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Preview: Wrestle Heist #1

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Wrestle Heist #1

(W) Kyle Starks (A) Vladimir Popov

A former pro wrestler — who has a brush with death thanks to a crooked promoter — assembles a crew of fellow wrestlers he’s screwed over… to rob him blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year.

From the outrageous, action-packed mind of multi-time Eisner nominee KYLE STARKS (Peacemaker Tries Hard, Sexcastle, I Hate This Place), with eye-popping colors by VLADIMIR POPOV (Where Monsters Lie, Fearscape), comes a no-holds-barred heist caper packed with body slams and backstabs.

Wrestle Heist #1

Preview: Wrestle Heist #1

Posted on by

Wrestle Heist #1

(W) Kyle Starks (A) Vladimir Popov

A former pro wrestler — who has a brush with death thanks to a crooked promoter — assembles a crew of fellow wrestlers he’s screwed over… to rob him blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year.

From the outrageous, action-packed mind of multi-time Eisner nominee KYLE STARKS (Peacemaker Tries Hard, Sexcastle, I Hate This Place), with eye-popping colors by VLADIMIR POPOV (Where Monsters Lie, Fearscape), comes a no-holds-barred heist caper packed with body slams and backstabs.

Wrestle Heist #1

Wrestle Heist Powerslams into stores this December

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Multiple Eisner Award nominated cartoonist Kyle Starks teams up with colorist extraordinaire Vladimir Popov for the the upcoming no-holds-barred heist caper, Wrestle Heist. This five-issue miniseries from Image Comics will pin readers to the mat this December.

In Wrestle Heist, a former pro wrestler—who has a brush with death thanks to a crooked promoter—assembles a crew of fellow wrestlers he’s screwed over… to rob him blind during the biggest wrestling event of the year. Packed with body slams and backstabs this is a must-read for fans of over-the-top action.

Wrestle Heist #1 by Kyle Starks will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, December 17:

  • Cover A by Starks
  • Cover B Blank Sketch
  • Cover C 1:10 copy incentive by Jesse Longeran
Wrestle Heist #1

Where Monsters Lie: Cull-de-sac #2 delivers laughs and over the top kills

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Where Monsters Lie: Cull-de-sac #2

Welcome to Site C! Home of hillbilly slashers, backwoods cannibals, and all the rural killers. I’m sure everything will be perfectly fine here. Oh, and the other monsters send Final Girl turned Special Agent, Connor Hayes out to kill a babysitter to prove his loyalty to them. I’m sure that also will turn out absolutely fine. The monstrous terrors increase in Where Monsters Lie: Cull-de-sac #2!

Written by Kyle Starks, Where Monsters Lie has been twisted fun. The basic concept is it takes place in the community that serial killers go when they’re not terrorizing communities. Not real world type killers, think more like Jason or Freddie. The “gimmick killers” from classic slasher films. With that, Starks has crafted characters that feel like both a spoof and homage to all of those classics.

The issue introduces us to Site C, another home to killers, this one playing off the “Southern” stereotype. Fuckmaster is the focus here where we learn he’s one of the top five slashers out there but is now looked upon as a traitor to the cause. This part of the comic delivers the slashing gore that’s so over the top it turns into comedy. Subtlety is not this series forte and it holds nothing back delivering a bloody symphony of carnage.

But the main story is really about Agent Hayes who has been turned by the killers and has learned his wife is the daughter of one. Sent on a mission to prove his loyalty the comic takes an expected route but still an entertaining one as logic is dropped by Agent Hayes that makes every decision seem logical and well thought out. It’s a solid part of the comic that keeps things focused and more grounded, in a way, than the outright senseless carnage we’ve seen so often.

The splattering of blood is brought to the page by Piotr Kowalski whose art enhances the glee of destruction. With color by Vladimir Popov and lettering by Joshua Reed the comic has fun with its blood bath and doesn’t take itself seriously. It purposely goes big and drags the comic into comedy instead of slasher gore porn. It’s hard not to laugh at how exaggerated everything is, clearly done on purpose. The series could easily play it all as straight but instead chooses to have fun with winks as nods as the blood flows.

