REVIEW: Dr1ve #1

Writer: Michael Benedetto
Pencils: Antonio Fuso
Inks: Emilio Lecce
Colors: Jason Lewis
Review: Cody "Madman" Miller

I don’t know why, but the first thing I thought of when I saw this cover was Miami Vice. The purple city skyline and lettering like a neon sign . . .
Don’t get me wrong here; I was by no means excited by this. I could give two shits about Don Johnson and his television program.

My second observation was that the guy looking through the review mirror has a strong resemblance to Bryan Cranston’s character Walter White at first glance. Thinking this made me think of John Goodman’s character Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski and that made me smile.

Calmer then you are.
As it turns out it really annoys my wife when I keep calling her Donny. After asking her a couple hundred times if I was the only one who cared about the rules, I eventually came down from my Lebowski flashback.
Good night, sweet prince . . . I eventually read the comic.

To be honest my brain was releasing those feel good juices brought on by aforementioned flashback, and it's Lebowski so this book could have sucked horribly, and I would’ve been fine with that . . . calmer then you are.
I too dabbled in pacifism once. I was so happy that my Miami Viceish first impression was way off the mark. I actually really enjoyed this first issue of the four banger. So much so that I immediately introduced it to my pull list, and I know they’re going to be the best of friends. Mark it zero!

The book is all about a getaway driver, “the” getaway driver, whom shall ever remain nameless apparently. Not one time was he given a name throughout the first issue. I don’t find that a big deal or any such thing, in fact I find it rather sexy (in the modern over usage sense of the word. Strictly nonsexual). I like the mysterious drifter spiel as much as the next guy. The main character, Driver Guy, is a pretty cool cat. He’s a Hollywood stunt driver with an affinity toward driving the getaway car for men of ill repute.

You might already be privy to the story, either from the movie or the novel by James Sallis, all with the title of Dr1ve or maybe just plain Drive. I’m not really sure as I’ve never seen the movie or read the book. I just now learned they existed. I think there may possibly be a video game as well. I’m not sure on that one either as I don’t play video games. Life does not start and stop at your convenience, you miserable piece of #@*%.

The art is pure gratuitous eye candy of the sweetest nectar. The details of Fuso’s pencils and Lewis’s masterful use of color are where it’s at. Every page of Dr1ve is a thing of beauty. All in all a fantastic comic, be it a regurgitated story or not.

Way out of your element here, Donny.

REVIEW: Revelations #1-6 Tpb

Story: Paul Jenkins
Illustrations: Humberto Ramos
Colors: Leonardo Olea, Edgar Delgado, and Edgar Clement
Review: Art Bee

A couple of weeks ago when I stopped into Comic Cubed (Kokomo, Indiana), only two comics perched waiting for me in my subscription folder. Wanting more to read over the next week, I began to scan the wall of the current issues. Happily my stomach was empty, for the Marvel covers and titles made me retch. Seriously how wasted was the guy, whom first uttered “Battleworld”. Anyway, not finding anything to excite my eyeballs, I began looking at the trades and graphic novels. Seeing a few interesting ones, particularly Locke and Key, Shawn Hilton (Comic Cubed owner) suggested the trade paperback of the mini-series Revelations from BOOM! Studios. My skepticism was high as the story was based on the Catholic religion. Though I am not Catholic, I am a Christian and tend to stay away from comics that deal with the subject as I am not sure of their views on Christianity. It’s just my outlook.

Fortunately, I gave it a chance and was pleasantly surprised by it. Paul Jenkins delivers a very powerful mystery that baffles your intellect until the end. The story structure is sound and flows so well. This is difficult in such an endeavor, as most of the murder mystery comics I have seen or read have more information than they need or go out of their way to mislead the reader. Jenkins weaves an awesome web of mystery, suspense, and intrigue. Let me try to explain this without any spoilers.

First of all the main character is Detective Charlie Northern of Scotland Yard. He introduces himself with the following:

“My name is Charlie Northern. I’m forty-five years old, and I have been a soon-to-be-ex-smoker for thirty years. I’ve tried cough drops, patches, and cold turkey. My love affair with hypnotherapy never got off the ground. I’ve made promises and set dates and even stayed in bed for a week. Believe it or not ladies, I am still single. In life, I work for the flying squad out of Holborn Police Station. I like football and pretty girls and bloody awful yet thoroughly believable books on the unexplained.”

Charlie Northern is one of the most complete characters I have read about recently. The back story of this persistent detective is gradually divulged throughout the series, and he is very likable.

The mystery surrounds the murder of a Cardinal of the Catholic Church in Rome. The intrigue involves the massive cover up of the murder by local police and the other Cardinals. Paul Jenkins is well versed in the use of suspense as he unveils the plot.

