You know, I do love horror, and most of the horror I've read in comics has been at least ok, but people like Joe Monks and John Carpenter are two people I can trust to create great works. Joe is a friend, so note my bias, but I've enjoyed the work of John Carpenter, as a director of film, for a very long time. I was really moved meeting Joe and his wife Pam in 2009, in Florida, in August. That Joe, who is completely blind, is a director of a film, the Bunker, is more than reason to be impressed. That it was also good, is amazing. Joe has a statement of purpose or for use as a quote about his philosophy that I find amazing. "Blindness may take your sight, but it cannot steal your vision"
I was sent the entire contents of these works for review by the publishers in PDF from Storm King and via hard copy via Sight Unseen Pictures. However, I will note that there were no promises of positive results. With all that said, I tend to not feature or focus on works that I found to be less than good. I know the difference, but I think our society already focuses upon negative things, than to add to it.
Here is a selection of quality reading for the Horror Month and Halloween.
SICK 'N TWISTED
From Sight Unseen Pictures
Writer: Joe Monks
Artists: Andrew Mangum, Will Pleydon, Jason Moser and more
Should I review this without stating to start with, that this work would be immediately attacked by critics for content, due to it being an extreme or Hard R rated work, I'd be remiss. The fact is, it has an audience that must be limited by various ratings and concerns, but if you are an adult, an adult who likes horror, and is willing to cross over to read works that are very dark, this should fit perfectly into your taste realm. Gory Lori is a character Monks has presented before (and I'll discuss her more following this paragraph) and here she is in great danger as usual, and despite that, she seeks to kill zombies. It is a bloodbath of an extreme body count, and you can't leave the scene without knowing what the phrase blood and guts really means.
Jason Moser, who I've worked with often, illustrates a story set in New York city. Following a back page advertisement in a city paper, there are some buddies who are looking for what they consider to be a good time. However, what they are about to experience is something decidedly worse than horror. Perhaps they'll not only witness and participate in vile acts, but they will be the recipient of the same.
I can't compare this to anything else, it screams Joe Monks in concept, story and execution. But that's a good thing. I often find horror to be simply capricious and generous in gore, because it has no story, the gore itself is the focus. But in this work Monks tries to give us all a reason to hope to survive and an even greater reason to fear you will not. The art is professionally done and I think the marriage of the various artists with Monks worked very well. Just remember, you've been warned.
GORY LORI: Bullets, Babes & Bloodshed
Published by Chanting Monks Studios
Writer: Joseph Monks
Artists: Daniel Horne, Jeff Salisbury and Mike Koneful
America has been overrun by hordes of zombies, so, if you like stories featuring zombie outbreaks and survival wars you've come to the right place. With a wickedly fast pace, this work features, over 2 issues, a wildly violent, gory tale of survival, and asks if humans are any better than the monsters they fear. And since it is horror, the answer is likely no. Gory Lori rescues a young survivor, and the two of them have to make their way across the town and beyond. Forever watching for zombies and asshole human citizens, they realize, the world might be to corrupt to save. Beyond their fears and goal to slay the zombies, this is a gory work with a team of talent that does a wonderful job. Sadly I think there was only one more issue. But Monks should be forced to write a hundred more of these chapters, I wanted more.
John Carpenter's TALES FOR A HALLOWEENIGHT Volume 8
From Storm King Productions
Various talents
In my 20 years of reviewing I have often found anthologies to be a mixed bag, with most of the stories being ok, one being great, and some others less than ok. It wasn't the case here. The work is really good throughout, from the Tim Bradstreet cover, to the kinds of stories told, the writing and the art, this works as a complete volume. The use of themes that are mythic and ancient, their ideas about hell, the gods, and horror, it works in just about every possible way for me. My favorite story was Tartarus by John Carpenter, and the art is so good, it made me go back twice to the credits to see if it was John Bolton or Brian Bolland, it is seriously beautiful and tells a very dark tale, well worth having read it.
John Carpenter's NIGHT TERRORS
From Storm King Productions
Writer: Alec Worley
Artist: Trevor Denham
Imagine you are lost or have crashed your car. You are dealing with shock from the crash, and pain and confusion from the impact. You hear a disembodied voice, that keeps asking you for your location, if you need support, and if you can tell them what happened. Then you realize, it is an AI voice, and you've crashed, and you have no one here to actually comfort you, it is late, and no one is here to save you. Eventually you encounter a being who is not generated from Artificial Intelligence, and you are trying to determine what to do, only to realize, no one can save you now. In this tale, don't crash your car, or you'll regret it.
STORM KIDS PRESENTS: STANLEY AND THE FORGOTTEN FOREST
Story by Jeff Balke & Paul Storrie
Writer Paul Storrie
Art by Dave Alvarez
Although the name sounds like it is a work specifically for children, I thought it was funny, clever and well done. The art is beyond animation level good, it depicts everything it attempts with great vigor and success. I think the story found inside the pages is fun, and most children between 5-12 would adore it. It involves a gang of friends, who are animals, who are preparing for and are going out trick or treating. It features a few spooky beings, but overall, I think it is delightful and most offerings on the comic book store shelf would pale in comparison to it. And as I am someone who thought reading the comics I bought for my son, 16 years ago, as a chore, found this to be something most parents would be happy to read to or have their children read. It is great buy.
SENDING YOUR WORK FOR POSSIBLE REVIEW
I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I do accept and prefer hard copies, so if/when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address. If you send hard copies for review I will always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.
MY LINKS:
My Poetry blog with 5000+ poems: AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com
My published Work: AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html
An Amazon Author Page: Amazon.com/author/AlexNess
Cthulhu Based Horror: CthulhuDarkness.Blogspot.Com
Atlantis & Lost Worlds: AlexNessLostWorlds.Blogspot.Com
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