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
‘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.
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