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This comic should be impossible to fudge. It takes three horror icons that all have a sense of humor attached to them (except maybe Jason, but even he had his funny moments), and puts them all together in what should be the match-up of the century. Well… let’s see how that goes.
Summary: The comic opens to a frozen Crystal Lake, and Jason floating in his usual hibernation pose, sans hockey mask. It copies the opening of Freddy vs Jason by having Freddy, who at this moment is banished from the mortal realm (I think), impersonate Jason’s mom, in his head, again. Jason, he’s not a bright boy. Freddy decides to sick Jason on Ash this time, who apparently “killed” Jason at the end of a previous comic. So Jason awakes and kills some people, heading towards the home of Ash, who is now enjoying the retired life. I won’t tell anymore, because I don’t want to spoil a comic that I actually didn’t dislike (is that a double negative?).
Writing: It’s good, to a point. One thing that is definitely improved is the humor. Although there isn’t a lot of it. At first, I thought this was simply because of the fact that they are trying to cram a lot of set up in there, and they are, but that’s not why. I think the reason why the humor of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Evil Dead simply don’t work in this medium is because they largely depend on the delivery of the key actors, Robert England and Bruce Campbell, respectively. The jokes that are here are actually not bad, including a really hard to spot one that I loved. When I found it, I was so glad they didn’t point it out. Here, see if you can find it:
Art: The comic suffers here a bit, but not too much. There are some occasional posture or facial shots that seem really bizarre, but other than that no big complaints, except…
I’m not sure who to blame for this, but the artist (or letterer, depending on who did it) should have known better. I’m pretty sure this was supposed to be menacing and faithful to Friday the 13th, but it is neither. What it is, however, is an unintended source of hilarity. Not only is the noise wrong (it is supposed to be ki-ki-ki ma-ma-ma) the echoing sound of “Kill Her Mommy” that Jason Vorhess’ mother hears her son tell her in the first movie, but also, it was never meant to be displayed in this way. It would have been less distracting if Freddy walked behind Jason wherever he went saying it instead.
Also, Ash is wearing Elvis shades, which can’t help but conjure up Bubba Ho Tep flashbacks, which is awesome.
Overall: A much worthier comic than our last entry, even if it suffers from heavy dependence on a previous comic series I missed, making a good deal of this comic seem nonsensical. I would have to say track those down first before committing to this whole series. Although, this comic is quality enough to make me wonder…
How was the Ash vs Re-animator crossover?
And so, faithful reader, in this 10th article, I depart, to hopefully return in January, new, improved, and with more comics in hand. I hope, if anyone reads these, to see you then.
I love the Evil Dead movies. No hiding it, no shame, these movies are the bee’s fucking knees. Bruce Campbell? Forget about it. I have followed this guy ever since I saw him on Hercules, the Legendary Journeys as a kid. I’ve read both of his books. I EVEN LIKED MY NAME IS BRUCE. Sam Raimi? While I may not have liked his forays into the superhero genre (as mentioned last week) I do like most of his other films, and, as someone who was once (and is in some ways still) an aspiring filmmaker, I have an enormous respect for his ingenuity and the techniques he developed as a low-budget filmmaker.
I had heard on the commentary to Army of Darkness that Sam and Ivan Raimi had written some comics based on the movies, and it sounded alright to me. More hilarious horror adventures with our hero Ash? Sounded like a good idea to me. So, one day my girlfriend stopped by our local comic book store looking for something, saw the comic and picked it up for me.
It was not written by Sam or Ivan Raimi. Or any Raimi, for that matter.
Summary: It opens with a series of references to the opening and ending of Army of Darkness, with bits of exposition about the state of the world (it seems there were some comic s in the story before this, including Marvel Zombies), peppered in. Evil Ash Prime, as he is called, has corrupted the world, and now humans are barely surviving in a world ruled by Deadites. Ash stumbles out of the cave where the portal dropped him to make a blatant joke/reference to the end of the director’s cut to Army of Darkness. Pulling himself together after weeping over the potential loss of his “Sugarbaby”, he picks himself up and saunters off, right into a gang of Deadites. At least we are told they are Deadites, because except for the one that looks like a giant Satyr, these guys could be a bunch of bikers for all we know.
“Suck it, Joker, I’ve got two shoe-blades!”
Ash easily defeats them, because he’s FUCKING ASH, and then we cut to Evil Ash’s layer, where it is implied he is violating them in the other room, in ways that cannot be described. Waiting in his throne room is some evil Deadite advisor lady, and…DUH DUH DUH! Sugarbaby is there! And she’s a Deadite! Another thing that wasn’t clear thanks to the art. And that we’re given no reason to care about.
Evil Ash comes out complaining that because he never got to kill Ash, his life is empty. His evil advisor woman says that all he would have to do is kill himself and then he could fight Ash on the other side. Sounds like a reasonable way to get out of this comic to me!
