The Undisputed King of Nothing 1: Goodbye to All That by Paul Stapleton [1. Review copy provided free by Bedsit Press] follows the non-adventures of our unnamed protagonist in a post-apocalyptic world.
The UK has been devastated by a new type of flu, and now, months later the unnamed protagonist seems to be the only person left alive in the world.
So, remember back in the 90s when Scream was some seriously groundbreaking shit? That was when Skeet Ulrich was famous. It was one of the things that had me puzzled when I started watching Jericho . I knew I’d heard the name but just couldn’t place it. But, once it was placed it was unforgettable. Everything about him just screams, “I love the 90s!” But maybe that’s just what bad boys in the Midwest look like… maybe.
However, Jericho isn’t about Skeet Ulrich’s heroic reascent to become a famous person — because, I’m fairly sure this show didn’t actually make him famous again. According to wikipedia, Jericho is about:
Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States.
Crossed is a graphic novel written by Garth Ennis, drawn by Jacen Burrows, and published via Avatar Press. The story is set in a world where suddenly there are people who “stop being nice, and start being real.” Unfortunately, “real” in this scenario is bloodthirsty, rape-crazy, and straight up ultra-violent.
“Crossed” is how the infected in this universe are described because they develop a cross-like rash across their faces. The rash isn’t an issue. What is and issue is that fact that the infected, unlike other apocalyptic infected, want to rape you to death and mutilate you and destroy you as slowly and horrifically as possible. Because that’s fun now, and okay, because no one can or will stop them. Don’t get me wrong, the Crossed can and do feel pain — but they love it and it won’t slow them down. So, either kill them dead or don’t get caught.
One of the main themes in Crossed was not getting caught. Our protagonists pushed on and on in a constant effort to not get caught by the Crossed until eventually they realized that there are some serious flaws in a plan to live just so you won’t die.
anninyn and I both read volume one recently and needed to discuss it. So we did. Together. In detail. With spoilers, and swears, and graphic descriptions, and even some spoilers for the movie Serenity (which, if you haven’t seen you need to; so, go fix that ASAP).
Below is our discussion and we hope you join in on it if you’ve read the book too. Continue reading “A Discussion of CROSSED”
Holidays are a time to be thankful, stressed, and threaten your children with the loss of a strange man’s affection. For me, comics tend to be a medium that consistently keeps it real – often straight up hyperbolic.
Check out these comics that mash up our holiday notions with apocalyptic ones.
Brian Posehn (Author), Gerry Duggan (Author), Rick Remender (Illustrator)
After the apocalypse no one is safe – even at the North Pole. After tragedy strikes Santa withdraws from life and turns his back on Christmas. When Claus finally emerges from seclusion the old world is gone forever. As Santa struggles to find his way in a Mad Max-like world – can he find a way to save Christmas too?
Marvel Zombies issue #1 was surprisingly pretty boring.
It wasn’t the most boring thing I’ve ever read or watched about zombies but there sure was a lot of chatting for a superhero-zombie mash up.
The issue was mostly chatting actually.
All the zombie superheroes literally just sit around discussing their zombiehood: what it means for their powers, how it impacts the world, how they might survive, who else might have survived. For pages, they just casually converse with almost the exact same personalities and intellect that they’ve been known for. They might be slightly dumber and extremely hungry. That’s also a big conversation subject; everyone is so very hungry all the time.
The thing is, due to their intellect and the casual way they go on and on about their hunger, they come across and whiney and lazy. Continue reading “Marvel Zombies Issue #1”
Sweet Tooth, by Jeff Lemire (both art and story!), is an apocalyptic comic that benefits from being both familiar and unusual. The concepts, on the surface, allow for a easy suspension of disbelief while the details will keep readers enthralled.
Seven years ago a sickness struck the world down. If you weren’t sick, you would be eventually.
The children would have been the hope of the future, since all the children are immune to the sickness. Unfortunately, every child born since the sickness was boron a human-animal hybrid.
Sweet Tooth stars Gus, a nine-year-old boy –with deer antlers growing out of his head–, who has been raised by his religious and paranoid father in a cabin in the woods ever since the whole world got sick and the only children born were part animal.
