X-Files / 30 Days of Night - WildStorm / IDW Publishing

I have to admit . . I really enjoyed this issue. I was less than thrilled with the last X-Files mini series by WildStorm. I thought it was kind of dull, and predictable. But as I said then . . I just feel like the caliber of stories have increased since that series aired. Yeah, it was cutting edge then. But now? Not so much. I say that even though I have a deep fondness for the series. I loved it! Anyways, I'm still a follower, so . . I picked up this series even though I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I know the 30 Days of Night was a good franchise, so . . I figured they'd probably be a good fit together. And . . I was right. This issue basically follows a trucker . . Henry Lee Brown, 'Patches' . . a road-worker, actually. He's lived in Alaska for all of his 40 some years. And although he dreads the long winter nights, he knows that he's blessed and he balances out his time with his family with that of work . . clearing the roads. Henry, 'Patches' finds solace, quiet and time to think at his job. Plus, for the most part, it's been uneventful. That is until the night he stumbles across the semi-truck graveyard. He finds an area with a dozen or so trucks wrecked and mangled. But, at first . . he can find no bodies. And then . . he finds the effigy. A 25 foot pole with 16 headless bodies hanging from the top of it. And on the bottom . . all the collected heads, in a pile. A few of them . . he even recognizes. After reporting what he finds . . enter the Police, the FBI, and . . Mulder and Scully. This issue basically just serves to introduce the characters and set the stage. But things are going to start escalating next issue. After the long hours stuck at this site Henry is just happy to be returning home . . home to his loving family. But upon entering, he finds a pack of vampires . . demons, or whatever . . that have entered his home and killed his family. Their heads have been centered on the dining room table like the Thanksgiving turkey. This could prove to be a very interesting series. I just hope it doesn't get to predictable. It's nice to see Steve Niles return to the franchise he created. With a little help from Adam Jones on the scripts. And although I'm not a huge fan of Tom Mandrake's art . . I do have to admit that he's probably the perfect artist for this story. His style does fit in well with the macabre nature of this book. So, right now . . I'm hopefully optimistic. This could be good, or . . it could be average. We'll just have to wait and see.

the Pilgrim #2 - IDW Publishing

I like this book. So far the premise seems pretty interesting. It's about a secret government project having to do with psychic powers. So far it seems like their major interest is remote viewing. You know, for watching in on secret meetings, or spying on the enemies, even looking into the past or future of certain events. But I'm sure there's much more involved than all of that. In the first issue we see how all of this kind of got started by both sides, the Americans and the Germans, during WWII. However, once the war was over . . the research never stopped. This story seems to be mostly from the American point of view. We know that the German's have had some success. But the pictures we get of them are what we see from the American subject's POV. They seem to be in some kind of chambers on this machine that focus' their powers. I'm not sure if they're calling the remote-viewing program Lilith, or the machine that they're actually hooked up to. But it seems like the machine, or program, controls the power and agenda. And the people hooked up are just it's batteries. I could be wrong, but that's the take I'm getting on it. Anyways, while all of this is going on, we're watching the story unfold about this apparently homeless ex-soldier. He seems to have had some severe traumatic affects of his service, and it's weighing heavy on his dreams and nightmares. But he's obviously a person that was somehow involved or connected to this program. This issue he's arrested as a vagrant. But while in the county hospital, he has a severe reaction to being restrained. He wakes up to find himself strapped into a bed, but by the time a doctor shows up to check in on him . . somehow he's bent the bed into a cage that's wrapped around him. There's a lot more going on also. Something about this old guy that lives in a nursing home. There's something about this guy who's the leader of this little country called Chechenia. And then of course there's the whole German angle to all of this. We're getting a whole lot of information. And a lot of various aspects to this story. But since we're only on issue #2, we don't quite see yet how all of this fits together. We really don't know much more than the bits and pieces of information that we've been fed. I think the book has a lot of potential. I'm just a little confused right now as to where Mark Ryan and Mike Grell are taking us. We don't know who the 'good guys' or 'bad guys' are. Hell . . we barely know some of the characters names. But . . it's interesting. It's intriguing. And Mike's art looks fantastic. As if I expected anything less. I'll probably stick with it for a little while, to try to figure out what's going on. And then . . we'll see, after that.

