Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Treasures of the ComiCombs



















Welcome back and happy new comic book day! We’re at the midway point for this month and I have a pretty good mix of recommendations for you to pick up this week. This is also week two of our comic book match up between Nijigahara Holograph and Sons of the Devil so read on to see what I have to say before I choose a winner next week!


Bill & Ted go to Hell (Boom! Studios)

Writer –Brian Joines

ArtistBachan

2016 is the 25th anniversary of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and Boom! is celebrating with the release of this new miniseries. “Bill and Ted and the Princesses will have to reunite with some historic friends to knock down the Devil’s door and get their friend Death back. This is the showdown that will rock the supernatural world. History vs. Hell.”



Blood Feud #5 (Oni Press) 

Writer – Cullen Bunn 

Artist – Drew Moss 

Another cool horror book from writer Cullen Bunn, this is the final chapter in this miniseries. “R.F., Sue, and Big Jack are up to their armpits in tarantulas and vampires! But the true, ghastly secret of the Blood Feud has yet to be revealed. In order to save the town of Spider Creek--and the world--they'll have to make a terrible sacrifice.”


Imperium #13 (Valiant) 

Writer- Joshua Dysart 

Artist- Khari Evans 

Voted 2015's best horror book over at Comics Alliance, this is the start of an all new story arc. There might be some confusion as to why this has been labeled horror but you just have to read it to understand why this book is so terrifying. This is one of my top 5 overall books and I highly recommend it to anybody.
















Nijigahara Holograph VS Sons of the Devil

Last week I talked a little about these two books and how they progress. While my initial impression was that Nijigahara Holograph had better artwork, the more I flipped through Sons of the Devil I realized that it was a much closer competition than I originally thought. Toni Infante does a good job with the colors in Sons of the Devil; while not always consistent, there are some nicely colored panels spread throughout the book. The color palette used definitely adds to it. There are a lot of dark tones and dimly lit rooms that fit the eeriness of some of the panels. While Nijigahara Holograph lacks color, it’s not necessarily a negative thing. With the clean lines and black and white art, the lighting is much more defined and brings a lot of life to the more detailed panels.

The pacing in these two books is quite different. Nijigahara Holograph is very well balanced from start to finish while Sons of the Devil stumbles a little bit on the way to its climax. It tells the story of a character who learns he has some familial ties to a cult. A portion of the story follows our protagonist to a group therapy session for adults who grew up without parents. It’s pretty obvious that this is a big part of the character and why he’s so guarded and moody but there really isn’t much of a payoff. Instead, the therapy session is used to introduce a couple of other characters. Nijigahara Holograph on the other hand takes several topics and explores them on a very personal level with all of the characters. While Sons of the Devil is dark, Nijigahara Holograph is much darker and at times can a bit overwhelming at times.

The ends of each of these books were great, both very different plots and very different deliveries. I’ve got a lot to think about as I now have to choose a winner. Make sure to come back next week to see my pick and final thoughts on that book.

- The Creature of the ComiCombs

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