House of Whispers #1

A Voodoo Sorceress maintains the dream whelm of her followers aboard her houseboat, The House of Whispers. Through the secrets of her devotees, Erzulie Freda is able to view any malpractices of magic through her looking glass. One such misuse of the dark arts involves two pairs of girls who are reciting incantations from a powerful notebook. While playing the classic parlor game of telephone, the children get the words wrong. Each time they misspeak, the girls lure a powerful entity that much closer into the real world. 

Erzulie must stop these girls. But in her over-zealousness, she accidentally transports the House of Whispers to parts unimaginable- right into the back yard of brothers Cain and Abel!

This Cajun cousin of The House of Mystery and The House of Secrets was a mixed bag. I really enjoyed the concept of a new domicile of darkness being added into Vertigo's new Sandman Universe collection of titles. But there was such a jumble of scene cuts that it took a little while to understand what is going on. 

The House of Whispers is not really an anthology title like it's relatives. There's snippets of assorted stories, but the crux of the action is between Erzulie and the young ladies playing telephone.

I was just about ready to say that I will wait until this is collected to read the rest when at the end of this first issue, Cain and Abel show up. This really isn't a spoiler as myself and a lot of other readers had been hoping for this to happen. Well it did and it's made me want to read more! AND I'm not willing to wait until next year for it to be reprinted as a hardcover or trade paperback.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Fight Club 2

Tyler Durden Lives!

What an unholy mess this comic book sequel to Fight Club was. 

Set 10 years after the events of Chuck Palahnuik's ground breaking novel, the story's narrator is now going by the name Sebastian. In order to be allowed back into the public, Sebastian must take a butt load of drugs. It's made him and his sex life with now wife Marla fairly dull. Though it has produced a son who has a rather alarming interest in bombs like his old man did- while as Tyler Durden!

I said earlier that Tyler Durden lives. Is he still hiding somewhere in the recesses of Sebastian's mind? Or has Tyler come home to roost somewhere inside of Junior?

I really hadn't much interest in the sequel to Fight Club. I had to read the book and seen the film in college. It was okay but it wasn't that life changing work of fiction that others have seen this Palahnuik work as. But the reason I read it was because someone in my life was changed by it.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my students lost her lengthy battle with lung disease. Knowing how much a fan of this book and it's predecessor was to her, I checked out the books from my local library to use as part of a memorial to my former pupil. 

Since that memorial, this book has sat in my car. I've needed to get it back to the library. But it just didn't feel right. Then yesterday, I had a good hour or so to burn, so I gave Fight Club 2 a read. I kinda want that hour back...

A large majority of the dialogue in this book is covered up by images of medications, roses, and other items. So, I feel like a bunch of the mysteries in this book were meant to never be revealed. But about halfway through, something changed and the book got really good. Then there was the ending...

The conclusion on this book was one hot mess. The author, Chuck Palahnuik, actually becomes a character in the story. Then the world ends or is it merely a fake-out? Then there's the whole issue with Tyler's existence. It wasn't that it was confusing or anything difficult like that. I just felt that the finale was a massive cop-out!

Honestly, did Fight Club need a sequel? That confined, never to be free from the influence of the club he created ending for our narrator, Sebastian, was perfect. I didn't need to have this contrived, partially hidden continuation of a story that paints itself into a massive corner. Some people, such as my former student, loved this comic series. I did not. 

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Olivia Twist #1

Take the beloved Charles Dickens character of Oliver Twist and make him and his street-wise friends female. Then put Olivia Twist in a dystopian future. Add some cruel and unloving orphanage caretakers and you have a turn-of-the Victorian Era story for the post-millenials.

Olivia Twist #1
Written by: Darin Strauss, Adam Dalva

Art: Emma Vieceli

Published by Dark Horse Comics

I was all set to make Olivia Twist #1 my selection for last week’s edition of Family Comic Friday. The first half of this modern retelling of a classic work of English fiction was making for a really good read. This obviously wasn’t all-ages fare. There’s some adult on child violence in the work-farm orphanage in which Olivia lives. But the original Dickens tale was far from peaches and cream and still we require students to read Oliver Twist is middle school and high school.