the Pilgrim #1 - IDW Publishing

There's really only one reason that I picked up this book . . Mike Grell. I love this guys work. But I hadn't heard anything about this series ahead of time, so I had no idea what to expect. Then before reading it, I noticed some of the ads for the book. Especially the part, 'This is a work of fiction. Although inspired by historical facts.' The first thing I thought was, 'Oh no, it's going to be a 'war' book.' I don't have anything against them, but . . they're definitely not my favorite genre. And that's what this is . . kind of. But not really in the way I was thinking. Basically . . the story starts out in WWII, in what looks like one of Hitler's command bunkers. It's not fully explained, yet, but it looks like it has to do with all that 'magic' and 'mysticism' stuff that Hitler was all obsessed with. It looks like they're dealing with the 'Spear of Destiny' . . maybe. But then we also see what I assume is some people in London doing some 'remote viewing' to see what the enemy is up to. The other people seem to have some kind of orb. Anyways, things go wrong when London is bombed. The orb is broken and we see that they've let some kind of demon, or something, loose. Then the story skips to the present, and a place called Psimex Research institute. It looks like a normal business, but it's actually a cover for military experiments in psychic powers . . specifically, 'remote viewing'. We see a General visiting the facility to check on their progress. There's some terrorist guy that he's out to get, but they have no 'actionable intelligence'. That's what he's counting on this group for. We see this General talking to the guy I assume runs the facility. They're both real ass-holes, but . . I'm not sure yet which one is bigger. We also see what's going on from the subjects point of view. They're trying to get the information that they want, but . . it's hard for them to ignore the guys in the hallway talking about them when their emotions are so raw and vagrant. They just have to be careful that they don't find out that they're watching them. They monitor them with encephalographs, and somehow they can use them to tell them what they're 'viewing'. It's the first issue, so . . not everything is explained yet. Right now we have to do a lot of filling-in between the lines. And the last part of the story is about a specific soldier who's still in the middle-east . . Tom. It's a flashback of this guy who seems to have the same power, and used it to save his squad from a bombing. But those things still result in somebody dying, so . . now he's having nightmares. I would imagine that this guy Tom is the Pilgrim. He's out there doing the same thing they're doing in the government projects, but . . he's doing it alone. Like I said . . it's only the first issue, so . . there's still an awful lot to fill in. But . . my curiosity has been piqued. Mark Ryan writes the story, and . . it's definitely interesting. Of course it doesn't hurt that Mike's art looked simply amazing. I'll definitely be looking forward to issue #2. Now I kind of want to see where this story goes.

the Ghoul #3 - IDW Publishing

I have to say . . I enjoyed this issue much more than the previous one. That's not to say that last issue was bad . . there were just parts that I guess I just didn't fully appreciate. Anyways, as Berni Wrightson's art was the best feature of last issue . . I guess it's only fair to praise Steve Niles story in this one. I also liked the way they brought Detective Coogan into this one. He's the PI from their first mini-series, Dead, She Said!. They got some information from the demons that they were dealing with last issue, but this Atwood woman . . they get her address from Coogan. Speaking of the demons . . when Kevin . . er, the Ghoul first arrived he mentioned to Lloyd that besides helping him with his case, he wanted to deal with the Walpurgisnacht . . some kind of 'demon-night' thing. I guess that's what the deal was with all those demons last issue in that park, but . . I felt like the whole thing was kind of glossed over a bit. There really wasn't a whole lot of attention paid to it other than that they beat up on some demons. Well that and we were introduced to Doc Macabre's character. I'm guessing that he'll probably be the focus of their next mini-series. Anyways, this issue was focused on solving the Atwood mystery . . which they do, and then Kevin heads back home. But he tells Lloyd that he'll see him again. At first Det. Klimpt doesn't know what he means, but . . 'Klimpt had seen the other side, he had glimpsed behind the curtain, into the shadows, and he found himself unable to look away. Now he would pursue a different kind of work.' And Steve's prose story in the back also wraps up this issue. It's another case that Kevin takes . . apparently a few weeks after this one, in which he finds a female version of himself involved with. I enjoyed it because we get to see more of the Ghoul's character as he tries to relate to this other person. He thought he was alone in the world. Anyways, as I said last issue, I think this will be a great story to pick up in TPB form. I think it'll read a whole lot better all at once. Plus . . if you haven't seen it, you have to take a look at Berni's art. It really is fantastic. Overall I liked the series, and the introduction to this character. It'll be interesting to see if they do another one though. I'm guessing that they will, but . . we'll see.

