Indie Comics Horror #2
Aazurn Publishing (Indie Comics Magazine)
Reviewed by: Ross Rivers
Summary: Indie Comics Horror #2, 64 pages of the best horror from today's independent comic book creators, is available ONLY through pre-order in April 2013's Previews comic book order catalog, at your local or online comic book shop.
9 complete thrillers in this issue! Joe Sergi unmasks a stalker, Paul Bradford defends against marauders, and Dan Rivera meets a fiendish clown. Tease Fabian Rangel, Jr.'s "Stinky" at your peril. Then, Scott Schmidt battles undead gunmen, Anthony Cacioppo visits Transylvania, Glenn Møane introduces "The Drain," and Terry Cronin plunges us into a sinkhole. Monstrous Andy Bennett cover!
Review: Anthologies are filled with different ideas and themes and can be very entertaining. One minute you’re looking at gorgeously realistic paintings with a not so great story, the next you’re reading pure gold with terrible art. 2000AD make's a living off of this.
So anthologies are a great way for new and old creators to shake things up. They need to present a full story in only a few pages so it’s challenging, letting them show just how good they are at telling a story.
It turns out; the majority of the creators in this book manage to tell a story in a limited amount of space pretty well.
While all of these stories range from average to pretty great, there are a few that stand out.
The book starts off in a bit of a weird way. It starts with a story I kind of really like yet hate at the same time.
Stinky, by Fabian Rangel JR and Valentin Ramon Menendez, is so simple it’s insane. A boy gets bullied in school and gets his revenge. But the thing is, with the small amount of space to tell the story there’s no build up and not a lot of character development.
So, the result is kind of crazy. While on the surface it can be seen as a weak plot with 2-D characters, when you stand back and take a look, it has an absurdity that I can’t help but admire. Which, for horror, is something to be proud of, I think.
The art helps it a lot, too. Menendez’s designs and execution make this story fun to look at, if nothing else.
Immediately after Stinky is Ghosts by Scott R. Schmidt and Mac Radwanski. This here tale’s about a cowboy! Yippy wippi!
The Burrowers was pretty great, for example and now there’s this, so when people discuss Cowboy horror, that’s what they’ll be discussing.
This isn’t a particularly horrific or scary story. In fact, it’s more of a supernatural action thrill ride which is not a bad thing at all. It’s one of the stories that give this book variation, stopping it from becoming stale. It’s fun, silly, and has cowboys. Of course it’s cool.
Aazurn Publishing (Indie Comics Magazine)
Reviewed by: Ross Rivers
Summary: Indie Comics Horror #2, 64 pages of the best horror from today's independent comic book creators, is available ONLY through pre-order in April 2013's Previews comic book order catalog, at your local or online comic book shop.
9 complete thrillers in this issue! Joe Sergi unmasks a stalker, Paul Bradford defends against marauders, and Dan Rivera meets a fiendish clown. Tease Fabian Rangel, Jr.'s "Stinky" at your peril. Then, Scott Schmidt battles undead gunmen, Anthony Cacioppo visits Transylvania, Glenn Møane introduces "The Drain," and Terry Cronin plunges us into a sinkhole. Monstrous Andy Bennett cover!
Review: Anthologies are filled with different ideas and themes and can be very entertaining. One minute you’re looking at gorgeously realistic paintings with a not so great story, the next you’re reading pure gold with terrible art. 2000AD make's a living off of this.
So anthologies are a great way for new and old creators to shake things up. They need to present a full story in only a few pages so it’s challenging, letting them show just how good they are at telling a story.
It turns out; the majority of the creators in this book manage to tell a story in a limited amount of space pretty well.
While all of these stories range from average to pretty great, there are a few that stand out.
The book starts off in a bit of a weird way. It starts with a story I kind of really like yet hate at the same time.
Stinky, by Fabian Rangel JR and Valentin Ramon Menendez, is so simple it’s insane. A boy gets bullied in school and gets his revenge. But the thing is, with the small amount of space to tell the story there’s no build up and not a lot of character development.
So, the result is kind of crazy. While on the surface it can be seen as a weak plot with 2-D characters, when you stand back and take a look, it has an absurdity that I can’t help but admire. Which, for horror, is something to be proud of, I think.
The art helps it a lot, too. Menendez’s designs and execution make this story fun to look at, if nothing else.
Immediately after Stinky is Ghosts by Scott R. Schmidt and Mac Radwanski. This here tale’s about a cowboy! Yippy wippi!
The Burrowers was pretty great, for example and now there’s this, so when people discuss Cowboy horror, that’s what they’ll be discussing.
