Comic Review: Archie vs. Predator issue #4 (of 4) from Dark Horse Comics

ARCHIE VS. PREDATOR #4
THE GANG FIGHTS BACK!

Writer: Alex de Campi

Penciller: Fernando Ruiz

Inker: Rich Koslowski

Colorist: Jason Millet

Cover Artist: Andrew Pepoy
Genre: Science-Fiction, Humor
Dark Horse Comics

Publication Date: July 22, 2015

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price: $3.99

UPC:7 61568 27991 7 00411

Preview

“Look at these Archie vs. 

Predator comic covers and weep at their glory.”—io9

As casualties continue to mount, it’s up to Betty and Veronica to put aside their differences if the gang hopes to rid Riverdale of the Predator menace—but can the girls keep their claws out of each other long enough to keep the Predator’s claws out of everyone?!

This is the last issue of the 4 issue series. In this one, Veronica tells Betty her father built a panic room in the house and they will take the wounded Archie and themselves and get inside it, then blow up the house with the Predator in it. The panic room should keep them safe. After they got Archie in a hospital bed reminisce of the diagnostic bed in Star Trek and get Archie stabilized, both girls head out to take on the Predator. I won’t spoil it for you, but there is a surprise ending I never saw coming.

The colors are so Archie comics, with blood and alien monster thrown in. Honestly, this was a fun series to read and one of the best mashups ever. If you don’t want to watch your favorites from the Archie comics get it, then I would suggest not to read this. But if you enjoy the Predator movies and grew up on Archie, be set for fun and blood.

I give Archie vs. Predator issue #4 (of 4) 5 sheep

Pamela Kinney

Comic Review: Dark Horse Presents #15

DARK HORSE PRESENTS #15
Writer: Carla Speed McNeil, Alex de Campi, Brendan McCarthy, Shawn Aldridge, Steve Horton, David Chelsea

Artist: Carla Speed McNeil, Brendan McCarthy, David Chelsea, Jerry Ordway, Julius Gopez, Chris Marrinan

Cover Artist: Carla Speed McNeil
Genre: Short Stories / Anthologies
Publication Date: October 21, 2015

Format: FC, 48 pages; Ongoing

Price: $4.99
UPC:7 61568 24116 7 01511

Preview

Eisner, Harvey, and Stumptown award winner!

Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder returns to Dark Horse Presents with a new serial entitled “Torch.” Shawn Aldridge and Julius Gopez weave a terminal tale of superheroism in Last Act. Steve Horton and Chris Marrinan’s Mike Fortune delivers adventure, and David Chelsea brings us a Snow Angel Halloween!

Plus, new chapters of Alex de Campi and Jerry Ordway’s Semiautomagic and Brendan McCarthy’s Dream Gang!

“By providing creators with a forum for creative expression for almost 30 years, Dark Horse Presents ensures that while the comics anthology may never be as prevalent as it once was, it will always have a place in the medium.”—Kabooooom

I’ll admit that I leapt at this title because I have an unapologetic, selfish need to read Finder as fast as possible, but this title has been the gift that keeps on giving. I felt myself drawn into all of the titles, and I’m definitely going to keep reading the ones I’m not familiar with. 

Finder – This story opens with the Preceptor’s appearance at the library to read what’s presented to him: a single piece of paper in a briefcase. Like so many parts of Finder, not only do moments like this make me wonder about the world Carla Speed McNeil’s creating, but also makes me think about the nature of knowledge and story, itself. On the whole, I probably actually wouldn’t want to live in her world because my luck I’d be smacked with something horrible pretty fast, but part of me really, really wants to try, anyway, because if I got smacked with something horrible it would probably be equally beautiful and compelling. The Preceptor’s conundrum is palpable – you can feel his confusion and desperation, and the way his perceived shortcomings are played off makes this piece more compelling. 

Mike Fortune - When you open with a character on a therapy couch saying how his killing Hitler screwed everything up, I’m going to pay attention. A flashback explaining how Mike Fortune went into hiding afterwards but learned to fight magic with weapons is concise, tells what we need to know, and epic. I want to use this as an example on how to flashback, truly. That coupled with more monster fighting, and this is just a great, eye-catching, fun read, as well as an example of how much can be done in a few pages.

