BONUS Halloween Trade Reviews!

[wktf]

Final October Trade Reviews

This month, every week, because of our love for Halloween, we’ve devoted our trade reviews to all things scary, spooky, creepy, horrible and blood curdling. At least one trade review each week was a new review (though, not necessarily of a new trade) and we also smattered in some past reviews that fit this theme for a veritable smorgasbord of trade monster madness! And, so, we hope you enjoyed last week’s Dracula vs. Famous Adversaries, the week before’s Absolute Terror, the week before that’s Werewolf, and the first week’s Classic Monsters themes!

We now end the month of October on Halloween Day with our final installment. A veritable plethora of horror trade reviews! And we start with reviews supplied by two, not one but two, guest reviewers!!!

Bat_Collector’s Review

Walking Dead Deluxe Volume 1
Image Comics
Written by: Robert Kirkman
Drawn by: Tony Moore, Cliff Rathburn and Charlie Adlard

Zombies, zombies everywhere! Go to your local comic shop on any given week and I'll bet you find at least one zombie comic by some independent publisher, two or three zombie covers by Arthur Suydam, and very possibly an umpteenth version of Marvel Zombies hc. Now you can get funny zombie comics, gory zombie comics, and just plain weird zombie comics.

But, in all actuality, there is only one zombie comic that really matters. It’s the one that inspired the rest of the imitators, made Marvel boat loads of money and gave Image a comic to actually care about. Yes, The Walking Dead is not only the best zombie comic on the market, but very possibly one of the best comics on the market today. On a personal note, its the comic that got me back into reading comics, and still the one I read now that I backed off again from the medium.

But why is a simple zombie comic that important? If you read much of the zombie dreck on the market (and there is plenty of it) you won't find high quality by and large. Just look at Marvel Zombies. Is it fun reading? Yes (for some), but no where near important and extremely light weight. But, read Walking Dead and you'll see a difference from the beginning.

Lets start with the premise. Rick Grimes, a small town police officer, gets shot during a shoot-out with a crook. When he wakes from a coma, he finds no nurses, no doctors there to care for his need (yeah it sounds just like 28 Days Latter). Completely clueless on what has occurred in his area (a zombie outbreak), Rick quickly finds himself battling the undead while at the same time trying to figure out what is going on around him all the while trying to find his wife and son. Sounds good, right? But is this hardly original? Is this really any different than so many other zombie stories out there?

What really makes this zombie story so much more alive than others of its ilk is how seriously Robert Kirkman takes story. Having planned this story out to at least issue 100 (according to him), Kirkman knows what direction the story is taking at all times. Reading all 24 issues in a row shows how much change Rick, his family, and the group go through in their first year of the zombie attack. Character development (something usually NOT found in zombie fare) is also very strong. Rick, for instance, starts as a strong leader who a good head on his shoulders to a more deranged, slightly scary person who claims to have everyone's best interest at heart. But, even then, you can see Rick in many different ways. The other characters in the book are also nice additions, though some only serve as zombie food and can be seen as future kills a mile away.

And lets not forget the subtle issues that can be ignored in the series if you choose to. When the group goes to a prison and two children are murdered, the group quickly suspects that one of the black inmates is guilty and locks him up, coming very close to killing him. However, when it becomes apparent a white man is guilty, the group not only does not apologize to the inmate, but some of the more vocal people against that inmate want to show mercy to the real murderer. And of course this action leads to further complication. Other actions are worthy of discussion and debate as well.

Finally, the story evolves in a beautiful way thematically as well. The group spends so much time hoping for a rescue or wanting a normal life again (often to their detriment). At the end of issue 24, Kirkman wraps up the first four arcs with Rick telling the group how no rescue is coming, regular life is no returning, and the old rules need to be abandoned. Is Rick crazy for saying so, or just stating the obvious that no one wants to realize? Well, the best thing about this series is that it really is only getting started at this point, as its only after issue 24 that the action really gets started.

The omnibus is a great way to read these issues. The covers by Tony Moore are stunning in this oversized format. It also includes Robert Kirkman's initial submission to Image on the story (how much it changed) as well as various character sketches. Honestly not anything like some extras included in other Omnibuses, but the story alone is worth the money.

