Kirkman's "Outcast" is a good follow-up to his long running Zombie serial

When I think of Outcast, what comes to mind initially is The Exorcist, that terrifying movie from the early 1970s about a young girl possessed by the devil.  I am also reminded of Bill Paxton's 2002 movie Frailty, although to a smaller extent.  Whatever this comic book series was influenced and inspired by, the result it has on its reader should be one and the same: a drama about one man's past experiences and struggles against a supernatural evil in a world that is very much like our own.  Add to the equation the obligatory priest who helps the protagonist in his quest to defeat the evil spirit that's clouding the minds and hearts of particular citizens in the small West Virginia town, and what we have is a horror tale that is a classic throwback to the countless exorcism movies that have preceded it.

Outcast: A Darkness Surrounds Him introduces us to Kyle Barnes, an everyman still tormented by ghosts from his past, in which his mother was possessed by an evil force that resulted in her death.    He's also traumatized by a recent separation from his wife and child due to an incident in which his daughter being possessed by a similar ominous spirit caused Kyle to nearly beat the young girl to death.  So now he spends his days in solitude and isolation, visited only by his sister Megan.  With the help of a wise and good-natured priest, Reverend Anderson, Kyle will try to use his special gift (his blood apparently has the ability to burn those who have been possessed) for the good of mankind.

Robert Kirkman does a great job of presenting us with a convincing brother-sister relationship that is free of cliches or otherwise redundant scenes.  Megan comes across as a real person who is authentically worried about her brother's secluded existence, and who truly wants him to come out of his shell and get past his recent personal struggles.  The story in general is engaging and tense, and I can only hope that it doesn't end up dragging the way Kirkman's The Walking Dead has for the past decade or so, clearly past its prime, having jumped-the-shark years ago.

The artwork by Paul Azaceta is very simple, yet effective.  His style is convincing in portraying the appropriate emotions that his characters are going through, showing the ability of being able to draw inner turmoil, shocking surprise, and even terrifying fear on the faces of Outcast's characters.  His illustrations are never a distraction, only an asset, to this tale that doesn't necessarily excel at any particular element, but stays consistent and fairly engrossing in its writing and artwork.  It is certainly a comic worth checking out, and a tale that I doubt will bore anyone.  In an ocean of numerous other mediocre comics in contemporary America, Outcast does not disappoint.
B


@acestroke78

"Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery" looks great, but sounds stale

It's about time someone put out a comic with a fantasy theme, and with not one, but four heroines at its center.  Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass and Sorcery is an imaginative and visual treat for the eyes.  However, the effect it has on the ears and the brain is another one altogether.

The four leads here are a curious bunch: small, elf-looking Betty, who's all about getting high and tripping on mushrooms; Violet is the hipster who apparently used to have a beard, but no longer does;   Dee apparently comes from a family of monster cultists, and finally there is Hannah, who is an elven mage sporting a rocking attitude and image.  These so called Rat Queens fight giant orcs, battle mysterious and unknown assassins who're trying to kill them, and do a fair amount of cursing and partying.  All in a day's work for rebellious and sassy undersexed warrior women.

Writer Kurtis J. Wiebe and artist Roc Upchurch's fantasy epic is perfectly illustrated and impressively stunning on most pages.  The supporting characters, as well as the four heroines, are presented with great attention to detail, as each frame vibrates with life and action.  However, the writing is less than impressive.  The plot of this first TP is confusing and unclear, and the characters do way too much talking for a genre that is supposed to feature sorcery and dragons and all things fantastical.  The leads appear to be interesting girls/women, but they don't really have a story worth following, nor a quest of any sort that is appealing.  By the time I reached the last page, my only reaction was, "Is that it?"

From a graphic perspective, this serial is similar to Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples's sci-fi opera, Saga.  The characters in both universes appear to be human, but are instead hybrids of human and animal, giving them a look of modern centurions, at least above the waist.   The major difference between Saga and Rat Queens, though, is that he former pulls you in and engages you with the characters and their plight, whereas with Rat Queens, you're flipping past page 100 and still looking for a reason to keep on reading.  I, unfortunately, could not find one.  My engagement with this serial will apparently end sooner than expected.  But hey, don't blame me: I'm not the one who's supposed to have sorcery on my side.
C

Warren Ellis' "FreakAngles: Volume 1" is slow paced, meticulous and a bit pretentious

FreakAngels, Volume 1, is a unique comic in more ways than one.  For one, its arrangement of frames (or panels) is very traditional, and as such, it resembles a European comic that possess the standard layout of four or six (or any even number) of equal sized frames per page.   The story - if one can even call it a story in the traditional sense of the word - is slow moving, deliberate, and perhaps a bit too much character driven.  The writer Warren Ellis and artist Paul Duffield are certainly treading new waters when it comes to introducing their characters into the American comic book landscape.

