Rumble #1 does something very few continuing stories achieve successfully. It tells a gripping story that acknowledges it’s past issues but still welcoming to new readers. After a brief introduction into the history of the world and its varying players, the reader is thrown into an entirely original story with interesting characters and a well thought out mythos.
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Welcome to my review of the third issue of John Arcudi and Toni Fejzula’s Dead Inside, out this week from Dark Horse Comics. The last two issue of this series have been pretty interesting but this time around I’m really hoping that the story kicks in a bit more… I need to know what the fuck is going on here. Let’s see what I thought of Dead Inside #3.
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Today I’m looking at the second issue of Dead Inside, the crime comic by John Arcudi and Toni Fejzula from Dark Horse Comics. I liked the first issue and going into this, I was expecting more of the same from this creative team. Here’s what I thought of issue two.
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Today, I’m having a look at Dead Inside #1 from John Arcudi, Toni Fejzula, and Dark Horse Comics. For the sake of trying to not spoil this book in the review (and I hate doing this, really), Here’s the information which was given in the solicitation:
The Jail Crimes Division of the Sheriff's Office in Mariposa County investigates crimes committed inside county jails. With a limited number of suspects who can't escape, these are usually easy cases to solve-but not this one. As Detective Linda Caruso gets closer to the heart of the case, she discovers uncomfortable truths about her friends, her job, and herself.
Read MoreQuick recap: the soul of an ancient warrior is stuck inside a scarecrow. This soul, along with a few human friends he's made through the past 13 issues, has been looking for his original body which was stolen by demons. His body has returned, but inhabited by another soul, and now the two must fight it out all the while a demon army is on the hunt for our scarecrow hero. The fight breaks out between Rathraq (scarecrow soul guy) and his body, inhabited by another soul. His body is demanding Rathraq's sword, which we find out from way back in issue one is a very important and powerful sword. Rathraq instead sends the sword with one of his human friends, Del, and decides to engage in combat with his body, but in a way that won't destroy his body. Got all that?
The humans run around trying to find Cogan, an old timer that knows more than he lets on. Bobby and his girlfriend (probably named in past issues) run into the bar that Bobby works at as Cogan is usually there, although he is gone. Del bursts in with the sword, and the girl demands Bobby and Del explain the whole situation.
Elsewhere, Rathraq and his body continue to fight, all while being comically monitored by two local police officers that are helpless to do anything else. Just when it seems Rathraq will be defeated, a bus full of demons and the demon queen, Xotlaha, run over the body and crush it and the bus into a building. The demons and Xotlaha offload and surround Rathraq, as his defeat means they have nothing left to fear.
Suddenly the bus is flung into the air by the body of Rathraq, and a battle between the body and the demons ensues. Rathraq bursts into the bar to get his sword back from Del and joins in the fight against the demons when suddenly someone from the past appears...
I've enjoyed Rumble since it began. I've unfortunately missed a few issues as of late, but I'm so glad to have gotten to read this recent issue. I've always felt that this was such a unique story with fun characters. There are always battles and humor wrapped into every issue, each character being very unique with their own ways of speaking and acting. The art is fun, more cartoon like but not so much as to be unrealistic or silly. There is always a lot of action in this series, and it makes it fun to read. The artist is very skilled as any movement is very well drawn and if you're into it like I am you can't help but imagine the movement in your mind.
I would recommend this book to anyone. This has really motivated me to go back and catch up on issues. Go check this book out; everyone should give it a shot. It's a different story than you've read before, and I firmly believe it has something for everyone.
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Rumble #14 Writer: John Arcudi Artist: James Harren Colorist: Dave Stewart Publisher: Image Comics Price: $3.50 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital
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I am truly a sucker for comics that marry epic supernatural storytelling with small-scale dramatic beats. Constant cosmic destruction quickly can get boring while long sequences of characters talking, runs the danger of becoming stagnant and ignoring the visual side of the medium. But if you can successfully combine the two, as BPRD #145 does, you end up with a thrilling adventure that manages to remember just why we care about the giant lizard stomping his way towards the BPRD's Colorado base.
There's a lot going on at this point in BPRD. The base is being evacuated by a reasonably stressed out Kate Corrigan who realizes Panya is up to something. Liz and Johann are stalling for time, fighting a losing battle against the Ogdru Jahad, but Liz is falling apart from exhaustion and Johann is being tempted towards oblivion by forces beyond his control. Last of not least, Valslskjlkdjkfj and Ioseph have returned from Hell with some friends familiar to those who know Mignola's lore (no not Hellboy, sadly). While this last point does feel like a bit of an afterthought (though a pretty cool one and no, it's still not Hellboy), the issue is generally very successful at balancing its stories while progressing them each.
