Longbox Junk - One Shots (part 1)

Welcome to Longbox Junk, the comic blog stuffed absolutely full of reviews you never asked for!

One shots! I DO love the one shots!

I have a LOT of one shots in my collection. They're actually my favorite kind of comic book. Not that I mind following a favorite character month to month, but there's definitely something to be said for having a complete story in one issue. No cliffhangers. No waiting. One issue. . .that's it.

In my extremely humble opinion, the one-shot is a true test for comic book creative teams. They have very limited space to craft a complete narrative. Because of that limitation, one shots can be a bit of a mixed bag. Some teams simply aren't up to the challenge. Others manage to create often-overlooked nuggets of pure comics gold.

Let's take a look at this handful of one-shots and see what we get!  I'm still trying to keep things a little shorter, so I guess we'll see how that works out as well.  Ready? Let's do it!

ONE SHOTS (Part 1)

HELLBOY: 2017 WINTER SPECIAL

DARK HORSE (2017)

COVER: Sebastian Fiumara

First off. What an absolutely fantastic cover! Definitely worthy of a turn on the rotating office wall comic cover display. It captures the spirit of Hellboy perfectly.

There are three short unconnected stories in this special, let's take a look at them individually. . .

THE GREAT BLIZZARD
SCRIPT: Mike Mignola & Chris Roberson
PENCILS: Christopher Mitten

This story doesn't feature Hellboy or any of the B.P.R.D. characters, but some characters I'm unfamiliar with who seem to be paranormal investigators in the 1800's (David Grey and Sarah Jewell). The art is very nicely done on this one, and the dialogue between the characters is snappy. The story is very short, but well written, and I wouldn't mind finding out more about these characters.

GOD REST YE MERRY
SCRIPT: Mike Mignola & Chris Roberson
PENCILS: Paul Grist

A tale set at Christmas in the 1950's starring Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm versus a possessed Santa Claus. It's played for laughs and the art isn't great. . .very cartoony. I got a chuckle out of Hellboy getting an ugly sweater for Christmas, though. Probably the worst of the three. Still, not terrible.

THE LAST WITCH OF FAIRFIELD
SCRIPT: Mike Mignola & Scott Allie
PENCILS: Sebastian Fiumara

Now HERE'S some good Hellboy. The classic team of Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and Liz Sherman tracking down some lost children and coming in conflict with a witch. The ending is a chilling reminder that when it comes to the supernatural, sometimes when you win, you still lose. The best of the bunch with a great story and great art by the same artist who did that fantastic cover.

All in all, I really enjoyed this one shot. The middle story was pretty light, but that didn't drag the whole thing down. I can heartily recommend this one, even if you aren't a big Hellboy fan.

NEXT!

RED SONJA: ONE MORE DAY

DYNAMITE (2005)

COVER: Liam Sharp

ONE MORE DAY
SCRIPT: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
PENCILS: Liam Sharp

I REALLY liked the physical quality of this one shot. It's a heavy, thick book with a minimum of ads on good quality paper. Dynamite always knows how to put together a nice comic. The cover is a fantastic Frazetta homage that's almost worth the price of the comic alone!

The story is a simple, straightforward tale of Sonja repaying an old friend (now a king) a favor by helping defeat a rampaging army led by a brutal general. She demonstrates that it isn't always the strongest army that wins the day by leading them into a deadly trap instead of meeting them on the battlefield. I liked the simplicity of the story and how it took Sonja from her usual lone wolf adventures and put her in the position of being the leader of an army.

With the simplicity of the story, the art is the star of the show. From the beautiful cover all the way through to the last page. The artist DID seem to have some trouble getting a handle on what Sonja's face was supposed to look like (a bit inconsistent through the comic). But a small complaint like that won't keep me from highly recommending this fantastic one shot to any fan of fantasy comics.

Two for two good ones so far. Let's see what we've got next!

PREDATOR: CAPTIVE

DARK HORSE (1998)

COVER: Dean Williams

CAPTIVE
SCRIPT: Gordon Rennie
PENCILS: Dean Ormston

This one was REALLY good!

