Summons Review

Summons A Supernatural Fight Of Good VS. Evil

I’ve been super busy with life and everything that comes along with it, but I have also been on my game with the reviews.  So far for the last month or so I have put up something at least once a week and I hope to continue my trend.  I recently went back over my body of work and noticed that I was leaning heavy towards sci fi stuff from more known companies and thought maybe it would be a good idea to revisit something different and from the more indie labels.  I decide to do a review on Summons because I’m completely blown away by this books art as well as the general premise of the story.

Summons is; written, penciled, and lettered by Chris L. Williams, inked by Jake Isenberg, and colored by both Danielle Alexis St. Pierre (cover) and Victor Bartlett (Interior) and I have to hand it to them because I feel like this art is spectacular.  The cover features two of the main characters, Kristine Helios and the last agent of a group known as the M.E.G.A.S (mystic event gatherer and surveyor).  I understand that that may not mean much now but as I get into the review know that it will be clarified, just keep in mind that both characters are seriously BA and the cover features Kristine kneeling down with a dagger in her hand and some dragon/dog looking monsters behind her with the MEGAS guy behind her.  The MEGAS agent looks almost like Deadpool meets Emperor Palpatine, and I only say that because of his red and blue mask with blue and red trimmed cloak.  Both characters have glowing eyes and fierce looks to them that are only accentuated by the monsters around Kristine.  I made it the featured image on the left over here so you can get a real feel for what I'm describing.

The book begins with a four page panel that starts at Kristine’s eyes and pulls further out to reveal her standing in a half circle of troll looking monsters.  Again I have to say, the art is on point in every way, Kristine’s eyes are fierce like she is angry and ready to take care of business.  She provides some commentary about what it was like before the real world revealed itself but overall the first page is a simple but BA introduction to Kristine and her current struggles as someone that knows about and deals with supernatural things.  Page two is a continuance of the first page but it’s a five panel ass kicking that show cases Kristine’s abilities and ends on the next page with a killer profile of her holding a monsters head.  I enjoy the fight scene and the profile of Kristine but as a writer I really enjoy the way they put the exposition in as Kristine’s thoughts and explanations of the monsters.  I have mentioned before in previous reviews that one of my pet peeves is being thrown into a complicated world with complicated back stories and just being expected to know what is going on.  Williams gives a great explanation of what the creatures are and why their stalking her down.  The exposition is done well and sets up the premise of the book, Kristine is meant to get back the book of Summons.  The explanation is enough to get a good taste as to what she is facing and what she is seeking out but it doesn't over share and leaves something for us to discover as the book goes on.  The exposition continues with the profile page and Kristine explains her “edge” when dealing with these creatures called Monstrum.  Along with her dagger made for spear of destiny parts she has a “death rapport” that links her thoughts with the Monstrum she kills.  The death rapport doesn't yield anything good so Kristine is forced to summons her MEGAS buddy and we are lead to the next page where he is front and center but flanked by four panels of Kristine and one close up of his masked face.  I simply can’t say enough about the art, the MEGAS dude looks formidable and BA as the two of them chat about what transpired.  The exposition continues alongside an explanation of the MEGAS and what their all about.  Her new MEGAS buddy was “the 5^th, sans a blonde Bruce Willis and half naked Milla Jovovich” and I have to say that I love the 5^th Element reference.





So within the first four pages we are introduced to the two main characters, shown a nice fight sequence, and given a reasonable amount of exposition so we understand what is going on in Kristine’s world.  For me personally this book does what I expect from anything that has a complex world building around the reader; I need to know something, but not everything, I need to get a feel for the characters and their abilities, but not be overwhelmed by it.  Williams has already drawn me in and I’m hardly four pages into the read.  I definitely feel that the art helps me get drawn in but the story line has me as well.  The search for the book of Summons, the history of the MEGAS, and what sort of evil they face are all inventive and have me hooked.  The main characters are cool and heroic but not of the super hero ilk, more of the Constantine type, as is the world that is being set up.



After the beginning and the character introduction there is a short synopsis of how Williams describes his story.  I don’t normally quote things but I feel like his words are fairly poetic, and as a writer I enjoy these lines.

