Dreadful Ed and Mary Scary (Family Comic Friday)

When your father is the Boogeyman, you grow up with the expectation to be scary. However when it comes to young Ed, scary just isn't in his DNA! That's because he's a human who was switched at birth! Where's the real heir of the Titan of Terror? Why, she is having a hard time adjusting to being normal in the mundane world. Join Family Comic Friday as we review the strangely charming adventure of Dreadful Ed and Mary Scary.

Dreadful Ed and Mary Scary
Written by Andrew Cosby
Art by Troy Nixey
Published by Dark Horse Books
Pages: 112
Retail: $19.99

Who says that books about monsters and the bizarre can't be appropriate for all ages? This book is one part graphic novel and one part poem about a switcheroo that proves the theory of nature vs nurture. Eureka's Andrew Cosby pens an epic that delights in the macabre without being scary. But it's the artwork of Vinegar Teeth's Troy Nixey that really completes this fanciful tale!

This edition of Dreadful Ed and Mary Scary combines the 2006-07 two-part adventure for the very first time. It's really an unusual yarn that I feel completely in love with. Tim Burton just oozes throughout this volume. I also felt that there was a whimsical touch of Doctor Suess with the creative rhymes of each quatrain.

With the reissue of both books, I thought that maybe there was a Dreadful Ed and Mary Scary animated movie on the way. But a quick Google search reveals that other than a development deal with Universal Studios in 2010, that doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully this collection will reignite interest in a full length feature. Could we possibly get The Nightmare Before Christmas creator in on this project, please?

A book filled with kid friendly ghosts and goblins, Dreadful Ed and Mary Scary is a pair of stories that will delight readers of all ages during any season of the year too!

Dreadful Ed and Mary Scary will return to print on February 12, 2019. It will also be available in digital formats as well!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

This review was concurrently published on Outrightgeekery.com.

Starburns Presents (Free Comic Book Day 2018)

If you were a fan of the NBC comedy Community, then you are familiar with the character of Star-burns. For those of you who have absolutely zero idea what I am talking about, Star-burns was a burnt-out stoner with sideburns shaved into the shape of stars. He wasn't very smart and often ran slightly illegal hustles on campus.

The character was played by Dino Stamatopoulos, who was also a producer and writer on the show. A good buddy of Community creator Dan Harmon, Stamatopoulos along with Patton Oswalt and Harmon sought to create a Kickstarter funded comic book publishing company called Starburns Industries. Well, I don't think things got off to such a great start as I cannot find anything in print by SBI other than this 2018 Free Comic Book Day release. 

Starburns Presents is an anthology made up of 5 different stories. Patton Oswalt pens a true life tale about his first encounter with the costumed performers on the streets of Hollywood. Penciled by Troy Nixey (Vinegar Teeth), it's the best story of the bunch. 

The David Clarke (Heroes R Us) story of Oddwell is supposed to be about a frog hero in a mythical land. But the story has zero frogs and dozens of houseflies.

Hellicious by Welcome to Paradise's Alan C. Medina is about a little blonde haired moppet who might be the devil incarnate- or maybe one of his kids. 

Dan Harmon's Gregory Graves was my least favorite entry. It did have a good cliffhanger ending. But for the most part, this story was very confusing. Plus, I don't think we'll ever get a conclusion to this adventure since it looks like SBI is defunct.

The last couple of pages are from Stamatopoulos himself. It's a blend of weird infomercials and parody ads like you would see in a comic book. It's got a funny charm. But there are a lot of inside jokes that if you aren't really hip on the Dan Harmon conglomerate, you will more than likely miss out on the punchline. 

If you do a search for SBI, you find a website that specializes in online animated shorts and humorous cassette tapes. (Who still listens to cassette tapes?!) But there's nothing to be found in the comic book or graphic novel department. Chalk this book up to one of the many big ideas that never was fully explored in comics... But from the reading of most of these stories, I can understand why!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Harley Quinn Volume 4: Vengeance Unlimited

This volume of Harley Quinn sees a new creative team of A.J. Lieberman, Mike Huddleston and Troy Nixey. With this new team Harley Quinn becomes dark--- very dark.

First Harley creates for herself a new persona and begins seeing patients again. As she unlocks her patients inner-most secrets, Harley becomes the target of a killer with a penchant for puzzles.

Then Harley takes on a gig that will net her a nice nest egg. Only, the target she's meant to obtain is a young orphan. As a devil Harley and an angel Harleen perch themselves on the shoulders of the Joker's ex-girlfriend, will Quinn listen to her heart or her checkbook?

I was okay with the change of tone. And I find it quite odd. I hate it when Deadpool gets crapped on. Yet I am strangely okay with it when the crap hits the fan for Harley. I have nothing but love for Harley Quinn. I think (MAYBE) the reason why I'm not so fazed by it is that I know that such tragedy is important for the villainess to escape her abusive relationship from the Joker.

