TALES OF SUPERNATURAL LAW VOL.1
Written and Drawn by Batton Lash
Published by Exhibit A Press

This handsome volume collects the first eight issues of WOLFF & BYRD, COUNSELORS OF THE MACABRE, long since printed as two separate books many years ago. Then the book changed its title to SUPERNATURAL LAW, which not only left the early material out of print, but sitting on the shelf away from its earlier incarnations in shops that were strict about alphabetizing. So hats off to Lash for not only going back and reprinting the material in a larger collection, but for re-mastering some of the art and backgrounds and printing on a better paper stock.

SUPERNATURAL LAW remains one of the more clever conceits to build a comic around; Wolff and Byrd are lawyers who represent monsters, vampires, psychics, and other occult oddities, because even creatures of the night fear are entitled to equal representation under the law. However, the reason the book has been successful for so long isn’t because of Lash’s pun-filled take on the crazy scenarios that pour out of his head; SUPERNATURAL LAW remains one of my favorite books because the cast of characters is first rate, from the title lawyers themselves, to their unflappable secretary Mavis, to the swamp creature Sodd whom they’re representing.

Lash, the only man who could have pulled off the PUNISHER MEETS ARCHIE one-shot, never forgets that comics are a medium built on a foundation of fun. I’ve been reading and enjoying this book since the first issue hit stands a decade ago; I recommend it to you without reservation.

SIBAM?

The book was optioned for film years ago, and indeed, part of the reason the title changed was because that’s what the film was going to be called. But things have appeared to stall on that front in the past couple of years, which is too bad; there’s fertile ground here for a clever filmmaker to plow.

STUDENTS OF THE UNUSUAL #1-5
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by 3 Boys Productions

This is a clever little light-horror anthology that features a few clever recurring characters and storylines and sprinkles in a couple of new efforts as well in each issue. Like most anthologies, it can vary wildly in quality and could benefit from some tightening, but for the most part, I found myself quite charmed by each issue. My favorite of the recurring bits is “Recalcitrant Jones And The Deadbeats,” which features a guileless young musician who sells his soul for a backing band and winds up with Elvis, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix on stage with him… decomposing. It’s cute, with an effortless kid-friendly art style that keeps it funny rather than grotesque. The book should ditch the round-robin effort “Quest” which leads off the book, though, because it’s lost its way badly, with little hope of recovery. Overall, this was a surprising bit of fun. I’m onboard.

LICENSABLE BEAR #1
Written by Nat Gertler and Drawn by Various
Published by About Comics

I reviewed issue two of this book a couple of months ago, so I’m working a bit ass-backwards here. That’ll happen. I was fairly ambivalent about the book, a very gentle satire of the marketing and licensing craze surrounding pop culture icons these days. My ambivalence was due mainly to personal taste, not because the book was poor; I prefer my satire to have more bite. This first issue, though, is much more to my tastes, with a bit more of a sharper edge to the humor. There’s also some very nice art in these pages, particularly from Filip Sablik and Tone Rodriguez. LICENSABLE BEAR is, like our home planet, mostly harmless. And that’s just fine.

CRISS CROSS
Written by Doug Miers and Drawn by Michelangelo
Published by Arcana Studio

This is a book with a very sad origin. Miers, who had worked his way from the retail side of comics to the creative side, writing for some indy publishers, passed away unexpectedly early this year. As a tribute, his last concept, this book, has been brought to fruition by some of the friends and family he left behind. And what he left behind was solid: CRISS CROSS is the story of a con woman, but one who makes as her targets the scum of the Earth: rapists, murderers, and thieves. That’s solid stuff, even though he makes it look a little too easy and quick in the first few pages. There’s a bit too much “telling” and not showing, but given time, I suspect he would have tightened up those problems. The art plays a bit too generically and blunts the impact of some of Miers’ story, but overall, had this had the time to grow, I think it would have become a decent-sized hit for Arcana. Rest in peace, Doug.

THE ASSASSIN #1
Written by Vicente Cifu and Sean O’Reilly and Drawn by Cifu
Published by Arcana Studio

THE ASSASSIN aims a bit higher than where it eventually lands. It comes out of the gate looking like a decent whodunit, but it quickly loses steam as it gets confused about the motivation and characterization of the primary male characters, especially Rico, who is set up to be the stereotypical lothario and then suddenly becomes quite caring and interested in the Assassin with no real reason or impetus. It plays wrong, and shoves the other male lead, intrepid reporter Paul, into the background for extended periods of time. On the bright side, Cifu’s art shows flashes of being quite lovely, and his storytelling ability is solid. With work, the rest should come along.

