It’s back to school week for a lot of folks out there. It’s the start of a new school year for some, but us over here at Paper Cuts HQ, it is a new week of comics. And three #1 issues to start this year off on the right…
Eclipse #1 (Image / Top Cow)
Imagine a world where being in the sun for even a moment would kill you. There is no trade off where you get to live forever or fly in the night sky. Just a normal human, being forced to live your life underground, except for the ICEMEN who wear a sophisticated suit to help them navigate the new landscape.
World building is always fun and if a number #1 issue is done right, the creators will give you just enough rules to understand, but will also leave you with questions. Zach Kaplan does an excellent job of building the world with his cast of characters and very little text boxes. In a single issue, he delivers a large cast of memorable characters, builds out a world and weaves a tale of mystery and murder.
At first glance, I thought the overall art to be a bit too bright overall and almost exhausting with the constant brightness of it all, but after sitting down and looking it back over, I believe that is what they were very subtlety building. Brightness in the night, brightness underground, and just a constant bombardment of light. Really effective story telling told through color and dialogue.
Ratings: 4 out of 5
The Great Divide #1 (Dynamite)
Infectious disease horror is an oft forgotten form of horror outside the zombie genre. When we look at our real lives with diseases like Ebola and Zika, it terrifies everyone and can cause an immediate state of panic. With basically one text box, Ben Fisher sets up a paradigm in a world where humans can no longer touch one another without immediately causing death due to a disease that nearly wiped out the human race and makes it impossible to reproduce. This book may share some similar tones and themes of “Y: The Last Man,” but that is not a bad thing.
Now do not get me wrong, I am not going to put The Great Divide next to Y: The Last Man, but it was solid story telling with enough world building and plot to keep me interested.
Dynamite as a company has traditionally focused on writers and the art has suffered because of it. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the art provided by Adam Markiewicz was better than lot of other books I reviewed for this column. The style reminded me of Mike Henderson, who is currently working on Paper Cuts’ favorite, Nailbiter.
Ratings: 3.5 out of 5
Glitterbomb #1 (Image)
The solicit promised “terror in the water” and although it loosely delivered, that was not the main focus on this #1. A washed up, aging, down-on-her-luck actress is looking for a miracle and becomes possessed with an uncontrollable “thing” that emerges from the water.
Although I usually like to rate the comics strictly on storytelling and art, but this was a nice bounce back for creator Jim Zub. Zub may be known for his sword and sorcery writing; his work on horror-fantasy mashup of Wayward has been very enjoyable. However, his work over at Marvel left me feeling flat, so I was happy to see him come back to something where he can stretch his creativity.
This summer, a nostalgia-laden sci-fi series premiered on Netflix and took America by storm. Stranger Things quickly became a darling of the pop culture world with its copious references to 80s films and sci-fi/horror icons, as it told the tale of a gaggle of kids in a small town hit by the disappearance of their friend, Will Byers. If you’re anything like me, you’re jonesin’ for more creepy, supernatural, totally radical stories to hold you over until Season 2. According to the Duffer Brothers, Season 2 drops in 2017, so we’ll have to wait a bit. Here’s a list of 10 books sure to tickle your fancy as you wait for the Demagorgons to come calling again.
It: A Novel, from Amazon.com.
1. It, by Stephen King. I’d be remiss if I didn’t lead with this book. In 1958, a group of outcast kids, dubbed The Losers Club, rid the town of Derry of a child killer in the form of a killer clown. Twenty-something years later, the clown comes back and the now-grown Losers Club has to finish what they started. The Duffer Brothers are loud and proud about the book’s heavy influence on their show, and with a new adaptation coming down the pike, you’re gonna want to check out (or re-visit) this epic, terrifying novel by one of the best horror authors ever.
Paper Girls Vol. 1, from Amazon.com
2. Paper Girls, by Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang. Are comic books your preferred medium? Dive into this saga about a crew of paper delivery girls in 1988 who encounter some (forgive me for what I am about to do)…strange things. Odd lights in the sky, townsfolk vanishing, men in masks, and badass female protagonists on an adventure…what’s not to love?
Something Wicked This Way Comes, from Amazon.com.
3. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury. Still packing a punch today, Bradbury’s follow-up to Dandelion Wine contains many of the same characters and is based on Bradbury’s own childhood. Teenagers Jim and Will, next-door neighbors and besties, check out the local carnival when it comes to town. This traveling carnival is sinster, though, and the boys will soon live to regret their curiosity – if they can make it out alive. Dealing with themes of age, time, and the power of youth,this atmospheric and chilling read has withstood the test of time.
Firestarter, from Amazon.com.
4. Firestarter, by Stephen King. Did Eleven’s storyline give you life? Give this 1980 sci-fi thriller a look-see. Like Eleven, the protagonist is a kid who was the subject of some bad government experimentation, and gained superhuman abilities as a result. Unlike El, however, Charlie McGee has pyrokinetic talents that make her quite the weapon. After she and her father (also a victim of the experiments) escape from The Shop, they become fugitives.
