Tag: shannon eric denton

Ides of Blood #1

“Rome Of Shadow, Rome Of Light” (No Spoilers)

Here we’ve got a fresh offering from two new creators. As far as I understand, this is both Stuart C. Paul and Christian Duce’s first foyer into comics. I have to say, they’re beginning their comics career with a bang with this series.

I’m going to start with Christian Duce’s art. It is gorgeous! Combine that with Carlos Badilla’s moody coloring and you’ve got the perfect setting for this dark tale. Duce’s art is incredibly detailed, even when he’s drawing the city of ancient Rome. Duce also has a realistic style so it fits the story well, almost like a movie. Each shot is well chosen and believably conveys each scene as we progress through the story. He even does a good job of giving each character some defining facial features which makes it easier to distinguish them in an issue that is heavy on characters.

Garrison #4

(No Spoilers)

Action! Action! Action! That’s what I’m learning this story is about. I’ve called this Wildstorm’s summer blockbuster before and there’s no better description for it. There is a small thread of a story here but for the most part, it’s all action all the time.

I think I’m starting to see that this book would’ve been great in the 90’s. In the 90’s it was all about great art and less about story. I have to honestly say I think the saving grace with this comic for me is Francesco Francavilla’s art. There’s just no substance to this story but damn does Francavilla draw some amazing action scenes in this comic! If Michael Bay is looking for another movie to do after Transformers 3 is done, this would be a worthy candidate based solely on the amount of action.

X-files/30 Days of Night #1

(No Spoilers)
X-files and 30 Days of Night. When I first heard of this crossover it made me think, ‘why not?’ Why hadn’t this been done before? Well, I guess it was a matter of timing. X-files ended its run in May 2002 and the first 30 Days of Night mini-series came out later that year. X-files had lost a lot of steams towards the end so I guess doing a crossover with it at the time didn’t make much sense. But with the 2008 movie “X-files: I Want to Believe” and the comic series Wildstorm published that same year, X-files has had some exposure once again.

Garrison #3

(No Spoilers)
Garrison is undoubtedly Wildstorm’s summer blockbuster. I can’t say I’m blow away by the story by any means but Francavilla’s art and visual storytelling are keeping this comic more fun for me.
This comic is really banking on the mystery surrounding the title character. But fortunately, we do get some answers to his origins even though it’s only partial. Without Francavilla’s art, I’m not sure if I’d be enjoying this comic as much. He draws some incredible action scenes! One thing I really appreciate about his action is that the fights aren’t cookie-cutter. So far, every fight Francavilla has illustrated is unique from the last. It’s as if he was the fight choreographer in a movie and he was doing his best to keep each fight interesting. So far, I think he’s succeeded.