Written, illustrated, lettered and designed by:

Steven Perkins

Publisher: Image Comics

Spoiler Warning:

If there is such a thing as an over-achiever in the comics’ world, then the label definitely applies to Steven Perkins. The guy has obviously poured his heart and soul into this project, and it really shows. I was tempted to pick another book to review because I wasn’t sure whether this could be counted as a ‘Monster Comic’, but then I realised that if I didn’t tell you about this book I would be committing a crime and doing a severe disservice to Perkins himself.

To be perfectly honest, after seeing the previews Perkins posted around the Internet, I was going to buy this book even if it was devoid of plot. The sumptuous visuals pulled me in from the outset, I figured if the story sucked, then at least the art was good. Luckily Perkins has written a very funny, surreal and sometimes touching book. The book doesn’t take itself too seriously, and makes several jokes about the absurdity of the plotline throughout. The protagonist Sarcophaga even makes reference to the artist himself, saying that Perkins may have trouble depicting his memories of his long dead mother. It is the little things like this, which make the book a genuinely engaging experience. I wont go into details about the story, but if you like guys with giant fly heads, gorgeous women with bags on their heads, and robotic warriors with emotional complexes, then this book is for you.

Back to the art, it’s really nice folks. The mixture of styles and mediums really makes for a unique read and coupled with the great lettering throughout it looks like nothing else out there right now.

If I could liken this book to any other it would probably be Ashley Wood and Joe Casey’s ‘Automatic Kafka’, not only are the art styles somewhat similar, but also both books have a great sense of humour about themselves. Considering that I think Automatic Kafka is one of the best comic series I’ve ever read, this is high praise indeed from yours truly.

So in case you can’t tell, I like Pacify. Go out and grab a copy today. Maybe even get two, and give one to a Hobo. Hobos love comics.

Grade: A

Writer: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Pencils: Greg Titus
Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Colors: Chris Sotomayor
Publisher: Marvel

Spoiler Warning:

The Super Skrull has always interested me. Here is a villain with all of the powers of the Fantastic Four, but he is consistently defeated with general ease by the FF and rest of the Marvel Hero community. Such a powerful being should surely be in the top roster of Marvel’s great pantheon of super-villains. However, as usual Marvel has decided to focus on other characters and let the Super-Skrull warm the benches for guest appearances and whatnot. With any luck, all this will change with the advent of Super-Skrull #1. I’m conflicted with how I feel for this book, in general the art is decent, the colouring is of the high day-glo standard I’ve come to expect from Marvel’s B-List books, and the story is well written and capable of holding my interest for the next four issues, but it is such a clichéd and over-used idea that it detracts from the book as a whole. The Super-Skull is forced to rebel against his superiors and becomes an enemy of the Skrull empire whilst joining up with a technologically gifted, obnoxious child so that he can fight against the ‘Annihilation Wave’ that has been threatening the Skrull home world. As I’ve said, while it is all perfectly well executed, it is very by-the-numbers and I can see pretty much every plot detail before it happens.

So yeah, if you like the character and enjoy a well-handled cosmic romp, then pick it up; just don’t expect to be surprised.

Grade: B

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Well that’s it for reviews this week. Before I go I’d just like to recommend that you kids pick up the following books if you haven’t already:

Infinite Crisis #6: Great action-packed issue with a few revelations and character adjustments. DC’s big events have been really entertaining of late.

American Virgin #2: Another book where I’m not entirely sure what they’re doing yet, but it is handled in such a way that I’m sticking around to find out. It reminds me of the start of Y the last man, and look how great that book is now.

Hard Time: 50 To Life: Trade Paperback: I just jumped on the Hard Time bandwagon and I have to say, I’m loving it. I’ll hold off to get the trade of the new series; I just hope that it doesn’t take so long to come out this time. What a great book folks, WHAT A GREAT BOOK!

So yeah. Once again, thanks for the support and being patient with me these past few weeks. I’ll be back next week with some reviews of comics, which actually might include monsters! You never know!

Talk about this edition of It Came from GAV!