Written by Eric Bowen, Alexter Albury, David Noe, Dave Hearn
Art by Eric Bowen, Alexter Albury, Stan Timmons, Gary O'Donnell
Inks and Letters by Andy 'Shaggy' Korty
Published by
Price: $4.00
Do the following movies hold significance to you in any way? Die Hard. They Live. Manimal. Then Actionology is the comic book you've been looking for all your life.
The debut issue of Actionology is comprised of a quartet of stories. The first story titled 'The Butcher and the Hound' appears to be a feature that will continue throughout further issues of this comic. The cover image story involves an athletic woman who is more than meets the eye. When a mysterious hit-man who can shape-shift attacks our heroine, she morphs into a canine-like creature. The level of action goes to 11. Unfortunately, the story ends with readers still without answers as to the main characters origins. I guess we'll just have to wait for issue #2.
The second story is a horror tale of vengeance. There's elements of DC's Batman: Red Rain, Marvel's Sleepwalker and Dark Horse's The Mask, as a man bound to a cursed face covering must feed on the souls of the evil in order to survive. Finally thinking that he has achieved a way to stop his ghoulish urges, the curse is unleashed once again. Ultimately, the choice between salvation of a loved-one and the eternal damnation of one's own soul is what awaits he who disturbed the slumber of vengeance.
The last two stories were my ultimate favorites. '30:00' pits a young woman against a horde of killers. It's twist ending kinda screams of the perils of some of our essential workers who must earn a living in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then there's 'Barry Baxion: Man of Action'. The story by Dave Hearn had a telegraphed ending. But that story was rather funny. I loved it's almost absurdist take to it. It felt like a yarn that could have taken place in the same universe of The Tick and Arthur!
The first issue of Actionology is a mixed bag of genres. As with any anthology series, there are some stories that have great art but not so good storytelling. Maybe the beginning of one story was rough. But that ending was one that will stick to a man's conscious til the day he dies. That's how I felt about this first issue. There were elements that I didn't enjoy. But I can say truly that every story in this comic had parts that I greatly enjoyed.
I have a rule when it comes to watching a new TV series. I always give it 3 episodes. The pilot often gets retooled thanks to producers. And the second episode is often a pilot of the pilot. But by the third episode, if something is worth consuming, the brilliance will have shined through. That's how I fell about Actionology. It's a diamond in the rough. You can see the radiant glow shining through. But there's still some rough spots to smooth out.
Remember, both Lobo and Wolverine where a heck of a lot different when they made their debuts as opposed to the iconic characters that fans now idolize! Be sure to give this impressive new series a chance today!
Actionlogy #1 is currently available for sale online at the Empire Comics Lab website.
If your LCS doesn’t carry Cemetery Plots, do like Stan Lee told us to do in the old days, and demand they start carrying this spooky new anthology today! And if your really good (and nearby), I hear that some of the talents might even arrange a book signing while they're at it!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
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