Compilations like this are a rarity on the comics stands these days. Image has done very well with the concept with the Tori Amos collaboration, Comic Book Tattoo as well as their two volumes of PopGun books and their recent Liquid City book which featured work by Asian writers and artists. Of course, there is always the excellent Flight series too. Those anthologies are all superb ways of introducing new fans into our beloved medium of choice, but if you’re into something more frequent (as in every month) that features some great short stories, then BOOM! Studios has the answer for you. Comparing their Zombie Tales series to the books mentioned above is a stretch, but they all offer bite sized (no pun intended) tales to hook readers into the marvels of sequential art.
Zombie Tales is, as the title suggests, a monthly look at tales featuring everyone’s favourite horror creatures of the moment. Yep, zombies. Having only read a couple of issues of this series, it’s extremely refreshing to be able to jump on board and simply be entertained without having to know why Superhero X is pummelling Superhero Y.
If you’re drawn to films of the undead like flies to the…undead, then this is a series for you. Zombies may not do much, apart from shambling and muttering, but as the slew of films have shown as over the last few years, they can squeeze into any genre. They’re not just bound to horror features anymore. Zombies are no longer being typecast. What an age we live in!
The first tale here is written by John R. Fultz, with art by Aritz Eiguren. It centres on two hitmen presumably working for the Mafia, who take their latest victim out to the woods to complete their given task. For one of the men, it is The Last Hit, as is the title. Despite their killing of the snitch, he digs out of his makeshift grave and attacks Satch in their car. Satch of course turns against his partner Bruno. Now Bruno has two “corpses” to his credit, and when he visits the boss to tell him he’s finished his final job, it looks like Bruno himself may be the third. Suitably bloody art makes this a harsh and violent story, as most zombie tales are.
Summer 2061 is the second tale and is a continuation of a story from the first issue of this series. However, if you didn’t read that tale, you won’t be out of your depth here. Basically, zombies now appear to be the dominant lifeform, taking over a city, with humans as their playthings. A more serious and epic tale, written by Kim Krizan, it is complimented greatly by Jon Reed’s ruggedly realistic art. A motley group of human survivors has had enough and storm the city to free a few more to join their ranks. They are met by the world the way zombies want it – humans in pet stores, human rugs and the huge Summer Games, consisting of humans fighting each other like the Roman days of centuries ago.
The third and final tale, Zombie Come Home is written by Tom Peyer, who is the only familiar name in this issue, due to his stint on many DC titles, including Legion of Super Heroes. Drew Rausch’s pencils combined with Drew Berry’s colours give this tale a look straight from a children’s book. The story is a simple one, with very little dialogue. Basically a boy is keeping a zombie tied to a tree in his backyard as a restrained and mute life size action figure. His parents console him as a government chopper comes to take him away. A fiery crash means the zombie is free and after some wandering, he falls into a river and lands at his keeper’s house again, which gives the child much joy. The naïve child runs to his undead friend and gives him a big hug, but instead of receiving a similar response, he is welcomed with a munch to his noggin. What a glorious ending. If you can’t laugh at this picture, then there’s something wrong with you. It’s a deliciously amusing finale, and if BOOM! doesn’t turn this page into a poster, they’re mad.
There’s something here for every taste. The first two tales are more serious in nature and the final one is anything but. Each of the three differs enough in its approach to story and art and is well worth a look if you’re new to comics, love zombies or just want a few entertaining pages to distract you from your post-Christmas weight gain.
At Meltdown Comics, a very cool comic shop, you can catch a peek at writer Paul Dini. The man has been closely related to the Bat Universe for the last 10 years, as the creator of Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn, a writer for the 90s Batman: The Animated Series cartoon, and the current scribe for Detective Comics, which has been so much better than Grant Morrison’s Batman work as of late. Official details below.
Touted as a great jumping on point for new readers, this extra sized issue guest stars all the different Avengers flavours. That would be New, Young, Dark and Classic. I think there’s also a Cinnamon. Written by Dan Slott and pencilled by Khoi Pham, this January 14 releasing special ish shows the new line-up, post Dark Reign. On the cover is the once-crazy (hopefully) daughter of Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Hank Pym in a new outfit to honour his wife Janet who died in the last issue of Secret Invasion and the female android created by Ultron, Jacosta. An intriguing mix of characters so far.
