Comics

Review: ‘’68 Rule of War’ #1

Published

10 years ago

April 4, 2014

“’68 Rule of War,” the newest 4-issue installment in the “’68” comic book universe continues in the vein of Platoon and Night of the Living Dead with its wartime historical bent on zombies. Keeping it creepy, bloody, and all too real at times.

WRITTEN BY: Mark Kidwell
ART BY: Jeff Zornow 
COLOR BY: Jay Fotos
PUBLISHER: Image  Comics
PRICE: $3.99
 RELEASE: April 2, 2014

The comic starts off with a terrifying scene of experimental neuroscience mayhem as Doctor Than Morneau examines his latest patient—soldier turned undead killing machine—Lieutenant Rule. While this story in the “’68” series continues various plotlines from previous comics in the series such as the US soldiers in zombie/war-torn Saigon, it carves out a beastly niche of its own with the terrifying vibe of the Doctor.

The Doctor, though only appearing in a few pages, is the highlight of this issue. He is reminiscent of H.G. Wells’ Doctor Moreau in his questionable science and confusingly psychotic behavior. He succeeds in being a delightfully realistic and natural, albeit unnerving, character. Though the plotlines outside of the Doctor are interesting and achieve a decent set-up for the remainder of the series, it’s the Doctor who truly makes this issue shine as a strong horror piece.

This issue does what most first issues do: introduces our protagonist, villain, core conflict, goal for the series, and leaves on a killer cliff hanger. It could have been better, could have set up less stories and delved deeper into the main plot, but what it sets up is interesting so I’m not complaining. Plus, though not incredibly detailed, the secondary plotlines are high on gore and chaos, which is always a blast.

Jeff Zornow’s art (when it needs to be) is extremely expressive and creepy as hell, yet calm and unassuming when the story wants to rely on plot. The changes in artistic style compliment the tone of the story like all great art should. The undead are almost fun in their expressions and deteriorations. Zornow adds a fantastic dynamic to the undead that we don’t often see in comics…or really in any popular culture.

I’m excited to see where this new arc in the “’68” timeline takes us. The combination of a historical war atmosphere and the absurdity of zombies is entirely too creepy and the satanic Doctor Morneau hits high on the disturbing Richter scale.

4/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – Bree Ogden

Lonnie Nadler

1 Comment

Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

1 week ago

April 18, 2024

Meagan Navarro

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.