Peacekeeper – When the world is given seven days due to an outside threat, everyone turns to Peacekeeper because he’s saved them time and again. Only this time, he can’t, and he announces this via press conference. It’s a theme that’s been explored in other places – the threat that the superhero just can’t fight – but I haven’t seen it quite at this level, with this kind of unravelling. The emotion is intense and palpable, from a little boy asking if there’s any way he can help, to Peacekeeper watching the public fall apart in worldwide riots and knowing the news he’s given is a huge cause of it. He still tries to calm things down because that’s what he does, but when public opinion is against him and there’s no way to stop the overall threat, can he blame them? It’s not just about people directing their anger at him, though, but his feelings of helplessness and uselessness. The last two pages are powerful and haunted me for hours after I read them.

Dream Gang – This one finds a group of eclectic characters under Sheriff Chumhartley pursuing Zeirio as he enters the cosmic realm. This story felt the most like I was coming into the middle of something, but I’m not mad about it. I’m intrigued by what Zeirio’s trying to pull off/accomplishes, as well as what Terry is to Patrick as a dream bomb. The art is gorgeous in a fantasy/sci-fi way, the story fast-moving, and I felt empty for Patrick by the end. This is the power of a good story – no matter where you come into it, if it makes you want to look it up and learn more about it and catch up on what you’ve missed, then it’s done a fabulous job.

Snow Angel – Halloween is upon us and Snow Angel wants to be something creepy instead of relying on her Snow Angel guise, even though snow is predicted for the holiday. This reminds me of something I’d have loved as a kid. The interaction between Snow Angel and her family is cute, plus hi, little girl hero character. Come the big night, not only are there a bunch of Snow Angel fans dressed up as her, but people in the neighborhood need her help. It’s a cute, well-drawn title that also serves as a good Halloween PSA, while still serving up a fun story.

Semiautomagic: Throne of Blood – This is another one I’m coming into mid-story, but I now want to read more. I mean a guy spewing spiders, a badass female lead rescuing a girl and sealing the threat in a holding dimension, then showing how she uses magic to not only try to solve an ongoing mystery but clean up after the drama that’s just gone down? Sign me up. Her train of thoughts tracking the threat at hand were interesting, and the way the narrative followed the victim to an unsettling ending sequence definitely makes me want to check this title out and find out what I’ve missed out on so I can catch up for the future.

Overall, this is a strong collection of different, but intriguing stories. I don’t know that I could actually put any above the other, partially because some are new to me, but also because they’re all that good on their own. This is why anthology titles like this are fantastic – you can peruse a variety of titles in one sitting, and be exposed to things you may not have found on your own. The art for each title is eye-catching and serves the style of the story, and I really can’t find any complaints or critiques about any of them.

As a collection, five sheep, but I’d actually give each individual story five sheep, as well.

Guest Reviewer: Selah Janel

Comic Review: Archie vs. Predator (3 of 4) Dark Horse Comics

ARCHIE VS. PREDATOR #3
FULL-METAL (VARSITY) JACKET!

Writer: Alex de Campi

Penciller: Fernando Ruiz

Inker: Rich Koslowski

Colorist: Jason Millet

Cover Artist: Gisele Lagace
Genre: Humor, Science-Fiction
Publication Date: June 17, 2015

Dark Horse

Format:FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price:$3.99

preview

The Predator has tallied his first kills from the ranks of the Riverdale gang! Can they turn the tables without Riverdale becoming a smoking ruin—and without getting detention?

* Art by Archie vets Fernando Ruiz and Rich Koslowski!

* Variant covers by Paul Pope and Kelley Jones!

Archie and the gang head back to Riverdale, but the vicious extraterrestrial Predator is in hot pursuit! When the kids determine that Betty and Veronica are the targets, they devise a secret weapon—Jughead in drag!

* Variant covers by Dustin Nguyen (Batman Eternal, Adventure Time) and Robert Hack (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)!

* IT’S OPEN SEASON ON ARCHIE!
The Predator has been wounded, and Jughead has gotten away, making it to Riverdale High School, where Archie, Dilton, Betty, and Veronica are hiding. Three other girls with them decided to leave and head elsewhere. Dilton leads them all back to the AV club room. Jughead, of course being hungry, stops at a candy machine and digs out the knife that began their adventures with the alien to dig out a candy bar, but the predator gets him. Then it stalks the others to the AV club room, where Dilton has an Archie robot waiting, that he will get inside to fight the predator like something put of Japanese anime.

