The Stuff of Legend - Review

The Stuff of Legend
Publisher Th3rd World Studios

Writers Mike Raicht & Brian Smith

Pencils Charles Paul Wilson III

Colors Mike DeVito & Jon Conkling


My first impression on reading this book was that I should have made time to read it sooner. Jim and Thomm did their reviews a week ago but I just got around to reading this fantastic story.



There is little narration at the opening of the book which was a good choice. The bedtime setting does several things for the reader. First of all it draws attention to the simple yet nostalgic pencil work. It's almost a shame that the art will be colored because I'm afraid it will lose some of the more intricate pencil work in the process. Of course the color work on the cover is gorgeous so I probably have nothing to worry about :) As someone who has been through many art classes I am impressed by the shading as it has a soft quality that serves to lull you into the storybook environment. I especially enjoyed the smooth way the artist conveys movement, specifically in the battle scenes. The second effect the bedroom setting creates is a setting which many of us are familiar with (if not from personal experience than from movies and such). By starting everything out at nighttime in the children's bedroom one is reminded of bedtime stories. In evoking that involuntary memory the writer places us in the mindset to experience a bedtime story. He brings us back to childhood which in turn allows us to accept talking stuffed animals going off to fight the boogeyman.



Now that we've been recalled into the realm of childhood stories the characters begin to develop. I've enjoyed reading about the characters that have been introduced so far. I'm especially intrigued by the Princess and the forgotten Native American warriors that seemingly refuse to fight when they see her in the fray. I also like the Jack in a box - even if he's a bit creepy.



I think the thing that really sold me on this story was the idea of the Dark, the place the toys must venture in order to save the Boy from the boogeyman. The idea of a realm of bitter and forgotten toys was a great one. I especially liked how the toys were transformed to become more "real" once they entered the Dark. The teddy bear becomes and actual bear for one and the circumstances give the artist the chance to draw some interesting scenes.



A+ Overall I'd recommend this book to most anyone. I'll have to read the final version to see if I'll recommend it as an all ages book as Mike stated in an earlier comment that some of the violent scenes had been toned down. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this book and would urge our readers to go try this story out on FCBD!

Spotlight Review on Creature Feature #2 (of 2)

Th3rd world provided a review copy for us and I was very happy to see this as I had enjoyed Creature Feature #1 so much. (See the review here).

Creature Feature #2 (of 2)
Publisher Th3rd World Studios
Price $4.50
Release Date: January 28, 2009
Editor: Mike Raicht

Some of the best parts of this series are the introduction pages were the editor and writer of “Don’t Eat the Snow” does the introduction. It is Mike Raicht doing his emcee bit in the tradition of EC/Warren Publishing/Elvira and all the rest. Done with a wry sense of humor and puts you in the proper mind set for these cheesy “B” horror movie riffs.

Story #1
Don’t Eat The Snow
Writer: Mike Raicht
Artist Jacob Chabot

This story starts off innocently enough with sleigh rides, a baby sitter, her jerk boy friend and a few neighborhood bully types. It ends up with everyone now being part of the same group, which is of course some sort of drooling Zombie like monster. I can see the movie as I read the story; it flows really well and hits all the right notes.

The artwork by Jacob is incredible. He has a realistic style with a nice fluid feel to it and some beautiful line work. His layouts and page design are well done. Also the choice of camera angles, which he switches up, makes the story even more effective and builds suspense and humor when called for. His style is reminiscent of Calvin and Hobbes by way of Ryan Kelly. Needless to say I loved his work and the story looks great.

Story #2
Termite Blues
Writer Stuart Moore
Art Alberto Ponticelli

I have to comment on the art first on this story as Alberto is also currently doing the Unknown Soldier for DC comics and his work is stunning. Now this is in black and white and the line work is a little looser then in his other work, but no less dynamic. With the story Mr. Moore has given him he turned in a great job. The action scenes just absolutely rock. Now the two styles couldn’t be much different, but both Ponticelli and Chabot are top notch professionals and they make the stories stand alone for just the art.

The actual story has you laughing almost from the start, especially since I remember Starsky & Hutch from 1975 about two “hip and happening” cops who busted crime in their own way with a hot car. Then Stuart throws in a little Tango & Cash and twist a seventies cop caper into a story about mutant bugs, beautiful.


