Lady Fight: Escalation is very much a flash fiction equivalent for the comic book medium: the stories told are brief and snappy, meant to leave readers with a more visceral response of emotion than a developed sense of plot and meaning. But I’m not sure if the book’s system works for me. Lady Fight introduces some interesting concepts and characters, but the narratives remain shallow, not giving me enough to hold onto from story to story.

There are three total tales in this issue of Lady Fight. The first is “Explosion Proof,” a small eight-page story about a female bounty hunter who’s become the hunted. There’s not much else to describe other than that. She’s out on a hit, gets caught by some guys who want to kill her, but winds up showing them who’s boss.

The second story is “One Nation,” which showcases the exploits of Souverain, a vigilante soldier who defends the greater good in Afghanistan. When she’s caught by her ranking superiors, she strikes out on her own. This of the three stories is the most salient, touching upon relevant topical issues of human rights and how to handle them in a war setting.

The third is “Card Shark,” a light-hearted story about a feminine hero named Category 5 (Cat 5 for short) due to her hurricane-like powers. She’s trapped aboard a singles cruise when it’s attacked by a not-so-original shark villain, and it’s her responsibility to save the day. I must admit—I was left unsettled by the ignored murder of a man who was just trying to meet a gal with some dated pickup lines. I didn’t find his death as funny as I did slightly sad. I guess some guys just can’t win.

Each story presented in Lady Fight: Escalation brings some creativity to the table. “Explosion Proof” sports some smooth artwork with a confident heroine; “One Nation” uses a fictional story to examine the very real situation of Middle Eastern culture and violence; and “Card Shark,” while the plot itself didn’t blow me away, had an upbeat and lively tone with fun atmospherics. Collectively, Lady Fight delivers some worthwhile value, but when looking at each story individually, they’re much thinner and harder to judge. I simply need more material.

Lady Fight: Escalation isn’t a great comic, but it certainly isn’t a bad one either. It’s somewhere in the middle, but has the promise of evolving into something quite good as the skills and talents of the creators evolve, too.

This is a striking book. From its cover that, along with the interior art, recalls Geoff Darrow and museum bookstore kid’s books at the same time to its wordless yet meaty narrative, this book sets itself apart from the rest of the white noise clogging the shelves at your local comic store.

Delgado hits the reader with an emotional, touching and dramatic story. What is most impressive is the pantomime. It is a hard thing to pull off and something that is seen more rarely in this world of super-decompressed serial narratives. When combined with needless splash pages and the attention deficient youth of today, comics seem to have lost some of their allure to youngsters. However, Delgado is not afraid to challenge them. He knows that to create an effective all ages title, it is important to communicate with the audience not to merely communicate at them.

That is why the depth of emotion is so impressive here. In quick succession, he lays out the diversity of life in the period of the book. From rich fauna, to vast rock formations, from flying lizards to insects and lizards that resemble those of this era, there is a cornucopia of characters for him to chose from.

Here, he follows a herd of some of the less fearsome dinosaurs as they migrate. There is no real reason given for the migration, but there is the sense that something is afoot. It could be any myriad of things that has this grouping of different large herds moving as one. Most likely, the tyrannosaur that follows the group has something to do with it. While not being graphic in his violence, Delgado lays out the very real threat of the era and creates exciting action sequences.

There is also the lovingness he handles the family units in the herds with. There is a sense that there is true affection here. Despite a cutesy circle of life intro, you get a sense of the amount of work it takes to keep the herd together and it is obvious how important the creatures are to each other as a result.

There is also the cinematic approach Delgado gives his panels. He has a definite handle on how to handle action as well as warmth and emotional content. His work in Hollywood is understandable given the talent shown here.

There is also a nice editorial column in the back where the artist talks about his affection and respect for the films of Ray Harryhausen. I have often talked about my affinity for well conceived and informative back matter. This essay is on a whole other level though. With his talk of what appeals to younger readers and his love for one of Harryhausen’s films, he transforms the story into more. There is one film in particular that he cites as inspiration, The Valley of the Gwangi. Evidently, this film is a typical western that happens to feature dinosaurs and as I read the essay, I realized how the comic worked like a western with the T-Rex as the villain, the triceratops as the lawmen and the rest of the herd as the townspeople being terrorized. It has shades of High Noon or Seven Samurai and as such has a more archetypal story grounding it.