the Ghoul #2 - IDW Publishing

Unfortunately . . I kind of had a hard time getting in to this one. Well . . maybe that's not exactly right. I did enjoy it. But I had 2 problems. First . . let me say that I enjoy Steve Niles' writing, and Berni Wrightson is one of my favorite artists of all time. However, having said that . . my first complaint is that this book was entirely to short. 16 pages of art total. And one was a 2 page spread . . which I'll admit was hauntingly beautiful, but . . that's still only 15 pages of story. Which, now that I think about it, adds to my list of complaints because not only is there only 15 pages of story, but . . we had to wait 3 months to get that. The second problem I had . . and maybe it's just me. I don't know . . I watch a lot of TV . . I watch a lot of movies . . I read a lot of comics. I know that there's going to be times where there's a lot of similar themes or stories. But to me . . this book . . this character . . reminded me alot of Hellboy. It had the same kind of story set up. It had the same kind of humor. I swear, every time the Ghoul talked . . I thought I could hear Ron Perlman's voice. I know. That's not really fair. And to be perfectly honest, I haven't watched or read Hellboy in quite a while. So it's not like I was thinking about it, or it was on the top of my mind. It's just the first thing I thought of when I started reading. Now, Steve does have a 5 page story at the back of the book . . all prose, about the Ghoul, Kevin. But that's set up mostly to bring the reader up to speed on the character. Don't get me wrong here. I do like the book. Even if it is over-priced for what we get. However, if you haven't picked it up yet . . I wouldn't bother trying. It'll be out in TPB soon enough. I would just wait and get the whole story that way. In fact it'll probably be more enjoyable just reading the whole thing all together. Unless of course you're a die-hard Wrightson fan. In which case . . you gotta' get it, and . . you'll enjoy it. We'll see what the next issue is like. It should be out about Easter, I would guess.

the Ghoul #1 - IDW Publishing

To be perfectly honest with you . . the only reason I picked up this book is because it was by Steve Niles and Berni Wrightson. I had picked up their previous work for IDW, Dead, She Said and I thought it was pretty good. So when I saw this one, I had to give it a shot. This actually came out a couple of weeks ago, but I ran across the variant on E-Bay. Which is what brought it to my attention. My guy at the shop had 1 copy left. Anyways, the story is about this LAPD Detective, Lloyd Klimpt. He's got this special case he's been working on and through association he found out that the LAPD and NYPD had a special relationship with the FBSI, Federal Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. And more specifically, one of their chief operatives . . the Ghoul. Until he actually saw him, Lloyd was certain that the Ghoul was an urban legend. But through some special arrangements, he got him to come to LA and look into this case with him. In a nutshell . . he's looking into the Atwood family. 3 generations of movie stars. The problem is . . Lloyd thinks these women are all the same people. In fact the movie stars are just the most recent, and famous, part of this family. He did some digging and found out that the uncanny resemblance of these women actually go back 10 generations. They changed their last names a few times over the course of those years, but settled on Atwood for the last 3. However, before they can get started there's something the Ghoul wants to take care of while he's here . . 'Tonight is Walpurgisnacht, the night the devil, his demons, and all things evil walk the Earth. Don't worry, just a couple hundred, most likely.' How much do you want to bet that these 2 things are connected. I love Steve's work. He really writes this book with an old film-noir style. And what can I say about Berni. The guys a legend. It's hard to believe that he's 61 and still producing this good of work. Anyways, this was the introduction chapter, so hopefully we'll get more into the story next issue. Now if I can just pick up one of those variant covers . . cheap!

