Comic Review: Tomb Raider: Inferno Vol 4, #1-4

Tomb Raider: Inferno Vol 4, #1-4

Writer: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly
Artist: Phillip Sevy
Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
Cover Artist: Hannah Templer
Genre: Action/Adventure, Video Game
Publication Date: January 09, 2019
Format: FC, 104 pages; TPB; 6 5/8" x 10 3/16"
Price: $17.99
Age range: 14
ISBN-10: 1-50670-503-0
ISBN-13: 978-1-50670-503-3
Sold by Dark Horse Comics
Category: Graphic Novels & Manga
Writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (Joyride, Hacktivist) continue Lara's story after Rise of the Tomb Raider and where Dark Horse series Survivor's Crusade left off! This volume collects issues #1-#4 of the 2018 Dark Horse Comics series Tomb Raider: Inferno.

Lara succeeds in hunting down Trinity to a remote outpost in Antarctica amidst the cold and darkness of the seemingly isolated land. Seeking to discover the mystery within the icy tomb before Trinity can exploit it, Lara faces a new adversary who is more cunning and more prepared than Lara has encountered in the past. In order to stop the terror Trinity is about to release, Lara must face the conflict residing within herself and decide once and for all how far she's willing to go, and what she's willing to let go of in the process.

Tomb Raider: Inferno is the collection of issues #1-#4 of the same name which pretty much means you get the whole story in one volume without having to hunt down each individual part. Super convenient right? I know I wouldn’t want to have 4 separate issues instead of the one volume.

Anyway, Inferno picks up where Rise of the Tomb Raider left off. Lara Croft has tracked the nefarious group Trinity to a location in Antarctica. Once there Lara tries to discover the secret of the icy tomb that makes it so valuable to Trinity. But she wasn’t counting on having to deal with inner conflict or an enemy that is much more prepared and capable of ending Lara’s quest and Lara.

Writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly take Lara on more than just another adventure, they force her to face her past choices and give her the opportunity to come out stronger than ever before. I thought this was a great idea because it gave Lara more depth than before. Lara Croft is an action hero there is no question about that but I wanted to see her as a human too. With human emotions and failings and that’s exactly what Inferno did. It brought her down to a more relatable level because not all of us can be super awesome explorer/adventurers.

The artwork is as before amazing, with not only beautifully detailed drawings that capture Lara’s emotions as well as the action sequences, but with colors that really make the images pop out at the reader. Phillip Sevy did a great job with the images and so did Hannah Templer who did the front cover art.

Rating: 4 Sheep

Adria 

https://adriasromancereviews.blogspot.com/

Comic Review: BATTLEPUG – VOLUME 4 – THE DEVIL’S BISCUIT

BATTLEPUG – VOLUME 4 – THE DEVIL’S BISCUIT
Writer: Mike Norton
Artist: Mike Norton
Colorist: Allen Passalaqua
Cover Artist: Mike Norton
Dark Horse Comics

Genre: Humor, Fantasy, Action/Adventure
Publication Date: October 14, 2015
Format:FC, 72 pages; HC,
Age range:14

Preview

THE BARBARIAN AND HIS BATTLEPUG COMPANION are a nearly unbeatable team, but after one of his motley crew of adventurers goes missing, the last Kinmundian must split off from his friends and journey, alone, into the heart of the den of the pirate king to find him. The rest of the group must fend for themselves while Catwulf’s ferocious forces hunt them down. But with a BATTLEPUG at their side, they at least have a fighting chance!

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Guest Reviewers:  Toby the Pug and Queenie the Pug, co-owners of author Dani Harper (who has negotiated for equal page space this time)

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Queenie --- Like it says in the introduction, "come for the pugs, stay for the adventure".

Dani --- I agree. Fans of eccentric humor, and especially those who enjoy absurd mash-ups, will continue to be charmed by Mike Norton’s Battlepug webcomic. This latest book, THE DEVIL'S BISCUIT, is number 4 in the series, and continues the epic story with a collection of comics from the past year. As always, the artwork continues to be stellar, the coloring beautifully rendered, plus the panel layout is varied and interesting.

Queenie (sighing dramatically) --- It’s a pleasure to read this book just for the visuals. That is one hunka hunka burning pug!

Toby --- You keep taking the book to your kennel! I want to read it again!

Queenie --- I have seniority, I’m in charge of the book. You’ll just get drool all over it.

Toby --- Ha! You’re the one who’s doing all the drooling!

Dani --- If you two will just focus on the review, I promise I’ll get an extra copy so you each can have your own. Deal?