Where Monsters Lie: Cull-de-sac #2 is another fantastic issue that takes classic ideas and gives them whole new spins. It both loves and mocks the slasher genre, leaning more towards the love. It exaggerates what has come before and takes things to extremes doing things on the page that can only really be done on the comic page. It’s a cathartic comic of destruction and bloody glee and is a hell of a good time to read.

Story: Kyle Starks Art: Piotr Kowalski
Color: Vladimir Popov Letterer: Joshua Reed
Story: 8.4 Art: 8.4 Overall: 8.4 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – Kindle

Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 is continued WTF laughs

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Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1

Where Monsters Lie was one of my favorite comics of 2023. Now, it gets its next chapter with Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac, and it’s a debut I couldn’t be more excited for.

In the first series, it answered the question as to where all of the serial killers go when they’re not upping their body counts, a quiet community where they all lived. By the end, a federal agent, Connor Hayes, had his revenge against them destroying the community but also became what he wanted to destroy.

Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 introduces us to another gated community for slashers. It’s a whole new cast of horrible monsters at “Site B,” where the surviving killers and Agent Hayes, have wound up going to after their tragedy. Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 teases a lot, including that there’s higher up calling the shots, and questions if Agent Hayes will cooperate and become a happy, helpful, serial killer.

Written by Kyle Starks, Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 continues with moments that’ll cause you to pause and drop a “holy shit” as to what has been said. There’s a comedy about it all that’s part of the charm of the series. It goes extreme so often in so many ways that the series’ dark comedy roots oozes into everything.

Starks and the team also deliver some amazing new killers, much like the first issue. One who only kills for the holidays must head back out and do so sooner, and spends the issue figuring out what holiday works. Will Arbor Day be ok? How do the kills work into that theme? If that simple bit of debate get you to chuckle, you’ll appreciate the comic which is packed with quick comedic hits along with the more messed up moments.

Starks again is joined by Piotr Kowalski who handles the art, color by Vladimir Popov, and lettering by Josh Reed. Much like the first series, part of the comedic fun of the comic are the visuals. The killers themselves are extremes visually and you’re often guessing what their theme is before they even get a proper introduction. The body language, the head movement, add to the dialogue to help create awkward hilarity.

Like so many horror series, it’s hard to top the original. You need to ramp things up in unexpected ways and Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 does that. Much like the original, it caused me to pause and laugh, a smirk on my face at the twisted ideas, and has me excited to see what’s next.

Story: Kyle Starks Art: Piotr Kowalski
Color: Vladimir Popov Letterer: Joshua Reed
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – Kindle

Early Review: Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 is continued WTF laughs

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Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1

Where Monsters Lie was one of my favorite comics of 2023. Later this year, it gets its next chapter with Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac, whose first issue comes to comic shops on October 16, 2024.

In the first series, it answered the question as to where all of the serial killers go when they’re not upping their body counts, a quiet community where they all lived. By the end, a federal agent, Connor Hayes, had his revenge against them destroying the community but also became what he wanted to destroy.

Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 introduces us to another gated community for slashers. It’s a whole new cast of horrible monsters at “Site B,” where the surviving killers and Agent Hayes, have wound up going to after their tragedy. Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 teases a lot, including that there’s higher up calling the shots, and questions if Agent Hayes will cooperate and become a happy, helpful, serial killer.

Written by Kyle Starks, Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 continues with moments that’ll cause you to pause and drop a “holy shit” as to what has been said. There’s a comedy about it all that’s part of the charm of the series. It goes extreme so often in so many ways that the series’ dark comedy roots oozes into everything.

Starks and the team also deliver some amazing new killers, much like the first issue. One who only kills for the holidays must head back out and do so sooner, and spends the issue figuring out what holiday works. Will Arbor Day be ok? How do the kills work into that theme? If that simple bit of debate get you to chuckle, you’ll appreciate the comic which is packed with quick comedic hits along with the more messed up moments.

