Comics

5 Skull Review: “Dark Ages” #1

Published

7 years ago

August 13, 2014

“Dark Ages” #1 is phenomenal. I loved it, from the wordy start, to its juicy, action-packed center, all the way to its awe-inspiring finale.Don’t keep yourself in the dark ages, buy this book and let it light up your life. Now I’ve gotta write about 350 more words to complete this review, but they’re all about how superb and what an extraordinary treat this book is.

WRITTEN BY: Dan Abnett

ART BY: I.N.J Culbard

PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics

PRICE: $2.99

RELEASE: August 13, 2014

Reviewed By: Torbin Chimners

Dan Abnett, who you should all know of now in a post “Guardians of The Galaxy” world, writes “Dark Ages.” He’s one half of the writing team that brought us the Guardians we know today. Abnett is joined by I. N. J. Culbard who rocks the powerhouse of artist, letterer and cover artist, the two have collaborated in the past on “The New Deadwardians.”

The book picks up near the tail end of the Dark Ages. We follow a group of mercenaries led by the morally questionable Hawkherst. His inner thoughts narrate the opening pages, telling us of his thoughts on God and War. His perspective on the world around him is incredibly engrossing. The manner in which he speaks of war is very cavalier; he sees it as a means to support himself and his men.

War is when his kind prosper, kings and princes always want to wage war and he’s more than happy to take their coin. Him and his men think of God in an interesting and refreshing way. They don’t want to owe him anything, believing that praying for a miracle of God would then put them in his debt.

It has all the makings of a great swords and shields medieval adventure. It could have continued down that road and still been a great time but then something happens. Something extraordinary that has me beyond jazz’d for the future of “Dark Ages.” I dare not spoil it here but just know that this is a fundamentally different book at the end than it is at the start.

“Dark Ages” #1 wasn’t even on my radar when it was plopped on my lap to review. I would have probably passed it by in the comic store and never given it a second thought. That is not what the book deserves. It demands to be read and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to push it on everyone I know.

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Torbin Chimners AKA Torin Chambers is a rad dude from the nineties who does film stuff or something. Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite transformer. Find him on Twitter@Vulgar_Rhombus

Zac Thompson

1 Comment

Comics

David Dastmalchian’s ‘Count Crowley’ Comic To Make a Return in 2022

Published

1 week ago

December 23, 2021

Meagan Navarro

Actor David Dastmalchian‘s comic book mini-series Count Crowley is one big ole love letter to the days of the horror host, centered on the “reluctant midnight monster hunter” Jerri Bartman and her adventures as both horror host and monster slayer.

Lucky for us, Jerri is set to make her return this spring with a new comic.

THR reports that Count Crowley: Amateur Midnight Monster Hunter will arrive on March 23, 2022, from Dark Horse Comics. It sounds like Jerri’s received a monster hunting job promotion since the last comic’s Reluctant Midnight Monster Hunter, which our own Jason Jenkins called “one of the best damned comics currently haunting your local comic shop.”

“The 1980s-set series centers on Jerri Bartman, a once-rising TV journalist who moves back to her hometown in the Midwest after washing out of her career due to struggle with alcohol. After taking over as the host of a midnight monster show, she learns that monsters are real. Now she must take a crash course in monster hunting to protect those she loves from a vampire who is coming to town.”

“With no promise of more Crowleys, I still wrote Jerri’s story and took her further into her quest to defeat the ‘bad’ monsters while defending the ‘good’ ones,” says Dastmalchian. “Writing about her internal struggles, her family stresses, her battle to find her true, authentic, and actualized self all helped me navigate the strain of the lockdown and my depression throughout the pandemic.”

Fresh off his breakout role as Polka-Dot Man in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, Dastmalchian promised a more “stumbling, fumbling, courageous” monster hunter in Jerri’s upcoming adventures.