“Janey Belle is on her path for revenge, for those who are responsible for her death. with a little help from the Zombie Queen, who has a common enemy.“

There are a few artists that I like to lump into the same category as Dan Mendoza; Jason Martin, Bryan Baugh, Buz Hasson, Ken Heaser and Josh Howard. Each of these guys has a very cartoony style to their artwork that may have some people looking the other way, but I want you all to know that would be a mistake. In this book you are treated to outstanding visuals that consist of great character designs, awesome colors and some of the most GORE-geous death scenes that I found in more recent comics today.

“This is the final volume of “Family Bones”, a true crime graphic novel about the elderly serial murderers from Missouri. In their 70?s, Ray and Faye Copeland were sentenced to death for the murder of many farm workers that lived with them. The tale told through the eyes of their unwitting nephew comes to a gruesome conclusion. And through it all somehow this city boy finds young romance with a neighbor’s daughter. Written by the actual great nephew of Ray and Faye Copeland, “Family Bones” is a gritty, fish-out-of-water American gothic that will send shivers down your spine.”

I enjoyed the artwork in this volume a bit more than I did in Vol. 1. Not saying that there is better talent on board here, just that I liked the more realistic look that this group of artists brought to the project. Even as the story progresses here, and we see more of the true nature of the cast, it seems to get grittier and darker.

Have you been following our Top Cow comic reviews, interviews and previews here on FlamesRising.com? Our staff reviewers have been impressed with Top Cow Productions, Inc. and their ability to produce quality comics like WITCHBLADE and WANTED, because they are filled with great stories and impressive artwork. Their horror comics include THE DARKNESS and a new comic dubbed BERSERKER, which crosses Norse mythology with violent fighting and heroic action.

From now through the end of October, save twenty percent off your purchase of Top Cow digital comics!

For the most part this is a nice looking black and white comic. I enjoyed how the dream sequences were not inked to set them apart it gave them a nice hazy feeling, a cool touch. The characters are very consistent from panel to panel and have a fun look to them. My only downside was that at times they seemed to be a little flat due to shading. However it doesn’t take away from the whole. A nice job overall and one creepy looking sea monster towards the end.

The tag line across the cover sums this one up “It’s a B movie in a comic book!” Cheesy dialogue on top of a descent storyline make this one interesting. What kind of got to me were the rushed scenes where I would have liked more explanation. I think the character for a first issue could have used a little more depth to them. What did work well here was a great idea overall that leads me to want to read more to find out what happens next.

Sea Lion Books is proud to announce New York Times and USA TODAY Bestselling author Richelle Mead as its newest addition to its growing list of distinguished authors. Sea Lion Books will develop in comic book and graphic novel form the entire Dark Swan series starting with Storm Born.

“The world of the Dark Swan series is an amazing place,” says Richelle’s agent Jim McCarthy. “I’m tremendously excited for new readers and returning fans to have the opportunity to explore Richelle’s incredible creation in this new medium.”

“No one knows where these two warriors came from. The only thing that’s clear is that they’re two of most ornery, trouble-making $%@# that have ever lived. SKULLKICKERS is a fantasy action-comedy: Two mercenaries are entangled in a high-class assassination plot and nothing—werewolves, skeletons or black magic—will stop them from getting paid. If you love tabletop fantasy RPGs or movies like Army of Darkness, SKULLKICKERS is waiting for you!“

Nice looking book! I love the color work, it makes every panel pop off the page with style. I gotta say that the fat werewolf rocks! Can I get a shirt of that! I love the character designs, very cartoon/anime but that is what I tend to like. Like I said the colors rock and it really works well with the tone of the story.

If I were to just flip through this issue and not take in the story and how the art relates to it I can honestly say I might have passed on it. What a mistake that would have been. I will admit that the art style is jagged and can seem choppy at times, but when taken into how it relates to the storyline I couldn’t be more satisfied with it. A Heavy Metal style of artwork lends itself to the overall enjoyability of this book through the designs of the dead, and of a world that has never been seen by human eyes.

