3.14.07 Reviews - Part 2

BPRD: Garden of Souls #1 (Dark Horse): Thank God that BPRD and related Hellboy projects are gearing up again. I feel like I'm in need of some good quality comics! Editor Scott Allie tells us that we'll be getting one book a month for the next 18 months with all of the projects on deck, and that's just *dandy* with me. Garden of Souls was really good; it's got the intriguing settings and character moments that a first issue needs. Of particular interest here is the emotional fallout from Roger's death as the team still attempts to cope with it. What we see is a bunch of people who are now afraid to be close to eachother and distance themselves emotionally for fear that one of them will wind up dead (again) on the next mission - and it comes across beautifully with Guy Davis' emotive lines. All that plus more tidbits about Daimio, Abe's past, and what it all means in the BPRD/Hellboy Universe. Bravo! More, please! Grade A+.

Wonderland #3 (Slave Labor Graphics): I don't know how I missed the first two issues of this, being a big Sonny Liew fan and all (everyone remembers My Fraith in Frankie, right?), but I snatched it up nonetheless. The pencils are wild and loose here, not as restrained as I remember from other works. Overall, it's okay, but I don't quite see what the hook or angle is from just one random issue. It doesn't appear to be aimed at kids, with all the violence and swearing and all. Yet, it also doesn't seem to be aimed at adults either, ommitting the double meanings, depravity, and hallucinogen-induced sexual symbolism that the original was so fond of. So, I'm kinda' not sure why anyone but diehard Alice fans are supposed to be reading this. Awesome production values from SLG though. Grade B-.