We cut back to Ash, walking around, looking lost, when an old man claiming to be a seer starts harassing him. Ash’s character has apparently reverted completely to his beginning of Army of Darkness personality, and tells the old man to get bent, right before the old man starts showing him visions of the past and future, saying how Evil Ash got powerful, and what Ash needs to do to stop it, by finding a few chosen warriors. It also gives Ash the chance to make a really unfunny and nonsensical Planet of the Apes reference. Joy.
“Is that Gorro? Ash you fool, this isn’t Planet of the Apes, it’s the Mortal Kombat movie! RUN!”
So, his fate determined for him like always, Ash goes forth to face his destiny.
Writing: So, the idea of this story is actually pretty good. Ash taking the fight to the Deadites in a post-apocalyptic future sounds like sliced bread, but it somehow became Cazu Marzu (look it up, by all means) along the way. One big foul up was the humor. Or rather the attempt at it.
You see, in place of Ash’s hilarious one liners or any real comedy, there are pop-culture references and horrifying attempts at wit. Here is my FAVORITE.
…Really?
Where to begin with this? It’s a stupid joke. This sort of humor isn’t really funny when it’s topical. So after the fact like this, it comes off as the writer saying something tasteless and stupid and then elbowing us in the ribcage. With a chainsaw.
Also, I think it was pretty clear that Ash is from the 70’s-80’s era. So when did he find out about any of this? It makes this comic horribly dated AND anachronistic to its own story. Speaking of which, what the hell happened to Ash? Even for a pretty one-note character in what amounts to a Gore-Comedy, he still had character growth in Army of Darkness, and in many ways even became the hero that he was destined to be, which this comic references several times. That comes across to some degree, but it just feels like the character in the comic is simply a cheap archetype of the man we all know and love. Even with these gripes, the story is still a bit intriguing, if a little stock with all of the coolness and humor washed away.
Art: The art, while decent, suffers from a lack of continuity with the story, and with Ash’s face. We all know Bruce Campbell has a big chin, guys. You don’t have to have it trying to eat the rest of his face in every other panel.
If there is any complaint beyond that, it’s that nothing is really memorable beyond the cool, if a bit muddy, cover. And the opening few pages with the Necronomicon are done very well.
Hmm….
“Yeah, with a knife” “Or a Bigger Knife” “FUCKING KNIFE”
Overall: This comic was at best mediocre, even through the rose colored glasses of a fan of the franchise, who really wanted to enjoy it. With piss-poor humor, and the man, Ash, apparently being replaced by a conventioner cosplaying as Ash, I can’t recommend it to anyone, especially new readers, as there is a good deal of continuity that is missing without previous issues and Marvel Zombies. And if there isn’t, then the writer is just lazy.
Next week I will be looking at another comic starring the S-Mart CSR from Housewares, one that involves some other horror icons as well…and what’s funny, as I read the ads in the back of this book, is that my statement hardly narrows it down.
So, confession time. I have never liked Spiderman. I only read a few comic when I was young and they were pretty mediocre, and it wasn’t until the Sam Raimi movies that I was exposed to the friendly neighborhood web slinger again. AND I FUCKING HATE THOSE MOVIES. Without going too much into it, the main reason is the portrayal of Spiderman himself, by one Tobey Maguire, as a simpering, annoying idiot.
When I voiced this to a friend who was an avid comic reader, around the time of the second movie or so, he told me that WAS Spiderman, and I probably wouldn’t like any comics with him in it either. So I really never was interested until I found out from much more…informed people that this is not how Spiderman actually is supposed to be. So I thought “Well, I should read some Spiderman then!”. But no, dear reader. For by these same people I was also informed that Spidey had taken a nose dive with the events of a book called One More Day, in which Spiderman makes a deal with the devil because blah blah blah (if you really don’t know by now, the Internet is full of stuff about it and why it sucked).
But, being and objective reader and not wanting to just give up again on this franchise, I decided to throw caution and good sense to the wind and picked up this issue, mainly because the variant cover looked good. It…kinda worked out?
Summary: So, we open with a brief monologue from Peter Parker recapping some events, kind of. He mostly just talks about how beautiful Mary Jane looked at the wedding. But, in between Spider-dweebs babbling, we get brief info about Jonah Jameson, Spideys “worst enemy”, becoming mayor, Jonah’s dad marrying Aunt May, and Dr. Octopus and Norman Osborn doing evil things that will have no effect on this issue.
The comic proper begins with a series of flashbacks about Aunt May’s wedding reception and how Mary Jane was there. Interspersed with this is Peter waking up the next morning in bed with someone named Michelle (apparently his roommate who doesn’t like him) and her getting pissed at him because…he doesn’t remember? Whatever. Point is, she says she wants him gone.
Oh, believe me, Spidey, many comic book fans have beaten you to it.
Then, Spidey swings over to his Aunt May’s house, looking for a place to stay, but finds that it is now populated by relatives, living there until Aunt May returns from her honeymoon. So he saunters off, pondering what he can remember of last night’s event (he made a date with MJ, but can’t remember when or where).
