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TV Review: The Strain S1E2 The Box

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the-strain-logo1The Strain‘s second episode picks up where the first left off, and also does not hold back at all when it comes to the gore, having the CDC and Dr. Goodweather attempting to figure out what crushed a man’s head. Then there’s an issue with the quarantined individuals being let loose.

The second episode is still setting up what’s to come, and the various players involved. The comic, and story, was very much an ensemble cast and we’re still just meeting, and getting to know everyone. No one person saves the world in this story, it’s a group effort, and a lot of those people aren’t exactly likeable.

One thing that plays out solidly in this second episode is Goodweather and how his personal life’s issues affect his work life. He has a family melting down, a son he’s trying to not let down. Goodweather is actually not super likeable, there’s something very grating about him. But, he has his moments, especially when dealing with his son. And then there’s something towards the end of the episode, that really opens Eph up a lot. This is a perfect example of the slow reveal of the show.

And that’s the show as a whole so far. This isn’t a quick show at all. Reveals come slowly and calculated. If you need a horror story with lots of quick scares, this isn’t it… yet. The show is as much about the virus, the terror that causes society to melt down, as it is about someone’s personal life melting down. And that goes for everyone whose life is explored.

What’s interesting for me watching the show is knowing a lot of what’s coming, but how it plays out on television is really interesting, especially since we’re seeing personalities come to life.

The show has been slow so far, but the payoffs are coming.

Overall Score: 7.75

TV Review: The Strain: Night Zero

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the-strain-logo1The Strain is a horror thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage war for the fate of humanity itself. The first episode kicks off when a commercial airliner lands and stands silent, Goodweather investigates the plane to find that the passengers are infected by a vile plague, setting up the chaos that is to come.

The television show is based on the 2009 vampire horror novel by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan which has three volumes released. Its been since adapted into comic books released by Dark Horse Comics. While I haven’t read the books it’s all based on, I have read everything Dark Horse has released so far, which is nice to compare it all to, as both that and the television series have a visual component. While they share a lot, the comic fans will have something to enjoy as the television’s pilot episode expands a bit upon what was in the comic, but is familiar enough.

The series, which airs on FX, is pretty brutal, with some gruesome scenes that I was shocked to see even on the channel. That’s great, as it tells me the viewer to not expect the series to hold anything back. What’s interesting though is seeing these characters, who I’ve only read their dialogue, play out on the screen. The personalities I envisioned were there, with some characters I thought being dicks, being portrayed exactly that way.

What the series really does well is handle the viral aspect of it all. The idea of vampire as virus has been handled in numerous stories before, but this one really does it well, especially with the use of the CDC as one of the driving forces. The idea of the virus, and terror of one spreading unforeseen is present throughout much of the episode, it’s a dread that works beyond well ramping up the tension with each passing minute.

What’s also nice is the series basically lays it out there as to what’s going on. The big bad is seen, how this particular pathogen is spread is somewhat explained. There are some dots that need to be connected, but overall, it’s there for us from almost the beginning. While we know what’s going on, part of the fun, and entertainment, is seeing how Goodweather and his team figure it out for themselves…. as well as seeing the greater conspiracy.

Much like a virus the episode sets up the seeds to grow and expand with a few plot lines and enough characters to keep us entertained and looking forward to where the series goes. As a debut goes, there’s more than enough to get me to come back for more.

Overall Score: 8

Review: B.P.R.D. #109, The Strain: The Fall #1, Star Wars: Dark Times—A Spark Remains #1

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21881B.P.R.D. #109 Mike Mingola, accompanied by Mignolaverse and B.P.R.D. regular John Arcudi, brings some clarity and relief to the plot that’s been developing in the Hell on Earth series, concluding the Wasteland story line by wrapping up some narratives and turning the spotlight onto new ones—the best way to keep a long-running series interesting and attention-grabbing.

With the absence of original B.P.R.D. characters, except for Johann Kraus, the book just doesn’t feel the same, but it’s a good difference that allows Mignola to explore a new aspect of the paranormal reality he’s brought to life in hundreds of comics. The apocalypse seems all around, and the last few B.P.R.D. issues have the feel of a zombie thriller in which the plague is airborne. But, as we learn, with the advent of a new character, Howards, the demon-making gas hasn’t affected everyone (or the horses). Mignola uses the child Lucas introduced in B.P.R.D. #107 as a foil to bring about a ‘final battle’ against the monsters, with a twist ending and a Conan easter egg.

