FEATURE REVIEW - BLOOD QUEEN #1

FEATURE REVIEW –

BLOOD QUEEN #1

WRITTEN BY: TROY BROWNFIELD

ILLUSTRATIONS: FRITZ CASAS

PUBLISHER: DYNAMITE

RELEASED: 6/11/2014

The King has sent for the Elder Winnifred, to save his infant child for a sickness no one can identify. In her place, the Elder Winnifred sends Lady Elizabeth – who quickly discovered the infant has been affected by Blood Magic.

There are two big draws to Blood Queen: 1) Fritz Casas’s illustrations, 2) the intrigue of what Elder Winnifred and Elizabeth are up to – truly.

Blood Queen number one does a good job of hitting the high notes, setting the stage for the tale and foreshadowing of things to come.

Everything you might expect from a fantasy tale is here, intrigue, secrets, hidden agendas, swordplay, seduction and Blood Magic. What is Blood Magic? That’s a good question. Whatever it is, is banned, but apparently back in play.

Blood Queen #1 is a good read, but not a great one. It does the job any #1 should do, hook the reader and lays the foundation for the future. It doesn’t over reach itself, as so many other titles do in their first issues.

My only real issue is when a character uses the world ‘ensorcelled.’ I am not even sure if ‘ensorcelled’ is a real word.

Blood Queen #1 is worth reading, and seeing where the journey goes from here.

Rating: 6

Ace Masters

Feature Review - Big Trouble in Little China #1

FEATURE REVIEW

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #1

The Continuing Adventures of Jack burton and the Porkchop Express

The Hell of the Midnight Road & The Ghost of Storms Part 1

Story by: John Carpenter & Eric Powell

Writer: Eric Powell

Artist: Brian Churilla

Publisher: Boom!

“Jack . . . Don’t you know it’s bad luck to bring a demon to a wedding?” – Wang


“Jack Burton always says; if you can’t get the movie sequel made, get the comic book made!”
Well, actually, he didn’t, but you know he would have!
Jack Burton is back! Big Trouble in Little China is still going on . . . There’s Jack, Wang, Mystical Chinese Immortals and Pete . . . the demon. Yes, you read right, Pete, the Demon. Who wears a shirt that reads “Buy Me A Drink And I’ll Tell You I’m Eighteen.”
If you didn’t know, this Boom! title is the sequel to John Carpenters’ classic action comedy, Big Trouble in Little China, starring Kurt Russell. And if you didn’t know that, why didn’t you?
First thing first, comic book adaptations usually are not very good, are they? No, they are not. Good thing this isn’t an adaptation then.
This is a direct sequel to the original film, taking place within a few days of the events in the film. Jack specifically mentions how bad of a week it has been, setting the time and place for this story.
We start our sequel with the Pork Chop Express barreling down the freeway out of San Francisco and Jack Burton free styling his personal style of wisdom over the CB. All this is interrupted when he discovers he is being stalked by a demon – albeit a friendly demon he names Pete.
Turning around and heading back to San Francisco, Jack suddenly finds himself caught up in the middle of a wedding, which is crashed by men who want vengeance.
Carpenter, Eric Powell and Brian Churilla have done an excellent job in capturing the feel, style and mood of the original film. Instead of a copy, this feels like a true continuation. Jack Burton in this comic looks, feels, talk and acts like the Burton from the film: Cocky, self-assured, not quite as good or wise as he thinks he is, with an overblown amount of bravado.
This is the sequel fans of the movie have been wanting – at least in issue one.
Is there any better choice for the man to write the Big Trouble in Little China comic then Eric Powell? I mean, The Goon fits right into the world of Big Trouble. In this script, Eric has seamlessly captured what made the movie so fun and perfectly captured the character of Jack Burton.
Brian Churilla art adds to the total mix – it looks like Big Trouble.
Oh yeah, and some guy named John Carpenter is involved somewhere as well.
The original film Big Trouble in Little China is rightfully called a cult classic. Is it a masterpiece? Probably not. Yet despite the silliness, the stupiness (yes, there is that), and poor-done-on-purpose dialogue, it all comes together to form one of the greatest action comedies of all time. It may not be a masterpiece, but it is one of the most entertaining films one might ever see.
This title can be viewed the same way – and there is nothing wrong with that. Big Trouble in Little China has always been about one thing: A good FUN time.
Rating: 6 ½
Ace Masters

A WORD ON REVIEWS

For a few years I wrote the Burning Mind Column at ComicsBulletin.com – that came to an end about two years ago, around the time The Amazing Spider-Man was released.

