Think Tank Vol. 1

Written by Matt Hawkins
Art by Rahsan Ekedal

I tend to stay away from Top Cow comics because of some bad experiences in the past, but had heard some good things about Think Tank and thought I should check it out.  This first volume of the series is pretty delightful.

David Loren is a scientist working for the US military.  He was recruited as a child prodigy, alongside his closest friend, and has basically spent his adolescence and early adulthood in a hidden lab, where he has worked to develop some serious next generation weapons.  As he's gotten older, David has begun to feel the guilt of his complicity in mass death, and as such, has begun to rebel a little against the system.

After sneaking out to party, he meets a woman, and then decides that it's time to retire from this job forever.  The problem is that the military doesn't let people with his type of knowledge leave, nor are they too happy to learn that he shared some secrets with this young woman.  David has to use all of his skills to escape, and that leads to a pretty exciting sequence of events.

The tagline on the cover of this book says that reading it will "make you smarter", and while I don't know about that, I can say that Matt Hawkins displays a great deal of intelligence and thoughtful planning in writing this.  David is both a likeable and scorn-worthy character, and it's a little hard to decide to what degree the reader should be on his side.  Rahsan Ekedal is a very skilled artist.  I loved his Echoes with Joshua Hale Fialkov, and am pleased to enjoy this stuff here.

I do have the second volume of this book in my to-read pile, and am looking forward to it, but at the same time, I feel like this volume closes things off perfectly, and that Hawkins could have easily finished the story here and it would all be fine.

Dracula World Order: The Beginning

Written by Ian Brill
Art by Tonci Zonjic, Rahsan Ekedal, Declan Shalvey, and Gabriel Hardman

Were it not for a mention on Bleeding Cool, I would have completely missed this comic.  Ian Brill self-published and distributed this one-shot, following Sam Humphries model for the brilliant (and very late) Sacrifice, and this book was shipped to only some comics stores in North America.  I like supporting people who do their own thing outside of the Diamond system, and when I saw the list of artists involved in this project, I knew that I wouldn't be able to pass up on this book.

Dracula World Order is a science-fiction vampire story (because we all know that the world needs more vampire stories) which shares a great deal of similarities with the work that Victor Gischler just did with Marvel's take on Dracula in the Curse of the Mutants storyline.  In this book, Dracula has co-opted the language of the Occupy movement, and has elevated the richest one percent of the world to vampire status, recognizing their ability to herd and control the 99% into a more efficient system of slave labour and food sources. 

There is nothing left to oppose the most powerful vampire, except for his son Alexandru.  The book is split into four chapters (each drawn by a different artist).  Three of those chapters follow Alexandru's journey to gather allies in his fight against his father, including a seasoned vampire hunter, and a Vietnamese snake lady.  The second chapter is used to share Alexandru's backstory.

This is a very attractive book, but I would expect nothing less from those artists.  The story is clear and engaging, if perhaps a little familiar.  The book ends on a cliff-hanger, and Brill writes in his afterword that he doesn't know when it will continue.  That's a little annoying, but not unfamiliar with independent self-published books.  I wouldn't be too surprised to see this title popping up on Kickstarter soon.

The Unexpected #1

Written by Dave Gibbons, G. Willow Wilson, Alex Grecian, Josh Dysart, Jeffrey Rotter, Mat Johnson, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Brian Wood, and Selwyn Seyfu Hinds
Art by Dave Gibbons, Robbi Rodgriguez, Jill Thompson, Farel Dalrymple, Lelio Bonaccorso, David Lapham, Rahsan Ekedal, Emily Carroll, and Denys Cowan

I really like that Vertigo has started putting out these random, slightly thematically-linked anthology books every few months, even if they are pretty expensive.  Like the last one, Strange Adventures, The Unexpected is a nice mix of stories by established Vertigo stars, and some up-and-comers.  This collection has a supernatural theme, but it's not one that is used in every story.

There is a lot to like in this book, but my favourite story is the one by Joshua Dysart and Farel Dalrymple, which tells the story of a Mexican laborer in 1950s or 60s Texas, who is accused of murdering the grandchild of his employer, although he knows the boy was killed by an ancient Aztec monster.  As with his Unknown Soldier series, Dysart makes good use of a particular culture's fears and legends, and Dalrymple's art is perfect.

