New comic book Wednesday has come and gone. The dust at your local comic shop has settled. An eerie silence descends as you finish reading your last superhero book of the week. Now it's time for something a little more sinister. Welcome to Bagged and Boarded: comic reviews of the sick, spooky, twisted and terrifying!
Swamp Thing No. 23John Constantine, everyone's favorite Hellblazer, is drunk off a demonic brew of Scotch in England, and he's turned a whole town insane. Poor old Swampy, stuck in a jail cell and broken into lots of little pieces, has to find a way to tap into his natural world power source (known as The Green) to knock his friend Constantine back on track. But does he have enough strength in reserve?
Bag it or board it up? Marvel comics has vampires, mutants, monsters and Carnage (my favorite), but hot damn DC Comics sure keeps the horror fiend happy with Swamp Thing. An old standard of the weird horror genre, today's issue aren't quite as bizarre, but they still trod far off the beaten path. He may look shiny, but his plotlines are winding and weird… and that's why we love Swamp Thing.
Robocop: Last Stand No. 1Robocop is in hiding. Omni Consumer Products (OCI), the corporation that created Robocop, tries to hunt him down like a dog and put him out to robo-pasture. OCI cops now patrol the streets, having bought out and fully replaced Detroit's finest, and they are more disdainful and corrupt than ever before. Robocop, doing his best to serve vigilante justice, keeps them in check by striking out against them in small bursts.
Bag it or board it up? This is a gory, grimy, gritty comic full of blood, profanity, and nastiness. It feels just like the 1987 classic that started the franchise. This comic is based on Frank Miller's original storyline for Robocop 3 and it just oozes with attitude. Though based off of 3, the artwork and style so perfectly evoke the imagery of the original film it's uncanny. This may not be the same as seeing bone shards explode on the big screen, but still… I'd buy that for a dollar! (or, you know, for $3.99)
Abe Sapien No. 5Things are getting weird wherever Abe Sapien goes. The Aquatic one-time Hellboy sidekick now seems to be at the center of the cataclysm that has wracked the Earth and filled it with monsters from the deep. Or… maybe he's got nothing to do with it? He's worshipped by a group who see him as some sort of prophet or god, but he keeps turning his back on them.
Bag it or board it up? Reading all of these B.P.R.D.-related comics paint such a large, weird picture that it's hard to not look at the whole. But this singular comic is wonderful. And Abe Sapien, a character so often portrayed as prim and proper, has gotten in touch with his wild, animalistic side, and it's so refreshing to see him kicking ass and being tough and forward. Check it out, this is a new side of the Sapien.
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth No. 2A new 'Zilla has entered the arena (and by arena, I of course mean Earth) and is stomping all around Hawaii. Godzilla, the big dude himself, comes in to fight this outside monster and the ensuing fight is epic! Meanwhile a soldier and a student run for cover during this giant-sized brawl. There's not a ton of plot going on here, just big monsters biting each other.
Bag it or board it up? Over half of this issue is full of wordless artwork of Godzilla and his foe bashing each other's brains in. It's high-flying, dumb fun. This comic won't win any awards or change the way you think about Godzilla, but who cares. It's entertaining schlock and sometimes that's all you really need from a comic (sometimes, not always… not often).