|
-
Hivemind social net
-
News
- Features
- Blogs
- Events
Calendar
- Editorials
- Monthly
Zine
- Offworld
Report
- Our Daily
RSS Feed
- Google Toolbar scifi
- Movie/TV
Reviews
> Recent movies
> Movies by year
> Movies by title
- Book
Reviews
> Recent books
> Books by year
> Books by title
- Home
- Worlds
- Biography
- Bibliography
- Appearances
- Reviews
- Blog
- Community
- Press
- Links
Become
an Advertiser
- Web
Site Directory
- Search
the Net
- StephenHunt.net
- WoodenRocket.com
- Check
your E-mail
- Non Sci-Fi
News
|
Tales From The Crypt no. 2 - 4
01/04/2008 . Source: Paul Skevington 
pub: Papercutz. 48 page comic. Price: $ 3.95 (US), $ 4.95 (CAN) each. Buy Tales From The Crypt in the USA - or Buy Tales From The Crypt in the UK  check out website: www.papercutz.com/tc/tc.html
In my review of 'Tales From The Crypt' # 1, I outlined the problems that I had with the title and my hopes for its future. After perusing these new issues, I find myself in a similar position as before having been alternately delighted and disgusted with the content that editor Jim Salicrup is deciding to place within the pages of one of the most well-known horror titles ever.
For example, # 2 features a story entitled 'The Tenant' that includes some perfectly acceptable if slightly pedestrian artwork by Steve Mannion. This art is not helped by the pixelated look it seems to have acquired, making it look like a web-comic that you're reading on a faulty computer screen. The cover Mannion provides for this issue is certainly of a much higher standard than the material within the comic, hinting that this artist could have been pushed a little harder to improve the interior work.
The story concerns an unscrupulous landlord and the results of an unlikely punishment handed out by the courts in retribution for his carelessness. Like the art, the script by Neil Kleid is entertaining yet uninspired, appearing decidedly stretched in places, as if the author hadn't been given enough pages to fully realise his original ambition. Despite this, 'The Tenant' is one of the better stories in these issues, certainly when compared with the utterly despicable 'The Garden'.
If there was ever a comic story that was made in hell, then this is certainly it. For starters we have the artwork. Its stylised and simplistic line work, with its colour scheme that appears to have been lifted straight out of a troubled child's paint-box would sit uncomfortably with any story that attempted to induce a sense of horror.
I must warn you that I'm going to 'spoil' this story now by giving away its ending. I need to do this in order to illustrate why I dislike it so much.
In 'The Garden' we are introduced to a man named Richard who is in the process of moving to a new home and a new life. Initially, we are not advised of the reason for this. His new home pleases him beyond his wildest dreams, its garden is lush and the house is magnificent. Inside are three beautiful female servants, who seem willing to obey his every whim. Soon, though, he realises that all is not as it appears, as the women attack him viciously, as do the rest of the house's staff. We then discover the reason for this; Richard was a suicide bomber who thought he'd get into paradise when he died, but he now realises that instead of this he is fated to be imprisoned and punished for eternity by the people that he killed.
There are several reasons that this piece
angered me. Firstly, there is the obvious
creative cowardice of the story. The protagonist
is transparently supposed to be a Muslim fundamentalist,
as shown by his expectation of receiving paradise
as a reward for martyrdom and his dissatisfaction
with the 'corruption of the western world'.
Despite this, the author gives him an un-Islamic
name and never mentions the specifics of the
cause that he has chosen to destroy himself
for. Secondly, although I would personally
condemn anyone taking any actions that result
in the loss of human life, I loathe the simplicity
of the storys view of the character's motivations.
It displays a distinct lack of understanding
of human nature by depicting the bomber as
a man who takes this course of action because
he is a sociopath, rather than as a person
who acts because they have a genuine grievance
or sincerely held belief. This insults the
intelligence of the reader.
After this, we are treated to the pleasant surprise of # 3, which is enjoyable from cover to cover. The first story 'A Murderin' Idol' is a parody of the famous TV freak-show that goes by a similar title. In it, an aspiring young pop-star finds a demonic book that he uses to help him realise his ambitions, one step at a time. The comedy is handled skilfully here and the steady escalation of the price his fame carries will definitely raise a few chuckles. Steve Mannion takes on the art duties again and, whilst not destined to win any awards, it sets off the tone of the piece quite nicely.
This is followed by 'Slabbed', a great little story that focuses on a traditional structure of crime and retribution, but that does so with a certain flair that most readers will get a nostalgic kick out of. Writer Stefan Petrucha hedges his bets by making it a tale about comics, which will undoubtedly endear it to the readership. It is accompanied by some great art from Don Hudson who realises the author's vision well with his traditional take on the material. I particularly liked the glowering faces of the disapproving comic book characters!
Unfortunately, # 4 returns to a less careful approach for story selection. Whilst 'Crystal Clear' is by no means anywhere near as bad as 'The Garden', it is still a sloppy and badly written piece that I found difficult to like. One of its devices is the ludicrous conceit that a drug dealer would get a mobile phone with video capability implanted behind one of his eyes. I suppose that would be done to meet the high demand out there from criminals who desire to be fitted with a device that can permanently monitor and record all of their activities. Also, exactly how far in the future is this story supposed to be set that this technology is available? After this the story spirals even further downwards into a revenge narrative worthiest of the lowest budget seventies horror film.
'Extra Life', on the other hand, displays many of the things that I long to see being spotlighted in this title. In it, a man so heavily involved with an online role-playing game begins to confuse the details of his two lives with dire consequences. Artist Chris Noeth devises two distinct styles to illustrate reality and the world of the game, which aids the flow of the narrative. His work is more detailed than many of the other artists working on 'Tales From The Crypt' and this is certainly a welcome development. There is also a definite influence from 'The Matrix' in some of the real-world scenes, especially those set in the office and the subway. His opening and closing panels are excellent, dark and brooding and full of the atmosphere that should be the life's blood of this title. Don McGregor's script successfully communicates the horror of this individual's slow descent into despair and while it contains elements familiar to horror enthusiasts, he throws in enough twists to satisfy the more jaded comics readers. More from this pair is definitely requested.
Reading the new 'Tales From The Crypt' comics is a bit like being a bodysnatcher in an old but still frequented graveyard. You never know whether, when shovel hits earth, you're going to uncover a fresh viable body or just another mouldering old corpse. Until the day the Professor no longer needs the parts though, I'm going to keep digging.
Paul Skevington 
|
|
