Tagged: Ahoy Comics

Review: The Wrong Earth #3

AHOY Comics is on a tear. The second issue of their debut series, The Wrong Earth, sold out and went back for a second printing.  Comic shops increased their orders for issue #3. The quantities ordered were more than those for the first issue, which ‘never happens’ with new series in today’s comics market.

After reading The Wrong Earth #3, It’s easy to see why.

The main story picks up the pace in this adventure. This issue brings secondary characters to the forefront and, surprisingly, shuffles other characters offstage.   The premise of this story is both traditional and cutting edge at the same time: the adventures of the gritty Dragonfly and the campy Dragonflyman as they switch places. Each character must navigate the absurdity of their doppelganger’s setting.  Conventions are skewered on both sides of the narrative.

The Wrong Earth is a judgement-free zone. Readers aren’t scolded or lectured.  For every “the old days were better”, bit, there’s a counterpoint example of how today’s fiction makes the vintage stuff look dated.  Instead, readers are invited on an adventurous romp that highlights the absurdity of it all.

The series also embraces a sense of urgency and surprise.  Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, writer Tom Peyer pulls the rug out. Peyer is a master of zigging when you thought the only option was zagging.

Jamal Igle’s artistic talent pushes the story along at a frantic pace.  His solid artwork is almost humble.  There are no showy, “look at me” scenes.  But at the same time, his thoughtful page layout, unexpected camera angles and detailed backgrounds leave the reader wanting more.

As with every AHOY series, there’s more to the comic than just the main story. Paul Constant and Frank Cammuso offer up another fun Stinger “Golden Age adventure”. This time, the young hero investigates mysterious hijinks at the Sidekick Museum.

As with all AHOY Comics, this issue is rounded out with clever short text pieces. The real magic of them, for me, is how they prolong the reader’s time with the comic.  Like the signature articles in a Brubaker/Phillips crime comic, these short stories ensure every fan feels as if they are getting their money’s worth.

It’s all fresh and fun. Longtime comic fans seldom have that “I can’t wait to find out what happens next” feeling, but that’s exactly where The Wrong Earth #3 will leave them.

Review: Edgar Allen Poe’s Snifter of Terror #1

A few years back, the idea was that every new comic publisher would establish a cohesive interconnected universe.  Every one of their comic series would be just one part of a larger grand tapestry.

Times have changed.

Since it burst onto the scene, AHOY Comics has boldly said they want to make every comic different and surprising.   They certainly deliver on that promise with Edgar Allen Poe’s Snifter of Terror #1, available today in stores right on time for Halloween.

This comic is witty, creepy, gross …and so much fun. It’s packed full of content that, like a rotting corpse, it seems a little bloated. But in a good way.

The first story- and adaptation of Poe’s “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” – is grim stuff. Tom Peyer opens the story with Poe serving as our horror host. But there’s so much fear and self-loathing. Just when you think it’s too far over the top, it goes over the top again. This chilling story is also an excellent tool for those dieting and seeking appetite suppression tools.

And no sooner is it finished that Edgar Allen Poe again takes center stage to introduce, again in a very unpleasant manner, the second story.

This is the one that really shines for me.  At first glance, “Dark Chocolate” looks like a straightforward vampire story. But in reality, it’s a satirical farce of everything that’s near and dear to every kid who grew up watching Hammer monster movies and eating cereal for breakfast.

Mark Russell, who’s recent Flintstones series for DC Comics has been an unexpected, breakout hit, delivers a story that’s sweetly surprising on so many levels at the same time. It’s been too long since I’ve read a comic story by artist Peter Snejbjerg, and I worry I’ve forgotten just how talented he is.

The comics are rounded out by other features. Included is a short gag comic featuring Poe and a humorous Interview with Mark Russell. However, the poem “The Scallop and the Barnacle” by Celia Madrid is the one not be missed. It’s a grisly tale told with a dash of gallows humor and inappropriate language. Not what I was expecting, but so happy to have read it.

Next issue looks great too. The cover is very much in the lines of the “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman”, but starring Edgar Allen Poe in that iconic pose, of course. It’s nutty, silly and kooky – so it makes all the sense of the world for this comic.

