Death of a Necromancer #1-4

I've starting storing up Kickstarter rewards of late. While I've been continuing to pickup the more mainstream comics in print from my LCS or as trades, I have to admit that with Kickstarters I always buy digitally. The main reason for this is to save a little cash, although it also means saving a little space (why I can't get this to apply to all the other books I don't know).

However, while I thought it was a good idea at the time, my lack of desire to read has hit these digital/pdf comics really hard, as I constantly seem to forget about them when I finally want to read.

Therefore, this weekend past, with some spare time on my hands, I resolved to read one and that one was all four issues of Nick Bryan (Writer, Fairyfare), Robert Ahmad (Artist, Devil in Disguise), David Cooper (Colourist, Face Down in the Mud) and D.C. Hopkins (Letterer, ... too many titles to just choose one)'s Death of a Necromancer. This series brings horror to the small town setting of Tibbin as local prankster Ralph goes for a job at a new Chicken restaurant. However, all goes awry when he ignores the signs leading to his untimely demise. Fortunately for Ralph though (and many other local denizens), his new boss, Victoria, is a Necromancer and resolves to bring them back to life.

However, this is all prep for the good Doctor Hedgewood as she plans to separate herself from her death in order to live forever. Unfortunately, when Ralph's conscience gets the better of him, all Hell (quite literally) breaks loose as He and Victoria's death, Tori, are chased down by Tori's former body, an overseeing Reaper and the entirety of Tibbin's formerly dead residents as hilarity ensues.

Now, back when the Kickstarter was underway, two things about this series convinced me to give a shot; the artwork of the always incredible Robert Ahmad and how the title, concept and cover gave me the vibe that this was going to be a story in the vein of Shaun of the Dead. After reading it, however, I was please to see that neither of my expectations were misplaced.

I enjoyed Death of a Necromancer. It was very much the quirky comic that the entire Kickstarter campaign (the visuals, the sales pitch, the whole kit and caboodle) really sold me on. In fact, as I read through it, I got the feeling that it was on a similar vein to Samuel George London's Milford Green (although with a more supernatural take) crossed with the B Movie Cockneys vs. Zombies (which you can find on Netflix ... or at least you could).

Of course (and it really goes without saying at this), what I really love about this series is Rob Ahmad's art (because I'm a big fan and, I'm convince he'll be Darwyn Cooke's successor one day). While I did think it looked a little less sharp than what I've seen of his stuff in prior works, this style actually works really well as it conveys the more humorous tone Death of a Necromancer seems to imbue in its vibe, especially when coupled with David Cooper's perfectly fitting colour palette.

Then there is the writing, or more specifically the journey that main character Ralph goes on through this series. Nick Bryan really seem not only wrote a series filled with some humorous, very British, jokes, but the best part was watching our undead, chicken-dish preparing protagonist have a character arc which went from hapless to more hapless hero and beyond as the finale hits.

The series isn't perfect as its opening feels a little more directionless than I was expecting, but this doesn't last long as the wheels align as the story progresses. In fact, once I reached the end, this is but a distant memory compared to feeling engrossed in the events as they transpired.

In short, Death of a Necromancer was a fun little read and an enjoyable use of my time. It's also a reminder to have more faith in comics (something I've maybe been losing of late) and make more time for them ... especially the Kickstarter comics on my Google Drive.

Review:- We Ride Titans

While in reality it’s probably been over the last twenty (two) years, it certainly feels like Kaiju, the humongous city destroying monsters from Japanese folklore and media, have only just made a ‘massive’ (pun intended) invasion to Western shores. From films like Pacific Rim and the Kong/Godzilla universe, to comics like Kaijumax, it certainly does feel like there isn’t anywhere I can turn without seeing a giant reptile and a super-size robot battling it out.

Well, never ones to miss out on this, Vault Comics has just released the collected edition of We Ride Titans, the five issue mini series from Tres Dean (Eternal Warrior: Scorched Earth), Sebastian Piriz (Black Beacon) and Dee Cunniffe (Friendo) and Jim Campbell (Wasted Space) which sees the protection of a city from the giant monsters fall to a Titan (see super-size robot) controlled and operated by the most recent and dysfunctional generation of a family of Titan operators. However, when Dej, the current pilot is forced out of the pilot’s chair, it is up to his sister Kit to return to the fold and their overbearing father to uphold family tradition and ‘be the wall’.

After previously reviewing issue one I knew that this is a series I would need to read in its entirety at some point down the road. Now that it is here, it makes me happy knowing that my initial views continued to be justified after the other four issues.

We Ride Titans, for all its destructive extravagance, is first and foremost an emotional story about family and the actions which can rip it apart (not even Dom Torretto can help this one). Tres Dean writes this story entirely from Kit’s perspective as every interaction with said family members (her mother, her father and her brother) really give off vibes which helps paint the picture of her relationship with each one. Kit is a wonderfully written protagonist, damaged and in no way faultless, but fiercely independent and unwilling to give in to her father’s ‘parenting methods’ a second time. This makes her very much a mirror image to her brother Dej, whose more internalised suffering has allowed him to take the abuse, leading to a difficult reunion between the siblings in this story as he initially places the blame on Kit for refusing to share the problems he faced.

