DC’s Blackest Night debuted over a year ago- just before the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, in fact. Unfortunately, my memory of the Blackest Night panel that year is weak; however there is one word that sticks out: “horror.” Geoff Johns and his fellow panelists wanted to instill in the brains of the fans that this was not to be a typical DC series filled with vivid colors and an uplifting plotline. “This is a horror story!” they assured us, and they weren’t kidding.

From issue 0, Blackest Night has been visually disturbing, and it is the visuals (Ivan Reis on pencils, Oclair Albert on inks, and Alex Sinclair on colors) that steal the show in this book. It isn’t simply that they are scary, but that they meet and exceed the epic requirements that the game-changing plot demands. The villains of the book are chiefly zombies that are all wearing their own costumes but black and showcasing the same Black Lantern logo. Between the uniform rotting grey of their skin and the apparent similarities of their gob, these villains should be a pain to differentiate and have the visual depth of cardboard. But they don’t. Firstly, I credit this achievement to Reis, who came up with a seemingly infinite amount of original character and costume designs that allow readers to identify individual DC heroes and villains from within the haunted masses. Secondly, much credit is due to colorist Alex Sinclair. Sinclair made depth appear from thin air by applying various light sources to his otherwise drably colored subjects. Whether it is from street lights, fires, reflections, or lantern rings; the lighting makes these grey ghouls come alive panel after panel.

Johns’ story is a great one, but unfortunately it also seems as if it was manufactured out of thin air. He makes it seem as though there would be nothing entertaining to come out of the Green Lantern family of books if it weren’t for those darn Guardians and their secrets. It is the revelation of those secrets that has been providing most of the major story arcs for Green Lantern ever since the return of the Manhunters. I suppose all stories have to just pop out from somewhere, but those coming from the hidden Guardian files are becoming a bit cliché. More than anything, I enjoyed Johns’ promise that those secrets are now completely revealed.

Origination aside, the story is phenomenal and created ripples throughout the DC universe much as Jeph Loeb’s Hush did for the Batman world. The best and worst part about such a story is the way it ties into almost every DC book. The hardcover isn’t titled “Green Lantern: Blackest Night” (even though Hal is the main character), but Blackest Night. That is because this book is about the entire DCU. It could easily have taken on a “crisis” title if it weren’t for the promises delivered by Final Crisis.

[Spoilers beyond this point] Epic things happen for everyone here. The hawks die and return, Martian Manhunter returns from his pyramid tomb created in Final Crisis, the Guardians are shattered and separated, the full spectrum of power rings and those that brandish them is revealed, a handful of DC characters wield the various rings (some suffering long term effects), and another handful of previously deceased characters come back for good (including Deadman, whoops!). All of these things happen with the entertaining and intellectual style that Geoff Johns has become acclaimed for. It truly is brilliant.

My one major complaint is the change that Johns makes in the structure of the Green Lantern universe itself. Green Lantern first appeared in 1959, shortly after the death of Albert Einstein and the end of the scientific revolution in physics and astronomy that occurred in the first half of last century. America had just seen Sputnik launch into space and heard JFK’s promise to get men on the moon before the end of the next decade. The immensity of the universe as we had come to know it dwarfed us, and the revolutions in science and technology gave us opportunities in exploration that we never thought possible. The Green Lantern embodied our senses of fear, wonder, and adventure. The fact that he was only the first to join an order that had existed for ages symbolized that feeling of insignificance and the human spirit’s struggle with it. It is a beautiful concept.

Blackest Night has done away with that. Before, Earth was but a trivial cog in an unknown and incomprehensible machine. Now (as far as the DCU is concerned), it is the most integral part of the entire universe’s existence. This could be Johns’ attempt to explain why all of these exciting events take place on Earth all of the time, but I feel that it takes something away from the essence of Green Lantern’s story. It hurts the reader’s ability to relate, when those that he or she is relating to are so much more vital than any human being in the real world. Maybe I am just being nihilistic, but I feel as though I can identify with last year’s Hal Jordan just a bit more than today’s.

Don’t let this deter you from reading this amazing hardcover. It still addresses some of the biggest themes that make Green Lantern books great: the struggle to maintain will and stave off hopelessness, the clash of the rank-and-file with unquestionable authority, the philosophiy of utilitarianism versus that of social deontology, and the spectrum of gray areas (or in this case, rainbow of colors) between pure good and pure evil. It really is a masterpiece. It is an amazing visual storytelling achievement that surpasses Final Crisis and rivals the likes of DC: The New Frontier or Batman: Hush. And don’t forget, “After the Blackest Night, comes the Brightest Day…”

(4/5)

Las Vegas has been the geographical representation of sin, sex, and bad decisions for a long time, but most battles between good and evil in entertainment have taken place in big cities. That’s probably because broken windows and dark alleys speak to the inevitability of evil. They tell us that evil is forcing itself upon innocent people. Through Penny for your Soul, Tom Hutchison is telling us something else about evil and how it finds its way into once innocent souls, and what better setting is there to embody temptation than the City of Sin.

