Creepy Presents Steve Ditko: The Definitive Collection of The Artist's Work From Creepy and Eerie!

 Dark Horse has been doing a great job of curating the CREEPY and EERIE brands, with their phenomenal ARCHIVES volumes, as well as floppies featuring all-new work by top creative talent, and their CREEPY PRESENTS line, showcasing individual Artists or characters.

 The latest Artist to get this treatment is the legendary Steve Ditko. I became a Ditko fan when I was a little boy, thanks to Pocket Books' innovative digests, which were unheard of at the time. Comic books were NEVER collected back in the 1970's, so this was a rare treat, as well as a rare opportunity to read early Spider-Man adventures.

 I was raised on Ross Andru and Gil Kane's Spidey, with a dash of John Romita thrown in for good measure. I'd seen Ditko's art before, but seeing his work on Spider-Man was amazing. I'd never seen anything like it before, and it's still a high-water mark for me. Ditko's wall-crawler just cannot be topped.

 So I was thrilled to see that Dark Horse was collecting all of Ditko's work for Warren Publishing in one deluxe hardcover. There are sixteen stories contained within the pages of CREEPY PRESENTS STEVE DITKO: THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST'S WORK FROM CREEPY AND EERIE!, fifteen of which are written by legendary Writer/editor Archie Goodwin.

 EC Comics remains the top of the mountain as far as Horror comics go, but Warren, while a distant second, was nothing to sneeze at, especially the early issues of CREEPY and EERIE, when Goodwin was at the helm. Goodwin is at the top of his game in these stories, and Ditko brought his A-game as well. The bulk of the book is taken up by Horror stories, but there are a few Sword & Sorcery stories, which would give Conan a run for his money. I'll always feel like his work on Spider-Man was his best, but the stunning black-and-white linework that he did for CREEPY and EERIE comes pretty damned close. Horror fans and Ditko fans NEED to pick this book up.

 Dark Horse Comics provided a review copy.

Saga, Volume Two

 I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed by the first volume of Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples' SAGA. The monthly comic was a bestselling sensation, and I was expecting greatness, and what I read was, in a nutshell, really standard stuff. I rated it a 5 out of 10. The premise was good enough to get me to come back for seconds, though, so here we are, SAGA, VOLUME TWO...and the verdict is....?

 Better. Much better.

(THERE MAY BE SPOILERS, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ VOLUME ONE YET...BE WARNED!!!!!!)

 Marko and Alana, fugitive lovers from opposite sides of a bizarre outer space war, are still on the run with their halfbreed baby. The trio were joined by Marko's parents at the end of volume one, and the second collection mainly deals with this new family dynamic.

 I'd rate this book an 8 out of 10, but even though I liked it a lot more than the previous volume, there are still a lot of things that grate on me as I read SAGA...I've been trying to pinpoint them, and the best way I can possibly convey my issue is to say that it has a lot of stuff that takes me out of the story. I'm kind of a stickler for stories being told in a way that's appropriate to their setting, and anything that breaks that mood can jar my mind away from the vibe that the Author is trying to set up. I recently watched Quentin Tarantino's DJANGO UNCHAINED, and while I generally enjoyed the film, some of his musical choices took me right out of the film, such as the climactic shootout that was set to a rap song. I get what he was trying to do, but a rap song in a Western...? Took me out of the film immediately. There's a lot of that kind of stuff in SAGA, and I'm not sure how much of it is Author Brian K. Vaughan and how much of it is Artist Fiona Staples. First off, Staples' art really doesn't do much for me...I find her figures to be too stiff and blocky, and her backgrounds leave a lot to be desired. As for the things that jolt me out of the story......I'm reading about an intergalactic war, and planets populated by bizarre alien beings. Would those alien beings wear yoga pants and sandals? Would they use words like "Twat"...? Why does Prince Robot IV's race have TV's, complete with old-school antennas, for heads? Would an alien couple really talk about feeding their baby applesauce? Yeah, it's picky, but it bothers me. The book also suffers from the absence of The Stalk, who was surely one of the creepiest, most off-putting fictional creations ever. Ugh...I get the chills just thinking about her. Bad move killing her, Vaughan!

