Tim's Reviews: Saga, Rachel Rising, Night of 1000 Wolves plus More!

Saga 5 - Marko gets hardcore this issue! Saga doesn’t just excite me because it’s one of the best comics out there. As a happily married parent myself, I totally get Marko and Alana. They bicker like a real couple, but their love is real, and would do anything for each other and for their child. Marko showed that this issue, and it was awesome to read. The will is also shaping up to be a deeply complex, and therefore interesting, character. Can’t wait to see where things go with him.


Alabaster Wolves #4 – This series is all kinds of awesome. I generally say that Steve Niles, Mike Mignola and Eric Powell are the masters of supernatural horror. I think we can safely add Caitlin Kiernan to the list. Dancy is such a unique character – equal parts Buffy, River Tam and Arya Stark. This issue provides a little background history and sets things up for the final issue of this first series next month. I can’t wait.

Dark Horse Presents 14 - This oversized issue of Dark Horse’s monthly anthology wasn’t as good as it has been, but had some great stories non the less. Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder continues to be intriguing while Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Noto are rocking Ghost. This issue seas the return of Tony Puryear’s Concrete Park, which was street level awesome. I’m interested to see where Bo Hampton and Robert Tinnel take the creepy Riven, which was a stand out for me. Equally interesting was Michael Avon Oeming’s Wild Rover, beautiful, but chilling. The one pagers, Mike Russel’s Hellboy vs Sabertooth Vampire and Kim W Andersson’s Love Hurts were charming and funny. Dark Horse presents is like a candy buffet – full of a huge range of different flavours, some you like more than others, but in the end, they’re all pretty sweet.

2000ad 1791 – This prog opens with an unusual Dredd tale, that get’s to the heart of the character – an uncompromising hard-ass. The first Ichabod Azrael story blew my mind, and this story is shaping up to be pretty sweet as well. 1947 part three and future shocks were good enough, but the real star of the book is the final instalment of the long running Nikolai Dante strip. It was exciting, poetic and a fitting end to Robbie Morrison’s long running strip. If you’re after a weekly sci-fi anthology book, 2000ad is what you’re after.

Rachel Rising 9 –Terry Moore offers a few answers in this issue – Not too many, but enough to perfectly pique the reader’s interest. That’s one of the reasons I love his books so much – he knows exactly how much to share with his audience at the exact right time. Plus, another 22 pages of Terry Moore art makes my nerdy little heart flutter. Brilliant issue by a true master of medium.

Fables 119 – I can’t say I’m really enjoying this arc much. It’s not bad, but It’s kind of… meh. Firstly, fables works partly because of the large cast of characters. In this arc, we only get 2 or 3, and they’re characters that weren’t that interesting to begin with. Secondly, It feels kinda slow. Normally I don’t mind decompression (and in some instances I love it), but here it’s just boring. I’m contemplating a drop.

Fatima- The Blood Spinners 2 – I really want to like this comic. I really do. Gilbert Hernandez is a champion of independent comics, but I just can’t seem to get into his work. No matter how critically acclaimed Love and Rockets is, I just don’t get it. Fatima is the same. I don’t hate it, per se (although I do hate the ridiculously huge breasts he draws), But It’s not blowing my mind.

Baltimore: Dr Leskovar’s Remedy 2 – Baltimore is probably my favourite property in the Mignolaverse and this mini series was supernatural horror at it’s best. Prepare for a Frankenstein type scientist who does some crazy things with vampires. And Giant crabs. There were an awful lot of giant crabs.

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth – The Devil’s Engine 3 – A double dose of Mignola makes me a happy nerd. The last issue in the latest ‘Hell on Earth’ story has everything you would expect – monsters, blood and cool heroes that do cool things to defeat said monsters. It’s not groundbreaking, but it is a whole lot of fun.

Mars Attacks 2 - This series could have gone either way – A fun, funny sci-fi book with a great period aesthetic, or a complete piece of trash, useful only for starting fires. Fortunately it was given to Chew’s John Layman and it absolutely falls into the first country. Fans of the movie, fans of the cards, or fans of good tongue-in-cheek alien schlock will love it.

Night of 1000 Wolves 3 - Pick of the week. This was such an amazing series. It was breathtakingly beautiful, jarringly visceral and this final issue did not disappoint in it’s ending. BUY IT NOW!

Star Trek 11 – as a huge fan of original series Star Trek, I can’t help but have a soft spot for this comic. The artist on this arc absolutely nails the character likenesses, plus, tribbles. A must read for any trekkie.