Comic Review: Siege Town

I have been ask to review audio dramas many times. I’ve also been asked to review audiobooks on a few occasions. Today, however, we are breaking new ground. This is the first time someone has asked me to review their comic book. So, without further ado, let’s get into it. We’re taking a look at Siege Town. 

Siege Town take place in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. We follow two brothers named Robert and Charles. They are from America and…well, actually, we never find out why exactly they’re in the Soviet Union. Anyway, they’re traveling across Russia on their motorcycles, and they’ve recently stopped in a rural town. They’ve decided to stay at an inn run by an incredibly creepy man named Igor. He isn’t exactly popular with the townsfolk. In fact, the townsfolk have decided they’ve had enough of Igor, and they’re out for blood. Charles and Robert are about to find themselves in the middle of a major siege.

I was approached to review Siege Town by Ben Ruffett. He is attempting to found his own comics publishing house called Witching Hour Comics. He raised the funds for Siege Town over on Kickstarter. Currently, you can only receive a copy of Siege Town by being a backer to the Kickstarter, but Ben hopes to change that soon. Ben has seen me share my comic book reviews over on Reddit, and asked if I’d be willing to review Siege Town. I said yes, and he shipped me a copy. It was the first time I’d receive a package from a foreign country, in this case Canada. So, that was kind of exciting. He did address it to Arthur Drakoni, which is my Reddit username. Caused some minor confusion when my parents found the package while I was at work. That was my fault. I should have clarified who it should be addressed to.

So, the first thing that strikes me about Siege Town is that, physically speaking, it is a very constructed. Holding it in my hands, it felt like I was flipping through something produced by a professional comic book company. The pages are glossy and strong, the cover is slick and shiny, the binding holds well. It even has the smell that you get from a professional comic book. Ben and his team clearly put a lot of effort into making sure their comic met the physical standards of a professional publisher.

The same goes for the artwork. It is all drawn and colored very well. Andrey Portilla did the drawing, and Cristian Ramirez handled the coloring. The artwork is very evocative of Vertigo during the heyday of series like Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, or the various horror titles Vertigo published. Wasn’t really into the horror side of Vertigo myself, but I know enough to recognize the influence.

So, there’s a lot of care put into the artwork and physical presentation of Siege Town. I just wish the writing and plot had received the same level of attention. The plot, when you get down to it, is really just there to set-up the fight scenes. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very well drawn fight scenes, but I would have preferred if the plot had a bit more meat to it. The other issue I had is that the plot introduces a lot of potentially interesting elements, and promptly does nothing with them. 

For example, Robert and Charles are traveling through the Soviet Union during the 1950s. That was the height of the Cold War, and most Americans couldn’t just waltz into Russia to have a look around. So, what brings Robert and Charles to Russia? What are they looking to accomplish? Beats me, as the comic never provides any answers. In fact, the unusual setting never really factors into the plot. You could set the story in rural America during the same time period, and nothing would change.

On an unrelated note, the beginning of the comic makes a list of all the various peoples who have invaded Russia over the years. You get the usual suspects; Napoleon, Hitler, the Mongols…and the Russian Empire. Yeah, apparently, the Russian Empire invaded Russia. It would seem that the script could have used a tad more proofreading.

It is also established early on that Igor has a collection of killer ants. This is set up as thought it is going to playing a major role in a big climatic scene. However, the most that happens is that it breaks open, the ants bite one of the villagers, whop quickly brushes them off, and that’s it. On that note, I feel that Igor’s characterization was a bit rushed. Everything about him practically screams serial killer at the top of its lungs. Frankly, what were Robert and Charles expecting when they decided to spend the night? It might have worked better if he started off more innocuous, but then gradually revealed his true colors. This would also add to the sense of rising tension as the villagers close in, and make their motives a bit more mysterious.

Now, I didn’t hate Siege Town. I’d been going through a stretch where I hadn’t read a comic book for a bit, and it was nice to be back in the saddle. I was reminded of all the reasons I love comic books as a medium. There’s certainly an audience for comics that put heavy emphasis on action scenes. There’s certainly a lot of people who enjoy the Hellsing manga. That having been said, I am not part of that audience. If you are, however, then perhaps you might want to look into Siege Town.

The last few pages of the comic make mention of some upcoming comics from Witching Hour Comics. They both kind of sound like the same plot as Siege Town, but in different settings. The one that is set on a Moonbase sounds promising, but I’m concerned about the execution. Especially since the other one is about a bunch of Vietnam veterans in a small town in America. I certainly hope my critique about Siege Town’s setting doesn’t turn out to be prophetic.