From there, the comic goes into classic Super Hero mode: Peter finds out about a fire, shows up, saves the day with somewhat witty remarks and quick thinking.
“Fear not, citizen, for I am the Incredible Firescreamer! With the amazing ability to yell out fire!”
The comic ends with Peter remembering where to meet MJ, but sadly she oversleeps and never shows up. It also contains a short little bonus story about parenting and role models, that is alright, I guess. A little corny, but that’s better than nothing.
Writing: This may come off as more of a critique of Spiderman in general, so bare with me. In regards to the comic, it ranges from banal, the stuff about his sleeping with Michelle and the date with MJ, to average, with him saving the burning building. Nothing really special about this comic, but for what it is, it’s well executed.
But on to Spiderman in general (and this may leak over unto the whole of Marvel as well), I really hate Jonah Jameson. The “I’ll get Spiderman” schtick was old before it got started. I know he has served some purpose (and I actually like him in the movies) but he falls so flat. He basically serves as a device for the writer to go “Poor Spiderman, no one likes him. Look how wrong Jameson is about him!”. He straw-man’s all critique of Spidey’s actions, as opposed to what he should be, which is someone who voices actual concerns about Parker that allow Pete to question his own actions and become stronger through it.
That’s just the direction I would have liked to see it go, but maybe that’s not what Spiderman is really about, after all, I’m new to his world.
But one thing I am not new to is the biggest gripe I have with Marvel. The civilians. Holy crap I hate them. They range from completely helpless to stupid and vindictive. Not only do they change sides at the drop of a hat, but they just act incredibly idiotic (the Screamtress up there is a perfect example). And when it comes to stories about people trying to save them, its hard to get into it when you don’t care if they live or die.
Also, like every Marvel comic I’ve read, every time a character references a past story, a little box pops up to talk about it, and tell you what issue. This is helpful at first, but after a while it kind of feels like they’re just pushing things on you.
“No, Spiderman, I, the great Water Pusher, shall assist you!” (Christ I hate these people)
Art: The comic shines here, mostly. The flashback sequences especially utilize color in a way that makes it flow well with the inter-cut of the morning after. There is one thing, however, that the artist can’t seem to get right, and that’s faces. Now, every artist approaches the human anatomy differently, so obviously, not every face looks exact. But this…well…
I think Mary Jane may have been to Innsmouth recently!
Depending on the angle, Mary Jane looks either like a man, or a fish person. It’s rather bizarre. I suppose it doesn’t take anything away from the story, but after Peter’s drooling over her for most of the comic you have to wonder if he’s into some weird shit.
Overall: Amazing Spiderman 601 isn’t terrible, it’s nothing special, but from what I’ve been hearing about Spidey these days, that’s probably better than normal. It doesn’t require any knowledge of his continuity to get into, and in fact, I suspect it was better because I didn’t know a whole lot about the current storyline. However that’s not much of a recommendation, is it?
…Better than those goddamn movies, though.
It’s Halloween, dear viewers, and I think it’s a perfect time to do two things. First, to get back to the reason why I started writing these articles, which is to look at comics from the perspective of a relative outsider. And Second, to talk about the largest event in the DC universe at the moment, Blackest Night. As a huge fan of horror, and a huge fan of DC, this seems like it could be a winning combination, and upon the recommendation of Mr. Jennings, I decided to pick up Blackest Night: Superman #1 of 3.
Summary: It opens like a classic horror film, with “Kal-L of Earth 2” rising from his grave, commanded by an unseen force that speaks in black text boxes shaped like a green lantern symbol. After some establishment that we are in Smallville and a mysterious shape is flying through the sky. We cut to Superman and Conner (Superboy?) and the Kent farm, having coffee with Ma Kent. (Side note, Jonathan Kent is apparently dead, it’s not discussed why or how in this comic). During their nice sit down, we see things from the perspective of Zombie Superman 2 (He is still technically Superman, right?) as he stalks about town. It is here we are shown that not only can he see people’s base emotions, he also keeps talking about his power level (does he feed on the emotions? Never explained).
“Well no wonder he’s afraid, apparently Zombie Superman is also a Super-SAIYAN! (That’s the last one I swear…)”
Eventually, Superman and Conner find Zombie Kal-L in the graveyard, digging up the grave of Jonathan Kent (I think). A fight ensues, with Zombie Superman wooping ass and almost killing Conner. He then leaves, and during this, zombie Lois Lane (from Earth-2 as well, I think) shows up and kidnaps Ma Kent. Then Superman and Conner track the zombie honeymooners to town square, where they notice the town is abandoned. Then, the Zombies reveal themselves, posing for the final page of the comic, holding Ma Kent hostage.
