Tag Archives: space between entertainment

Review: Spooky Girls: Tarantula Twins #1

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Spooky Girls: Tarantula Twins #1

Growing up, you tend to be drawn to people who you have something in common with. You may have interests that they do and vice versa.I’m still friends with everyone I grew up with. As we get older sometimes we lose touch but we always find each other again. As I get older, this cable tow of friends has grown exponentially.

When you go to high school, this is typically your first exposure to the class system. This is when you first see how people climb the social ladder while others find their own way. In the debut issue of Spooky Girls: Tarantula Twins, we find two siblings whose bond is tested once the social rigors of high school come into play.

Tawny and Temple Tarantula are a set of twins whose love for each other is tougher than it looks. That’s until they start to grow up and the differences between them become even more apparent. We finally see the girls as they turn 17. Tawny has become a bit of a bad apple and her smoking habits have started to annoy Temple who is a bit of a nerd and is secretly working on a formula for synthetic Euphoria. When Tawny’s friends find out, they steal her only bottle of the formula and try to get inebriated from this. From there’s it’s lessons on sisterhood and friendship.

Writer Pat Shand and company more than prove with this comic just how their storytelling skills can transcend any age group. The story by Shand is relatable, funny, and heartfelt. The art by the creative team is soulful and complements the story. Altogether, a comic that will make you remember that loves conquers all.

Story: Pat Shand
Art: Agny Innocente, Jim Campbell, and Shannon Lee
Story: 10 Art: 9.6 Overall: 9.7 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Prison Witch Vol. 1 The Feral

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Prison Witch Vol. 1 The Feral

It’s one of those experiences in our lives when we “meet our tribe.” Many of us who grew up hiding who we were, scared of how we would be perceived if people knew our certain quirks, our deepest desires, and love of everything geek, made many of us ostracized. It’s true that the late great Stan Lee made the world of comic books more accessible but he didn’t quite make it mainstream. It took years after that, with an influx of superhero movies, when it became something more than acceptable. It was the new normal.

I remember the first time I met like-minded people. It was in high school. Me and my friends bonded over our love for Hip Hop. Our conversations would go on for ours pontificating on the importance of rhymes over beats, the complexity of certain emcee’s flows, and the content of certain songs and their deeper meanings. I wondered how it would be for someone to find their tribe but find out that they are more than they ever thought of themselves. In Amy Shand and Pat Shand’s elegantly told Prison Witch, we meet a protagonist whose life changes dramatically in many ways when she goes to prison.

In the comic, we meet Cameron. She’s on day 34 of a 5-year jail sentence. Her acclimation to prison life is less than welcoming. This changes when she meets Tanya, who senses that Cameron is more than another inmate. A scuffle with another inmate unleashes what some believe is a demon but is the powers of a witch and catches the eye of the local troublemaker, Bean. Eventually, we’re introduced to a coven, a group of witches also in jail. They have to subdue their abilities to keep themselves safe and each has their own dark secrets.

Overall, a comic that feels like if Orange Is The New Black met Charmed. That combines and becomes something even more beautiful and twisted. The story by the Shands is heartfelt, intellectual, and beautiful.  The art by D’Urso, Campbell, and Lee is breathtaking and striking. Altogether, a story that thrives beyond genres and gives the reader a great story.

Story: Amy Shand, Pat Shand Art: Erica D’Urso, Katia Ranalli
Cover: Jenn St-Onge Letters: Jim Campbell Edited: Shannon Lee
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Destiny, NY Vol. 2

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The show The Magicians is one of the few shows on television which gives the world a whole new view of their surroundings. I wasn’t sure how the books would turn out but I was more than interested in finding out. The books came to be known as the “Magicians Trilogy” and was more than anyone including me ever expected. They took a more mature look at magic. Basically if Hogwarts was a college and everyone was having sex, much like how it happened in the fan fiction that followed the genre. The television series for the most part is pretty faithful, and more than carries the spirit of the source material. I just wished both iterations were more representative of the world. Destiny, NY also plays with the concept that magic is a real and accepted part of life taking place in New York City. In the second volume the reader finds more about the protagonists as well as the other characters.

We find Logan in the midst of a fever pitched dream where the death of Song still haunts her, where she wakes up next to Lilith, and find the happy couple living together for the last three months. Meanwhile. at Destiny University, we find the school is under investigation, by the Mystical Code Enforcement Agency, who are looking into the inner workings of the school, and what lead to the false prophecy in the first place, as the principal, Karen Davids, tries her best to be diplomatic. In the most improbable of times, Logan’s parents visit her and Lilith to see a woman who is quite different from the young lady they raised.  We also find Gia, not trusting her skills as a seer as she tries to find her way, while getting in trouble at school. We also find Joe having a meltdown of his own which is compounded by the fact, that there are masked men trying to neutralize students with exceptional magical abilities. As all our protagonists are being outed by someone, as Lilith suspects Arvid, Song’s assistant to be behind the doxing. Meanwhile, Logan’s ex, Bailey, is being managed by Arvid, who has plans in the works, hoping to take his revenge in the name of Lilith’s sister, Song. Arvid makes his move, kidnapping Logan in a desperate attempt to connect to Song, but Lilith comes to the rescue.

On top of that, the collection features numerous short stories set in this world.

Overall, an engrossing book that you will both love and be lost in for hours. The stories by the creative team are fast paced, engaging and action packed. The art by the creative team is gorgeous. Altogether, a stimulating chapter in this series that charms, enthralls, and shocks you at the most unexpected moments.

Story: Pat Shand, Erica Schultz, Natasha Alterici, Emily Ree, Brian Cogan, Amy Shand
Art: Rosi Kampe, Jim Campbell, Manuel Preitano, Megan Levens, Natasha Alterici, Emily Ree, Claudia Aguirre, Eve Mae, Lisa Sterle , Katie Kuffel
Editor: Shannon Lee
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy