EC Archives: Tales From the Crypt Vol. 1
Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig, Wally Wood, Graham Ingels, Harvey Kurtzman
Gemstone Publishing

Mention Tales from the Crypt to anyone under the age of 30, and they’ll immediately recall the gory HBO horror series or the spin-off cinematic releases, but not the original, groundbreaking Entertaining Comics series that ran from 1950 to 1955. A shame really, as the series pioneered the horror comic genre that would go onto to influence some of the great horror minds such as Stephen King, George Romero, and John Carpenter.

Fortunately, Gemstone Publishing is reintroducing the dark tales to a new generation of readers with EC Archives: Tales From the Crypt Vol. 1. This wonderful hardcover reprints the first six complete issues of the horror series, featuring a whopping 24 stories of werewolves, the undead, psychotics, and twisted science experiments. The stories in this collection are solid and entertaining, and the twist endings that many employ hold up surprisingly well, despite a few ho-hummers that are somewhat predictable by today’s standards.

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Empowered
Adam Warren
Dark Horse Comics

One of the longtime critiques of comics (besides corrupting America’s youth and dulling its minds) has been the medium’s portrayal of women, particularly those in the cape-and-cowl sector. Long, flowing hair, flat bellies, huge breasts, and perfect asses have been the norm virtually since the art’s creation; a norm which is far from typical in the real world. While social commentators and wannabe- psychologists guestimate the effect that this image has on the mind of males and females alike, writer/artist Adam Warren tackles the sexy superheroine syndrome with Empowered, a comedic take on the traditional tights-based comics.

The 248-paged black-and-white book chronicles the details of the eponymous bombshell, a C-level heroine who never quite gets the job done. She’s bound and gagged by baddies in virtually every story in this collection, but it’s no fault of her own; her ridiculously tight super-suit, which grants super strength and energy-projection, rips at the drop of a dime, leaving her powerless, and oft times, semi-nude.

It’s at these moments when Empowered’s insecurities come into play both as a hero and as a woman. As an adventurer, she’s frequently the butt of jokes from her colleagues, the Super Homeys; as a lady, she’s frequently the butt of jokes about, well, her butt (such as when an alien attempts to kidnap Empowered into an intergalactic harem, he scans her figure and determines that her rump is a bit too full for his master’s bidding).
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If there’s a comic event to be held, you can count on The Daily Cross Hatch to be at the scene with coverage of the shenanigans. I raided Forbidden Planet on Free Comic Book Day to cop some sweet swag from one of New York City’s top comic retailers – and had saw Spider-Man watching over the denizens of city. Details and pics, after the jump.

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Eye Trauma Comix’ Other Heroes exhibition at Mississippi’s Jackson State University starts now and will run until April 25th. The event serves as a showcase of work by African-American comics artists juxtaposed against the image of Black characters existing in the medium as well as serving as charity event for the poor that lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina – all profits of the Other Heroes catalog will go to Scholarship America, which will provide tuition support to low-income residents.

One of the Other Heroes contributors–amongst the likes of Kyle Baker and Lance Tooks–is Dawud Anyabwile, the creative mind behind Brotherman: Dictator of Discipline, who we had the fortune of wrangling up for a brief interview. Mr. Anyabwile gave his thoughts on the state of African-Americans in modern comics, what needs to be done to see more diversity in both faces and storyline.

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Little Bat Koku Volume II
by Jim Kilpatrick

One of the finer aspects of attending events like WonderCon, is the chance to meet creators who are still flying just below radar, but are churning out solid work. Such is Jim Kilpatrick, creator and self-publisher of Little Bat Koku, which is the tale of Koku Katsuragi, a young girl who discovers a magic ring while collecting seashells on a beach. The mysterious ring does more than provide lovely hand ornamentation – it attracts the attention of a dark cult that sends its demon-agents after the plucky protagonist. In the ensuing chase, Koku’s ring activates, transforming her into a mystically-enhanced novice hero with bat-like abilities.

Little Bat Koku Volume II, which collects issues three and four of the series into one book, delves into the origin of the ring and introduces Koku to Kita, her bat guide and apparent familiar of sorts. Kita, ironically, represents the one problem with the book: pacing. By the time Kita finally finds Koku in chapter four of Volume II – you’ll wonder why it took so long, considering that the story is pretty straight forward. Kilpatrick, who utilizes a cute anime-by-way-of-America art style, frequently maxes his panel count to three or four per page, which gives the book an artificial sense of length. During action sequences, the sparse paneling assists in taking in the scope of battle, but in quieter moments it would’ve been nice to linger on a page and absorb its content rather than speed read through.