This is a good stand-alone issue, to be sure. It’s a simple one-shot, but it won’t reveal anything about The Darkness. It’s a very loose tie-in. Apart from one of the main characters being a medieval Darkness bearer, it could be just a generic sword and sorcery adventure. Written by Phil Hester with art by Michael Avon Oeming, Lodbrok’s Hand recounts the sad tale of Lodbrok, the captain of a Viking ship, who as a youth lost his hand. The crazy King Grimur was moving from village to village forcibly enlisting strong men in his army. When young Lodbrok’s family was taken, he, his magic-wielding sister Freydis and a few other youngens set on a harsh journey of revenge. They realise they’re outnumbered and outgunned, or rather, out sworded, so Lodbrok bravely, or foolishly, calls upon the creature known as the Black Captain. He’s big, he has goblin servants bonded to the oars of his ship, and he’s on Lodbrok’s side, for a price. A bloody battle ensues. Heads are cut off. Freydis dies.Two dragons fight, and Lodbrok learns the hard way what his victory means. The twist at the end, in which the Captain revives Freydis to serve him as a slave forever, rather than Lodbrok himself is a nice one and shows the maniacal assistance that The Darkness offers. It’s an amusing enough tale. The story is so simple that a 24 page one-shot is all that’s needed. Hester has the speech of centuries past down pat and while this isn’t Oeming’s best work (that’s in 
When an actor’s name appears on the cover of a comic, us fanboys become skeptical. Heroes hottie Milo Ventimiglia’s name is stamped on Rest from Devil’s Due and more familiar names like Nicolas Cage have had their input on comics, thanks to Virgin (who also had something in the works with Hugh Jackman. I guess we won’t be holding our breath for that one, thanks to their recent downsizing). Kevin Smith seems like the only name that makes fans flock to his comics, regardless of an inconsistent output. And do you notice how it’s usually the indie publishers that pull this? Marvel and DC don’t.
BOOM! Studios has wisely chosen a good, familiar franchise with Farscape and they’re not the only one. Dark Horse has Buffy, IDW has Angel and Doctor Who and Star Trek. TV franchises work, because they have a built in audience. They work even more when they’re faithful adaptations, in-continuity and carry on what the TV series began. Because Buffy has been promoted as the official next season by creator Joss Whedon himself, Dark Horse, and the industry, has been rewarded with a greater audience, and a new one at that. Hopefully BOOM! will have a similar response. I was never a huge fan of Farscape, but it has my respect for being a sci-fi series filmed in Australia and for using puppets. Thanks to the Jim Henson Company, no less! Well, Christmas Eve is the launch of the new Farscape comic, which picks up straight after the events of The Peacekeeper Wars mini-series. This was originally slated for a November release but has been pushed back to allow for some fine-tuning. The comic is written by Farscape creator Rockne O’Bannon and Keith R.A. DeCandido, with art by Tommy Patterson. Preview pages are below to give you a glimpse of John Crichton and co. once more.
Those loveable Dinobots were fan favourites in the Transformers cartoon in the 80s and hold a dear place in many Transfans’ hearts. Now, IDW, the current publisher of original Transformers comics, including tie-ins to the next live-action movie, are giving them the attention they deserve.
Bluewater Productions is bringing back its flagship title 10th Muse as part of the Ray Harryhausen Presents comic book line. The exciting new series, “10th Muse: 800”, is scheduled for a February 2009 release.
Top Cow Productions, Inc. announced today it will maintain a $2.99 price point for its regular-sized comic books throughout 2009, despite the recent move of other publishers to raise the cost of some of their books to $3.99.
Well, this is the time for comic sales, hey? Time to buy up big for the fellow geek in your family. That wonderful indie publisher, Top Shelf, currently has a sale on now until Sunday December 14. You get free priority shipping for all orders over $40 to the US. They also have a bunch of $3 stocking stuffers.Go 
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