The colors are so bright and Archie comics style, even the blood and those killed by the predator are like that. It is horror on sugar, but done as a delightfully great mashup. I cannot wait for the last comic in this series.
I give Archie vs. Predator 5 sheep

Pamela Kinney

Comic Review: Archie vs. Predator (2 of 4) Dark Horse Comics

ARCHIE VS. PREDATOR #2 (of 4)
Writer: Alex de Campi

Penciller: Fernando Ruiz

Inker: Rich Koslowski

Colorist: Jason Millet

Cover Artist: Dan Parent
Genre: Science-Fiction
May 20, 2015

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price: $3.99

UPC:7 61568 27991 7 00211

Preview

“A MASH-UP FOR THE AGES.”—USA TODAY

Archie and the gang head back to Riverdale, but the vicious extraterrestrial Predator is in hot pursuit! When the kids determine that Betty and Veronica are the targets, they devise a secret weapon—Jughead in drag!

* Variant covers by Dustin Nguyen (Batman Eternal, Adventure Time) and Robert Hack (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)!

* IT’S OPEN SEASON ON ARCHIE!

Archie and the gang are back home in Riverdale in the United States, their friends Cheryl and Jason dead back where they had been in Issue #1. Except they do not know they are not safe, that something has followed them. A Predator. And anyone who holds knife or weapon is prey for the young alien hunter. 

The colors are great. The characters from Riverdale act as I always remember them acting in comics and on the animated TV shows. Though Sabrina the Teenage Witch is scarier in this comic than he ever was when I read her when younger. Still an interesting combination of the Archie comics’ humor and lightheartedness mixed with the Predator darkness and death. Somehow they do it well.

I give Archie vs. Predator (2 of 4) 4 sheep



Pamela K. Kinney

Comic Review: No Mercy #1 Image Comics

No Mercy #1

Story By: Alex de Campi
Art By: Carla Speed McNeil
Cover By: Carla Speed McNeil
Image Comics

Price: $2.99
Diamond ID: FEB150483
Published: April 1, 2015
It was just a trip, before college. Build schools in a Central American village; get to know some of the other freshmen. But after tragedy strikes, a handful of once-privileged US teens must find their way home in a cruel landscape that at best doesn’t like them, and at worst, actively wants to kill them.Throw a bunch of priveleged city folk on a bus and ship 'em out to the country for a while, then watch 'em sweat. Now, switch it up some. Take a bunch of doe-eyed college freshmen and ship 'em out to Central America for some humanitarian work. Ya know for kicks. Then watch 'em really sweat.

If you're looking for superheroes, or even the supernatural, in this comic book, you have come to the wrong place. Alex de Campi and gang have something much more mundane in nature and traumatizing in tone in store for you. Because, sufficed to say, this is going to be the trip from Hell.

With this first issue, Alex sets the table with more than a dozen characters to juggle along the way, which is quite a feat to do for a single issue, at least in my opinion. Somehow, she manages to pull it off, giving just enough of a glimpse to each character's personality, with many afforded a little more attention thanks to the expert illustrations that breathe as much life into them as the dialogue.

The first half of the book feels a bit familiar with its introductions, kind of like Final Destination with disaffected or excruciatingly chipper teens taking their seats before the big plane ride. Only with No Mercy, it is a jalopy bus they find themselves crammed into along with locals, both charming and shady in nature. But when the badness happens, it's furious, unforgiving, and quickly shows just how unprepared these young go-getters are outside suburbia.

The series is just getting warmed up, but shows a lot of promise, and I expect de Campi and company will take no prisoners and no shortcuts with No Mercy.3 1/2 Sheep

Gef Fox

Comic Review: Grindhouse: Drive In, Bleed Out #3

Grindhouse: Drive In, Bleed Out #3

Writer: Alex de Campi

Artist: Chris Peterson

Colorist: Nolan Woodard

Cover Artist: Francesco Francavilla
Genre: Action/Adventure
Publication Date: March 25, 2015

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price: $3.99

UPC:7 61568 26746 4 00511
Dark Horse Comics

PREVIEW

Deputy Garcia is back, and this time the shotgun-toting Latina is sporting the latest in badass cybernetic enhancements! But can her new augmentations prepare her for the giant, man-eating ticks that now rise from a small southern town’s mysterious blood lagoon?

* Look for Alex de Campi on Archie vs. Predator in 2015!