“Nothing meek shall inherit the Earth.  Humans are simply spectators.  Glorified animals caged by their own perception.  The real struggle, the real war… is fought by far greater beings.  They decide our fate, our purpose.  Everything depends on them.  Always has.  This is their story.  Their struggle.  And it is only the beginning.”

I know, epic... Right?  I really dig the way this feels and rolls off my tongue as I mouth it to myself.  After the first few pages and the realization of the mission and the book of summons this statement only beefs up the hype of the book and totally riles me up.

I have already been hooked with the art and the story of the first few pages but as I turn to the next page I see a “Chapter 1 Rude Awakening” and realize that the story has hardly started.  Kristine is clearly a late teen early twenty something, judging from the art, but as the story begins Williams reveals her true age while she narrates how awful school is.  I’m a man in my thirty’s but her clear contempt for school rings a bell with me, as does the three page narrative of Kristine thought bubbling her worries about college while trying to ignore the “self-absorbed, vapid, pima-donnas.”  I love this part because I have more than a few bad memories of self-absorbed A-holes in high school, as many comic book fans probably do, and Williams not only captures the essence of what many people deal with he does it while showing that Kristine is no push over.  Kristine has proven to be BA, but now we get a glimpse of her as a normal person dealing with normal people problems as well when she blows up at the girls talking trash.

Williams continues with Kristine making her way to the principal’s office when she stumbles upon the big football star that just happens to be her good buddy from childhood.  The banter between the two of them is natural, but flirty, and revealing of the true nature of their friendship.  Through dialog Williams shows us the nature of the relationship while also possibly foreshadowing some key plot points.  Football star Jared Lee reveals that his cousin has just died and was possibly into some shady things, which at first doesn’t sound very revealing but the art work really puts it into perspective with a close up of Jared’s face but behind him is a cloaked guy getting attacked by a hand that looks awfully menacing, like some of the monstrum from the beginning.



Williams shifts the book to three shadowy figures arguing about when to strike at Kristine and the mortal world but he leaves the dialog open until the next page when I turned and saw the up close of three shadowy monsters.  They argue when to strike and the shot caller declares that they wait until they find the book.  The art of the monsters is something to behold because their scary and mean as hell, with some of the best coloring I have ever seen.  The crew really out do themselves on this page, truly amazing art work.

The next seven pages are Kristine at home getting ready for bed when a monster attacks her by jumping through her window.  At this point we know that she doesn’t die and with the help of the MEGAS becomes pretty BA and this revelation comes to fruition when the MEGAS shows up to dispatch the Monstrum.  Again the art work is fantastic with the MEGAS and the monster fighting, my favorite being the first panel with MEGAS standing over the monster.  The panel is about three fourths of the MEGAS standing in front of a head shot of the monster.  The panel is colorful and gives a really nice profile of the MEGAS while still showing a scary version of the mostrum’s head up close.  The Monstrum has some really detailed features, including nasty teeth and a long gross tongue, everything a true monster should have.  As the MEGAS kills off the monster he screams “all hail Zombinos,” which is a nice piece of foreshadowing because I wonder if one of the shadowy monsters are Zombino or if he is going to be someone higher up the monster chain, but either way I’m excited to see Kristine and the MEGAS do their thing and kill them all.



MEGAS stops to holds a passed out Kristine and apologizes for his barging into her room to save her and explains the MEGAS formation.  Within the explanation of the MEGAS is also the explanation of how the book of Summons came about, as well as who Kristine is.  Kristine is somehow an intermediate between the forces of good or evil and the book.  MEGAS explains she is the newest of a long line of ancestors that held her powers and between him, her and another unknown person called “the warrior born” they have the potential to save the world.  The MEGAS explains that both her and the warrior born have the potential to be swayed to the bad side so it’s imperative that they start their quest to save the world and find the warrior born.

I was expecting this to be the end of the book but I turned to find one last page of a man running in the moonlight.  The final page is six panels of this man and a narrative of how he finally understood the MEGAS and the fight he was about to enter into.  He knew, all of a sudden, that he is essential to the never ending fight as well as the fact that they needed to get to the book of Summons.



