Haunt is what would happen if Casper decided to stop putzing around in his mansion, took a bunch of steroids, then went out and fought crime.
Haunt is the brainchild of the combined creative juices of Robert Kirkman and Todd McFarlane. Kirkman has taken over the writing of Haunt while McFarlane does the inks (which is a pretty big deal). Waaaaay back in the day, McFarlane did art of Spider-Man but went on hiatus to create Image comics and write the amazing Spawn (also, opening his own toy company or film and animation studio. You know, day to day things, really.) Originally both Greg Capullo and Ryan Ottley were on board for the art, with Capullo as page layout artist and Ottley as interior penciler. Although after issue five, Ottley decided to stop working on Haunt so he would have more time to focus on his other projects (like Invincible). Since issue six, Capullo has taken over as Haunt’s full time artist.
The basic premise of Haunt is that Daniel Kilgore, a washed-up Catholic priest, is being haunted (go figure) by the spirit of his recently deceased brother, Kurt Kilgore, who was a secret agent/assassin/professional bad ass. Daniel is the only person who can see or hear Kurt’s spirit which leads to a lot of hilariously awkward moments throughout the comic.
The sole reason that Daniel doesn’t assume he’s gone off the deep end is because when he and Kurt combine (much like Voltron), he is covered in a suit of strange gooey material that acts as a second skin and can stop bullets. Daniel quickly finds that he is going to need every advantage this suit can offer as life shifts in the fast lane of the “shit gets crazy” highway.
When I read about what the premise of Turf was going to be 3 months back, I thought, “HELL YES! Tommy Lee Edwards is on another book! ManIlovedMarvel1985!!”
Wait. Stop. Let’s get things in order here:
Turf appealed to me back in February when I was looking through my Previews book. It was a story being told to be about the mafia in New York City paired with none other than vampires and aliens. How cool is that? And then I saw that Tommy Lee Edwards was on the book and got all excited. I looked at the author (Jonathan Ross) and shrugged. “This could be a great comic,” I thought. “It’ll be cool looking, at least.”
Three months pass.
I walk into my local comic shop and this is in my stack. I open it up and get anxious to read it as it looks real wordy. Oh well, the art is fantastic. When I finally sat down to read this comic I was not even close to being prepared to taking in it’s brilliance. Somehow I survived.
More after the break. *mild spoilers abound, dear reader*
The irony of this book being released in time for Thanksgiving is not lost on me...
Premise: Tony Chu is a detective who gets psychic impressions from almost anything he eats. As an agent for the FDA (which has grown into a powerful agency in the wake of a devastating case of bird flu), he gets involved in cases that are even weirder than his psychic powers.
I tried describing this book to my girlfriend and she was revolted, so I’ll tell you up front that this book is not for everyone. However, if you are a fan of black humor, surrealism, and procedurals, this is a book that you cannot miss. Writer John Layman economically establishes a rich setting with a minimum of exposition (vital information is usually delivered with brief, Pushing Daisies-style flashbacks).
The most important characters are well-rounded and fully realized, and the cliche characters (such as Chu’s antagonistic superior officer) still manage to be entertaining. Plus, he is as deft with moments of side-splitting humor as he is moments of jaw-dropping horror.
This review is a bit terse, because I am wildly distracted right now, but I was completely struck by the beauty and simplicity of Astounding Wolf-Man #19. Comics can and ultimately should take a lesson from it.
ARISE!!!!
This is the most fun and most pure example of pulp fiction reworked for the 21st century. Jason Howard‘s art and FCO/Ivan Plascencia‘s colors go above and beyond the call of comic book duty, laying down a summer blockbuster feel in the span of 22 pages. Senseless doodles all, of course, if not for the love poured into the book by writer Robert Kirkman.
Kirkman is, as you may be aware, is closing shop on Astounding Wolf-Man with issue 25. It makes sense, he’s got a lot on his plate these days, and while AWM was a good idea, it may not be a Great Idea like Walking Dead or Invincible.
AWM 19 shows us what the series could have been, in a very distilled form. It also shows us how far Kirkman has come as a writer. If you look back even as far as his run on Ultimate X-Men, you’ll find interesting ideas and conflicts being executed by unfortunately similar voices.
Not so here. Even in this (to quote the author) “action packed extravaganza”, extraordinary events elicit unique emotional responses both courageous and cowardly from every player. This is wrapped snugly in the veneer of spontaneous and very believable interaction. The resolution is logical, very clever, and completely in character for the billionaire engineer. The storytelling is not telegraphed or over explained. Kirkman lets Howard do his work.
Olympus, a new limited series from Image comics, bleeds cool. The tale follows two brothers, Castor and Pollux, as they hunt down renegade divinities from the ever-popular Greek pantheon. Is it worth your hard-earned cash? Read on.
One of the first things that you may notice about Olympus is Christian Ward’s art. The pencils, as a whole, are a little inconsistent but the colors are simply stellar. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many different tints and hues in one comic before and for the most part they really enhance the the characters and the story.
If I had to one word to describe the pencils, it would have to be “kinetic.” The characters always seem ready to leap off the page and the action sequences flow into each other with a grace that you rarely see in other comics. Ward’s skill with panel layout is a treat as well. The panels cater to the flowing movement of the pencils and infuse all of the action with a dynamic energy that’s awesome to see.
Haunt #1-8
Olympus
