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Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic #27 (VECTOR: PART 3) ( Dark Horse / Miller / Hepburn / Parsons)

An ancient evil gains long-coveted power in the third part of 2008’s biggest Star WarsSomething terrible is spreading among the Mandalorians, threatening to bring their conquest of the galaxy to a previously unthinkable new level! Unfortunately, fugitive Padawan Zayne Carrick and the con artist Gryph don’t even know how they’re going to survive their current predicament, let alone stop this horrifying threat! Lucky for the galaxy, their companion Jedi Celeste Morne has a few ideas about what to do. Unlucky for Zayne, Celeste’s boss wants him dead! * This is only the third issue of “Vector,” a 12-part storyline that will run through every event! Star Wars title, from Knights of the Old Republic, to Dark Times, to Rebellion, to Legacy.

So here’s one where the story is worth while and really very good, but the art was so much better when it was done by Brian Ching or Travel Foreman. Scott Hepburn is a good artist, I just don’t think his cartoony style fits KOTOR very well. His Rakghouls look cool, but Zayne Carrick looks like the lovechild of Adrian Brody and Crispin Glover.

John Jackson Miller does an excellent job with this third installment of the Vector crossover as we see that the Muur Talisman may have a mind of it’s own. Since there is no time travel in the Star Wars universe, I’m becoming more and more intrigued on how Miller and company will explain how these time periods in the Star Wars universe will connect.

Issue Grade: B+

Series Grade: A-

STAR WARS: LEGACY #22 (Dark Horse / Ostrander / Robinson)

In light of recent events, Darth Krayt deems it time to teach a lesson in obedience-to the entire galaxy!  Emperor Krayt is displeased, and the price of betrayal will be exacted from an entire race, their suffering rippling to the edges of the Outer Rim. Yet his wrath will not stop there, as even among his own ranks failure will be dealt with cruelly and with lasting results. Old allegiances will be tested, and new bonds will be formed through pain and anger.  This is what happens when the Sith rule the galaxy!

Sith are bad…..very, very bad. I know that isn’t news, but we get a reminder of the genocidal mayhem the Sith are capable of. Unfortunately we see it through some of the worst art I’ve seen in a Star Wars comic in some time. I looked up Alan Robinson’s other art work and it wasn’t bad, but his first 5 pages of Legacy looked like a 6th graders Star Wars project. Ostrander is working his way through a story arc that has so far been unimpressive, but has possibility to grow into something. I really feel like the last three issues have been just left me waiting for something, and what I’m waiting for is the return of Cade Skywalker! It looks like Cade and company return next issue, but lets hope the art gets better.

Issue Grade: C

Series Grade: B+ (dropping due to last three issues.)

The Oconocon, the premier Comics event of Wisconsin and it’s coming up soon! The Oconocon is May 4^th at The Olympia Resort & Convention Center 1350 Royale Mile Road, Oconomowoc, WI 53066. Oconomowoc, WI is located right in between Milwaukee and Madison. The Resort is conveniently situated less than 2 miles off of Interstate 94.

Some of the guests are: Jim Krueger (Justice, Project: Superpowers), Sean McKeever (Teen Titans, Countdown), John Jackson Miller (Star Wars: KOTOR), Mark Stegbauer (Femme Noir, The Four Uncles of the Apocolypse), Worth Gowell (Kid Houdini), Matt Anderson (White Picket Fences), Micah Farritor (White Picket Fences), Andy Brase (Kull, Incredible Hulk), Josh Elder (The Batman Strikes!), Rich Koslowski (Marvel Comics Presents), Russell Lissau (The Batman Strikes!), Tom Nguyen (Batman, Green Lantern Corps), Ande Parks (Green Arrow, Superman Confidential)… plus many, many more… check out the complete list here!

The architect and driving force behind the Oconocon is Joshua Goes. I have had the pleasure of knowing Josh for a year or two now. Recently I was able to get a few words out of him about the Oconocon, his life and how he uses his powers of geekdom for good!

