Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Quick Reviews

Video; Savage Henry; The Moth; B.P.R.D.; Girlspy

Video #1-2
by Stephen R. Buell
The Second Coming is happening, and it looks like The Revelation will be televised. Jesus appears in the sky, and message is sent out over television (and the Internet) saying that the Rapture will occur soon. Needless to say, civilization starts to go a bit wonky. Keisha, up til now an agnostic, is not quite sure what to do, as her best friend has invited her to hide out in an old fallout shelter until it all blows over, but it also appears that her boyfriend might just be involved in this whole thing somehow. I've always been partial to dramatizations of the End Times--sometimes they turn out great (Good Omens, Only Begotten Daughter, The Day After Judgment), but just as often they can go wrong (Left Behind, The Christ Clone Trilogy). Thankfully it looks as though Buell is eschewing all conventions and heading off on a different track than what has been done before.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)



Savage Henry: Powerchords #2
by Matt Howarth
Last issue, Henry gave a concert that was so powerful it threatened to open a portal in space-time and allow for an alien invasion. The portal was closed, but some knucklehead has bootlegged the concert and now threatens to reopen the portal so that the invasion can resume. Howarth is one of the true original voices in comics, and it's a great treat to see him return to chronicling the adventures of the denizens of Bugtown after too long of an absence.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)



The Moth #4
by Gary Martin & Steve Rude
The opening of this fourth issue take a turn for the humorous, with several good laughs before getting down to the bit more serious plot (best bit: when Jack sees a robbery in progress, and is pleased that he's able to get his costume change down to just 2 minutes.) While the one-shot special which opened the series was a bit dodgy, the regular Moth series has been quite enjoyable. Of course, any chance to see Steve Rude's art on a regular basis is cause for celebration. The only bad part is the upcoming 6 month gap until issue 5--and on a bit of a cliffhanger yet.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)



B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs #5
by Mike Mignola & Guy Davis
To be honest, up until this B.P.R.D. series I've been a bit disappointed in the various Hellboy comics. Which is very strange, as Mignola's Hellboy has had all of the elements that should make it a great comic for me. But Plague of Frogs seems to have finally found the right combination, and I've enjoyed the heck out of it (no doubt helped by Guy Davis's artwork, which I've admired ever since his days on Sandman Mystery Theatre). This mostly silent issue gives us Abe's near death journey back in time to witness the genesis of their recent problems, and it comes off like a great fevered dream in the Lovecraftian tradition. Alas, this issue, and thus the series, doesn't end so much as it just stops. With another B.P.R.D. starting soon the threads will presumably be picked back up, but I wish wed gotten a bit more of a resolution to the current story.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)



Girlspy
by John Allison
Fallon Young--the titular Girlspy--is an attractive but largely incompetent agent for M.I.6. With all other agents off on holiday (taking advantage of cut-rate last minute flights) it falls to Fallon to stop The Crime Pope from stealing Buckingham Palace using the world's longest crowbar ("His leverage is astonishing.") Based on the Web comic Scary Go Round, Girlspy is silly fun, a highly enjoyable diversion good for a few hearty chuckles.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)

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