For starters, the photo-realistic painted cover is superb. The interior art is dark and heavily-inked. It reminds me a lot of Keith Giffen's earlier work. It perfectly fits the story and every panel on every page is fantastic.

The story is one of the best Predator tales I've read. I could easily see this one as a movie. Basically it's about the only Predator that they managed to capture alive. . .but are they studying it, or is it studying them?

All in all, from front to back, I found this to be a fantastic one shot. If you're a Predator fan and haven't read this yet, find it! It's a great little story.

Three for Three! So far, so good.

NEXT!

PUNISHER: FORCE OF NATURE

Marvel/MAX (2008)

COVER: Mike Deodato

FORCE OF NATURE
SCRIPT: Duane Swierczynski
PENCILS: Michael Lacombe
Don't let the nicely-done, but somewhat ridiculous cover fool you. The story inside is actually a tense, almost Hitchcock-like "Lifeboat" story about 3 friends turning on each other after the Punisher carefully maneuvers them into position.

I liked that the story shows Punisher as a devious manipulator and that NO fish is too small for him. It did break down into violent Punisher business as usual at the end of things, but before that, it was a nice change of pace from the standard Punisher story.

The art throughout was generally pretty good, and reflected the tense psychological drama of a story that focuses less on violence than the usual Punisher story (at least until toward the end).

All in all, despite a somewhat predictable ending, this was a good read with an unusual story for The Punisher. It definitely earns its "Mature Readers" label for violence and language, but if you're a Punisher fan, that probably won't bother you. Ignore the cover that has nothing to do with the story and pick this one up if you spot it in the bargain bin.

AND FINALLY. . .

X: ONE SHOT TO THE HEAD

DARK HORSE/ COMICS GREATEST WORLD (1994)

COVER: Frank Miller

ONE SHOT TO THE HEAD
SCRIPT: Jerry Prosser
PENCILS: Chris Warner

I had never heard of this character, not even sure where or when I picked up this one shot, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's actually pretty damn good (in a grim-n-gritty 90's way).

This comic doesn't do any favors as far as introductions go. It's not new-reader friendly at all. I had to hit the internet for info on "X", who seems to be a Punisher/Batman combo. The story is very simple, but nicely done, with the title character stalking and trapping a crooked politician.

The art is a bit schizo. . .the cover by Frank Miller (before he went insane) is absolutely fantastic! Then the front 2/3 of the book is "Meh" art with lousy colors. Then the last 1/3 switches to a different art team (same pencils, but different inker and colorist) and it's superbly done! The great Tim Bradstreet on inks for the back half definitely elevates things several notches.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. The art was hit and miss, but generally good. It was a lousy introduction, but enough of one that I want to dig up more "X" comics. Bad taken with good, I give this one an average score.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this was a great bunch of one shots. There's a few little complaints here and there, but really there's not a bad one in the bunch. There not being one truly BAD comic out of five is actually a very pleasant surprise, because it seems there's always ONE bad apple. Not this time!

Even better, not only isn't there any really bad ones to be found, there are a couple of truly excellent one shots to be found here! I can heartily recommend Red Sonja and Predator as fantastic examples of creative teams stepping up to the plate an hitting a home run!

Hellboy is ALMOST there, and still highly recommended. Punisher is good IF you're a Punisher fan. If you're not, then it's not going to change your mind. Lowest on the rung was X. . .and even that wasn't really BAD, it just had some art problems.

Up next. . .

I like one shots. How about some MORE one shots?

Sgt Rock, Wolverine, Star Wars, Wonder Woman, and Grimm Fairy Tales. . .

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - Predator: Kindred

I'm a pretty big fan of all things Predator.

I love the movies. . .and yes, that includes the Alien vs. Predator movies that just about everyone else hated.  Not my favorites, mind you, but not nearly as bad as some people seem to think.  The first movies is, of course, an action movie classic that has been one of my favorites ever since I saw it in the theater as a young man with a big stupid grin as Arnold told that alien bastard that he was "One UGLY motherf***er".

BUT. . .

That's the movies.  What about the comics?

Dark Horse has been in charge of the Predator comics pretty much since, well. . .always.  But like most other things Dark Horse has been in charge of, the quality of Predator comics swerves from downright fantastic to practically unreadable.  

