Ehmm Theory #1

What start’s out as a horror comedy, with young Gabriel Ehmm waking up dead with his kitten now talking, begins to shift into more genres as they try to solve the mystery of what’s happening to them… you know while battling giant cyborg crabs!!!!

A mix of horror and comedy Ehmm Theory is one of the flagship titles for Action Lab’s Danger Zone imprint. As far as a title I’d throw out there as a flagship it’s not too bad, though I think some of the other series are strong.

This series might come down to personal taste of how you like your horror and comedy mixed together. While I thought a lot of it was funny, some of it also fell flat for me. Further issues, I’m crossing my fingers to see how it goes, because there is a lot I like.

Overall the series is pretty solid start. If you enjoy horror and comedy, this is a good pick for people who enjoy those types of stories. I went back and forth as to whether this is a “buy” or “read,” but I’m leaning towards “buy” for folks who enjoy those types of stories. This one could be more than anything else and it’s a series I feel definitely deserves to be checked out.

Story: Brockton McKinney Art: Larkin Ford
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Buy

Ghost Town #1

Moments after scientists create a time machine, terrorists steal and weaponize the device, sending bombs into the future. Las Vegas evaporates in flame as the terrorists reveal their future target: Washington DC. Now, the FBI must find the terrorists before the capital becomes a Ghost Town, The clock is ticking.

Take Time Cop and throw in terrorism and you have this series. It’s an interesting concept and presented in a way for folks who are fans of tense police thrillers. Can the terrorists be tracked down in time? And time is the key thing here, how does time travel twist up the concept of this series that we’ve seen before. That’s enough to make it unique and got me really interested.

There’s this dread throughout and build up of tension as the comic moved on. As time passed me reading the comic, the tension increased. For me, there was something really fun about that.

This the type of comic I’m drawn to, so it’s not shocking at all as to how much I enjoyed it and that I’d recommend it for others. There’s some cool characters, an exciting plot, and a concept that leads to tension and some interesting possibilities. Take in the fact that a major city goes bye-bye early on, you don’t know how far the comic will go, adding in to the excitement. Overall, a solid read that I want more of.

Story: Dave Dwonch Art: Justin Greenwood
Story: 8 Art: 7.75 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

The Final Plague #1

The Final Plague has begun, and with it mankind’s final hours. Can a rural Iowan family survive the initial onslaught of crazed, rabid animals, presumably the product of a mutated super-virus? Or will they succumb to the plague that threatens to end all life as we know it?

I hate rats. That fact alone had me squirming as I read this comic. This is a horror comic that plays off the real world fears of individuals. I see rats daily living in a city, and we’re talking big ones and you better believe the disease they carry is on my mind. Reading this comic, that wasn’t helped at all.

The story and art are beyond creepy. Just thinking about it, I get shivers. This is Arachnophobia but with rats, big plague carrying rats.

What I also liked about it, wasn’t just the ick factor, but also the characters. The family dynamic here is really solid and how everyone interacts with each other. It’s really great stuff and the fact you have these very normal characters, that you like, dealing with this type of issue, the build up is tense and left me a bit uneasy.

As you can tell, I liked this for the gross factor. A nice horror comic that could actually be all too real, which makes it all the much better.

Story: JD Arnold Art: Tony Guaraldi-Brown
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Double Jumpers Vol. 1 TPB

The cult hit of 2012 is finally collected! After Jason and his team of programmers get stuck in virtual reality game, Dungeon Lords, they must find a way back to the real world. Unbeknownst to them, the fantasy characters they inhabit have taken control of their bodies… and now wizards and warriors run free in Las Vegas!

I’m a fan of video games, so when I first found out about this 9-bit of fun, I had high expectations. Then there’s also the fact that when I think of Action Labs I think of some great comics for all ages and very “girl friendly.” Then I got to read the first issue and boy was I off in what I was expecting.

Instead of some deft commentary on gaming and its community instead we got a series that played directly into the juvenile stereotypes you’d expect. This was more dick and fart jokes than anything else. That’s not a bad thing and I went with it for a while.

And there’s a lot I thought was funny. The story and its plot, how it played out, that was solid. It was some of the jokes that fell flat for me. The biggest is the idea of a female character being stuck in a male character’s body and vice versa. Most of it was easy jokes and some of it a bit tasteless, but that’s my personal opinion. Others might find it funny, but there’s so much of it, for me, it drew me out from really enjoying the rest.

When it comes down to it, this one is very much a personal taste thing. It might be different for you, but this wasn’t really for me.

Story: Dave Dwonch Art: Bill Blankenship
Story: 6.75 Art: 7.75 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

The Trip

A group of college kids on a desert-baked road trip take a Native American drug that unlocks their deepest fears. Now, if a teenager and his grandfather from the local reservation can’t find them in time, they’re going to have to face their own personal terrors, or be consumed by them! The Trip is an Indian drug fueled ride into horror!!

A college road trip, how many horror movies start out with one of those? Then the kids do something stupid, like have a party or do drugs (as in this case) and then all hell breaks loose and people die. That’s the basic plot here, generally what you’d expect in a horror movie, and at the same time I came away enjoying the story, a lot.

Like many of the other horror titles for Action Lab’s Danger Zone imprint, it’s the dread that got me. The tension and build up as bodies piled up got me hooked and wanted to see what was coming next and how it’d get resolved.

This is basically a drug trip gone bad, but that aspect, to me at least, was pretty original. What the drug does and how each individual meets their fate kept me entertained.

Then there’s the main character and the issues she faces, it’s hard to go into that one without giving spoilers away, but while everyone else’s horror was a bit out there, this one was all too real. That again helps the story and adds to it all.

While this might seem like a typical college road trip gone bad, there’s something here that makes it unique and worth checking out. It has that “messed up” quality that makes it stand out.

Story: Jess Grillo Art: David Brame
Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Night of the 80’s Undead #1

It’s 1986, and Russia’s last-ditch cold war effort is to strike at our American excess lifestyle with bio-engineered Colombian cocaine. What happens when two girls out for a good time cross paths with a huge celebrity party hyped up on commie zombie blow?!?! Radical undead action man! Totally!!

I grew up in the 80s. I appreciate 80s music and 80s movies and 80s fashion. The fact this comic takes all of that and rips it to shred made me enjoy the comic. Making fun of that decade and the stars, that alone makes the comic a buy for folks who grew up during that time and remember it well. If jokes about Charlie Sheen and OJ Simpson among others seems entertaining, well then here you go. That’s funny to me, and the comic is so absurd and over the top, it works, really works.

There’s a commentary here that’s not only funny, but also has a deft message about the excess of the 80s. The drugs, the debauchery, the “me me me” it’s all here and nothing seems to be too sensitive to make fun of.

There’s the whole thing about looking at the past through rose color glasses, in this case though, it’s looking at the past, and then pissing on it, while giggling. Sign me up.

Story: Jason Martin Art: Bill McKay
Story: 8.25 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy