Comic Review: Angelus --- Pilot Season #1

Angelus: Pilot Season #1
Pilot Season issue
Written by Ian Edington
Art by Stjepan Sejic
Top Cow Productions
Cover price $2.99
On-sale date: Dec. 12, 2007

Pilot Season is upon us!

Even as you read this, geeks from all over the Internet are flocking to that hub of digital civilization known as MySpace and voting for their favorite Top Cow character to win their very own ongoing series in 2008. And with the long-awaited opening of the MySpace polls comes the fifth and final entry in this exercise in rampant democracy: Angelus...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: First Born #3

First Born #3
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Stjepan Sejic
Covers by Marc Silvestri, Stjepan Sejic
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $2.99; On-sale: Nov. 28, 2007

And now we come to the end of Top Cow’s big summer event, or big fall event such as it is. Much like the first two issues of this mini, it does a decent job, and has some very nice artwork, but is basically unspectacular and kind of lost on me. This has been an event for fans of the Witchblade and Darkness properties, and is not a bad jumping on point, but could definitely have been done better.

Sara Pezzini, the former Witchblade, has her pregnancy come to full term in this issue. Meanwhile Jackie Estacado, the wielder of the Darkness, is forced to protect his baby’s mama from the forces of the Angelus. This is the big fight issue with most of the issue taken up with the battle between the Darkness and the Angelus...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: First Born #2

First Born #2
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Stjepan Sejic
Cover by Dale Keown (A), Stjepan Sejic (B)
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $2.99; On-sale: Sept. 26, 2007

Since everyone has to have their own big summer event, Top Cow brings us First Born, a tale set to shake the very foundations of the Top Cow universe and make sure that nothing is ever the same!! If I sound a bit cynical, it's only because I've been around comics long enough to have seen all this before. It probably doesn't help that outside of the first few issues of The Darkness, I've never been a big reader of the Top Cow line of books. I'm sure fans of these books are anticipating this mini and probably enjoyed the first issue [see review here]. Non-fans might have less reason to pick this up, although it's not completely without merit. The event smacks of a “Me too” attitude that crashed these kinds of things in the late 90s. How many event minis did Wildstorm produce in their heyday, and how many of those does anyone actually remember as being any good? With so many things going on at Marvel and DC, it's hard to see any other companies jumping on as anything but a cash grab...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: The Darkness: Levels TPB

The Darkness: Levels TPB
Written by Paul Jenkins, David Wohl
Pencils by Eric Basaldua, Tyler Kirkham,
Patrick Blaine, & Mike Choi
Art by Mattias Snygg, Stjepan Sejic,
Rick Basaldua, Sal Regla, Eric Basaldua,
Jay Leisten, Joe Weems, & Sean Parsons
Colors by Rob Schwager, Studio F, Blond,
& Sonia Oback
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $14.99; On-sale now

When I heard that Top Cow was coming out with a comic book based on a video game based on a comic book, I was, to say the least, skeptical. I was never a big fan of The Darkness comics in the first place, but I am a fan of the video game (see my review here), so I figured it was worth a try. With input from the game's development studio, Starbreeze, Top Cow has come out with a comic that is a bit of a departure for this long-running series, and one that I can easily recommend...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom!

Comic Review: First Born #1

First Born #1
Written by Ron Marz
Art by Stjepan Sejic
Cover by Marc Silvestri (A), Stjepan Sejic (B)
Letters by Troy Peteri
Top Cow Productions
Cover price: $2.99; On-sale date: July 25, 2007

The stunning artwork in Top Cows’ new mini-series First Born had me saying “Whoa!” more times than Keanu Reeves trying to ride a bucking bronco.

First Born is a 3-issue summer blockbuster mini-series from Top Cow Productions, the Marc Silvestri offspring of Image Comics. First Born not only explores the pregnancy of former Witchblade bearer Sara Pezzini, but also fills us in on all the major players in the Top Cow Universe...continue reading this review at Geeks of Doom