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!
Criminal Macabre / 30 Days Of Night: Final Night No. 2
The epic horror comic crossover event of the winter speeds forward as the hero-turned-vampire Eben continues to gather an army of bloodsuckers in L.A. Cal McDonald, the investigator and undead aficionado of Macabre, attempts to track down Eben but he may be too late. And we finally get to see everything a Ghoul can do when he's really pissed off.
Bag it or board it up? This issue is full of so much action and gore that I can't help but be a fan. The story keeps moving succinctly and at a nice clip (which is something I feel the straight up 30 Days monthly is suffering from a lack of right now). Almost every page has some ghastly scene or grisly fight on it which really keeps the pages turning.
Emily and the Strangers No. 1
Emily Strange is fresh out of ideas. She's bored, and the grim girl wants to fill her days with something constructive. Her time machine is on the fritz, her theory on a way to make the whole world blue isn't turning out right, and her cats are driving her crazy. When a radio DJ is looking for new songs, Emily’s wheels start turning.
Bag it or board it up? Oh man, when was the last time you read an Emily Strange comic? This is good old fashioned Strange. Full of black cats, snarky attitude, and drab dress, Emily is back and better than ever. I'm a big fan. This is a fun, cute, all-ages story for the little goth in your life.
The Darkness No. 110
In a world created out of nothingness, the balance of light and dark is finally teetering over to the dark side. An ancient tentacle monster, an evil doppelgänger, and a powerful title girl are all swaying over to the grim and dreary, and all hope is looking pretty damned lost.
Bag it or board it up? I can't stand a lot of fluff in my comics. Creator interviews are nice, but spare me your pages of short fiction and your black and white illustrations of a comic I just read. Please. Of this 36 page comic, 16 pages are ads, previews of upcoming comics, and fiction. Maybe if I really loved the series I could get down with this, but if you're going to throw in all this extra stuff at least give me a square 24 pages of the comic I bought. That being said, eh, this is a pretty good issue - if a little confusing to walk into the middle of.
Evil Ernie No. 4
Pandemonium ratchets up to an even higher degree at the prison as Ernie continues his demonic quest to smite all evil. Blood and guts fly as all the cells on death row get unlocked and all the most dangerous criminals are out for Ernie. But another force is out to stop the demon kid, and it too is growing in number and power.
Bag it or board it up? The goriness and camp factor are at an all time high this issue. If you like your decimation sprinkled with one-liners you'll love this issue. The action is amped up and the stakes have been raised again. Now, soapbox time: I can't fully get behind a comic with a lot of violence towards women in it (even if it is part of the story), as there's a female doctor who keeps getting punched and struck by a male psychopath (not Ernie). This isn't woman-as-monster being fought. This isn't Super Girl duking it out with Wonder Woman. This is a doctor getting hit repeatedly with the butt of a gun. Maybe I'm overly sensitive for not wanting to see this in a comic (or anywhere, for that matter.) But like I parenthetically stated, it's a part of the establishment of the story, for what that's worth. It just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.