Week In Review : Alabaster Wolves #4 + B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth The Devil's Engine #3 + Mars Attacks! #2

Another week over and one last lot of new comics folks!
Today our team breaks down three of the most interesting titles on the stands - Alabastar Wolves has been making some waves in horror circles under the pen of Caitlin Kiernan and BPRD has been like a juggernaut of insanity for the past year and is still going. And to wrap it up, we've got the utterly insane Mars Attacks comic!
Enjoy!

Alabaster Wolves #4 (Dark Horse)

Story : Caitlin R. Kiernan

Art : Steve Lieber

(Reviewed by Anirudh Singh)

Ah, Alabaster Wolves... So much potential, so much disappointment and yet so much hope. First off, I really like this series. It has a dash of myth and legends interspersed with a lot of interesting characters. On the downside we are dealing with a primarily Christian mythos here. Our heroine has a guardian angel, and I dont mean that in a metaphorical sense. She literally has an angel watching her back. Talk about real firepower.

As for the heroine herself well she manages to hold her own. A cheeky albino brat out hitch-hiking through the wilderness with a bird to keep her company and a kitchen knife to serve as a weapon. Not good odds I know, even with an angel watching your back. But she survives, rolling on from one near disaster to another near death experience. Monsters and ghouls are thick in this book, werewolves prowl the shadows. And the old rules of riddling are still held sacred.

The writing is very well done, the art too is quite good. The problem lies in the details, because there aren't too many details. You cannot hope to spin a spell of monsters and magic and mayhem and riddles if you stop paying attention to the details. It wont stick. And that is exactly what happens here. The spell shimmers and weaves itself around you and then simply falls apart. Because there are not enough details. This issue scores slightly above the others thanks to its not so subtle Lovecraftian references, but all in all it still lacks those vital details.

A good read on a Sunday afternoon, nevertheless.

SCORE : 6 / 10

B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth The Devil's Engine #3 of 3 (Dark Horse)

Story : Mike Mignola and John Arcudi

Art : Tyler Crook (art) and Dave Stewart (colours)

(Reviewed by Anirudh Singh)

Man I am loving BPRD right now. The world of Hellboy is going through an apocalypse. It is a long awaited and a long hinted at apocalypse. And no body could have shown it better. When you are dealing with showing an apocalypse to your audience you really have two choices, One go grand. As grand as you can, craft one magnificent epic storyline where you can showcase the world as it crumbles about. BPRD chose the other way. Go small, granulate your apocalypse. Break it down to human stories, human reactions. Right now BPRD is spinning out a host of tales all set in this apocalypse, all involving well established (and sometimes not so well established) characters, some who you might have considered to be too minor to be of value to the main storyline. And as a reader, I am having a blast.

The Devil's Engine deals with an interesting chapter in the Hell on Earth arc, Clairvouyant Fenix and Devon are trying to get back to safety. No easy feat when there is an apocalypse going down all around you. Hunted down by giant monsters, they manage to survive barely. Meanwhile Zinco, the devil's corporation continues its evil spiral down the road of forbidden research. Rumours abound, that the late great Rasputin might be in for a comeback. And in the middle of all this there are vital questions still hanging unanswered. Why did Fenix shoot Abe? What did she see in his future? What does she know that makes her so sure that Abe has to die? And why did Devon do nothing about it?

All vital questions to the story I assure and all questions that will be answered. I for one will be looking forward to them.

SCORE : 8 / 10

Mars Attacks! #2 (IDW)

Story : John Layman

Art : John McCrea

(Reviewed by Anubhav DasGupta)

Two issues in, Mars Attacks! has been an extremely fun comic. All I knew about the franchise was that horrendous (but extremely fun) Tim Burton film from the ‘90s starring Jack Nicholson and Pierce Brosnan. What this comic does is take the best parts out of that film and amp up the awesomeness level by 10.

It’s like a big-budget Roger Corman film, but with a better story and some really cool characters. In this issue, the Martians execute an all-out assault on the world, first targeting the leaders of the world. By the president’s side is American hero, Budd Spencer - astronaut and Vietnam veteran - the guy who spotted the Martians from his rocket in the last issue. He’s the very epitome of badass-ness.

I love how Layman weaves his entire story around Mars Attacks! trading cards. A lazy writer would have used these trading cards to create segments, but this guy actually makes a story around them. As evidenced by his work on Chew, Layman is great at comedy and he shines here as well. There are moments where you’ll cackle in glee, and there are moments you’ll wish you saw on screen. For a fan of B-Movies like me, this is manna from heaven.

The art is very reminiscent of Chew, which works well in favour of Layman’s story. At once it feels familiar and fresh, what with the bright colours and slightly cartoony art that heightens the black comedy.

If Mars Attacks! continues being this good, then we’re in for a treat! Don’t hesitate to read this one. And if you’re a fan of Chew, you should be castrated if you haven’t started reading this one already!

SCORE : 7.5 / 10

See you all in a few days with more new releases reviewed!