This isn’t a particularly horrific or scary story. In fact, it’s more of a supernatural action thrill ride which is not a bad thing at all. It’s one of the stories that give this book variation, stopping it from becoming stale. It’s fun, silly, and has cowboys. Of course it’s cool.
After a kind of average tale based on Bahamian folklore, you have Sulfur Water by Terry Cronin and Maxx Marshall.
A man travels to his home town, reminisces about some old times and there’s a slight twist. Pretty standard. Standard isn’t bad, but it’s not what makes this one great.
It’s Marshall’s art that makes this one better than most of the stories.
I’m a fan of the slightly cartoony, graffiti style of Bachalo, Graham, and Guillory and I honestly didn’t think it’d work in a horror story but he takes script that's flat and forces life into it.
There’s not a lot to say about this one. It looks good, reads ok.
Further into the book is The Last Knight, by Paul Bradford and Matt Olson. This one, kinda obviously, is about a Knight. One sworn to guard a giant door on a miserable looking island. And the Vikings attack.
This is the one that makes this book worth picking up. It’s incredibly beautiful and the writing, while suffering from over use of dialogue at times, is pretty great, too.
The style is moody. It’s dark, it’s grey and it’s dirty. Bradford and Olson clearly know horror.
Somewhere in Transylvania, by Chuck Foulds is here to keep things fresh, like Ghosts. Unlike Ghosts, however, this one’s a wacky comedy with what looks like Vincent Price as Doctor Frankenstein.
Yeah, that’s kind of all you need to know. Hitler’s in it, if that floats your boat. Hitler, Frankenstein, Vincent Price. Great cartoony art and stupidly fun jokes is what’s delivered.
We’re left with a bit of an anti climactic ending, though. The last story is the “least good” of them all and isn’t really horror at all. I guess it’s horror in the sense that life can be horrifying but it’s a letdown when you’ve just finished reading some truly great stories. If it had been put in the middle, it would have been a lot better but as a closing act, it doesn’t help the book at all. But, like I said, it’s not bad. Average isn’t bad.
I should give special mention to Andy Bennett’s cover simply because it’s Cthulu. It’s a good looking Cthulu, too; all green and stuff. It easily sets you up for the rest of the book because if it has Cthulu on it, it’s gotta be worth a read, right?
Editor's Note: As mentioned in the Summary, make sure to head to your local comic shop and get them to order this great little slice of Horror! Also be sure to visit the Indie Comics Magazine website to check out more of their work! And if you're always interested in seeing more of Ross' work, be sure to take a trip to Trash Mutant!
A man travels to his home town, reminisces about some old times and there’s a slight twist. Pretty standard. Standard isn’t bad, but it’s not what makes this one great.
It’s Marshall’s art that makes this one better than most of the stories.
I’m a fan of the slightly cartoony, graffiti style of Bachalo, Graham, and Guillory and I honestly didn’t think it’d work in a horror story but he takes script that's flat and forces life into it.
There’s not a lot to say about this one. It looks good, reads ok.
Further into the book is The Last Knight, by Paul Bradford and Matt Olson. This one, kinda obviously, is about a Knight. One sworn to guard a giant door on a miserable looking island. And the Vikings attack.
This is the one that makes this book worth picking up. It’s incredibly beautiful and the writing, while suffering from over use of dialogue at times, is pretty great, too.
The style is moody. It’s dark, it’s grey and it’s dirty. Bradford and Olson clearly know horror.
Somewhere in Transylvania, by Chuck Foulds is here to keep things fresh, like Ghosts. Unlike Ghosts, however, this one’s a wacky comedy with what looks like Vincent Price as Doctor Frankenstein.
Yeah, that’s kind of all you need to know. Hitler’s in it, if that floats your boat. Hitler, Frankenstein, Vincent Price. Great cartoony art and stupidly fun jokes is what’s delivered.
We’re left with a bit of an anti climactic ending, though. The last story is the “least good” of them all and isn’t really horror at all. I guess it’s horror in the sense that life can be horrifying but it’s a letdown when you’ve just finished reading some truly great stories. If it had been put in the middle, it would have been a lot better but as a closing act, it doesn’t help the book at all. But, like I said, it’s not bad. Average isn’t bad.
I should give special mention to Andy Bennett’s cover simply because it’s Cthulu. It’s a good looking Cthulu, too; all green and stuff. It easily sets you up for the rest of the book because if it has Cthulu on it, it’s gotta be worth a read, right?
Editor's Note: As mentioned in the Summary, make sure to head to your local comic shop and get them to order this great little slice of Horror! Also be sure to visit the Indie Comics Magazine website to check out more of their work! And if you're always interested in seeing more of Ross' work, be sure to take a trip to Trash Mutant!