I also quite enjoyed Alex Grecian (from Proof fame) and Jill Thompson's story about a female zombie who has retained enough of her faculties to use her feminine wiles as a way of attracting prey.  Dave Gibbons tells a great story of an escape artist who cheats on his wife, and Mat Johnson and David Lapham give us a deliciously twisted tale of a brother and sister trying to survive in post-apocalyptic America.

Joshua Hale Fialkov reunites with his Echoes collaborator Rahsan Ekedal for a story about a man who is recently deceased and finds himself haunting his wife.  Ekedal makes good use of layout in this story, and uses a pixelated approach to imply ghostliness.

Brian Wood and newcomer (to me) artist Emily Carrol contribute a nice short story about a woman who is raised in a post-governmental United States.  It's a similar vision to the one we've seen in Wood's DMZ, but this time he takes a nicer, gentler approach to the disintegration of a country.  It's pretty interesting, even if it ends a little abruptly.

I wanted to like G. Willow Wilson's story about dogs taking over a town, but Robbi Rodriguez's dogs were just a little too creepy and odd-looking for me.  To be fair, I think that dogs are among the hardest things to draw (check out how Dan Jurgens draws them if you need a laugh), which is why I have so much respect for Beasts of Burden.  The story 'A Most Delicate Monster' by Jeffrey Rotter and Lelio Bonaccorso (neither of whom I'm familiar with) was just a little too obvious to be successful.

Finally, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and Denys Cowan provide a prelude to the upcoming Voodoo Child series, which really didn't work for me.  I'm not sure what it is, but I feel like they were trying to cram too much into too few pages, with the effect that I wasn't drawn into the story at all.  I'll probably give the new series a try still, because I like reading about New Orleans.

Echoes #5

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Rahsan Ekedal

Echoes was an excellent little series.  Fialkov and Edekal put together a compelling and smart story about a man suffering from schizophrenia who starts to question his own actions and self-control after his father admits to being a serial killer on his deathbed.  The man, Brian Cohn, follows his father's request, and discovers a stash of dolls made of human flesh.  Later, Brian starts to see father everywhere, and starts finding evidence suggesting that he has done the same thing to a little girl.

As the series progresses, Brian and the reader continuously question what is going on, and as we see things from his perspective, we are just as confused as he is.  With this last issue, Brian is brought into custody, and while he now has figured out what has happened to him, there are questions of credibility and proof which he is unable to answer.

This book definitely kept my interest, and I appreciated the twists that Fialkov built into his story.  The portrayal of mental illness is an interesting one.  We can see how Brian tries to be a good person, but because of his disease, is ultimately not even able to have faith in himself.  It's rare to find a thriller that doesn't demonize mental illness.  Ekedal's artwork is very capable, while not really drawing much attention to itself.  This is a series people should check out when it's published in trade.

Echoes #4

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Rahsan Ekedal

I'm finding Echoes to be a very tightly plotted thriller, and each issue seems to be better than the one before it.  The plot of this series is that Brian, a schizophrenic, learns from his father on his deathbed that he had murdered a large number of young girls, and had made effigies of them out of their skin.  Upon learning this, Brian investigates some and discovers the box full of dolls, and promptly starts to crack up.  Soon enough, he's beginning to wonder if he is doing the same thing, especially once a young girl goes missing, and a new effigy shows up on his doorstep.  The problem is, he has no memory of this happening.

What makes this book so interesting is the way in which the reader has to question each of Brian's perceptions, since we don't always know if he is seeing something real.  With this penultimate issue, the police start actively looking for him, showing up at his house with a search warrant while he is out, and Brian finally starts to piece together what is going on.  The issue ends with a pretty big revelation that helps confirm some of the suspicions I had (I don't want to spoil anything), but with a few twists that I didn't see coming.

I really like the way Fialkov is writing this series, keeping Brian and his questionable understanding of his environment in such a tight focus.  Ekedal's art works very well here, and I am very much looking forward to the end of this series.

Echoes #3

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Rahsan Ekedal

Alright, this title is getting ever creepier, as Brian, the young man who only recently discovered that his father was a serial killer, descends deeper into his own madness.  Brian is pretty certain now that he has kidnapped and murdered a young girl, and made a doll out of her body.  He has no memory of it (at least, he's not admitting to any memory of it), but he knows it has to be true.