If you love pulpy horror and you're somehow not reading this series, you're missing out. This time around, we actually are treated to a sequel of sorts for the first time with a return of Deputy Garcia from Grindhouse's inaugural tale, “Bee Vixens from Mars.”

Garcia and her friend, Wayne, are on a road trip to visit Wayne's crotchety old homophobe father to let him know he's fixing to get married … to the man he loves, Sergei, who happens to be a whiz at fixing Garcia up with some bionic gizmos to get her back up and running after getting shellacked by those honey-dipped demons. She's still got just the one eye though, but the eye-patch suits her.

And while Wayne's dad might be as fun to be around as an ornery alley cat, it's a far cry from the stressful ordeal Garcia had to contend with back home. At least the neighbors are nice. And there's a fishin' hole down the road—oops, that's a literal blood bath now on account of the slaughterhouse. Oh, and those giant ticks creeping up out of the blood might be an issue too.

“Blood Lagoon” takes a little while to kick into high gear, but we do need a few pages after all to get a feel for the relationship between Wayne and his dad and how that'll play out when all hell breaks loose. And it does hurt that Chris Peterson and Nolan Woodard do one heckuva job rendering the illustrations with this electric vibe of blues and purples, until the bugs show up and then it's a whole lotta red. And I want that monster truck!

There's a part in the book that feels a bit too cartoonish, even for a grindhouse-themed comic book, but still it was enough for me to shake my head. But not nearly enough to kill the story's momentum and dampen the overall enjoyment. If you are curious about the series, trust me when I say you need to find “Bee Vixens” and then come back to this right quick, because part two is gonna be a barnburner.

I hope.

4 Sheep

Gef Fox

Double Comic Review: Archie Vs. Predator #1 (of 4)

Archie vs. Predator (1 of 4)
Script by Alex de Campi
Pencils by Fernando Ruiz
Inks by Rich Koslowski
Colors by Jason Millet
Letters by John Workman
Standard Cover by Ruiz Koslowski Miller
Variant Cover A by Eric Powell
Variant Cover B by Francesco Francavilla
Published by Dark Horse Comics
April 15, 2015
Beach games
Party games
THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME!

HE’S IN RIVERDALE WITH A FEW DAYS TO KILL!

America’s favorite teen meets the galaxy’s fiercest hunter! Archie and friends hit Costa Rica for Spring Break, where party games and beach games are soon replaced by the Most Dangerous Game! What mysterious attraction does the gang hold for the trophy-collecting Predator, and will the kids even realize they’re in danger before it claims them all?

Gef Fox's Review

As a kid, I used to love reading through whatever random Archie Digest I could get my hands on. Sometimes a cousin had one, or there was one in the school library, or one might show up under the Christmas tree. Archie was one of if not my very first experiences with comics. I don't remember reading one after I turned 12-years-old, though. Well, if someone was going to lure me back to Riverdale, it was bound to be Alex de Campi and Archie Vs. Predator.

The whole gang's there. Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, even Moose too. Two characters I can't recall from yesteryear are Cheryl and Jason, a couple of spoiled rotten snobs. I don't know if they're a couple, siblings, or what. Doesn't matter really as their introduction all but guarantees a suitably grizzly demise in the first act.

You see, after Cheryl and Jason brag to Archie and the gang that they're jetting off to the Caribbean for spring break, Jughead flukes himself into winning a trip for the whole gang to a luxury beach vacation in—you guess it—the Caribbean. It's fun and sun and the usually Archie hijinks when they arrive, but they're not the only visitors to the island. Enter Predator.

The setup for this encounter is equal parts absurd and awesome. I mean, a Predator crash landed on a tropical island and, given a rather beggars can't be choosers range of prey to hunt, targets unarmed, oblivious teens. A far cry from going toe-to-toe with Arnold, that's for sure. But deep down, aren't we all kind of hoping that the Predator rips out Reggie's spinal column and Betty goes all Rambo on his ass? No? Just me? Fine.

With Fernando Ruiz, Rich Koslowski, Jason Millet, and John Workman handling the penciling, ink, color, and lettering respectively, the look and feel of this issue is right on par with the Archie comics in my memory. And the tone of the comic feels very much in keeping with what I remember as a kid. But it doesn't take too long before Archie and company skirt the edges of the wonderfully warped imagination of Alex de Campi, a writer capable of writing blood-soaked grindhouse fare as she is with a My Little Pony adventure. Here, we get the best of both worlds.

