A Hillbilly, a Puritan Adventurer, the X-Men and a bunch of Xenomorphs walk into a bar…
Well, they should have done but they didn’t; I just really (really) wanted to use that as the title for todays post :o) Sorry, it’s been one of those weeks, not the worst week ever but far from a favourite. Oh well, it’s over and done with now.
Anyway… A week like that normally involves me heading to Forbidden Planet at some point, just to try and dull the pain a little. That’s what I did yesterday, here are some quick thoughts on a couple of comics that I picked up (and one that I should have posted about earlier but… didn’t)
‘Hillbilly: The Treason of Twelve-Toe Maggie #1’ – Eric Powell (Dark Horse Comics/Albatross Funnybooks)
It has been an absolute age since I’ve read any ‘Hillbilly’ (or anything by Eric Powell for that matter) so it was kind of nice to see ‘Hillbilly’ on the shelf and remember that Powell is still out there, doing his thing. And ‘The Treason of Twelve-Toe Maggie’ is only three issues long so of course I had to take it home for a read.
I’ll be honest, I’m going to have to go back to my collected trades and figure out who is who again. Rondel makes a big thing out of meeting Leon again but I have no idea why. And what was the ‘War of Witches’ (apart from the obvious)? It’s not a huge deal though as Powell very kindly gives the likes of me a few pages to get caught up with Rondel’s back story. Cheers mate, I needed that ;o)
There was plenty here to keep me occupied in the meantime though. Most of the fun lay in getting reacquainted with Powell’s dreamlike (and definitely haunting). There’s humour here but also a hint of shadow that really lets you know where you are, and to beware…
As you’d expect, there is a lot of ‘set up’ here but the cliffhanger ending is worth the price of entry. I would have been back, for #2, anyway but now I really need to see what Rondel does next.
‘Solomon Kane: The Lion Errant #1’ – Patrick Zircher (Titan Comics, Heroic Signatures)
Seeking to avoid slavers on the African Coast, Solomon Kane jumps on the first ship, leaving harbour, and finds himself in the middle of political scheming, and empire building, in India. Kane is not there by chance though; a higher power has work for him to do…
A couple of days too late for ‘Cimmerian September’, dammit… Anyway :o)
‘The Lion Errant’ leaned a little too heavily into the ‘setting things up’, to be really interesting, that’s probably on me though as someone who’s not too keen on the historical side of things. There are nice little hints of the unknown/dark magic though and that was enough for me.
I’d probably stick with ‘Conan’, if I had to make the choice (and if I don’t find a job, that might just happen…), but ‘The Lion Errant’ made for a nice change of pace. Zircher clearly ‘knows his Solomon Kane’ and backs that knowledge up with some really detailed artwork that brings the backdrop to life. Especially when the lion and the crocodile square off…
‘Alien vs. X-Men #1’ – Gillen, Claremont, Borges, Dalhouse, Messina, Beredo (Marvel)
Have you ever wondered what would happen if an Alien Facehugger laid an egg in one of the X-Men? Wolverine for example? Or maybe Emma Frost? To be honest, that question had never occurred to me… At least not until I saw this comic on the shelf, then it was at the forefront of my mind and I had to read it.
Gillen and Claremont present us with a pretty chilling opening to a tale that I really hope will continue in the same (acid-filled) vein. The X-Men haven’t got a clue what they’re up against and Gillen isn’t afraid to have a few mutants take a fall as a result (heavy hitters as well). And the implications of this confrontation are not shied away from either, thanks to Borges artwork.
I’m not sure if there is a connection, or not, between Gillen and Claremont’s tales, I don’t think so but…
Either way… It has been ages since I last read an ‘X-Men’ title; ‘AvX’ might be the title that pulls me back in, at least for a little bit.
Anyway… A week like that normally involves me heading to Forbidden Planet at some point, just to try and dull the pain a little. That’s what I did yesterday, here are some quick thoughts on a couple of comics that I picked up (and one that I should have posted about earlier but… didn’t)
‘Hillbilly: The Treason of Twelve-Toe Maggie #1’ – Eric Powell (Dark Horse Comics/Albatross Funnybooks)
It has been an absolute age since I’ve read any ‘Hillbilly’ (or anything by Eric Powell for that matter) so it was kind of nice to see ‘Hillbilly’ on the shelf and remember that Powell is still out there, doing his thing. And ‘The Treason of Twelve-Toe Maggie’ is only three issues long so of course I had to take it home for a read.
I’ll be honest, I’m going to have to go back to my collected trades and figure out who is who again. Rondel makes a big thing out of meeting Leon again but I have no idea why. And what was the ‘War of Witches’ (apart from the obvious)? It’s not a huge deal though as Powell very kindly gives the likes of me a few pages to get caught up with Rondel’s back story. Cheers mate, I needed that ;o)
There was plenty here to keep me occupied in the meantime though. Most of the fun lay in getting reacquainted with Powell’s dreamlike (and definitely haunting). There’s humour here but also a hint of shadow that really lets you know where you are, and to beware…
As you’d expect, there is a lot of ‘set up’ here but the cliffhanger ending is worth the price of entry. I would have been back, for #2, anyway but now I really need to see what Rondel does next.
Seeking to avoid slavers on the African Coast, Solomon Kane jumps on the first ship, leaving harbour, and finds himself in the middle of political scheming, and empire building, in India. Kane is not there by chance though; a higher power has work for him to do…
A couple of days too late for ‘Cimmerian September’, dammit… Anyway :o)
‘The Lion Errant’ leaned a little too heavily into the ‘setting things up’, to be really interesting, that’s probably on me though as someone who’s not too keen on the historical side of things. There are nice little hints of the unknown/dark magic though and that was enough for me.
I’d probably stick with ‘Conan’, if I had to make the choice (and if I don’t find a job, that might just happen…), but ‘The Lion Errant’ made for a nice change of pace. Zircher clearly ‘knows his Solomon Kane’ and backs that knowledge up with some really detailed artwork that brings the backdrop to life. Especially when the lion and the crocodile square off…
‘Alien vs. X-Men #1’ – Gillen, Claremont, Borges, Dalhouse, Messina, Beredo (Marvel)
Have you ever wondered what would happen if an Alien Facehugger laid an egg in one of the X-Men? Wolverine for example? Or maybe Emma Frost? To be honest, that question had never occurred to me… At least not until I saw this comic on the shelf, then it was at the forefront of my mind and I had to read it.
Gillen and Claremont present us with a pretty chilling opening to a tale that I really hope will continue in the same (acid-filled) vein. The X-Men haven’t got a clue what they’re up against and Gillen isn’t afraid to have a few mutants take a fall as a result (heavy hitters as well). And the implications of this confrontation are not shied away from either, thanks to Borges artwork.
I’m not sure if there is a connection, or not, between Gillen and Claremont’s tales, I don’t think so but…
Either way… It has been ages since I last read an ‘X-Men’ title; ‘AvX’ might be the title that pulls me back in, at least for a little bit.
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