“What? Now Conner’s a 28 Days Later zombie? I just don’t get this comic at all…”
Writing: The story does a good job at creating a homage to a slasher film, as advertised. It builds mystery and tension to the reveal of Zombie Superman, and even afterward you are left wanting to know what he’s really after, which hopefully the other 2 issues resolve. However, from a new reader standpoint, this comic is confusing as hell. The whole Earth 2 really blindsided me, as did the New Krypton thing (it was a brief side plot I glossed over because it had nothing to do with the main story). I considered myself at least a bit knowledgeable about the DC universe, but I have no idea what the crap they are talking about. The black lantern rings would also probably throw a new reader off. However, there is a lot of stuff at your local comic book store that contains “checklists” of sorts, so you can read the Blackest Night stuff in order, which will makes thing more clear, I hope.
Beyond that, this comic is good, although the seeing emotion thing got kind of tiresome after a while. Also, I don’t normally talk about lettering and the like, but the Black Lantern narration style boxes are very clever.
Art: The art is fine, nothing special, but well executed nonetheless. For the most part, anyway. There are a couple moments where I question some facial expressions, mainly this one close up of Superman where it looks like he’s possessed by the Devil.
“Um…that’s not the evil Superman, right?”
Also, for no reason I can gather (aesthetic choice, I guess) the panel order will shift from left to right on one page to a two page left to right format. It’s pretty jarring, although not deal breaking.
Overall: It’s an enjoyable story about Superman, although I would have to read the rest of this three part mini-series (and for that matter, the rest of Blackest Night) to figure out not only if it’s good, but also what the hell is going on.
But more than that, this comic poses the most pressing dilemma that the DC universe has ever faced:
Does being a Zombie make Superman more or less invulnerable?
“…”
“Gimme Some Sugar, Baby.”
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
In my restless dreams, I see that town. I do not, as some have suggested, see a played out concept that has lived past its prime, but a concept still full of potential. Even this comic about Silent Hill, terrible as it was, had some ideas that could really work for the franchise.
Idea #1: Dr. Troy Abernathy, Murderer
This guy has Silent Hill material written all over him. He killed his best friend Brent for abusing Julianna, the woman Troy loves. Troy and Julie get married. Julie later kills herself after learning what Troy did. Now he has the deaths of a friend and a wife on his conscious. Then, while trying to cure his patient Lynn of past trauma by taking her to Silent Hill, he realizes that there truly is something to fear within the town. His Past.
Troy could be a great character for this, a psychologist and a skeptic who refuses to believe that the town could be this way, with a role reversal as the story commences; as Troy becomes more helpless and mad as the town tortures him, Lynn becomes more empowered and now watches over him as she overcomes her trauma.
Idea #2: Lauryn, Accidental Sororicide
The guilt Lauryn claims to feel over the death of her sister due to youthful negligence could be a great angle for a Silent Hill story. Recurring dreams of her sister call her back to the town, and within it she finds an empty grave and sees a familiar figure running off into the mist.
There are many places that story could go. Here is a simple one: perhaps at the end, after journeying through the town she has come to grips with the fact that either she isn’t at fault for what happened, or she is. Based on that, she can choose to leave and try to live her life, or she can choose to lay down her life and remain in Silent Hill while her sister is given another chance at living elsewhere, free from the trauma of her death.
Idea #3: When I Woke…
It is revealed in the comic that the two sisters grew up in Silent Hill. That gave me a great idea. Imagine you were a resident of the perfectly normal Silent Hill. You never did anything wrong, and just went about your life, keeping your nose out of the cult’s business, and life was okay. Then, one day, you wake up, and you’re in the empty world. For whatever reason, the town has decided to pull you in.
A couple places this could go:
For one, you could end up being the supporting character to a James or a Harry style character. Disillusioned and confused, they seem to be the only other person here, and now you have to try and find out whether or not they deserve to stay there, or whether you should help them escape.
Or better yet…
You are pulled to the mist world/nightmare world to confront the fact that your fellow townsfolk have been doing some really horrible things, and by ignoring this you may be, in some ways, just as guilty.
(Apparently, Peter Pen can not only make you fly, but also come back from the dead.)
These are just some quick ideas I had reading the comic that would have made for a much better story. And if I can do that this easily, surely more creative minds than my own could do better for this series. Better than the trite ideas of this comic.
But why stop there? I can’t be the only one who feels this way. Why not share your ideas for this town, this place where nightmares are real?
What would you like to see upon your visit to Silent Hill?
Alright, the first story involving Troy Abernathy and his patient Lynn being terrorized by a foul mouthed little girl has wrapped up, and a new story starts with Lauryn and her gang of hardcore college goth/bikers. Templesmith is out and Aadi Salman is in, with Scott Ciencin still writing. Let’s rush right into the recap (it’s a doosy) this week so we can get to analysis.
