Short reviews
Hungry Ghosts Anthony Bourdain and Joel Rose 4.8/5
An anthology of short horror comics united by the theme of a Kaidan ceremony held by a russian. Artistically lush. I particularly appreciated Leonardo Manco and Mateus Santolouco's illustrations. None of the stories are real nightmare fuel, but they are nothing to sneeze at, either. Fans of Tales from the Crypt, body horror, and mythology will enjoy this gorgeous full color compilation.
Road to Perdition Written by Max Allan Collins, art by Richard Piers Rayner
5/5
This is an example of a comic where the writing and art are in good harmony. The art here was so excellent, and so perfect for the story. Without the artist, it wouldn't have been the same. According to the intro, the art took around 4 years from the time the script was written. Something like that. Anyway, it was very good. Story wise, it's not breaking any boundaries, except ... except that I doubt a comic of the true crime genre has often been of this level of quality in decades since before it was published. The publisher's page is ripped out because I got my copy from the prison library. Anyway. It's a shining example of it's exact niche,and it's too bad there isn't a greater market for this kind of thing. Artistically, it's on another level, but anyone who has never tried to work with just a pen might not get that. I love the art in From Hell, but comparing the art to the artist who did From Hell would actually be a disservice to Rayner's work here.
The Last Black Unicorn Tiffany Haddish
5/5
I read the whole thing in one day. It's hilarious, and pretty heavy. The level of abuse and basically tough shit she describes having to wade through makes me want to compare this to a Charles Bukowski novel ( And he's my favorite writer ). Also, she killed an old man with her butt. Clearly she must be some kind of goddess incarnate. Five clopulating black unicorns out of five.
Life Ceremony Sayaka Murata
5/5
Puts me in mind of Kurt Vonnegut. Exquisite and visceral in a way that in my ignorant American mind I've come to think of as distinctly japanese. People who yearn for something truly unique and raw should read this.
Through the Woods Emily Carroll 4/5
Good stories. Cute and creepy. Most interesting to me , it's an example of experimental comic techniques. There are some uses of the more exotic narrative devices unique to seqential art ... such as a ghostly chant that follows a meandering road illustrating its haunting quality, or the "Junji Ito page reveal scare* ". Or the full bleed pages followed by black gutters , giving a sense of suffocating darkness closing in. High contrast and color symbolism abound. Compositionally, it's well crafted. Better so than the artwork, I have to say ... which looks a little webcomicky in a 'too digital' not rough enough way.
*Junji Ito Page Reveal Scare : This is where you turn the page in a horror comic, and suddenly theres a large bleed panel of a particularly horrific image. It's the comic book version of a jump scare.
Paper Girls Brian K Vaughan(writer) Cliff Chiang (artist)
4.5/5
The art here does a good job of evoking the '80s B movie' vibe of the comic. I can almost here the foggy synthwave soundtrack in the background ( this is a good thing ). The four main characters seem real and unique. They're tough in the way girls of that age often are, and in a way that seems legit not pukey and cliche. Impressive work, I'd like to read more but I probably won't because I'm in prison and I can't buy EVERY comic. For some reason, it reminds me of "Manhattan Projects" which is also a really great comic, I think from Image as well.