Early into first issue we are introduced to a young and sexy demon “from Utah” named Danica. Contrary to popular female characterization in Vegas, Danica isn’t some struggling college student who got swallowed up by the filth. Instead, she uses her allure to start the profitable business of buying souls for cold hard cash. Quite the opposite.

So forget about the Prophecy movies, Contantine, and the new Legion; and think Dogma. Making the war between good and evil a comedy rather than a drama is still just as fresh as it was when Kevin Smith did it. Who doesn’t like the idea of hot chicks betting to see how long it will take for a nun to stuff dollar bills in their panties?

If the storyline isn’t sexy enough for you, the art will finish the job. In addition to the round butts in shiny leather, the art as a whole is very high quality. Artist J.B. Neto does a great job with everything from facial close-ups (or butt close-ups) to large crowds. Meanwhile, Oren Kramek, who I assume is the colorist, shows us just how important color is.

There is a downside to all of this though, and it is shared by both the writer and the artists. This, of course, is class. Throughout this first issue, the creators tread the thin line between good and bad taste. Personally, I love to laugh at the church’s expense, but the level of sexual suggestiveness surpasses what I prefer to see in my comics. I’m not going to tell you that I’m not a typical guy, or that I don’t enjoy my fair share of T&A. But the constant “going down” references, among other things, tire my moral elasticity. Put it this way: getting smothered by a woman’s top side would be nice for a small while, but there is a limit. Mine is reached within the pages of Penny for your Soul.

Sex sells, and so does religious questionability. That said, I wonder: do the creators love to walk that line, or are they just great sales people? Doesn’t matter to me. Think of your most prized possession. Are you mad at the sales pitch that got you to buy it? No. The men at Big Dog Ink have some controversial stuff to sell, and I think that many readers will find that $3 is a steal. It’s just not my thing.

The first issue of Penny for your Soul hits the shelves this coming Wednesday (May 26, 2010). Check out the Big Dog Ink website to find out how to get your hands on a copy!

(3/5)

One of the things I love about getting involved with smaller titles is that they are engaging me with genres that I have been neglecting in my regular regimen of nerdiness. In the case of Kieth Holmes and his buddies at Enterlight Studios, the newly discovered piece of the puzzle is the supernatural. Yes, I realize that most of what I have read contains some supernatural substance, but I am talking about the archetypical supernatural: stuff like bigfoot and werewolves. That’s the supernatural sort of substance you will find in Enterlight’s Project: Archangel and Templar.

Unfortunately, the only bit of Project: Archangel I had the pleasure of reading was the eight page preview made available on the Enterlight Studios website. The six pages of actual story found here don’t really have the chance to establish anything but a general idea of the story that Archangel will become. In a sentence, Project: Archangel is a group of super-powered commandos that travel the globe in search of mythical monsters from which to protect the world. The preview gives us a glimpse of bigfoot being one of such creatures, and brings us the tagline “Bigfoot is not real, gentlemen. But that doesn’t mean that is does not exist.” That tagline confuses and excites me. Will Holmes give us an idea of the difference between reality and existence? Will that statement lead us to a philosophical question or a linguistic loophole? Time will tell, but my hope is for the former. Overall, the preview is an exciting look at what may be to come.

Of the two previews however, my favorite was Templar. Here, Holmes uses six pages of content much more efficiently. In the three minutes it will take you to read them, you will have an idea of who the hero is, his love interest (the narrator), and the villains (both human and supernatural). The hero looks to be a total badass. Hell, any good guy with a sword on his back and a gun at his hip is fine by me. The problem with Templar is that the preview is much more impressive than the web comic that follows it. The story and art of the first issue are just as good as the preview, but the creators decided against color (understandable if you are producing your own comic and you want to save money AND get your work out as quickly as possible). One can only hope that a print version will be released with full color. Another thing that was lacking was narration of someone outside of the supernatural world. I think having the sexy lady narrator brought the preview down to the reader’s level. Even though she doesn’t know that the love of her life was a werewolf-fighting, roof jumping ninja templar guy; I took comfort in the fact that she would have to be introduced to it at the same speed any other normal human being (like myself) would. But who knows what the next issue will have in store.

Between the two titles, a pattern emerges. Both merge supernatural stories with realistic ones. Scientific lobbyists in suits asking the government for money and strippers with high hopes that depend on fat criminals are realistic scenes that put the stories in the real world. Hot chicks flying on electric clouds to confront bigfoot and knights chasing werewolves through the New York City streets are the crazy scenes that make these stories belong in the comic book world. In my opinion, that juxtaposition is what gives these young titles some potential. To check these comics out for yourself, please head over to the Enterlight Studios website. Let me know what you think!

