Comics
[Comic Review] “Grindhouse Drive In, Bleed Out” #3 Dissapoints
Grindhouse’s second series, now titled ‘Grindhouse Drive In, Bleed Out’ started off quite strong with Slay Ride. A horrific twist on your good old fashioned yuletide tale, with a totally rad and original First Nations slant. For her next two-parter, ‘Blood Lagoon’ Alex De Campi is returning to the gruesome world of Deputy Garcia. She was the protagonist of ‘Bee Vixens from Mars’, De Campi’s first story in the first volume of Grindhouse. Garcia’s first adventure is still firmly ingrained in my mind and most likely will be forever. It’s exemplary of what grindhouse is all about; extreme violence, sex appeal and the utterly bizarre. Sadly, Blood Lagoon doesn’t live up to the high standards Grindhouse has already set.
WRITTEN BY: Alex De Campi
ART BY: Christopher Peterson
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: March 25, 2015
Blood Lagoon starts out promising enough, Garcia is set to accompany Wayne (one half of the gay couple from Bee Vixens from Mars) to visit his estranged father. Sergei (Wayne’s other half) sees them off and their journey begins. Wayne’s whole quest to give his father one last chance is interesting and something you don’t see all too often in comics, or any media for that matter. If anything it’s the solid foundation, the backbone of the story. It’s what keeps you engaged while the other aspects fall flat, such as the dull monsters.
Deputy Garcia and the ragtag crew she accumulates must face off against what looks like giant pubic lice, giant public that have crawled out of the Blood Lagoon. They basically amount to giant crabs with aardvark like tongues. After the glorious Bee Vixens these crabs come off pretty damn lame, they barely cause any carnage and come off as cartoonish more than horrific. I don’t want to be too harsh because this is only the first part and De Campi’s grindhouse tales always ramp way up in the second issue. Still, this is a poor opening threat and the tamest grindhouse issue to date.
While it is super rad to see Deputy Garcia on the page again it’s ultimately a disappointment. I could definitely see Blood Lagoon improving in part 2 but as it currently stands I cannot recommend it. I’d still recommend Grindhouse itself, outside of this one issue it’s all been fabulous. Even if Blood Lagoon turns out to be a dud it’ll be followed with an entirely new 2-part story that I’ll be wholeheartedly looking forward to, whatever it may be.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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