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[Comic Review] “The Fly Outbreak” #2 Feels Empty

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9 years ago

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“The Fly: Outbreak” #2 takes us through the first 17 days of quarantine after everyone is exposed to the “disease” during Bartok’s escape.  Martin sits in solitary secretly video chatting with Beth while tension grow among the quarantined.  The disease is spreading fast and it affects the mind in really scary ways.  The looming creepiness of Cronenberg’s films is invoked in this slightly stretched and overly sexual issue.

STK669253

WRITTEN BY: Brandon Seifert

ART BY: Menton3

PUBLISHER: IDW

PRICE: $3.99

RELEASE: April 22, 2015

Martin describes the stages of transformation in great detail as the disease begins to take hold within the quarantine.  The visuals paired with his explanation are a welcome plot device, but the symptoms and effects of stage one alone were so many that by the end it’s impossible to keep it all straight.  Then Noelani breaks it down pretty succinctly: exposure turns you into a paranoid, aggressive, horny, super human.  As more people begin to exhibit symptoms Martin expresses his feelings of responsibility for them.  His motivation and sense of desperation are hardly overwhelming. The book struggles to convey anything in subtext. The events in this issue could have happened in half the pages without losing anything at all, and the pacing is laborious.

Menton3’s style commands admiration. Even his work in the first issue is incredible, but somehow on these pages his work looks lifeless. Every person in the book is stiff like early PC character models.  The frame where the man hurls the table and the red headed woman are especially plastic and look like bad video games.  The art is at its best when Menton3 is using extreme contrast to silhouette the characters, thankfully thats most of the book.  There’s really not a lot to love with the visual style.

Speaking of love, the series is shoving sex down the throats of its readers in a way that seems pointless.  If the kink in issue one didn’t give you a clue wait until you see that weird ass shot, bareback boning, giant dildo, and constant fuck talk this issue shoe horns in.  It isn’t sexy, it doesn’t feel authentic, and it certainly doesn’t create any kind of juxtaposition to seem like its making a point.  It just seems forced to channel this Cronenbergian idea of sexuality, but fails to do so. Cronenberg is about subtextual attraction to abnormality, through the connective tissue of what makes inanimate objects more human, and how the human body can defy the human mind. It seems that Brandon Seifert doesn’t understand any of this.

This is the book no one asked for, and even those open to being convinced still probably won’t be.  Your $4 can be better spent elsewhere.  Diehard fans likely won’t be disgusted with this sequel. (In fact please let me know if there are any die hard Cronenberg fans out there digging this book)  There is simply a lot out there with a lot more quality.  Avoid this, if you want strange, try “Intersect” by Ray Fawkes

 

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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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1 day ago

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April 18, 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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