Comics
Review: ’68: Scars’ #4
With nonstop zombie thrills, ’68: Scars #4 delivers on all the bloody goods for an epic finale. With an alternative take on history, the undead are everywhere in the vast shadows of the jungle. The horrors of the Vietnam War strike at you harder than ever in these blood-soaked pages.
WRITTEN BY: Mark Kidwell
ART BY: Nat Jones
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: February 6th, 2013
As the rising dead continue to multiply to incredibly huge numbers, American soldiers travel deep into the heart of darkness. With the war escalating and the number of fatalities rising, Vietnam has become an open doorway to Hell itself. In the never-ending jungle, soldiers are fighting for their survival against an unknown enemy. As the war against the undead continues, another battle is brewing back home. The zombie infestation is spreading wildly as government officials are cowardly leaving their posts. Soon there won’t be any home to come back to, as the zombie plague consumes the major populations.
In his narrative, Mark Kidwell explores what his damaged characters will do because of their mental and physical scars. Before he started the uprising, Dawes discovered a horrible truth that shattered his reality. Dawes discovered that while his men were sacrificing their lives, blue bloods were given a chance to escape. Anyone with a high-profile name and a rich bank account were escorted off Vietnam on a freedom plane. While everyone else is running away, Dawes and his crew are making their own plans to watch the world die.
One of the most surprising characters in the narrative is Kierney, who has a sick infatuation with violence. Because of his slim and weak figure, you wouldn’t expect Kierney to take down two large and muscular soldiers. But, Kierney is able to distract the two and whip out his pistol before they do. After he pulls the trigger, Kierney kicks the wounded soldiers straight into the flesh-eating zombie pit.
Nate Jones’ gritty artwork visually captures the scorching heat of the enormous Vietnam jungle. Readers can see the sweat running down the foreheads of the exhausted soldiers. What I really find interesting is when one of the soldiers mentions he was just sleeping. You can’t tell if nighttime has already passed because colorist Jay Fotos mixes brownish and yellowish tones in the background; it appears as if the sun never sets and the moon never rises.
Jones puts a lot of attention into the nasty design of the zombies. These zombies look like they just came out of the ground and are still deteriorating. Like the treatment of the soldiers, the jungle doesn’t take too kindly on the undead. Flies are buzzing around their sweaty foreheads, because their rotten flesh is being heated up by the sun’s rays.
A must-read, “’68: Scars” #4 concludes the story arc on a spectacular and explosive note. With such grim artwork, “’68: Scars” vividly depicts the unforgiving nature of war. Longtime fans will be anxiously awaiting for the next arc in the “’68” series, “Jungle Jim.”
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
Comics
‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics
Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.
Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.
In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”
The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”
Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”
“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.
Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”
Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.
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Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)
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Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover
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Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)
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Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)
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Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)
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Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)
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Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)
Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.
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