Ask a British Dude, JDH’s, Review

The Walking Dead vol 7 TPB
Image Comics
Written by: Robert Kirkman
Drawn by: Charlie Adlard & Cliff Rathburn

So, what’s so good about peace, love and the Walking Dead? Well, it has this card-carrying Marvel Zombie, someone who can count the non-House of Ideas titles that interest him on one gnawed off hand, pre-ordering the latest trade paperback. The highest compliment I can pay it is that it makes you wonder why there has never been a hit zombie TV series. Where other horror comic flashes-in-the-pan like 30 Days of Night can inspire movies, the Walking Dead is crying out for a multi-season televisual adaptation exploring at length the series’ key question: just what happens next when the dead come to life?

With this volume, collecting issues 37 to 42, we are already some months into the stories of this ragtag group thrust together by the, as-yet, unexplained zombie invasion. Their relationships grow more complex with each issue as the stresses and strains of their new lives take their toll. But as of volume 7, they remain relatively safely ensconced in their prison refuge, while an ever-growing legion of shambling husks of humanity are left watching, waiting, two fences away. Their encounter with lawless survivors in nearby town Woodsbury is behind them, though the scars remain, particularly for Rick and the complex, deadly Michonne. But while the arc is titled ‘The Calm Before’, this is no mere filler volume, or an opportunity to catch one’s breath before the implied storm to come. Indeed it highlights a key strength of the series in writer Robert Kirkman’s ability to constantly surprise the reader with his ingenuity in finding new excuses to put the troupe, and most often long-suffering ex-policeman Rick, into harm’s way. Here though, it looks like Rick has earned his respite, from physical harm at least. Nevertheless, he has plenty to deal with as the book launches straight in to the question of who exactly fathered wife Lori’s unborn child, and – as one can tell from the TPB’s cover – finally takes us to the big day itself… Michonne is struggling to repress both the emotional and physical humiliation she suffered at he hands of the Governor of Woodsbury, and the bloody revenge she took upon him, both powerfully and violently depicted in the previous volume. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang celebrate a marriage, and put themselves once more at risk outside the prison on the latest foray for provisions.

Kirkman’s tendency, early on in the series, to telegraph major developments ahead of time has subsided with time, and, while one main ‘shock’ in this volume is easy to see coming, there are enough surprises here to keep this series a compelling and satisfying read. Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn continue to deliver their stylised and stripped-down art, always at its best in violent or gory scenes, and particularly when the haunting zombies are up-close and personal. In an age of over-elaborate computer colouring and Photoshop special effects, it still remains refreshing to open up the latest Walking Dead volume and thrill to exactly what someone has actually drawn, on paper, with a pen, and some ink. Maybe it’ll catch on. It meshes well with Kirkman’s narrative, Rathburn’s washes reminding us of the many shades of grey in this post-apocalyptic black-and-white world. But there is a bad side. In the panels in-between the set pieces, sometimes the art seems rushed, and, worst of all in a book like this with a large ensemble cast, occasionally it is easy to confuse one of our survivors with another. Oddly, I find this more of a problem with the women, while my wife has more of a problem with the menfolk. There is a sequence early on in the garden in which I have no clue who the woman talking is, one panel in which she is depicted looking nothing like any character featured before or since. I’ll admit my shoddy memory for comics even one month apart comes into play, particularly when these TPBs come at much longer intervals, but it has reached the stage where I’m considering using Wikipedia to help keep track in the next volume. If anything, it’s a criticism of the trade paperback market as a whole, but a quick synopsis of the plot so far and a cast-list with headshots at the start would be a real boon for the book collector.

So, with good and bad ticked off we are, in tribute to the reviewer who first piqued my curiosity about this series and persuaded me to overcome my reticence after the disappointment that was 30 Days of Night, left with the ugly. Well, the walking dead themselves often have a face only a mother could tolerate. And, at the risk of repetition, that panel in the garden is just plain ugly. Worst I’ve seen in a comic this year. But aside from that, the cast are, by and large, holding onto their looks pretty well, no matter what nature, or crimes against nature, throw at them. Long may it continue!

