Comic Book Review: Denver Moon #1: Murder on Mars

Written by Warren Hammond and Joshua Viola, Illustrated by Aaron Lovett

Denver Moon is a private eye investigating a series of prostitute murders on Mars. But is it really murder if the victims are bots?

This is the first of 3 comic books, which will be bound into a graphic novel entitled Metamorphosis later this year. Issue one is currently on comiXology and will be available in print on June 5th. The comic is based on a short story of the same name, which is a prequel to a novella also out on June 5th called Denver Moon: The Minds of Mars.

This issue is purely set-up. You’re introduced to Moon and the case and a bit of the background regarding the state of affairs on Mars. I liked the artwork which has soft edges and an almost painted look. Scenes outside have a definite Blade Runner Asian/neon vibe. 

As extras, there’s some concept art for the main characters and the first section of the short story, which retells the same things as the comic, only with some added details. I actually found the comparison fascinating: what physical details needed to be included in the written rather than visual account as well as which details were cut for the comic to save room without compromising story.

This is a great start with an interesting protagonist and setting, and I’m curious to see where it goes. 

  

Free Comic Book Day

For what might be the first time ever, I went to my local comic book store on 'free comic book day' and picked up some free comics (and a couple of not free graphic novels).

I went specifically for the Spill Night comic (prequel to the Spill Zone graphic novel I reviewed recently). I've heard of Lady Mechanika and like the artwork, and was curious about the Doctor Who stories (I got last year's as well as this year's). Catalist Prime: The Event and Malika: Warrior Queen were cool finds I picked up on a whim.

Comic Review: Ususual Tales 42 + Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery 10

Unusual Tales Volume 1, Number 42 (November 1963)

This comic consists of a series of short stories, one of which was not illustrated.

The titular story, “Prisoner in the Atom” involves a hen pecked scientist who has a theory about atoms, and the life contained within them.  It’s quite stereotypical now (scientist who doesn’t deal well with the outside world, nagging shopaholic wife), but the ending had a good twist. 

“Man From Mars” is a great story about xenophobia.  Gossip abounds in an average small town when a strange new family moves in.  The twist ending’s now been done so often it wasn’t a surprise.

“Martian Mistake” is the prose story, about how Martians conquer Earth - and how one man fought back.

“Macklin’s Miracle” is an underwater ‘did it really happen’ story.  As with “Man From Mars”, modern readers will find the ending predictable, if abrupt.  It’s also got the trope of one man finds true love and his friend - who’s yet to find a good woman - believes she will come between them.  

There’s a 2 page scientific comic called “Radiation and Space Travel”, talking about some of the problems we’ll have to overcome if space travel is to become a reality.

Finally, the comic ends with “The Land of Peace”, about three scientists from different nations (USA, Russia, and China) who have all discovered something more powerful than the A-bomb and are about to tell their respective government leaders about it.

Several of the stories are worth reading and were quite entertaining. But remember that what seem like tired tropes now were once new and surprising ideas.

[I'm not sure what the legality of this is, but when I was putting my review together I found this comic free to read online here (you need an account to download it). Considering the age of the comic, I'm assuming it's free of copyright, but if it isn't, tell me and I'll remove the link.]

—————————————————

Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #10 (June 1965)

This comic is also a series of short stories - a mix of ghost stories mostly designed to make you ask, ‘are they true?’.

The first story, depicted on the cover, is “Guardian of the Mounds”, set in Peru (though without any accurate Peruvian costumes or traditions - at one point Hades is referenced).  A treasure hunting captain and an archaeologist arrive in the village of Secara, hoping to find gold in the mounds near the village.  An old man warns them away from the sacred site.  The story revolves around mountain barbarians.  I would have called foul on their colonial Spanish dress if a later panel hadn’t called them Spanish barbarians.

This is the longest story and it’s accompanied with a non-fiction article about the money lights of Peru that supposedly point to buried treasure.

