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Review: ‘Grindhouse: Doors Open At Midnight’ # 2

Published

10 years ago

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Wow just wow. Alex De Campi and Chris Peterson totally stick the landing to “Bee Vixens from Mars” in an incredibly paced issue loaded with fun, gore, and amazing dialogue. As you keep flipping the pages of ‘Grindhouse: Doors Open At Midnight’ your jaw will drop with just how well this team gets the appeal of old Grindhouse cinema. This is B movie horror at it’s best with almost non-stop action and a couple of surprises along the way.


WRITTEN BY: Alex De Campi
ART BY: Chris Peterson
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: November 6, 2013

It’s no secret that I enjoyed the first issue of “Bee Vixens from Mars.” Although a lot of it was pure set up; it was coupled with incredible dialogue and fantastic art. This month, all of that exposition is gone in favor of pure balls to the wall action. It’s a welcome addition to the book that goes over the top in all the right ways. There is nothing but fun to be had with this conclusion.

Making Garcia the secret protagonist all along was a wise choice. Jimmy was a fun man to follow, but in the end he felt like the same template hero we’ve seen on an adventure like this a thousand times before. Instead Garcia’s role is amped up significantly and her character is given some real moments to shine and Christ almighty she’s one helluva heroine. Just wait until she pops that shirt off.

Writer Alex De Campi understands the core appeal of grindhouse cinema: cheap laughs, over the top characters, gore, and stellar creatures. Every one of these elements is at play this month, and beautifully so. With each progressive beat De Campi makes sure to hit one of these pillars. Resulting in a near perfect pace for the conclusion of the story.

Chris Peterson’s art propels this book into the stratosphere. His depiction of the Bee Vixens remembers all the sexuality, but uses faces that are so menacing. The panel of a motorbike tumbling into the ground while severed heads move through the air in every direction is a thing of beauty. Peterson pushes it to the limit. The sheer amount of gore and brutality on display here would push any film’s budget through the ceiling. Like dear old Jimmy’s demise, my good god, what a fantastic display of disgusting creature effects. Those bee babies pouring from his mouth will travel with me in my psyche now and forever.

The final confrontation as depicted by Peterson is truly something to marvel at. De Campi finds a creative way for Garcia to eliminate the threat, and Peterson pulls it off with relative ease. The final pages remind you of everything that made this book great. The creative team sticks the landing with a collection of final panels that will disgust, excite, and make you laugh.

It’s admirable how good this second issue is. Really, the ability to communicate a story like this and not make it seem completely throwaway isn’t easy. De Campi and Peterson forget the typical confinements of the genre and leave them in the dust. They embrace Grindhouse to its fullest and pull off one of the most enjoyable comics I’ve read all year. I positively cannot wait to see what they do next.

Rating: 4.5/5 Skulls.

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Comics

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

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11 hours ago

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April 17, 2024

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Witchblade cover

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.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

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