- V-WARS – As you all know from reading the Padre’s awesome Wondercon 2014 coverage of IDW’s Greatest Panel In The Known Universe, V-Wars is a book that immediately jumped onto my radar with its promise of cool Vampire – human horror and conflict. Novelist Jonathan Maberry (Marvel Universe Vs. The Punisher) teams up with Alan Robinson (Phoenix Without Ashes) on art and Jay Fotos (Locke and Key, Wraith) on colors to deliver a tale soaked in blood, political conspiracy, and all out war. There are definite influences that come to the fore while reading the book. Mix a little Walking Dead, sprinkle it with a bit of T-Virus ala Resident Evil, throw a coat of Dawn of the Dead paint over the whole thing, send in Rainbow Six and voila, V-Wars. For the most part this debut issue was a bit paint-by-numbers. Meet people with good intentions, see those good intentions go to hell, war starts, there is a conspiracy, a possible resolution, hope dashed away by convenient plot circumstances. Robinson’s art is good throughout, doing simple and gory equally well. The colors by Fotos add a sheen of detail that help bring it all to vivid life. My disappointment comes from the blandness of the overall story and the overwhelming sense of predictability. V-Wars does have some cool moments (armed Vamps taking on heavily armored Special Forces units in what look like street gangs vs. swat scenarios) but overall feels less ambitious than I had hoped. In horror movie terms, good enough for a rental, but not something I want to permanently own. 2.5/5.
- DREAM POLICE #1 – The team that brought us Apocalypse Al launches another comic from Image this week under the Joe’s Comics banner. J. Michael Straczysnki (Thor), Sid Kotian (Twilight Guardian), and Bill Farmer (Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion) deliver a hard- boiled detective story set in the land of dreams. They police all manner of dreams. The good, the bad, the ugly. From the lucid to the disturbing result of a parent reading the wrong bedtime story to their kids. Joe Thursday and his partner make sure dreams play out the way they should. Dreams are like elaborate stage plays where sometimes the actors (here, changelings) decide to go off script. There are some smile inducing moments thanks to JMS’s mastery of dialogue and the wry sense of humor, usually brought on by frustration, exhibited by the main character. Solid art by Kotian and Farmer. Kotian’s storytelling, panel-to-panel is really quite good. The highlight for me, where words and images really merged to make something special, was the one-on-one with the lead, Joe Thursday, and a talking cat. There were some fun interpretations of various types of dreams throughout this debut. Oh, and the Nightmares? Yeah, you really don’t want them to show up on any side that isn’t your own. 3.25/5.