Laurence Campbell, as I’ve said before, is perfect for the Hell on Earth series, since he creates a truly bleak atmosphere with disgusting monsters and a truly horrifying glimpse of deathly visages. Additionally, his art is well suited to the zombie apocalypse feel of the book. Dave Stewart brings his talented history with Mignola books to bear on Campbell’s art. Stewart plays on the sketched-lines and minimalistic facial and figure art to expand the feel of Campbell’s pencils and inks, and though he has proved his mastery of vibrant colors elsewhere, he exacerbates Campbell’s artistic atmosphere by limiting the issue’s color spectrum, the feat of a truly skilled colorist.

B.P.R.D. #109 is another fine addition to the Mignolaverse narrative, strong in horror-comic artistry and hitting home with a dead mother and a mysterious new character.

Story: Mike Mignola and John Arcudi  Art: Laurence Campbell and Dave Stewart
Story: 8  Art: 8  Overall: 8  Recommendation: Buy

19185The Strain: The Fall #1 I really wasn’t sure if David Lapham’s adaptation of Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s vampire horror novel The Strain, and continuation of the Dark Horse comics of the same name, was something I wanted to read—after all, while I may be a horror comics fan, the images Dark Horse has been using for advertisement are a bit too creepy for me. I can say now, though, if you’re like me, and you decided against The Strain: the Fall #1, you might want to rethink that decision and check this book out!

The Strain: The Fall #1 is a thrilling, complex, and innovative new take on the all-too familiar vampire mythos, blending the mystery of Mesopotamia and mystical books with city-wide epidemic paranoia and devious plotting by a Master and his pawns. Though I haven’t read del Toro of Hogan’s novel, by the end of this premiere issue I knew this is a vampire tale I was meant to fall in bloody love with!

Lapham’s script is well written, introducing plenty of main characters, several plot lines, and all of it in a well-paced package wrapped up neatly in Mike Huddleston’s apt art. (Not sure if these characters were in the previous The Strain comics, since this is my first experience therewith) There was a lot going on in this first issue, and I got lost on some of the names and their motivations, but that didn’t stop me from flipping back through the pages to re-enjoy everything and figure it out—sometimes things need a second time through; sometimes that’s bad, but this is time it’s well worth it!

Our culture is truly vampire crazed, and has been for a long time; this is the sort of stuff I study outside of comics: America’s cultural fascination with the occult and the Gothic. The Strain: The Fall is a great take on vampires because it makes them into the apex predator we believe they would be, one with a tendril tongue that infects and drinks blood, a true horror to behold, because they can strike from afar! Seriously, on a scale of Twilight to shit-my-pants, these are probably the most fear-inducing vamps I’ve come across.

Kudos to Lapham and crew for adapting del Toro and Hogan’s story and making it into something truly incredible. Another fantastic debut from Dark Horse.

Story: David Lapham  Art: Mike Huddleston
Story: 9  Art: 9  Overall: 9  Recommendation: Buy

19794Star Wars: Dark Times—A Spark Remains #1 While Star Wars: Dark Times has always been about the pain of war and defeat, and the fate of the Jedi and their compatriots following the Clone Wars and Order 66, A Spark Remains #1 is a touching, more human look at the lives, losses, and love of what seem in the hands of Randy Stradley and Douglas Wheatley to be real people, torn by war, hunted by the Dark Side. We see Jedi, warriors, and smugglers cooking, fearing, watching the Holonet, trying to figure out how to survive.

Stradley starts this issue in media res, capturing his audience with an incredible 5-page layout that hooks us into a plot to…erm, *spoilers,* take Darth Vader’s life. We then are transported several weeks into the past, where we get to see the beginning of this storyline and a more human side of Dass Jennir and his non-human compatriots. Stradley’s writing is spotless (then again, can’t expect much less from an editor, eh?) and sophisticated, and moves along at such a pace that we get nice forays into the everyday side of life on the run from the Empire alongside (and at the same time as) rebellion and devious plots.

Wheatley proves his mettle by taking characters who would otherwise look awkward and fantastically out of place in the Star Wars universe—like the Verpine Jedi Sahdett, the Nosaurian freedom fighter Bomo Greenbark, Ratty the Rannat mechanic, and the Yarkora captain Heren, who belong to species that usually are drawn as completely unrealistic and unbelievable in their settings—and he makes them look comfortable amongst the most diverse crew to ever grace a Star Wars publication. This is a truly a great diversification of the largely (white, male) human-centric cast of much of Star Wars.

Reviewers (including myself) have said that Wood’s Star Wars ongoing is what the franchise is the saga at its finest, but Dark Times, and especially A Spark Remains, is what Star Wars has become for a new era in which the future of the film franchise is in question and the EU threatened. It’s a grown-up book recognizes that its readers expected more of the beloved franchise than just lightsaber duels and blaster shoot-outs. Stradley, editor of Dark Horse’s Star Wars Zone has made a significant contribution to the great legacy of Star Wars comics in the form of A Spark Remains #1. It’s about camaraderie, something all Star Wars fans could use these days.

