Comics

[Comic Book Review] “Wild’s End” #1 Is Worth A Read.

Published

10 years ago

September 10, 2014

Wild’s End is the latest from Boom! Studios. Their solicit accurately compares it to popular movies, saying “fans of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg’s Cornetto Trilogy will fall in love.” It has the small-town-goes-horribly-wrong ethos of that series, and the Britishness-is-so-darling-and-quaint, and the things-are-not-as-they-seem, and the main-characters-unaware-of surroundings…

WRITTEN BY: Dan Abnett

ART BY: I.N.J Culbard

PUBLISHER: BOOM! Studios

PRICE: $2.99

RELEASE: September 10, 2014

Reviewed By: Katy Rex

In fact, Cornetto Trilogy fans will find this not only familiar, but nearly identical in tone and feel. The opening scene, in which two extremely British animals stumble around drunkenly, feels like it might have been an actual deleted scene from World’s End, while the town meeting could have been taken directly from Hot Fuzz. Through most of this first issue, the story felt a lot like déjà vu, and even the mysteries and unknowns felt familiar and predictable.

Although the story, from the overall arch to the individual scenes, felt very much like something I’d read/watched before, that didn’t detract from the enjoyability of the issue. This isn’t the series to pick up if you’re looking for the newest and most innovative thing that nobody has ever thought of, but it’s a fun romp. And although the end of the issue, again, is exactly what I expected (but I won’t spoil it further), it does give hope that maybe this could go in a variety of directions.

Since this is the first issue, it’s entirely possible that the creative team is playing with the reader’s expectations. Aside from the arch itself, the writing is extremely clever, with dialogue that manages to be dialectic without being overly precious, and names that feel exactly like what you’d expect (the fox is Fawkes, the town is Lower Crowchurch) in a small country town populated by animals in suits.

I.N.J.’s art is a perfect complement to both the Britishness and to the anthropomorphicness of this story, feeling not unlike a cartoon-style take on The Wind in the Willows. The colors are vibrant and clear, but just muted enough to feel a little old-fashioned, a little traditional, a little small-town and British and almost stodgy. This overall feels comfortable and nostalgic, allowing the reader to slip seamlessly into the story. The design and layout is easy to read, and lends itself well to the humor of the piece with a simple large panel layout and painstakingly stylized characters that are both easily distinguishable from one another and easy to interpret.

This isn’t a top new issue that you absolutely have to pick up or you’ll regret it, but it’s comfortable, enjoyable, and worth a read. And it certainly bears sticking with, at least for a few more issues, to see where it goes from here. Don’t forget to read the “letters” section in the back, which has been done in the style of an old fashioned small town newspaper, complete with advertisements for posture improvement and miracle pills.

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Katy Rex writes comics analysis at endoftheuniversecomics.com, comicsbulletin.com, and bloody-disgusting.com. She also writes scholarly articles for various academic journals. She really likes butt jokes, dinosaurs, and killing psychos and midgets in Borderlands 2. She has a great sense of humor if you’re not an asshole.

Twitter: @eotucomics

Tumblr: katy-rex.tumblr.com

Instagram: @katy_rex

Email: katy@endoftheuniversecomics.com

Zac Thompson

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Comics

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

Published

7 days 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.