So, that was Siege Town from Witching Hour Comics. It looks like a professional comic, down to the smell. It has artwork evocative of Vertigo. The story, however, leaves something to be desired.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

Comic Review: Seekers of the Weird

One of the things I’ve always loved about Disney is the imagination and creativity that goes into their parks. The different lands and attractions all have very intricate back-stories, and I was obsessed with them in my younger days. So what better way for Marvel and Disney to work together than making comics based around Disney Park attractions?

Ladies and gentlemen, I present Disney Kingdoms. This gem of a series was born when a group of Marvel and Disney executives talking during a baseball game. Among those present was Joe Quesada, the man behind the infamous One More Day arc of Spider-Man. Despite his past misgivings, Disney Kingdoms has partially redeemed Mr. Quesada in my eyes.

Disney Kingdoms is divided into a series of five issue miniseries, each based on a different Disney attraction, that take place in a shared universe. Today we’re going to be talking about to first of these miniseries: Seekers of the Weird, based on The Museum of the Weird.

 It follows two siblings named Max and Mary Keep. They live in New Orleans, where their parents run an occult curio shop. One night the shop is attacked by strange magical creatures. Mad and Mary are saved by their uncle Roland, but their parents are captured. Roland revels that their parents are members of a secret organization that guards a museum of strange and powerful artifacts. This is of course The Museum of the Weird. Now it’s a race against the clock to save Max and Mary’s parents before time runs out.

Some of you might be scratching your heads wondering why you haven’t heard of The Museum of the Weird. Well there’s a reason for that: it was never built. The Museum of the Weird was conceived as a walk-through experience that would be complimentary to The Haunted Mansion in New Orleans Square in Disneyland. For various reason it never got built, but it remains one of the most intriguing “what-ifs” for Disney Park enthusiasts. There was really a lot of planning involved with it, lots of backstory and miniature models, and it’s well worth looking into.

Anyway, let’s talk about the comic itself. Well first of all, if you’re looking for a great all-ages comic book series then Disney Kingdoms has you covered. Hey, it is a Disney series, so of course it’s going to have appeal to all ages. That having been said, this is a horror comic and there are a few scene that might be a little scary for readers on the younger side. Just use your own discretion and it’ll all work out fine.

Now let’s talk about the characters. Max and Mary are your typical yin-yang siblings. Max is intelligent but not much for physical activity; while Mary isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but she’s is quite the sports star. So it seemed like the comic was setting things up for moral about the importance of teamwork and how everyone has something to offer, but that’s not quite how it panned out.

The main problem came down to the old adage “show, don’t tell”. We are frequently told that Max is intelligent and knows about the occult and weird thing. We are told this, but we never really see any evidence of this other than his love of reading books. For the most part, Mary seems to get by pretty well just by punching her way through the museum. I’m not sure if it was clumsy writing or maybe it just seemed that way to me.

In other characters we have Uncle Roland. He’s got the outfit of a dashing explorer and he has a gun that shoots ghosts out of it. His main role is to act as the adviser and moral support since he loses his legs early on. He does manage to get in on the heroics towards the end, but I wouldn’t want to spoil that for you.

The villains don’t really have much motivation beyond the typical take over the world for evil’s sake motive. Admittedly, that is rather par for course as far as Disney villains go. Their main goal is to summon their boss, The Reaper King. He’s got a pretty simple design, and he doesn’t appear for very long, but he is a powerful presence for the scenes that he is in. The last time he got loose the Black Death happened and 1/3 of Europe died. Those of you up on your history will remember that this was actually good for Europe in the long run. After all, it did lead to the collapse of feudalism. I will concede, however, that those who lived during the Black Death would beg to differ about it being good for Europe. Though admittedly, that stuck out more to me since I’m a history nerd.

There are plenty of little details and artifacts throughout the museum that are just begging to be elaborated on. I guess the artists and writers were trying to save something for potential sequels. Hey, Dreamfinder and Figment got a sequel to their series, so you never know. The Haunted Mansion has its own series now, so maybe there will be some shout-outs and hints in it. Speaking of art, the artwork itself is that same top-notch work we’ve all come to expect from the artists who work for Marvel.

Well there you have it. Thrills, chills and fun the whole family can enjoy. Seekers of the Weird is the first in the Disney Kingdoms line, but you don’t have to start there. Each miniseries is self-contained so any of them can be your starting point. It’s always refreshing to find a comic book series that isn’t bogged down in years of continuity. I really enjoyed Seekers of the Weird, and I’m sure you will too.