Story: Randy Stradley  Art: Douglas Wheatley
Story: 8  Art: 8  Overall: 8.5  Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with FREE copies for review

Dark Horse Comics Collects Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain!

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DARK HORSE COMICS COLLECTS

GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S THE STRAIN!

JUNE 8, MILWAUKIE, OR—Acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan bring their New York Times best-selling series of novels, the Strain Trilogy, to Dark Horse Comics with an ongoing adventure that takes a terrifying spin on the vampire genre.

Renowned comics creator David Lapham (Stray Bullets, Silverfish) and artist Mike Huddleston (The Coffin, Butcher Baker) join forces in this comic book adaptation unlike any other—bringing del Toro and Hogan’s vision to life in a story that casts a deadly plague over the whole of humanity. The Strain Volume 1, collecting issues #1–#6 of this ongoing series, is a horror story unlike any other!

When a Boeing 777 lands at JFK International Airport and goes dark on the runway, the Centers for Disease Control, fearing a terrorist attack, calls in Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and his team of expert biological-threat first responders. Only an elderly pawnbroker from Spanish Harlem suspects a darker purpose behind the event—an ancient threat intent on covering mankind in darkness.

Praise for Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain:

“[The Strain] is one of the scariest comics on the stands, as genuine surprises await the reader at every turn of the page. Usually, such big reveals are left to the final moment, but with The Strain there’s almost a cliffhanger every few pages and that makes this series a truly surprising, and enjoyable, read.”—Broken Frontier

“One of the year’s best books. If I were to give you one bit of advice while reading this book, don’t read it in the dark.”—Comic Buzz

The Strain Volume 1 is on sale November 14 in comic shops everywhere!

About Dark Horse

Founded in1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Gerard Way, Felicia Day, and Guillermo Del Toro, and comics legends such as Will Eisner, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, including The Mask, Ghost, Timecop, and SpyBoy. Its successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Mass Effect, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Emily the Strange, Tim Burton’s Tragic Toys for Girls and Boys, Serenity, and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of both creator-owned content and licensed comics material.

Get Killed in the 2nd Story Arc of The Strain!

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Official Press Release

The plague is coming and we want to know how you will survive.
Win a chance to get killed in the 2nd Story Arc of The Strain!

We’re making preparations for the coming infestation, storing food, comics and weapons. The Strain #1 is on its way, infecting comic shops on Dec. 14th. And here’s a little contest to get you excited for the comics from Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan, David Lapham and Mike Huddleston.

We want to hear how you will survive the vampire plague. In the comments below give us at least a 200 word description of how you plan to survive the coming epidemic. What supplies will you need? Where would you go to hide? Who would be with you? What weapons would you need? Give us all the details, we need help figuring out how we’d survive.

Official Rules:

1. Post a comment of at least 200 words on the Dark Horse Blog (http://www.darkhorse.com/Blog/741/strain-survive-plague-contest) by 11:59p.m. PT on Sunday Dec. 4th, 2011 and describe how you plan to survive the coming plague.

2. Come back next week as we post the top 5 Survival Tales, once per day through Dec. 9th.

3. Starting Dec. 9th. come back to the blog and Vote for the best Survival Plan Through Dec. 13th.

***We’ll post the winner on Dec. 14th, the release date of The Strain #1

The Winner of this contest will have their likeness drawn into one of The Strain arc two comics to be killed by a Vampire. We will finalize details with the winner individually.

The fine print: No purchase necessary. One online entry per person (one e-mail address per person/address). You must be eighteen years of age or older to enter. Contest entries only accepted if they are submitted by 11:59p.m. (PDT), Dec. 4th, 2011, to be eligible. Winner will be selected based upon the quality of submitted comments (as determined at Dark Horse’s sole discretion) from all applicable entries and will be notified by Dec. 13th, 2011. Entry becomes the property of Dark Horse upon receipt. Entry constitutes agreement by winners to be publicized and permission to use each winner’s name for the purposes of promotion of the Contest without further compensation. Contest void where prohibited. Odds of winning dependent on number of entrants.

Dark Horse’s Fall Publishing Line Up Is Unveiled!

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Official Press Release

VISIONARY DIRECTOR GUILLERMO DEL TORO UNLEASHES HIS NEW YORK TIMES

BEST-SELLING NOVEL SERIES,

THE STRAIN IN COMICS!

SAN DIEGO, CA—JULY 20, 2011—Fans, media and industry professionals mobbed the Dark Horse booth at Comic Con this evening for a chance to catch a glimpse of Dark Horse’s fall line-up, including the upcoming comic adaptation of The Strain, created by visionary director, Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan.