FERVOR
Written and Drawn by Sean Dietrich
Published by Rorschach Entertainment

I had to read this book a couple of times before I really felt like I had a comfortable bead on it, because I didn’t want to read the inside front-cover explanation Dietrich provided; that would be cheating. FERVOR is a fascinating fever dream of a book, a look inside the head of a woman who is dealing with slowly losing her grip on a reality that is nothing but horror to her eyes at every waking moment. There’s a bit of distance put between the woman and the reader as her mind carries her into the lives of others, others she wishes she could be and others it would be worse to be. It isn’t always as clear as you’d like it to be, and certainly, reading Dietrich’s explanation inside the front cover does enhance the reading experience in the end, but the true star here is Dietrich’s edgy, hyperactive art; he does a terrific job of selling the nasty reality of each moment in this woman’s life, and you believe in it as you pore through each page.

SOMETHING SO FAMILIAR
Written and Drawn by Alex Cahill
Published by The New Radio

SOMETHING SO FAMILIAR is powerful stuff. Cahill’s wordless, caption-less narrative of a man who has lost his family and who is pondering the decision to take his own life as well knocked me out with its lush panel work, strong storytelling, and depth of emotion. Suicide is a tricky topic; religion condemns it, and those left behind are destroyed by the loss of the loved one. However, Cahill’s protagonist has already seen his wife and child die; that leaves him in the position of having to deal with a life without them every day, a life tortured by the fact that he and his wife were arguing and she was running away from him with their son when they died in front of his eyes. So the question is: does the man truly deserve to live? And is he really living, even if he is alive? There are no easy answers here, just a wonderful comic. Find yourself a copy and give it a read.

LOCAL #1
Written by Brian Wood and Drawn by Ryan Kelly
Published by Oni Press

This “thematic” sequel to Wood’s DEMO gets off to a very strong start with this issue. We meet young Megan McKeenan as she’s sitting with her boyfriend outside a pharmacy in Portland, Oregon. Her boyfriend is trying his best to write a phony prescription, leaving Megan to try and enter the drugstore, commit the felony, and fill it. What happens next is a journey inside the young girl’s mind that immediately defines who she is and what her life is going to be as the series progresses. But as good as the story is, I reserve my highest praise for Ryan Kelly’s art; his earlier work, like GIANT ROBOT WARRIORS, showed none of the breakout potential he displays here. Oni has been one of the most consistent publishers in the marketplace over the last few years, but with SCOTT PILGRIM and this book, it looks like they’re re-establishing themselves as a “buzz” company, which we haven’t seen from them in a long time.

STYX TAXI: AS ABOVE, SO BELOW
Written by Steven Goldman and Drawn by Rami Efal
Published by FWD Books

Confession time: over the last two years of doing this column, I’ve had the opportunity to directly try and influence the optioning of a few books. STYX TAXI is one of them. The concept is wonderfully, brilliantly simple: when you die, rather than paying a ferryman to take you across the river Styx, you get a cab ride. The ride gives you two hours to make one stop and clear up one last remaining issue you may have remaining before you shuffle off to the other side. That creates the potential for wonderful moments of pathos and strong emotion, as the dead must choose how to spend their last bit of time on Earth. This new effort is the best one yet out from Goldman, as we meet Rosa, who dies three pages before finishing the novel she was reading (FLETCH!) and Jason, a young gay man who talks his cabbie into being his final dinner date before exiting. Both stories are rich and wonderful, displaying a firm grasp on the small details of what make us human. As an added bonus, Goldman prints a few pages from the novel he has in progress on the flipside of the book as well, giving this already great book some nice added value for your dollar. It’s easy to complain about the slow pace that some independent publishers take in getting their books out, but as long as each STYX TAXI is as good as this one, I will be more than happy to wait.

See you in seven.

Review materials may be sent to: Marc Mason, P.O. Box 26732, Tempe, AZ 85285. You can also find me at Happy Nonsense and The Comics Waiting Room

E-MAIL THE AUTHOR | ARCHIVES