REVIEW: Vinegar Teeth #1

Script: Damon Gentry & Troy Nixey
Art: Troy Nixey
Lettering: Troy Nixey
Colors: Guy Major
Review: Cody "Madman" Miller

This is one bizarre comic conceived perhaps in the midst of an epic Hunter S. Thompson bender in the heart of bat country. After reading through the book once I promptly had to read it again just to see if I really did read what I thought I had read and to see if perhaps I missed something the first go around. It’s just that bizarre. What Gentry and Nixey have going here is some askew Lovecraftian tale crafted around the stereotypical buddy cop shtick.
Except it’s not so typical.

There is a cop named Artie Buckle whose career-making case is foiled as the mob boss he’s setting up is devoured by an alien creature best described as a bloated bladder-like puffball with mindflayer tentacles (on steroids), T.Rex-like arms ending in claws, and, of course, a mouth. The creature later adopts the name Vinegar Teeth, hence the title, and instead of killing the thing the cops hail Vinegar Teeth as a hero and put him on the payroll. In an unexpected turn of events Vinegar becomes Artie’s new partner, and they do what cops do.

REVIEW: Witchblade #1 - 2

Writer: Caitlin Kittredge
Artist: Roberta Ingranata
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Review: Art Bee

A long time ago in a comic store far, far away…my former LCS sold me the very first issue of Witchblade. This was a time in my teens, mid-90s by my recollection, when my brain was swimming in the newness of the Image lineup and the explosion of new creations pouring onto the comic book shelves. Marc Silvestri’s Top Cow imprint was flowing with interesting titles brimming from his development of the 13 artifacts in which the Darkness, the Angelus, and the Witchblade exist.

For those of you not familiar with the Witchblade, please allow me to pour out a little knowledge.
The Witchblade, being the male offspring of the Darkness and the Angelus, is known as The Balance and must maintain balance at all times. Since it is male, it must always choose a female host. The two become one in their merging with the Witchblade providing power, strength, will, and insight, while the host provides a face and voice. The Witchblade chooses its host, but afterwards the host must accept the artifact or face death. There have been many hosts over time, but the one that began the series in the very first issue was Sara Pezzini.

REVIEW: 30 Days of Night #1

Writer: Steve Niles
Artist: Piotr Kowalski
Colorist: Brad Simpson
Letterer: Tom B. Long
Review: Will "Identity Crisis" Dubbeld

Originally crafted by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, 30 Days of Night ought to be a well-known property by now.
The original miniseries has spawned numerous spinoffs and 2 movies of better than average B-grade horror fare. Ironically, at that, considering 30 Days... was originally a screenplay that couldn’t get off the ground.

In any case, the gods of comicdom have deemed it worthy that 30 Days of Night be granted a reboot.
For some reason.
Perhaps it’s because Niles left parts of the original story untold, perhaps he’s possessed of some urge to reinvent the comic, or perhaps his tortoise needed a new pair of shoes.
I’ve not heard, any which way you cut it.

Seriously, though, Steve Niles has a tortoise named Gil.
He has adventures on Twitter. It’s adorable.

I impulse-bought the first issue of the 2002 30 Days of Night off the shelf. Templesmith’s art intrigued (and quite frankly, confused) me and, after reading, the story sealed the deal.
I’m always in for a good vampire story.   

REVIEW: Monstro Mechanica #1

Writer & Co-creator: Paul Allor
Artist & Co-creator: Chris Evenhuis
Colorist: Sjan Weijers
Letterer: Paul Allor
Review: Madman

I had no clue what this comic was about when I snatched it off the shelf at Comics Cubed in Kokomo, Indiana. All I knew was that it was written by Paul Allor, a local guy, so I was going to support it for at least the first issue. Truth be told, I don’t buy all the books he works on such as G.I. Joe or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as I just don’t have any interest in that subject matter. I have supported his creator owned books like Tet, Strange Nation, and OrcGirl, as well as the books he has done for Marvel including Uncanny Inhumans and Secret Empire: Brave New World.

At first glance I thought the cover was pretty bland. Not the pencils so much as the color just didn’t do it for me, and I wasn’t in all that big a hurry to actually read the book. As it were it ended up on the bottom of my, “to read”, pile.

Even though my biggest criticism about the book after the first couple pages continued to be the coloring work, by the time I had finished the issue SJan’s art had grown on me. After going back and just focusing on the art and color, I realize I must have just been in a bad mood or something, because I found I liked more pages than I disliked. Mainly I think it was her use of large amounts of the same color that turned me off, but on my second read I found it actually worked well within the context  of the story.