Fans of fun, supernatural adventure in the vein of Hellboy Animated, will probably take a liking to Little Bat Koku Volume II. Kilpatrick has created solid groundwork for future stories that we hope will provide more in-depth looks at the characters and better utilize page space.

–Jeffrey Wilson

The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft #0/Preview #1
By Mac Carter/Jeff Blitz and Adam Byrne

The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft #0/Preview #1 serves as an introduction to a series featuring the popular horror scribe as a character tormented by his own monstrous nightmares; nightmares that take residence outside of the dreamworld. This eight-page teaser showcases Mac Carter’s and Jeff Blitz’ moody storytelling and Adam Byrne’s dark, dynamic visuals, which wonderfully combine Lovecraft’s real-life torments with his writings to create an intriguing protagonist who literally battles his own demons. The creative team is currently working on landing a publisher, but with the potential displayed in this mini-ish, it shouldn’t be too long before we see more Lovecraft stories down the pipe.

–Jeffrey Wilson

Did you really think that WonderCon 2007 would come and go without The Daily Crosshatch crashing the party? I surprised bossman Brian Heater with an e-mail stating that I was in San Fran geeking it out with other comic-lovin’ fiends. The three-day event was a stellar showcase of all thing comics, fantasy, sci-fi. Elbows were rubbed with up-and-coming comics talent as well as established vets who, for the most part, were engaging, insightful, and willing to chat it up (in between the hundreds of autographs doled out per hour). Here are some of the show highlights:

• I copped a signed copy of The Life of Groo from comics legend Sergio Aragones, who mentioned an upcoming Groo/Conan crossover title. Expect a high body count.

• Jason Kruse, creator of The World of Quest, told us that he landed a sweet deal with Kids WB to bring his characters to television. Kruse learned of the deal from his agents Dave Alpert and Kemper Donovan while on the show floor.

• Erik Larsen gave us a few words regarding The Savage Dragon. He said to expect two more reprinted TPBs before the end of 07 and, when asked about The Savage Dragon animated series, he replied without hesitation that, “it was retarded.”

• The new TMNT trailer that debuted at the show will unquestionably sell you on the quality of the film. Personally, I was leery of the flick after the initial teaser, but I’ll so be there when it opens.

• After getting a 10 minute sneak peek at the final product, all I can say about Frank Miller’s 300 is WOW. Even if the script is less than stellar, it’s a must see just for the visuals alone. The way that Miller’s panels were integrated into the movie is simply awesome.

And that was only the very tip of the iceberg. We scored lots of sweet books that you’ll see reviewed in upcoming posts and we’re arranging some choice interviews for your reading pleasure. Until then, enjoy some photos from the show.

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If you’re looking for a surefire method to get a buddy into the hobby during the hype of Spidey-mania, then you’d be wise to circle May 5th on your calendar. Coinciding with Spider-Man 3’s opening weekend, the upcoming Free Comic Book Day celebrates and raises awareness of the artform by giving visitors to approximately 2,000 participating comic shops a free book – no purchase required. While you probably won’t be able to waltz into a shop and snatch up a signed copy of Maus, we welcome the industry’s attempt to broaden its audience. For a list of sponsers and the issues that are poised for giveaway, checkout www.freecomicbookday.com.

–Jeffrey Wilson

Hellboy Animated Volume 1: The Black Wedding
By Jim Pascoe/Rick Lacy (The Black Wedding) and Tad Stones/Fabio Laguna (Pyramid of Death)
Dark Horse Comics
Hellboy Animated, a 4-color spin-off of the direct-to-video Hellboy animated DVDs, continues the adventures of Mike Mignola’s popular paranormal-investigators. The series’ first volume features two entertaining tales: The Black Wedding and Pyramid of Death. In The Black Wedding – story by Jim Pascoe, art by Rick Lacy – Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and Agent Ecton are out to prevent a witch from fulfilling her sinister scheme of summoning an ancient evil to this world; a scheme that involves Hellboy’s main squeeze, Liz Sherman, and ultimately, the death of a Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense member.

Pyramid of Death is a lighthearted short penned by Tad Stones, with art by Fabio Laguna, in which a young Hellboy, imitating the crime-fighting prowess of his favorite radio program adventurer, the Lobster, proves that a vivid imagination can be as troublesome as any villain.

Featuring a cover by Jeff Matsuda and a pin-up by Mignola, Hellboy Animated Volume 1 is a fine, fast-paced addition to the animated series and the original, darker Hellboy comic.

–Jeffrey Wilson