Check out below for Josh’s interview, an insight into setting up a convention and monkeybread sweet deals on airline to and from comic conventions!

Read the rest of this entry »

Evil Dead #3 (of 4) (Dark Horse - Bolton / Verheiden)

All Ash wanted was to get some “alone time” with his new girl Linda . . . but an isolated cabin in the woods, harboring ancient secrets and angry demons, ruined any chance Ash had at “getting lucky.” With Linda infected and crazed, Ash and Scotty bury what’s left of Shelly before Scotty heads out into the woods to find help. Well, he certainly finds something out there. Ash has his hands full trying to keep Linda off of him-which would be a good thing, had Linda not been completely possessed by murderous deadite rage! Ash struggles to save his friends and his sanity, as those fallen to the destructive deadites move in for the final kill! Relive the original thrilling Evil Dead experience in the only officially authorized EXPANSION of Sam Raimi’s classic film, featuring gorgeous-and-gory painted interiors by John Bolton (Army of Darkness, Harlequin Valentine) and some of the best new Ash quips ever-as penned by legendary scribe Mark Verheiden!

Once Again Mr. Verheiden comes through with a true-to-canon issue.  If you are a fan of the original Evil Dead movies, there is no doubt that you will be engulfed in this mini-series gives little bit more background and depth to Ash’s weekend tromp.  Even if you aren’t a ED fan, but enjoy a good splatter splash page, no one does this better than John Bolton.  Within the four part series, issue three is almost always the finale set-up, and so it is here.  Ash’s journey doesn’t necessarily move along and further except that he has come to the conclusion that these possessed zombies are no longer his friends and he will need to move beyond that if he is to survive.  Overall a must have for fans!  Pullbox Warning: due to gore / graphic content, this really, really not a kid book.

Issue Grade: B

Series Grade: B+

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic #26 (Vector Part 2) (Dark Horse / Miller / Hepburn / Pimentel / Parsons)

” The second part of the biggest Star Wars story of 2008 begins with Mandalorians galore and ends with the arrival of a seemingly unstoppable threat!  Fugitive Padawan Zayne Carrick and his con-artist companion Gryph have fallen into a situation even more dangerous than the one they escaped on wartorn Taris-surrounded by enemies and trapped in close-quarters with a deadly agent of the group who framed Zayne for killing his fellow Jedi-in-training!

* No one should miss “Vector”! This is Star Wars on its grandest scale-a galaxy-spanning, era-defining, sure-fire hit with fans both casual and hardcore!”

It’s not so much the agent of his enemies that Zayne should worry about, but more the ever-growing numbers of rakghouls that are hunting him. Plus, these are no ordinary rakghouls, they’re smart and organized. This new plague has been one of Taris’s best kept secrets, but in the pages of Vector, I have a feeling that it’s about to be busted wide open. What is the crux of Vector? I don’t know. But I do know that it will center around a rakghoul invasion and the Muur Talisman that will sweep through the galaxy. Not good!

The writing is stellar as always, but the new art hasn’t grown on me like I thought it would. There are times when I see greatness in the work on Scott Hepburn, then there are times when I wonder, “What the hell’s wrong with Zayne’s chin?” Hepburn is a capable artist who does very pretty splash page, but the lost me in the basic panel-to-panel of of the comic. I’m hoping that he can move up the extra inch to be on part with the level of writing.

Issue Grade: B

Series Grade: A-

Star Wars: Legacy ( Dark Horse / Ostrander / Francia / Anderson)

” The conclusion of a shocking two-part tale pitting the Sith Empire against the Galactic Alliance in an all-out space battle!

The Sith have lured outlaw Admiral Gar Stazi into a trap to destroy the Alliance once and for all. Yet Stazi is no fool-he may have agreed to play the Sith’s game, but not with the cards they expect! Meanwhile, forces loyal to the deposed Emperor Roan Fel wait on the sidelines. Are they here to help, to hurt, or simply make off with whatever’s left when the dust settles?

