Comics Review: RADIANT BLACK #6

RADIANT BLACK #6
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Kyle Higgins and Cherish Chen
ART: Darko Lafuente
COLORS: Miguel Muerto
LETTERS: Becca Carey
EDITOR/DESIGNER: Michael Busuttil
COVER: Darko Lafuente with Miguel Muerto
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Kira Okamotop; Doaly
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (July 2021)

Rated “T+/Teen Plus”

“Red”

Radiant Black is a superhero comic book series from writer Kyle Higgins and artist Marcelo Costa.  The series focuses on a failed writer who discovers a cosmic force that changes his life.  Letterer Becca Carey and designer Michael Busuttil complete the series' creative team.

Radiant Black introduces Nathan Burnett, who just turned thirty-years-old, and things are not going great.  A failed writer (thus far), Nathan leaves Los Angeles and returns home to Lockport, Illinois to live with his parents.  A night on the town with his old pal, Marshall, leads to Nathan unlocking an alien artifact, “Radiant Black,” that changes his life.  This new thing seems totally unique, but there is more to it than Nathan can imagine, so very much more.

Radiant Black #6 (“Red”) answers the question:  who is Radiant Red?

THE LOWDOWN:  I enjoyed reading Radiant Black #1 and the subsequent issues for their own sake.  However, I was initially only interested in the series because I read (on the Internet) that it might be the first entry in a new “shared universe” of superhero titles from Image Comics.

The fourth and fifth issues were so crazy … and you, dear readers, want more Radiant Black reviews.  So... Radiant Black #6 offers another shocker, but in a quiet way.  It is an origin story and, in a manner, an explanation story.  I won't provide spoilers, but you, dear readers, will be satisfied

The guest art team of illustrator Darko Lafuente and colorist Miguel Muerto is good, not great, but they are acceptable in the context of what has come before this issue.  The storytelling is good, so that is all that matters.  And that is why I am excited about what comes next.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans looking for something new with a touch of classic in a superhero comic book will want to try Radiant Black.

A

[This issue includes an additional story, “The Unleashed: Echoes of Sorrow, Part II” by Melissa Flores; Eleonora Carlini with Elisabetta D'Amica; Mattia Iacono; and LetterSquids.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Fantagraphics to Release Simon Hanselmann's "Crisis Zone" in a Hardcover Book

Simon Hanselmann’s Hilarious Eisner Award-Winning Pandemic Webcomic CRISIS ZONE To Be Published by Fantagraphics in August

The Unabridged and Uncensored Publication Includes 500 Additional Panels and Extensive “Director’s Commentary” from Hanselmann

SEATTLE, WA - In March 2020, as the planet began to enter lockdown, acclaimed cartoonist Simon Hanselmann decided that what the world needed most was free, easily accessible entertainment — so he set out to make the greatest webcomic ever created! The result is also certain to be one of the most acclaimed and eagerly anticipated graphic novels of 2021: CRISIS ZONE, coming from Fantagraphics this August.

Set in the colorful NSFW world of the bestselling Megg, Mogg and Owl series, CRISIS ZONE was born amidst the uncertainty of the Covid-19 crisis. As the pandemic continued to escalate far beyond any reasonable expectations, CRISIS ZONE escalated right along with it — in real time, with daily posts on Instagram. Its battle mission was to amuse the masses: after all, no matter how horrible and bleak everything seemed, at least Werewolf Jones wasn’t in your house! Over the course of 2020, CRISIS ZONE amassed unprecedented amounts of new fans to the Megg and Mogg universe and is presented here unabridged and uncensored, with a slew of added pages and scenes deleted from the webcomic, as well as an extensive “Director’s Commentary” from Hanselmann himself.

Watch Megg attempt to bury herself in a digital world of escapism! See Mogg fall down the rabbit hole of paranoia and conspiracy theories! Experience Owl's metamorphosis from timid and uptight worrywort to a no-holds-barred, asskicking leader and back again! Witness Werewolf Jones's journey from reluctant erotic performer, to viral TikTok stardom, to Netflix sensation! Bouncing rapidly between comedy, horror, action, and relational soap-operatics, CRISIS ZONE refuses to take the pedal off the gas as we all hurtle towards unknown destinations.