What we have here is a 4 issue Predator Mini put out by Dark Horse right in the middle of their Alien/Predator/Star Wars heyday.  Let's take a look, shall we?

PREDATOR: KINDRED

Dark Horse (1996 - 1997)

ISSUE ONE

SCRIPTS: Jason Lamb & Scott Tolson

PENCILS: Brian O'Connell

COVER: Igor Kordey

Buddy WIlcox is a passive Vietnam vet holding a secret. . .his father was killed by an alien in front of him during a hunting trip more than 20 years before. Kelly Mathis is a small town girl turned Sheriff who craves action from her boring job. James McCutcheon is a serial killer being transferred to a state mental hospital after being found not guilty by reason of insanity. 

Their stories begin to come together in the small Oregon town of Fleener Creek during a brutal heat wave. . . 

This first issue is mostly setup, with the titular Predator only showing up on 3 panels. . .when Buddy Wilcox's father is killed during a hunting trip in 1958, during a flashback, and on the final page. . .officially making this the least Predator-y Predator comic I've read yet.

The rest of the comic is pretty much all talking heads, except for a tense standoff and gunfight as the serial killer escapes with two other killers during his transfer.

Lack of Predator in a Predator comic aside, the three stories at hand are pretty interesting. What this comic really reminds me of is if Vertigo did a Predator story. . .lots of talking with just a little taste of action.

The art also makes me think of Vertigo comics, with the artist doing an excellent job on faces and facial expressions with fine line work and heavily-inked shadows, but sparse backgrounds where they even exist. . .most of the time the backgrounds are just blank colored spaces. It really sort of reminds me of Peter Snejbjerg's work.

Overall, despite the lack of Predator in a Predator comic, a story that's mostly talking heads, and nonexistent (for the most part) background art, I found this opening issue to be low key, but interesting.

ISSUE TWO

SCRIPTS: Jason Lamb & Scott Tolson
PENCILS: Brian O'Connell
COVER: Igor Kordey

The alien Predator stalks the forest outside of the small Oregon town of Fleener Creek, killing two escaped criminals and leaving serial killer McCutcheon the only survivor. 

As the citizens arm themselves and begin to search the forest for the killer, the Predator enters town and kills an abusive husband in front of his wife. 

First thing, the cover on this issue is fantastic! The cover for the first issue was nicely painted and very detailed, but I've never really liked the Predators without their masks. The cover for this issue shows the alien hunter in full armored glory! I like it a lot.

As for the story. . .

Once again we get a sort of Vertigo version of a Predator story, where the secrets festering under the surface of a seemingly normal small town take center stage and the Predator is sort of a secondary character serving to add tension to existing drama. There's more Predator in this issue than in the first, but that's not to say there's a LOT more. Just enough to spark old memories of killings in 1958 in the townfolk and to remind the reader that there's actually a Predator in the story.

The art remains nicely done and adding to the Vertigo-like feel of things. . .especially with a dark fairytale opening dream sequence of Sheriff Mathis that could have been taken straight out of Sandman or Books of Magic.

Overall, I can't really decide if I like this strange take on Predator or not. It's interesting, but it just feels off somehow. . .almost like the creative team wanted to tell another story and were using the Predator franchise as a way of being able to do a story about small town secrets.

ISSUE THREE

SCRIPTS: Jason Lamb & Scott Tolson

PENCILS: Roger Petersen

COVER: Igor Kordey

After an abusive husband is brutally murdered, Buddy Wilcox is taken in for questioning, where he reveals his secret to Sheriff Mathews. . .that he witnessed an armored alien kill, behead, and skin his father in 1958. 

The townfolk form an armed vigilante mob, determined to kill Wilcox, but the Predator attacks the police station, killing several citizens and freeing serial killer McCutcheon from captivity. 

In the chaos, Buddy Wilcox escapes and his wife discovers him in a secret basement room surrounded by weapons, ready to take revenge on his father's killer. 

And here's where we start to go off the rails. . .

In this run-up to the finale of this strange little series, the focus switches to more action. Unfortunately, the writer's strong point is simmering drama and underlying secrets and things begin to fall apart.

