Art Bee’s Friday Creep Double Feature

This week demands a double review. After reading these two books my left and right brains were about to reenact the entire Hatfield and McCoy feud inside my skull while trying to figure out which to review. At my LCS each issue gave me a bad first impression, but as you will read soon, each surprised me. I like surprises! Almost as much as I like Shineys!

Imaginary Fiends #1

Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Stephen Molnar
Colorist: Quinton Winter
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Review: Art Bee

The cover of Imaginary Fiends #1 demands the book be picked up and flipped through at the very least. It has a creepiness to it that festers in the back of the eyeballs and draws you in, much like a teenager in a horror movie is drawn to open a curtain concealing a mutilated body. There are two features on the cover that makes it very effective. The first is the word, “Imaginary”, looks out of focus while, “Fiends”, is in focus. This aids in building that creepiness as well as focusing a person’s eyes on the title. The second is the creepy face on the cover. It is simple yet effective. At first sight it gave me a slight chill at the back of my neck.

The plot of this series is very original and unique to the best of my knowledge. Those childhood imaginary friends could actually be fiendish extra-dimensional parasites praying on a child’s fears and affections. To me that sounds like an incredible and inexhaustible plotline. The potential for this series will be greater than The Real Ghostbusters cartoon from the late 80s.   

This issue opens with the event that lands the central character, Melba Li, in a juvenile detention center. This event is triggered by a fiend named Polly Peachpit.
Isn’t that a name that makes your imagination run wild?
Anyway, I don’t want to share much about the story otherwise it will completely destroy the suspense the writer has worked so hard to build.
There is a lot of suspense in this story, folks.

The artwork is really good. The best thing going for it is the character’s facial features. Molnar does a fantastic job with even the tiniest details of a face. With that said, all of the backgrounds throughout the comic seem plain or underdeveloped. I believe this is done on purpose to drive the reader’s focus to the characters the foreground and help build suspense.

We are a month out from Halloween. This nice horror treat is a tad late for the holiday, but that is fine by me. Good horror stories are welcome all year in my life. It will be nice to see how long the creators and Vertigo carry this title. It really has so much potential to continue for a long time.

Doppelgänger #1 of 4

Creator, Writer, Colorist: Jordan Hart
Penciler, Inker: EmmanuekXerx Javier
Review: Art Bee

Why did I pick this comic up? Its cover is unexciting. The publisher is unknown to me. Why did I?
Paper…
It is printed on actual paper just like the comics of the Gold and Silver age.
Seems like a dumb reason to buy a comic book, right?
Well, there is more. It was only $1.50.
Those two facts made me feel like a kid again, so I paid for it.

Doppelgänger #1 is a great story thus far. This issue helps us to get to know the main character, Dennis Zimmann. He doesn’t have a great life, but one car accident at the start of this issue is about to ruin what life he has. The other driver in the accident has a bit of a shocking surprise for Dennis, and it is revealed late in the issue.

This mini-series looks like it will be very enjoyable. Hart has done an incredible job planning and writing this tale. All of the thought and work is evident in this issue. Every page, panel, and bit of dialogue is deliberate and well-designed to aid the stories flow. What astounds me is all the dialogue feels just like what real people would actually say in the manner they would say it. Most comic books feel like the dialogue is forced or faked to make it fit.

The artwork in this issue was adequate. It had an older comic look to the style, but the artistry was a little haphazard. A few of the panels look great while many others look rushed and awkward. Even the colors gave the comic book a vintage look to it all.

Overall I am glad I grabbed this issue and plan on getting the other three. Doppelgänger seems like it is going to be a fantastic mini-series. The first issue really had me on edge ready for the next page. Alterna Comics is an unknown publisher to me, but I am going to find out more about them.