So I mentioned that the art really played off the story. What I meant by that was we are presented with a future that is not our own. In the reality here there are many things to be left explored. In this issue alone were treated to a new futuristic approach to skydiving which was really cool. Of course were talking the future so anything could be possible, but the way that it was taken into context here works.

“He’s back from the dead and starring in a new ongoing horror series from the mind of Kurt Busiek. A powerful, predatory corporation acquires a valuable asset – Dracula! They think they own him, but no one can own the Son of the Dragon. There’s a monster in their midst that puts Hannibal Lecter to shame – and he plans to gain his freedom in blood. It’s bloodsuckers vs. bloodsucker, as Busiek brings an incredibly modern spin to the Dracula mythos.“

I can’t really say that this is a bad-looking issue, because it isn’t. However nothing really stood out to me to move it up higher on my scale. The pages early on stood out a bit more as they were focused on Vlad Dracul, with some back story, but then it just seemed to dull down as we moved into present day. The cast is good from panel to panel, nice and consistent, but it all just seems to mimic the slow story. So it didn’t really grab me.

Ex Occultus is a globetrotting, serialized epic combining elements of Indiana Jones, H. P. Lovecraft and The X-Files as it follows the exploits of adventurer and fortune-hunter Francis Wakefield, the gruff and grizzled Englishman with a tortuous past, and his protégé, a young man only known as Hollander, as they journey through the arcane in search of treasures and fortune, righting wrongs as they go.

The Seal of Solomon

1874. Sofia, Bulgaria. Wakefield and Hollander are hired by a mysterious nobleman to track down the fabled Seal of Solomon, a ring of supernatural origin with the abilities to summon and control demons. What first appears to be a simple mission, however, soon becomes something far more deadly.

Ex Occultus: Seal of Solomon is available at DriveThruComics.com.

Weird “Haunted Science-Fiction” ongoing comic book series celebrates the end of its beginning by entering the doomed domain of retail pamphlet comics.

Dead Man Holiday, a well-received “Haunted Science-Fiction” ongoing comic book series self published by Colin Panetta, will release its third issue on December 30th, 2009. The series’ plot centers around Thad Planck, a low-rent security guard in a flooded and abandoned neighborhood known as Little Atlantis, where there have been some strange things growing and walking around as of late. The first two issues of Dead Man Holiday can be downloaded for free at the comic book’s website, DeadManHoliday.com. The fittingly aloof blurb for the new issue reads: “Little Atlantis is getting weird. So when a straw (in the form of a falcon carrying a dismembered hand) breaks the camel’s (our man Thad Planck’s, that is) back, the camel decides to strike back and show the weirdness who’s in charge. But not before making a sandwich. Can Thad keep Little Atlantis in check? Not without a little help from his friends. Or maybe just not at all.”

Heske Horror, creator of the critically acclaimed Cold Blooded Chillers indie horror series and award-winning Bone Chiller anthology, has released its anticipated apocalyptic anthology, 2012: Final Prayer.

What will go down on 12/21/12?

Extinction … Ecstasy … Or another Y2K non-event? Comic Creators from around the world share their creative interpretations!

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present an interview with author Thomas Sniegoski. Tom is a veteran author who has written for dozens of comics titles (BONE, THE SISTERHOOD), media tie-in novels (HELLBOY, ANGEL) and his original fiction (The Remy Chandler Series). Fans of Christopher Golden might recognize Tom’s work; the two have collaborated on a number of projects. Our first Girls of Gore article highlighted their character named Eve from The Menagerie.

In this interview, Tom Sniegoski discusses what he enjoys writing, monkeys and some of the challenges he faces.

Cinemacomics brings us a new modern horror comic series called OF EVIL AND DARKNESS. To highlight their new horror comic, they put together a trailer that offers a sneak peek at the artwork and story designed by Jay Carvajal. OF EVIL AND DARKNESS is a mature-rated horror comic that deals with the paranormal.