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, from Amazon.com
5. Disappearance At Devil’s Rock, by Paul Tremblay. Were you blown away by Winona Ryder’s performance as Joyce Byers? Try this genre-straddling book that blends dark fiction, supernatural horror, and psychological thriller as we follow the mother of a missing boy in her search to find both her son….and answers. The web Tremblay weaves becomes more and more tangled as the mother grapples with local authorities and learns of the local lore among the townsfolk. See a more in-depth review of the book here.
Ready Player One, from Amazon.com.
6. Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. When it comes to storytelling, The Duffer Brothers are more subtle with their nods to icons of the 1980s; author Ernest Cline submerses you into pop culture references, as he knows you’ll love every minute of it. This isn’t a dark tale at all; it’s a sci-fi nostalgia trip through the framework of a video game. If you reveled in the Dungeons and Dragons scenes from Stranger Things and swooned over the amazing soundtrack and LOTR love, you’ll have a good time with this book, which is also being adapted into a film, directed by the man himself – Steven Spielberg.
A Monster Calls, from Amazon.com.
7. A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness. All aboard the feels train! During the season finale of the show, our hearts collectively broke when we caught a glimpse of the loss Sheriff Hopper has suffered. Themes of loss and forgiveness are heavy in this dark tale about a boy visited by a monster in the night. The boy’s mother has cancer, but that’s not what the monster represents. If you want something dark that will recreate the swelling tempest you felt in your chest during that CPR scene in Stranger Things, I recommend picking up a paper copy of this book, not only for the story, but for the surreal, beautiful illustrations.
The Great God Pan, from Amazon.com.
8. The Great God Pan, by Arthur Machen. If you’re a Constant Reader like me, you read the foreword and afterword as if they were part of the story. Stephen King often talks about his inspiration for certain stories of his, and this is one of the stories that had an impact on him (particularly present in his novella, N). Were you totally okay with not having all of the answers by the end of Season 1 of Stranger Things? Did the fact that the Upside Down was minimally explained only deepen the mystery and appeal for you? If you like to let your imagination fill in the blanks, try this horror classic. It involves a scientist obsessed with “lifting the veil” between our world and the spiritual world. He seems to succeed, and the reader is left to fill in the blanks as we learn of a mysterious woman, the deaths of several high society bachelors, and the ancient myth that brings all of these things together.
Harrow County, from Amazon.com.
9. Harrow County, by Cullen Bunn & Tyler Crook. Did you find the Upside Down both unsettling and beautiful? How about the Monster itself? You may like this creepy work of art that draws heavily on the Southern Gothic and witch lore. Back in the day, some townspeople in Harrow County decided that one of their own was a witch and, as such, they lynched and burned her alive. Before her gruesome death, she informed them in so many words that this was a poor choice, and that she would return. And return she did, much later, in the form of a teenage girl on a farm. Accompanied by the gorgeous artwork of Tyler Crook, this comic is tragic, creepy, and atmospheric. Support your local comic book store and pick this up.
December Park, from Amazon.com.
10. December Park, by Ronald Malfi. Harting Farms, MD. October of 1993. The first body is found. A slew of children then go missing, and their fates are considered to be in the hands of an enigma called The Piper. The cops are no help, and so a group of teenage boys decide to investigate the matter themselves. December Park is the ensuing coming-of-age story. There are boys on bikes making fart jokes, sure enough, but don’t let that fool you — this story gets tense.
So, what did you think of the list? What would you recommend to friends to read while they wait for Season 2 of Stranger Things to premiere? Add suggestions below!
These Archie Horror books come out slower than a horde of lurching zombies, but they are always 100% worth the wait.
This issue featured a re-imagining of Josie & the Pussycats in this new horror-filled world of Archie comics. I do not want to spoil it, but I love that the world is expanding outside of Riverdale. This issue opened up a lot of great possibilities.
The art and colors are stunning. Francesco Francavilla needs to be mentioned in the same breath as Frank Quitely – who also put out a book this week – and I truthfully cannot tell which one is better looking.
This series has stunning storytelling. If you fell off because of the long delays, get back into it.
Ratings: 5 out of 5
Zombie Tramp #26 (Action Labs / Danger Zone)
To be honest, I was not expecting much with this series, given the title. Perhaps I went in with such low expectations that I was surprised when it was not the worst book I read this week.
This book will have its audience. Its first quarter is basically torture porn. Then it turns into a total cheesecakes fest for the next half of the book. It ends with a story that at least has a small hook for new readers to wonder what happened.
Ratings 1.5 out of 5
Vampblade #7 (Action Labs / Danger Zone)
If you are like me and never have read an issue of Vampblade it does not take too long to figure out what this book is all about. It is right there in the title. Vamperella + Blade = Vampblade. “Sexy vampire fights other vampires.” As a matter of fact, that was the only thing that happened in this entire issue. Vampblade fights Mario Brothers-inspired demons of some sort in a sewer. How do I know they are Mario Brothers inspired? Because Vampblade tells us, then procedes to go on for several pages of video game references.
