Christmas gets a proverbial twelve days of anticipation and celebration, teeming with carols and gift-giving and office parties, and Easter gets forty days of reflection and introspection with Lent, but what of Halloween? Sure, we spend weeks decorating, brainstorming costumes, watching scary movies, and buying candy, but this isn’t an official calendar countdown. Further, the real festivity is reserved for just a few fleeting nighttime hours, and just as quickly as it comes, it goes. Boycotted by churches and quickly usurped by Christmas, Halloween always gets the short end of the stick . . . but not here at A Comic A Day! Longtime readers know I love Halloween, so this week I’m dedicated to heralding its arrival with a series of holiday-related comic book reviews. Take that, birth of Christ!*
In fact, I picked up Vampirella 2006 Halloween Special several months ago at the Frank & Sons Collectibles Show anticipating this very week, and since I’ve never read a Vampirella story before, what better time than around a holiday that practically celebrates blood sucking? Phil Hester’s credit on the cover certainly sealed the deal, and although he doesn’t illustrate the issue, he is more than capable of writing a suspenseful story with its own peculiar twist. For Halloween, he went for less Big Pumpkin and more Dear Penthouse, with a tale so thick with sexual tension that the terms “trick” and “treat” began to take on a whole new meaning. Of course, when the title character fights crime in a costume made of glorified dental floss, what should I expect? Seriously, Vampirella makes Elvira look like the Warrior Nun -- well, that’s not saying much, either, but you know what I mean.
In this issue, Vampirella befriends a Las Vegas tattoo artist, whose violent past comes back to haunt him thanks to our heroine’s supernatural sense of rough justice, but not before she passes the time under the needle recounting her origin. While longtime Vampirella fans could’ve easily flipped past these two pages, I found the concise flashback, and despite this issue’s roots in Halloween, I certainly won’t be afraid to pick up a future issue starring this demonic damsel . . . even if artist Stephen Segovia’s liberal use of butt cleavage is the norm for Vampirella stories. Since she spent half of this issue under a towel in a tattoo shop, I’m sure Segovia didn’t have much of a choice anyway, but like many readers I can’t imagine that he really complained about it.
Whether or not Halloween ever warrants an official pre-game countdown, aside from ABC Family’s scary movie marathon, Phil Hester uses Vampirella to remind us that, like a tattoo, this hallowed holiday is here to stay. Considering that children and adults alike seize the opportunity to dress up like their favorite superheroes and sci-fi characters, it’s no wonder Halloween has always had a friend in comics.
Vampirella 2006 Halloween Special was published by Harris Comics, written by Phil Hester, illustrated by Stephen Segovia, colored by Jay David Ramos, and lettered by Ed Dukeshire.
*Actually, I already have a fun bunch of Christmas-themed comics to read in December, too . . . Dang, Halloween just can’t win.
Showing posts with label Phil Hester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phil Hester. Show all posts
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The Holy Terror #2
The Holy Terror #2, October 2002, Image Comics
writer: Jason Caskey
penciller: Phil Hester
inker: Jim Woodyard
colorist: John Warren
letterer: Gary Peterson
Blogger's note: Entry for Friday, February 22, 2008.
When I reviewed The Holy Terror #1 in November 2006, I commented on the connection between the worlds of wrestling and superhero comic books. The parallel is similar to my recent analysis of the kinship between superheroes and football players -- in short, all three genres of entertainment feature spandex-wearing musclebound men locked in competitive battle. While superheroes often fight to save the world, and football players play to win the Superbowl, wrestlers claim no pretense to their combativeness. It's fighting for fighting's sake, and though a championship belt may be involved, the real victory is the status as an expert (or just plain ruthless) brawler. Add a layer of demonic possession in the mix, and you have a sport that boys with a penchant for rough and tumble play simple cannot resist.
Welcome to The Holy Terror -- as if the wide world of wrestling actually needed a supernatural kick in the pants to up the ante of adrenaline-induced violence. Last issue introduced Max, a struggling young wrestler whose manager unwittingly condemned him to a collision course with the macabre via the mask and persona of the Holy Terror. In this issue, Max's struggles with the Terror's identity go to the next level as he experiences inexplicable fits of righteous rage. When his manager demands that he throw his next fight and retire the Holy Terror, Max, presumably under the influence of the mask itself, refuses, nearly killing his opponent and earning the adoration of his audience. This issue's cliffhanger propels the series' supernatural subplot and sets up the reader for an inevitable collision of Max's two new worlds, which makes me wonder, which is a more possessive force: the darkly magical roots of the Holy Terror's origin, or the praise and admiration of wrestling's' hardcore fans?
I really can't say anything more about this issue that I didn't say for number one. Caskey's engrossing script allows plenty of room for Hester's art to breathe, particularly during the fight sequences, when some choreography is necessary for the story's sequential nature. In the climatic battle with Dion "Big Trouble" Huffman, Hester particularly shines, and while I might normally criticize the scene's lack of background detail, isolating the two characters epitomizes the otherworldly nature of their combat. The contrast with Hester's early work in Rust #1, which I reviewed last month, is also evident, particularly under the influence of Jim Woodyard's crisp, moody coloring. Overall, I would say that The Holy Terror #2 is definitely worth a hop in the ring. Just don't expect to come out in one piece.
writer: Jason Caskey
penciller: Phil Hester
inker: Jim Woodyard
colorist: John Warren
letterer: Gary Peterson
Blogger's note: Entry for Friday, February 22, 2008.
When I reviewed The Holy Terror #1 in November 2006, I commented on the connection between the worlds of wrestling and superhero comic books. The parallel is similar to my recent analysis of the kinship between superheroes and football players -- in short, all three genres of entertainment feature spandex-wearing musclebound men locked in competitive battle. While superheroes often fight to save the world, and football players play to win the Superbowl, wrestlers claim no pretense to their combativeness. It's fighting for fighting's sake, and though a championship belt may be involved, the real victory is the status as an expert (or just plain ruthless) brawler. Add a layer of demonic possession in the mix, and you have a sport that boys with a penchant for rough and tumble play simple cannot resist.
Welcome to The Holy Terror -- as if the wide world of wrestling actually needed a supernatural kick in the pants to up the ante of adrenaline-induced violence. Last issue introduced Max, a struggling young wrestler whose manager unwittingly condemned him to a collision course with the macabre via the mask and persona of the Holy Terror. In this issue, Max's struggles with the Terror's identity go to the next level as he experiences inexplicable fits of righteous rage. When his manager demands that he throw his next fight and retire the Holy Terror, Max, presumably under the influence of the mask itself, refuses, nearly killing his opponent and earning the adoration of his audience. This issue's cliffhanger propels the series' supernatural subplot and sets up the reader for an inevitable collision of Max's two new worlds, which makes me wonder, which is a more possessive force: the darkly magical roots of the Holy Terror's origin, or the praise and admiration of wrestling's' hardcore fans?
I really can't say anything more about this issue that I didn't say for number one. Caskey's engrossing script allows plenty of room for Hester's art to breathe, particularly during the fight sequences, when some choreography is necessary for the story's sequential nature. In the climatic battle with Dion "Big Trouble" Huffman, Hester particularly shines, and while I might normally criticize the scene's lack of background detail, isolating the two characters epitomizes the otherworldly nature of their combat. The contrast with Hester's early work in Rust #1, which I reviewed last month, is also evident, particularly under the influence of Jim Woodyard's crisp, moody coloring. Overall, I would say that The Holy Terror #2 is definitely worth a hop in the ring. Just don't expect to come out in one piece.
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