Comics
Review: “The White Suits” # 2
Lethal and visceral “The White Suits” feels like a whisky soaked love letter to violent international crime movies. The pages flow with a certain strangeness that Toby Cypress seems to revel in. His style is all over the book. The use of loose paneling and fast scratchy coloring compliments Frank Barbiere’s fever dream of a narrative. It all comes together to create an engaging momentum that still doesn’t concern itself with making too much sense.
WRITTEN BY: Frank J Barbiere
ART BY: Toby Cypress
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: February 19th, 2014
Prizrak has clearly seen some shit. The White Suits have torn through his psyche, and surely he was once one of them. What our plucky FBI Agent, Sarah, hopes to get from him is anyone’s guess. Yet, the two push forward to take on the unstoppable force that is The White Suits.
The disjointed narrative and art style lend to the Prizrak’s plight. If that seems like a negative, it’s totally not. This is a book that seems to plunge itself into the depths of a broken man against insurmountable odds, who fears what he may have been. The mythical White Suits cut through the pages just like they do their enemies.
Cypress is a little more subdued than the debut issue. It helps to convey some forward momentum that the story needs. Outside of the action his wild style can rest on his fantastic character designs and helps the script push the exposition out while still remaining visually engaging.
The use of only black, white, and red really helps certain elements of his style pop. The darkness of this book speaks just as much as its white counterparts, and the hand drawn sound effects lend to a visceral and gritty feeling in the action scenes. There is something about the oblong character designs, with the long limbs, the extended angles and the hard backgrounds that is irresistible.
Things actually end up moving extremely quickly in the later half of the issue. Barbiere wastes no time attempting to payoff the plot points he sets up only pages ago, and he does so in a pulse pounding race to the final page. When you finally get to the end, you’ll feel like you hit a wall and were forced to stop dead. You’ll want to keep flipping but there is no more fun to be had this month.
There really isn’t anything quite like “The White Suits” out there today. It is wholly unique and reading it provides a dynamically different experience than most comics. It’s wild, sketchy, and completely untethered. Yet, its moved along with brisk dialogue and larger than life criminal violence that never lets you catch your breath. You’ll still be trying to piece it all together by the time the last page hits but the mysteries brought on by the bigger picture should have you coming back next month.
Rating: 4/5 Skulls
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.