REVIEW: Moonshine #1 - 2

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Art & Colors: Eduardo Risso
Review: Madman

I pulled the first issue of this series off of the shelf for two simple reasons: the title and the epic cover, which is hands down my favorite cover that I’ve seen on a comic in a while. Absolutely perfect. Who isn’t a fan of old school pinstripe-wearing wiseguys? Well, here were have three silhouetted in a grass field packing all kinds of nice toys . . . take my money. I’m not sure when the first issue came out. It just kind of got shelved until recently when issue two suddenly appeared in my folder at the LCS. That’s when I remember I hadn’t read the first issue yet, and it was for some strange reason residing inside of the curio cabinet. For the record, the 2nd  issue's cover is way less awesome than the 1st issue's eye candy, and that was a serious disappointment.

In truth, my love affair with this series sadly ended many pages before I finished reading the 1st issue. What started off like your classical wiseguy story of bootlegging, hustling, beat downs, etc. turned into something else that was taking me places I do not wish to go. Our adventure starts out innocently enough with a boss sending his top wiseguy from New York City down into the heart of Appalachia, Deliverance country deep, after the maker of what is apparently the best tasting moonshine ever. I can respect that . . . I’ve had some good moonshine.  

REVIEW: Cerebus in Hell? #1

Gustave Doré: penciller
Dante Alighieri: inker
Dave Sim: letterer
Sandeep Atwal: colorist

Review: Will Dubbeld

I've a bit of a tumultuous relationship with Cerebus the Aardvark. Dave Sim's nigh-legendary creation has been lauded, detracted, discussed, and managed to wedge itself firmly in my brain somewhere between exaltation and depression.
What started as a cheeky sendup of the sword-and-sorcery genre soon evolved into something else entirely.
A melange of drama, satire, metafiction, and frankly heavy work followed an otherwise lighter first volume.

I think I made through six or seven volumes before I had to step back for a bit. It's a amazing piece of writing, but my god does it get maudlin. For my own peace of mind I simply had to step away for a bit.
That was about 4 years ago . . .

In any case, when news of a new Cerebus miniseries dropped I opted to check it out. Sim has created a seminal work of fiction and I felt almost obligated to read his new comic.
Like I owed it to myself to see what Ol' Cerebus was up to these days.  

REVIEW: Warlords of Appalachia #1

Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Illustrator: Jonas Scharf
Colorist: Doug Garbark
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Review: Art Bee

Why are movies like Mad Max, The Crow, and Gladiator such big hits with so many? Most of the time the killer in a movie is the “bad guy”, but when that killer is out to get vengeance for the
ones they love, we jump behind them and cheer for their efforts (plus it helps if it’s one of our favorite actors). It is hard to condemn one whose heart has been ripped out and stomped to
smithereens.

A few weeks ago Warlords of Appalachia #1 hit the shelves of my LCBS and caught my eye since my roots are in West Virginia. This comic is quite an original concept and could be a big hit
for BOOM! Studios.

Warlords of Appalachia starts shortly after the United States’ second Civil War, which started with Kentucky and other states seceding from the Union in 2041. The war is over and Kentucky
refuses to accept the sovereignty of the United States. The Union does not abandon the lone state, however. Aid pours in from the military as well as occupation, and other groups send assistance to the state in creative ways such as balloons and air drops.  

Halloween Comicfest 2016

Peach and the Isle of Monsters #1

Written and created by Franco Aureliani
Artwork by Agnes Garbowska
Review by Will Dubbeld

Ah, Halloween Comicfest. It's like Free Comic Book Day, but not! It certainly hasn't got the clout that its May counterpart possesses, but is well worth supporting nevertheless. Any opportunity to spread the joy of funnybooks is okay by me. Halloween Comicfest has a similar formula as FCBD, giving away freebie comics contributed by a melange of companies as promo material.

Unfortunately many of the Halloween Comicfest and FCBD offerings are often reprinted comics plugging a hot new book or mega-event. Thankfully many of the smaller publishers aren't burdened by the pressure to pimp the new hotness and give out original pieces.
Thus Peach.