WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BARON VON SHOCK? #3: Okay, so Rob Zombie’s storytelling is over the top. Anyone who has ever doubted that hasn’t seen the EL SUPERBEASTO cartoon. Every sentence must have a curse word, and a page without nudity or sex feels empty, almost wasted. So far, WHtBvS has lived up to Zombie’s style, but issue three offers something a bit different. Sure, it happens in a Nevada whorehouse, and the thrust of the story is that the main character, while at said whorehouse, runs into a whore he knew when she was a little girl, but somehow none of Zombie’s usual sleaziness creeps through. This is ultimately a sad tale about someone who was nothing, then rose up to superstar celebrity, and then lost it all . . . and now he wants the fame back, no matter the cost. The thing is, there is no betrayal in this cost, just self-humiliation as he tries his best to muscle through a crappy script.
The artwork is a bit rough for my likes, and Donny Hadiwidjaja tries to copy Mike Wolfer too much (at least in the nude scenes). It doesn’t matter, though; Zombie’s writing makes up for it in spades.
HELLBLAZER #271: It has been a long time since I was eager to read this book. I never disliked the adventures of John Constantine, but when Mike Carey took over the writing for this book a few years ago, the quality took a steep decline. It wasn’t until Peter Milligan came on board when the blue collar mage became dynamic again. And now that Simon Bisley is doing the covers, I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve got a hard-on for this book. Biz just has a way of portraying grit, misery, and lunacy; he’s utterly mad, and he’s perfect for HELLBLAZER.
That said, I’ve never been a fan of Milligan’s other classic Vertigo book, SHADE, THE CHANGING MAN. It hasn’t been published for years, and now, Milligan is bringing the character back . . . in the pages of Constantine’s book. Here’s the cool thing, though: Shade’s fuckin’ nuts. Granted, he was always a bit off, but grief over his dead girlfriend has sent him off the deep end, and this becomes evident here as he captures Constantine’s “fiancé” and first changes her face (so she looks like the dead woman) and then tries to mold her mind into that of his beloved. If you gave up on HELLBLAZER during the dark days, you should come back. Milligan’s keeping ‘er warm for you.
HIGHLAND LADDIE #2: It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of THE BOYS, so why wouldn’t I like its second spin-off? Wee Hughie’s gone home to Scotland to clear his head and hang out with his old mates. Here we get a look into his psyche, probably an attempt by writer Garth Ennis to cover all of the Boys’ histories. At this point, the only one we know very little about is Butcher. I only have one complaint: artist John McCrea has taken over the pencils for Darick Robertson. I love McCrea’s work (especially on DICKS), but sometimes, he has a tendency to give passionate characters blank faces. Sadly, he does this with Hughie, and it irritates the shit out of me. But he’s still very good at grotesque scenes. See above for proof.
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