Z-View: Rasputin #1 by Grecian & Rossmo

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Rasputin is an on-going series created by Alex Grecian & Riley Rossmo published by Image.

Writer: Alex Grecian

Artist: Riley Rossmo

Colorist: Ivan Plascencia

Letterer: Thomas Mauer

DRACULA AT DOWNTON ABBEY! In one night Rasputin was poisoned, beaten, stabbed, shot in the head, drowned, then tied up and thrown in a frozen river. It was really bad timing. His beard was just coming in nicely. New York Times bestselling author ALEX GRECIAN and fan favorite artist RILEY ROSSMO reunite for the first time since their critically acclaimed series PROOF!

*** Beware – spoilers may be found below ***

The Good

  • Riley Rossmo’s storytelling and art.
  • The set-up that Rasputin can bring back the dead — and the payoff.
  • The fight between Rasputin’s father and a wild bear.
  • Alex Grecian’s essay about why he wanted to make a comic about Rasputin and the comments Rossmo, Pascencia and Mauer.

The Bad:

  • Rasputin’s father.
  • Rasputin’s future.
  • Siberian winters.

The Ugly:

  • Rasputin’s father’s disposition.

 

I enjoyed Rasputin and look forward to future issues.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Z-View: The Big Ugly

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The Big Ugly  by Jake Hinkson.

 

Ellie Bennett is an ex-corrections officer who has just served a year inside Eastgate Penitentiary for assaulting a prisoner. She’s only been out for a day when she accepts a strange job offer from the head of a Christian political advocacy group. He wants her to track down a missing ex-con named Alexis. Although no one knows where Alexis has gone, it seems like everyone in Arkansas is looking for her—from a rich televangelist running for Congress to the governor’s dirty tricks man. When Bennett finds the troubled young woman, she has to decide whether to hand her over to the highest bidder or help her escape from the most powerful men in the state.

Jake Hinkson writes noir… but always with a twist from expected conventions.  In  The Big Ugly our protagonist is a wrongly-convicted, tough ex-con who becomes a private-eye of sorts.  No twist there, right?  Oh, did I mention that our “hero” is a woman?

Ellie Bennett is a tough-talking, rough broad who is all woman.  Ellie finds herself dealing with two-competing factions who want to “silence” Alexis – the woman Ellie has been paid to find.  If Ellie refuses to cooperate she’ll end up back in prison at best and at worst in an unmarked grave with Alexis.

Ellie is in way over her head.  Either Ellie cooperates and still ends up with one of the competing factions after her or she refuses and has both groups after her.  Perhaps there is a third option…

The Big Ugly is for mature audiences due to mature language, sex and violence.

Rating: 4 out of 5 

Z-View: “A Simple Plan”

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The Tagline:  “Sometimes good people do evil things..“

The Overview:   *** Beware –  spoilers are found below ***

Hank [Bill Paxton] and Sarah [Bridget Fonda] are living the American Dream.  Married and expecting a child, Hank works at the local feed store and Sarah is a librarian.  Known and respected by folks in their small town, things seem wonderful for the young couple.

When Hank, his dim-witted brother, Jacob [Billy Bob Thorton] and Jacob’s alcoholic friend, Lou [Brent Briscoe] accidentally stumble across a downed plane buried in the snow, they find their morality tested.  The plane contains a dead pilot and over four million dollars cash.

Hank wants to report their find to the police with hope there will be a reward. Lou wants to keep the money and say nothing.  Jacob sides with Lou. Ultimately, they decide that Hank will keep the money for the three. If no one comes calling after the plane is found in the spring, they will split the money equally and leave town going their separate ways.

It is a simple plan.  What could go wrong?

*** Even More Spoilers Below ***

The Good

  • Hank’s simple plan.
  • How when the plan begins to almost immediately unravel, the steps taken to correct things leads to worse events.
  • The twists along the way.
  • Director Sam Raimi creates so many suspenseful scenes.
  • Screenwriter Scott B. Smith skillfully adapts his novel of the same name.
  • How logical choices lead to unreasonable actions.
  • Paxton, Fonda, Thorton and Briscoe are excellent in their roles.
  •  “That man’s got a gun, Hank.  When he sees the plane, he’s gonna shoot you both.”