Toby and Queenie together --- “Deal.” *eye each other suspiciously just the same*

Dani --- All sweeping sagas have mysteries to be solved, and the opening scene confronts us once again with what just might prove to be the biggest mystery of all – our naked narrator, Moll. Confined to a tower high above a sprawling city, the beautiful woman has only a surly French bulldog (Colfax) and an affable pug (Mingo) for company.

Queenie --- Everyone knows, if you have a pug, you have it all.

Dani (muttering to herself) --- You certainly have a lot of SOME things … sneezes in your face, all-night snoring, room-clearing farts…

Toby --- I can’t hear you, you’re mumbling!

Dani (aloud) --- I was saying that you two are the light of my life, of course! While it’s true that pug companionship is very satisfying, this time we get a glimpse of secret sadness in Moll, a heaviness of heart that surprises her canine companions. Nevertheless, she continues to tell them the adventures of BATTLEPUG.

In case our readers have forgotten, or if they're new to the story, the hero is the last surviving member of the Kinmundian Tribe, known only as the Warrior. His enthusiastic steed is the faithful and freakishly ginormous pug –

Toby --- SPRINKLES! His name is Sprinkles! I wish my name was Sprinkles.

Queenie --- Ha! Your name should be Tinkles, the way you—

Dani --- Back on topic, guys! Anyway, all the reader really has to do is picture Conan the Barbarian riding a pug the size of an elephant in order to understand the quirky universe that Mike Norton has created. Our nameless Kinmundian warrior is on a quest for vengeance against his mortal enemy, Catwulf. Despite the hero’s desire for solitude on this mission, he's attracted both a genuine Canis Majoris and some unwanted followers. Book 3 showed us that, in spite of himself, he’s learned to care about his motley crew. As Book 4 opens, we again meet Scribbly, a crazy and mostly incoherent old hermit who nevertheless manages to explain what's going on to both the Warrior and the reader.

Toby – And Bryony’s back! She’s the one who named Sprinkles.

Dani --- Good for you, Toby. You remembered.

*Toby sticks his tongue out at Queenie when Dani’s not looking*

Dani --- Anyway, Bryony Bracken is a little girl with enough powerful magic to control and command the plant world.

Queenie --- She has a powerful vocabulary too! She cusses like a drunken sailor.

Dani --- That’s right, Queenie.

*Queenie makes a face at Toby*

Dani --- Moving on. Book 4 picks up where we left off in Book 3, with our heroes in a massive forest noted for unsavory characters. And sure enough, a band of thieves wander by talking loudly about the pirate king, Callistus, who will be attending the great Pirate Fest in the next town. Our heroes are captured –

Queenie --- And then they’re saved by a brand new character, Leighmin, a plant wizard like Bryony! Have you noticed that people come and go all the time in this story?

Dani --- True enough. In fact, Scribbly disappears during the struggle and can’t be found. Meanwhile, the new plant wizard reveals himself as a guide and mentor. Our heroes are used to a certain amount of weirdness by now. But they're unprepared to hear that they must split up and follow separate paths for a while. So for the first time since he met the big lug of a pug, the Kinmundian will have to leave his faithful steed behind.

Toby --- That part made me sad! *Snuffles loudly into the couch cushions*

Dani --- But first, he charges Sprinkles with the very important task of guarding Bryony, who has a destiny of her own to fulfill. And we know that the giant pug and little wizard girl will look after each other, right Toby?

Toby --- *Still snuffling* Yeah, I guess so. *Blows nose loudly, then farts. Looks around to see where the noise came from…*

Dani (gasping as she opens a window) --- Cough, cough, cough… So the Warrior walks to the Pirate Fest, blending in with some stolen clothes—

Queenie --- Ha! It’s a wonder he knew how to put them on. Apparently it's the first time he's worn pants since he was a kid.

Dani --- The important thing is that he spots Scribbly in the crowd and tries to follow him. A gang of thugs descend on the cape-covered old man, only to be beaten off by the Warrior. But it isn't Scribbly under the cape! Instead, it's a very small armor-clad human who introduces himself as Jangles the Lesser.

Queenie --- What did I just tell you? People come and go all the time in this story.

Toby--- Yeah, Jangles says he put on a cursed helmet that would make him live forever. But instead—

Dani --- NO SPOILERS! In fact, we’ve already said too much. What we can say, however, is that from this point on, the plot gets REALLY complicated.

Toby --- I’ll say! It made my brain hurt!

Queenie --- Everything makes YOUR brain hurt.

Toby --- Well, it’s not just me. Mingo’s brain got BROKEN in this story!