Early in the comic, Gus loses his father to either sickness or old age. Shortly after going out to burry the old man, Gus gets himself either rescued (or hoodwinked) by a badass loner named Jepperd. Jepperd promises to take Gus to “The Preserve,” where kids like Gus (human animal hybrids) are safe. Having only ever learned what his father taught him about people and the world, Gus is native but not stupid. He’s had almost no interaction with others but still manages to be kind without losing his instinct for self preservation.
Sweet Tooth manages to create a humor-violence-emotion hybrid. Each character is dimensional, reasonable, and interesting.
Without saying too much, appearing too hokey, or over developed everyone is still fleshed out enough to be fresh and charming in their own, sometimes sadistic, ways.
I totally recommend this series.
But, just in case my enthusiasm isn’t convincing enough, you can read this free preview of issue #1 (Volume 1 is a compilation of issue #1 through #5).
UPDATE: Got an email from a nice man at Aspen Comics who says, “Scourge is currently scheduled to go Digital in late January or early February. Keep checking our fb page and follow us on twitter for the latest updates.” Yay!
Sometimes a Zombie isn’t the worst thing you could become or watch others become. The sick and the shambling, we know how to fight them—with sticks and stones. But what about full-on demonic-style transformations from man to beast?
In apocalyptic scenarios, there’s always the fear that the mutations on center-stage might not be the only mutations that have occurred. We worry if animals might turn as well as people. We worry that after the walking dead come the running dead. And in Aspen Comics’ The Scourge, we worry if after the gargoyles, comes The Devil.
Yes, gargoyles.
Continue reading “Post-Apocalyptic Graphic Novel (Comic): The Scourge”
At New York Comic Con I was not only able to pick up a copy of Crossed in the exhibit hall, but I was also able to shuffle some three feet to my left to have it signed by artist Jacen Burrows.
I, unfortunately, did not ask him if his gory art makes it difficult for him to sleep– though I’m sure it does.
Crossed is a super-violent story of a world not simply gone mad, but gone to live out their most depraved and violent dreams. Continue reading “NYCC: CROSSED Post Apocalyptic Ultra-violence”
This week I was able to preview the full first issue of the new comic from Dark Horse Orchid.
I can safely use my new favorite phrase to describe this comic because it’s recommended for 18+ audiences– Orchid is an Amazeballs Apocalyizgasm.
The preview on the Dark Horse site is mildly misleading. It starts of very slowly with a lot of backstory and foreshadowing. No characters for the first four pages even. We learn that this world is set far in the future of our world, which has been ravaged by flooding, wide-spread animal mutations, and the general demise of human society.
At first I was a bit skeptical, thinking I’d be reading a storybook with a James Earl Jones-esque narrator telling me about how things were once and how sad they’ve become and that, maybe one day, there’ll be a hero fight against the corrupt power and rage against the machine[1. Pun totally intended. ORCHID is the creation of Rage Against The Machine’s former guitarist, Tom Morello].
Then exciting things started happening. There was suddenly a band of rebels I found myself cheering for and a cause I vaguely understood and wholly supported. Continue reading “Post-Apocalyptic Comic: ORCHID #1”
We’ve talked quite a bit about zombie survival. You know, how to keep zombies from invading your settlement, how to keep zombies from chasing you down and eating you, and how to toss those really annoying people who just won’t quit whining over the wall into the zombie encampment. (Well, maybe not that last one. But you know you thought about it.)
But what if the zombie is someone who’s close to you? Maybe someone who’s part of your survival group? Or—gasp—someone who’s part of your family?
And not the annoying great-aunt who gives you tacky reindeer sweaters at Christmas and force-feeds you fruitcake after kissing you while making fishy lips, either. No, we’re talking close relatives here. You know, your mom or dad (if you’re on speaking terms with them), your sibling (ditto), your spouse, or your kids. And what about your best friend? Having your best friend try to attack you and make you lunch just might be worse than watching your mother turn into a brain-eating undead humanoid.
Don’t get me wrong, having your mother turn into a zombie can also be pretty bad.
Especially if you’re a kid. Like this little girl here, who wakes up one morning to find that zombies have invaded her town. And instead of making her breakfast, her mother is now trying to have her for breakfast. (Crappy, that.)