When a Boeing 777 lands at JFK International Airport and goes dark on the runway, the Center for Disease Control, fearing a terrorist attack, calls in Dr. Ephraim Goodweather and his team of expert biological-threat first responders. Only an elderly pawnbroker from Spanish Harlem suspects a darker purpose behind the event—an ancient threat intent on covering mankind in darkness.

Adapting the first novel from Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s The Strain Trilogy, this horrifying first chapter—told in eight issues—deals with an outbreak of diabolical proportions that puts a terrifying twist on the vampire genre.

“When discussing The Strain, Chuck and I agreed on one thing regarding any possible adaptation: It should not start until after we were done with the last book in the trilogy and we would only entertain a medium that would allow us to expand the world and the characters we had created” said co-creator, Guillermo del Toro.  Working with Dark Horse, David Lapham and Mike Huddleston provides us with the chance of expanding it further.  A dream come true!”

“The chance to work with del Toro on any project was just too good to pass up” said writer, David Lapham. “But the fact that this is a vicious horror project, that I’m teamed with a great artist, and been given a great amount of creative freedom to interpret the novel has made this a dream project.”

Adapted by writer David Lapham (Stray Bullets, Kull), with art by Mike Huddleston (MK Ultra), the chilling first issue arrives on sale on December 14.

 

 

ORCHID STEMS FROM DARK HORSE COMICS!

 A CLASS STRUGGLE FROM THE MIND OF TOM MORELLO!

July 20, MILWAUKIE, OR—Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, Dark Horse Comics brings you a brand-new project from the creative mind of Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman).

A free exclusive music track from Tom Morello will be available with purchase of each issue to serve as a soundtrack to the story! Morello’s new album under the name of The Nightwatchman, entitled World Wide Rebel Songs, is due out August 30, 2011, from New West Records.

Orchid is an epic fantasy story set in a dystopian future infused with Morello’s worldview and the politics of terror.

Part Suicide Girl, part Joan of Arc – Orchid is the tale of a 16-year-old street prostitute who learns that she is more than the role society has imposed upon her. When the seas rose, genetic codes were smashed. Human settlements are now ringed by a dense wilderness from which ferocious new animal species prey on the helpless. The high ground belongs to the rich and powerful that overlook swampland shantytowns from their fortress-like cities. Iron-fisted rule ensures order and allows the wealthy to harvest the poor as slaves. Welcome to the world of Orchid.

Orchid features a variant cover by the well-known and influential street artist Shepard Fairey, with interior art by Scott Hepburn (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic).

Orchid is on sale October 12, 2011.

About Tom Morello

Tom Morello is a Grammy Award-winning guitarist best known for his tenure with the bands Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, his acoustic solo act, The Nightwatchman. Tom is also the cofounder of the nonprofit organization Axis of Justice.  The Harvard educated guitarist was ranked #26 in Rolling Stone‘s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”  and has sold over 30 million records.

 

 

BEST-SELLING AUTHOR P.C. CAST BRINGS HER HOUSE OF NIGHT SERIES TO DARK HORSE!

SAN DIEGO, CA—JULY 20, 2011—The Dark Horse booth was overrun with fans, media and industry professionals tonight, as Dark Horse unveiled three new titles with three new creators. P.C. Cast and her daughter, Kristin Cast, may be new names to the comics world, but to genre fiction fans, they are the beloved co-authors of the incredibly successful series of novels set in the world of House of Night. Now the Casts bring these high school-aged vampires to comics with all-new stories, tying in directly to the existing series!

Until recently, Zoey Redbird was an average high-school student worrying about grades, boys, and breakouts. But priorities have a way of changing when you are marked as a vampyre, enroll in the vampyre academy House of Night, and have to figure out a whole new social hierarchy, affinities for elemental magic, and physiological changes that make you crave blood.

In this series, taking place between scenes from Betrayed (the second book in the wildly popular House of Night series, which has sold millions of copies internationally), Zoey is in desperate need of guidance as she prepares to take over the elite student group known as the Dark Daughters. Surrounded by her group of devoted friends, Zoey turns to The Fledgling Handbook, a historical vampyre tome, in hopes of better understanding this big, new world of vampyrism.

“Watching my characters and their world come to life with the fabulous team at Dark Horse has been fulfilling and fun” said author, P.C. Cast. “Fans are gonna love these comics!”

The comic will be co-written by Kent Dallan, with art by Joelle Jones (Troublemaker). House of Night is the second new title in Dark Horse’s fall line-up, arriving in stores on November 9TH!

Check out the exclusive reveal trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVMSEPl3gZA
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