Comic
Reviews With Anastasia
Grip #1 "The Strange World of Men" (W)(A) Gilbert Hernanadez,
Vertigo Comics, $2.95, color
One half the team that brought you the incomparable Love &
Rockets now brings you Grip, a surreal journey of a man desperately
searching for his identity. "Waking up" on a street corner in
someone else's suit and a lovely lipstick print on his cheek.
The wallet he finds in his suit pocket gives little help except
for the cash. The license only proves more confusion, as it's
someone else's. The entire comic takes this man from school
to the hospital to a bar to a strange woman's house and back
on the street, looking for answers. Never finding them, only
clues that may or may not prove to be genuine. Supposed friends
show up with cryptic messages about meeting other men in suits
in undisclosed locations that later end up in misunderstandings
and guns firing which is later interupted by sexy assasin women.
The entire time he mumbles about the threat of hornets. Confused
yet? Reading this was akin to picking up edited pieces of a
Taratino film and turning them into sequential art and packaging
it as a comic. Much like recent episodes of the X-Files, I might
be interested in the next issue, if I didn't think I would just
be more confused.
Rating: 1 skull
Shiver in the Dark (W)(A) Stuart Sayger available at www.stuartsayger.com
$2.50, b&w;, 13 pages
The b&w; stylings of this comic are worth the cover price, Sayger
has allowed interpretive control of ink without appearing too
abstract. The renderings are fluid, still conveying emotion
without losing the flow. The story is nothing but a brief introduction
into the life of one spoiled college girl who happens upon a
most unusual book. A book that seems destined to change her
life, but for better or for worse, its hard to tell.
Aside from a few typographical errors, the story moves swiftly,
although not quite the flow of the artwork. There are times
you wish you knew a little bit more detail, but wonder if it
would sacrifice the action. Its too hard to tell in so short
a story. Its a good introduction into what is setting up to
be a very good story. Right now, you can only get this issue
from his website at www.stuartsayger.com.
Rating: 3 skulls
Four Women issues 1-3 (of 5) (W)(A) Sam Keith, Vertigo,
$2.95, color
Its a bizarre tale of quite honestly, four women who take
a road trip and run into car problems which leads to the problem
of two demanding hilljacks that pull up to help in the absolute
loosest sense of the word. In the first issue, you are so delightfully
confused, that you keep reading because you have to know more.
But youre not completely lost, you just feel that odd sort
of emotional tug instead of reading a straight forward black
and white tale of trouble. Keith (creator of the Maxx) is a
master at pulling at the oddest emotional strings... not losing
the audience but wrapping them up in his world that makes you
really hate coming to the end of an issue.
In the first installment of Four Women, the story unravels quite
successfully in a troubled mix of flashbacks and the questions
and answer session of one of the aforementioned four women,
Donna, and what sounds like a psychologist. Keith is able to
keep you on the brink of not knowing, but dying to know, by
letting Donna relay the tragic events of that one night as how
she sees it, in disjointed moments of horror, cowardice and
confusion. You dont know whats going on, but you feel like
youre there.
Although not building up to a classic whodunit story, I feel
if I give away too much of the first issue, youll miss having
that discovery as you turn every page and begin to piece it
all together. Each issue gets you closer to how you think it
will end, but knowing Keith, it will end nothing like you expect.
He is the master of a new surreal mystery genre that abandons
the cliche crime solving and embarks instead on an emotional
roller coaster ride that crashes you into an ending you knew
was going to happen, but just didnt want to admit it.
Rating: 3 and a half skulls
The Haunted (#1 of 4) (W) Peter David (P) Nat Jones (I) Kevin
Conrad & Rich Bonk Chaos Comics!, $2.99, color
The first issue throws you headfirst into what you think is
that dream you always hate, where youre naked in school and
you cant seem to wake up. Desi is the main focus of the story,
whose dream youre introduced to and as she seems to spirit
walk from one classmate to another, finding out all their bizarre
secrets, she runs into one classmate that seems to notice her.
The story fast forwards to her waking up but as she encounters
the next day at school, what appeared to be just a dream, turns
out to be some sort of reality and now Desi is privvy to all
sorts of inside stories, whether she wants to be involved or
not.
The first issue is an intriguing introduction to this supernatural
thriller, filled with 5 different characters from different
walks of life, forced to take the same path. The art is very
reminscent of Spawn but avoids the heavy line work Ive seen
before. It transcends the run of the mill supernatural crap
that spews forth every Halloween with the substantial bulk being
fluffy urban legends that soriety sisters think up. The Haunted
shows more thought, and seems to be on the road to an intelligent
read with horror but without the mind numbing gore and magickal
words that make no sense. Peter David is a skilled writer who
has worked on such titles as Captain Marvel and Supergirl, his
gift for sharp dialogue and intriguing plot either hits a perfect
mark, or he misses it completely. In all the titles mentioned,
he's hit the mark perfectly.
Rating: 3 skulls
Anastasia
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