Age of Reptiles is a rich and dynamic comic. Its story's rich details and narrative make it a true stand out in the shelves today.

A persistent question ran through my head as I read Edward Sharam’s Road: Why am I reading this comic as a digital Zuda entry and not as a published book? It’s certainly a work that deserves to be bound and stocked on retail bookshelves everywhere, as Sharam’s title is a breath of fresh air. Engaging excitement leaps off the page with every turn, managing to impress me with both the story’s ingenious creativity as well as its ability to remind me of the great dystopian tales I cherish, such as the film, Children of Men, and China Miéville’s novel, Perdido Street Station.

The story of Road follows the travels of Felix, a renegade who has severed ties with the Pilgrims of the Road, a religious group devoted to traveling the “Road,” a literal path that spans the face of the planet with no end in sight. The Pilgrims have made it their self-appointed duty to travel the Road to its unknown end, in the hopes of uncovering its powerful secrets. But Felix is suspicious of the Pilgrims’ true agenda, and upon his departure from the order he becomes a marked man, wanted dead or alive so that an A.I. device implanted in his skull (granting him access to the knowledge of his Pilgrim ancestors) may be retrieved for the Pilgrims’ own schemes.

To hunt Felix down, several agents are dispatched by the Elder of the Pilgrims of the Road, a dusty old priest who wanders the halls of the order’s stronghold, the Chapterhouse. But it’s not just the Elder who’s interested in finding Felix: the Sisterhood, an organization of futuristic warrior women, will stop at nothing to capture the young hero, all under the command of the tantalizing femme fatale, Mother Superior.

The greatest strength of Road is the atmospheric tone of the story, which is established from the beginning of page one. This is owed in large part to Sharam’s phenomenal artwork, an illustrated tapestry of shaded grays that frame the dystopian science fiction world we as the readers are being invited to step into. The level of detail paid not only to the unique cast of characters, but to the exceptional industrial settings is nothing short of jaw-dropping, and Sharam deserves only praise for the level of attention and care he showers on his craft.

As the plot of Road progresses, a plethora of intriguing characters are introduced. Among them is Sister Miah, a skilled warrior who shares a troubled relationship of violence and intrigue with Felix. Embodied in Miah is Sharam’s sly use of female figures: they’re sexy, but not pinup objects; they’re strong, but not disconcerting. The same can be said for Miah’s leader, the Mother Superior, who’s a highly original figure detailed with numerous complex facets. She’s certainly sultry, but she’s also donning cybernetic limbs and has ritualistic scars carved into her flesh. She speaks with the tone of a messianic madwoman, but sports the mind of a cunning tactician. My hat goes off to both Sharam and his co-writer, Jamie Woodhead, for their strong cast of interesting female characters.

A clear undercurrent of inspiration is laced throughout Road, calling up memories of the dystopian Children of Men and the cyber-punk Blade Runner. And much like the latter, the weakness of Road is its plot development from time to time. Certain occurrences come off as rushed and jarring, such as when Felix and Miah break a prisoner out of the Orphans’ lair, which raises another question: Who exactly are the Orphans? They clearly oppose the Pilgrims and the Sisterhood, but I wasn’t able to figure out much more than that about their importance. I’m sure the entire story of Road is crystal clear in Sharam’s mind, but at times that clarity doesn’t transfer to the final product.

But the few troubles I have with Road may be unwarranted, as the book is still a work in progress, updated every Monday with a new page on the Zuda web site. And regardless of my complaints, the pros of Road certainly outweigh the cons. The story has all of the right ingredients for a great comic: originality, action, memorable characters, amazing artwork, strong atmospherics, and a hunger to know what will happen next. And there’s no reason not to check out the book, as it’s available to read at no charge on ZudaComics.com. It’s definitely worth taking a look at and following along with as time unfolds. Sharam deserves credit for this creation of his—I just hope it pays off in the future, preferably in the form of a publishing deal. Road would look great as a digest-sized book, after all. It’s just a suggestion.