The Predator attacking a police station full of people in broad daylight is out of character for a hunter that carefully stalks and kills. His freeing the captive serial killer seems to have no reason except to show that one Predator knows another one. . .a decent concept, but it makes no sense for the Predator to let the killer arm up and waltz away.

Then there's Buddy revealing his ultimate secret. . .that he's been hoarding weapons and waiting for the Predator to return. It's a really sharp swerve off the rails and the final full pager of him in boxer shorts with warpainted face and holding a spear is pretty laughable.

The art takes a bit of a downward turn with this issue as well. There's another artist on the job for the two last issues, and although their styles are complimentary, it's pretty clear to see that the switch to a more action-oriented final two issues was behind the change. Although their styles are somewhat close, the original artist is clearly the superior of the two on a close look. 

Overall, with this issue Predator: Kindred takes a sharp swerve from Vertigo-style low key storytelling focusing on emotion and underlying secrets to a more action oriented and brutally graphic scenario and the writer has obviously stepped outside his comfort zone.

And Finally. . .

ISSUE FOUR

SCRIPTS: Jason Lamb & Scott Tolson
PENCILS: Roger Petersen
COVER: Igor Kordey

Buddy Wilcox, Sheriff Mathis, Serial Killer James McCutcheon, and the alien Predator all come together in the forest outside of Fleener Creek for a final showdown. . . 

First off, another fantastic cover!

Unfortunately, what's beneath that cover ain't so great. The story abandons all former nuance and this issue is pretty much all fighting and chasing between the main four characters split between Buddy and the Predator battling it out and a cat and mouse chase with McCutcheon and Mathis trying to kill each other.

In the end, Buddy abandons his desire for revenge and saves Mathis, killing McCutcheon and allowing the Predator to escape.

The art on this issue was pretty bad. I'm led to believe on another look at issue 3 that there were pages that the original artist did layouts on and the second artist did the finishes, because this final issue looks like $hit compared to the previous 3.

Overall, this issue wraps up the story and has a great cover, but that's about all the good I can say about it.

CONCLUSION

This Predator mini was definitely a strange bird.  It started off really reminding me of the sort of writing and art you would find in Vertigo titles of the time such as Sandman or Books of Magic, focusing less on the Predator and more on the simmering tension and underlying secrets of a small Oregon town.  But halfway through, it took a sharp swerve into more typical action comic mode.  

The second half of the series might be more what I expected from a Predator story, but I find myself wondering how it would have gone if the creative team would have stuck with the more low-key storytelling of the first two issues.

Overall, this mini actually reads almost like two separate stories.  It's not bad. Believe me, Dark Horse put out Predator stuff that's a LOT worse than this, but it's just sort of. . .strange and kind of out of place.  Like I said in the review of issue #2, it seems almost like there was another story the creative team WANTED to tell, but they had to settle for telling it through the lens of a Predator story.

Up Next. . .

Take a short trip back with me to 1994 and take a look at a relic of Image's "We REALLY want to be Marvel!" Superhero overload glory days. . .the practically-forgotten "Black and White" 3 issue mini.

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - One Shots: Aliens, The Assassin, Batman, Conan & Predator!

There's nothing wrong at all with a good ongoing series, but if anyone were to ask me what my favorite form of comic art is, I would immediately answer "The One Shot".  Within the framework of a single issue, the creative team is challenged to give us everything we need to enjoy a story. They're pretty much forced to swing for the fences.

 Here are 5 random single issues from my collection read and reviewed for your consideration.  Are they home runs or foul balls? Let's find out!

ONE SHOTS

ALIENS: PIG

Dark Horse (1997)
Script: Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Henry Flint

Space pirates wanting to salvage a downed cargo ship before the rightful owners beat them to it discover that the ship is crashed near an alien hive. They decide the best way to clear the nest is with a nuclear device strapped to the back of a pig. Hilarity ensues. . .

So what we have here is a one shot set in the grim Dark Horse Alien expanded universe, but written in a lighter, more comedic tone. Dixon does a fine job balancing action, horror, and comedy here as everything that CAN go wrong DOES go wrong.

Unfortunately, the art drags an otherwise good little standalone story down into "okay' territory. The artist is one of those who can't seem to draw a straight line. Everything is squiggly and twisted.

