Last Week’s Comics 7/6/2011
[wpcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]
The Walking Dead #86
(Image – writer: Robert Kirkman; art: Charlie Adlard)
I think what I like most about The Walking Dead is the fact that no one is safe. If you haven’t been following the series, but plan on it, I’d skip this review because I’m going to be giving away a lot of plot.
Robert Kirkman can border on verbose and dramatic. Some issues I can take or leave. The reason I’ve been thinking about this series is because it’s only 14 issues away from #100. Kirkman built up to the last big milestone, issue #50, by having the group find their way into a prison then encounter a man everyone called The Governor. The Governor went on to repeatedly rape Michonne then chop off Rick’s right hand with a butcher knife. The Governor got his own punishments (Michonne had her way with him – her torture involved nails, wood, and sensitive body parts) before the climactic 50th issue where Rick’s wife and baby daughter were shot and killed. For longtime readers, it was traumatic.
Seeing the buildup to #100 is enough to put those same feelings of dread into the reader. Rick’s son, Carl, was shot through the right eye and has been in a coma for the past several issues. The group managed to build a fortified wall around a group of houses that now serves as a pretty safe base camp. Things seem okay.
But that’s my point – no one is ever safe in The Walking Dead. From what I can tell, issue #100 is going to be explosive, sad, violent and as always, full of zombies. While I haven’t enjoyed Kirkman’s other work (specifically Haunt, which I found to be utter tripe), I’ve always enjoyed The Walking Dead. The series lags here and there, but once readers understand that it’s not about zombies but instead about the will to survive, then everything becomes clear.
In this issue, Carl is still in a coma, Rick is working on fortifying the defenses and Andrea is training a group of people to shoot roamers. It’s standard exposition, and it ends with Rick telling Andrea that he wants to stay in their current home until his 8-year-old son Carl is 30. The issue ends with Rick telling Andrea, “This is going to work.” The problem is that knowing Robert Kirkman, things will not work out in the end. Now we just have to wait and see how badly everything falls apart.
[/wpcol_1half] [wpcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
Witch Doctor #1
(Image – writer: Brandon Seifert; art: Lukas Ketner)
Lukas Ketner deserves the credit for making Witch Doctor work so well. The story is about Dr. Vincent Morrow, a witch doctor who deals in supernatural occurrences. Driver Eric Gast (the straight man in many ways) and his “anesthesiologist,” Penny Dreadful, accompany Dr. Morrow on his cases. While the book deals with demons and possession, it’s a lighthearted read filled with fantastically disturbing art and fun dialogue.
Brandon Seifert makes sure to complement the subject matter of his series with humor. Morrow reminds me of a Johnny Depp-like character, similar to Jack Sparrow but without the Keith Richards mood. Morrow is clearly misunderstood; however, he’s good at his job and not afraid of the monsters he encounters. He’s spacey, but intelligent, and while he may not have the answer immediately, he will arrive at it through either experimentation or desperation.
I think what I enjoyed most about Witch Doctor was the fact that it is a self-contained story. While it is the first of four issues, the focus is on one story and it’s not loaded with a deeper arc or a greater mystery. What you see is what you get. It’s refreshing in the decompressed storytelling world of comics. Seifert doesn’t seem to be concerned with decompression. In fact, if there were a deeper mystery, I think it would hurt the overall feel of Witch Doctor. I see this as a comic you’re meant to read, laugh at a little, see how things are resolved and then move on.
Plus, Lukas Ketner’s art is awesome. I was grossed out most of the time I read Witch Doctor, as the book features lots of tentacles, slimy pink skin, wormlike bodies and green slime (I can only imagine the smell). Seifert and Ketner have a good thing going with Witch Doctor, and I recommend picking up a copy for yourself.
——–
[/wpcol_1half_end]