The Bad:

  • The evil that good people will do for money.
  • Making a pact with a dimwit and mean drunk.
  • When two of the three break their promise not to tell anyone what they found.
  • When Lou comes calling for his share of the money.
  • When the sheriff comes around asking questions.
  • When the FBI agent comes asking about the plane… and is he really FBI?

The Ugly:

  • When one bad decision forces worse choices.
  • When people don’t die straight away.
  • Learning how people talk about you when you’re not there.
  • The pain of betrayal.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5

2014’s Top 100 Comic Book Writers

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CBR.com recently polled comic book fans to come up with 2014’s Top 100 Comic Book Writers and Artists.  Using just the writers on their list, as difficult as it was, I came up with my top ten..

10.  Mike Mignola
09.  Robert Kirkman
08.  Denny O’Neil
07.  Stan Lee
06.  Brian Azzarello
05.  John Byrne
04.  Chris Claremont
03.  Alan Moore
02.  Ed Brubaker
01.  Frank Miller

It is a shame writers like Doug Moench, Steve Niles, Eric Powell and Dan Bereton didn’t make the list.

Z-View: The Cold Kiss by John Rector

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The Cold Kiss by John Rector.

 

Nate and Sara, on the run from their past, are driving to Reno.  When they’re approached at a roadside diner by a man offering $500 for a ride into Omaha, they can’t help but see it as a sign of blessings to come.

But in a few hours, that man is dead in their back seat . . . and he’s got a bag of money . . . more than either one of them know what to do with.

Forced off the road by a blizzard and trapped in a run-down motel, Nate and Sara make a life-altering decision that unleashes a nightmare.  Before they know it, Nate and Sara are fighting for their lives and forced to confront every bad decision they’ve made along the way.

For two young lovers who may have used up all their chances, this is a final trip down a dark tunnel that might lead them to heaven, but drags them through hell.

First, let me give credit to Eric Beetner whose 60 Second Review turned me on to The Cold Kiss.

Rector takes what could have been cliche –  nice young couple stumble on more money than they ever dreamed possible and their decision to keep it costs them more than they could ever have imagined.  

In fact their decision to keep the money is just the first of many that take them deeper and deeper into a nightmare that might only end when they are dead.

The Cold Kiss is for mature audiences due to violence. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

2014’s Top 100 Comic Book Artists

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CBR.com recently polled comic book fans to come up with 2014’s Top 100 Comic Book Writers and Artists.  Using just the artists on their list, as difficult as it was, I came up with my top ten..

10.  Tim Sale
09.  Mike Mignola
08.  Neal Adams
07.  Bill Sienkiewicz
06.  Alex Toth|
05.  Barry Windsor-Smith
04.  John Byrne
03.  Frank Miller
02.  Darwyn Cooke|
01.  Jim Steranko

The CBR list was created by fans, but I have to wonder how artists like Paul Gulacy, Mike Zeck, Eduardo Risso, Sean Phillips, Brian Stelfreeze, Marshall Rogers, Mike Golden, and Howard Chaykin didn’t make the cut.

Z-View: Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry

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Code Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel by Jonathan Maberry.

 

For years the Department of Military Sciences has fought to stop terrorists from using radical bioweapons—designer plagues, weaponized pathogens, genetically modified viruses, and even the zombie plague that first brought Ledger into the DMS. These terrible weapons have been locked away in the world’s most secure facility. Until now. Joe Ledger and Echo Team are scrambled when a highly elite team of killers breaks the unbreakable security and steals the world’s most dangerous weapons. Within days there are outbreaks of mass slaughter and murderous insanity across the American heartland. Can Joe Ledger stop a brilliant and devious master criminal from turning the Land of the Free into a land of the dead?

