WITCH DOCTOR #3

WITCH DOCTOR #3
Script by: Brandon Seifert
Illustrated by: Luka Ketner
Image Comics

How can such beauty be so freaking sick?
"The Patient from the Black Lagoon" is slabbed
(And gorgeous). Penny wants to do her trick
(She likes to eat those monsters) -- have I grabbed
Your fancy yet? Well, it's a Deep One, too!
Straight out of Lovecraft! Watch our Doctor get
All nerdy on the subject, crying "Ooh
His lungs are gone!" The chance for to dissect
A magic benthic dweller -- would you not
Geek out just like he did? Is it his fault
Things turn out badly? Poor wee Penny's got
So peckish... fetch some vampires from the vault!
Meanwhile, Cthulhu's tapeworms! History
Has ne'er been told so well, if  you ask me.

Sonneteer's note: "Cthulu's Tapeworms" is totally my new all-purpose epithet and swear word.

Debris #1

DEBRIS #1
Script by: Kurtis J. Wiebe
Illustrated by: Riley Rossimo
Image Comics

When Kurt & Riley make a comic, I,
For one cannot resist. This time the art
Is less impressionist than GREEN WAKE. Fly,
You cyber-chicken things! Be still my heart!
The jormungand are coming! They're the most
Apparent threat, but not the only ones.
Our hero, Maya, spears them in this post-
Apocalyptic world, but this tale runs
More subtle than the action might suggest.
The last tribe in the last town -- we have known
This story ere this comic, but the best
Tropes do appear a lot. What makes this pwn
In part, though, is the colors, glorious!
A Bechdel-passing heroine's a plus!

XENOHOLICS #1

XENOHOLICS #1
Script by: Joshua Williamson
Illustrated by: Seth Damoose
Image Comics

Crap circles -- and that's not a typo -- in
Times Square! For just this reason if no more
This comic's gold! Its characters have been
Abductees many times, they claim. What for,
Just like the aliens, doth vary from
Account to mad account. What these folks want
Is more than just belief, though. They've succumbed
To alien addiction, and they flaunt
Their problems in crazed meetings, like A.A.
Cartooniness abounds. They've read their Chew,
These guys, and that's no bad thing, I would say,
But I'm not sure this premise, carried through
A series, has the story legs it needs.
The characters will tell, as this proceeds.

PETER PANZERFAUST #1

PETER PANZERFAUST #1
Script by: Kurtis J. Wiebe
Illustrated by: Tyler Jenkins
Image Comics

French orphans caught in Calais: World War Two
Had many tragedies, but ne'er before
Could children fly away from Nazis! You
May find it strange, as I do, but there's more:
For Peter Pan's American, tracking down
A girl he once new long ago and lost.
She's somewhere in the Nazi-ridden town
And he shall find her at whate'er the cost!
No sign of Captain Hook as yet; we must
Be patient. All is drawn in pleasing style,
Though Peter's hair's distracting. Pixie dust?
I had anticipated this a while
And I am glad to see that it's as good
As I'd been hoping. More please, if  you would!

Hoax Hunters #0

HOAX HUNTERS #0
Story by: Michael Moreci & Steve Seeley
Illustrated by: J.M. Ringuet
Image Comics

An astronaut who's made of crows? Okay...
Amuck in Russia? Well, of course, I mean
Where else would that thing be? Which is to say
Hoax Hunters has got my attention. Scene
By scene, we're taken through a world in which
Some TV hosts check claims, but what they do
For real is cover up -- a bait-and-switch --
Cry "hoax" on stuff that turns out to be true,
And clean it up. The characters are thin
As yet, but show potential. Men in Black
Meet Mythbusters! So for now, count me in.
The premise is too fun. So guys, don't slack
Keep up like this and I'll keep reading. Bring
The sasquatch on next, would ya? That's the thing.