I missed out on Archie meeting The Punisher, or Archie dying, or Archie surrounded by zombies, so this is my first chance to see the Riverdale gang taken to some far out territory. As it stands, I'm kinda glad to get my toes wet with this. It's not earth-shattering yet, but it's just the first issue and the stakes are only being set thus far before the real mayhem begins. I mean, the most intense scene comes from a scuffle between Betty and Veronica during an impromptu fashion show—don't ask, just go with it.

What's fun about the book is the tease of their cozy little world being intruded upon by a remorseless killing machine. One particular scene with Moose in the background, towards the end of the comic, really offers a foreboding sense that the plucky gang of friends are about to have their lives upended. It has a ways to go before the real fireworks begin, but the setup is effective and you're going to be chomping at the bit to read the second issue to see how much better it gets.

4 stars

Pamela K. Kinney's Review

Jughead wins a prize he gets from his bag of chips and Archie and friends all take a trip to a Caribbean beach. The first night they are there a falling star is seen falling into the jungle nearby. It is the ship of a Predator. Yes, a Predator, like from the movies of the alien warriors that hunt other predators, like man. Except this time there is no Arnold Schwarzenegger or Danny Glover to save the teens of Riverdale High School on their spring break.

This was mind-blowing to me, who grew up reading Archie comics and even owned the records like “Sugar, Sugar” sung by the Archies. I mean Archie comics were light, comic stories about America’s most lovable teenager while the Predator is dark, bloody science fiction horror that had four films about it—two that included aliens that Ellen Ripley fought in outer space (where no one can hear you scream). I wondered how this would mix together. But the dark and light are mixed. And now, I want to read the other three issues to see how the story continues and ends.

An extra treat to this first of four episodes of this comic is “Sabrina Meets Hellboy,” where Sabrina the teenage witch is an eight-year-old girl. There is also apparently more to this story, too. More that will be in the next issues of “AVP.”

5 sheep

Comic Review: GRINDHOUSE: DRIVE IN, BLEED OUT #2 Dark Horse

GRINDHOUSE: DRIVE IN, BLEED OUT #2
Writer: Alex de Campi

Colorist: Giulia Brusco
Genre: Horror, Action/Adventure
Publication Date: December 24, 2014

Dark Horse

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price: $3.99

UPC:7 61568 26746 4 00211
preview

Scalped artist R. M. Guéra!
When you think of comics that really bring the Christmas spirit, put Grindhouse at the top of your naughty list! We’re leaving sex and violence under your tree this year, as the desolate plains of the West fall victim to a terrifying quartet of cold-hearted demons, in “Slay Ride”’s gory climax!
* The nasty holiday gem “Slay Ride” concludes!
* Alex de Campi (Smoke/Ashes, Lady Zorro) is back with a vengeance!
* R. M. Guéra (Scalped, Django Unchained) paints the snow red!

Shayla, when last we saw her, was being buried alive in the snow while demonic children watched on with fiendish glee. Well, sufficed to say the brash anti-hero ain't going out like that, so where does the second half of Slay Ride go once she's free and back to whooping the snow demons?

I actually mistook this as an ongoing series, unlike the first run's 2-parter format, but this was the second part and a grand finale to this story, and it wasted no time in getting right back into the action and setting up the final showdown. It's where that showdown pays off on an emotional level that I didn't see coming, though.

I had my heart set on a more visceral, bare-knuckled free-for-all with a demonic bent to cap off this storyline, but the focus wound up having a more emotional, more familial core to it. In a strict story sense, it gave me what I needed more than what I wanted. Shayla was a gloriously bad-ass, defiantly flawed character, and if any of Alex de Campi's characters make a comeback in future issues, I hope it's her.

With Slay Ride #1 & #2 in the books, I now find myself chomping at the bit for whatever fiendishly pulpy extravaganza de Campi and company have cooked up next.

Review: Grindhouse: Slay Ride #1

4 1/2 stars

Gef Fox

Wag the Fox

Comic Review: Grindhouse: Slay Ride #1

GRINDHOUSE: DRIVE IN, BLEED OUT #1
Writer: Alex de Campi

Artist: R. M. Guéra

Colorist: Giulia Brusco

Cover Artist: R. M. Guéra
Dark Horse

Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Publication Date: November 12, 2014

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price:$3.99

UPC:7 61568 26746 4 00111

Preview

Grindhouse is back from the dead, and it’s meaner, badder, and dirtier than ever! In the first of four new exploitation opuses,Scalped’s R. M. Guéra joins series writer Alex de Campi for “Slay Ride,” a brutal holiday tale of revenge and supernatural terror in the driven snow!