The story focuses on several of the twelve children, the so-called Freak Angels, who possess special  psychic powers, and who were all born on the same day some 23 years ago.  When they were all 17, the world apparently ended.  They spend their time in an abandoned and half-flooded London, resembling a ghost town the way it did in the movie 27 Weeks Later.   Some are homeless bums (Luke), some spend their times guard-watching on roof tops (Kirk), while others are too busy participating in some (surprisingly unsexy) orgies (Sirkka), no name just a few of them.  They walk around, make small chit chat, bring new vigilante members into their group, and communicate to each other telepathically.  In short, none them are doing anything worth noting nor following, because for the most part, this first volume of FreakAngles is very light on plot.  There's no clear villain or antagonist, nor any internal conflict worth mentioning.  I'm not quite sure, after reading nearly 150 pages of it, what this serial is actually about, or at the very least, if it's heading anywhere worth looking forward to.

The creator of FreakAngels, Ellis, has said several years ago, "I've written over 200 pages, and I've no idea what it's about..."  These are definitely not encouraging words, to be sure, as the readers will have even less idea what they're reading.  FreakAngels looks relatively good, because Duffield does an exemplary job of drawing the characters distinctly, and not making the common mistake of having them all look alike (something most serials suffer from).  So the blame here clearly doesn't fall on Duffield, but on Ellis.  His FreakAngles are unimaginative, slow, and worst of all, quite boring.  And with no direction at all, it's a miracle that they've managed to run long enough to publish six volumes.  Some things, I suppose, are beyond comprehension.
C-

"Captain America: Civil War" is Marvel's latest Superhero explosion, even better than "The Avengers"

An Avengers Lite, if you will. Captain America continues to enjoy high quality writing in Hollywood, possibly more so than any other hero of the Marvel Comics universe. This movie delivers plenty of action, explosions, betrayals and deception to make its nearly two and a half hour running time worthwhile. The conflict at the center, between Iron Man and Captain himself, is well handled, and executed with conviction, and the battle scenes are definitely exciting. 

However, there's still plenty that's less than believable, even though it takes places in a world where suspension of disbelief should be in full effect (how does a man free-fall from high up in the sky, hits the ground flat, and survive? Not even Marvel can make this kind of preposterousness fly). Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans do a terrific job at conveying the inner turmoil that their characters are going through, and as such, they resemble two Shakespearean tragic (anti)heroes, albeit with bigger muscles and better gadgets. Another interesting factor is the introduction of the new Spider Man (the young Tom Holland) from a yet another upcoming re-boot; this kid is charming and much younger than the predecessors who played him, and should make a very effective Peter Parker and his alter ego.

All in all, this barrage of superheroes and superheroines will, of course, spawn even more sequels and spinoffs, until the franchise branches out and the Marvel Comics start publishing episodes based on the movies, instead of the other way around. Art imitating Hollywood, and the other way around. Circle of life at its most "super".
B

"Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows" lets Rodriguez's art shine & take over

The shadows in Joe Hill's and Gabriel Rodriguez's third part of the Locke & Key saga are large and in charge.  They resemble boogey men and demons from our worst nightmares: one looks like an evil ice queen, another like a Roman centurion gone completely villainous, and yet others resembles large, giant wolves in drag.  As the wicked Dodge continues to deceive the Locke children, all the while still searching for the Key to the Black Door, he comes across the Shadow Key, which allows him access to the Crown of Shadows.  This ornament possesses the ability to grant its owner the power to wake and command the shadows of the underworld to their liking.  Needless to say, Dodge leaves no stone unturned.

In Crown of Shadows, the story we've grown to love and be amazed by keeps delivering more surprises, all the while continuing to challenge our imagination and our sense of awe.  Dodge tries to negotiate with Sam Lesser in the dead zone, which is accessible by the Ghost Key, but their disagreement only leads to Sam suffering more harm.  Meanwhile, the Locke children branch out a bit.  Kinsey, led by Scot Kavanaugh, ventures into the cave under the Keyhouse to discover her father's name etched in stone, along with some other names, from the year 1988 (there's also a corpse of a woman lying way below the water's surface, but her origin remains a mystery up to this point).  The Locke girl also experiences a first ever French kiss, with Scot's close dreadlocked friend, Jamal.  Tyler, meanwhile, watches his mother sink deeper into a new level of alcoholism, and Bode, along with his older brother, discovers the Giant Key.  At the end, the eldest Locke child may have, after all, found the ultimate of all keys, albeit by sheer accident.

Hill continues to amaze us with his inventive ideas, further expanding the mythology of Keyhouse and its connection to the Keys.  But the star in this third installment is clearly Rodriguez.  His artwork carries this issue to levels that only few comic book artists could ever dream of, and in the fifth chapter, Light of Day, we finally see the magnitude and sheer visual power of Rodriguez's interpretation of Hill's words.  There are several splash pages here, in which Tyler fights the evil shadows, illuminated by the bright blue moonlight of Eastern Massachusetts, that are master artworks in and of themselves.  Each could easily be blown up to a full size painting, hung on a wall, and marvelously stand toe to toe with some of the best contemporary art.

