The Squidder #1 A Different Apocalypse.

The Squidder #1 review

Alright you apocalypse loving ghouls, The Squidder #1 is here to take your precious zombie or Mad Max apocalypse and throw it in the trash. This is a world ruled by a demonic…squid…thing. Ok, so I’ll work on how to describe that later, and I’m sure The Squidder will do so in later books also.

So we’ll take this guy, they, you know the existential “they”, call him “The Squidder”, thus the name of the book, who’s kind of a Squid bounty hunter, or just murderer, I’m not quite sure which yet. Turncoats, squid lovers (keeps getting better, right?) bring him in to search out lost human property. That’s all I can say without divulging too many spoilers.

The Squidder #1 by Ben Templesmith is strange, as if you haven’t gathered that much already. The story is though, a fresh take on the Earth’s impending apocalypse, which is kind of cool. It has raw and unforgiving rough sketched art, which is appropriate for a story that fits that exact description. While the story is incredibly vague, I’m sure you’ll be hip to the lingo in coming The Squidder issues.

I can’t say I was blown away by The Squidder #1, but I can see it peaking some fans interests. Some people like to nibble and savor a piece before they take a whole bite.

Localmotion. The Contraptor #1 review

Cosmic Comics! wants to give some recognition to the Las Vegas local indie comic book scene, so this week I was handed The Contraptor #1 from LFDF comics. I have to preface this review with in no way do I want to bash this book, it takes huge balls and commitment to not only put your work on display but to also put it in print at your local shops, and I in no way want to discourage Free Isabelo and Jeremy Lassner from creating something they’re passionate about.

The Contraptor #1 is a steam punk tale of revenge. Set in a fictitious past where a secret serviceman seeks out vengeance for his brother’s death after President Lincoln’s assassination. Shit’s serious.

I’m unfortunately not the greatest person to review this comic since my distaste for steam punk may make the review a little lopsided, but I put my dislike for Victorian goggle hipsters behind me and came in with an unbiased mind.

The Contraptor #1 is a traditionalists book. It reads like a classic Stan Lee narration, although I don’t need to read about the Contraptor’s back story and then have him repeat his back back story later, it’s redundant, and it has layouts and art you would get from art class or a classic “How To Draw Comics” book. I cannot stress how hard it was for me to write that without feeling like a complete dick. There are positives I could pull out of that Hindenburg wreckage of dreams I just smashed, story is original and character concepts are promising.

The Contraptor needs a little bit more than just polish, but that’s something that comes with experience. These early concepts could evolve into something, I don’t want to crush the creators confidence, I want them to keep pushing, they’re on the right track.