Comics
Review: ‘Grim Leaper’ #1
The tag line of Image Comics new series, Grim Leaper, is, “A love story to die for.” Needless to say that made me a little hesitant to open up to page 1, especially since the cover was slightly pink and features a dude with a black leather jacket and faux-hawk… But the “i” in “Grim” was dotted with a skull, not a heart, so I gave it a shot. Kurtis J. Wiebe offers something completely different from his normal bag of tricks, with some wild twists and turns throughout. “Grim Leaper” is a very different book, to say the least, and it’s shaping up to be quite the thrill ride.
WRITTEN BY: Kurtis J. Wiebe
ART BY: Aluiso Santos
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.50
Everyone remembers Chaz from Wedding Crashers? Will Ferrel’s character? Well the “Grim Leaper” starts off by paying homage to Chaz. The main character, who remains nameless for the time being, admits to going to thirteen funerals and attempting thirteen times to pick up women, but unfortunately for him, “It’s not like in the movies. They always say people want to feel alive when faced with their mortality. They meet a stranger and then f**k like rabbits. It’s bulls**t.”
Thankfully before I threw down the comic in disgust for being cliche and tasteless the narrator reveals that each funeral he has attended has been his own: he can’t die. This plot twist is immediately followed by proof of the fact the narrator can’t die, or let me rephrase: can die, does die, will die horribly, but each time comes back to life in a different body. This is really where the comic grabbed my attention. Firstly, there was a full page panel of a stray tire decapitating the narrator’s body #13 (maybe he will be luckier at funeral 14?), and secondly, he isn’t just plopped into another body. The narrator finds himself whirling through the cosmos to a hallway full of photographs. As he walks down this hallway towards the only exit with a single photograph hanging on it, he explains his “curse” of not being able to die, of “getting a second chance to… I dunno, do something.” As he says this the face on the photograph begins to morph into a giant monster and he is reborn while screaming, “F**king limboooo!” The beginning of the comic had me pretty concerned, but the cosmic death/rebirth scene was really well done, enough so that I will be reading the next issue.
The love part of the title happens at the end of the comic, where the narrator, whose name is Lou, meets a girl, Ella, who shares his curse. While he watches her narrowly avoid death, and saves her life once or twice, I began to think that this comic is based on the real life situation of two clumsy nerds falling in love and trying to bump uglies while all sorts of exaggerated shenanigans (like death) get in their way. Hopefully whatever the narrator is getting a second chance to do, won’t just be losing his virginity to his similarly cursed love interest after one of their funerals. While I cant decide if that would be hilarious or disturbing, I’m going to keep reading because I can’t see how a comic with this many graphic death scenes, and awesome cosmic death/rebirth via galactic monster scenes, could turn out to not have more awesome plot twists.
3.5/5 skullz
Reviewed by- TheSandMan
Comics
‘Curse of the Where Wolf’ Bites Into August Release With Trio of Werewolf Theatrical Screenings [Exclusive Preview]
Larry Chaney‘s hairy misadventures are continuing in the sequel graphic novel Curse of the Where Wolf from creative team Rob Saucedo, Debora Lancianese, and Jack Morelli, and its author is celebrating with a trio of horror’s greatest werewolf films.
The Curse of the Where Wolf hits shelves on August 7 from Encyclopocalypse Publications.
That coincides with the launch of a theatrical screening event in Houston, Texas, featuring a trio of seminal werewolf flicks turning 45 this year: The Howling on August 7, Wolfen on August 14, and An American Werewolf in London on August 21.
Each screening features a “werewolf in film” presentation as well as a book signing from Where Wolf author and River Oaks Theatre artistic director Rob Saucedo.
In the new graphic novel, “Being a werewolf sucks. Reporter Larry Chaney wanted to be a hero. Instead, he became a werewolf. Now, caught between incredible new powers and a desire to eat everything (and everyone) in sight, Larry must find a cure for his curse. Or die trying.”
“With Where Wolf, I wanted to tell a whodunit set in a furry convention, so the story was pretty contained within a very specific setting and genre. With Curse of the Where Wolf, I wanted to celebrate everything I love about the possibility of comic books. Curse of the Where Wolf is a funny book, in every sense of the phrase, but it’s also an earnest look at a person’s struggle to become a better version of themselves, especially when the alternative is to become a literal monster,” Saucedo says of Curse.
The original graphic novel was previously serialized as the first webcomic hosted on Fangoria before being collected by Encyclopocalypse Publications in 2023 and has already been optioned for film, podcast, and television development ahead of launch by producers James Fino (“The Freak Brothers” for Tubi, “Rick and Morty” for Adult Swim) and Charles Horak (First Date for Magnolia Pictures).
Expect Larry to find himself in even weirder situations in the 362-page full color sequel; Saucedo has provided Bloody Disgusting with exclusive art pages from the upcoming graphic novel that showcase lupine humor.
You must be logged in to post a comment.