Story #3
Imago
Writers Leah Moore & John Reppion
Art PJ Holden

Imago is the term used by entomologists to describe the last stage of an insect’s life cycle and usually it means it is sexually mature and has wings. This little story is about is about an experiment that goes bad and it creates a monster like the blob that absorbs everything in its path. At the end it turns into a monstrous butterfly. Of the three complete stories this one was the least entertaining as the story was just okay.

The art saved this story in many ways. PJ Holden has some great expression and some great scenes that just made me laugh. His ability to convey emotions in his characters is fantastic and his panel layout and design is excellent also.

Story #4 – Part 2 (Part 1 was in Creature Feature #1)
Rockenstein
Creator Brian Smith

The rock and roll Frankenstein story just did not cut it for me. Brian’s style is much more of a cartoonist then the others and splitting up the story with a long lag time between issues also did not work for me.

Drive-In-Interludes – Artist TL Collins

The little interludes where our host Mike Raicht introduces the movies and has some fun dialogue are packed with information and small comedy bits. These pages are some of my favorite pages of the series and Mr. Collins deserve a lot of credit for these.

Overall Grade A – Thrills and chills based on old grade “B” movies, but “A” level talent. At this drive in you don’t have to go in a friend’s trunk.

Also stop by Th3rd World Studios website (clink on link above or on the link section of the blog) as they have recently done a terrific upgrade and have some great webcomics and other stuff there.

Spotlight Review Space Doubles the Trade Paperback

SPACE DOUBLES TRADE

Publisher Th3rd World Studios

Creator / Executive Producer : Scott Closter

Th3rd World Studios allowed me to review the entire Space Doubles Trade. For your $20 you are getting one hell of a ride. From the first story to the last you are getting more bang for your buck that at least 75% of the books on the market. If you are a science fiction fan that this is a must read book for you. If you like me are a science fiction and a comic book fan, then the only question you have to ask yourself is when can I buy this book.

This is a FIVE STAR / A +++ / book.

First off let’s back up and talk about what is Space Doubles. Space Doubles is a sixties science fiction feast for the eyes and the mind. So much of what is classified as science fiction today is either pure space opera or good solid soap operas on a space ship (or station) with very little of actual science fiction that I grew up on. This is the Outer Limits packaged as a handy book to read and peruse at your leisure. With 12 stories you can read one with your morning coffee and another while you are on a lunch break.

As an anthology book you always have fears that half the material will be good and the rest is less than good. If you are like me you do compare story to story as you read along and think that I liked story “A” better then story “B”. What does not happen when you are reading this is that you think any of the stories are not well worth reading and a few of them I read a second time so I would slow done a little and enjoy the art. One story I was forced to “google” the name of the doctor because the name was too odd to not be purposeful and I learned something that made that story even better. Finite was a wonderful end of the human race story and one that is new to this trade. Rehab was out and out funny and just plan amusement and another new story for this trade.

I guess what I like best about Space Doubles is that when I read the stories they make me smile. I’m a science fiction fan and grew up loving Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and other authors. I have enjoyed Farscape, Star Trek and their ilk, but I have missed having a show like the Outer Limits, that was often one part science fiction and one part horror if science or other things go wrong.

Comics are a wonderful medium that is too often self limiting to being too much about super heroes. It is a medium which can tell stories in any genre and since the end of the sixties we have not seen anything like “Weird Science” or even “Mystery in Space”. What Space Doubles does is give us a wonderful science fiction anthology that is fascinating, scary and at times thought provoking and remains FUN! To me one of the best parts is the flip format of the book, where you read one half then flip the book and read the other half.

12 Stories for $20 and look at the writers you are getting: Mike Raicht ("/Exiles/: Days of Then and Now"), Leah Moore and John Reppion ("Witchblade – Shades of Gray"), Jason Hall (/"Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures" and "Hellboy Animated"/), Justin Robinson ("Heavy Metal's Fluorescent Black"), Mark Andrew Smith ("Amazing Joy Buzzards") and Scott Closter ("Eskimo Dave"). This collection also features 4 never before seen tales by Mike Baron ("Nexus"), Dwight L. Macpherson ("Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo"), Ben Raab and Deric Hughs ("Living in Infamy") and Andrew Dabb ("Atomika").


