Solomon Kane #1

While most people know of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Cimmerian character, due to the movies, comics and recent video game, some of Howard’s other creations get left in the dark. Solomon Kane is one such character. Written in the pulp style Howard is known for, Solomon Kane’s stories were about the puritan warrior set to vanquish evil in all its demonic forms during the 1600s. And while Conan has a strong fan base, I find that the franchise has made itself into a cliché, and have always found Solomon Kane to be a more unique character.

Dark Horse comics, best known in Howard terms for its Conan series, will so release a miniseries written by editor Scott Allie. Mr. Allie was kind enough to speak to me again about this new series and his love for the character.

Matt Knicl: What do you like about Solomon Kane?

Scott Allie: The main thing that draws me to what Howard did is the solitary figure, in a real scary wilderness, going up against very old fashioned monsters. I love the drama and the darkness of it.

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Not bad. It was really hard to gauge what to expect from this movie based on the trailer due to many factors - how the success of Pan’s Labyrinth would influence the film, what comics would they adapt, etc. As far as that goes, Hellboy 2 was it’s own unique thing, apart from the comics and Guillermo del Toro’s other works.

The biggest pull for the movie was it’s bigger budget. There were more monsters, including a giant elemental and dozens of background creatures, making the movie seem very Men in Black-esque. This was a great aspect of the movie, that there was just a lot of cool, bizarre throw away monsters and magical creatures that added depth to the fantasy underworld.

There were a few characterization driven lulls in the film, but once the action started back up, these doldrums are forgiven. The sequel was a great summer movie, playing off the legacy of the comics, del Toro’s artistic style, and the first film, throwing in the types of gimmicks you’d expect from a Hollywood sequel.

If the movie breaks even, we may expect a third movie on the horizon, and I think with all the hype and the fact that this film is enjoyable and filled with imagination, a growing Hellboy fan base is assured. In the summer of great super hero movies - this is a must see, even if it’s just to see something different.

I love Hellboy. I have a shelf of every Hellboy comic and book, including, I’m ashamed to say, action figures of him - even his Heroclix. I think all of the Hellboy stories are well written, comics or books, and have great illustrations, regardless of who wrote or drew them, be it Mike Mignola, Guy Davis, Christopher Golden, etc. I loved the first movie and the two animated films are great.

But after awhile, it’s starting to wear on me. The formula, that is. In the beginning of the Hellboy franchise, the story had a forward momentum wrapped around in uncovering Hellboy’s mysterious destiny. Things were happening to Hellboy, things that would permanently mark the character and progress the overall story. But it seems to me like a lot of these more recent stories are the same premise - take a myth, put Hellboy in it, and watch Hellboy beat the myth up. It’s a greatly appealing formula, and like I said, I like it, but what frustrates me is these fun formula stories are sidetracking the forward momentum of Hellboy’s ultimate story.

Granted, this story (set in 1958 Appalachian Mountains) was released due to the release of Hellboy 2, and the last Hellboy series Darkness Calls did further the main plot, but there aren’t enough comics essential to Hellboy’s story coming out on a regular basis. It frustrates me as a longtime fan that it appears as though the Hellboy stories are content to stay in the “plug n’ chug” mindset. B.P.R.D. has this forward momentum, but I, and many others, read that series because it ties into Hellboy.

While I just vented frustration about the franchise, don’t let that bad energy get to you. The Crooked Man miniseries is very well-written and engaging in this first issue, utilizing the mix of modernism and occult that makes Hellboy unique. It features more dialogue than most Hellboy comics, and introduces bizarre demons and a heroic sidekick. You’ve got witchcraft and the devil fighting Hellboy in a backwoods background. This would be an awesome story if only it mattered to Hellboy’s story!

image courtesy Dark Horse

Head on over to Apple.com for the new Hellboy 2 trailer.