Summary: Lauryn, a red hair “goth” (?) chick with a “bad attitude” internal monologue, her boyfriend Clown, his brother, Payne, who she’s cheating on Clown with, a heavy, Hogg, and a bunch of other gothic red-shirts. They arrive with the very logically shaky plan to get rich off of some runes scribbled on the walls of a building in the town using some book, presumably one of those copies of the necronomicon that you find in new age book stores. Right away Lauryn tells them all that there is nothing to fear, what happened to Lynn was probably all done by her friends (Lauryn says that she was probably gang raped and witnessed a murder, and that ”I could care less what happened to her”) and that the town is just abandoned. When Clown points out that this doesn’t make any sense based on what was shown on the tape, she just tells him to trust her.
Shortly after this, red-shirt number one gets it while walking off by himself, and Christabella appears saying “No One Leaves, BAUAHAHAHAHAHA!” (more or less). Lauryn has a vision of being in Doctor Troy’s office where he tells her to “Start believing in the power of Silent Hill”, and she runs off by herself with Payne to start making out behind Clown’s back. Then all hell breaks loose as the group separates (to the Subway, the School, and the Lighthouse). Lauryn and the other characters with names are ambushed by Christabella, the subway gang are taken by a fat monster and Dr. Troy, and the rest are never heard from again. Christabella is gloating a bit and Lauryn says “It’s about time” (indicating that this is the real reason why she came here) and starts using her ‘Book of Shadows’ (that was totally purchased off eBay and totally not from Hot Topic, I might add) to start burning Christabella alive (or dead, I guess, they never really answer the what or the why of Christabella). It doesn’t work, obviously, and they run away.
Now we get down to the brass tacks. Lauryn lied to all her supposed friends in order to get a posse to come with her to finish off her little sister, Christabella, whose death has haunted her most of her life. As it turns out, Lauryn and Christabella where both born in Silent Hill, and one night when Lauryn was supposed to be watching her little sister, she decided to let her go off with some little boys she didn’t know so she could spend some time alone with her boyfriend (not Clown at the time, obviously), and said that the little boys turned out to be working for some serial killers who like children. Lauryn then left Silent Hill and has blamed herself ever since.
So, as they head off to try and find what’s left of their crew, they get attacked by a giant flying monster thing and Clown and Payne get knocked unconscious (Hogg went off to the lighthouse by himself earlier, brain trust that he is). With Christabella’s forces closing in, Lauryn decides to pull out her ace: she had “marked” all of the people she brought, so when they died they would serve her as thralls, and she summons them to her side.
“Warriors, come OUT AND PLAAAAYYY!”
As the battle rages, even Christabella finds this action a little cold, remarking “I know I killed them, but they were your friends…”. Soon Christabella holds Lauryn’s boyfriends hostage and says that Lauryn has to help her (there are some real gems of one-liners from Christabella around this time as well) or she’ll kill them as well. Lauryn concedes and marches toward the Lighthouse with her army of ghouls, who say that they hold no hard feelings about the whole leading them here like lambs to the slaughter (oh, so that makes it okay). Lauryn reaches the Lighthouse, and with that this comic loses what once may have counted for some since of control. I’ll try my best to wrap it up.
So, anyone familiar with Silent Hill knows that the lighthouse is said to contain Alessa (at least I believe I remember that from the first game). Christabella wants her taken out so she can reign supreme. The Order (the cult of Silent Hill responsible for its hellish aspects) shows up to stop her, blah blah blah, a lot of incoherent crap later, Lauryn is victorious over her sister and the town and the Order and decides to stay in Silent Hill to reign supreme with her new voodoo powers or some shit.
Art: At first, everything was looking up. People had distinct images and proportions. For the first few pages anyway. Then the whole comic descends into a madness of blurred action and faces (and really poor coloring choices). It’s the main reason why the last chapter is so god damned hard to comprehend. Again, I get the need to be expressive and surreal, but this was neither, it was just a mess. One that made you question why you were still reading the comic.
Writing: Oh boy. As much as Scotty boy botched the first part, this is a whole new level of insipid. But really, it boils down to three problems with one common root. Ceincin doesn’t understand Silent Hill.
PROBLEM ONE: Silent Hill is largely about feeling alone. The feeling of isolation that was prevalent in the first few games is so absent here that it may as well not be in the town anymore (also see Silent Hill Homecoming and the movie). Without that feeling of utter helplessness, of being the last person in a world filled with emptiness, with only the occasional horror of horrors to keep you company, Silent Hill almost becomes stock horror. And yes, having one or two other “human” characters has always been prevalent, but they aren’t always with you, and even when they are, you still tend to feel alone (mostly because you suspect that they might kill you at any moment or they are a figment of your imagination).
