Alice Hudson Comic Reviews

I like this book and always have, and I'm not always sure of why. But I do like it. Sometime's a metaphorical mean kick in the jaw is what you need.

Look, I can't control what you buy. But please, please don't throw your money towards this exploitative garbage. It isn't worth your time, it isn't worth your money, and it sure as shit isn't worth the sexual and police violence many marginalized people have to face.

This first issue feels like an unequal mash-up of Philip K. Dick and Hellblazer (well, Ellis, Diggle, and Carey's Hellblazer runs), with some film noir touches. It's not quite as good as that sounds, but it still is a mash-up of Phillip K Dick and Hellblazer and noir, so it's hard to go too wrong there.

Buy this book. The seeds sown promise a bountiful harvest, the art is great, and that was one hell of a fight scene.

Aaron's dialogue is a treat. His very natural dialogue shines inSouthern Bastards, like it did inScalped. It's full of viscious flavor; violent and real.Latour's craggy art continues to be some of the best art on the stands. It's perfect for a book like this, in the same way that RM Guera was perfect forScalped. His line work is expressionist but not caricatured, and the hard edges reflect the hard-edged world of Craw County.Doubling on coloring, Latour's colors continue to shine as well. The washed out yellows; the earthy browns; the piercing, stark reds especially. The book isn't a rainbow of colors, but the colors that are used are used to maximum effect.Jared K Fletcher's lettering is also top-notch. His word-balloons are perfectly placed, and adopt a color to best synchronize with the scene at hand. The letters themselves are easy to read and have a personality to them that I can't quite explain.

I'm at a dilemma with this book. It looks like it could be really good. And I'm not paying for it. But reviews of his work, especially good ones, give him press. I don't want to give him press. So I'm at a crossroads that asks me to look critically at my role as a fan, a critic, and a human being. How complacent does this make me in misogyny in the comics industry? It's a question I'll be asking of myself, and a question I hope anyone who reads this asks of themselves as well.

It's astounding work, and even if Gaiman's writing weren't up to snuff (which it totally is up to snuff), Sandman Overture would be worth buying for the art alone. Go buy this book. Go buy every single chapter of this book. Buy the next one. Then buy the collection. It's that good.

Jason Howard killing it on art as usual. Was never a big fan of his more cartoony work, but his art here is really well suited for the story at hand. His cover, as I mentioned before, is hauntingly beautiful (or beautifully haunting).The brief bit in Orkney is a transition scene, and stands as the weakest scene in this chapter. Wasn't the biggest fan of it, but it was probably necessary.If you aren't readingTrees, why aren't you? This book is incredible, and is criminally underrated (*cough*likeZero*cough*).The Mayor-Elect's occasional use of the ‘scheming smile' makes me a little cautious, simply because of The Smiler's smile that could go from JFK to scheming, devious bastard in half a second. 

Freddy Chtonic is already one of my favorite characters.One of the things that most excites me about this book is that Kot announced very recently that starting in the next few months creators of color would have several pages in each issue ofWolf to tell whatever stories set in the world ofWolf they wanted. The industry has an extremely long way to go in terms of creator diversity and opening up to creators of color, but this is one positive step in the right direction.“Anita Christ” is too on the nose. To be honest I'm also hoping Wolfe is not a werewolf. I mean, our last wolf detective just left the building.I absolutely love the cover and the logo/design work for the book.

The penultimate chapter of Ales Kot and co's brilliant series Zero is, unsurprisingly, another brilliant issue in a series where every chapter has been gold.

It's the best single issue I've ever read, and the narrative it concludes is the best I have ever had the pleasure to experience.