Stazi springs the Empire’s trap!”

These last two issues are a bit of a departure of the regular Legacy formula. We follow the Rebel Alliance fleet, or what’s left of it, as they try and steal the newest most powerful Star Destroyer from under the Empire’s nose. This is where Legacy turns from a great book about the Skywalker bloodline to an extraordinary military story the rivals some of the best I’ve read. The twists and turns that happen in this issue are so many an profound that I can’t even begin to list them here. Just be assured that just because Cade Skywalker has not been in these last two issues, it’s still a better story then we deserve.

Issue Grade: A+

Overall Grade: A

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Variety reports today that Dark Horse, publishers of fine comics and graphic novels, and Universal, creators of good movies and theme parks, have climbed into bed for a 7 picture deal.

I’m eagerly awaiting the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army this summer. I hope this is another notch in what is turning into a large belt.

Evil Dead #2 (of 4) (Dark Horse - Verheiden / Bolton)

Relive the blood-soaked experience of the classic horror film The Evil Dead-from Ash’s point of view and with extra scenes! Mark Verheiden (Battlestar Galactica, My Name Is Bruce) scripts this EXPANSION on Sam Raimi’s first full-length feature film, putting us right inside Ash’s brash mind and giving Evil Dead fans Raimi-approved dialogue and scenes that didn’t appear in the original gore-fest. Mark writes, “With permission from Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, we’ve expanded the movie, meeting our characters back in their pre-deadite lives and opening up the story to see what happened between the events seen on screen.” John Bolton (Army of Darkness, Harlequin Valentine) returns to the Evil Dead universe to paint some of the best horror pages of his career–and he’s having red bucketfuls of fun in the process!

Talk about your under-rated Horror books!  Any fan of the Evil Dead storyline should fighting tooth and nail to get their copies of this new expanded vision of the original movie.  Mark Verheiden does an outstanding job of interpreting and re-layering the original plot.  I can understand the “this is just another comic adaption” attitude, but this is much more than that.  We are now privy to flashbacks, inner-dialogues and previously untold history of the Necronomicon the nefarious cabin.  If you are a fan, you will want to read it!  John Bolton, who is a legend in horror art / comics, keeps his bar placed high with page after page of tempting terror, great action and over-the-top gore scenes.   Not a book for everyone, but it should be on the list for any Bruce / Sam fans.   Pullbox Warning: as stated, this book has a high gore factor!  Keep  it out of innocent hands

Issue Grade: A

Star Wars: Legacy #19 - Claws of the Dragon part 6 (of 6) (Dark Horse / Ostrander / Duurseema / Parsons)

“The galaxy-shaking storyline “Claws of the Dragon” reaches its unbelievable conclusion as the Empire’s enemies and allies all make their move for one man-Cade Skywalker!
Cade stands face-to-face with the Emperor of the galaxy and leader of the Sith legions, Darth Krayt. Has the last Skywalker reached the point of no return on the path to darkness? Meanwhile, Deliah Blue and Jariah Syn execute a rescue plan for Cade that revolves around a single, significant word: “Boom.”
Cade Skywalker versus Darth Krayt! ”

BOOM is right! This is the most intense ending to a story arc I’ve read since the end of the Sinestro War. Cade is in a constant struggle with himself to not turn to the dark side while engaging the most powerful Sith alive in heated battle. While Cade has his hands full, the rest of the Mynock crew are busy trying to enact a plan the will allow Cade to leave the Sith temple in one piece.

Ostrander does an amazing job spinning a Star Wars tale that hearkens back to the excitement of the original series. This tale is strengthened by the art of Jan Duurseema, who depicts a Star Wars universe of the “future” that keeps that same great feel while keeping it fresh and new. This marks the end of a great story arc with just enough room to start and finish another arc before it’s Legacy’s turn to take part in “Vector”.

Grade: A