Comics

As part of our Year in Review, here is G4’s resident comic geek Blair Bulter (and daughter of our KCFCC pal Bob Butler) with the latest dose of “Fresh Ink Online” giving us her take on the best graphic novels of the 2007 which includes Silver Surfer: Requiem, The Escapists, and The Killer, Vol. 1.  Check out the Full Diagnosis to watch the entire episode.

Blair Butler’s Fresh Ink
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Whether you’ve never picked up a Grendel comic, or you’ve stashed away countless issues of Matt Wagner’s creation, this series is for you.  Wagner returns to his creation for the first time in ten years to give us a never-told tale of the first Grendel, Hunter Rose.  Take a peek inside the Full Diagnosis as we review the first two issues of the eight-issue mini-series Grendel: Behold the Devil.

Grendel: Behold the Devil #1 & 2
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What’s interesting about this first issue, aside from the fact it’s the first Grendel issue Matt Wagner has penned himself in a decade, are the alternative perspectives and looks back mixed in with the linear never-before-told tale of Hunter Rose.

We begin with an excerpt from “Devil by the Deed” which in one page introduces both the character of Hunter Rose, the accomplished novelist, and his alter-ego Grendel, a costumed assassin and crime boss.  These carefully chosen words contrast sharply with the next six bloody pages which follow showing us the outcome of Grendel’s latest killing spree.  From here we move through the perspectives of Grendel/Hunter Rose, Detective Lucas Ottoman and Detective Elizabeth Sparks as the story continues on many separate points.

This first issue easily sets up the world and is a good primer for those unfamiliar with the characters.  And although filled with blood there’s no killing here, as the reader arrives seconds too late and is only allowed to glimpse the aftermath of Hunter Rose’s work.

By the end of the issue we also see Rose’s growing paranoia and learn that something yet unseen is waiting for Grendel in the shadows, and is hunting the hunter.

 

 

The second issue gives us more blood, more sex, and, in the issue’s final frame, the first shot of who is hunting Hunter Rose, the creature who is destined to end Grendel’s life – Argent the Wolf.

Wagner’s b&w art (with splashes of red) is classic and brilliant.  There’s a grace to the character that Wagner brings to the surface (and seriously, how totally freakin’ awesome is it to see a comic character that doesn’t look his steroid enlarged pecks are about to burst through his spandex top?).  It’s great to see him writing and drawing this character again.

Once again the story includes perspectives and insights from other sources including interviews, excerpts from “Devil by the Deed” and more.  We also see the effect of the uneasiness and feeling of being watched slowly begin to crack the emotionless exterior of Grendel.  And by the time Argent shows up we’re more than ready to plunk down another $3.50 for the next issue.

After two issues I’m hooked.  New and old fans of Grendel should pick up this series and enjoy a great storyteller slowly unfold a new exciting tale featuring his prized creation.

It’s been awhile since Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew flexed their puns and muscles on a comic all their own.  The three-issue mini-series by Bill Morrison and drawn by co-creator Scott Shaw brings us back to this wacky world where animals walk and talk, and some even put on spandex and try to save the day.  With a few surprises and the return of some big bads and one of the team’s own, here’s a comic no Captain Carrot fan should pass up!.

Captain Carrot and the Final Ark
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From the very first page the puns start flying.  Our adventure begins at the Sandy Eggo Comic-Con.  With tons of slightly skewed remarks (like the names of the comic artists or the newly announced comic teaming up of the characters Krypto and Bat-Hound called, what else, Best in Show) and plenty of furry friends going gaga for comics, this is certainly the right way to re-introduce the world known as Earth-C.

The adventure really gets started with the appearance of the Zoo Crew’s old nemesis The Salamandroid who arrives to cause trouble and destroy the only known copy of Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew! issue #1 (worth twenty thousand simoleans).  After the Crew chase him off we get a short look back over the important events of the Crew and the “Collar I.D. Initiative” which caused the team to hang up their capes (nice Civil War spoof).  The recent trouble at the Comic-Con and now the rising tensions between sea and land dwellers bring the team out of retirement just in time to face a new threat (but that’s in the next issue!).

This is a great beginning, and fans of the puns the series is known for can make themselves deliriously happy with just the Comic Con scenes alone; make sure you take your time here because the pages are filled with puntastic goodness.

The second issue gives us the return of Alley-Kat-Abra complete with a Dark Alley doppelganger, and a Neither World, in an amazingly on the nose rewrite (nicely spoofing comics continuity issues in numerous titles today) which clears the magician of the murder of Little Cheese and brings her back into the fold.  Nice to have you back Kat!

We also get Red Herring, Rash Al Paca, and a third villain slightly out of frame (but easily recognizable) discussing their plans to flood the Earth!  Oh, and did I mention there’s a giant frog terrorizing the city with a crush on the Statue of Ribbity (heh).  That’s right folks, Frogzilla is back, and he’s swallowed Pig Iron!  Sweet!  Who hasn’t wanted to see a giant frog/lizard monster take out a major metropolitan city (or is it just me)?

And I’ve got to mention the spoofing of one of my favorite Bat villains as Rash Al Paca takes a dip in the “Blaberous Pit” and discusses his plans with his Panda man servant Bamboo, and then, for no reason in particular, puts on a puppet show.  Nice.

A pretty good second issue with the return of Alley-Kat-Abra and the big fight all over Gnu York City.  It’s a slight step back from the first issue but still a fun read with plenty to enjoy.

The third issue begins with the Crew facing the sudden loss of their powers and the reveal of the brains behind the plan to destroy the surface world, Starro the Conquerer (if you didn’t guess from last issue, man are you are sloooow!).

The issue is packed with action including the appearances of the Just’a Lotta Animals (Green Lambkin, The Crash, Aquaduck, Batmouse, Hawkmoose, Zap Panda) the flooding of the Earth, the mass exodus onboard Boa’s Ark, a space/time vortex, the New Dogs (Orihound, Lightstray and Muttron), and the final fate of all Earth-C creatures on our own world.  C’mon, you gotta’ love characters called Muttron and Hawkmoose!

All this plus a squabble in space, a ride through a Kaboom Tube of Barkseid’s (heh), and the Crew find themselves accidentally transported to New Earth as regular animals, with their powers and intelligence but unable to communicate to the heroes of the main DC Universe.  Is this the end for our furry friends?  At least for now the answer appears to be yes and so the Crew goes out not with a bang, but a whimper.

I’ve been a fan of these characters for years.  The series is really designed for old fans like me but there’s certainly enough backstory gone over that anyone can enjoy it.  Although I quite enjoyed the short series I saddened at the chosen ending which leaves Earth-C gone and the Zoo Crew stuck on our world as ordinary animals.  With the reboot of the Multiverse I was hoping for more wacky adventures with the Crew, which, at least for the time being, seems unlikely.  Still I’ve got to thank Bill Morrision and co-creator Scott Shaw for giving fans of the characters this big send-off.  I’m just hoping we haven’t seen the last of Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew!  For more on the Cap’n and his Crew check out the fourth issue of our Comic Spotlight.