Jon Sable Freelance - Ashes of Eden #2 - IDW Publishing

While this book does progress the story, it's also a retrospective of sorts. For some of the newer readers, it takes a little time to introduce us to some of Jon's supporting cast . . specifically, Eden Kendall, Sonny Pratt and Myke Blackmon. I thought it was informative. Anyways, Jon completes his assignment this issue and delivers the rather large diamond to it's owner. That should be the end of it. Right? Well . . with Jon nothing is ever that simple. The diamond guy is so impressed with the ease of Jon's work that he wants to hire him to review the security for their big show tonight. Obviously he takes the job, even though it interferes with everything everybody else wants him to do. Which is usually how Jon's decisions work out . . for everybody else. Anyways, it seems that they've got everything covered . . even Jon is impressed. But that just means, for sure that something is going to go wrong. And it appears to be coming in the form of an old acquaintance of Jon's . . Maggie the Cat, who will be returning next issue. I've always liked this series. I thought the first mini by IDW was good, and I followed the entire series at First. Mike Grell seems to thrive in this environment . . action / adventure. Jon Sable, Starslayer, Warlord . . they all have a dominant male figure at their axis with a hunger for action / adventure and strong sexy women. Mike seems to be revisiting a lot of his old 'projects' of late. There's even some mention in the letter column about Maggie the Cat and Shaman's Tears. But nobody's brought up Starslayer. Will we maybe see that sometime soon also? Anyways, I really liked this book. As usual Mike is doing a great job with both the story and the art. My only question, so far is . . does the Ashes of Eden refer to the place where this story started . . Africa? Or is it more literal and refers to the actual character, Eden Kendall? Well, we have 4 more issues to enjoy of this great story and character. If you get a chance, look for the TPB of the previous story-lines. You won't be disappointed.

Jon Sable Freelance - Ashes of Eden - #1 - IDW Publishing

Wow! Two books illustrated by Mike Grell in the same month? What more could a comic geek like me ask for? Plus, it's been a while since I've seen this character. We jump right back into the mix this issue as Jon appears to be working out of Africa, once again, for a diamond manufacturer. It always comes down to money and women. Doesn't it? And believe me, there's a woman involved her also. Apparently some years ago, when she was 13, Bashira had her picture taken as a victim of war. She was an Iraqi waiting for the Americans to save her country. However, at that time they stopped at the borders. Her picture was taken by the press, with her haunting blue eyes showing out from under her burka. She became 'the Face of War'. Later the diamond company snatched her up because of her beauty. 'Bashira's face is inextricably lined to this company and, quite simply put, she's become almost as much a liability as an asset. Bashira is our corporate symbol. The embodiment of the unattainable . . what all men want, but few can possess.' So, apparently Jon is being hired not only to transport this huge, rare diamond that they've recently dug up, but also to watch over Bashira. He's got 48 hours until the exhibit in London. All he has to do is keep both of them safe. I'm sure that's going to be a lot easier said than done. I always like this series, and this character. I thought it was interesting that an author of children's book, BB Fleming, would have an alter-ego of a bounty-hunter, mercenary, and big game hunter. The two different sides of his identity couldn't be more different. I'm glad that Mike is making another stab at this character. It's only going to be a mini-series, but . . that's ok. I'll take what I can get.

