Comics I’ve Been Reading…

Last night I was sharing a room with my three year old daughter who, and lets be completely honest here, was snoring like someone a lot older and a lot heavier. Sleep wasn’t easy to come by then but that was ok; there was just enough battery on my phone to catch up on some comic book reading. While I love my phone for this, by the way, I wouldn’t mind something with a larger screen. Maybe it’s time for an iPad? I don’t know…

But anyway, last night was all about reading the latest batch of comics (well, the ones that I wanted to read…) from Dark Horse. I’ve said it before but I’m going to say it again, I love Dark Horse Comics. Not everything they offer hits the spot but a lot of my favourite books come from them and it never gets old being able to dive into one of their mini-series without having to worry about catching up on years of continuity. I’ll admit it, I’m just a lazy comic book reader who doesn’t want to have to work too hard when I’m reading :o) Enough of my confessions though, let’s have a look at some comics…

‘Clown Fatale’ #2 of 4 – Gischler/Rosenzweig

It’s really hard to add anything new to this when all my problems from last week still stand. Having said though, deaths by enraged gorilla and senile lion power things along rather nicely and make for a couple of eye-catching panels. I’m hoping that things make a little more sense, over the last two issues, but I’m too far into the series to jump out and you know what? I’m not sure that I want to now. With mad clowns shooting up stuff, maybe the story doesn’t really matter after all…

‘X’ #8 – Swierczynski/Nguyen

This is where the ‘Dogs of War’ storyline ends up with X doing what he does best; distinguishing between good and bad cops and dishing out punishment accordingly. This is another brutal offering from Swierczynski and Nguyen that offers not only lashings of violence from X (and he really does dish it out) but also tiny little insights into who X is. That gradually unfolding picture is what will have me coming back for more. Okay, that and the ultra-violence as well :o)

‘Star Wars’ #12 - Wood/D’Anda

While the last issue was all about space battles and double-double crossing, this issue is about tidying up loose ends and setting up things for the next chapter. As such, it doesn’t feel like an awful lot actually happens but D’Anda’s art makes it a really smooth read – even if nothing is actually happening (you can tell how I felt about this one can’t you?)

‘Conan: The People of the Black Circle’ #3 – Van Lente/Olivetti

I’ve come to this series quite late but am not too bothered as I’ve read both the original story and also come across it in ‘Savage Sword of Conan’ (I think). Van Lente does a fine job with the script although given what he has to work with that’s not too hard. I’d be more surprised if he hadn’t done a good job. When I’m already familiar with a story I tend to focus more on the artwork and Olivetti’s art not only captures ‘raw and primal Conan’ but also the savagery of the mountains and the otherworldliness of the Sorcerers. Olivetti’s art does it all in fact, nothing short of superb, and I think that’s why I’ll be back to read the final issue.

‘Eerie #4’ – Various

I’ve read a couple of the big ‘Eerie’ collections and wasn’t all that impressed. They just weren’t that scary at the end of the day… I saw Al Ewing’s name on the cover here though and thought I’d give this issue a go, I’m glad I did. While I don’t have the faintest idea of what ‘The Alien Plague’ was about (might have to give that another read) Ewing’s ‘Shadowplay’ had a vicious twist in the tale while Jolley’s ‘Invulnerable’ made up for a signposted ending with some suitably grotesque artwork from Norm Breyfogle. Be careful what you wish for indeed…