To read and learn more about Road, please visit: zudacomics.com/road

In Jazan Wild's Funhouse Of Horrors #1 Jazan wrote about the kid Jacob, who discovered a Haunted House and Scratch (the demonic Halloween presence from the groovy mind of Jazan). Scratch renamed Jacob into Jake and gave him this horror-book, which had too many scary stories to be read by a child. However, it also made the reader aware of ghosts that would seek him out and started to haunt poor little Jake. The haunting ghosts were no Casper-ites but the shadows of people that died violently and with lots of gore. Each ghost however would let Jake know that it would go away if Jake would start writing down the horror stories.

And that is exactly what Jazan Wild's Funhouse Of Horrors #2 sets out to do. It has Jake driving around the country to visit towns and discover their hidden secrets. In this issue he visits the town of Harvest Moon, New Mexico and meets up with a deputy to go and visit the old Murphys' place. He then takes the deputy back spiritually and together they revisit the past of the house and its owners. It turns out that two little boys loved playing together but one boy was more willing to risk everything and all to be with a new family. The depths of the deceit, the heartbreak and the violent yet short-sighted ignorance of a little boy is shown to its full extent.

The power of this book is the eloquent lyrics of Jazan Wild. He sets up stages, breaks down barriers and undermines the reader's flow with lyrics and twists that will most surely get you to read the issue another time, to discover that all had been cleverly set into place yet the reader most likely did not see it coming at all! The art by Vasquez is nicely done, but at places you can both see where he excels and where he can learn to be better at sequential storytelling. But the best part of Vasquez is that he tries his best to make this a team effort. The letterer also tried his best to add a certain schwing to add to atmosphere and should get a mention as a part of the team though.

All in all this read made me reminisce about the good ole days when I enjoyed the Kiss Pyscho Circus books and reveled in both the intensity, the art and the mystical stories and that made me grateful for being a comic-addict!

You can read the comic at MyEbook.com

This offering from Th3rd World Studios is best summed up in one of those mash-up descriptions that never seem to do justice to what they're hyping, but I’ll give it a shot. The Stuff of Legend is Toy Story by way of Tolkien or a bed-time tale if told by Guillermo del Toro. What Legend is really about however is the darkness inherent in all good fantasy and the effect war has on those knee deep in it. Sure, the story centres on archetypes of children’s playthings, but that doesn’t mean the emotional content is less rich. In the first issue the owner of the heroic toys was taken into the darkness by The Boogeyman, leaving his toys (some reluctantly) to spring into action. There’s a proud Indian princess, an energetic jester, a cautious pig, a brave bear and so on, but writers Mike Raicht and Brian Smith use dialogue with such crisp elegance that most readers will surely forget they’re engrossed by talking toys.

Setting this story in the dark days of World War II adds to the drama and the creepy theatrics that come into focus when the toys traverse into The Boggeyman’s territory, known as The Dark, to reclaim their owner. Last issue’s battle and surprise ending raised the stakes even higher, and here disharmony in the ranks of the good toys begins to show as they make some new “friends.”

They take a breather in the Town of Hopscotch, but only moments after stepping inside its walls they’re branded as cheaters. Soon, they're face to face with the Hopscotch’s rule abiding beliefs and their Colonel Sanders-lookalike Mayor. Then a high stakes game of life, death and loyalty begins. The bulk of this 60 page issue is spent within Hopscotch and more of The Boogeyman’s influence is revealed.

Very little of The Boogeyman is actually seen, but his presence creeps into the story with wicked tones. With great pacing and a genuine feeling of being uncertain of what the next page holds, this is an extremely well crafted adventure.

Its landscape orientation, sepia tones and parchment background on each page, are daring design choices, but all these elements serve to make The Stuff of Legend such an enjoyable reading experience. Charles Paul Wilson’s artwork is simple, yet mature. However it appears we may have to wait until next year to see more of it, when Volume 2 is released, and with more dangling plot points in this issue, it appears as though there are more stories to tell in this far from childish world.

Legend is a declaration that the spirit of Alice in Wonderland is alive and well. Lewis Carroll would be proud.

God bless David Hine. With Strange Embrace, he brought comics one of the most original and creepy horror stories ever. He took Spawn and made it an interesting property for the first time since, well, since Alan Moore wrote it. Now he takes the two pop icons of the horror world and merges them in FVZA.

This issue sets up an alternate history where vampirism came to America with the first settlers. The wild west wasn’t wild in this timeline because of natives. No, in this version of Earth, the calvary fought vampires. Then another virus came along, zombieism. After the Civil War, Grant upgrades the Vampire National Guard into the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency. Their mission - to protect the world from the two most vicious diseases mankind would ever face.