As great as all of this sounds, it gets better. The artwork is great. Ramos has a particular style which he uses for the characters. At first I was not sure if I liked it, but as I read it really grew on me. The style is different but very consistent throughout in the series. What truly impresses me are the colors. Leonardo Olea has done all of the colors for the series except for chapter three, which is done by Edgar Delgado and Edgar Clement. What fascinates me is I couldn’t tell the difference between each of their work. The work is phenomenal!

Seriously, this is a series most everyone should read. Whether you like mysteries or not this story will entertain you with its many great facets. Honestly I don’t read much from BOOM!, but this is a jewel. Thank you, Shawn, for the great recommendation.

REVIEW: Godzilla in Hell #2

Art & story: Bob Eggleton
Review: Will Dubbeld

With the exception of the god-awful 1998 movie, I tend to love all things Godzilla.
Kaiju in general, really. Gamera runs a close second in the race for rubber-suited Japanese men capturing my heart.
The original 1950s movie was actually a pretty legit piece of postwar Japanese cinema, but most of us really fell in love with Godzilla as a cipher for professional wrestling among giant monsters.
Probably on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
Perhaps on KTMA in the Twin Cities.
Possibly as a sleepy-eyed dude and a couple of smartass robots cracked wise during the movie.
In any case, from renting Godzilla 1985 on VHS, to chasing down issues of the old Marvel Godzilla comic, to wishing I still had the cheap Godzilla toy that spat sparks from its mouth, it's safe to say he's been a fairly big part of my nerd life.

Godzilla has always struggled a bit in the comics, though. From getting hunted down by Dum Dum Dugan and occasionally rasslin' Red Ronin (because the Shogun Warriors were busy that day), to fighting Charles Barkley (because no shit that happened...), I've always had a hard time fully committing myself to Gojira funnybooks. Either the art hasn't sold me, the story was weak, or f'n seriously, Charles Barkley?!!! I think one of the main problems with Godzilla comics is the property is much more effective as a 90-minute movie. The action is much more effective (read: humorous) on screen, and the comics tend to bog themselves down with bad character arcs. Granted, there were actual human people storylines in the movies, but aside from the first couple of films, who cares? It's always some irritating brat named Timmy or Kenny, a doe-eyed cute girl, and some combination of nerdy inventor and/or suave neckerchief guy with a smooth ride.
Enough already, make with the Godzilla vs. Jet Jaguar already.*
Then along comes Godzilla in Hell.

I'd poked through some of IDWs other Gojira books but none of them piqued my curiosity until this one.
Godzilla has died and went to Hell?!!! Presumably for crimes against Japan?!!!
I had no idea, but I needed to find out. I didn't know if this series was the direct result of another books climax, like the Smog Monster finally k-o’d the big guy, or what. Frankly didn't care, either.
I was just really hoping at some point Godzilla would fight Satan because how rad would that be?
No Satan yet, but issue 2 finds Godzilla facing demonic representations of some members of his rogues gallery.
A twisted hellscape city serves as a battleground with Rodan.
Then an immense ice cavern over a frozen sea sets him up against Anguirus, then a storm-tossed ocean with Varan...
Etc. Etc. Ad nauseum, almost.
Herein lies the problem with Godzilla books. There's no dialogue among the main characters other than, "Grrrr!", "Hrowwwlll!", and perhaps the occasional "Skreeee-onk!"
Interjecting human characters into the books provides cohesion and dialogue, but who cares about those guys?
Hence the Kaiju Catch 22.
I'd pretty well lost interest by the time King Ghidorah showed up.
Monster Zero, if you will . . .

Some very nice exposition and descriptive text accompanies Godzilla’s through Hell, providing passages like, "Indeed, this pocket of Hell is a wasteland of doomed ships. Ones of sordid histories, horrific deeds and incidents...from all times, all places, trapped in a tomb of ice."
Eggleton nails the 19th century prose here, in an almost proto-Lovecraftian way that is reminiscent of a Coleridge, Blake, and/or Poe.

Flowery prose aside, a series of 2-3 page kaiju fights didn't exactly leave me waiting with baited breath for the next scene. The art, however, is goddamned gorgeous. Fully painted and inspired from 18th-19th century artists, these panels pop out and kick you right in the Tokyo Tower. Name dropping John Martin, Gustave Dore and J.M.W. Turner as influences in the afterward, Bob Eggleton invokes apocalyptic scenes of Biblical judgment and natures fury with a masters touch.

High marks on the art indeed.

Godzilla in Hell is a 5-part miniseries featuring a new creative team at the helm of every issue.
Hopefully one of these teams tells me exactly why Godzilla is in Hell, but in any case I'll still hold out in case there's a throwdown with Satan at some point.
SKREEONK!!!

*note: I'm pretty sure Godzilla and Jet Jaguar didn't actually fight at any point. I really just wanted to name-drop Jet Jaguar.