The Fuse #2, Sovereign #1, Undertow #2, & The White Suits #2

Just the right mix of sci-fi and detective story, The Fuse is one of those solid genre mash-ups. It veers more toward the cop side of things, but there's enough of the sci-fi element to make it more than just a novel setting. With this 2nd issue, the mystery surrounding the dead cablers (the hobos of the future) starts to deepen, and the writing, both story and dialogue, really pop. I'm still not entirely won over on the art, but whatever.

As much as I liked Sovereign, the elements of human culture and history that were blatantly repurposed for the comic kinda bugged me. You couldn't think up anything on your own, so you just took the Mughal empire and British colonialism in India and slapped on some fantasy names & threw in some monsters? Like I said, I liked this book, but it also kind of irked me. 

Don't expect to just pick up Undertow and casually thumb through it. Between the scratchy art and piercing color palate, it can be a bit of an eye melter. I actually really like the art, but it's the sort of thing you need to sit down and soak up. The story's also a little complicated, with two interrelated parts and a handful of flashbacks. Not the thing for everybody, but if you want to sink your teeth into some weird science stuff, this is it.

I dig Toby Cypress work, but they should have gotten someone else to draw this book. The color scheme is fantastic for a noir piece; blacks, whitse, and reds, with the grays done in Ben-Day dots. But, the art is so jangly it detracts from the layout. The pace of the story also seems a little slow, especially for a miniseries that's only four issues long. I'll probably see this out to the end, but I have a feeling I may have lost interest by then.

Onell Designs: Spectre Force Sarvos & random Noboto

When I reviewed the new Ultra Corps colorways from Onell a while back, I'd mentioned how the glow in the dark Spectre Force really weren't doing for me, but there was one exception. Along with the order, I'd snagged a Spectre Force Sarvos, with no intention of writing about it. But, as the past two weeks have rolled by, I realized the dude was too gnarly not to mention:

Fuckin' rad, huh? You know what else is fuckin' rad? I got some swag thrown in with my order:

A golden metallic Noboto. I don't have any idea when this little dude was released or what colorway he's from, but I'm stoked to have gotten him.

EGOs #3, Ghost #2, the Returning #1, & Stray Bullets: Killers #1

The conclusion of the new EGOs team origin arc, this issue manages to come up short. The story feels rushed and the dialog's flat. The team's defeat of, arguably, one of the most dangerous villains in the universe is rather blah. It's not terrible, just not up to par with the previous two issues. I'm gonna keep reading EGOs, but not for long if there are more issues like this...

Ghost is picking up a little with the 2nd issue. The White City Butcher and Elisa's deal with the demon Beleth are making things get interesting. Even so, Ghost is just an ok book. Not bad, but nothing fantastic. If you're not into comics revolving around the paranormal, this probably isn't the thing for you.

Everything about the Returning is a near miss. The premise behind the book, the writing, the art; it's all just a little underwhelming. Like, if one of them was great, or two were just OK, I'd probably be on board. A pass on this one.

Not having read the earlier Stray Bullets run, I can't give a comparison, but it's anything like Stray Bullets: Killers, I'll have to scope it out. Mixing suburban family dysfunction and the gritty criminal underworld, the tale had me hooked right away. The art's pretty solid, though some of the facial features appear a little jangly. Not a biggie. Anyhow, you should be reading this.

The Auteur #1, Juice Squeezers #3, Starlight #1, & The Twilight Zone #3

I'm not sure if this is genius or complete trash, but I do know I'll be picking up the next issue. The tale of desperate film producer trying to save his career, The Auteur is chocked full of drugs, sex, and surreal violence. It's definitely not the thing for everyone, even those into more oddball books may be turned off by The Auteur. Like I said, I'll be picking up the next issue, but I'm 50/50 on this book. 

It felt like this issue of Juice Squeezers dragged a bit. I get that the writer is trying to build some tension to the impending gigantic bug-pocalypse, but with some judicious editing, this probably could have been cut down from a four issue series to three. Whatever, this is stiff a fun, goofy read.

If you haven't snagged a copy of  yet, get on it now. The first thing that hits you is the gorgeous art; it has a Moebius vibe to it, but it's more complex and unique then simply being an imitation. The writing is superb, right down to the little kid who makes a Uranus joke to the guy who claims he went to outer space and saved another galaxy. Even if you're not into sci-fi comics, you should give Starlight a read.

I continue to be impressed with the Twilight Zone. The story of Trevor Richmond and the man who became him thickens while several, seemingly unrelated, sub-plots develop. I'd been somewhat unimpressed with the art in the past two issues, but it seemed ti have tightened up with this issue. You should be reading this book.