[wktf]

Wktf’s Reviews

I Am Legend
IDW Publishing
Original story written by: Richard Matheson
Adapted for this OGN by: Steve Niles
Drawn by: Elman Brown

Richard Matheson’s name, and only his name, is front and center on the cover of this OGN even though Steve Niles is the actual writer. But that’s because Niles’ story truly is a near identical replication of Matheson’s 170 page story…the plot, characters, story line, dialogue, everything. A couple of weeks before picking up this graphic novel I had just completed Matheson’s gripping, apocalyptic horror tale as part of my son’s school reading assignment (he and I would trade off pages, reading to each other), so my perspective on this point is pretty fresh. From IDW’s perspective this is probably a selling point for this book, now in its second printing with the words “Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture” plastered across the top. In fact, the upcoming Will Smith adaptation is the third attempt to bring Matheson’s famous tale to the screen. The first was Vincent Price’s “The Last Man on Earth.” The second, Charlton Heston’s “Omega Man.” I’ve never seen either but I’ve got them both on order from Blockbuster’s online rental store so my son and I will hunker down and watch both, hopefully, before the Will Smith movie comes out.

For those unfamiliar with “I Am Legend,” first, I’d recommend any horror fan’s reading the story, either Matheson’s or this adaptation. The latter is so faithful to the former it’s almost a toss up. The premise is familiar to anyone who’s a “Walking Dead” or zombie movie fan in general. Of course Matheson’s story, first published in 1954, precedes and is the model for all these end-of-the-world zombie stories. Only the monsters are different. Robert Neville, as the Vincent Price movie title suggests, is the last man on Earth. A supernatural plague has swept the planet and, as it did, its victims multiplied at such an exponential rate that, soon, Neville found himself all alone and in a daily battle for survival. His neighbors and co-workers were claimed. His wife, Virginia, and little daughter, Kathy, were claimed as well. The plague? Vampirism. While others clustered together in a religious frenzy, begging God for forgiveness for their sins, Neville was turning his house into a fortress. And, after everyone else had gone, Neville was left to hunker down in his bunker with his whiskey, stakes and crosses as hordes of vampires patrolled outside or directly attacked his house at night. He’d spend his days either hunting for sleeping vampires, stocking up on provisions, or deep in research to understand the germ or virus that brought about the end of the world in hopes either of curing it or killing it completely.

Early on, every day is an experience in sorrow, pain or rage often resulting in a drunken stupor. Neville even begins to develop a warped relationship with Ben Cortman, a neighbor-turned-vampire who’s always the first in the vampire throng outside his house at night screaming “Come Out, Neville!” And, those times Neville can’t quite make it back to his house in time for sundown, it’s Cortman who’s always the first of the many Neville must battle through to make it to his sanctuary. In this new world order, Neville is forced to adapt and change in several ways. He has to force the pain of his wife’s and daughter’s loss, and his role in bringing them final peace, from his mind. He has to erect both physical and emotional defenses in order for him to survive. He digs deep into scientific research to understand the nature of his enemy. And, though the vampires try their hardest to break him down, it’s two other new entrants in his life that manage to tear down his emotional defenses, at least, and give him hope for an end to his loneliness but, in the end, only add to and even complete his sense of loss. To say more would give away too much of the story, I’m afraid.

While Matheson’s story is 170 pages long, this OGN tops it at 240 pages. And in its effort to be faithful to the source material, the OGN is incredibly text heavy with narration, making this a very dense and sometimes slow read. Of course, with a story about a solitary man there can’t be much dialogue. Often we’re with Neville when he’s at his lowest, emotionally, sitting drinking whiskey and listening to music as we’re given access to his thoughts and fears. But, for example, when Neville gets deep into his research and we’re forced to go into some pretty onerous scientific details of the vampire germ’s nature and composition, it feels like all this strains against the graphic novel’s format. That said, the tedium and loneliness of Neville’s life is an important part of his pain in this story, coupled of course with the horror of his encounters with the vampires. And forcing this tedium upon the readers brings us directly into Neville’s pain, juxtaposing it against the story’s more traditional horror moments to make those moments even more terrifying. Elman Brown is not an artist I’m familiar with but his black and white work here is very strong, presenting Robert with a wide range of emotion and giving us plenty of dark, sometimes hazy, and certainly terrifying moments. Steve Niles almost needs no introduction. The writer of the well-known “30 Days of Night” series and a frequent writer for IDW Publishing, the notes to this book state, is one of the writers responsible for bringing horror comics back into prominence. In paperback for $19.99, I’ll admit this book’s a bit of a commitment. But, for horror and monster fans looking for more than sensationalistic scares, this unique vampire work has lived up to its own title, becoming something of a legend in the horror genre in the more than 50 years since it first was written. “I Am Legend,” and this OGN adaptation, is a powerful, painful, and horrifying apocalyptic tale whose real power is its ability to bring us readers directly into its protagonist’s devastated psyche and make us experience Neville’s loss, loneliness, hopes and horror.