But when Olivia meets the female version of the Artful Dodger, that’s when any thought of making this book be the highlight of my weekly family friendly series went right out the window. Dodger cusses like a sailor. And we’re not talking ‘hells’ and ‘damns.’ No, the Artful Dodger goes straight for the big one! That mother of all dirty words that resulted in little Ralphie having to wash his mouth out with soap (and risk premature blindness) in A Christmas Story.

One F-bomb, I maybe could let slip. But the last 10 pages read like Tarantino’s take on Oliver Twist. The story itself was quite good. It’s a shame about the language. But for readers in high school and higher, this is something that I recommend.

Many lovers of classics get upset when their beloved childhood stories get rebooted and retold. I for one have nothing against such a retelling as long as the time in right. The last time I recall the story of Oliver Twist being retold was in the Disney feature Oliver and Co. That was about 30 years ago. It’s not like the story of an orphan waif in search of a loving home is being rebooted every couple of years. So I am perfectly fine with the work done by Darin Strauss and Adam Dalva.

To put this story in the setting of a dreary future in which the United States no longer exists is actually a smart, though daring move. The type of reader Dark Horse is trying to appeal to are devotees of The Hunger Games and the Maze Runner. To set this 3-issue miniseries in a dystopian setting is a perfect hook for that audience who often struggle with the question ‘Should America for all it’s wrongs still exist?.’ Plus, the dreariness of this time period is almost as hopeless as it was for Oliver back in Victorian England.

The artwork by Doctor Who artist Emma Vieceli was also right for this. She doesn’t make this futuristic landscape look very promising. Even the rare time we see how the upper class lives, their mansions manage to look ominous and foreboding. But some of the color palette just didn't match the scenery. It WAS too cheerful!

Dark Horse might very well be on to something. Should Olivia Twist manage to be a hit, I think the publisher should consider producing further classic’s with a modern twist. I only recommend staying away from Frankenstein and Dracula, which have both been rebooted to death. But what about role-reversed Rescuers or the Hunchback of Notre Dame being set in South Bend, Indiana? I would be willing to give those new looks at timeless classics a read.

Olivia Twist #1 debuts in stores nationwide tomorrow.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Project Superpowers #0 (2018)

There are some things you just don't pass up. A new release comic book for only 10 cents is one of those things. 

This is the latest series from Dynamite Entertainment based on a number of forgotten superheroes from long defunct comic book publishers of the 1940s and 50s. However, this is also first one without Alex Ross at the helm.

Being a huge Alex Ross fan, you would think that I would be all over the Project Superpowers books. But I just didn't for one reason or another. I think the biggest reason is that I felt that Project Superpowers was too much like Marvel's The Twelve in that a bunch of forgotten heroes are revived in the modern day. 

Maybe I hitched my wagon to the wrong cart. But I liked The Twelve. I have no regrets.

This teaser into the new Project Superpowers series, this time helmed by Suicide Squad's Rob Williams sees a once thought dead hero returning to warn an ally of an impending doom. This introductory issue does it's job quite well. It acts as a small teaser of the story to come while offering a lot of vital backstory. 

This book also did it's job in at least one other way. While I don't think I am going to go for the rest of this series, I am interested in finding the first and maybe second series by Alex Ross. So, there's a bit of a win there. 

My LCS had 3-4 more of these 10 cent beauties. I would imagine that a lot of stores have some issues still on hand. Not because this wasn't a good read. It was. But it's like I say to start this review- you can't pass up a 10 cent comic. So I expect that many stores ordered big on this. 

A very good introductory read. While it may not make you want to invest in the current series, it will make you want to dive more into the back issues which has since been collected as hard covers and trades.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Astro City, Volume 16: Broken Melody

For a couple of volumes now, the mysterious Broken Man has been floating in and out of continuity; warning readers of some terrible doom. In Astro City, Volume 16: Broken Melody, many (but not all) of the questions of the Broken Man's origin are explored. Also, we get an in-depth look at the importance of Astro City's music scene and it's long history of music genre themed superheroes.