"Crisis Zone is (I'm told) the ultimate piece of pandemic art,” said Hanselmann. “You won't find a better record of what went down in 2020. Nominated for the Harvey Award and Cartoonist Studio Prize and winner of the Eisner Award for best webcomic. Snubbed by the Pulitzer. Clowns! Big mistake!"

Fantagraphics will publish the hilarious, off-the-wall comic on August 17, 2021.

CRISIS ZONE is available for pre-order now via Fantagraphics: fantagraphics.com/crisis-zone

Crisis Zone by Simon Hanselmann
$29.99 • August 2021 • ISBN: 9781683964445
292 pages • Full Color • 8.5” x 11.1”


For more info, follow:

About Simon Hanselmann:
Simon Hanselmann's New York Times Best-Selling Megg, Mogg and Owl series has been translated into thirteen languages, nominated for multiple Ignatz and Eisner awards, and won Best Series at the Angouleme International Comics Festival in 2018. He currently lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife and daughter.

About Fantagraphics:
For over 45 years, Fantagraphics has published the very best comics and graphic novels that the medium has to offer. Our mission is to celebrate great cartooning in all of its incarnations, from the form’s early luminaries to contemporary artists currently forging the future of visual storytelling. Not content to rest on our laurels and extensive roster of talented artists, we constantly seek out fresh voices from across the globe. Thus, we honor the rich history of comics while providing a platform for bold new stories, styles, and perspectives that push the boundaries of the medium. Fantagraphics remains peerless in our commitment to be the publisher of the world's greatest cartoonists.

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Comics Review: "ELVIRA MEETS VINCENT PRICE #1" is Simply a Delight

ELVIRA MEETS VINCENT PRICE #1
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: David Avallone
ART: Juan Samu
COLORS: Walter Pereya
LETTERS: Taylor Esposito with Elizabeth Sharland
EDITOR: Joseph Rybandt
COVER: Dave Acosta
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Dave Acosta; Juan Samu; John Royle
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2021)

Rated Teen+

Chapter One: “The Price is Right!”

In 1981, actress and model Cassandra Peterson created the “horror hostess character,” known as “Elvira.”  Elvira gradually grew in popularity and eventually became a brand name.  As Elvira, Peterson endorsed many products and became a pitch-woman, appearing in numerous television commercials throughout the 1980s.

Elvira also appeared in comic books, beginning in 1986 with the short-lived series from DC Comics, Elvira's House of Mystery, which ran for eleven issues and one special issue (1987).  Eclipse Comics and Claypool Comics began the long-running Elvira: Mistress of the Dark from 1993 to 2007.  In 2018, Elvira returned to comic books via Dynamite Entertainment in the four-issue comic book miniseries, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, that actually ran for 12 issues.

Vincent Price (1911–1993) was an American actor and a legendary movie star.  Price was and still is best known for his performances in horror films, although his career spanned other genres.  Price appeared in more than 100 films, but he also performed on television, the stage, and on radio.  Thus, he has two stars on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame,” one for motion pictures and one for television.

Elvira and Vincent Price team up for the first time in the comic book miniseries, Elvira Meets Vincent Price.  The series is written by David Avallone; drawn by Juan Samu; colored by Walter Pereyra; and lettered by Taylor Esposito with Elizabeth Sharland.  The series finds Elvira and Vincent searching for a long-lost movie in order to save the world.

Elvira Meets Vincent Price #1 opens after the events depicted in Elvira: The Omega Ma'am.  [This is a Kickstarter comic book that shipped to campaign supporters the first quarter of this year.]  Elvira and her writing partner, Eddie Mezzogiorno, are in the offices of a powerful streaming service.  The duo is (desperately) pitching ideas for new “Elvira” television series with no luck.  In fact, things have been a bit dark of late for the “Mistress of the Dark,” with the possibility of darker still to come.

After a night of drinking, Elvira experiences an intense dream-vision in which her “favorite all-time movie star” – living or dead – appears.  It's the late, but still great Vincent Price!  He needs Elvira's help to find a lost movie of his, but this match made in cinematic-Hades seems to have the forces of darkness aligned against them.

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been a fan of writer David Avallone's Elvira comic books for a few years now.  When Avallone is teamed with artist Dave Acosta, they deliver hugely-entertaining Elvira comic books; they are the “Misters of the Dark.”

