A1 #3

Frankenstein’s Monster is in the Weir and the angry mob greeting him with pitchforks and flaming torches are Mice, Weasels and Rabbits.

From World War 2 to Iraq, you’ll always find Blazing Glory in the thick of it. But after 60 years of combat he’s starting to question what he’s doing and why.

An extremely out-of-shape video game freak assembles his own army of gamers and plans a hit on a well-loved politician.
The reason? Said politician made a really disparaging comment on the nutfreak’s favorite game. Carpediem vs an army of vengeful nerds!

That’s the three stories you’ll find in Titan Comics‘ amazing anthology. Each is totally different in style and story, but they’re all amazingly good. There really is something for everyone, and that something is quality. The three stories, Carpediem, Odyssey, and Weirding Willows are each entertaining in their own way. All are familiar, with similar stories out there, but each have a spin and look that make them stand out from the rest.

Carpediem is the most original of the bunch following a team of super-agents, each named after a day of the week and each with their own “theme” and ability. There’s some great continuing jokes through the series that gets me to laugh with each issue. It’s just mad fun to read.

Odyssey might look like a certain character from another certain company, but it’s standing on its own with a beautiful style and action that keeps you entertained.

Weirding Willows is a mash-up comic taking characters from literary past. You’ll recognize the characters in a whole new way and so far the comic really stands out from all of the other similar comics out there with it’s focus, pacing and amazing art.

Titan Comics is making a case with each issue that A1 could be “the” anthology comic of the year. It’s that damn good.

Story: Dave Elliot, W.H. Rauf Art: Barnaby Bagenda, Sami Basri, Sakti Yuwono, Jessica Kholinne, Garrie Gastony, Rhoald Marcelius
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Chronos Commandos: Dawn Patrol #2

Nazi saboteurs have overrun Chronos Command, and made off with a Chronosphere core – a priceless piece of Allied technology that could change the course of the Time War!

Can the Sarge, his crack squad depleted after the white-knuckle events of #1, mount a daring recovery mission into the past with a unit of rookies? You’d better hope so — because all of history rides on the outcome!

First, lets talk about the art from Stuart Jennett who pulls double duty as the writer. The painted art is jaw dropping and so cool looking. There’s only a few artists who can pull this off and Jennett is up there with a style that makes each character unique and stand out, something some artists of this style have issues with. The art alone makes it a “buy.”

Next is the story which continues the pulpy B-movie fun involving time travel, dinosaurs and Nazis. That combination, how can it not be enjoyable? But, like the first issue, the characters are cookie-cutter and fill their role as the adventure moves along. You have the grizzled leader, the scientist who isn’t a soldier, and the red-shirts that you know will die at some point. They all have their role and fill it well.

The comic is just a lot of fun, it feels like a pulp movie. Rarely does a comic deliver exactly what you expect and does so with as much fun. We’re two issues in and I still think this is one of the most fun comics of the summer.

Story: Stuart Jennett Art: Stuart Jennett
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

It Came! #1

Witness a very British invasion!

Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will love this hilarious B-movie romp, a knowing throwback to the heyday of low-budget SF cinema – in comic book form!

An enormous alien robot lays waste to the English countryside, annihilating bunting, villages and diagonally-sliced sandwiches alike! Only the pipe-chomping space scientist Dr. Boy Brett and his assistant Doris Night (a lady) stand a chance of stopping it from marching all the way to London – but can they possibly escape the grasp of GRURK and get the might of the British Army on their side?!

Keep your upper lips stiff, your ties immaculately knotted, and your notions of gender equality dialled back sixty years – for the sake of the planet!

It Came! feels like a lost classic movie, in this case from Pinetree Studios, filled with advertisements that draw you further into the time this might have come out.

Writer and artist Dan Boultwood continues Titan Comics’ dominance of the B-movie done in comic form with a story that not only feels like a B-movie plot wise, but also pulls from the sexism and misogyny of that time. You’re sucked in and at no point is Boultwood breaking character to update the tale.

Comics are supposed to be fun and Boultwood clearly understands that. This is a great debut and another example why Titan Comics is a publisher to keep an eye on.

Story: Dan Boultwood Art: Dan Boultwood
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Lenore #8

When a film crew from the “Ghosty Toasty” TV show: “Where we toast that ghost!” turns up at Lenore’s mansion in search of ‘ghosts and ghouls’… they get more than they bargained for, much, much more!