I hate to keep gushing over the art, but seriously, it’s good.  All of the characters have a unique feel to them, no two are even remotely similar, except when supposed to be, and even then are done very different.  The Monstrum are the closest thing to similar in the book and their very different in their own ways.  The style of the art is something between cartoon and realistic and the colors are bright and popping.  Williams doesn’t slack on the story either, he clearly has an extensive world he is building but doesn’t bombard us with too much, he gives us exposition when needed and slides explanations into dialog to give it a natural feel.  I like the story and clearly the artwork but I have already read issue two and can’t wait for issue three.  This is the kind of indie book that makes me shake my head at the big two and ask them why they can’t be this BA.  Williams, Isenberg, Bartlett, St. Pierre; you guys deserve a firm handshake, a pat on the back, and more than anything you deserve to sell out of this book.

The Infected Review

A Review of The Infected from Hound Comics

After doing the review on Salvagers, I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of another Hound Comic, The Infected.  I had issues buying the Salvagers comic from Houndcomics.com and ended up purchasing it on Amazon, but Houndcomics.com has restored its online store.  So if you like my review and want to check out The Infected or other titles from Hound, Hound has their store up again and most of their titles on Amazon.

Of course the first thing that sticks out when looking at any comic book is the cover.  At first glance I saw this cover done by Dave Mims and thought to myself that it looked fairly simple to draw, but nothing could further from the truth.  There are sharp lines defining the facial features and bodies of the three main characters and the three monsters type things that make up the cover.  As I read on I realized how intricate the drawings really are.  The art makes me think of something you would see as a doodle but as I examined them I started to see how the seemingly unnecessary lines actually add to the feel and are almost essential to the makeup of the art.  In some cases the lines are hard and thick, in others loose and passive.  Overall the art is pretty fantastic and outside of the conventional norm of most comics.  I think that is the reason it threw me off a little.  Even though the style caught me off guard at first, I found myself liking it more and more as I read on.



One of my pet peeves with comics is the huge world that just is, with no real explanation of how it came about, but the writer Chris Hartmann addressed that immediately with the first page being six dialog boxes explaining the world he is setting up.  Hartmann explains that in May of 2020 an infection spread through a place called Tower City causing the super human population to turn to flesh eating monsters.  With only two dialog boxes, Hartmann was able to pull me into the story.  I commend the idea because nowadays it’s really hard to spin a super hero or super powered story without treading in someone else’s territory.

After Hartmann explains how the normal humans have quarantined the city he picks things up with a "28 Days Later" type scenario.  The main character wakes up to a barren and ravished world around him.  During his aimless walking, trying to compute what was going on, he finally stumbled into a road where he is spotted by three soldiers in a Humvee.  Clearly the sight of other living things got the guy excited, but the excitement was short, they decided he was a threat and started to shoot.  The soldiers chase him down an alley and get ready to finish him when he is saved by a big burley looking guy.  As I look at the panel of the man that saved the main character I realize that he will be the no nonsense muscles of the story as he stands holding a smoking cigar and his pistol.



As the two characters evaluate each other the big guy explains the situation to the main character as he turns to leave.  The main character reveals his name is Jacob while he tags along with his big guy and gets the full history of the downfall of the city.  The two guys end up making their way through a building into a safe house and pass through dead bodies that make Jacob throw up.  I like the way Hartmann paints the picture of the world and sets up the two main characters dynamic together.

As the two guys make it to a jail cell, the only safe place to sleep, the big guy hands Jacob a gun and explains how to kill them.  Aim for the heart and the head!  Of course, the head and the heart, where else is there to aim when taking down a bad guy or monster.  At this point in the story I was a bit curious about the supers and how their powers work as they’re infected.  Mr. Hartmann must have known what I was thinking because the big guy explains to Jacob that they lose their powers after infection so all he has to do is stay away from them and shoot straight to stay alive.

Mr. Mims art draws me into the story with the way he lays out the chill scene as they lie down for the night and continue to talk.  Jacob sits with his hands behind his head relaxing while the big guy smokes with his eyes closed.  I like this page because I can feel the characters need to relax and process the events, especially Jacob, but also the fact that it sets up the stage for the big guy to open up.  As they lie there the big guy reveals that his name is John Winters and people call him Freedom.  Jacob asks why he didn’t run and wondered if he was a super but he explains that he isn’t a super and he isn’t the type to run.  In this page I get a good feel for Freedom and what he is all about, the hardest guy in the room but he still has a heart and cares about people.

