Zorro #6

"DIOS!"

Let me start off the quick review by saying this is my favourite version of Zorro so far. I've always liked the title character, so that's not saying past versions were terrible or anything; but Matt Wagner and Francesco Francavilla sure do execute a bang-up job. Mat Wagner Grendel fame heads this Zorro ship as writer and art director, while Francavilla, a talent I admire, lays down the illustrations. The result is pulpy Zorro goodness that should please long-time Zorro fans and newcomers alike.

The story strikes me as both simple and complex in that it never gets too messy and stays on a straight path, while occasionally flashing back to when Zorro was a boy with his "milk-brother" Bernardo.

Have I mentioned this issue has pirates? The fact that Wagner fit them in seamlessly fills me with glee.

Anyhow, yeah, so the story progresses as Zorro takes on the Spanish Man and his friend narrates the story (Bernardo doesn't speak, though). We get to find out this time around just how Zorro affords to be a kick-ass rogue for justice and get further proof Francavilla is a damned fine artist. The art kind of creeps into your heart and stays there, managing to fully capture the pulpy flavour of this kind of story while managing to sweep us off our feet with dashing adventure.

That's what this title is, pretty much: dashing and daring adventure. But maybe with a little bit of modern story-telling technique thrown in. Like the Lone Ranger book, this new Zorro is a little grittier than past incarnations.

Overall, Zorro #6 delivers a great tale of adventure, coming-of-age and discovery-- and TORNADO! YAY!! The flashbacks are handled nicely, and the dialogue crisp, and the exposition none-too-heavy. A lot of story is packed into these pages. If I have to dwell on anything bad, I guess it would be that some words are used often (I assume this is intentional) and Spanish words are scattered throughout, and French in one place to indicate the character is French, I suppose. These aren't bad things, really, as people tend to say many of the same things in real life (take me, for instance) and using some non-English words to create an air of authenticity is better than those "[*translated from blah blah]" boxes, yeah?

I just can't believe we're six issue in already. Six months have gone by... seriously? Time flies when a comic is kicking some ass.

Read more about Zorro #6 here.


Lethality: With a flick of the wrists, masked fox-people slaughter the 5-man party with ease. The ranger manages to flee, but he's never playing the fiddle again.

Frank Frazetta's Dracula Meets the Wolfman

"Both make man want."

I'm tired and I had a lot of work to do on the new Total Party Kill column today (due out Tuesday on Comics Waiting Room), and so my cerebreal cortex is somewhat fried. However, I would still like to throw something up here for the day, and I can think of nothing cooler Than this Dracula Meets the Wolfman comic I picked up.

Now, straight out the gate this has two elements going for it: 1) Steve Niles, who's a competent writer and knows this material cold; 2) Francesco Fracavilla, who's one of the best artists working in the field of comics today-- and he's a personal favourite of mine (The Black Coat, Zorro). So far, so good. Throw Frazetta (!!!!) into the mix and we have a cake worth eating.

To say this comic is a masterpiece would be an outright, bald-faced lie. But that's not to say it's bad. Oh no! It's quite entertaining, in fact. This is a comic inspired by a Frazetta painting or something, and the first pages set up the face-off between Dracula and The Wolfman. And there's a woman involved. Really, there's no "meeting", unless you count deadly combat as "meeting".

Ha! Who am I fucking kidding? There's a lot of poeple who I'd like to "meet", so it's all good in the horror b-movie hood.

Francavilla is the real star here, providing some outstanding pulp-noir fight scenes that kick some serious ass. That's not to say Niles doesn't make a good showing. He sets up the brutal fighting quite nicely, and I'm very sure he came up with the story-- and it's a real hoot. Honestly, watching Wolfman and Dracula fight take me back to being a little kid, sitting there with popcorn while my dad tells me that a mummy or the Creature from the Black Lagoon should show up and pound them into paste. So, thanks goes out to the creators here for this whip-cracking hella good time.

Where does Frazetta fit into all of this? Have you seen the cover? Killer.

All in all, a fun comic. I felt that the ending was kind of jarring, what with the large time-jump happening, but it's only for three pages and then it ends. If you are an old horror movie goober like me, and like seeing stories inspired by Frazetta's remarkable and stunning art, this is for you. Money went spent for a good time.

Find out more here... if you dare!


Lethality: Three out of the five party members are decapitated, while one lost his legs. Though one got away unscathed, she'll always tremble at the sight of blood and dig a hole to hide in when the full moon is hanging in the sky.