Of course, how I’ve summarised the children implies their father is a monster when the opposite is true (or certainly could be). Like many parents who push their children in order to succeed (Tennis Coach Richard Williams springs to mind as an analogy), Kit and Dej’s father is a man trapped in the past, here attempting to maintain a legacy that is generations in the making, whether it be fighting off others who would wrest control or ensuring that his progeny are strong enough to take over in the long run.

I could probably go on with where this story has taken my head (I did ponder if Kit’s shunning by her father in favour of his son was to do with more than ability such as her gender or sexuality or even her obvious independence) but this would only go on to display at the skill in which Dean has layered this story with tremendous minutiae and depth that the backstory of Kaiju and Titans feels almost superfluous.

 Of course, Tres Dean’s writing and story building are only half of what makes this series great as artist Sebastian Piriz and colourist Dee Cunniffe create some truly gorgeous artwork. Piriz’s style here has a real Jonathan Luna vibe to it with such clean pencils and sharp facial features while Cunniffe’s warm colours contrast that with a hot, almost wild west tone which works nicely given how cowboy-esque the Hobbs family feel as they control the city’s Titan. The result of this combination gives We Ride Titans a distinct look as it very much feels like East meets West.

That said, Piriz and Cunniffe do mix this look up a bit, particularly during the massive (literally) fight scenes. All of the battles between Titan and Kaiju feel chaotic in both their looks and shades. However, I do feel that maybe this is by design as it implies a sense of inexperience or struggle in controlling the Titan during its primary task.

We Ride Titans is not a perfect series as it does seem to display a few problems. These include the mother of the family unit feeling incredibly underused and underdeveloped compared to the rest of her kin, the somewhat shoe-horned in Ash the Mechanic whose appearance feels superfluous at best and the 11th hour inclusion of the main villain who, while providing a degree of closure to the Hobbs’ family’s problems, does seem to come out of nowhere.

Still, these are in no way enough to ruin an otherwise beautiful story about the struggles of one family as they try to find their purpose, both separately and together. Messrs Dean, Piriz, Cunniffe and Campbell have crafted a terrific story from an intriguing beginning to a touching and sweet final scene. We Ride Titans is a terrific reminder to everyone that no matter what monsters you are facing (even the skyscraper sized ones), your family will always have your back (and if you are lucky, they’ll be in a giant mech suit).

October (2022)'s pull list comics

As I try to get back into the writing groove, it's been about three weeks since I last posted something.

Not exactly the gap I had planned, but certainly an improvement on the 3 month hiatus which came before.

Now, would it have been longer? Maybe. But fortunately, it wasn't as October came to an end and I was finally able to to get in to my Local Comic Shop and pick up the outstanding comics from my pull list.

So, here they are. The Comics for my October pull list, in reading order, were:

• Fantastic Four #48 - The first half of David Pepose's 2-part Judgement Day tie-in really had me simultaneously hooked in and blown away. As a result, I couldn't wait the month (well three) between me picking up issues 47 and 48. Unfortunately, I think the overhype I gave the first instalment ruined the second because, issue 48 didn't hold up to what ha come before it. That's not to say that it wasn't good, because it was; the writing, focus on Sue and Cabal's art were all still great. However, after what issue 47 gave us, this felt like a slight let down. Of course, I've only read it once and, maybe when looked at in conjunction to the first part, that might change my point of view.

• Do a Powerbomb #5 - This series continues to knock me down at every issue and the fifth part is certainly no exception (or, more specifically, an entry with a harder punch). I wasn't expecting the issue to end the way it did, especially given that there are still two more to go. However, the way that the cliff-hanger went from one twist to another in such a short order really got my jaw hitting the floor. Otherwise, this series continues to consistently wow me with all the other aspects of it and leaving shouting out from the crowds for more.

• X-Terminators #2 - After reading the first issue a second time I discovered a bit more of an appreciation to this book and found myself intrigued and looking forward to part two. The second issue however, doesn't quite keep up with the opening instalment, but the revelation that the story is now a recap of sorts and the quick scenes of the present certainly has me more intrigued about where X-Terminators is going. I do hope that the third issue doesn't degrade in the same manner as this one but maybe a re-read here will bring its quality up like it did last time.

• Star Trek #1 - I picked up this comic because, after all of this time we were promised a 'what happened next' for Sisko after his finale at the end of DS9. That said, while I've had an up and down relationship with Trek comics in the past, I don't think I was quite prepared for how good a read I would find this opening issue. I absolutely loved this issue, from the great art to the tremendous connections across all of the Trek shows (minus Discovery, Picard and Lower Decks ... that I could tell). Now it isn't perfect and it has some niggles about it (mainly to do with continuity), but I am so pumped after reading this and am really looking forward to the future issues.

• New Fantastic Four #5 - The final instalment of this mini series and it went to the bottom of my pile simply because I wasn't looking forward to it. Well, in a sort of pre-ordainment, this issue was much like its predecessors in that it just wasn't my thing. The story felt clunky and, while the art was ok, it wasn't enough to turn me around. I might give this a second chance and re-read the series as a whole but otherwise I might avoid any future trips to this concept ... including the also Peter David created Symbiote Spider-Man.

A slightly smaller month than September but a good quality one regardless. The big surprise for me though was Star Trek, which even now has me thinking on things that would have taken more than a single paragraph to write about (had I done so).

Maybe I'll do another post focusing on just that issue.