Instead of reviewing each and every story let me direct you to the complete review of Space Doubles #1 here. Which as you can see was round robin approach the Lee, Gwen and I took and unfortunately we are not able to do these as often as we would like as our real lives keep us too busy to do it right.

The second issue was reviewed by just Gwen and I and it can be seen here.

The third review was a solo review by just me and can be seen here.

We never got issues #4 and #5, but they are all packed into this trade.

Space Doubles is a high quality graphic science fiction anthology that is really worth your hard earned money. Tell your comic shop to order it today.

Or order it from Amazon here.

Tagline: Space Doubles like Doublemint Gum doubles your pleasure and doubles your fun.

Interview with Mike Raicht - Creature Feature's Executive Producer

Well we have found someone else who was willing to subject themselves to questioning. Mike consented after I promised not to post certain pictures I have. Actually I'm just a little jealous as Mike is the editorial force behind Th3rd World Studio's newest gem Creature Feature. I think it was a ploy to get co-eds to try out for parts in his venture.

Jim: Who is Mike Raicht? Cosmic radiation, alien from another planet, super genius or obsessed crime fighter?
Mike: Mike Raicht is pretty much just a kid who sadly absorbed a little too much TV radiation while being bombarded by horrific monster movie images at an age when most kids were laughing and playing outside on their swing sets. These images warped his brain a bit and led him down this very sick path. Not healthy. I'm not used to talking about myself in 3rd person. It makes me fee l a bit weird.


Jim: Creature Features appears to be your baby. Walk us though the process of idea to actually realization? How long did it take? How did you get the talent?
Mike: Well, I think Creature Feature started to take shape about a year ago... maybe longer... following Th3rd World's release of Space Doubles, which was their sci-fi book. Th3rd World's publishers, Devito and Conkling had approached me to do my own type of book. I suggested a horror book. They said sure and I pitched them on the idea of going back and doing a bunch of late 70s and early 80s horror inspired tales. We wrapped the 1st issue a few weeks ago. Just finished up some tweaks. Issue 2 is a little over half way done so it will definitely be ready for a November release.


As far as the talent goes, I approached a lot of people whose work I enjoyed and that I knew personally. Especially with the writers. I was Brian Smith's intern at Marvel and we still work together on stuff every day. We just optioned a kid's property and we actually have another fantasy type tale coming out through Th3rd World that we've been co-writing. Like I said, we do a lot of stuff together. CB Cebulski, Stuart Moore and Andy Schmidt were all people I worked with at Marvel during my time as an editor whose writing work I enjoy. They are all really talented. Chris Yost was someone who was co-writing New X-Men when I believe it was at it's height. Mike D. had his contact and luckily he was very interested. Leah Moore and John Reppion are two writers who I've been lucky enough to appear with in multiple titles. We're kind of like comic writer family at this point. We were paired together in the inaugural issue of Space Doubles and also in Savage Tales from Dynamite. I wouldn't dream of putting out a book like this without contacting them as well.


The artists came to us in very different ways and we were lucky to have all of them. I only can really claim to have brought a few of them in myself. Shaun "Artchild" Turnbull who worked on Hooters was discovered in CB's art search. He had a space in his schedule and made Hooters kick butt. CB is the best in the business at helping young talent get work out there. Jon Reed won Comic Book Idol. We were really lucky to get him. Joe Lalich is a very talented artist who was working with Andy Schmidt in his Comics Experience class. Inker Jon Czop is someone I actually worked with at Marvel who came on and really nailed the inks on Joe's story. Brian Smith is currently working on the young readers book Loud Boy for Penguin. I actually forced him to be involved. He had no choice.


For the second book we have Alberto Ponticelli, who I actually met in San Diego close to 10 years ago. He is a friend and very talented guy who was nice enough to take time out of his schedule to work on the book. Although I know he was exctied to work on Stuart Moore's tale. Alberto is currently working on Unknown Soldier for Vertigo. PJ Holden was busy doing work for Image and 2000AD. John and Leah had always wanted to work with him so they made that happen. Jacob Chabot has exactly 13 days free between projects and for some reason he has decided to work on my script. I met Jacob at Marvel when he worked in the Bullpen. Since then he's won a contest at Dark Horse that produced his Mighty Skullboy Army book. That was nominated for an Eisner, so he's kind of slumming with me. The final artist of our group is TL Collins. Tim, as I call him, and I are from the same high school and have spent years watching some very poorly done horror movies together. I asked him if he'd like to try to create something for the book. He did a very funny strip of me, which we'll probably use in the trade. We then had the idea to have an introduction to each tale that he would draw. I think he did a great job, and unfortunately, nailed my likeness.