 

The Good

  • Jonathan Maberry can tell a story!
  • Like all Joe Ledger novels this baby sucks you in and then never lets up.
  • The cast: Joe Ledger, Mr. Church, Samson Riggs, Aunt Sallie, Dr. Hu, Junie, and others — not only do they get their scenes but every character gets enough backstory to feel real.
  • We lose characters in every Ledger story – the losses hurt because of the great characterization and because Maberry creates a world where the good guys don’t always come out on top.  When someone is killed the loss is not only felt but can have ramifications throughout the series.
  • Maberry isn’t afraid to create a villain that is smarter than everyone.
  • A major scene unfolds at DragonCon.
  • Maberry creates a universe where events have ramifications felt throughout the world but he never loses sight of his plot and the writing never feels padded.
  • The scene when a team member is bit by a zombie, his suit torn and another team member points his rifle and demands to see the bite… tension, terror and sadness!
  • A villain with a unique motivation that doesn’t involve money, world domination or revenge.
  • The way Ledger turns a loss into a win.

The Bad:

  • Mother Night.
  • Zombies.
  • Berserkers.
  • Those that have to “burn to shine.”
  • Vice President, Bill Collins.
  • Artemisia Bliss.
  • The people close to Ledger who die this time out…

The Ugly:

  • What happens when Mother Night’s followers “burn to shine.”
  • Getting bitten by a zombie or attacked by a Berserker.
  • Trapped on a stalled subway car with one zombie, then two, then four…
  • Did I mention the people close to Ledger who die this time?

 Code Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel is for mature audiences due to excessive violence and sexual situations. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

 

Adventures in Pulp – Four Free Webcomics Worth a Look!

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Adventures in Pulp is a cool site where you can find four free web comics:

Dick Ruby and the Little Green Men:  DETECTIVE NOIR MEETS INVASION SCI-FI in “Dick Ruby and the Case of the Little Green Men. It’s New York in the 1940s and private investigator Dick Ruby is on the trail of a missing person. A trail that leads to little green men from outer space.

Hawk and a Handsaw: ENTER A SUPERHERO INSANE ASYLUM in “Hawk and a Handsaw!” You’d have to be a little crazy to put on a brightly colored costume and fight crime, but how exactly would you know who is the real deal and who has simply latched onto the delusion of being a super powered being?

The Four Horsemen: THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING! A power-hungry Prince kills his father to steal the crown and kingdom. The only thing that can stop him, the Good Witch of the Dead Lands. Hiding in her place of power, she summons four warriors from across time and space.

Jigsaw World Daniel Gideon is not a hero. His marriage is on the rocks and he is failing at his job. He is not a happy-go-lucky hero ready to step up to save a patchwork planet. But he might be the world’s only chance. This bizarre world where dinosaurs evolved into a predatory sentient species. A world infested by alien parasites and an invading ecology. A world on the edge of war. A world on the edge of extinction. A Jigsaw World.

Brett Harris [writer] and Matthew Childers [artist] are the creative team behind all four strips.

  • I’ve read [and enjoyed] Dick Ruby and the Little Green Men.
  • Ditto for  Hawk and a Handsaw.
  • The Four Horsemen wasn’t my cup o’ Diet Coke, but I’m sure many folks will enjoy it.
  • Jigsaw World has the potential to be my favorite comic of the four.

Check ’em out.  My guess is, especially if you’ve read this far, you’ll find something at Adventures in Pulp that you’ll enjoy.

15 Things About “Payback” That You Probably Didn’t Know

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Sean Hutchinson and Mental_Floss present 15 Things About Payback That You Probably Didn’t Know.

Here are my three favorite things…

5. HELGELAND WAS INSPIRED BY GRITTY CRIME DRAMAS FROM THE 1970S.

He used films like The Getaway, Dirty Harry, and Charley Varrick for visual references. In fact, the restaurant that Stegman takes Val to is named Varrick’s as a nod to Charley Varrick.

11. HELGELAND WAS FIRED AS DIRECTOR BEFORE THE FILM WRAPPED PRODUCTION.

He and the studio disagreed over the original ending of Payback, and when a consensus couldn’t be achieved, Helgeland was fired. A new director was brought in to reshoot—these new scenes make up about 30 percent of the theatrical cut.

15. IN 2007, HELGELAND WAS ABLE TO RE-CUT THE FILM INTO HIS ORIGINAL VISION.

It was released as Payback: Straight Up—The Director’s Cut.