Project: Archangel (3.5/5)
Templar (4/5)

So I don’t usually do reviews of web comics… well heck I haven’t done a review since September 2009. Recently, I have seen some requests in my overpacked (with spam) inbox, and I realized that I should look into doing more small press and independent stuff. So I made a twitter post asking people to email me via the contact page, and this review is the first result from that post. Well, a few days ago I began the long trek through the depths of www.thinkweasel.com’s content, and here I am.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Think Weasel is an internet based humor strip written and drawn by Nick Mizgala of Georgia (I think). Like my own website, Think Weasel runs on Wordpress which is designed with functionality and usability in mind rather than style. That said, it’s a very user friendly web comic that I can see myself easily catching up with as a reader, and we can leave the style up to Nick the artist rather than Nick the IT guy.

So let’s backtrack for a minute. Like I mentioned before, I am used to writing reviews of comic book issues and graphic novels. Reviewing a web comic is a little bit different for me because I don’t have a set of criteria in my head. So I’d like to take a minute to establish the basis for my review and have a good explanation for the star rating at the bottom of the post.

The first criteria should be the quality of the artwork, and this Mizgala does a good job there. The work isn’t comic book quality (though a couple of posts prove that he is capable of it); it is pump ‘em out and get 3-5 done per week quality. It’s as good as any comic you’ll find in the newspaper, with updates coming out just almost as fast. That’s pretty impressive for any artist, let alone one with a nine-to-five. Kudos, Nick!

Secondly should be writing. Now I have to remind myself that I am not reading a comic book here but a periodical strip. The story arcs typically seem to span three or four posts in a row and mostly follow the weasel-like characters of Nick and his wife Angela (I hope I’m right on this). Other characters include Lance McWeasel (news anchor), the intermission stick people, and Larry the drama Llama. All of which add some real fun to the strip and keep it fresh. The humor is tough. Anyone who reads the funnies knows that jokes with quick setups (necessary for the format) and one-liners can be hit-or-miss. The majority of the strips put a smile on my face, but select few are lost to me either in my personal sense of humor or in the depths of geographic translation (cold weather jokes probably make more sense to Georgians than to those of us here in California where the current temperature is 70 F).

To me, the third criteria should be the website’s interface, but we already covered that. So the fourth is the frequency. If I were writing this review a year and a half ago, I would have expressed disappointment, but the dates on the past 100 or so posts seem to be pretty consistent. Who would I be to complain anyways? A very neat thing that Mizgala does is to foresee the random bits of life (vacations, head colds, etc) and draw short stories featuring the intermission stick people in advance. So if Nick is out for a week, his website isn’t.

So those are all of the criteria I can think of for a web comic, and I think they sum up Think Weasel pretty well. The website has taken the last space available on my over packed Firefox bookmark bar. The website seems like the perfect place for me to spend that half hour between class and work or a quick, stress-relieving break from either. Think Weasel is some great PG-rated entertainment that is sure to lighten the hearts of even the grouchiest of net-surfers.

(4.5/5)

For more on Think Weasel, or to read the web comic, head to www.thinkweasel.com and get your weasel on! (hit the “first” link and read your way through like I did, it’s way fun!)

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I am sure that by now we have all seen plenty of “gangster” movies, read gangster books and comic books, and hell we even listen to gangster music . Well some of us do, I guess. But the creators of HollyVOOD (http://www.hollyvoodsite.com/) claim to be reinventing the gangster story in a way that we have never seen before.

The title HollyVOOD seems to be an allusion to the foreign gangsters that fill its pages and their inability to pronounce the English “w”. But don’t worry, writers Vem (http://www.vemdirector.com/) and Steven Thadeus won’t go so far as to jumble the dialogue in an attempt to display accents. To tell you the truth, there isn’t too much dialogue here at all.

The first half of the issue spends time looking at the main character Krikor’s escape from war-torn Georgia (no not the US state) and into Los Angeles. The second half introduces a few characters including Ruzo, a greasy gang leader who likes to torture people for god knows what reason.

The story itself is intriguing, but unfortunately it is in the nature of preview issues to give a limited amount of that story before they end abruptly. The writing style takes some getting used to, as the writers seem to like to split sentences up into each frame. I know that a lot of comic book writers do that, but if you take look at this issue you will see why it jumped out at me.

And this issue definitely is worth taking a look at. The story itself is a comfortable mix of tragedy and comedy, but the bulk of its impressiveness is how it works together with the fantastic art by Anthony Diecidue (http://www.artofant.com/). Sure, it’s rough around the edges, but the style works amazingly with the vibrant colors he uses. The double page spreads really will put a tear in your eye.

As an independent group of creators, the three threw together a terrific piece of art here. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get a small-time comic on shelves across the country, so they ingeniously made their preview issue available here. Check it out!

(3.5/5)

PS- Mr. Thadeus was kind enough to supply me with a copy of the preview issue, and was humble enough not to toot his own horn. He didn’t mind tooting the horns of his co-creators, however. Vem has directed several commercials and music videos, and he is now working on some stuff for television. Diecidue is currently working with Disney and the great Stan Lee on “Time Jumpers”. $1.50 really is a bargain to get the collaborative work of a team like this. Check it out before they catch on and raise the price!