PROBLEM TWO: Silent Hill is about character reflection. The town only appears that way because you are there and have some horrible psychological trauma (usually). And through the town, the protagonist makes a journey of discovery that will relate back to them. Throughout, you grow to like them or at least pity them. This works through slow reveals about their past and their reactions to the obstacles of Silent Hill. It’s called character development. Something that apparently, Dying Inside had no room for. From page one of chapter three you pretty much hate Lauryn, someone you are supposed to feel sorry for and root for as she triumphs at the end. But through her attitude and actions Ciencin paints a portrait of a woman who doesn’t care about her friends or her family and would drop them into a meat grinder without a second thought if she got something out of it. And because of this I can’t help but think that at the end, Silent Hill may have been just as screwed if Christabella or even the Order had maintained control. Not only do we not care about Lauryn, but we hate her.
PROBLEM THREE: Silent Hill is NOT a traditional horror setting. Okay, to be fair, I like Christabella as a cheesy horror villain, and I like the idea of Troy Abernathy being forced to atone for his wrongdoings by serving her, but it just doesn’t belong in this setting. And the whole occult aspect starts out as confusing and just gets stupid. It leads to ridiculous on nonsensical crap action sequences, and has no other significance to the story. I half expected Lauryn’s hair to turn blonde and for her to go flying around Silent Hill, Super Saiyan style.
“This comics crap level is over 9000! (I’m so sorry)..”
It’s painfully obvious that Ciencin really didn’t know what to do with this setting and just pulled some generic horror/occult drama crap out of his ass. He removed all that made Silent Hill frightening, unique and interesting, and replaced it with a story that belongs in a Sci-Fi Original Movie.
Overall: Dying Inside is a horrible failure of adaptation, art, and just storytelling in general. It does not bode well that all the other comics, from what I have heard, are written by Scott Ciencin. If I was someone who didn’t read comic books and was just interested in this because of the license, I would probably never read comic books ever again (a bit of hyperbole, but I hope you get my point).
However, I do believe that this great medium could still produce something worthy of the franchise, as despite all the crap this comic had a few promising ideas. Next Week, I will discuss them and how they could be done better at length. See you then.
You know, cross medium adaptations don’t all have to be bad.
There have been good movies based on comics (and…video games. I think.) And likewise, there have been good comics written about franchises in other mediums as well. Cross media merchandising and licensing can lead to not only great financial success, but also to some decent entertainment too. So when I heard good things about Silent Hill: Dying Inside a long while ago, I decided to pick it up for reading material on my way to Illinois for a funeral. I was in the right place for this sort of thing, I guess.
It didn’t hurt that I was a huge fan of Silent Hill. Those games (well, some of them anyway) still stand as a testament to not only true survival terror (something that Resident Evil never did for me), but as what original ideas can do both for the genre of horror and the medium of gaming. There was something else these games did really well also, but I’ll get to that when it becomes relevant.
All in all, Silent Hill stood as something unique and great, so it seemed natural that other mediums would try to make that trip into the twisted town of guilty fears with comics and movies. And one such foray was a comic miniseries called Dying Inside, which I picked up in its shiny trade paperback edition. It looked cool, the concept seemed great, and they had some big named artists like Ben Templesmith (who was no stranger to horror) on to do work for it. It was a surefire winner, right? Well, no. Not really. At all.
Summary: Dying Inside’s first two chapters are concerned with a young woman named Lynn and her therapist, Troy Abernathy. She suffered through some horrible things in Silent Hill, escaped, and is scarred deeply for it. Now Troy has seen fit to take her back there to deal with the trauma, not knowing what Silent Hill is. As soon as he arrives, he is confronted by the horrors of his past, including his dead wife who killed herself because he killed her abusive ex-boyfriend (convoluted a bit, I know). It is shortly after that they are confronted by Christabella, the little girl apparition whom Lynn was tortured by before and who will be our de facto villain for the course of the story. And she’s got quite the mouth, sort of like she’s the product of Freddy Kreuger and The Collector.
Christabella is pissed that Lynn “brought the wrong one back”, so she decides to kill them both. Before she can, Troy offers “his soul” to her in exchange for Lynn’s life, and she agrees, allowing Lynn to go (making Lynn the second person to enter a nightmarish Silent Hill and leave twice). She then looks up at the sky and goads someone, which turn out to be a group of goth kids watching this all on a TV. One of them reveals the fact that this is a year old tape that seems to keep changing, and their leader decides dramatically that it’s time to go to Silent Hill.
Art: Where to begin. I’ve read 30 Days of Night. I know Templesmith can do better than this. It is indicative of his style to be a bit over expressive, but this is just inexcusable. There are rare moments when it adds a good sense of surrealism, but the rest of the time, it’s a jumbled mess of disproportionate heads, limbs and scattered gore. It’s downright distracting, and while the obvious intention was to immerse you in the horror of Silent Hill, it does just the opposite. There is really only one thing I liked, and that was the good continuity with the story about how the wall writings keep changing.