Starks again is joined by Piotr Kowalski who handles the art, color by Vladimir Popov, and lettering by Josh Reed. Much like the first series, part of the comedic fun of the comic are the visuals. The killers themselves are extremes visually and you’re often guessing what their theme is before they even get a proper introduction. The body language, the head movement, add to the dialogue to help create awkward hilarity.

Like so many horror series, it’s hard to top the original. You need to ramp things up in unexpected ways and Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 does that. Much like the original, it caused me to pause and laugh, a smirk on my face at the twisted ideas, and has me excited to see what’s next.

Story: Kyle Starks Art: Piotr Kowalski
Color: Vladimir Popov Letterer: Joshua Reed
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Pre-Order: TFAW – Kindle

Return to Where Monsters Lie with Cull-De-Sac

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Slashers always come back for more, so it should be no surprise that Wilmurst and all its residents will return in Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac, the next volume in Kyle Starks and Piotr Kowalski’s Where Monsters Lie series. The hit meta-horror comedy by Eisner Award-nominated writer Starks, illustrator Kowalski, colorist Vladimir Popov, and letterer Josh Reed returns just in time for Halloween.

Come join us, friends, for it’s time to visit another gated community for slashers! Meet a new cast of horrible monsters as we return to the world of Where Monsters Lie. Connor Hayes, final boy turned apex monster hunter, has been brought to Site B and expected to be a good little killer, but will he cooperate? And what sort of bone-tingling secrets inhabit this new horror hamlet?

Where Monsters Lie: Cull-De-Sac #1 (of 4) will be available in comic shops on October 16, 2024. It is now available to pre-order from your local comic shop for $3.99.

Where Monsters Lie #4 wraps things up and leaves us wanting more

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Where Monsters Lie #4

This is it, the finale to the series that answers the question as to where serial killers go when they’re not killing. The monsters residing at Wilmhurst find their secret haven’s time cut short as law enforcement has come knocking at their door for a bloody showdown. With things not looking good, where does the society go from there? Where Monsters Lie #4 wraps things up but also leaves us wanting more.

Written by Kyle Starks, there’s been an absurdity to Where Monsters Lie that has kept readers on their toes and laughing a lot. First there’s just the concept of a town where serial killers go when they’re not doing their thing. Then there’s a police raid that goes horribly wrong. There’s the killers themselves and the symphony of death throughout the comic.

Where Monsters Lie #4 continues all of that as the showdown wraps up and we’re left with where things go from here. It’s that ending that both works and doesn’t. It’s not a clean ending, leaving a lot still to go, perfect for setting up a second volume which will hopefully come.

But, Where Monsters Lie #4 continues to do what it does best, ridiculous moments that’ll get readers to laugh at the over-the-top moments and situations. There’s nothing subtle about the comic, it does everything to the extreme. That involves the opening which not only has a dastardly trap to escape from but a debate about what a “puzzle” really is.

Part of the laughs comes from Piotr Kowalski‘s art with color by Vladimir Popov and letterer Joshua Reed. Where Monsters Lie #4 does an excellent job of shocking visual moments but not lingering on the gory aspects. And, where there is gore, it’s done in such a way that makes the situation even funnier. It’s the difference between realistic, not realistic but bloody/gory, and not realistic and lingering on the blood shooting out for so long that it becomes funny. That last example is where the visuals land with saws, flamethrowers, and explosions delivering the cacophony of destruction.

Where Monsters Lie #4 is a good ending to this series though not great. The comic works as an ending but leaves a bit too much in a “to be continued,” though it wraps up with “the end.” Hopefully things do continue and this is just the start of something more, there’s a lot of ways it can go from here. But, as an exclamation of an ending, it doesn’t quite nail things. A small change and it would but as is, it’s a little bit of a clunker.