I typically like having some books that are fun (even the occasional cheesecake is alright), but this was simply #notgood.
Ratings: 1 out of 5
Broken Moon: Legends of the Deep (American Gothic Press)
This was my first title from American Gothic Press and I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The art is very scratchy and unpolished, but reminds me of Sean Murphy. The art was fine, but it felt very storyboarded at time.
The lettering was tough to get through. It looked so unprofessional that it really took away from the art and story. However, going back over the book and just looking at the book without the word balloons, it redeemed itself.
The story itself was pretty good. I really enjoyed the setup of a fishing town during the apocalypse, with kaiju roaming the seas. I wished we explored that more, but the story took a couple of Mad-Max-with-werewolves turns after that and left me wanting more of that first story.
There has been a real influx of demon-driven books, even from unsuspecting creative teams. Last week we saw Kill or Be Killed with the crime noir team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips put a demon twist on a traditional crime story. Citizen Jack by Sam Humphries also gives us a political satire with a demon playing a role. It seems to be infiltrating books like the recent zombie craze after the success of The Walking Dead.
Perhaps it is because this book references demonic activity in the title, I did not worry about the overuse. Even though The Walking Dead had a lot of zombie books follow in its wake, it didn’t mean TWD did not have great stories to tell. So it is with Demonic.
Demonic #1 was a great horror-filled troupe with solid writing that left you caring about all the characters even after a single issue. The art was predictable and had a very simple layout, but the transformation at the end of our main character – from a man to what he becomes – was a great design, which is crucial to any slasher in the horror genre.
Ratings: 3 out of 5
The Hunt #2 (Dark Horse)
Issue #1 was beautiful to look at, and that is what ultimately led to picking up this second issue. I was certainly glad I did.
The team of Colin Lorimer and Joanna LaFuente really turned the eeriness and creepiness up in this issue and it was simply captivating.
The story may have started with something familiar in issue #1, but now I have no idea where it is going and happy to be taken for a ride. This is downright weird, and I love it. If you enjoyed Snyder and Jock’s Wytches, then this book is for you.
Ratings: 4 out of 5
Tales from the Darkside #3 (IDW)
I read this book and literally had no idea what was going on. It truly felt like I missed an issue, but as you all know, I reviewed the last issue right here on Papercuts. The story completely lost me, as the reader was given no indication of what was real and what was not. Was that the point? I trust this team and it was entertaining, but perhaps the format of the television episode that it was meant to be is not best suited for the comics medium.
Ratings: 2.5 out of 5
Haunted Horror #23 (IDW)
Horror anthology? Check. Remind you of reading comic strips as a kid? Check. Remind you of Vincent Price movies? Check.
I love these monthly books that IDW is putting out. These are wonderful small collections that I really enjoy reading: they are unlike anything on the shelves because they are from a different era. I am shocked to see them still printing monthly issues as well as large curated hardcovers.
Next month may find me reviewing each of the many stories you get with a single issue.
With my week off from the column last week, I was able to pick up Nailbiter Volume One: There Will Be Blood by Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson.
I jumped into the series with issue #23 and it was by far one of the best single issues of a comic I had read all year, inside and outside of the horror genre.
Last week also saw the release of issue #24. Before a thought crossed my mind, I went ahead and devoured the issue. That’s how excited I was.
It is not odd to enjoy an issue of the comic, but if you saw a horror movie and the first thing you saw was the big reveal of the killer, would the movie still be as good as it would have been if you had come from the beginning? The big twist is one of the staples of the horror genre and can make or break a horror film, but what about a horror comic?
I knew where the story was going, but did it take away from my enjoyment of issue #24? Absolutely not. It was a superb issue.
The art was stunning. Adam Guzowski on colors did a wonderful job taking the reader from flashback to present day with his color palates. It is also an incredibly hard job to make a room full of blood not look oversaturated, but there is two-page spread that is stunning.
Mike Henderson continues to walk the perfect line of cartooning and realism. Issue 24 contained a high amount of gore which would have looked out of place if the style had been too realistic. However, the look and feel of the characters still help keep the reader grounded and the stakes seem real.
Joshua Williamson should also be commended, not just for great dialogue and excellent storytelling. You can tell he really trusts his art team because there is plenty of dialogue, but also lets the art do an equal amount of heavy lifting in terms of the story. There were plenty of comics on the shelves the past two weeks that covered over half the art panels, and I am happy to say that this book was one of the furthest things from that.
If you picked up issue 23 or 24 on my recommendation, go back and start reading the beginning as well. You will not be disappointed. It was a fantastic and quick world build while introducing us to the story’s characters.
Ratings:
Nailbiter #24: Ratings: 4 out of 5
Nailbiter Vol. 1: There Will Be Blood: Ratings 5 out of 5
When not writing about horror comics, Ryan enjoys long walks on shark infested beaches or at least watching them on the screen. If you like what you read, tweet out the link to the column and use the #comicpapercuts. If you want to read more, follow Ryan and look his other comic columns and interviews over at Two Headed Nerd.