Comic Review: Snowpiercer: The Escape

For today's review we're going to do a little something different.  We're going to review a comic book.  Specifically, Snowpiercer: The Escape by Jacques Lob and Jean-Marc Rochette.  It all started with a war.  It's unclear who started it or who were, and frankly that's kind of unimportant.  What is important is that somebody launched a weapon that plunged the Earth into a planet-wide ice age.  Billions died, but a few managed to find ways to survive.  Before the war a perpetual-motion train known as Snowpiercer had been constructed.  It is 1001 cars long.  It circles the world on a globe-spanning track.  It is humanity's last refuge.  

The story follows a man named Proloff and a woman named Adeline Belleau. Proloff comes from The Tail, the very back of the train and the lowest of the low in the social pecking order.  Adeline is from third class and is part of a movement to integral the members of The Tail into wider society aboard Snowpiercer.  A series of events causes the unlikely duo to make their way towards the front of the train, and towards answers about the nature of Snowpiercer itself. 

So before we begin I thought we could talk a bit about comics in general.  First of all, are they comic books or graphic novels?  Personally, I use the terms interchangeably.  Some people will use graphic novel more because they claim it sounds more sophisticated.  I really think Robin Williams put it best, the different between the terms comic book and graphic novel is about the same as the difference between the terms porn and adult entertainment.  

Now let's talk about French comics, since Snowpiercer is a French comic after all.  French comics are kind of like how American comics would have turned out if the Comics Code of Authority had never happened.  You don't really see that many superhero titles, but you do see a great diversity of other genres.  Don't get me wrong, I love superhero comics as much as the next guy, but American comics really need more diversity of genre.  So I guess you could see French comics as somewhere between American comics and Japanese manga.  You get the full colors and western writing tropes along with the diversity of genres.  

Anyway, let's talk about Snowpiercer.  I'm willing to bet that if you've heard of Snowpiercer it's probably via its film adaptation staring Chris Evans, John Hurt and various other celebrities.  That's how I found out about it; though I haven't yet see the movie, but I do plan to.  The Snowpiercer comic originally came out in 1982, but it finally got an English translation thanks to the movie adaptation. The movie might not have replicated the plot, besides the general setting.  That having been said, it does capture the spirit of the comic, and the two other installments of the comic followed other trains so it does kind of fit in with the scheme of things. 

Okay, now we will officially begin talking about Snowpiercer: The Escape.  The plot itself is very much an excuse plot so that we can see what life is like aboard the train.  This is certainly not a bad thing, and I rather enjoyed getting to know the people of Snowpiercer.  Excuse plots can be done quite well.  Besides this comic there's also the Dinotopia books by James Gurney.  They're also very much excuse plots, but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would fault them for that.  

We get to see where the train gets its food from, we see the forms of entertainment, we see how culture has adapted to the endless journey and so much more.  The middle class dine on vat meat, while the first class keeps rabbits to supplement their diets, and as for The Tail...well, the less said about that the better.  There's also a few greenhouse cars for vegetable and fruits.  A scene in the movie car was a bit funny since it showed one of the movies playing as Star Wars Episode VII, which at the time didn't exist, but now it does.  If you're wondering where they get their water from it's collected from snow and ice as the train drives along.  I guess you could kind of view Snowpiercer as a generation ship of sorts.  People are born, live their lives and die all within the confines of the train; and death is but a broken window away.   

There's been a cargo cult religion that's sprung up that worship's the engine.  I also found it interesting that many named characters had French and Russian sounding names.  We never find out where Snowpiercer was before the disaster occurred, but certain hints suggest that it was in Russia.  So the mixed of Russian, French and other European passengers does make sense.  There is some really great worldbuilding within this comic.  Bonus points for taking two things I always viewed as kind of magical, trains and winter, and making them absolutely terrifying.  

Let's talk about the art.  The whole comic is in black and white.  I know that black and white comics were a bit of a trend with American comics during the 1980s, but I'm not sure of that was also a trend with French comics of the time.  Either way, it kind of works out.  The world of Snowpiercer is bleak and desolate with very little hope left in it.  The black and white art does a lot to emphasize all of this.  Plus, in a world covered in snow and ice, you probably wouldn't see a whole lot of color.  I've read enough manga so that the lack of color wasn't that big of an adjustment for me.  The drawings themselves were quite well drawn.

Snowpiercer: The Escape has whetted my appetite for the other entries in the Snowpiercer series, as well as for French science fiction comics in general.  If you're looking for a good post-apocalypse science fiction comic then Snowpiercer can't be beat.  I look forward to reading many more French comics, and maybe I'll even get a few more comic reviews over here.  

Well I think that's enough from me for now.  I will see you guys next time.