Dark Horse Comics - New Release Reviews For July 5, 2012
Welcome back to another New Release Reviews for Dark Horse Comics. The Road To Comic-Con has arrived as the big event opens next week. While Comic-Con is the granddaddy of the comic book world, other large conventions are coming up and they have their own event associated. This includes the Baltimore Comic-Con and its Harvey Awards, which just announced the nominees.
The awards, named after the late Harvey Kurtzman, recognize major accomplishments in current comic books and sequential art. Congratulations to Dark Horse for its six nominations including Best New Series for Angel & Faith, reviewed last week. This week has three new comics (with a spoiler) and two collected editions. Titles are scored on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the very best possible. We take the time to read these books so your time isn't wasted.
Usagi Yojimbo : Traitors Of the Earth - Collected Edition
Not enough can be said about the quality of Usaji Yojimbo and this collected edition presents some of the most recent issues. Individual tales are near perfect and self-contained. The artwork is lovingly drawn and masterful in its overall design. The stories are bursting with gentle humor and the characters always end up doing the right thing.
One of the best aspect of the stories is that things are never predictable. The stories surprise the reader but things always make sense. This collection even has, possibly, the best zombie story told in some time. The back-up story is fun and there is an excellent glossary in the back of the collection.
Score: 10 out of 10
Mind MGMT - Issue 2
This is a perfect example of promoting art over commerce. The artwork is sophisticated. It is Art. It has style and flair and an opinion. The story is clever and atmospheric. It was a bit of a drop from the prior issue but it's still excellent. Even the wrap-around, backup story is engaging.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
Creepy Quarterly - Issue 9
This issue of the Creepy Quarterly is as good as any of the other issues which is to say it's adequate. Stories tend to be more angry and sad then creepy. Though the Richard Corben story about being lost at sea is very creepy. The one-page Creepy Family stories are very funny. Everything else is just adequate.
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