For Elvira Meets Vincent Price, Avallone teams up with talented Spanish artist, Juan Samu, who has drawn Marvel Action Black Panther and Transformers comics for IDW Publishing.  Here, Samu's layouts and page designs deftly capture the wild mood swings of this first issue – from the banality of office spaces to the mirthful macabre of Elvira's dwellings and from the fever dreamscapes of Elvira to the crusty outback of the California film making industry.  Samu is also a man of a thousand facial expressions, as he is always conveying different character tempers and humors, panel per panel.  Walter Pereya's colors add a quality to the storytelling that is both lurid and dreamlike.

David Avallone's script is filled with sparkling and witty dialogue, the kind of which DC Comics' Harley Quinn comic books so desperately need.  Reading Avallone's dialogue for Vincent Price certainly made my imagination believe that Price was actually speaking.  The interplay of bold and plain text in the lettering by Taylor Esposito and Elizabeth Sharland balances the need for the script to be funny, and it also advances a plot.

So I encourage everyone looking for (really) funny macabre comedy to purchase and read Elvira Meets Vincent Price #1.  I want a sequel to this series, already.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Elvira and of Vincent Price and of David Avallone's Elvira comic books will want to read Elvira Meets Vincent Price.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Comics Review: VAMPIRELLA (Vol. 5) #22

VAMPIRELLA VOLUME 5 #22
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Christopher Priest
ART: Ergün Gündüz with Marcelo Borstelmann (Prologue)
COLORS: Mohan
LETTERS: Willie Schubert
EDITOR: Matt Idelson
COVER: Lucio Parrillo
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Marco Mastrazzo; Shannon Maer; Ergün Gündüz; RB White, Roberto Castro; Lucio Parrillo; Lorraine (cosplay)
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2021)

Rated Teen+

“The Red Mass” Book 1: “The Bride”

Vampirella is a vampire and female superhero created by the late author and science fiction and horror expert, Forrest J Ackerman, and designed by comic book artist, Trina Robbins.  Vampirella first appeared in Vampirella #1 (Sept. 1969), the debut issue of a black and white horror comics magazine from Warren Publishing.  Writer-editor Archie Goodwin changed the character from a hostess of horror comics to a leading character in her own stories.

Vampirella publications were published by Warren into 1983, and after Warren's bankruptcy, Harris Publications obtained the character and published new and reprint Vampirella comic books into the mid-1990s.  In 2010, Dynamite Entertainment obtained the character and has been publishing new Vampirella material since then.

Dynamite's flagship Vampirella comic book series, simply entitled Vampirella, is now in its fifth volume.  Vampirella Volume 5 is written by Christopher Priest; drawn by Ergun Gunduz; colored by Mohan; and lettered by Willie Schubert.  The series focuses on a reborn Vampirella who fights the forces of chaos to save humanity.

Vampirella Volume 5 #22 (“The Bride”) opens with a prologue drawn by Marcelo Borstelmann.  Count Vlad Drachul gets taken down by Cadiratra, his ex-wife and the first of “The Six” (ruling council of “Lumea Următoare”).

Then, our dark heroine, Vampirella, is finally home from her Interstellar journey … just in time to be pursued through the cosmic Gateway by the enigmatic vampire-murdering Shane.  He is following a twisted agenda all his own to seek out the oldest and deadliest of the undead and set in motion events which will change Vampirella forever.

THE LOWDOWN:  Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department recently began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Vampirella Volume 5 #22.  It is not only the first issue of this series that I have read, but it is also only the third Vampirella or related comic book that I have ever read.

What can I say?  I am intrigued, especially because I am a fan of writer Christopher Priest.  However, I like Ergun Gunduz's high-energy graphical storytelling and spry layouts.  Combined with Mohan's colors, the art just pops off the page.  And with a villain like Shane in the mix, I'm ready to come back for more, although I feeling my way around this series.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Vampirella comics will want to read Vampirella Volume 5.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

---------------------

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BOOM! Studios Shipping from Diamond Distributors for August 4, 2021

BOOM! STUDIOS

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Dark Horse Comics Shipping from Diamond Distributors for August 4, 2021

DARK HORSE COMICS

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Dynamite Entertainment Shipping from Diamond Distributors for August 4, 2021

DYNAMITE

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