Rogues

It's been a long time since DC or Marvel produced a true crime heist story involving super villains. 2006's Secret Six miniseries might be the closest thing we've had and that was more about baddies acting righteous during a time when the heroes were acting criminal.

In Rogues, Leonard Snart's glory days as one of the Flash's arsh-enemies is long past. In his late 50s, balding, overweight and kept on a tight leash by a parole officer who deserves his own spot behind bars, the former Captain Cold is a broken man. 2 of the Rogues are dead. His sister, the Golden Glider has renounced her life of crime and became an inner city social worker. The Trickster has become a hack magician, performing to elderly crowds. Mirror Master lost his mind in a drug induced haze. Mick Rory, AKA Heatwave, still plays with fire. Only, he does it with an entrepreneurial flare, committing arson by torching buildings for a cut of the insurance check. 

Now is the time to bring the gang back together. For years, Smart has been planning a heist so outrageous, that it's literally a suicide mission. With Captain Cold's guidance, the Rogues are going to infiltrate Gorilla City and rob Gorilla Grodd's personal vault laden with tons and tons of gold. Good thing Smart has decided to recruit a couple of former members of the Suicide Squad to help in executing this insane plan!

Joshua Williamson penned this story which is nearly flawless. I don't even mind that there's zero appearance of any of the multitude of men to carry the moniker of the Flash in this book. My biggest issue is the addition of DEO agent Maggie Sawyer. She's a great player in Metropolis. But she really doesn't seem to have a place in Gorilla City. At least not here in this story.

Rogues was originally released as a 4-issue miniseries in 2022. The first 3 issues were by Italian artist Leomacs. Issue #4 marks the debut of artist Luca Finelli. The transition between the two was flawless. I didn't even realize about the shift change until I was reading the biographies at the end of the book. I don't know who's talent that speaks higher of. But I loved the artwork throughout this entire piece.

This is a Quentin Tarantino level story and that's not just because of the amount of violence. Tons of swears. Tons! And we're talking F-bombs. This might be a DC Comic title but it's a Black Label release. Definitely not for the kids. But a must for fans of the Scarlet Speedster and his gallery of Rogues.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Basketful of Heads

Joe Hill is the only author whose collective body of work terrifies me. Hill's magnum opus, NOS4A2 gave me such chills, that I had to stop reading it for several months before I got the courage to finish it. Several chapters of his Dark Horse series Locke & Key gave me sleepless nights. And his 2016 work The Fireman, while the least scary of his works that I have read, still had moments of horror that I just can't shake off. 

And yet, I can't stop reading his stuff!

Basketful of Heads was Hill's first miniseries published under DC's Hill House imprint. With the collapse of Vertigo, DC Comics partnered with the author to develop a line of horror comics based on his previously published short stories and new works. Other authors were supposed to be involved in this project. Shortly, DC announced the creation of the DC Horror and Black Label imprints and those other stories were released under that line. 

This 2019 miniseries is set during the end of the Summer of 1983. June Branch has arrived on Brody Island, off the coast of Maine, to pick up her boyfriend, Liam. Liam has been working during his college break as a junior law enforcement officer to help with the influx of Summer tourists. Coming off his last shift, Liam and June encounter a chaotic scene. A quartet of prisoners on work release have escaped from Shawkshank Prison!

These men are considered armed and dangerous. So Liam decides to stay with Chief Clausen's family to protect them while the police force conducts their manhunt. With a tropical storm approaching the island and the tragic news of a fallen cop, June and Liam soon find themselves at the Chief's house alone.

The storm causes the power to go out at the Clausen compound. While June looks for flashlights, the prisoners invade the home and take Liam hostage. In the melee, June looks for something to defend herself and grabs what she believes to be an ordinary antique axe from Chief Clausen's den. Only when she lops off the head of one of the prisoners who stayed behind, she discovers that the weapon has magical powers, allowing the decapitated criminal's head to remain alive. 

June learns from the head that Liam has some sort of unknown item in his possession. Probably money or jewels, which could greatly help with their escape. June knows nothing of this. But if she wants to see her boyfriend alive ever again, June has got to get searching, taking the talking head, and placing it in a picnic basket with her, in hopes of uncovering clues.

As she encounters the other prisoners, June's basket grows heavy with more heads. But is she any closer to saving Liam? And what is so special about this axe that it keeps the dead from dying?

Basketful of Heads was a brilliant dark comedy. It gives homage to JAWS being set on Brody Island. And it ties into the Stephen King universe with the inclusion of criminals from Shawshank. I was expecting this to be a book about a serial killer with a Little Red Riding Hood fetish. Instead, I got a thrilling mystery that was as funny as it was creepy. 

Chilean artist Gabriel Rodriguez is the quintessential partner when Joe Hill makes comics. But I must say that when you cannot get Gabe Rodriguez, the appropriate substitute can be Leomacs! He's got this quality that makes the living seem so vibrant and the dead look like rotting flesh. Creepy good! And the regular covers, crafted so deftly by Reika Murakami. (Can you find the eyeball hiding in this cover?) Once again- Creepy good!

In 2022, Joe Hill crafted a sequel. Refrigerator Full of Heads promises to continue the mystery of the magical axe. If it's half as good as this book, I really, REALLY want to read it. 

As for Hill House? Does it still exist? I can't find any info as to if Joe Hill has more horror comic books on the horizon. The storyline of Locke & Key has been continued and a couple of prequels set during major wars in American history are forecasted to be in the works. But I really want to know if the latest victim at the hands of horror writer Joe Hill is his Hill House imprint!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.