Jacob snaps awake and asks Freedom if he heard what he heard.  At this point Jacob already heard something earlier but now the voice or noise got to him enough to get him paranoid.  Jacob hears more noises and rouses Freedom to his feet to go check it out.  The final panel on the page is a head-on of the two men holding their guns up and walking towards the noises that Jacob heard.  I really love the panel and the way Mims sets up the two men.  I feel like Freedom has always been solid and BA standing tall and mean mugging while he smokes, but what I like the most is the transformation of Jacob as a gets harder and harder alongside Freedom.

Jacob was right, he did hear something.  He heard a girl named Chloe.  They turned a corner to see her standing there.  Jacob recognizes her immediately and she recognizes him as well.  No sooner than Jacob and Chloe recognize each other a huge monster turns up behind the two guys.  The huge monster picks Freedom up and tosses him across the room knocking him out.  Jacob and Chloe get backed into a corner where Jacob tries his best to shield her from the monster.  At this point Jacob is hearing voices still and their calling to him and he feels like they want to help them.  As they stand in the corner waiting for the giant monster to attack another monster comes to their rescue, but from the looks of the panels it’s possible that Jacob is controlling the monster because as the monster reaches through the belly of the bigger monster Jacob is reaching out towards it as if they were going to high five.  The strain of whatever was happening knocks Jacob out, but Freedom wakes up in time to get rid of the remaining monster.



 

Hartmann and Mims leave us with Freedom telling Chloe to get him up because they can’t stick around and wait for more monsters.  Freedom says, “And I don’t feel like dying tonight.”  Pretty epic send off.

The feel of the book and the flow seems right to me and Mr. Hartmann does a great job of setting up the characters.  Jacob grabs me right away with the "28 Days Later" scene of waking up to chaos and death all around.  Freedom is compelling because any story is best served with a really hardcore guy leading the charge against the enemy or threat.  I like how Chloe is introduced towards the end and the way  Hartmann sets up Jacob hearing voices, I feel like it leaves plenty to look forward to for the next issue.  Hartmann and Mims have a good concept and story that they collaborate well in telling.  I will certainly be checking out the next issue.  If you liked the review I suggest you check it out as well!

Here are a few links for your purchasing pleasures, Get it straight from Hound Comics or on Amazon.

Happy reading everyone!

Salvagers #1 Review

Salvagers Looking To Clean Up Indy Comics

Like many people I spent my preteen and teenage years hanging around comic stores trying to get a glimpse at the newest comics and newest releases, but the more I grew as a person and as a comic book fan I started to realize that there were people all over that had creative drive, and some of them didn’t work for the big two. Some of these people needed help and there was nowhere to get it. Enter Kickstarter.



While scouring Kickstarter I ran across Robert Salley and his book Salvagers. Ever since laying eyes on the Salvagers Kickstarter I have wanted to give money and help see this project through but being the typical broke jerk I had to settle for stalking the progress. His Kickstarter had a nice description about how his idea came to fruition that really tugged at my heart strings. Mr. Salley talked about friendly conversation at a bar where he and his friends wondered about things like clean up after people destroyed huge things like Death Stars. The conversation, or at least description of the conversation, really hit home because like any good fan boy I instantly hit rewind in my brain back to the nearly same conversations I had with my friends and to the scene in Kevin Smith’s Clerks where Randle and Dante talk about the contractors that died while the second Death Star was destroyed. Like I said, it hit home, I understood his vision and I really enjoyed the idea.

The idea is that Salley’s universe is connected by the trades of goods and services. Of course in any economy driven universe there are bound to be winners and losers, strong companies and weak companies, and Salley is sure to express that there is no shortage in for hire businesses that include the Salvagers. Salley describes Salvagers: “Even under the security of peacetime, there is no shortage of violence in outer space; from looting raiders, Navy destroyers neutralizing a rebel movement to the simplest space station falling victim to a rogue asteroid.” All of the scenarios described would need Salvagers crews to clean up and really help to get the idea of his world started.