Publisher New Baby Productions announces that a graphic novel adaptation of Derek Gunn’s acclaimed Vampire Apocalypse novel series is in the works. “I’m really thrilled with this new direction as I always felt that (Vampire Apocalypse) really lends itself to this format,” stated Gunn. Vampire Apocalypse was published in September 2006, and has been optioned by producer/screenwriter Richard Finney to be a feature film. A script has already been penned by Finney and Franklin Guerrero Jr. Fallout, the third book in the series, will be released this October from Black Death Books.

Bone Chiller, a comic anthology penned by R.M. Heske with illustrations by indie horror’s leading and emerging artists, received a Bronze medal at the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Horror category. The 140-page trade paperback published by Heske Horror features spine-tingling tales from the critcally acclaimed series Cold Blooded Chillers: Tales of suburban murder and malice.

The Independent Publisher Book Awards (the “IPPY” awards) are conducted annually to honor the year’s best independently published titles. This year’s awards attracted 4,090 entries throughout the US and Canada, plus most English-speaking countries worldwide. Past IPPY award success stories include The Millionaire Next Door, a winner in the inaugural 1997 awards contest, which has sold more than 2.5 million copies and spawned off-shoots including The Millionaire Mind.

Think of a world where an alien virus is released; that virus changes you–inside and out. Maybe you get the Black Queen, so you die. Horribly. Maybe you pull a Joker. Mutated and deformed, you stick to a place called “Jokertown.” If you’re lucky, you pull an Ace. You’re a hero–you’re supposed to be the good guy. But are you?

In this Dabel Brothers Publishing adaptation of George RR Martin‘s best-selling series dubbed “Wild Cards,” there are good guys, bad guys, and everything else in between.

Faith in the Future is a story told in one issue.

The scenes are pretty well illustrated. Darkzel’s penciling is well done, and he is able to combine his characters with the world they live in.

When I read through the issue, my first thoughts were how the symbolism is very on the nose. Depictions of a ‘pest messiah” crucified on a cross combined with a hunched over capering exterminator leave little to the imagination. The framework of the story deals with absolute images and While the author’s narration helped explain what I had missed, the artwork captures a lot of raw emotion and even without text James Desborough and Darkzel told a very clear story.

Review by John Kennedy

The third issue of Robert M. Heske’s Cold Blooded Chillers: Tales of Suburban Murder and Malice is a collection of three short graphic stories, all written by Heske and drawn by artists Adam Swiecki, Reno Maniquis, and Dirk Shearer. Cold Blooded Chillers is an homage to the horror serials and anthologies of yesteryear including E.C. Comics horror titles such as Tales from the Crypt, as well as television classics like The Twilight Zone. The difference is that the aforementioned examples occasionally had a tongue firmly planted in a cheek whereas this collection plays in the dark exclusively.

The book opens with a story called Shadow which is immediately engaging by way of its sophisticated and disturbing tone.

Review by Jason Thorson

Post Mortem Comic Studios is based out of western North Carolina, joining authors from the Southern Horror Writers Association with talented artists spanning the world. Some of the titles available at DriveThruComics include:

Magic Eight Ball

A one-shot horror comic. Three teenagers test their fate in the words of a Magic Eight Ball when strange creatures threaten them.

Dorothy Rising

Hatfield, Arkansas becomes terrorized by a government experiment gone wrong. A swarm of mutant insects takes control of the wind and destroys everything in their path. A plague of funnel clouds begin to form and lay waste to the town or so the town thinks.

The story is about a young man living in a police state. The internet has become the chief propaganda tool of the government, and camera-like tentacles are everywhere to monitor citizens. Broad skyscrapers dominate the skyline with propaganda dominating advertising spaces.

Current events make up the backdrop of the story as well. In One Live Beast, rising gas prices, terrorism, and corrupt business practices contribute to the rise of the police state. All of these lead to Christopher’s rise as a hero, as his attempt to rebel against the police state inadvertently leads to him gaining his powers.

Review by John Kennedy