Comics

[Comic Review] “Curb Stomp” #4 Statisfies A Craving

Published

9 years ago

May 28, 2015

Reviewed by Taylor Hoffman // @taylorcheckers

The girls of The Fever gang have seen some real dark shit and their only chance at survival is to protect each other and their home, Old Beach. Curb Stomp is a series full of betrayal, kidnapping, and plenty of killing, and this final issue brings all the brutality to the forefront with vengeance in full swing. Curb Stomp feels like a smoking a cigarette; there’s a rush of endorphins pumping, dopamine fulfillment, billowing smoke everywhere. This final issue makes me crave for more, mostly because the ending wasn’t quite as satisfying as I expected.

Story by: Ryan Ferrier

Art by: Devaki Neogi

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Release Date: 5/27/15

Price: $3.99

Ryan Ferrier and Devaki Neogi build a world of neon that can’t be ignored and shines a light into an underworld that rages with fire reds and brimstone yellow. There isn’t time to play shows, skate, or have family dinners anymore for the gang. Each member of the Fever has their own battle to fight within the war and any attempt at cleaning up this turf war mess only has only made it worse, especially involving the shady exchanges between the corrupt mayor and the self-described King of the Wrath. Machete Betty’s inner dialogue to guides us through the final battles as she focuses on rescuing Sweet Pea while the riot police have been called into Old Beach.

Drugs, gentrification, and dirty politics threaten the residents as much as the internal gang relations, so at this point in the story, everyone is on high alert. Scenes between the police and the members of Old Beach are as disturbing as they are powerful. The story doesn’t delve deep enough into issues of race, class, and gender as much as I wished it had given all the opportunities there were intrinsic to the setting and main characters.

Neogi’s style on the series combines the feel of the Hernandez brothers, very Love & Rockets both in tone and linework. Jeremy Lawson’s coloring separates Curb Stomp from almost every other current comic, there’s something so appealing about the lack of backgrounds in most panels because it shifts such attention to the characters themselves where their faces are front and center in a neon haven for the eyes.

The color pallet is the most striking aspect of the art: Blue, purple, and green take up the sky and foreboding black bleeds into the harsh red. The coloring is integral to the storytelling, highlighting shifting of alliances and the turning of the turf. Overall, it’s gory, but with a dash of cartoonish style that balances out the outright viscera spilling through the panels. However, so much of the detail was lost in this last issue that it looked more like a rough draft in comparison to the rest of the series. There were many times that characters weren’t well defined enough to determine who they were and far too often faces seemed awkwardly frozen and inappropriate for the scene.

Overall, Curb Stomp is an excellent mini-series that satisfies a taste for sweet, sweet revenge.

Zac Thompson

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Comics

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

Published

6 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.