For anyone interested in a sneak peak inside this book, look here: http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=134633

The Complete Bite Club
Vertigo/DC Comics
Written by: Howard Chaykin & David Tischman
Drawn by: David Hahn
Original Covers by: Frank Quitely & Howard Chaykin

One great thing about DC’s Vertigo imprint is that it can allow creators who want to tell more adult-oriented stories, with more adult-oriented themes, and avenue. A critically acclaimed example of this is the Sandman series with its sometimes very disturbing themes and subjects. This trade, at face value, gives its creators the opportunity to let the most sordid and violent aspects of their imaginations run wild and in plot, script, dialogue and art deliver a story that, if translated faithfully to the big screen, lands squarely at the upper end of the Rated R territory. Or be an HBO-type TV project. This 260 page trade delivers shock after shock with graphic sex (including toys and other apparatus), nearly full nudity, drug abuse, crude and foul language, sadomasochism, and brutal violence and murder. Most certainly it deserves the “Suggested for Mature Readers” stamp on the back cover. Collecting the Vertigo mini series Bite Club #1-6 and Bite Club: Vampire Crime Unit #1-5, and retailing for $19.99, what it didn’t offer, somewhat to my surprise, was a vampire story.

Or, to be clear, the Bite Club comics first and foremost is more of a Sopranos style organized crime tale that includes a top Miami crime family that happens to be vampires. The vampire aspect of these characters creates a lot of newness and even surprise factor that helps keep the energy in this book going. That and great characters, too. The book begins with the murder of Eduardo Del Toro, father of the Del Toro vampire crime family, who’s shot through the chest and blasted out of a sky scraper onto the street below. His will names his son Leto who, incredulously, is a vampire Catholic priest to lead the family after his death. Risa, Leto’s incredibly hot, ambitious, drug running and evil sister feels Leto’s ill equipped to lead the family and, naturally, knows of a more suitable successor to her father. In the mean time, Miami’s Vampire Crime Unit is led by Lieutenant Fortine, a man whose family was murdered by vampires and hates all vampires as a result. Among the police, Fortine is pretty much front-and-center until the Vampire Crime Unit stories kick in and we are introduced to detectives Yama (a deliciously beautiful and tightly wound self-loathing vampire detective), Yama’s partner Puck who’s strung out on the Plasmagoria drug Risa’s crew peddles, and Macavoy who finds himself strangely attracted to Risa. These vampires are undead, immortal, and immensely powerful. They also drink blood, but that’s where their similarity to traditional vampires ends. They can exist in daylight, consume normal food, cannot change into bats or otherwise fly, have lots of sex and clearly, if the priest Leto’s any indication, have no aversion to crucifixes or any other religious icons.

When I first started reading this trade I started getting pretty annoyed that I wasn’t really reading a vampire book. If I’d wanted a crime book I’d have picked up something else. That said, once I got into it I couldn’t put it down. And I started appreciating that this was an organized crime story with vampires in it rather than the more pure vampire book I thought I’d picked up. These plots twist and turn as characters seek to claim their place in the crime hierarchy, even at the expense of family, and there are plenty of surprises in these pages to keep the reader going throughout this trade. Anyone who’s read Chaykin’s writing, especially his less mainstream comics writing, knows how warped his mind can be. He clearly is having a blast with these characters and must have enjoyed not just pushing the envelope but tearing right through it with these series. Hahn’s art is fairly simplistic compared to many other comic book artists but captures the dark, shadowy world of these characters perfectly. I hope this team gets to come back to Risa and the other characters some time soon. If they do, I may not be able to hold out for the trade. So, just know what you’re getting before you pick this book up, and certainly know what you’re buying before you pick it up for one of your kids! I really enjoyed it but I’m not storing it with my other trades where my two kids can get to it.