This last arc (and to an extent the entirety of BPRD Hell on Earth) has been about sacrifice. As the earth comes closer and closer to extinction, the cast of BPRD doesn't consider giving up but instead grit their teeth and fight forward, losing friends, family, and in some cases, their humanity in the process. Roger is dead, Abe and Hellboy are missing, Kate is alone, Panya is old and tired, and Liz is near death. Unlike every other superhero book on the market, the apocalypse of BPRD hasn't been avoided. Despite the best efforts of the Bureau's best agents, the world is cracked and broken as an elder God rampages across a brutally changed world.
And in the midst of this brutal, large-scale destruction, this issue takes some time to quietly focus on a couple of characters who have been quietly developing for over a hundred issues. Kat Corrigan who has, over the course of BPRD gone from a bit Hellboy backup character to a realistically developed leader and mother to the team, confronts Panya about her increasingly erratic reclusive behavior. Panya finally let’s go of her secret and, surprisingly, it's not one based in mythology but characterization. She is old and wants to die. In a small parallel to the team as a whole, Panya, in the face of overwhelming exhaustion, wants to give up and let it all be over but Kate can't let her go. It's a wonderful little moment earned both by this issue and those that came before.
By the end of the issue, there are a couple of larger plot swerves I won't spoil here, but that little character moment remains my favorite part. Entering its home stretch, BPRD Hell on Earth is proving itself to be a worthy finale in terms of mythology, spectacle, and heart. There's a lot of ground left to cover, but BPRD #145 proves Arcudi, Mignola, and Campbell are more than up to the challenge.
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B.P.R.D. - Hell on Earth #145 Writers: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi Artist: Lawrence Campbell Colorist: Dave Stewart Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital
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Comic Bastards has always focused away from superhero comics. Yes, we review some when we are sent them, but the idea is always that we are a site that provides coverage to the other half of comics. With publishers like Image and Boom! putting out creator-owned books from A-list creators, it can be tempting to write off superheroes as a juvenile exercise in basic pulp storytelling--something you are glad helped get you into comics but which doesn't add much to the medium anymore. I love capes and cowls as much as the next guy, but crossovers, constant deaths, and shifting creative teams have been overused to the point of cliché and certainly hard to apply any rigorous examination to. And then you have BPRD, a shared universe 144 issue mega series, with about twenty artists, a giant cast of superhero style characters and a constantly expanding mythos which somehow turns the style of superhero storytelling to its advantage.
BPRD #144 is in many ways nothing more than a reminder of where each of the major players as a setup to the coming climax of Hell on Earth, but it works surprisingly well by using the history of the series to build melancholy and stakes. Most of the issue is set in Hell itself (which is ironically looking a lot more peaceful than Earth at this point, hence the series title). Ioseph and Varvara tour the underworld looking for possible allies but finding only the shattered dystopia last seen in Hellboy in Hell. Without a knowledge of that Hellboy series, much of this issue might not make sense, but that's also part of its brilliance. The Mignola books occupy a small enough line that it's actually a fair assumption that everyone will understand why Hell is destroy and Satan dead. In fact, tying in with what has been, up until now, an insular cutoff part of the continuity is in its own way thrilling. It implies, as fans may have long hoped, that the original Mignola hero may be ready to make a return to the BPRD.
As for the BPRD themselves, things are looking bleak (well, even more bleak than usual that is). We only get a few pages set on earth, but they serve as a good reminder of why we care about what's happening elsewhere. The ogdru Jahad continues making its way to the BPRD base in Colorado with Liz and Johann doing their best to act as damage control. Kate meanwhile is attempting to evacuate the base which is proving more difficult than expected. It's fascinating to see a world that instead of treating apocalyptic disaster like a weekly occurrence in the manner of DC or Marvel, has come apart at the seams. The stakes seem real here because each issue of BPRD is willing to change the world entirely going forwards. It's rare to be able to enjoy these pulpy, continuity based adventures without knowing what can and cannot happen at the story's end.
And fundamentally, as dark as it continues to get, BPRD is fundamentally still a book about pulpy thrills. As Johann and Liz roast freshly spewed monsters like oversized shish kabobs and Ioseph the undead Russian soldier faces his personal demons (literally), it's hard not to enjoy the spectacle of it all. BPRD is not, by any means, highbrow (it doesn't ever reach the poetry or quiet beauty of Mignola's Hellboy), but it's effective, quality pulpy storytelling, and that's rare enough to celebrate in its own right.
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B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth #144 Writers: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi Artist: Lawrence Campbell Colorist: Dave Stewart Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital
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