Writing: You know, as much as I dislike the Art, the writing can be just as flawed. Not to necessarily say that Scott Ciencin is a terrible writer, he’s just terrible at writing in this universe. Remember Christabella? She’s one of the biggest issues with the comic, not because she’s a bad villain, don’t get me wrong, she’s a great horror villain, but her problem is just that. She’s meant for gory, standard horror settings, and it shows. Silent Hill is not about overt terror, it is about subtlety. Which is why there may be minor seemingly villainous characters, but overall, the true enemy is the town itself. It is the very atmosphere in which you dwell. And having little miss gab-a-lot spout off admittedly hilarious one-liners every two seconds really puts you into the wrong head space. I’ll get more into this with chapter 3-5, but there is so much wrong with the way this is written in regards to Silent Hill. Not because it deviates from any particular story, but because it is in outright defiance of what Silent Hill is all about.
Overall: By now, you have probably realized that I dislike the rest of the chapters, and you’re right. But you know what the crazy thing is? I really liked this book when I first read it a few years ago. I thought it was cool and interesting, mainly because I was so happy to revisit my favorite horror setting. And apparently I wasn’t the only one, because the thing obviously sold well enough to warrant a trade publication.
Then I read it again about 6 months ago. And I couldn’t believe I had spent 20 bucks on it. Perhaps this was in light of more recent Silent Hill titles with similar problems, but I had realized something inherently wrong with the very concept.
But that will have to wait until next week…
A while back I was at my local comic book store and I noticed some assorted comics with the Watchmen logo on them that said at the top “After Watchmen…What’s Next?”. This kind of corporate shill bootstrapping makes me sick sometimes, but the idea was to make certain larger graphic novels (Sandman and this one especially) more accessible to the noobs like myself, which I can appreciate. It was only a dollar for the first chapter of one of these said novels, so I took a look through the pile and this one jumped out at me:
I had a vague recollection of hearing this was good, and that Warren Ellis was a very talented writer, so I decided to check it out. One of the best dollars I have ever spent.
Summary: Transmetropolitan is the story of Spider Jerusalem, a political cult reporter who got disillusioned and holed up in a cabin in the mountains, blasting anything that got too close. Unfortunately, before he left, he made a deal with a publishing house to write two books, which he never intended on. Now, the time has come to pay the piper, and Spider must return to the city he hates, get his old journalism job back to pay for expenses, and finish both books within one year or be sued into debtors’ jail.
There is a lot to love, just in this first chapter of the story. It’s funny, in a very dark way, and its vision of the cyberpunk future is colorful while still being somewhat bleak. The characters are especially vibrant, in design and in personality, and they leave impressions even if they don’t have a lot of panel time.
Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I am a huge Hunter S. Thompson fan, and that Spider shares more than a few traits with him. In fact, though I have not researched it, I’m willing to bet that Ellis based Spider off of him, at least a little. In fact, the whole world feels a little like a Gonzo hallucination, with reality stretched to zany proportions.
Art: The art is quite solid and consistent, which is a miracle seeing how crowded the panels can get. To represent this weird world, every panel is colorful and vibrant, and while it can get a bit busy sometimes, the artist (Darick Robertson, I think) is skilled at keeping it from becoming distracting, and even with all the little things going on, nothing ever feels bland.
Writing: As mentioned above, the characters’ personalities match the art. Everyone is interesting and no one allows themselves to be forgotten. One of the reasons this is amazing is that nothing in the comic ever feels like exposition. Without realizing it we are filled in on who Spider Jerusalem is and why he does what he does (as much as can be done in this one chapter anyway).
If I were to have a complaint about the writing though, it would be that it is not for everyone. As I stated before I am a huge HST fan, so an abrasive, foul and violent style of storytelling really doesn’t throw me off, but some people might not be able to get into it so easily, especially because it can be a bit eccentric (for example: near the beginning, Spider passes by a Bar he frequented in the last 5 years, reminisces, and then proceeds to fire a rocket at it), and a bit wordy.
Overall: If these small complaints don’t bother you, then I highly recommend that you check out Transmetropolitan. It’s a unique and interesting story that requires no former knowledge of comics. I hope that the industry does more “sample” comics like this, as it is a great way to get new people like me into the medium, looking at material that we wouldn’t of gotten into beforehand.
Hey this is Jordan here, and I am here to introduce this guest reviewer. He is a fan from the Spoony Experiment forums, and when I asked for guest reviewers he was one of the first to submit a review. This is it, and I enjoyed it greatly. It’s not often I enjoy other comic book reviewers this much, but I found this be a great review. He doesn’t have a website, but if this review goes well I will be sure to bring him back for another review. So sit back and enjoy The Uninitiated Comic Reader Issue #1: Batman War Crimes written by Danius Kang.
I’ve always loved stories about superheroes. When I was young, my favorite television shows were the old X-Men cartoon, Batman the Animated Series, the Superman Animated series, Batman Beyond and the like. The more mature over-arching stories and the great action, as well as fantastic art styles really hooked me. As a result, I’ve always liked the stories and mythologies surrounding superheroes, and at that time I even read a few comics. Few being the imperative word.