The Complete 30 Days of Night
IDW Publishing
Written by: Steve Niles
Art by: Ben Templesmith
Original Covers by: Ashley Wood

Pretty much everyone knows the story of “30 Days of Night” thanks to the blockbuster movie that recently came out. Well, I brought my kids into my lcs with me last year during the last week of December with the promise I’d buy them each something. My youngest, who’s becoming something of a war historian, brought me a $15 McFalane Soldiers toy set. My older son brought me the $75 slipcase HC copy of The Complete 30 Days of Night. At that time I’d heard a movie was being made of this series but knew very little of it beyond its core premise. After checking with my lcs owner to see if it was appropriate for his 14 year old age group (he said it was but, after having read it, I’d say it’s borderline at best) I bought it under the caveat that I wanted to read it, too. I did. There are several I know who don’t like this story, primarily because of the art. But, in my opinion, if you like your horror comics with cool, innovative concepts, true scares, characterization that makes you care about the story’s desperate victims, and absolutely disturbing art, this most definitely is the book for you.

What’s the core concept I referenced above which, as I said, nearly everyone now knows? Barrow, Alaska is literally at the northern most point of the U.S. and is a geographic spot where the sun goes away and stays away for over thirty consecutive days which, of course, become over thirty consecutive nights. Truly, the sun doesn’t set between May 10th and August 2nd and doesn’t rise between November 18th and December 17th. It’s a remote town populated by trappers, fishermen and oil worker type salts of the Earth. If you’re a creature that must hide yourself and remain completely helpless and vulnerable during the day and thrive and are at your peak powers, which are considerable, during the night then Barrow is one big playground to you. Marlowe is a particularly sadistic and nasty vampire who’s just completed a night’s worth of victimizing. He’s begun lamenting the condition that makes him supremely powerful yet on the run all the time from humans and the sun when he learns of Barrow from a Special National Geographic Travel Report blaring on a pair of victims’ TV set. He cannot believe his good fortune and sets about organizing a road trip for him and dozens of his closest friends.

In addition to its regular populace, Barrow’s inhabitants also include Sheriff Eban and Deputy Sheriff Stella Oleman, a married couple very much in love and keeping order together in this town at the edge of the world. After sharing a romantic moment watching the sun finally set for its 30 day hiatus Eban and Stella are called into a bar to deal where a surly patron wants whisky (alcohol is illegal in this town of dark winters) and raw hamburger meat. And so begins the story of Eban and Stella, and the apocalyptic procession of the undead into Barrow for a gleeful killing spree that spares nothing in its level of gore and violence. The humans are like cattle to Marlowe’s army of invulnerable monsters who dive into an absolute feasting orgy…much to the anger of Vincente, an aged and senior level vampire who arrives late but with much fanfare to Marlowe’s game and prefers not to draw the world’s attention to his clan. Now not only must Eban and Stella try to save the few hiding survivors from their attackers but must also keep them safe as the vampires wage old vs. new ways war amongst themselves. The solution Eban devises to Barrow’s problems is truly awful, especially given how much we’ve come to care about this warm couple.

Originally a 2002 three part mini series, this tales extends to roughly 100 painted pages. The swirling bright colors fighting so hard to make it through the perpetual darkness are wonderfully rendered and Templesmith’s surreal art conveys swift motion, incredible power and the most visceral primal fear that few motion pictures can convey nearly as effectively. Plus, the art is starkly, wildly terrifying and conveys unbelievable violence. Not to be outdone by his talented collaborator, Niles (known to me from some of his Batman work) has crafted a truly innovative spin on the vampire story and his pacing and dialogue drive the fear and desperation of this story home. Plus, in this box set, as a bonus feature, we also are treated to the journal entry of William Kitka who’s hiding out with his wife and child away from the larger group of survivors. His story peripherally tracks the main story as we read, from his perspective, what we’ve already directly experienced from Eban and Stella’s tale but only as a backdrop to the horrors he and his family are enduring. This volume also gives us the complete scripts, original covers, Hollywood pitch book for the movie idea and other series promotional art and materials. The promotional material claims this mini-series brings horror back to comics. It’s not kidding.