 Also, I hardly consider myself a prude (In fact, I consider myself a pervert, but that's just me.....), but there are a lot of times where Vaughan and Staples make me say "Really...? Was that necessary...?", such as the Godzilla-sized Cyclops with a massive, diseased, dripping penis, and did Prince Robot's TV-screen face really need to show hardcore gay porn as he lies dying towards the end of the book? (I actually failed to notice the two pages of penises until I read an amazon review that pointed it out. Good job on the cock-spotting, amazon reviewer!) It almost seems like Staples is sitting there giggling, in her best Beavis voice, "Heh heh heh....I can draw schlongs! Boi-oi-oi-oi-oinnnng!!!!"

 Overall, SAGA, VOLUME TWO was a great improvement over the first volume. The end was enough to make me feel sad that I don't collect floppies anymore.....it's going to nerve-wracking waiting for Volume Three.

 SAGA, VOLUME TWO contains 7-12 of the monthly series, complete with covers and variants. Image Comics provided a review copy.

Domovoi

 This was quite a pleasant surprise.

 Fans of Mike Mignola's HELLBOY will feel right at home in the pages of Peter Bergting's original Dark Horse graphic novel DOMOVOI. The subject matter and the execution are not really alike, but it has the same effortlessly engaging feel as a Mignola story, and the art is wonderfully evocative of Mignola blended with Jeff (BONE) Smith. Peter Bergting 's story revolves around Jenni, a young girl who comes from a family with a history of magic and the occult. Although Jenni has nothing to do with any of this, when her Grandmother dies, she is forced to take a a perilous journey that will leave her forever changed.

  Bergting's characters are full of life, and perfectly rendered and written. The story blends folklore, fantasy, and horror, and left me wishing that it were longer. Here's hoping we get a sequel or follow-up of some kind.
The book includes a foreword by John (B.P.R.D.) Arcudi, and a small sketch gallery by Bergting.

 Dark Horse provided a review copy.

Dark Discoveries #23

 It's been a while since I last read an issue of DARK DISCOVERIES, so I was really surprised to see how far they'd come in the last few years when my copy of issue 23 arrived in my mailbox earlier this week. It's a HUGE, squarebound magazine, in full color, and features fiction by Robert E. Howard & Ramsey Campbell, Angeline Hawkes, Jonathan Maberry, Weston Ochse, Joe McKinney, and Steve Rasnic Tem, as well as a whole host of non-fiction articles, interviews, and reviews. I enjoyed what I read, and I'll be back for more.
Dark Discoveries

The Rocketeer: Hollywood Horror

 There's not a more welcoming sight than a Walt Simonson cover. He has four of them collected in THE ROCKETEER: HOLLYWOOD HORROR. That should be enough to justify a purchase right there.

 If it isn't, than how about if I told you that it's written by Roger Langridge and illustrated by J. Bone? Bone's style is a far cry from the lush work of Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens, but it works wonderfully, giving the book a kind of "Rocketeer: The Animated Adventures" feel. Langridge's story has a little too much of a "Scooby-Doo" vibe to it, especially towards the end, but any disappointment that I may have felt with the plot was more than made up by the masterful execution that Langridge demonstrates. I was especially happy that the book, while perfectly capable of standing alone, is a wonderful companion piece to Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's THE ROCKETEER: CARGO OF DOOM, following up on some of that books plot points. We even get appearances by Doc Savage and his associates, as well as Nick and Nora Charles, and a host of 1930's Hollywood stars, as well as a surprise narrator that brought a huge smile to my face. This is a fun, lighthearted book, and it's really got me (Even more...) excited to see what IDW has in store for Cliff, Peevy, and Betty.

 THE ROCKETEER: HOLLYWOOD HORROR collects all four issues of the mini-series, with all covers and variants. IDW provided a review copy.