Initially, the agency is quite effective. In 1911, a zombie vaccine is created and the disease is pretty much obliterated by the second World War. Unfortunately, the Nazis had other plans. The experiments of the Holocaust were actually turning the Jewish people into zombies and vampires. Biological warfare of a whole other type. Winning the war stopped this evil plan and the western world got back to eradicating these plagues from history.

By 1950 a vampire vaccine is developed and President Kennedy declares the Vampire Wars over. By the Seventies, both diseases are gone from the face of the earth. Hugo Pecos is one of the last active members of the FVZA, but he remains vigilant, training his two grandchildren in the techniques that have kept him alive since he cleared out the concentration camps in the war. Is it the actions of a mad man, or is he right to fear their return?

Hine knocks this one straight out of the park. In fact, he easily snags the title of reigning master of horror in comics. This is a well thought out book with a substantial back story that is engrossing from the word go. He lays out all of the set up and never flinches at the gore necessary to tell the story. Horror fans have a new must read on their platter.

He has populated this story with Vamps, a cult that tries to live the life of the vampires, and bio-terrorists who would use the zombie virus as an effective weapon. The terror of the gruesome illnesses and the violence of the infected is made more palatable by playing on the terror that Americans have been introduced to since September 11, 2001. Hine stirs these together to create a world that is more terrifying than any before it. Only the Alien movies offer a more foreboding future for humanity.

Even more stunning than the character and world building of this giant comic is the stunning artwork. Martinez provides the photorealistic lines that allow Loh and Choo to create a rich tapestry. This book is gorgeous. The muted chromatics of the slide show during Dr. Pecos' little history lesson is only matched by the vivid colors of Mandrake, a renegade vampire who takes his infection to the streets, as he starts his own society.

Zombies burst from the panels. Flames heat the readers face. Gunshots are heard as they rip flesh. This is as visceral as comic art gets and it is stunning. It never quite steps into splatter punk gore, but there are scenes that are not for the faint of heart. These vampires are not the kind that inhabit Meyer’s work and unlike Kirkman’s zombies, these reanimated dead get in the reader’s face.

An adrenaline filled and inventive take on two of horror’s more enduring genres, FVZA #1 is a stunning debut. With writing and art this strong, this may be Radical’s entry to the big boy dance.

Read any review of the first issue of this title and the Mike Mignola comparisons will abound. Upon immediate glance, that’s a fair assessment, as Robot 13 does resemble the handiwork of Hellboy’s creator, but Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford distance themselves in smart ways.

This self-published series is just as impressive as the adventures of Hellboy, and does deserve just as wide an audience.  It’s a shame the creators can’t pump out the titular robot’s printed escapades with more regularity, but seeing as this is a self-published endeavour, (from Blacklist Studios) Hall and Bradford have already jumped the biggest hurdle.

This second issue is superior to the first one in a number of ways. The debut started strong with Bradford’s angular art that was both dazzling and yet somehow refined and thankfully that art continues here. However the problem with the first issue was that it didn’t really reveal a lot. There was a skinny, skull-faced robot who was rescued from the sea by some fishermen, and then there was a fight with a giant octopus, and that was about it. Happily, more of the story behind the enigmatic metallic battler is revealed here.

It opens with a play on the island of Crete back in the days of the Roman Empire before cutting back to Rodney, one of the men on the boat asking 13 just why the aforementioned octopus attacked them. It seems as though 13 is bringing unwarranted attention, as evidenced by the huge flaming bird that appears in the middle of their chat and carries 13 away. Then things get even more interesting with the epilogue which shows a conversation between an old hag, a sorceress and a multi-limbed snake-woman who aches that 13 is killing “her children” and now seeks vengeance. Things are going to get messy and the wait for #3 is going to be a long one.

Hall has come to the party with this issue and has given great emotional moments, such as the farewell to the fishermen, hints at 13’s origin as a destroyer of monsters and a great cliffhanger. Bradford has shown restraint in his artistic choices. The lesser artist would fill each page with detail and blood and guts, but Bradford uses space wisely. Texture and hard-edged character abounds. This really is a great looking book. Sure, the Mignola comparisons are well founded, but that’s certainly not a bad thing. However Bradford is carving his own path and shows that he is able to portray quiet moments of reflection just as well as hearty monster fighting.