I understand that in the Alien universe, things are dark and twisted, leaving a lot of room for artist interpretation. . . but this is a straightforward character-driven comedy of errors. Pretentious indy art isn't really called for.

Overall, I really liked the story, but hated the art. I'd definitely suggest this one for the Alien completionists out there.

THE ASSASSIN

Arcana (2005)
Script: Sean O'Reilly
Pencils: Vincente Cifu (Cifuentes)

This one shot about a group of journalism students investigating the murders of local business leaders focuses on a Japanese racial angle and plays like an adult version of an after-school television special. The assassin, sort of a post-modern geisha, wears white face make-up and kills people with her hair ornaments.

So basically what we have here is a sort of manga Scooby Doo without the talking dog.

The presentation of the book itself is outstanding! The cover is fantastic, the paper is heavy and glossy. This comic has some serious heft to it and I can appreciate that. The interior art is very nicely done, with a heavily-inked, but cartoony manga style that I really liked.

Unfortunately, the story is overly-wordy, filled with exposition dumps, and the twist (the aggressive killer is a split-personality shy student) is telegraphed and wouldn't have been that much of a surprise even if it hadn't.

Overall, this is a book with great art and a nice presentation brought down by amateurish writing.

BATMAN:

 SEDUCTION OF THE GUN

DC (1992)
Script: John Ostrander
Pencils: Vince Giarrano

Batman and Robin confront gun violence on the streets of Gotham and discover that it's a problem that can't be solved by punching people.

FAIR WARNING: IF YOU ARE A STRONG SUPPORTER OF GUN RIGHTS, THIS COMIC BOOK WILL MAKE YOUR HEAD EXPLODE.

Okay, now THAT'S out of the way, let's take a look. . .

In 1990, the adult son of one of the Warner Brothers executives who worked with DC Comics was killed in a random shooting. In response, we got this comic book, which is strongly anti-gun from first page to last. The message is extremely heavy-handed and there are parts where it seems to quote directly from government anti-gun statistics and literature.

That's not to say that the story is BAD. It's actually a pretty straightforward tale of gangs and illegal gun sales with a grim tone and extremely unhappy ending. It's just that the simple, lean story at the heart of this book is padded to the extreme with anti-gun propaganda (or information, depending on your point of view). It SHOULD be a 48 page story, but ends up being too long at 64 pages.

The art is very nicely done in an awesome 90's-tastic way. A scene where the daughter of a snitch Robin is assigned to protect gets shot in the head right next to him is particularly memorable and brutal, but the entire book, from the great Dorman painted cover to the last page is very nicely illustrated.

Overall, this isn't a bad story, depending on your tolerance for anti-gun messages. It's too long and the 90's street lingo (one thug actually says "Word to your mother") is extremely dated, but it's well drawn and it's nice to see a Batman story where he doesn't win.

AGE OF CONAN: 

HYBORIAN ADVENTURES

Dark Horse (2006)
Scripts: Joshua Dysart & Timothy Truman
Pencils: Tone Rodriguez & Cary Nord

What we have here is a one shot giveaway comic that ties into the (then new) Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures PC MMORPG that had you playing as an adventurer during the time Conan was King of Aquilonia.

First off, the Cary Nord King Conan cover is absolutely fantastic and frameworthy on its own!

Inside are two stories. . .

AGE OF CONAN:
A King Conan story and what seems to be a direct tie-in to the video game. The art is pretty good, but nothing special. The story is actually two stories in one. King Conan dealing with the fallout from an attempted coup, with the other story about a village attacked by supernatural forces. Neither tale is that interesting, but they're not bad either. Both are just sort of. . .there.

THE ROAD OF KINGS:
The second story takes place earlier in Conan's life and involves Conan first rescuing, then robbing a group of priests. It's short and sweet, with great action. Not much to it, but it's better than the main story. It's also very nicely illustrated by main (at the time) Conan artist Cary Nord, and the visuals stand head and shoulders above the opening story.

Overall, for a freebie, this one shot delivers the goods. It has two decent stories and a fantastic cover. What else could you possibly want for free?

And last, but not least. . .