Legion of Monsters HC
Marvel Comics
Written by: Mike Carey, Skottie Young, Charlie Houston, Ted McKeever, Robin Furth, Jonathan Hickman, Brendan Cahill, C.B. Cebulski, Doug Moench, Bill Mantlo, Marv Wolfman, Tony Isabella, Scott Edelman
Drawn by: Greg Land, Skottie Young, Klaus Janson, Ted McKeever, Kalman Andrasofsky, Jonathan Hickman, Michael Gaydos, David Finch, Val Mayirk, Frank Robbins, Dave C_ockrum, Rico Rival, Ruben Yandoc, Ron Wilson

Marvel released this oversized hardcover just last week and, if you’re a horror comics fan and/or a fan of Marvel’s 1970’s horror stories, this is your book! I, for one, couldn’t wait for Marvel to release this book, consumed the whole 280 page in one sitting and, frankly, found it almost too much fun for words.

Earlier this year Marvel released a monthly comic book series of brand new monster stories, featuring their horror creations from the 1970s, under the title of “Legion of Monsters.” These books contained two stories apiece and, for the most part, each of these comics and all these stories are captured here were phenomenal. The only questionable stories among them were The Living Mummy tale by Jonathan Hickman, which was just a little too obtuse, and the Simon Garth Zombie story by Ted McKeever which, unfortunately, is a stupid story about zombie love that, quite frankly, seems to disrespect this terrifying character. That said, the other six alone are worth the $24.99 cover price, plus you get a whole lot more (but I’ll get to that in a minute). My favorites here of the newer tales include the Werewolf by Night story by Mike Carey and Greg Land, where a local girl struggles both with her lycanthropy and against an angry mob, with Jack Russell’s assistance, of course. I also loved Skottie Young’s absolutely haunting story about the Monster of Frankenstein, a creature who seeks redemption but can’t help but be drawn back into the evil of his monstrous nature. Young’s story is wonderful and sad, and his bizarre and dark art style is just perfect for this story. Charlie Houston, whose Moon Knight has been lacking, and Klaus Janson give us a “delicious” and creepy Man-Thing tale about control, justice and, of course, fear. The Satana and Morbius stories also are fun, but my favorite of this bunch is C.B. Cebulski and David Finch’s tale of Dracula and his daughter, Lilith. And not just because I own two killer pages from this story (though, I do!). If you want a twisted and violent vampire tale filled with anger, manipulation and pure, unadulterated violence, this is your story!

As bonuses, this HC also includes a plethora of Marvel Monster offerings from their heyday of the 1970s. So, in this book you’ll also find the Monster of Frankenstein and Manphibian pieces from their 1975 Legion of Monsters #1 black & white magazine, complete with the recreation of the famous Neal Adams cover painting of Dracula, Frankenstein Monster and Manphibian. Also, there’s the 1976 Legion of Monsters story from Marvel Premiere #28 where Morbius, Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing and Ghost Rider find themselves united in confusion against a strange, interstellar being. The next two stories are about a supernatural being called The Scarecrow, first from 1975’s Dead of Night #11 and 1976’s Marvel Spotlight #26, a super strong and nearly invulnerable creature who emerges from a painting to combat evil supernatural forces. The final tale, from 1976’s Marvel Two-In-One #18, teams The Scarecrow with the bashful blue-eyed Thing against another evil demon. A word of caution: those who didn’t read the Marvel monster comics in the 1970s may well find these reprinted tales a bit corny. I have to admit I found them, and especially some of the dialogue, kind of hokey and completely lacking the, forgive the pun, bite of the much more recent stories. Marvel’s story choices for these ‘70s reprints are a little strange, too. I can see Marvel’s wanting to add some depth and diversity to this book but, come on, The Scarecrow? The “Manphibian” (though it came from a “Legion of Monsters” mag, which also is the title of this book)? I do think Marvel would have been better served by reprinting some self-contained, single issue stories from Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Monster of Frankenstein, Man-Thing, Ghost Rider or Fear (where Morbius had a solo career for a while). That said, if you grew up reading these stories in the 1970s as I did, this trip down memory lane was a nostalgic hoot and, despite shaking my head and smiling at some of the dialogue, I found myself really enjoying these reads.

Finally, the book is rounded out with 2005’s Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Horror that gives all the vital stats and history on many of Marvel’s monsters, as well as some Werewolf by Night cover and page sketches by Greg Land, some Dracula and Lilith page sketches by David Finch, and a penciled Man-Thing page by Klaus Janson. All in all, this hardcover is a really fun and diverse mishmash of Marvel Monster madness and mayhem. As I said, above, Marvel monster lovers can’t go wrong with this book as part of their trade library.