Jim: So small press publishing is like being Rodney Dangerfield, what are you doing to get notice and hopefully orders?
Mike: It is a ridiculous tough road. I think the first thing you have to make sure of is that you are doing something you love. Because while we'd all love to have huge sales it always isn't possible. The second thing is to just hustle your butt off. Devito and Conkling have been working the phone lines and getting the word out. Great web sites like yours have been gracious enough to run reviews of the book. Will this help sales? We hope. Everyone wants that break out hit, but it can be tough. Hopefully we'll do well enough to put a little money in all of the creator's pockets. Beyond that, we just hope whatever our numbers are that we sell out and get a little buzz. Anyone reading this, if this book is your cup of tea, go to your local comic shop and order it. Every order for a book like this is a huge help. Getting noticed is the beginning for a book like this. And if you like it, tell your friends and comic shop owner. Maybe they'll think twice about ordering the next issue, or reordering some copies for other people with your taste. It's never too late for everyone to give a book like Creature Feature a chance.


Jim: Two issue mini-series, why not go straight to a one shot, like Crecy from Avatar?
Mike: We had 96 pages of material. And with the talent we had brought on board we felt it could sell. We also feel two 48 pages issues at $4.50 a piece gives us a chance to get the book out there at a reasonable price as well as turn a profit. We will be releasing a trade at some point but it will have additional stories attached.


Jim: What is your role as part of Th3rd World Studios?
Mike: I do whatever they need me to do. I have some experience with editing and writing. I like to think they use me as a resource for both. We really have hit it off and I think as a group we want to create very cool comics and beyond. I know we are working on some things beyond just comics which we are really excited about.


Jim: Did you actually pose for the pieces of art for Creature Feature or hire Uncle Creepy?
Mike: Tim Collins has spent thousands of hours, much to the chagrin of my wife, playing Halo 2 and 3 with me and even more time watching thousands of hours of horrible movies. He could probably draw me in his sleep if he needed to. My dream, and probably Tim's nightmare, is for him to have to draw sketches of me at conventions. Probably posing with Robin or Wonder Woman. That would be good stuff.


Jim: The first issue was excellent and it really hit the nail exactly on the head. You are listed as the editor; do you help to craft the stories to be so dead on to your concept?
Mike: These writers are all terrific. I sent out a little mission statement letting people know the vibe I was looking for and everyone came back with something fun and exciting. All I tried to make sure was that everyone at least attacked something different. I didn't want to have any repeats. Nobody disappointed.


Jim: Did you solicit full scripts and then find an artist or were there collaborative efforts?
Mike: For the most part the scripts were completed and then artists were brought in. Naturally, since the artists bring so much to the table, they are going to influence the final product. So at the end of the day I think they are all collaborative efforts. Even with the Drive-In interludes, Tim Collins and I would discuss the story immediately before it and try to bring that stories vibe into the Drive-In. I think it was pretty effective. Tim really nailed it.


Jim: Are you considering releasing one full story on the web for free to generate interest?
Mike: I know that's something we've talked about. You'd have to talk to Devito and Conkling about that.


Jim: What are you doing to promote the book with retailers? I think getting stores to try and carry a few copies is always problematic.
Mike: It is tough. This is a small book, but it has some amazing talent on it. Beyond the fact that Devito and Conkling have both been working the phones calling retailers and CB Cebulski has been posting places and trying to get the word out. To me, this is the type of book someone should take a chance on. We have some pretty major writers on this puppy. Yost is currently writing X-Force and a Secret Invasion Runaways/Young Avengers book. It was just announced that CB is writing the return of Magik. How cool is that. Stuart Moore is in the middle of an arc on IRON MAN. He's done some of the coolest WOLVERINE and PUNISHER one shots around. Andy Schmidt spearheaded the ANNIHILATION series which was pretty darn amazing. John Reppion and Leah Moore are doing very cool stuff over at Dynamite including RAISE THE DEAD which is out in hardcover now. And all of these are just the things I'm coming up with off the top of my head. Think of how many cool books these guys have been involved in.You would have to believe a line up like that would beg for people to take a chance on it. It has some of the most talented writers in comics working on a very cool horror book. If you're a retailer and you are reading this, give it a chance. Your customers will dig it.