On January 1, I re launched The Burning Mind as this comic book related blog, with a related Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately, The Burning Mind went on hiatus on January 29 – the day I died.

But, like any good comic book character, I came back to life.

Ok, so why the sudden stop and just how did I ‘die?’ I have mentioned it before on my personal Facebook page and the Burning Mind page briefly, but for those who don’t know: I suffered a cranial blood rapture on January 29, requiring 6 hours of immediate surgery, a three-week hospital stay and lots of recovery.

My skull was literally cut open and removed while neurosurgeons repaired the main blood vessel to my brain. It was only on May 15 that I received the all clear.

As of this writing, I am mostly recovered, healthy and feeling great.

Okay, to the point of this post, there is a reason it is called A WORD ON REVIEWS, because I briefly want to discuss something I mentioned when I launched this blog – that I would be doing weekly reviews, posted on Saturdays.

Obviously, that hasn’t happened – but it will starting this coming Saturday , June 14.

For the next few weeks I will be focusing strictly on the reviews that I had been planning on doing as far back as January. Where I had planned on reviewing just one issue, I may review multiple issues of a series – if I have kept reading.

There are two types of reviews I will be doing: FLASH REVIEWS and FEATURE REVIEWS.

FLASH REVIEWS

Flash reviews – like Flash Fiction – are short, straight-to-the-point reviews. Flash Reviews will be about 125 words or less, give my quick thoughts on a particular title (single issue or run) and a rating.

Flash Reviews will be random reviews of any title I happen to purchase that I feel like reviewing, and will not be done on a set schedule.

I may do one Flash Review a week, a dozen reviews in a week, or none at all.

FEATURE REVIEWS

Feature reviews are the reviews I had been planning on doing weekly before my ‘incident.’ The original plan was to choose one (1) title per week from my pull list to review – with the goal of having that review online by Saturday.

These reviews will be longer and more detailed than Flash Reviews – upwards of 500 words.

I will mostly focus my reviews on non-DC and Marvel titles, as they get plenty of coverage.

How am I going to choose the title for review every week? Actually, I won’t be choosing what title to review – my mom will (‘nuff said).

RATING
In addition to my written review, I will also be using an 11 (0-10) point rating system as follows:

0 – Worthless. (So bad, one has to wonder why Diamond carries the title.)
1, 2 – A waste of good paper or eyesight if read digitally.
3 – 4.5 – Probably not worth the cover Price.
4.5 – 6 – Average title that may be worth a look. However, the title may have more appeal to fans of the genre or creator (s).
6 – 7 – Good, solid title worth reading.
7 – 8 – Great title.
8 – 9 – Excellent title. REQUIRED reading.
9 – 10 – Masterpiece.

To be fair, 0, 1, 2, 9 and 10 will probably be the rarest of ratings I will give. If I give a review a zero, it needs to be truly bad. For a title to receive a 9 or 10, it needs to be nearly perfect in every aspect.

I am not someone who gives out perfect 10’s just because I like a title. I may like a title, but in the grand scope of things, it may still only rate a six.

On the reverse, a title may not appeal to me for some reason, but may still rate high because it is well made and written.

I can promise you two things in my reviews: 1) I will never take a personal shot at any creator, no matter how bad a book may be; 2) all reviews will be honest.

One thing I can’t promise: a good review.

Now it is time for me to play a little catch-up, as I plan to review titles back to January of this year. All the titles I would have reviewed if my ‘incident’ hadn’t happened.

My plan for now is to try to post two reviews a week until caught up – on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

I want to make one thing clear at this moment, NO ONE has asked me to do these reviews and NO ONE is paying me.

I am doing these reviews out of my love for the medium.

Ace Masters