[wktf]

Doing these monster/horror trade reviews this month has been a trip for me! Lots and lots of fun! :)

Special thanks to b_c and JDH for their all-zombie-all-the-time contribution to this thread!! :thumbs2:

[bat_collector]

thanks for letting me contribute

[wktf]

Absolutely, Mike!

[JDH]

Always a pleasure to be involved!

[wktf]

Love the pair of Walking Dead reviews from you guys!

And great avatar, Jess!

[protector2814]

Wow. What a collection for the Last Day of October. Halloween is my favorite holiday so thank yo all for adding to this year's enjoyment.
Bat_Collectors dead on w/ his review of Walking Dead Deluxe. Although I don't own this "must have", I've been a faithful reader of the series since it's 1st issue. I own every one, have read each at least 4 x's.
The time-consuming luxury w/ this book is that every 6 or so issues that are printed, I find myself rereading the entire series. The flow can be broken w/ the fluxuating publ. sched.
I love zombies so I disagree that this is the only zombie book that matters. There have been some good one's before and some will certainly follow but I do agree that this book is well written, addictive, often cause for discussion and debate (bat_collector and I have had a few) and mind-blowing in it's violence and, at times dispare. I find the book can get a bit soap-opera-ish. We've had an issue or 2 in the past where "where to snuggle" and "should we do it" have been discussed for panels and panels but, I guess this is what make the punches Kirkman drops so much more effective. More than so many other comics, Walking Dead is a movie to me. A never ending, epic mini-series. Thanks BC for reminding me.
JD - You reviewed probably the most violent arch I've read in my 30+ years of comic collecting. What Michonne does to the Gov. in revenge had me going back to my LCS the following week and double checking that the issue was where no kiddies might reach it. Powerful, intense, justified?..I thought so.
This book and what happens in it will launch the main characters down a new path. Thanks.
WKTF - I was/am such an I Am Legend fan that I picked up this book, bi-monthly when it originally came out at least 10 years back. This, over Price's and Heston's film versions is the most faithful adaptation. When I read it in 4 parts, it didn't bog down, read slowly or require a commitment. It was just a fantastic treatment of one of the best horror stories ever written. This is must read.
Bite-Club review was dead on. I enjoyed the 1st 3 or so issues that came out but then it sorta lost steam for me. Maybe in a trade the flow will move better. Those sexy covers had me buy the 1st issue or two.
Legion of Monsters I picked up immediately even though I never missed an issue when it came out this year. Great extras. Lands Werewold story and Finch's Dracula are worth the cost, alone. I pray that if Marvel ever gets smart enough to go monthly with these characters, it hires those same artists.
Outstanding reviews, kids. Special thanks to the new guys; fun to read your impressions. Happy Halloween.

[rilynil]

I've got to read 30 Day of Night, and certainly I Am Legend (of which I didn't even know there was a graphic novel version!)

[JDH]

I bought 30 Days of Night for my wife, a big vampire fan. We both read it and were immensely disappointed. A brilliant premise, sporadically beautifully drawn, but let down by a lack of likeable characters, fairly messy sequential storytelling and the absence of any real sense of horror. For me, what 30 Days of Night promised, the Walking Dead delivered.

[wktf]

JDH, sorry you and your wife didn't like 30 Days of Night. My son, for whom I bought this book, didn't like it either...but I think he was more turned off by the art rather than the story.

Regardless, there's no doubt about Walking Dead's power as an ongoing series and story!

[bat_collector]

protector, reading the deluxe edition, especially now with the Govenor about to rain hell on our survivors, was a great joy. I forgot just how far these characters had gone, what losses and lessons learned they did.

Can't wait to get a second deluxe hardcover, if you dont' have it, get it now!

[protector2814]

protector, reading the deluxe edition, especially now with the Govenor about to rain hell on our survivors, was a great joy. I forgot just how far these characters had gone, what losses and lessons learned they did.

Can't wait to get a second deluxe hardcover, if you dont' have it, get it now!

Rain hell, indeed. Did you see the 'teaser' panel for the next arc in this month's ish? Looks like our guys have been captured. Here we go. Batten down the hatches, I see more torture and zaniness in our hero's future.