before, this is a great place to sample a really unique comic book.

Rating: 8/10