PREDATOR: JUNGLE TALES

Dark Horse (1995)
Scripts: Ian Edginton & Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Rick Leonardi & Enrique Alcatena

What we have here is a one shot reprinting 2 stories previously published in Dark Horse Comics (issues 1-2 & 10-12), with the connecting theme of the Predator aliens in Africa.  Let's look at them each in turn. . .

RITE OF PASSAGE:
The tale of a young tribesman encountering and barely defeating a Predator, and then leaving to hunt another decades later. The story is told wordlessly and so the art does the heavy lifting here since there isn't a single word of spoken or caption dialogue. I have to say that, although the backgrounds are sparse to nonexistent and the Predator itself is a bit odd looking, the artist manages to pull off the silent story very well.

THE PRIDE AT NGHASA:
This second story is told in a more traditional manner. It's set in 1936's British colonial Africa and involves a group of hunters brought in to deal with a lion terrorizing railroad workers. . .except it isn't a lion. It's a Predator. It's a good story that moves along at a brisk pace and is fantastically illustrated by one of my favorite artists, Enrique Alcatena. His dark, heavily-inked style and intricate panel borders really elevate this story.

Overall, I highly suggest this one shot to Predator fans that might have missed either of these stories in their original publication in Dark Horse Comics.

CONCLUSION

Overall, not a band handful of one shots at all!

 I'd say the best of the bunch was probably Predator: Jungle Tales.  None of them were really BAD, but if I had to pick one for the bottom of the list, it would probably be The Assassin for its weak story and amateurish writing. But to tell the truth, it wasn't THAT bad.

Up next. . .

Hey, remember LAST time Marvel brought back the original Captain America in his original costume and went back to original numbering because fans didn't like the swerve they took the character on and they felt a course correction back to a more traditional Captain America was called for?

 Here's one of the small handful of mini's Marvel put out to say "No, Really! It's the REAL Cap now! We promise!" Oh how comic history repeats. . .

Captain America & Iron Man 3 issue mini.

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - Two Shots Part 1: Predator vs. Magnus, Robot Fighter & Hellboy: Almost Colossus

TWO SHOTS PART 1

The Two Shot is a form of comics that doesn't exist in today's market (as far as I can tell).  It seems to have been popular in the short time between the phasing out of "Prestige Format" squarebound books (A Two Shot is generally the same length as a double-size PF book) and the coming in of "Writing For The Trade" 6 issue ongoing series story arcs and mini series.

I like two shots for the same reason that I like one shots. . .they are compressed storytelling where the creative team is pretty much forced to swing for the fences.  They don't have the 6 issues to tell a story.  They have to get right up on it and get the story started and finished in an extremely limited amount of page space.

Two shots. . .more than a one shot, less than a mini.  Let's do this!

PREDATOR VS. MAGNUS, ROBOT FIGHTER 

Dark Horse/ Valiant (1992)

SCRIPT: John Ostrander & Jim Shooter

PENCILS: Lee Weeks

ISSUE 1: SPORT

There's nothing fancy about this first issue. The art, starting with a decent cover by the great Barry Winsor-Smith, is good, but not great. It's standard 90's layout, fairly heavily inked and colored. It does the job it's supposed to do.

The story is set in the far future and revolves around an encounter with the Predators where humans barely win and even manage to steal a trophy from the Predator ship before it explodes. Fast forward a bit and the Predators return to get their stolen trophy back. It's in the hands of a rich "Hunt Club" that hunts robots and people for sport, which brings them on the bad side of Magnus.The first issue brings together the 3 sides mostly as setup for shenanigans to follow.

The story is okay. Like the art, not great, but good. The problem here is that if you don't know anything about the Valiant version of Magnus and his world, you're probably going to be lost. This is not so much a Predator book as it is a Magnus book.

ISSUE 2: SPOILS

Once again, there's nothing bad about this issue. The art is nicely done, but not great. The Windsor-Smith cover isn't as good as the first issue, but there's nothing wrong with it.

After the setup in the first issue, this half deals with the running battle between the rich "Hunt Club" after the Predator and Magnus. . .Magnus after the Predator unwillingly trying to save the Hunt Club after discovering exactly what they're dealing with, and the Predator after the Hunt Club to recover the stolen trophy, and then after Magnus when it realizes that he's the best trophy around.