Jim: What are your short term goals with comics?
Mike: To keep working on great projects like this one and to always have something on the shelves every month that I've been working on in some capacity whether it's editing or writing.


Jim: What would be your dream project?
Mike: I kind of got to do it. I wrote an issue of Exiles called EXILES: DAYS OF THEN AND NOW. I'd love to go back and do some more work on that book. It's something I helped to develop with Mike Marts when I was his assistant and I eventually had the opportunity to edit it on my own which was a blast. Otherwise, I'd like to be writing issue #13 of a book I've had a hand in creating. To have a book be successful enough to reach year two would be amazing.




I want to thank Mike for taking the time to talk o us and have fun with it, because that is what this series is all about. I have been lucky enough to read issue #1 and you can see that review here. Also see Newsarama’s article on the book here.

Last but not least I want each and every person out there to go out and order this book. If this book was in Marvel or DC’s solicitations you would give it more of a chance, it is human nature, but this book is worth your time, but your retailer will be reluctant to take a chance, so go and order it. If you don’t get a few laughs or are not entertained by this comic, please ask your spouse, significant other or pet to check you for a heartbeat.

SPACE DOUBLES TRADE PAPERBACK - PRESS RELEASE

We seldom publish press releases, but this book is a one that you owe it to yourself to buy it and read it.

TH3RD WORLD STUDIOS

TO COLLECT SCI-FI SERIES SPACE DOUBLES INTO TRADE PAPERBACK

Ain't it Cool News called Th3rd World Studios’ retro sci-fi series"Space Doubles", "…a treat to read and a must-see for sci-fi/horrorfans."


Comixtreme dubbed it, "…a good looking, fast reading comic
that’s just a whole lot of fun, and makes me wonder why more people aren’t doing comics like this."


Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales
hailed it as, "…unique genre that has been missing too long from the comic racks."


Now collected into one 140 page trade paperback and presented in flip book format just like the original miniseries, "Space Doubles" asks the great sci-fi question--WHAT IS TO COME? With thrilling tales featuring everything from moon landings to zombies in space to existential bug infestations, the answer will shock you.

"The feedback from fans and reviewers has been overwhelming. When Closter brought this project to us I had a feeling the series would have a solid following among the sci-fi faithful, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it break into the top 300 in overall comic sales for the month", said Jon Conkling, co-publisher of Th3rd World Studios.

"I've always been a Science Fiction fan at heart, and at the time I started Space Doubles there wasn't much presentation of the genre beyond the licensed product. … I wanted to see something out there that could give someone the same sort of feeling that one would get reading a collection of old SF short stories from PKD, Bradbury and the like", series creator Scott Closter.


Collecting all of the stories from the 3 issue limited series; the "Space Doubles" trade paperback features a host of established writers from the original series including Mike Raicht ("/Exiles/: Days of Then and Now"), Leah Moore and John Reppion ("Witchblade – Shades of Gray"), Jason Hall (/"Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures" and "Hellboy Animated"/), Justin Robinson ("Heavy Metal's Fluorescent Black"), Mark Andrew Smith ("Amazing Joy Buzzards") and Scott Closter ("Eskimo Dave"). This collection also features 4 never before seen tales by Mike Baron ("Nexus"), Dwight L. Macpherson ("Surreal Adventures of Edgar Allan Poo"), Ben Raab and Deric Hughs ("Living in Infamy") and Andrew Dabb ("Atomika").