One thing that bothered me to no end was that there was this great story set up involving the Joker, Harley and her new beau, a police detective. Supposedly, Harley was going to use the cop to pull off a heist of drug money. Yet, by the next issue, this plot line is completely abandoned. Man, that irks me!!!

A very good look at the pain and sufferings of Harley Quinn. Now that I've read all of this series, it's on to find the next collection of stories starring the Maid of Mischief!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Vinegar Teeth #4

• Just who is behind all of the residents of the city becoming zombified?
• Why does Detective Buckle act all weird at the beginning of each issue?
• What kind of blues music goes best with depression?

All of your questions are answered in the final issue of this Dark Horse miniseries. Plus Vinegar Teeth's origin is finally revealed!

A very fulfilling but bitter sweet ending to this Troy Nixey/Damon Gentry!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Vinegar Teeth #3

Vinegar Teeth's origin is finally revealed! After having to kill one of the citizen's he has sworn to protect, Vinegar Teeth is greatly troubled and seeks out solace in the form of his old partner, Detective Buckle. And that is when things get weird...

Vinegar Teeth has been a fun slapstick buddy cop entry by Troy Nixey and Damon Gentry. I love Gentry's Paul Pope art-style. I'm almost sad to see this series go as this is the next to last issue. 

There's still plenty of mystery to be solved, such as why do we see Officer Buckle acting like a big gurgling blob in front of a court room at the beginning of each chapter. Issue #4 is going to be one not to miss!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Vinegar Teeth #1

Story by Damon Gentry and Troy Nixey
Art and Letters also by Troy Nixey
Colors by Guy Major
Published by Dark Horse

When Brick City’s best detective, Artie Buckle, is forced to partner with an inter-dimensional being named Vinegar Teeth, it looks like a match made in Hell. However, being paired with a creature with uncanny abilities and a scariness factor set to eleven might just have it’s advantages- like taking a long nap during surveillance. Things are looking up for this unlikely partnership, which will be put to the ultimate test as Brick City appears to be infested by a horde of possessed townsfolk!

Vinegar Teeth is an odd mix of Eric Powell’s The Goon, HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu, and Will Eisner’s The Spirit. A buddy cop adventure at heart, this book is extremely spastic. The story goes all over the place with super fast explosions of dialogue. If Damon Gentry and Troy Nixey weren’t using the screwball comedies of the 1940s as inspiration for the way Buckle spouts off gibberish like a machine gun with a stuck trigger, I would be very surprised. Things are so chaotic, I actually had to re-read several pages more than once to crack the code to what the main character is trying to say.

Troy Nixey’s artwork is very avante garde here like Batman 100’s Paul Pope. That’s not a bad thing as I like Pope’s pre-World War II German influenced art style. Troy Nixon’s imitation of it works here, especially since nothing in Brick City is as it seems. Having a bloated monster, with some seriously sour BO and tentacles are long as telephone poles, be the new hero of Brick City is about as bizarre as you can get.

I really have no idea where this new series from Dark Horse Comics is going to go. It’s very strange and kinda silly. I generally have a rule with TV shows that I also apply to new comic book series- never end at just one! Since the first episode or issue is sorta like the pilot, there’s kinks to be worked out. Some of these rough spots will probably disappear in the second helping. Plus, it’s really hard to establish a complex storyline with all new characters in just 24-pages.

I’m not completely sold with Vinegar Teeth just yet. But I am willing to give it another try before I hold final judgement.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Black Sinister

What if your city’s greatest threat was the superhero sworn to protect it?

The Hero Nobody Deserves

   In the case of Coal City, the citizens are victimized daily by a costumed vigilante known as Black Sinister. Everyone knows that Sinister is actually Coal City’s wealthiest man, Emerson Black. But neither the government nor the court system can stop Black because the millionaire owns all of the city’s resources!

    The story by Kaare Andrews (Renato Jones: the One%) was originally serialized in various issues of Dark Horse Presents. A parody of superheroes and an allegory of the plight of the 99%, the Black Sinister was insane fun. When Black tries to rescue a child from a kidnapper and accidentally kills the boy, the hero mourns. But it’s not for the extinguished life of the child hostage. No, the Black Sinister weeps for the loss of a unit of cheap child labor! Kaare Andrews’ beautifully crafted a character that has several screws loose.

    When it comes to the art, somebody went to the Paul Pope School of Cartooning. The work of Deadworld’s Troy Nixey looks so much like that of Pope’s Batman: Year 100. I had to check several times to make sure it really wasn’t Pope who penciled this book. But I just adored every broken limb, severed artery, and bloated bureaucrat dressed in Napoleonic garb.

Imagine if Batman was as completely bonkers as the Tick, emotionally fragile as Iron Man and written by Howard Chaykin AND Frank Miller. That is the Black Sinister in a nutshell. And I loved it! I only hope that the Black Sinister will return to terrorize the citizens of Coal City once more sometime soon!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Review was originally published June 27, 2017 on outrightgeekery.com