There are a few 1 page stories, “Secret of the White Harpoon”, about a whaler who falls off the boat and almost dies, and “Ghost Dog”, about a thief who’s chased by something he can hear but not see.

Two other longer stories finish the comic, “The Unwanted” about a man who dresses up in a bear skin and unintentionally scares people wherever he goes, and “Phantom of the Films” about a B-list actor who would like to do major horror films.

None of the stories are terribly good, but they are entertaining enough.  I found the front and back cover flaps interesting as they have “Keys of Knowledge”, one on steel production, the other on the British people. I wonder if these were added to give the comics a more educational feel.

Comic Review: Black, Chapter 1

Author: Kwanza Osajyefo, Designs: Tim Smith 3, Illustrator: Jamal Igle

This is a comic I backed on kickstarter.  They’ve released the first of 6 chapters.

The premise for the project is: What if only black people had superpowers?

As expected, this issue is all set-up.  It starts with the debriefing of a cop who witnessed 3 black kids being shot multiple times.  One of those kids, Kareem Jenkins, survives.  There’s a brief introduction to what’s happening to him as he meets other superpowered people, meanwhile it’s clear they are being hunted by some government organization.

From the painted style of the concept art I wasn’t sure if I’d like the artwork of the finished comic, but I’m really liking what they’ve done so far.  It’s all greytone, which fits the subject matter well.

In terms of character design, I love Kareem’s long dreadlocks and his facial expressions are great - especially the panel where he wakes up after the attack.  There’s a huge amount of motion in that still frame.  The brief glimpse of the superheroes we’ve gotten showed a ripped man and a woman who’s not only wearing a more sensible outfit than superheroes generally do, but is also not as buxom as is typically the case.  Both of which I like.

I’m impressed with this issue and glad I backed the project.  I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Comic Review: Battlestar Galactica Issues 1 and 2

Just before the peace negotiated by Baltar between the alien created Cylons and the humans of the Twelve Colonies, can be ratified, there’s a surprise Cylon attack.  But they don’t just destroy the fleet, they also target the colonies themselves.  Only one battleship remains: Battlestar Galactica, which escorts the remaining survivors on a quest to find their ancestral home: Earth.

Written in 1979 and based closely on the TV show that aired the year before, the comic books are fun to read.  Some scenes from the show are removed, likely due to space (some of the set up with Zac and Apollo’s mission, Starbuck talking with Athena while she’s changing, etc.).  The missing scenes tend to be character development moments, things that help with getting to know who everyone is and the interpersonal relationships between them.  Unfortunately, losing Zac’s scenes removed some of the tension the TV episode builds up.

The first issue ends with the ships heading out on their quest to find Earth.  The second comic covers the pilots checking over the ships in the new fleet and ends with them beginning their mine field piloting mission.  I suspect a third issue would finish the events of the pilot episode. 

The artwork is nice, and follows the designs of the show closely.  I didn’t realize until I watched the show that the pilots helmets look like ancient Egyptian headdresses, which was kind of neat.

The comic also does away with the narration that the episode begins with, which explains that this all takes place somewhere distant.

I suspect the comic was meant to drum up interest in the show and/or be a collector’s item.  It’s a neat piece of history.

Comic Review: Star Trek: The City on the Edge of Forever, The Original Screenplay

by Harlan Elison, Scott Tipton and David Tipton

Illustrated by J. K. Woodward

cover by Juan Ortiz and Paul Shipper

Pros: great artwork, interesting story, thought provoking messages

Cons: story drags a bit in the middle, some unnecessary characters

A drug dealer on the Enterprise teleports to a planet that has been making the chronometers on the ship count backwards.  When an away team follows, the fugitive passes through a portal to Earth in the 1930s.  A change there affects the present, forcing Kirk and Spock to go after him.

The story has Kirk fall for a woman who’s making things better for those living in the depression era, but Spock discovers that she’s fated to die and saving her life is what changed the timeline.  