Story: Kyle Starks Art: Piotr Kowalski
Color: Vladimir Popov Letterer: Joshua Reed
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – Kindle

Where Monsters Lie #3 continues the killer insanity

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Where Monsters Lie #3

The monsters residing at Wilmhurst find their secret haven’s time cut short as law enforcement comes knocking at their door for a bloody showdown. Where Monsters Lie #3 continues the over the top holy shit nature of the series as bullets fly and bodies burn.

Written by Kyle Starks, Where Monsters Lie #3 continues a series that has you pausing a lot with utterances of “holy shit.” The comic takes everything to the extreme delivering laughter throughout, laughter you know you should be doing. It’s one of those stories where everything is so over the top, it’s hard to not just enjoy the absurdity of it all.

The town of killers has been raided by the cops and a battle is now raging. Clowns with flamethrowers, dolls with guns, it’s all so goofy it’s hard to not enjoy the cathartic violence within.

But, Starks gives pause throughout the issue as the police, and even the killers, ponder what’s going on. There’s dialogue that’s as funny as the absurd visuals adding to the enjoyment of it all. The comic’s enjoyment is truly in the extreme of it all.

That extreme is delivered visually by Piotr Kowalski. Kowalski continues to make what shouldn’t be ok truly hilarious. Vladimir Popov joins on color and Joshua Reed handles the lettering. It all is visually fun and just the right amount of over the top and extreme. The character continue to be some of the best things about the comic with personalities and concepts that are just perfect for a comic. These all feel like rejects for horror franchises that never happened, and I’m here for all of it. The designs and their kills are just perfect.

Where Monsters Lie #3 continues a series whose concept is solid to start but whose delivery is executed so well. It’s comedic in every moment and takes the serial killer horror concept to extreme levels and silliness. It’s a fun comic, where the chaos is part of the draw and enjoyment.

Story: Kyle Starks Art: Piotr Kowalski
Color: Vladimir Popov Letterer: Joshua Reed
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

Where Monsters Lie #2 continues the twisted fun insanity

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Where Monsters Lie #2

Chaos erupts at Wilmhurst-a gated community in the middle of nowhere for murderous slasher monsters-as special agents and police officers infiltrate their home base looking for war. Where Monsters Lie #2 delivers more holy shit moments in a comic you don’t want to laugh at but can’t help it.

Written by Kyle Starks, Where Monsters Lie #2 continues the twisted humor of the debut. A special agent is on a mission to bring down the community and stop the monsters that killed his sister and mom when he was younger. The community is surrounded but they’re serial killers, do they have to worry?

What happens in the standoff, as well as the motivation of the special agent in charge, is at the center of the second issue. Will the killers go quietly or is it a chance to increase the body count? That’s what we’re here for honestly and like good slasher films, the creativity of the kills matter.

And Where Monsters Lie #2 is rather creative with goofy, over-the-top moments that makes it hard to not smile and laugh a little. Yeah, people are dying, but it’s down with such glee and excitement, it’s a little infectious and entertaining. These are killers with a smile who enjoy what they do, it’s not so much about who they kill. There’s an art to it.

That joy and fun is drawn on the page by Piotr Kowalsi with color by Vladimir Popov and lettering by Joshua Reed. The comic’s art nails home the joy and fun of the chaos as things begin innocently enough and then spirals into carnage. The death and destruction is juxtaposed visually and within the story by a calm conversation by the lead investigator and the town’s creepy mother-like figure. How he doesn’t hear the screaming, gun shots, and more from the outside is unknown, but let’s roll with it and appreciate the humorous calamity that awaits him when he exits the house. The visuals have a certain glee about them that makes even the most twisted death somewhat humorous in its own way. It’s a visual symphony of murder.

Where Monsters Lie #2 really comes down to the idea of a clown with a flamethrower. If the insane concept doesn’t get you to smile and laugh a little, you’re probably not going to enjoy the comic. It’s out there in a good way and takes the 80s slasher concept to a whole new, and fun, level.

Story: Kyle Starks Art: Piotr Kowalski
Color: Vladimir Popov Letterer: Joshua Reed
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

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