* We’re back, just in time to celebrate the holidays in bloody style!

* From the perverted mind of Alex de Campi (Smoke/Ashes, Lady Zorro)!

* World-renowned artist R. M. Guéra (Django Unchained,Scalped)!

I was already made a fan of Alex de Campi's gory greatness that is Grindhouse, but now that it's back this month and has it's new story taking place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada? Well, shoot...I'm a double fan now.

Grindhouse goes for the jugular yet again too, with de Campi's high-octane horror featuring a father and son murdered in the opening pages, then the elderly cancer-ridden Mother Wolf facing down a malevolent trio of misfits with only the estranged daughter of Papa at her side.

In Grindhouse's ghosts of Christmas past (the previous issues, of which I clumsily refer), the stories were all done in two-parters, but this time around Slay Ride will be a four-parter, which should give de Campi more elbow room for some character development—not that you need heaping piles of that in exploitation fare. Actually, this doesn't feel like the kind of gritty, hard-nosed 70s-style grindhouse, but more in keeping with the supernatural, hack-and-slash kind of stuff that came along with the advent of VHS in the 80s. It's blood, and weirdness, and jump scares, and mounting dread, and a bevy demonic debauchery.

With R.M. Guera offering some gripping illustrations and Giulia Brusco adding top-notch coloring, the visual impact of this first issue is about as great as a fan of the series could ask for. Alex de Campi had mentioned in an interview back in May (http://www.ismellsheep.com/2014/05/interview-alex-de-campi-comic-book.html) that she had artists in mind for what is ostensibly Season Two of Grindhouse. And in these early goings, it looks like its paid off with great choices.

Now, with the frenzied manner with which this first issue left off, I can only salivate at the chance to read the ensuing issues to find out just how in the heck the folks of this idyllic little snowscape can survive the scourge of the Clown, the Man Who Walks, and the Overseer.

Reviews: Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight

4 1/2 Sheep

Gef Fox

Wag The Fox

Interview: Alex de Campi - comic book horror writer

From gore and sex to My Little Pony, writer Alex de Campi can do it all! Gef and I talked with her about her Dark Horse hit Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight along with some future projects. 

Gef: I'm no expert on comics, but it seems a press like Dark Horse is willing to feature subject matter that DC and Marvel might be too timid for, but when it comes to Grindhouse and your vision for the series, even they were a little blanched at first. How much convincing was needed to let you and the artists you've worked with on the series thus far pour a bucket of gasoline over the exploitation genres and light the match?
Alex: Marvel might be too timid for it, but DC's Free Comic Book Day comic had some female character's screaming face cut off and stapled to the chest of another character soooo yeah, DC would probably be down with it. In fact, one of the reasons I wrote Grindhouse was I was so tired at the ham-fisted co-opting of exploitation tropes into mainstream superhero comics as a way of making them seem more “real” and “relevant”. I wanted exploitation to be fun again, and not always about horribly mutilating an innocent female character. I mean, any fule kno, you only mutilate the sluts or the evil ones. (I kid. Partly.)

But yes. That is the secret origins of Grindhouse. Bring sex and gore back to something I can enjoy! More sex! More exciting gore! Not horribly offensive to women / all from a white male gaze! Make it gleefully schlocky and fun again!


Gef: With each two-issue story, Grindhouse apparently has a checklist of genres it is tearing through. Was there one in particular that you couldn't wait to dive into? Is there one in particular you hope to highlight in the future?
Alex: I had way more fun than I was expecting to with the summer camp slasher, Flesh Feast of the Devil Doll. It's like some unholy melange of Incubus, Sixteen Candles, and The Dirty Dozen. There's a reason why the summer camp slasher is the high plateau of horror genres. I mean, they were all a ton of fun. The kiss at the end of Prison Ship Antares (and the shower scene at the beginning) are two moments I just love. Page 1, Panel 3 of Bee Vixens.. yeah, that was fun. That whole page was fun.
In terms of genres I can't wait to do? The space sexploitation story (Barbarella, etc). The blaxploitation story (Coffy, Cleopatra Jones). A straight up giallo/paranoia-slasher. My Christmas Annual story, which I need to finish!