Salley locked down a great artist, George Acevedo, to bring his ideas to life, and Delfine Siobhan-Kanashii to color George’s designs. I’m admittedly no artist. I can hardly draw stick figures, but the first thing that I saw when I received the book in the mail was the cover where all four main crew members are standing in a BA pose together. The drawings are all well done, crisp and clean, with great expressions from the characters. Acevedo and Siobhan-Kanashii mesh well with their styles and do not fail to deliver with the artwork.

The story starts off with the crew in the Balaca Star System deep in the outer rim trying to salvage a Darzinean warship wreck. The captain of the ship, Bill Roenick is talking to his tech guy, or in this case tech girl, Teagan, as he tries to establish the oxygen levels and find some way to get the lights on. After turning on some light Bill stumbles on a room full of dead crew members, setting the tone for the rest of the first issue.

Teagan loses connection with Bill and talks with her computer system that she calls A.V.R.I (Artificial Vehicular Resource Intelligence) trying to diagnose the problem with connection. During her diagnosis she attempts to contact the remaining two crew members, Ty’r and Brigby. The muscles of the group Ty’r talks to Teagan as Brigby fools around in a space suite. Salley wastes no time getting into some action as Ty’r and Brigby get attacked by an armed androids. Teagan attempts to reestablish contact with Bill while Brigby proves that he is going to be the comic relief, betting that the big guy stomps the robot into a can. My first impressions of Ty’r and Brigby is something like Agent J and K from Men in Black. Ty’r being more serious and Brigby being more quick-witted and mouthy. I can see there dynamic becoming really fun in later issues.

As the story continues Bill comes into contact with an android that is similar to the one that attacked Ty’r and Brigby. Being the confident and leading man who every captain should be, Bill attempts to introduce himself and keep the meeting peaceful, but the android had other plans. Bill ends up taking out the robot and discovering that the robot is a Blackbane Private Security Contractor android.  He also notes that he isn’t surprised to see them but was surprised he hasn’t seen a Darzinean.

All three of the guys on the wreck continue to fight androids.  One is nearly successful at killing Bill, but a different android ends up saving him. The android introduces itself as G-9 Vessel Droid of the Darzinean Warspray. As Bill talks with the android, he discovers that the android was responsible for the safety of the crew. He also learns the android is responsible for downing his communications. The android downed Bill’s communication because the other robots are programmed to protect him from organic life forms and stresses that they have to hurry to save Ty’r and Brigby.

The book comes to an end as Ty’r and Brigby emerge victorious over the robots only to look up and discover five more waiting for them. Will Bill and the G-9 Droid get to them in time? Will they regain communications with the ship and Teagan? All questions I hope to have answered as I pick up book two of three of the Abandoned Cargo arc.

I feel like Salvagers delivers a solid punch for their first venture. I really enjoy the artwork from Acevedo and Siobhan-Kanashii, especially the fighting sequences. Salley starts off the story with a great splash page that helps to set up the Salvagers' purpose as the story begins. Salley does a killer job at introducing every character and conveying their personalities. I can’t wait for them grow and develop throughout this series. I already have Salvagers #2 and I feel confident they will continue to make it better and better.

I rarely have bad things to say, because you know, if you have nothing good to say then don’t say it at all, but I have to mention one thing that was fairly unpleasant. It has nothing to do with Salvagers at all but more with Hound Comics. I attempted to buy the first two books through their website Houndcomics.com and found that their store was down. I tried for about three days and finally emailed them. Even though it was inconvenient and it took me about a week longer than I wanted I got the books from Amazon. As much as I criticize Hound for this I have to say that they were professional as could be and responded to my email promptly, and they hustled to get their books on Amazon, so I give them full credit for professionalism and fixing their issues as fast as they could. I hope to see their online store up and running because truthfully they have some really BA titles that I would totally love to check them out without paying Amazon for the privilege.

Even with the minor setback I still had a great experience with Salvagers and even Hound Comics. I will certainly checkout more Hound Comic titles and most definitely continue with Salvagers. I urge anyone that is a fan of sci-fi to check out Salvagers. It won’t disappoint!