Somewhere in the middle of this volume is the 100th issue ever published about one of my favorite comic book cities. It explores the controversial origin and history of the Astro-Naut. This Clark Kent/Tony Stark/Howard Hughes hybrid is whom the city gets it's moniker. It was a wild 1940s era ride.

This entire volume was absolutely fantastic. Every story was top notch stuff from Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson and Alex Ross. I also pride myself at solving the mystery behind this entire story before the big reveal!

Astro City hasn't dropped in quality. But Broken Melody is one of the best volumes in this series. And it's the best story arc I have read since Volume 14: Reflections; the Tarnished Angel sequel. 

If you read one non-main stream superhero this year- this volume is in a very close tie for the one I recommend. Jeff Lemire's Black Hammer, Volume 1 is the other honoree. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Black Hammer, Volume 2: The Event

I told you that I was on the hunt for the next volume of Black Hammer. It did not take long to achieve that goal.

A new player enters the once seemingly impenetrable barricade preventing the residents of Black Hammer Farm from returning home. 

Several more origins are revealed as are the final days before the event in which the heroes were removed from their earth and placed inside a bubble dimension. But one solid mystery from the book remains unanswered no matter how much I researched for it- where is issue #12?

This volume reprints issues #7-11 and #13. Where's 12? I would like to say it's going to be reprinted in Black Hammer Volume 3. However, according to the description on Amazon, it's not going to be there. Neither will the first annual in the series. Based on how things are always as they seem in this series, it's kinda spooky for those two issues to not be included. It's almost as if someone based them to another earth...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Little Tails in Prehistory (Family Comic Friday)

You've heard of moose and squirrel. Surely, you are all familiar with cat and dog. But have you ever encountered two such friends as squirrel and dog? Well, let me introduce you to Chipper the dog and Squizzo the squirrel! Together, they are the stars of this week's Family Comic Friday Selection: Little Tails in Prehistory!

 

Little Tails in Prehistory
Written by Frederic Brremaud
Art by Federico Bertolucci
Translated by Mike Kennedy
Published by Lion Forge

Squizzo and Chipper take an exciting trip through the prehistoric past encountering dinosaurs, wooly mammoths and cavemen! The intrepid animals starf out in millions of years in the past where they encounter a archeopteryx; a colorful feathered reptile. The creature tells the duo that in order to get back to the modern era, Squizzo and Chipper must travel to the heart of a volcano seen way off in the distance. As the dog and squirrel get closer to the volcano, they move forward in time meeting and sometimes fleeing from ancient creatures of different periods of prehistory.

Prehistory is the fourth book in the Little Tails series created by the French creative team of Frederic Brremaud and Federico Bertolucci. In all of these volumes, now totaling six, Chipper and Squizzo learn about animals from the deepest oceans to the greenest forests in the land.

Each page is a wonderful mix of adorable sequential art and lavish painted scenery. Chipper and Squizzo's adventures take place in the cartoon segments of each page. The animals they discover are rendered in some visually stunning settings. As a child, I remember being entranced by this book about dinosaurs. I forget the name, but that book was filled with these fantastic scenes of dinosaurs doing battle or enjoying life as a thunder lizard would. Little Tails in Prehistory brings back the wonder of that lost treasury of mine.

Brremaud and Bertolucci do something in this book that is one of my keys to a perfect Family Comic Friday offering- it's both entertaining AND educational! Sure, saying that the triceratops used it's flanged collar to attract a mate is a bit of a stretch. That animal lived before humans were even thought of. So how do we really know that's what a triceratops ready did to find it's soul mate? Regardless, there's lots to learn in this book. Thanks to Chipper and Squizzo, the learning is also fun and funny.

This 2017 book is recommended for all ages. Being a book about dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts, there are some complicated words like elasmosaurus. So an older co-reader's help may be needed for younger bookworms. While at least one dinosaur chases our heroes, there's nothing overly intense or scary. Jurassic Park this is not.

Check out Little Tails in Prehistory and it's sister volumes at a library near you or at Amazon.