Gef: Nearly every story in the series has its fair share of humor to go along with the horror, except for Bride of Blood. Is that a case where any hint of levity would have diminished the emotional impact you were aiming for?
Alex: I have many things to say about rape as a device in comics. But my short answer here is I wanted the rape to be lengthy and physically uncomfortable/unenjoyable for the reader. This isn't a shortcut to character actualisation. This isn't a lazy footnote to tag a male character as “the baddie”. This isn't so the male character can scream “noooo” in silhouette over the broken and mutilated body of PoC / teenage / gay / female (circle as appropriate) team member and then go on a vengeance spree.
And, c'mon, there were a couple good lines and a good twist-scare at the end. No chuckle? No chuckle.
Part of me ultimately wondered if the story being medieval was too distancing. What if she were a young freshman who got gang-raped at college? Would that have been more uncomfortable for people? Because that book, the point of it (like all the good rape revenge films) was to make you uncomfortable.


Gef: How many fingers do I need to cross in order for "Swamp Tramp" to become a real thing?
Alex: Oh, we definitely want that to happen. It was on the list for Grindhouse Season Two, which is still in negotiation. I love Luca Pizzari's work and have wanted to do a project with him for some time.


Gef: I imagine scheduling is one of the big determining factors when you have a series that features multiple artists. How trying was it find the right artist for the right story? With the prospect of future Grindhouse stories, do you have an artist wishlist in your hip pocket for specific stories?
Alex: One of the good things about two-issue stories is the brevity opens you up to a much larger pool of artists. Many artists who could have never done a 6-issue book, could fit in two issues with a long deadline. I finished all the scripts by March 2013, and the first issue didn't come out until October.
I had a pretty easy time finding artists for the Grindhouse stories, and I'm immensely pleased with how each one of them delivered.
As far as Season Two, yes, I have artists I very much want to approach for certain stories. Some I've already had brief chats with.


Gef: Along with writing comics, you're also squeezing in time to write your first novel. How much of a gear shift is it when focusing on a different medium?
Alex: It's a huge shift. Comics, I don't revise that much. I think over the story for a couple months, sketch out some notes/breakdowns, then I sit down and write an issue in a week or less. The novel, holy cats, no. I get these awful, jumbled, leaden words down just to beat a path through the emptiness and I hate myself for how clumsy the phrasing is. I know in my heart that when I type the last sentence of the novel's first draft, then the real work begins.
  

Sharon: What is the nerdiest thing you own?
Alex: Hm. I don't own that much nerdy stuff. I also don't own that much nice stuff, and half my life has been in boxes for almost a decade now due to poverty / living in tiny apartments / general life turmoil. But! You know the bug-typewriter in the film NAKED LUNCH? I have touched it. It is in a good friend's home.

Sharon: Does it feel weird to write a My Little Pony Story and then turn around and chop off penises in Grindhouse? <G> Have you ever wanted to have Pinky Pie go into beast mode and eviscerate someone?
Alex: I had totally wrapped the Grindhouse scripts about six months before I wrote Pony, so there was a clear delineation in my mind. Also, I have to say, horror and comedy share a lot of similar pacing tricks.

Pinkie Pie using Twilight as a magic machine gun in the season finale of Season One was... one of my all-time favourite Pony moments.

Sharon: How many languages do you know? Which is your first?
Alex: American is my first language. I'm fluent also in English. I can stumble along in French and Spanish, and I used to know a fair amount of Italian. I can curse in Cantonese and Tagalog. 

Sharon: If you could own any piece of art in the world what would it be?
Alex: There was a huge, wall-sized Basquiat painting up at auction in London just before I moved to the US. I wanted that with the fire of a thousand suns. And, of course, the modernist urban mansion to display it in. 



Sharon: What can we be on the lookout for you in the second half of 2014?

Alex: I am not quite going to achieve my goal of having a book out every month of 2014...June is my letdown. (Though my supernatural thriller webcominc, Valentine, still updates every Wednesday at Thrillbent and it's free! Go check it out). In July, my Lady Zorro mini from Dynamite comes out – a four-issue swashbuckling extravaganza where hot, shirtless men are saved; indigenous peoples are badass and awesome; bad people are cleaved in the head with axes, and Lady Zorro doesn't fall out of her bra ONCE. Wonderbra has nothing on the 1820s, people.

