Reviews by PedRo Cabezuelo


Mystery Men has proven to be a pleasant surprise, not only because of its high quality, but also because of its unexpected horror content. Set in New York City in 1932, it’s the story of (to date) three heroes – cat burglar vigilante The Operative, wraith-like Revenant and


aviator Sarah Starr – who get thrown together while investigating the grisly murder of Sarah’s sister (and The Operative’s girlfriend), Alice. What they don’t know is that Alice was the victim of a ritualistic sacrifice at the hands of the emaciated and enigmatic General, so he could gain power from a demonic fear lord named Nox. After the fantastic first issue, this installment slows the pace down somewhat to fill in a few more details and allow us to get to know the players a bit better. But that’s not a complaint, as Mystery Men continues to perfectly play up the pulp angle while seamlessly mixing in some horror. Highly recommended.


DC is obviously fill- ing up space until Scott


Snyder’s ongoing Swamp Thing series debuts in September, so for now we get Brightest Day Af- termath: The Search for Swamp Thing, a lame mini-opus that has John Constantine digging to the bottom of Swampy’s return. Along the way he runs into Batman, ex-


flame Zatanna and an incredible amount of expository dialogue. Adding insult to injury, Constantine’s lines are filled with so many uncharacteristically clichéd British idioms that I kept expecting him to break into a rendi- tion of “Wouldn’t it be Loverly?” Not helping matters is Marco Castiello’s art, which is very nondescript and just... wrong. Proportions are way out of whack, as is the narrative flow, which is choppy and difficult to fol- low, resulting in a comic that is just plain ugly.


I haven’t beenkeeping up with Marvel’s Fear Itself saga, but the basic thrust appears to be a wave of panic


spreading out across the entire Marvel Universe. Those of you fa- miliar with Man-Thing (see Clas- sic Cut, p.70) will remember that his touch is deadly to anyone who shows even the slightest fear. Needless to say, current events have led the creature to run amok, accidentally killing a number of innocents. So in Fear Itself: Fearsome Four it’s up to Howard the Duck, She-Hulk, Nighthawk and Frankenstein to stop his rampage (’cause every- one else is busy, apparently). The story is a bit slow and spends too much time introducing the char- acters, though the premise is


wonderfully bizarre, so hopefully future installments will capitalize on this. Michael Wm. Kaluta’s art is always welcome and Simon Bis- ley’s distinctive style makes a rather jarring and dramatic en- trance as Man-Thing manipulates the Nexus of all realities, causing everyone to warp into grotesque caricatures. Not as much fun as it’s trying to be, but it’s getting there.


As a young boy during the Depression, Martin used to listen


to stories from his father, a rail- road man, while watching the trains go by. He was especially fascinated by tales of the Hellbound Train, a menacing locomotive that would ferry its unknown cargo every night at mid- night. The tragic death of his father leads Martin to a life filled with orphanages, vagrancy, petty theft and odd jobs, until the fateful night he catches up to the Hellbound Train and makes a deal with its menacing conductor. That Hellbound Train is an adaptation of a 1958 short story by Robert Bloch that has rather mixed results. The issue is jar- ring, darting around Martin’s childhood and adolescence with- out getting a firm grasp on the character, which makes his even- tual deal with the Conductor somewhat puzzling. However, Dave Wachter’s art more than makes up for the narrative short- comings. There’s a strong Wright- son vibe to his work and his panels are thick with a sombre, melancholy mood.


The Goon makes his tri- umphant return to the world of bi-


monthly comics in order to expose the true evil behind the


whole sparkly vampire craze: tween girls. A seemingly innocent young lass is dropped off at the McGregg Home and promptly transforms into a multi- tentacled demon that terrorizes the other children (that gang of trouble- makers, the Little, Unholy Bastards). They soon enlist The Goon’s help – once they get him drunk, of course. There’s really little more to say about Eric Powell’s The Goon #34. Like Mignola and Hellboy, you know what you’re going to get, and if you’ve liked it so far, it won’t disappoint. It’s vio- lent, pulls no punches, is sometimes crude, always funny and boasts fan-


tastic art. ’Nuff said.


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