Issue #8 of Lenore marks the beginning of the end for one of Lenore’s main characters; with the start of a four-issue story-arc that will culminate in a fight-to-the-death between two of the comic’s most beloved characters. But who will stand victorious – and who will die, never to live again..?

Each of the four issues will also reveal the shocking truth behind the mask of Taxidermy (perhaps Lenore’s most mysterious and sinister character) and reveal his incredible history, which started back in the days of ancient Egypt!

It’s been a long time since I picked up an issue of Lenore, but even after all these years, creator Roman Dirge has continued the cute and twisted series in exactly the same messed up way I remember. The comic is hilarious, to the point I was laughing out loud numerous times and had people staring at me trying to figure out what I was reading and why it was so funny.

The cute beginning, the skewering of the “ghost hunting” shows that’s on television, and all in a package that moves along Lenore’s story. It all works together in a fun and twisted way.

I got to the end and felt like it’s been too long since I picked up a copy of Lenore. I’ve clearly been depriving myself and need to go back and find out what I’ve been missing all these years.

Story: Roman Dirge Art: Roman Dirge
Story 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Tomorrrowland #1

From the Eisner award-winning writer of Spider-Man, Wolverine: Origin, The Inhumans and The Darkness comes a music-led adventure like no other!

Meet Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, two young DJs – and the public faces of the world-renowned Tomorrowland festival – as they are drawn into an impossible adventure to save the vital spark of creativity!

Over the course of this retina-blasting fantasy adventure, the pair find themselves sucked into an eternal war between two worlds, a battle waged between the forces of creation and destruction for the energy we all carry inside us. It’s a war we’re rapidly losing, but can two DJs turn the tide over the course of just one festival?

I went into this comic with no idea what to expect. I’ve seen the build up and the previews and other than it taking place at some music festival, I was in the dark. The comic is best described as a modern fantasy with music acting as magic and full of the types of characters and monsters you’d expect in that type of story.

The characters are interesting too, I’m still not quite sure if I’m totally bought in and like the two protagonists. I’m not bought in that I’m cheering for them right now. Something just doesn’t sit right yet. Maybe it’s because I’m long disconnected from the type of world and environment they live in?

The art though is fantastic, with a great look and feel about it, that’s a major draw to the comic. The look is amazing.

The first issue was enough for me to come back for the second. It’s interesting and unique enough to stand out. We’ll see though what the second issue has in store and if that’ll keep my interest and enjoyment more than just something pretty to look at.

Story: Paul Jenkins Art: Stellar Labs
Story: 7.75 Art: 8.5 Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Buy

Numbercruncher #1

Numbercruncher is an  off-the-wall romance mixing time-travel, life-after-death and coal-black comedy is by Si Spurrier and  P.J. Holden.

Utterly unusual, vaguely insane, and unexpectedly heart-warming, Numbercruncher follows a brilliant mathematician who dies young, enters the afterlife and discovers a way to cheat the terrifying Divine Calculator. He schemes to be endlessly reincarnated within the lifespan of the woman he loves, no matter how often the violent bailiffs of the Karmic Accountancy cut short each life. It falls to one such bailiff – the surly Bastard Zane – to put a stop to the time-twisting romance once and for all, before the Mathematician can pull-off his greatest trick and escape Existential Justice forever!

Numbercruncher was originally serialized in black & white in Judge Dredd Megazine in the UK. The series is now being newly colored and expanded for the first time by Titan Comics. And that coloring is something that stands out to me, because it’s not the entire comic, instead just specific panels and parts. It’s a look that’s very cool and really catches the eye.

Overall the story is highly entertaining with a concept I haven’t quite seen before. The concept is an interesting one with a new spin in life after death and a main character in Bastard Zane who you can’t quite cheer for. But, at the same time, he’s entertaining, hell the whole world is really entertaining.

The fact that this comic is a reprint doesn’t phase me at all, it’s all new material in my eyes. And it’s material that I find engrossing and creative. I want to see what comes next and where this all goes. If you’ve never read the series before, absolutely check this one out. Another example why Titan Comics is a titan in the industry.

Story: Si Spurrier Art: PJ Holden
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Titan Comics provided Graphic Policy with FREE copies for review