In November, my next project with Dark Horse debuts in Dark Horse Presents #4: a supernatual horror series with Jerry “The Greatest Artist Ever (And Also Nicest Dude)” Ordway (seriously his pages make me cry, they are so good). It's called Semiautomagic, but I tend to refer to it as The Alice Creed Stories. If you liked Hellblazer? Well, this is nothing like Hellblazer, but you might like it too.

Check out Valentine over at Thrillbent. It is an amazing way to read a comic.

About the Author:
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Alex de Campi loves explosions and obscure film noir. She hates writing bios. She writes the comics SMOKE/ASHES and GRINDHOUSE for Dark Horse. She has directed a bunch of music videos for indie bands famous and not so famous. Rumours that she was the product of a secret Mi6 programme to create a race of genetically modified super-agents are, alas, entirely without foundation. The rumours that she snuck across the Russian border and spent many louche years in Hong Kong are completely true.

Comic Review: Grindhouse: Doors Open at Midnight #7/#8 (Flesh Feast of the Devil Doll)

GRINDHOUSE: DOORS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT #7

Writer:Alex de Campi

Artist: Gary Erskine

Cover Artist: Francesco Francavilla
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Dark Horse

Publication Date:April 02, 2014

Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price: $3.99

UPC:7 61568 22741 3 00711
Preview

Lace up for the “Flesh Feast”! Built on the site of a Puritan-era curse, Camp Oneida is better known today for vicious hockeymatches and even more intense pie fights! But when the Devil Doll returns to seduce and kill once more, the Oneida hockey girls make with the high-sticking!
* Gary Erskine (Judge Dredd, The Mask) joins the mayhem!
* Alex de Campi (Smoke, Valentine) brings her blood-and-guts A-game!

 GRINDHOUSE: DOORS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT #8

Writer: Alex de Campi

Artist: Gary Erskine

Colorist: Gary Erskine

Cover Artist: Dan Panosian
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Dark Horse

Publication Date:May 07, 2014

Format:FC, 32 pages; Miniseries

Price:$3.99

UPC:7 61568 22741 3 00811The knock-around teen gals of Oneida hockey camp discover that they may have taken on more than they bargained for, as they face off with an ancient, evil beast with a hunger for the sweet meat of virgins! And that calls for a shopping spree—for all the guns!

* Gary Erskine (Judge Dredd) brings on the bloodthirsty fun!
* Alex de Campi (Ashes) turns the blood and guts up to eleven!
Preview

Review #7/#8

What would happen if in the movie Meatballs, Bill Murray had to fend off a soul-sucking demon bent on devouring the blood of virgins? Well, unless Wes Anderson makes that movie anytime soon, I guess we'll never know. So we're all going to have to settle for the next best thing: Flesh Feast of the Devil Doll.

Renae is heading to private school when the summer's through, but because the school has a field hockey team, she's been shipped to Oneida Feild Hockey Camp to learn the ropes with the rest of the outcast gals. Might not be so bad, but darned if that camp isn't built on top of a satanic ritual site that was massacred by Native Americans. And exploritory fracking has unearthed the demon those silly Satanists were trying to raise in the first place.

The good news is that the demon has a pretty face. The bad news is that the demon has a second not-so-pretty face that it uses to chomp on its victims as soon as it seduces them. Or it's just really hungry.

So on a slow night with the girls stepping out, they wind up in a no-holds-barred showdown with the demon, and it's just terrific.

If you loved all those schlocky B-movies about summer camp from the 80s, and also have a penchant for those gruesome Satanic cult conspiracies from the same era, you're probably gonna love this two-parter as much as I did.

If there's a character that steals the show, it's not Renae. It's not even the demon. It's Tina, the cool-as-shit leader of the pack with her collar tee and aviator shades. She's the ambassador and head buttkicker for the gang of gals, and pretty much the queen bee. And no boys allowed, either. The topless pie fight should be a big giveaway there.

It's campy, yes. Pun intended. But it has some serious chills too, because that demon is scary as hell. Sure, the idea that these field hockey players are all too eager and apparently all too ready throw down with hellspawn strains credulity, but just remember the genre this thing is paying homage to while you're reading.

Throw in some very crisp--and at times icky--artwork from Gary Erskine, and Alex de Campi has a real winner with this one.

4 1/2 Sheep

Gef Fox

Wag The Fox: a den for dark fiction