Quick-Hits has been on “vacation” for awhile, but is back this week as there are a number of comics for which there wasn’t time to do a full review. Most were pretty good…
Vescell #1 - I didn’t count the pages in this first issue from Image, but it felt like it was ~40 pages and took a long time to read. And, it was a hell of a lot of fun. The action revolves around an agent of the Vescell Corporation. Vescell specializes if transferring the consciousness of a person into a new body, so it’s handy for wives looking to leave husbands, criminals on the run, etc., and this agent is charge of spiriting them away to Vescell’s labs unseen so they can begin their new lives. That part was kinda cool, but also the fact that this agent has a HOT girlfriend who is stuck in some demon-realm, but can be channeled into the bodies of the living– that was neat too. And the agent has a tinkerbell like fairy helper/partner who he shoots out of a gun at the bad guys. Lots of R-rated sexual content too, if that’s your thing. Very enjoyable. Can’t wait for the next issue. Grade: B+
Rocketeer Adventures #4 – Here’s a candidate for miniseries of the year! This was another strong entry in this series featuring short Rockteer stories told and drawn by some of the best in the business. This issue features (among others): Dave Gibbons, Tony Harris (wow!), John Arcudi, Brendan McCarthy & Ashley Wood. These are great fun stories and I wish IDW would keep it rolling because I’ve loved every minute of it. Grade: B+
The Vault #2 – I usually hate comics that read like movie pitches in comic form, but I don’t care. The Vault is fun stuff. Even though I don’t think there is much original going on here, I really enjoyed this issue that featured a treasure hunting team that dug up something that should have been left in the ground. Bad things are happening how! If you’ve enjoyed Mummy movies or The Thing from Another World, you’ll probably get a kick out of this comic. And, it’s only 3 issues, so there isn’t much to stop you. Grade: B
Skull Kickers #10 - This series is just flat fun. I think we might have learned the names of our dwarf and his hulking buddy, but given who gave us the names, I’m not sure they can be trusted. The plot in this cycle has to do with our duo running afoul of a bunch of nasty pixies in the best swords and sandals fashion. The high-point in this issue was when the dwarf got shot with an arrow and is bleeding all over the place (the sounds effects say, “Squirt, Squirt, Squirt”) and he urges his companion to plug the wound with a dead squirrel. If that sounds like your kind of humor, you should read Skull Kickers. I really like the art by Edwin Huang too. Grade: B
Fear Itself: The Deep #3 – Boy have these Fear Itself tie-in series sucked! But, The Deep has been a bright spot. This isn’t a groundbreaking issue that changes the universe or anything, but it is well written by Cullen Bunn and nicely drawn by Lee Garbett. It features characters who I enjoy like Lyra, the Savage She-Hulk and Loa (from the X-Men), but also manages to redeem a few characters I don’t usually like (Dr. Strange, Namor & Silver Surfer) as they battle the Fear Itselfed minions of Attuma. As I said, most of the Fear Itself miniseries have been shit, but this is worth buying. Grade: B
Last Mortal #4 - This wasn’t bad, but it does warrant a big “meh.” I guess the black and white art was kinda catchy, but there was never anything about the story that captured or held my interest as we came to the conclusion of this series. The young loser who can’t die is on a mission to get answers and retribution for the death of his loser buddy. I think I just don’t want to read stories about losers, perhaps? Main characters need to be a little more likable than this kid because I just can’t root for a protagonist who is such a waste of skin. Grade: C
Epoch #1 - Your enjoyment of this is going to depend largely on how much you groove on stories of Biblical angels and demons walking among us. I really don’t care for that type of story, so it just came off as really pretentious seeing this cop who is realizing that he has powers that he wasn’t previously aware of and that his father, Gabriel (hint, hint), might not be quite the old douchebag he’d thought. If you like angels and demons, you might like this, but I probably should have read the solicitation text more closely. Even the art didn’t quite click with me. It looked like it kinda wanted to be Capullo-like, and I love Capullo, but this just left me cold. Grade: C-
- Dean Stell
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Filed under: IDW, Image Comics, Marvel Comics Tagged: Dean Stell, Epoch, Epoch #1, Epoch #1 review, Fear Itself, IDW, Image, Last Mortal, Marvel, Quick Hit Reviews, Rocketeer Adventures, Rocketeer Adventures #4, Rocketeer Adventures #4 review, Skull-Kickers, The Deep, The Vault, Vescell, Vescell #1, Vescell #1 review