It is a rare thing indeed for any comic book series to challenge its readers emotionally and spiritually, but that's exactly what Locke & Key continues to do.  I can't think of any other American serial that's had a grip as strong as this on me.  It's like a dream infused with elements of nightmare, but unlike most horrors I experience while asleep, this is one unconscious fantasy I never want to wake up from.
A

Sally Field shines in the underrated "Hello My Name is Doris"

A very effective and unique comedy about an older woman (in her 60s?) who's got a crush on a much younger man, and who resorts to all kinds of tricks and deceptions to try to win him over. Sally Field can apparently still amaze; her character here is a strange woman indeed, and the way the actress portrays different kinds of emotion and expression in various situations really is marvelous to watch. Her Doris has apparently never known true love, or even mediocre love. She seems so alien to the dating scene that the very idea of romance is something so alien and new to her, as if she were 6 years old, and not ten times that age. Actor Max Greenfield holds his own as the object of Doris' desire. Their scenes together are actually quite charming and touching, and the very last scene (or shot, for that matter) is pure genius (do they? I mean, does he? Ahh, I guess we'll always wonder). We need more clever and insightful movie comedies like this one, because unlike most films of this genre, Hello, my name is Doris is about character rather than slapstick and cliches. Thank god for Doris and her cluelessness, for without her we'd continue to have idiots roam the cinematic landscape as heroines without any integrity.
B+

"Corto Maltese: The Ballad of the Salt Sea" is a fitting intro to Pratt's legendary graphic novel hero

Hugo Pratt's legendary comic book/graphic novel series hero, Corto Maltese, has always been the epitome of cool.  The man has style, looks, intelligence and wit to spare.  Hell, even the Marlboro Man would be envious of him.  A world traveler and a high-seas adventurer, Maltese is 20th century's Marco Polo: a born sailor and a captain of various ships and boats in the South Pacific.  If the tide of the world's oceans had a name, it would be called Corto Maltese, and fittingly so.

In his maiden adventure, The Ballad of the Salt Sea (Universe Publishing, 2012, 253 pgs), Pratt places his timeless hero in the Coral part of the Pacific Ocean, not far from New Guinea and Australia's northern coast.  Found adrift in the open sea by Captain Rasputin and his pirates, Corto is taken aboard the vessel, where he meets two teenagers: Cain Groovesnore, a disagreeable and suspicious blonde-haired young man, and his cousin, Pandora Groovesnore, a beautiful and seductive young woman, whose intentions and mannerisms, at least at first, seem to fluctuate a great deal.  Rasputin's intention is to bargain with the wealthy Groovesnore family and trade the children for big ransom money; Maltese, of course, wants to make sure that no harm comes to them, so he agrees to help Rasputin return them to safety in one piece.

Most of the story takes place on a small island called Escondida, where a mysterious figure in a hooded cloak - called The Monk - rules over the local natives.  He is an enigmatic person, to be sure, and perhaps even has some ties to the two Groovesnore children.  When he first lays his eyes on the lovely Pandora, he proceeds to throw a fit equivalent to a child who's been denied a lollipop in a candy store.  Did he recognize someone from his past in the young woman, or was he simply overcome with uncontrollable lust due to her provocative features?

Hugo Pratt's artwork is good, but alas, it is not consistent, nor impressive if we compare it to today's comic illustrations the world over.  I realize that being the writer AND an illustrator was probably a heavy burden to bear, but his Corto, although iconic in most contemporary images where he's smoking a cigarette while wearing a left earring, appears different from frame to frame.  He's not the only one; most of the main characters appear contrary in some panels.  Such a disparity among the same characters from moment to moment can be a nuisance, especially when so many of them already look similar to begin with.

I also have an issue with this edition's translation.  For a series that is admired by millions the world over - and especially in Europe, where Corto Maltese has a cult following - this English version deserved a much better translation than what Hall Powell has given us (I won't even dwell on the fact that there are numerous errors of the grammatical and punctual kind, in addition to having the same word or words being repeated erroneously in the same frame).  In many instances, characters say things in manner that isn't befitting for people speaking English: "...My father fought against him from the time he was a boy..." (it should read "since the time he was a boy"), or "You'll follow my orders to the letter!" (no one speaks like that in English; perhaps another phrase would've sufficed).  It's as if Powell had focused on translating much of Pratt's original dialogue way too faithfully, and we all know that some, if not most of any language, can be lost when translated into another way too literally.  The way the current translation stands, much of the dialogue sounds stale, wooden and even juvenile.  Characters speak as if their mouths are stuffed with peanut butter, and the result is less than melodious for the human ear.

But despite all that, the bottom line is that The Ballad of the Salt Sea is a grand tale of sea faring pirates and criminals and soldiers and (anti)heroes in the South Pacific, and everyone who's a fan of such a genre will enjoy it.  There's jealousy, treason, murder, kidnapping, a knife fight with an octopus - and a shark - and several more than subtle moments of sexual tension.  The last encounter of parting between Maltese and Pandora is at once peculiar and heartbreaking: I wasn't sure if this was a goodbye between friends, or two lovers who've secretly enjoyed each other's intimacy for years.  Pratt never suggests that there's something between them, but an intrigued and curious reader can still hope.  This having been only Corto's first adventure, perhaps we will find out more about the tension between these two (lovers-to-be?) in the chapters to come.
B