Beware Spoilers Ahead!

My reviews do contain spoilers about the main stories but I do attempt to keep them at a minimum. I will not reveal any major plot points or twists unless stated at the beginning of a review.

Monday 19 October 2015

E Is For Extinction #1

E Is For Extinction #1

E Is For Extinction issue #1 is written by Chris Burnham, art by Ramon Villalobos, colours by Ian Herring, letters by VC's Clayton Cowles and published by Marvel. Extinction is part of the current Secret Wars universe. There are many, many, many different X-men series some are fantastic some are, well, just plain weird. Extinction kind of falls into the weird category and seems to require a lot of previous knowledge for an issue #1 completely losing the chance to pick up new fans that a lot of the other Secret Wars titles have done.
U is for Ugly
Extinction seems to begin during the events of New X-men where instead of forcing Cassandra out of his head Professor X instead shoots himself, killing both himself and Cassandra (It's X-men so death isn't exactly permanent) when she refuses to leave and if that sounds like a lot of information you don't understand for a first issue then you will begin to see the problem with this series. In the world of Extinction Magneto runs Professor Xavier's school for mutants after his death and mutants are far more accepted to the point that people want to have mutant children in hopes that they will have an ability that gives them an upper hand in life. Magneto's grand plan seems to be to use the students with psychic ability to attempt to revive whatever is left of Jean Grey/The Pheonix (because of course she is dead) but for what purpose exactly is not clear.
Also the U-Men turning up and start being jerks as usual
Extinction uses classic characters such as Cyclops, Beast, Emma Frost and Wolverine as well as characters from New X-men such as Beak, Angel, Quentin and the 5 Cuckoos. the well known characters keep their usually personalities and traits such as Magneto, in classic style, is manipulative towards the students for his own plans and Cyclops continuing to whine and complain about everything. Many of the characters from New X-Men have their character's standings changed from "special class" to suddenly badass personal guard of Magneto which although I enjoy seeing the use of the characters I have a hard time accepting that they are suddenly fit for battle against the U-Men considering one of them is a floating brain in a jar. One little Easter egg that I do think is fantastic is the inclusion of the character "Ugly John" a three faced mutant who dies in the New X-men, as a student at the institute. The reason I like the inclusion of Ugly John is mainly because his death in New X-men was not a pleasant one.

The art...... The art of Extinction.... I don't even know where to begin. I work with animals and I've seen hairballs more attractive than Extinction. Everything looks like its been dragged behind a couch that's in desperate need of a vacuum. This comic even makes Emma Frost, arguably one of the most beautiful women in comics, look like Jabba The Hutt's ugly sister. Wrinkles are exaggerated and all the characters (even the young ones) look ancient. In short I am not a fan.
What the hell?
The main problem I have with Extinction is the art, I will read an average story with good art, I will read a good story with average art but I find an average story with bad art almost impossible to read.

I give E for Extinction Issue #1 2 out of 5 mutant schools.

Monday 5 October 2015

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night #1

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night #1 - Death Is The Answer

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is written by Ana Lilly Amirpour art by Michael DeWeese, lettering by Patrick Brosseau, edited by Ben & Jon Conrad and published by Radco. I picked up A Girl Walks digitally because of it's ultra creepy cover and strange name but mostly because it was only $0.99 and I'm shocking with impulse purchases. After reading A Girl Walks it seemed to fit the very definition of creepy and unsettling, so not a wasted $0.99. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is adapted from an independent film of the same name first released in 2014, receiving awards and being popular with both critics and audiences.
If I saw that at night I'd nope straight out of there
The story follows a vampire that stalks the people of the town as she contemplates the nature of peoples dark secrets and her own need to take lives. As The Girl takes a victim we learn she collects souvenirs from each kill, usually a ring, and that she has a lot of rings. The first issue leads us to believe that The Girl chooses her victims based on if they are either "good or bad" but her definitions of good and bad are not yet made clear.
Also she likes cats, so that's nice

The comic is based entirely around the character of The Girl, who gives off an overwhelming sense of loneliness throughout the issue. The impression that the girl chooses her victims based on perceiving them as good or bad makes you think that perhaps she is not a complete monster and does not take joy in her killings, shown when she turns away from a young boy saying she will wait to see what kind of person he becomes, but her collection of souvenirs from her victims perhaps suggests otherwise.

The art is done entirely in black and white and has some incredibly haunting imagery. The look of The Girl's look with her long hooded cape invokes imagery of the grim reaper without going over the top into the stereotypical Dracula look. The violence and gore is disturbing and confronting without becoming grotesque which is always the mark of a good horror comic.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is a great comic that turns the creep factor all the way up and any fan of suspenseful horror movies will probably really enjoy it. If you're a bit of a scaredy cat and have trouble with horror stories this could be a good starting place as their is far more emphasis on atmosphere rather than gore or violence.

I give A Girl Walks Alone At Night 4 out of 5 skate boarding vampires.

Find out more about A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night here.