Comics
Review: ’68: Jungle Jim’ #3
Hard-hitting and unrelenting, ’68: Jungle Jim #3 unleashes a ton of bloody action upon its unsuspecting readers. Never boring, the narrative lays it on thick with a heavy dose of gore this month. If you’re a zombie fan, you will definitely get a kick out of the “’68” series.
WRITTEN BY: Mark Kidwell
ART BY: Jeff Zornow and Jay Fotos
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: June 5th, 2013
As the Vietnam War continues, the guilty and innocent are trapped in Hell with no chance of escape. With no adults around, a single schoolteacher must protect her students from the brutality of war. But, can she save the children while their village is being raided by an angry mob of guerillas? In the heart of the jungle, Jungle Jim carries an innocent orphan on his back. Never wanting to a parent, he now has to become a father figure to a grief-stricken little girl. How will Jungle Jim keep her alive while the tropical forest is overrun by zombies? And where the hell did that tiger run off too?
Writer Mark Kidwell vividly portrays characters who are feeling the pressure of jungle fever and the close proximity of death. As an entire village is ravaged by gunfire, the schoolteacher turns to religion to understand the horrors of war. Jungle Jim presents two sides of his personality when he wears and removes his gas mask. With the mask on, Jungle Jim is brutal and unforgiving as he pulls the trigger. His only mission is to bring death and never look back. But when his mask is off, Jungle Jim is compassionate towards the orphan and invests time in understanding her language.
The zombies, who were mindless and scattered before, are now following a leader. In his search for a fallen soldier, Jungle Jim never expected to find his comrade leading a horde of zombies. During his introduction, the infected solider is holding a zombie’s head as if it were a rifle. The undead solider throws the zombie’s head, like a knife, to kill his enemy. I’m definitely interested in seeing where Kidwell takes this bizarre action down the road.
Jeff Zornow’s grungy artwork visually captures the intensity of the jungle’s madness. When the school is attacked by the guerillas, the teacher ends up being tortured by them. The guerillas want to feed the teacher to their zombies. As she screams for her life, they shove her face near the zombie’s mouth. In an extreme close-up, Zornow illustrates the zombie licking the teacher’s cheek with his rotten tongue.
Whenever Jungle Jim hits the page, Zornow lets loose on the gore. In the very first panel, while Jungle Jim is swinging his bloody machete, there is still an eyeball attached to it. The tiger has a mouthful of zombie intestines as it snarls loudly at Jungle Jim. In an impressive panel, Zornow focuses on the serpent eating a rat in the foreground, while Jungle Jim and the orphan are leaving in the background.
“’68: Jungle Jim” #3 is such an entertaining visual experience that doesn’t disappoint. The “Jungle Jim” mini-series is about to reach its last issue. I can’t wait to see what happens in the conclusion.
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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