Onell Designs: The Gamma Conflict - Ultra Corps

After another soul-crushing day spent sitting behind a desk, I discovered my car was dead in the office parking lot; the starter had gone out, so I'll be short a few hundred dollars and I missed my Monday night gaming session. I came home expecting to just get shit faced, but was pleasantly surprised to find a package waiting for me:

Yeup, the new Ultra Corps silver dudes from Onell Designs. You'll have to excuse the shitty photography; it's late & I'm tired and these don't do the swirly silver PVC justice. It seems like more people were focused on the glow in the dark Specter Force, but these are what did it for me. As always, I wish I had more cash so I could have snagged more, but here's what I did manage to get:

Advanced Phaseon Enyriun: I've always been kinda meh toward the Phaseons, but the Advanced comes with a hub set that spiffs up it's appearance and the silver really makes it pop in sort of a campy 50's robot sort of way. On the down side, the legs are a little smushed together and it's a bitch to get the dude to stand up.

Gobon: The Gobon is my least favorite of what Onell has to offer, but I actually found myself wanting one of the Ultra Corps ones. Something about it reminded me of Jaxson from Prophet and I just had to snag it. Unfortunately, the marbling is really grody on this sculpt and it looks like there are huge cracks running down the central casing, but it's still pretty rad.

Axis Buildman Argen MK X: This is the Buildman with a new head and and axis joints thrown in and it looks fucking tough. My only complaint, the ridiculously large knees.

Armorvor & Crayboth: Double trouble. I was bitching earlier about the marbling on the Gobon, but on these two it's spectacular. Really spot-on, these two are must haves.

Black Science #4, King Conan: The Conqueror #1, One-Hit Wonder #1, & Pariah #1

Black Science continues to be one of those books I'm always looking forward to the next issue coming out. This issue the dimensionauts manage to jump from the meched-out Indigenous Americans vs WWI Europeans conflict world, but not without some loss, and come to a safe, but much more alien universe. Oh, and it looks like they're not the only ones dimension hopping...*dun*dun*duuuuun*!

I'm a sucker for Conan stuff, so of course I'm loving this. The second part of the adaption of The Hour of The Dragon, I'll actually have to go back and reread the novel; it's been so long I can't recall how faithful the comic is. Anyhow, it's all the pulp fantasy sword slinging you could ask for. Fuck yea you should go get it.

Oh wow, this is some shit. Everything about this book is terrible, right down to the fucking cover. Honestly, that should have been a huge red flag; the smirking dude in front of the nearly-nude woman he's just shot in the head. The story is asinine; a former child star has turned top hitman, and despite killing someone on TV, prowls Hollywood unnoticed. The art reminds me of something you'd see in Mad Magazine, but colorized and run through one of those Photoshop paint filters. Finally, there's the writing, which tries to be all edgy, but comes off as stupid and flat. Oh, and there's a fair share of misogyny sprinkled in, too. Fuck this rag and everyone associated with it. 

Pariah is one of those books that tosses you into the story, expecting you to figure things out as things go along. It takes skilled writing to pull that off and Pariah manages to do it. Set in a decaying space station populated with young Vitros (whom appear to be super intelligent youths, feared and hated by the rest of the earth), the group finds someone from the earlier crew has sabotaged the station to kill them all.  The art isn't bad, but it doesn't seem the best choice for a sci-fi book, a little too toonish and scratchy, but whatever. I say check it out.

Owlcon XXXIII

Owlcon 33 wrapped up yesterday, which means my entire weekend was spent gaming, with periodic breaks of sleeping and guzzling 40oz of Mickey's at the pub in the basement of the convention. Yes, Rice University has a bar in their student center that serves malt liquor. Anyhow, here's a quick review of the games I got to play:

Cavemaster: This was my favorite of the rpgs I got to play, but due to some of the gamers in the group, also the most frustrating of the 5 session. The C.M. (Cave Master) was one of the game's authors and did bang-up job running the adventure and dealing with two of the shittiest players I've ever had the misfortune to game with. Anyhow, as you may guess from the name, it's a caveman rpg with some fantasy elements thrown in. The character generation & rules were super easy to understand and conflict resolution was done in a novel way, kind of like the player and CM facing off in a shell game. Like I said, my favorite of the games and I can't wait to start a campaign with my group.

Sailor Moon RPG Forgotten Realms AD&D 2^nd Ed : Yes, some friends convinced me to sign up for the Sailor Moon rpg with them. The GM, however, mixed things up and brought the stuff for the AD&D game he would run the next day. So, we got to delve into the The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar instead of whatever the fuck thing you do in Sailor Moon. Even though 1/3 of the game time was spent generating characters, it was still a win.

G.A.T.E.: Wish I could give a review about this, but the person running the game never showed.

Mana Punk: I had a good time playing this and the system seems decent enough, but the setting just isn't my cup-of-tea. It's magic-heavy fantasy mixed with steam punk and psionics...a bit too much.

Mutant Future: A redux of the Albuquerque Starport mini adventure from Gamma World, this was fun, but a little rough to play on the con's final morning.  That said, my shotgun wielding, mutant chipmunk cleared the shit out of that space station...