Dead, She Said #3 - IDW Publishing

I liked this book. I was thrilled to see Berni Wrightson doing some new stuff again. But, I have to say, I kind of felt that the ending . . the resolution . . was a bit anti-climatic. I thought it had a pretty neat concept going on through the first 2 books. The idea of a guy living through his murder, and then having to deal with the progressive nature of the rigor that was taking over his body . . I thought . . was hilarious. And, the longer it took for him to solve his murder, the harder it was getting for him to cover up that he was actually dead, and walking around. The smell alone was a 'dead' give-a-way. Anyways, I can understand how Steve Niles hands are a bit tied, over in Simon Dark by DC, because it's a mainstream title and there's a limit to where he can take the horror. But this is an independent book. I thought there was so much more he could've done here. And then, come to find out, Coogan was killed by this guy who grew and trained giant ants. He thought that Coogan was out to steal his secrets when actually he was trying to find out if the guy was cheating on his wife. He really couldn't have cared less about what he was doing with the ants. Also what seemed kind of preposterous . . the reason he had the ants out killing people, is so that he could collect the body parts and put them together into one big conglomeration. He was kind of like Dr. Frankenstein on acid . . or maybe Ritalin. Don't get me wrong. The story was interesting. It was pretty humorous in spots too. But, like I said, I just thought the ending was a bit lame. And I really don't see how this character can ever come back for a second round, as his body is pretty much through now. But I guess that may be the interesting part of it . . to see how they handle it next time. Anyways, I really hope we see some more new stuff from Berni somewhere. It was kind of like visiting an old friend.

Dead, She Said #2 - IDW Publishing

Ok, this was an interesting book. Coogan is still dead, obviously, so now he's just getting smellier and uglier. And if he wasn't sure about that . . everyone he meets tells him so. He does make some headway with the story though this issue. He's been trying to figure out who killed him. It looks like it was an associate, 'Sticks'. A few weeks ago he had been hired by a Doctor's wife to find out if he was cheating on her. He wasn't, all he was doing was spending all his time in his lab. But, during the course of the stake-out he was spotted by one of the Doctor's cameras. Which is why he hired 'Sticks' to kill him. However, when Coogan arrives at 'Sticks' pad, he's dead, and then the cops come in about a minute later. That's where this issue starts, and, through the course of the interrogation, Coogan and the cops put together the pieces with the Doctor. Now he just has to figure out why he had him killed. We find out it's because he's raising an army of giant ants that seem to do his bidding. Apparently, he didn't want anyone else to know about it. The issue ends when he sends them in to a trailer park to go after some meat for the larvae. This book is interesting because of the 'film-noir' style that Steve Niles is writing it in. I believe this is a mini-series, and next issue may be the last issue. It kind of reminds me of an episode of Tales From the Crypt. Not any specific episode, just that it could be in that series. It would fit. The real reason I bought the book though is because of Berni Wrightson's pencils. He's one of my favorites and I couldn't pass up any new work by him. I believe he's inking his own stuff here also. He fits perfectly with the story because this is definitely his genre. Try it out if you get a chance.

Dead, She Said #1 - IDW Publishing

This one I picked up on a complete whim. I've been impressed by Steve Niles' stories in the past, but as soon as I saw the Berni Wrightson was doing the full interior art . . pencils and inks . . I decided to pick it up. It's kind of nice, also, because I have no idea what it's about, and no preconceived notions. I'm going in to it . . a virgin. I feel so vulnerable. Anyways, I thought it was a pretty good book. It's done in a film-noir type of style. Basically, we meet this guy, Joe Coogan, the day after he dies. He's used to waking up from a drunken stooper, so when he first gets up . . he thinks it's just another morning. Although he is a little stiffer than usual. And I don't mean in the Viagra kind of way. When he see his guts spilling out the bullet hole in his stomach, and coming out his back, he realizes what's going on and that he has rigor mortis. He's a detective . . I'm sorry, actually . . a PI. So he does what he does and he starts looking for who did this to him. The guy on the cover is the one who killed him. But Joe isn't getting any information from him because he's taking a dirt nap also, but . . "He had the sort of death that was permanent." There's also a couple pages in the middle about a family that's out camping in the woods. It looks like the parents get swallowed up by the insects in the grass. I think the 2 stories are related because Joe finds what looks like a lobster claw wedged under the couch of the victim. And of course, right when he's kneeling over the victim is when the cops show up. I thought it was a good first issue. It'll be interesting to see where the story goes from here. I really liked Berni's art. It's great to see him back in action. He's done a few covers, over the last year or so, but I don't know that he's done any interiors. I'll definitely be back for issue #2.