I couldn’t really afford comics at the time, so eventually I drifted away from the medium. For years, I kept toying with the idea, occasionally picking up a comic or two but never got into it, and still didn’t really have the money. But now with libraries carrying more and more trade paperback collections, it seemed like as good a time as any to start trying to read (comics) again, especially with so much interesting-looking stuff out there.
So I went to my nearest library and found a lot more than I bargained for. Overwhelmed by choice, I decided to go with a hero I knew I could trust: Batman. And I thought I would share my naive experiences, giving a different perspective on the comics than you might be used to (caution: possible spoilers).
NOTE: I did not and have still not Wikipediaed (how exactly do you turn that into a verb…Wikied I guess)or researched any of these comics or related stories, characters, etc. This is because I want to preserve the genuine first impressions that I had. As a result, I apologize in advance if I overlook something and look like an idiot.
So, let’s get on with it. The first book is:
Batman: War Crimes
Summary: War Crimes is a hard-bound collection of technically 7 (?) comics (three mini stories that are tangentially related to the four main chapters) that seems to put a cap on the “War” story arc. Apparently, I jumped in at the wrong point here. Looking at the back, it showcases four books preceding it (War Drums, War Games: Outbreak, War Games: Tides, and War Games: Endgame). However, the book kindly uses the first page to fill me in on everything that has happened so far.
Apparently, Stephanie Brown, the Spoiler, wanted to be the new Robin, but Batman said no go, because she wasn’t disciplined enough. She goes on to prove him right by enacting one of his hypothetical “War Game” scenarios behind his back, in some attempt to prove herself worthy (this part was pretty esoteric, actually). All this does is allow Black Mask (a villain I wasn’t familiar with) to take control of all the gangs, killing Stephanie in the process. During this, Batman apparently made some unpopular decisions (none of which are discussed) causing most of his allies to abandon him.
In addition to this recap, the comic opens with a long scene of Black Mask explaining the current status of the villains of Gotham. I found some of what he says here interesting, but he was really vague about a lot of what he was explaining. So to me, this 18 page spanning conversation would seem really boring to people who are regular readers, and it was just kind of confusing to me. And really, the only important thing said here (at least that is relevant to this book) is that Black Mask had a guy make him a bunch of masks of villains and heroes, and the Joker is missing.
The comic really gets going about the time Batman is being accused of not only the horrors of the previous months, but also tricking children into joining his crusade, and that then turns into Batman being blamed for Stephanie’s death. This stems partly from the fact that someone is running around dressed as Batman, acting like a maniac. The Joker reappears with unclear motives (although he turns out to be completely inconsequential), and Batman learns the true identity of Stephanie Brown’s killer. I don’t want to spoil anymore because despite my complaints this was actually a good read (mostly).
Art: The art fluctuates between each chapter, ranging from mediocre to pretty good. The only real gripe is with the way the Joker is drawn. I’ve noticed this in a few of the other Batman comics I’ve read, but artists seem to be in a big disagreement as to how he should look. And he is the only character that seems to fluctuate, chapter by chapter, in this jarring manner. It doesn’t help that this is the first panel we see him in.
Wowza. Did the Joker have facial reconstructive surgery and then put on a few pounds? Apparently not, actually, as he looks totally different in the very next panel. I get that this was done to portray depth of field and perspective at a dramatic angle, but it definitely didn’t come off as it was intended.
Writing: As stated above, the story is well plotted and doesn’t jump around too much after the first quarter of the book. The dialogue is very well written, and is clever without being over the top (not to mention a really good final speech from Batman). But speaking of Batman, this seems to be where the writing has its real flaws, in the form of his characterization.
Now, this might be because I haven’t read the previous books and don’t know what he’s been through (although throughout the comic they give a good idea of how dire the situation was). But Batman seems to be…enjoying his job a little too much? I know the Dark Knight has, well, moments of darkness, but I kinda thought the whole shtick was that as much as his parent’s death motivated him, his crusade isn’t about vengeance. But during most of the comic, he seems to relish breaking peoples bones. In fact, he internally monologues several times about how good it feels to beat up some thugs (in this case, however, he admits it shames him to feel that way), and then later he does it again during a fight, commenting how nicely his fist fits into his opponents’ guts.
This sort of attitude is also expressed during a fight with Black Mask in which he is incredibly arrogant and even gloats at one point. It just seemed really out of place for someone who is usually as reserved and focused as Batman.
Overall: I really enjoyed this book. It was the first comic I had read in a long while, and it involved one of my favorite heroes. The art got a bit wonky at times, as did Batman’s actions in certain situations, but it didn’t detract enough to drag the whole story down.
It terms of accessibility, I probably should have researched this a little bit. It wasn’t a great jumping on point. However, the inclusion of some tie-in material and the front page recap made it a lot easier on me, so props to DC on that one. Before I could recommend this to anyone, though, I’d have to read through the rest of the arc.
And next time I do this, I think I’ll just pick up a single issue and work from there.
