Comics
Review: “The Squidder” #1
An action-packed sci-fi thriller, ” The Squidder” #1 takes readers on a surreal journey into the alien apocalypse. The experimental artwork will keep readers glued to the impressive pages. If it’s butt-kicking action you crave “The Squidder” series will definitely fix that appetite of yours.
WRITTEN BY: Ben Templesmith
ART BY: Ben Templesmith
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: July 16, 2013
Reviewed By Jorge Solis
An innocent little girl is brought to the religious tent. The parents say nothing while an old, hagged woman places her sickly hands on their daughter’s forehead. This innocent child is frightened by the moving suckers on the elderly woman’s palm. Today is a special occasion because a sacrifice has been brought to the alien gods. Death is only the beginning as the Squids have invaded earth and have wiped out humanity.
In the opening pages, writer/artist Ben Templesmith takes readers to a vivid and weird futuristic setting. There are aspects of the western genre in the colorful imagery as Earth has become a nuclear wasteland. Because there is no more technology, notice how the light source always comes from torches. In just a few pages, Templesmith tells readers exactly what kind of hostile environment these characters are living in.
I really liked the character design of The Squidder. This lone anti-hero has a huge gun in one hand and a sword tied to his back. The sharp blade is also chained to his worn-out belt. I don’t know why the lone alien slayer would need chains, but all I can say is that it looks very stylish. The trench coat is drawn out long as if the loner is wearing a cape.
Templesmith keeps the readers inside the Squidder’s mindset through his bleak first-person narration. When you see the man’s face, notice how the side is scarred by self-inflicted battle wounds; as if he himself had stitched his wounds. Because there are no doctors and hospitals anymore, the exiled solider cannot rely on anyone else to help him.
The first installment has done a great job introducing the setting and main protagonist. I was surprised to see how much action Templesmith could fit into one panel. In a jaw-dropping scene, the Squidder approaches his target, while being shot at point-blank. In an extreme close-up, you will see someone’s eyes gouged out.
“The Squidder” #1 is an action-packed romp that never slows down. I definitely want to see happens next issue.
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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