I can sum up this series in two words: must buy.

Robot 13 #2 can be ordered from Blacklist Studios.

Love that line! And with the mystery and suspense you get from that line, you can go any way you want. As a reader but certainly as a writer you can really go every way...and since this issue heralds the coming of the Queen Red Sonja it is obvious that the publisher really is letting this property go places. Red Sonja has been revisited a couple of times with Dynamite and every time it meant more depth and story to be added to the character, whether she was meeting her Goddess, canoeing her way through the afterlife, or being reincarnated and getting her warrior-streak back! The Red Sonja ride was never dull.

And this issue is indeed guaranteeing the same quality in art (we have "our" Mel Rubi back!!!) and story the readers of Red Sonja have been getting all this time and without a doubt this new arc will set Sonja up with yet another stage in which she can excell!

Queen Sonja #1 sets the stage in a few pages, seeing Sonja on her throne and then sets the stage back four months to deliver the prologue for Queen Sonja. In this prologue she again outwits and outmaneuvers men and delivers the final blow with efficiency and surprising elements we love about her. And after that she is not a Queen yet. She is still the mercenary we know and she sets out to get the Sword of Aurora, albeit more relentless and ruthless than this reviewer would want. But the final page deserved a nice twist. A twist which was not a surprise but yet again it leaves a nice cliffhanger which begs the reader to come back and see how this prologue ends up to be the way to Sonja becoming a Queen!

Before I forget...this issue also gives the fans (and the new readers since this story is presented as a perfect jumping-on-point of course) of Red Sonja the numero uno artist back. Mel Rubi helped establish Red Sonja for the new decade/century via Dynamite Entertainment and we can all rest assured that he delivers...he always did. And this new #1 clearly shows that Mel loves Sonja as much as he loved her way back!!!

Queen Sonja #1 also lets you see a reprint of a Roy Thomas, Estaban Maroto and Neal Adams story (with sweet new colors by José Villarrubia) as well as pencilled preview pages for Queen Sonja #2 by Mel Rubi, which essentially will let the fan know that the quality of #1 will be maintained in #2. Giving the fans 48 pages is a very nice move for sure!

Check also our exclusive preview here.

Those who know me well, know there is a deep dark hole in my knowledge of comics. Pretty much all of the Nineties fills that hole. The stories that are lucky enough to get collected are read by me as I get around to them, but Azrael is kind of a new thing to me. I knew that Bats got his back broken and this guy was one of the guys who tried to fill his shoes. Thus ends my prior knowledge of the character.

For me, that lack of baggage means that Mr. Lane gets a clean slate from me. I got a taste during the dark and captivating Azrael mini during Battle for the Cowl and of course, the recent Detective and Batman Annuals were a great introduction to this incarnation of the armored vigilante.

Here’s the catch though, Nicieza wrote an interesting mystery in that two part story from that last couple of weeks. Here there is no real mystery. Instead the reader gets a jumbled plot made worse by an artificial story device. Part of the story happens now - Azrael hunts down an Assassin Priest (I don’t know why this was green lit, maybe DC worried they were losing the Dan Brown audience); and in the future - Bullock and his partner investigate a bloody trail that leads them to investigate one of their own. Just to make it all a little less tangible, there is also a cryptic flashback to Lane’s childhood.

All the while, there is talk of a secret order, haunted armor and nun muggings. There is a cameo by the Dark Knight and one indecipherable scene between Lane and his baby’s mama. It all lacks a point or at least clarity. To make matters worse, the narrative starts at the beginning and the end of the story. An odd choice for a book not sporting an "of X" suffix to its issue number.

Bachs and Stanisci give the book an edgy style. It recalls Eastman and Laird’s work on the early Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It is gritty; and accentuated by Smith’s colors, it does more to set the mood of the story than the script does. In much the same way, the coloring is a better cue to the time setting of the book than the frankly confusing narrative boxes that are supposed to help the reader know when things are happening.

Don’t get me wrong, it is quite possible that Nicieza is falling prey to being too ambitious and most of these problems will work themselves out as the story is allowed to progress. One can only hope, because if not, this book is destined for a very short shelf life.