P/Review: High Heaven #1

I think every reviewer has a high-spirited streak inside, where they want something to fail just because there’s a great headline for it.  I remember when the Green Lantern movie was coming out, and there was a negative buzz preceding it, we came up with a list of reviewer headlines like “Oa No! Lights out for Green Lantern!” Looking back, it was pretty mean-spirited.

But thankfully, AHOY Comics’ High Heaven is so good there’s no need for a cheesy headline. If you really want one or need one, just cut and “OMG! High Heaven’s Divine!” or “TGIHH: Thank God its High Heaven” and put it at the top of this review.  This comic, the second venture from Ahoy Comics, is subversively, wicked fun. High Heaven is fresh, witty and couldn’t be more different from the first AHOY title, The Wrong Earth.

Writer Tom Peyer and artist Greg Scott introduce us to a jerk named Weathers who suddenly dies and finds himself in the afterlife. Navigating it isn’t easy, and is especially difficult for a whiner like Weathers.  The concept of Heaven is a well-traveled fictional road, but somehow Peyer creates a new take on it that leaves you eager to learn more.

Greg Scott keeps his foot on the gas with his gritty edged renderings. I liked his style in Archie’s recent Black Hood series, and it works surprisingly well here too.

And just like The Wrong Earth, AHOY has stuffed this issue with a plethora of  diverse extra material. The back-up adventure is called Hashtag: Danger and is a humorous romp in that classic Challengers of the Unknown style.  I’m not sure if the reason it works so well is because of the dinosaurs, the sly digs at social media, the unglamorizing of start-ups, or the wry commentary on reality show celebrities.   A prose story by Grant Morrison, a Shannon Wheeler gag panel, a hilarious letters page and a clever editorial leave the reader with that  “Wow! What a bargain!” feeling.

Heaven Can’t Wait! I’m impatient for issue #2. Ooops- that pun just slipped out. Sorry!

P/Review: “The Wrong Earth”

It’s exciting to be at the start of something. It’s especially exciting to be at the start of a new line of comics. Somehow comics, more than other forms of entertainment, have that feel of immediacy combined with a substantial tapestry of creative team-work. There’s always lots of dedicated people involved, and when they work together and make something new and exciting happen, it’s pretty special.

Ahoy Comic’s first new series, The Wrong Earth, is pretty special. And you can be at the start of it when issue #1 drops in stores tomorrow.

The new series offers readers a double-fish out-of-water story, as a classic Silver Age crime fighter changes places with a gritty “modern” hero. For superhero fans, there’s a lot to compare and contrast. And it’s done without any judgement on what type of storytelling is better. Writer Tom Peyer serves up clever new versions of old favorites, gently acknowledging the collective comic’s history that rattles around in collectors’ and/or fanboys’ heads. But he’s such an out-of-the box thinker that he will keep even the most jaded fans on their toes.

On the other hand, folks who aren’t overly well-versed in the nuances of fifty years of comic book heroes can enjoy this too. Anyone who’s seen one Marvel movie or one episode of a WB Superhero show is good to go.

Jamal Igle and inker Juan Castro provide solid art, often so smooth and skillful that you don’t even realize how good it is. Igle, as always, takes complicated scenes and makes them readable and engaging. He resists the urge to overdo it as he toggles between worlds, and what could have been jarring or tiresome is engaging.

One of the mantra’s for Ahoy is to provide a lot of material in each issue, and to ensure that it’s all diverse. The Wrong Earth #1 is overstuffed with creativity – including a prose story by Grant Morrison, a Too Much Coffee Man gag panel, a Q & A with Jamal Igle and a wonderful “lost” solo adventure of Stinger, the super hero sidekick.

Paul Constant teams with SU professor and artist Frank Cammuso on the Stinger short story called “The Fairgrounds Horror”. It has all the charm and fun of finding an old comic in your grandma’s attic. There’s an astounding level of detail, and the yellowed pages really look like they are from a 1940s comic.

Ahoy Comics’ first comic, The Wrong Earth, is a promising start to new publishing enterprise. I’m hopeful retailers will support this book, and if your retailer doesn’t carry it, ask him to snag you a copy. You will both be happier for it.

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