This new trailer shows off that fancy Pan’s Labyrinth money. Many new monsters (hopefully not all of them) are shown that haven’t been previously revealed, like the monster bazaar, an unusual old lady and the former king of the monsters. Every time I see this trailer, I get chills, and I know that many people are looking forward to this film - people unfamiliar with the comics and even the first film.

People looking to prepare themselves for this new film need not worry - the film’s premise is a new, unique story never seen before. But, seeing the first film couldn’t hurt, and Dark Horse has reissued the older Hellboy volumes as well as the spin-off B.P.R.D. series. New Hellboy books focusing on Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien, Professor Bruttenholm, and the pulp spy hero Lobster Johnson are also available in trade paperback forms, or will be soon, just in time for the movie, or as Dark Horse editor Scott Allie called it, the “big-budget commercial.”

Another person I met at NYCC was illustrator Tony Moore. One of the fun things about comic conventions is the chance to meet the creators behind your favorite titles - not just the writer, but the illustrators, too. Casual comic fans take illustrators for granted, not realizing the strength of every series is the way art conveys the story. The choices the illustrator makes can have a more profound impact on the story than the author intended.

Tony Moore has worked on several of my favorite titles in the past, like The Walking Dead and Brit, and currently is working on Vertigo’s Exterminators and Dark Horse’s Fear Agent series. Mr. Moore took the time to speak to me about his projects and work. Read the rest of this entry »

credit: Image

Amory Wars, Vol. 1: The Second Stage Turbine Blade TPB (Image) - Hey Coheed & Cambria fans! Be one among the fence and get this book, which reworks the already existing Coheed comics and completes the storyline (which is incomplete without the other albums’ series). Did I mention all of C&C’s albums are about an epic space saga that the band plans to release in comic form? No? I’m sure I did. Read the rest of this entry »

Hell Is Other Comics

Mike Mignola’s Hellboy is one of the strongest independent (not DC or Marvel) comic franchises in the past decade. And for good reason. While many of you may have seen the movie, Hellboy comics feature the same red-skinned son of demons, wise-cracking his way from supernatural mystery to supernatural mystery. Though the focus of comic miniseries, novels, short stories and one-shot issues, Hellboy’s world is full of heroes who have also gained their own spotlight, like the pulp adventurer Lobster Johnson, and Hellboy’s B.P.R.D. partners Liz Sherman and Abraham Sapien. Likewise, two straight-to DVD Hellboy movies have been released and the second Hellboy movie is due in theaters July 11th.

I was recently able to speak to Dark Horse Editor of Hellboy, Scott Allie, about the franchise. Read the rest of this entry »

The End League of an Extraordinary Gentleman

There are inherent problems with super heroes. The implications of preternatural beings and their cosmic abilities playing out in our world is problematic, but from a realistic look at these characters, questions arise about their plausibility and how a hero’s existence would alter our own. Rick Remender’s The End League is a comic that asks such questions by allergorically parodizing pre-existing hero archetypes and super imposing them on a dystopian landscape. So far this series is new, but shows lots of promise with its characters and their world.

Dark Horse was kind enough to allow me to speak to Mr. Remender about this series. Read the rest of this entry »

“I know you didn’t just… turn gay all of a sudden.”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #12, which acts as the “8th Season” of the television series, shows Buffy intimate with fellow slayer Satsu, the girl who risked her life to save Buffy in the previous issue. Read the rest of this entry »

There are things I like about this miniseries. Of course, it goes without saying that there are things I don’t like as well, the biggest being the necessity of this story. Better Days takes place sometime before the last episode of Firefly “Objects in Space” and well before the movie Serenity. This brings up the issue of why the series is now called Firefly instead of Serenity, seeing as this comic deals more with the show than the movie based upon it, but that’s probably a legal thing.

No, my chief concern would have to be what is best for the franchise - sure, keeping the name and characters around is swell, but for what purpose? There are so many rumors about one-shots and other Serenity miniseries, but those would just be the proverbial mortally wounded deer still trying to limp along. Read the rest of this entry »