Airboy #2
Written by James Robinson
Art by Greg Hinkle
Image Comics
You will recall writer James Robinson and artist Greg Hinkle have placed themselves in this new telling of Airboy, a now public domain character originally published by Hillman Periodicals during the World War II-era time period.
Robinson and Hinkle were struggling to come up with a story, so they had drunk themselves into oblivion, a decline aided by a range of drugs, awaking to find Airboy in their hotel room.
They freak-out as Issue #2 begins, then settle to attribute Airboy’s appearance to a shared hallucination, understandable giving the cocktail of booze and drugs they consumed.
So they choose to indulge the hallucination, explaining to Airboy he is a comic character, whose lot declined to the point he fell into the public domain.
Through the day of revelations there is more booze, some tawdry sex, mixed in with Airboy’s observations on a modern California city.
The issue is again about tearing down the wall between reader, creators and the story itself, and while that could easily fall about as total corn, Robinson makes it work as the writer.
Hinkle’s art has an old EC-ish feels that is perfect here.
And then the twist at the end. Airboy angry at being forgotten and thrown into what has been explained as an alternate universe turns the tables of Robinson and Hinkle.
It is a great twist that will have you drooling for issue #3.
Top drawer stuff this one. Do not miss it.
InSEXts #1
Written by Marguerite Bennett
Art by Ariela Kristantina
AfterShock Comics
It’s always a positive when a new comic company begins to produce titles, so I was naturally excited to learn about AfterShock Comics’ plans. New publishers mean more variety for readers, and opportunities for both writers and artists.
In terms of exciting new, InSEXts certainly promises something a bit off the beaten trail.
The art I think looks great. I say that about Ariela Kristantina’s work because it was sadly a bit hard to tell. I received a digital copy for review and while many companys splash a sort of ‘watermark’ on pages to protect the property from unscrupulous types disseminating the book, AfterShock went overboard on the marking. It basically blemishes every panel to the point it’s impossible to know just how crisp and delightful the art might be.
In InSEXts with some larger panels the art has to be great, and I can’t confirm how great it may be.
I can confirm Marguerite Bennett has laid the foundation for what could be an amazing series.
The setting is Victorian England, which is always a good one for a tale with some mystic/horror overtones. It was an era where all things were still possible, and science was as much smoke and mirrors as it was hard discovery.
And there is going to be some horror-ish elements as this continues.
We have ‘creatures’ at play. They appear human, but as the issue unfolds we see insect aspects.
By the last page the women are either some hybrid, or just maybe they are sprite-like creatures, albeit darker sprites by their actions.
I’d mark this one to grab. It could be the break-out title for AfterShock out of the gate.
