In this week’s Heroes & Villains, it’s finally September and we’re going back to school! But not in the literal sense. The much more palatable comic book sense. Going back to school is the actual stuff of nightmares… more on that below!
Bully Wars #1
Skottie Young (W)
Aaron Conley (A)
Image Comics
Out today from Image Comics is Bully Wars #1 and if this book were a real bully, I’d give it my lunch money and be totally okay with it.
Set in the town of Rottenville, a town SO rotten it has the highest amount of bullies per captia, a group of friends is busy dealing with the first day of high school…and so is their bully. The book cleverly shifts focus midway through to the character of Rufus (a bully) discovering that he’s no longer the Big Bully On Campus. I have to imagine the level of existential angst Rufus encounters is completely foreign to him. Which make his plight all the more enjoyable (not that I’m projecting or anything).
Skottie Young has been responsible for some of the funnest funny books I’ve encountered in recent memory (I Hate Fairyland) and it’s always cool to see what he’ll come up with next. Aaron Conley’s art is spectacularly gross in the best possible way, you will believe a town can be named Rottenville. I think I’ll be staying away from pink bubblegum for the foreseeable future.
The character designs are great and unique. It’s not often enough that you can glean everything you need to know about a comic book character based solely off their design. It’s definitely something I’d like to see more of and Conley is clearly leading the charge on that front.
This book was SO FUN I actually managed to make it though the entire review without writing a thousand words on how awful MY high school years were! This book deserves an award.
Coming Soon 9/12/18
Cemetery Beach #1
Warren Ellis (W)
Jason Howard (A)
Image Comics
I have to say, getting an early peek at a Warren Ellis book is probably one of the coolest things about this gig. It was already cool getting to see new and exciting comics first but this is something that’s next level for me personally.
But I digress.
If you’re looking for a new favorite action book, Cemetery Beach is for you. This book goes.
The concept is during the first few pages of the book and then the action starts and doesn’t let up. Howard’s pencils feel a little bit different from his work on Trees (also with Ellis), there’s a tremendous amount of energy behind each and every line. I have to imagine speed metal or some kind of looping techno was piped into his studio as each page was produced and that the completion of each issue had him questioning his decision to work with Ellis again. But you can’t argue with results.
Make sure to check it out next week!