Dani --- Yes, well, that’s because THE DEVIL’S BISCUIT is true to its predecessors in the series. The pacing is just as fast and furious. It contains some amazing plot twists that none of us saw coming, plus some shocking revelations. There’s always a cliffhanger ending, of course –

Toby --- AND THIS ONE’S REALLY AWESOME! *runs madly in circles*

Dani --- Okay, I admit, it’s pretty good.

Toby --- *still running* I can’t WAIT, I can’t WAIT, I can’t WAIT for the last book! I wanna know what HAPPENED! *crashes into the side of the couch and falls over*

Dani --- Is he okay?

Queenie --- Yeah, he’s breathing, he’s fine. *kicks a couch cushion over Toby * What I want to know is how the writer’s going to resolve all this stuff with only one more book?

Dani --- I don’t know. And maybe Mike Norton doesn’t know yet either. He said he originally planned five books, but now? We’ll just have to see. In the meantime, I’m giving Book 4, THE DEVIL’S BISCUIT,

4 “I’ll-put-on-a-frilly-dress-and-dance-around-your-corpses” sheep.

Queenie --- Are you kidding me? It has pugs! It even has a pug MOUNTAIN this time! Automatic five!

Toby (from under the couch cushion) --- Yeah, it should be five!

Dani (sighing) --- We have this argument every time we review a Battlepug book. Look, if we were reviewing it for a pug audience, it would be five. But we’re reviewing this for humans, so it gets four.

Toby --- I’ll bet if the Battlepug was here, you’d give it a TEN!

Dani --- Okay, that’s probably true. Tell you what, I’ll give FIVE “pug-kisses-are-totally-unavoidable” sheep to the bonus pages in this book. There’s a fun collection of the Warrior and the Battlepug drawn by over a dozen guest artists.

*Toby farts again. Dani and Queenie flee the building…*

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Battlepug Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/Battlepug-The-Web-Comic-123886081014933/timeline/

Battlepug Website (read the comic daily, check out Mike Norton’s blog, and buy cool stuff - http://battlepug.com/

Battlepug 4: THE DEVIL’S BISCUIT – buy link on Amazon –http://amzn.to/1VSxr77

Comic Review: The Killer Vol. 4: Unfair Competition

The Killer Vol. 4: Unfair Competition
Collected Edition Hardcover
Story by: Matz
Art by: Luc Jacamon
Format: 128 pages, full color, hardcover
List price: $19.95
Sale date: 17 July 2013
Archaia

After his misadventures in Venezuela, our Killer retires to Mexico, but his Colombian cartel friend Mariano and the Cuban agent Katia are not far behind. Soon he finds himself drawn back into the great geopolitical game between Cuba, Venezuela, and the United States, with oil revenues and political independence at stake. Even when he finds himself in unusual territory as the shadow owner of an oil company developing Cuba’s off-shore deposits, the need for his usual skill-set is never far away. 

One of the big advantages graphic novels have over the conventional novel is--you guessed it--the pictures. Add a blatant visual component to the storytelling and a whole new dimension opens up. Such is the case when I looked at the first panel of Unfair Competition, a vibrant portrait of one bustling street in Mexico City. The buildings, the cars, the people, and even the faraway vistas all presented one page at a time in such mesmerizing detail, you'd swear you're looking at freeze frames from a high-end animated film.

Despite having not read the first three volumes of this series, Matz uses dialogue to give a keen sense of his protagonist, Asesino, a professional killer who is world weary yet reticent in his attempts to step away from the life. Teaming up with two associates, a plan is laid out to exploit Cuba's new oil resources, as well as gaining a foothold in Mexico, all with the grand guise of going legit. Big oil is hardly legit it turns out though (no surprise there), and Asesino finds himself wishing for a simpler life, but ultimately drawn back into what he does best.

If not for the absolutely breathtaking artwork in this book, I would have probably stopped reading. Because that's what I did more than anything with this graphic novel: read. The dialogue is astonishingly long and drawn out, and for a thriller about a criminal enterprise, that's about 90% of the book: guys sitting around in pretty places and talking.Had this been a straight-up novel, I would have had no problem at all with dialogue bubbles taking up half of each panel, but this is a graphic novel and the wondrous illustrations are crowded out by what felt like intrusive and incessant jaw-jacking. The silver lining to it is that the dialogue is not the least bit hokey or cliched. The characters do come through with what they say, but it would have been nice if they shut up once in a while and got some dirt under their fingernails.

I'd recommend the book for the eye-candy alone, but if you have an aversion to comic books that feel like novels, then you may want to skip this one.

3 1/2 sheep

Guest Reviewer: Gef Fox
Wag The Fox