So basically, everyone is hunting everyone. The Hunt Club is the biggest loser, as they are decimated before the final showdown between Magnus and Predator. Of course, in the end Magnus triumphs. . .then refuses a trophy from the other Predators who arrive.

Once again, the only real problem is that the reader really needs to be familiar with Valiant's version of Magnus, as well as X-O Manowar. . .the trophy is an X-O helmet and figures heavily in the story, as Magnus' girlfriend is able to telepathically communicate with it.

CONCLUSION

I'm not a big Magnus, Robot Fighter fan, but I DO love me some Predator. . .so this two-shot fell a little flat for me.  There was nothing wrong with it overall, and it was interesting to see a FAR future Predator visit to Earth, but I had a hard time getting behind this story since I have no particular like for the hero or the world he lives in.  If you are a fan of Magnus (Valiant's version) then you might really like this book, as it's basically a Magnus book with a Predator being his "Monster of the month".  

HELLBOY: ALMOST COLOSSUS

Dark Horse (1997)

SCRIPT: Mike Mignola (Almost Colossus) & Gary Gianni (Autopsy in B Flat)

PENCILS: Mike Mignola (Almost Colossus) & Gary Gianni (Autopsy in B Flat)

ISSUE 1

Be warned that this is not a stand-alone story. It leads on directly from events in Hellboy: Wake The Devil and sets up events in Hellboy: Conqueror Worm.

That said, it's not bad at all. Mignola's art is one of those unique flavors of "Love it or hate it." and I'm definitely on the "Love it" side.

The story concerns Hellboy trying to save Liz Sherman, who gave up her soul to revive an ancient artificial man (Roger the Homniculus). He travels to Romania and tracks the creature to an ancient, cursed ruin, but discovers that there's a lot more going on than he thought.

The story is good, but fairly short. . .first because there's quite a bit of exposition up front, secondly because there's a backup story in back.

The backup, by Gary Gianni is a "Corpus Monstrum" tale where two agents are in a tomb waiting for a vampire to return and one of them tells the strange story of when he was alone on a tropical island and is pretty much raped by a squid-headed woman.

Oooookay. . .Hmmm. . .I like the art and the imagination, but what the hell was Gary Gianni smoking?

ISSUE 2

If you like Mignola's art, you'll find his work in this issue remarkable. If not. . .well. . .you won't. He's one of those kind of artists. I found it remarkable. Mignola at his best when Hellboy was still his baby alone.

The story concludes as Roger is offered immortality in a giant, Godlike body by his "Brother". . .a failed first attempt by Roger's creator. Hellboy stumbles into the plot and starts punching things, as Hellboy will. In the end, Roger destroys the gigantic "God Of Science" using Liz Sherman's fire powers, then he returns with Hellboy to B.P.R.D. and returns Liz's power/soul to her, thereby sacrificing his own life and coming out the hero of the tale.

I liked this half of the story. Unfortunately, it isn't really a resolution of anything. As I said in the review of the first issue, this is just a filler to set things up and tie loose ends between two larger stories (Wake The Devil and Conqueror Worm). As a matter of fact, while I enjoyed this, I wonder if it needed to exist. It could have easily filled a single issue without the backup, and could have been the first issue of Conqueror Worm.

Speaking of the backup. Once again, I have to wonder just what the hell Gary Gianni was smoking when he wrote it. Whatever it was. . .I want some.

Squid-faced pirates kill the narrator while he watches from outside his body, then they bury him alive (dead?) with a violin in a treasure chest.

What?

CONCLUSION

I'm a huge fan of Mignola's art, and this early Hellboy stuff is some premium Mignola at his best.  But like I said above, this story just feels like filler. . .like Mignola felt like he HAD to put out something Hellboy while he was working on his next big story.  Really, it could have fit into one issue.   Still, there wasn't anything really WRONG with it, I just had a hard time thinking of a reason for it to exist when (by dropping the backup) it could have just been the first issue of the next story.

Coming next. . .

More Two-Shots! The Thing From Another World and Trial of The Punisher.

Be there or be square!