Gronk: A Monster's Story Vol 4

The latest, full-color volume of Katie Cook's popular webcomic, Gronk! This new installment has never been in print before and is coming to Action Lab as a brand-spankin' NEW book! Follow Gronk and her friends' adventures for another silly, fun, weird year. Like cats? This book has 'em. Like dogs? We have those too. Like tiny green monsters? Look no further, you've found your new favorite book!

Whenever I get hooked on a series after the fact, whether it be a TV show, anime or comic, sometimes I just binge.  It has honestly been a test of willpower to not jump over to the ongoing webcomic and read more.  I've held off so far, and for that reason, I could still appreciate all of the fourth volume of Gronk: A Monster's Story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first few volumes, as did my daughter, and couldn't wait to break into this one.  Every little story is another great addition to the ongoing fun that is Gronk's life as we follow along.  Many an amusing bit about lack of coffee, fun with food and why walking cats is rarely a thing all made me smile and even laugh out loud.

If by now you either haven't read any of Gronk or any of Katie Cook's work, this is just as good as a book as any to start with.  Even in its Sunday funnies simplicity, every mini story is full of life with the artwork.  You come to love every single character and their wonderful designs are naturally a big part of that.

I like that they even threw in the FCBD issue at the end, yet another me and my daughter enjoyed.  The greatest thing about collections like this of a webcomic is you have no worries about missing continuity.  So even if you've never read Gronk, you can quite easily jump into this and love it, and should do so as soon as it's out.

For more on Gronk: A Monster's Story or other Action Lab books, check out Action Lab and follow along at Gronk Comic.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

Aliens vs Zombies 1

When a meteor carrying the Zombie virus hits Earth, it triggers the potential end of mankind. The last chance for humanity is a spacecraft full of alien scientists tasked with tracking the interstellar virus; one that has wiped out many other planets and lifeforms. What will happen when humans must team with aliens to survive the apocalypse?

This book starts out pretty routine, on Earth, with a very standard zombie outbreak. There’s talk from an unnamed narrator about the way the zombie virus broke out, and the degradation of media reports. It really could be any zombie story from any source, with little explanation of what to expect, a president trying to save himself, and a rough-looking man fighting zombies off and running.

Then, the aliens get involved.

The aliens are introduced by name, but so far only the captain (and arguably the first mate) has any personality to speak of. The book ends far too early for me. There’s not a lot of real action, story, or explanation, though it’s a good set up. The fact that I felt it ended too early is a good sign, in a sense: it means I wanted to read more of it. I wanted to get some information about the characters presented. I was interested to see how the humans would interact with aliens, especially in the face of a threat they haven’t yet discovered the origins of. I’ll probably pick up the next book out of curiosity.

The art here is pretty decent, really great colors. The character design is a little generic as far as the aliens go, but it could be much worse.

I think for this one, fans of zombie stories will likely be more interested than sci-fi fans will. Though anyone who likes aliens in particular may be interested, it felt like at heart it was more a zombie story than anything else. We’ll have to see what the next book shows us.

You can find out more and purchase this title from Zenescope Comics right over here!

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

We Stand On Guard 1

A canadian family is watching the news in a living room that appears to be in the not too distant future.  They are discussing the potential for the United States targeting them, the next thing they know, bombs are dropping and half the family is dead.   Flash forward, the little girl is now a budding adult, eking out a modest living in the wilds of the Northwest territories.  That is until she runs afoul of a combat drone and has to be rescued by a band of freedom fighters, possibly the last free Canadians.  Add a giant United States robot, and one hellacious firefight to wrap up the inaugural issue of this promising series.

This will be a title that will engender intense love or intense hate.  Given that Americans are egocentric about their nation, this could generate some bad blood with some readers.  The art is very crisp and clean courtesy of Matrix storyboard artist Steve Skroce.  The colors really brought out the fine lines of Skroce’s work, reminiscent of Brian Boland of Judge Dredd fame.  The visuals he brings out are tight and tough.  Some people might find the clean style a little off for a war drama, but it seemed to work in the first issue.

Rick Vaughn’s script left a little to be desired for me.  I spent most of this issue feeling like I was waiting for something exciting to happen and even during the combat sequences, I still felt like I was waiting.  Part of this is, that he falls back on time honored scenes for setting up a combat drama.  Case in point, Amber is hunting a deer in the forest and comes on the combat drone, a scene I feel like I’ve been bored with a dozen times before.  Then after she comes across the resistance fighters, they just happen to be attacked by a giant robot.  This series does have promise, but may not yield much in the way of surprises other than the basic premise.  One bright note in the script was the dialogue, which was crisp, interesting and involving.

Keep an eye on this one, it could be the sleeper hit of the summer.  For more information about We Stand On Guard or other titles from Image, visit their website.  Image Comics

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.

Bloodshot Reborn 1-4

The man once known as the unstoppable killing machine called BLOODSHOT must track down the impostors carrying out mass shootings in his former name. But the hunter becomes the hunted when an upstart FBI investigator and her grizzled partner believe the original Bloodshot himself to be responsible for the murders.

Can Bloodshot elude the agents – and his own inner demons – long enough to take out a nanite-infused gunman?

Writer:
Jeff Lemire
Artist:
Mico Suayan with Jeff Lemire
Publisher:
Valiant Entertainment

Bloodshot Reborn is, like a lot of Valiant series published this year, an odd duck. There's an earnestness from the creative teams when it comes to playing silly concepts completely straight, which means that they live and die on what they provide on top of staple stories straight out of a Storytelling 101 book. In the first four issues, a simple redemptive arc for Bloodshot (a character who has come across in the past as an unaware 90's caricature) gets given some spice by adding one simple twist – we aren't sure if he's been driven insane by his experiences or not.

It's this key plot element that kept me hooked rather than learning about how hard Bloodshot has had it since he became human and decided to hide from his past. The two arguing voices which he personifies, one a bloodthirsty child's mascot moulded on himself and the other the woman he briefly met and who gave him his life back, liven up an otherwise pretty boiler plate opening first two issues.

Even the FBI agent who has the same abilities of Will Graham from Hannibal isn't enough to shake the feeling of a story that is less mystery and more 'Go from point A to point B. Repeat.'

Having said all that, I did enjoy the issue – Bloodshot's alienation and decreasing sanity are gripping and the fight choreography well done – each of the people that Bloodshot has to fight have just enough of an individual arc and personality that they aren't reduced to mere obstacles to destroy and move on.

The central concept at the heart of the comic -is Bloodshot necessary and can our anti hero become him again without sacrificing the very humanity he now loathes but feels protective of? -is played well enough. the slow degradation of his psyche as the nanites take control once more is a little sudden, as he goes from the same person he's been the rest of the comic to someone willing to kill an innocent at the bidding of the voices in his head.

Hopefully this will all make more sense as the series progresses. But I for one could get used to the creepy quality of the series where we aren't sure if we should trust our protagonist at all. The Valiant Now! series seems to be trying to update classic Valiant Characters and give them a twist. Let's hope this change sticks.

Cover image courtesy of Valiant Entertainment.

Bloodshot Reborn is available from Valiant.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.