He decides to go to the police detective that he met last issue, but when he does, he instead describes a possible suspect that he's fabricated.  When that description ends up matching a brain damaged man that he knew in high school, he begins to go along with the detective, even going so far as to visit the man's house with him.

It's pretty clear that something strange is going on, and perhaps if Brian weren't so confused and lost in his own schizophrenia, he'd have recognized that this cop is really weird.  I feel like there's some sort of conspiracy going on, but I don't know how that's really going to play out.  Fialkov is definitely structuring an interesting plot, and Ekedal's art on this issue looks more finished and polished than previous issues.  This is a very cool little series.

Echoes #2

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Rahsan Ekedal

Before I even begin talking about the comic itself, I want to talk about what a snake move it was to have the first issue be priced at $2.99, and then to raise the price to $3.99 on subsequent issues.  I never would have picked up this comic at $4, and would have instead trade-waited it, and snatched it up on Ebay in a couple of years.  But, since I thought the price was lower, I tried it, and got hooked.  Snaky, Top Cow, snaky.

But then, the comic is worth it.  Fialkov is quite the writer, as he plays with the main character's, and our, perceptions of reality quite nicely.  Last issue, Brian Cohn found out a few things about his recently deceased father that he never knew, that involved a box of small dolls made out of the bodies and clothing of young girls that he had killed.

Brian is not too sure what to do with this information, since Brian is schizophrenic, and is having a very hard time processing all that has happened.  Now, he is hearing his father's voice, and is feeling compelled to behave in the same way.  We're not too sure what is going on here, although the revelations of the last couple pages of this issue make it seem like Brian is in a bad place indeed.

Fialkov is not giving us many hints, but he is crafting a pretty compelling story.  Ekedal's art doesn't seem too special, but then he pulls off some interesting visuals that make you realize just how good an artist he is.  There's a very cool scene when Brian is taking a shower that is easily missed.

So, in conclusion, I am resentful of the price hike, but am also committed to seeing how this story ends.

Echoes #1

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Rahsan Ekedal

There's nothing better than going into a new comic with no expectations or preconceived notions, and being pleasantly surprised.  I only picked up the first issue of Echoes because I liked Fialkov's Tumor, and because it was otherwise a light week for comics.

Echoes is about a man named Brian whose father is dying in a hospital or nursing home of Alzheimers.  We quickly learn that Brian and his father had a difficult relationship, and that Brian is in therapy.  Slowly, we also learn that he must take Clozapine to avoid having hallucinations.

With his dying words, Brian's father tells him to return to their old house and to retrieve a box from the crawlspace.  He also mentions girls' bodies.  Now, Brian's not entirely sure that he heard this, and as he explores the long-abandoned and ravaged house, he begins to question his perception, since he has skipped his medication.  I don't want to give away what happens in the basement, but I do like the way Fialkov has established that we don't really know what is real and what is in Brian's mind.

This book has a nice creepy feel to it, and Fialkov wastes no time in getting to the meat of his story.  Rahsan Ekedal's art reminds me a little of Charlie Adlard's, and makes good use of the book's black and white format.  The scenes in the crawlspace are amazing and haunting.  I haven't bought a Top Cow comic since the Jonathan Hickman Pilot Season comic, but I'm going to be getting this.

The Cleaners: Absent Bodies

Written by Mark Wheaton and Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Rahsan Ekedal

This is a unique and disturbing comic, not at all what I was expecting.  I thought that this would be a little something like Vertigo's much-missed Exterminators series, except featuring crime scenes instead of bug-infestations.  Instead, this is the bleak story of Robert Bellarmine, a former surgeon who now obsesses over blood particles and their ability to contaminate and propagate disease.

A particularly messy operation leads Bellarmine to conclude that the supernatural is at work - what we would call a vampire, but what he refers to as a 'harvester', collecting the blood of a variety of victims and vaporizing it in a gas mask-type set-up.  This is a very bloody and creepy story.

Some of the finer plot points, such as establishing characters and their relationships to one another doesn't really happen.  I was never too sure of who Bellarmine's friends and colleagues were, or why one of them was collecting hair samples from dancers.  As well, Bellarmine's relationship with the local police was never explained, nor was the reason why he left (or got kicked out) of medicine.  I can tell that the authors were setting things up for future arcs, but a little more exposition would have been helpful.

I've never heard of Rahsan Ekedal, but I do like his art.  He reminds me a little of Paul Gulacy at times, and his cover designs are excellent.