There are a lot of differences between the original screen play and the episode that aired under this name.  Several characters are removed entirely or condensed, making the plot tighter.  The guardian is the same in essence but not in execution.  I thought some of the changes made the story stronger but others changed its ultimate message.  I’ll detail my thoughts on this in the spoiler section.

The artwork is in a realistic style that I enjoyed.  The shading is done in such a way that each panel looks more like an oil painting than a comic book page.  Expressions are clear and give added emotion to the story.  Even full pages of dialogue have interesting backgrounds and character motion.

Ultimately, I preferred the TV episode to the screenplay, but I think the screenplay has a lot to offer and this comic rendition of it is beautifully done.  It’s an excellent story and a wonderful tribute to Star Trek fans to make it available.

[There are conflicting publishing dates for this comic, with Amazon showing February 17th and Indigo February 10th.  The publisher, IDW,'s site doesn't show a date at all and Netgalley, where I got the review copy, says the 3rd.] 

*** Spoilers ***

When it comes to the aired episode I found that there was more connection for the other characters - and the viewers - having McCoy be the one to go back in time rather than an unknown crew member.  I thought making Edith the one who finds Spock and Kirk and offers them a job made the story cleaner and less complicated.  Having the Enterprise simply not be there made more sense than having an alternate ship just happen to be at the planet, at that exact time with the same transporter and communications technology as the Enterprise.  I preferred Spock’s discovery of Edith’s importance and how history changes to the guardian’s predictions and Spock’s guesswork that are used in the screenplay.  The episode’s discoveries come as more of a shock than the screenplay’s and knowing how things change helps mitigate the ending in a way that the character’s educated guesses just don’t accomplish.

With regards to the screenplay, I thought its handling of the Verdun soldier’s character was much better.  While the idea that some people matter in the greater scheme of things and others don’t may not be the nicest message, having the character die in the episode, with no one even knowing about it and no commentary about it, seemed like a waste.  

It’s also unfortunate that Yeoman Rand’s scenes were cut, as it would have been cool to see a woman shooting a door open in the episode.

The screenplay builds Kirk and Edith’s relationship better than the episode.  In the show, when he says he loves her you question it, as they’ve only known each other a short time.  In the screenplay there’s the idea that more time has passed and you see Spock warn the captain off, already seeing what’s happening.  

The end moral of the screenplay, that sometimes good comes from evil and evil from good is lost in the episode as you’re only left with the ‘evil from good’ half.  It’s the one reason using Beckwith would have been better as the antagonist than McCoy.

Comic Review: Orius: Sent 2 Kill, Issue 1

Created by: Pat Lee, Rosanne Wong & Race Wong

Written by: Brian Buccellato & David Wohl

Penciled by Pat Lee

There are two races on the planet Orius, who are forced to work together after years of segregation, in order to find a means of leaving their dying world.  They create artificial intelligences meant to infultrate Earth, which they're testing by having them fight each other to the death.  Meanwhile on Earth, two women meet and unexpectedly know each other, while one of their bosses wonders what is happening with regards to the deal he made with the Orius Greys.

Page 6

As this is a review of the first issue of the series, I'm going to give my impressions rather than a full pro/con breakdown.  The artwork is monochrome, all black, white and grey, with a hint of green, which looks fantastic.  The lines are sharp and the shading well done.  There's a lot of motion in the characters and scenes.  My only concern here is that because it's all black and white, it's hard to tell a few of the characters apart, especially when the action picks up.

The story is really interesting, with multiple things happening at once, both on Earth and Orius.  There's only time for a brief introduction of the many characters (I suspect some of the Earch and Orius characters overlap eventually) but they sound pretty cool.  The two alien AIs are women, which has the potential to be really cool in a kick-ass sort of way, or exploitative, as they're dressed in typical female comic attire.  I'm expecting more of the former based on how the story went in this issue.  The story, alas, cuts out suddenly at the end of an intense action sequence and a small bit of dialogue.  You turn the page to find... the issue is over.  It's definitely an intriguing opening plot wise. 

Out from Sea Lion Books on March 13th, this is definitely a comic to keep your eyes out for.