'68: JUNGLE JIM (ONE-SHOT)

'68: JUNGLE JIM (ONE-SHOT)
Script by Mark Kidwell
Illustrated by Nate Van Dyke & Jay Fotos
Image Comics

A lone survivor deep within the bush
Has gone commando, but inside his head
Sound orders from the man who led the push.
This boy believes it's his fault sarge is dead,
But still a menace in the jungle. Jim
Is now a zombie seargent, but his gear
Defends another now. Just look at him!
This comic's long on gore, if not on fear,
And plenty coarse, befitting an insane
And violent premise. Now that it's a thing,
This zombie/Vietnam concoction, fain
It look as good as this, please, if a string
Of others must appear. A little bit
Is fine, but too much and I'll start to spit.

CHEW #20

CHEW #20
Script by John Layman
Illustratoed by Rob Guillory
Image Comics

No more asemic writing in the sky,
But plenty in the writings, buildings, brains
Of members of a new cult? This is why
I keep on reading Chew: it e'er contains
Such craziness, rewards attention to
Its details (like the Kool Aid!), and yet still
Can balance story arcs with small tales. Who
The leader is, we learn: don't cross her will.
Meanwhile our Tony's former mentor's own
Is diabolical, just like the man
Whom we find going nuts again, alone
And tripping on some case-blood. There's a man
Whom we can fear: a cyborg gourmand. Yet,
Whatever did he see? I cannot bet.

THE BULLETPROOF COFFIN DISINTERRED #5

THE BULLETPROOF COFFIN DISINTERRED #5
Script by David Hine
Illustrated by Shaky Kane
Image Comics

A tarot bubblegum card deck depicts
Cutscenes from yet another zombie tale.
Like '68, this one-shot gets its kicks
From setting it in Vietnam. The stale
Is quite intended; Hines and Kane have seized
The pulpy homage ground. Last time I liked
It better for the story arc, diseased
And trippy as it was. But now it's spiked
With too much digging in my ribs. The art
Is still a gas, but I really miss Steve,
His costume and the Men in Black. The cart
Is leading all the horses, I believe
This time around. Don't get me wrong' it's fun,
Just not as good as other stuff they've done.

Revival #1

Revival #1
Script by Tim Seely
Illustrated by Mike Norton
Image Comics

Farm noir, they say? So what's that even mean?
I'll tell you what. It's creepy on a scale
Both intimate and cosmic. There's a scene
Wherein a zombie grandma turns to flail
And kills with just a scythe sweep, doesn't care
Because her teeth keep growing back and she
Must yank them out, because she cannot bear
To be without her dentures. Which means we
Have not seen zombie horror quite like this.
The undead all remember, can still speak
And feel unholy. Meanwhile their small town
Is quarantined (but gorgeous!). Where it's weak
Is exposition dialogue. I frown
On this unsubtlety in what should be
The greatest zombie comic we may see.

John Layman & Rob Guillory's CHEW: SECRET AGENT POYO

CHEW: SECRET AGENT POYO (ONE-SHOT)
Script by John Layman
Illustrated by Rob Guillory
Image Comics

Oh lord, bionic roosters! But if there's
A rooster worth preserving, that would be
The King of Cocks himself, whose very stares
Send armies crying to their mommas. He
Was busy taking over Hell when they
(The government) called him back for to serve
The national interest. Shall they rue the day?
But only Poyo, rage and hate and nerve
Can deal with poor Old Blighty's rain of sheep
(And terror)! How they must have laughed, this pair,
Guillory, Layman. We must surely keep
The pressure on for more of this. I'll share
This with you: I'll be counting all the days
'Til Deep Space Poyo hits the stands. Always!

Ted McKeever's MONDO #1

TED MCKEEVER'S MONDO #1

Created, Written and Illustrated by Ted McKeever

Image Comics

McKeever fangirl, I drop all to get
Each book the master cares e'er to produce.
For weirdass comics, he's your safest bet.
But this may be the strangest e'er to sluice
From his demented brain: a humble man,
A psycho chicken, a reactor core
(The radiation, when it works to plan,
Makes poultry supersized) add up to more
Mutated fun than I can here describe,
And I've not gotten to the damsel, who,
Pneumatic death on roller skates, shall be
The foil or foe of Chicken-Man. Cuckoo?
Why yes, all done in Ted's signature style.
I've caught his madness; all I do is smile.

Sonneteer's note: I got the chance to interview Ted McKeever for Indie Pulp last year. Go check out the results!