Also included are 2 brand new stories of the very popular "Pickles from Pluto" by Brian Smith.
*Space Doubles Collection 1: Set the Controls* hits stands in October. You can pre-order it in the August preview catalog. (Diamond Order #/AUG084292/)

Creature Feature #1 (of 2) – A Spotlight Review

Creature Feature #1 (of 2)

Publisher : Th3rd World Studios
Editor Mike Raicht

On the Stands: September/October 2008
48 Pages in B&W
Price $4.50
Diamond Order Code: JUL084217

The Official Company Hype : Do you remember when your local drive-in was rocking on a Friday night and all of the monsters were the result of nuclear waste and government conspiracies? Creature Feature is your chance to relive your youth or visit a joyous time of cinematic insanity done right for the first time. Welcome back to the 70s and 80s because the first Triple and a half Creature Feature of the new millennium is set to begin! This issue features three and a half scintillating tales of monstrous horror done right - over the top and gratuitous with a super-cool soundtrack. (Readers are responsible for providing their own tunes.) Grab a date, leave the kids at home, and stuff as many friends in your trunk as possible for out of this world terror in Abducted by Chris Yost, hot girls and feathery friends in Hooters by CB Cebulski, creepy crawlies in Why Did It Have To Be Spiders? by Andy Schmidt, and the first half of the rocktacular Rockenstein by Brian Smith, a tale so demented the drive-in is only willing to screen the first half of it lest they get shut down altogether for public indecency!

Oh and do they ever deliver. This book is so much fun that it is a misdemeanor in Europe and a felony in certain situations in the United States and has been banned by the Coalition for Keeping Comics Dull and Uninteresting. Each story was a gem and it delivers what is promised in the hype and how often can you say that with a book.

Story #1: Hooters
Writer: CB Cebulski
Art: Shaun Turnbull

Hooters was so much fun playing with having Hooter’s girls going out on a camping trip and the menace itself being Owls. It was very stereotypical, starting with the girls all goofing off with each others and one dumping the other in a lake so we get wet t-shirts and various T&A shoots, which is what all these type of films would do. Find four to five beautiful woman and put them into a horror situation.

The other Hooters are appropriately creepy as a flock of Owls starts to stalk our young nubile women. While they are asleep the Owls attack and mayhem ensures.

I will not give away how it all ends as you should buy the comic to see for yourself, but it works and is a wonderful story that captures what these type of movies are all about.

The art by Shaun Turnbull is well done. He makes the women appropriate curvaceous and good looking, without going over the top in their endowments. The Owls have a great creepy vibe to them and his work is very solid.

Tagline: Hooters, hooters everywhere, who couldn’t have fun!

Story #2: Night of the Abductors
Writer: Chris Yost
Art: Jon Reed

This was the funniest story of all three complete stories. The opening segment as our young couple is copulating in the back seat of a car is hilarious as the alien walks up on them. It was one of those moments when you actually could laugh out loud while reading.

The rest of the story is equally amusing as our erstwhile “hero” calls in some of his friends and they decide they are going to try and get money from the aliens to return they one they captured.

Again I’m not going to give away all of the story but the twist and turns have both the humor and the occasionally killing of a character that makes this another great “Creature Feature”. It does a great job of telling a story that is both a very humorous tale and also a good little story.

Again we are blessed with a strong art job by Jon Reed in this story. He captures both the “scary” and “humor” aspects with equal ease. His expressions really sell a lot of what the writer was trying to get across. I also thought he does a great job with his camera angles.

Tagline: Night of the Abductors will carry you away with a smile.

Story #3: Why Did it Have to be Spider?
Writer: Andy Schmidt
Pencils: Joe Lalich
Inks: John Czop

A series of Creature Features has to have some giant insects and spiders are always a popular choice. This is story that has a lot of implied background stuff going on as a married couple and their teen-age son are moving into a new house. The wife is telling her husband that he has to forget about what happened in Philly and we are left to wander what did happen.

The son goes to explore the attic and finds a spider. The Dad stated that when he was working to build this neighborhood they had used a new bug spray from a manufacturer to take care of them. I love that type of line, as you know “NEW” is always a big honking clue for something is not going to go right.

You can guess how the story goes from there, but it is executed very well and is another great addition to this book.

The art was very clean and probably the strongest art from a more realistic and traditional style. Of course I thought it was just plain cruelty to bring in an inker, when you see the amount of line work that goes into a giant spider story (think webbing) and you will see what I mean.

Tagline: Why did it have to be Spiders? Because nothing else would do!

Part 1 of Story #4: Rocketstein
Creator: Brian Smith

This was my least favorite story of the group, but it is only Part 1. It certainly has some good humor in it and has a few moments that I enjoyed, but marrying heavy metal rock with Frankenstein just missed the mark for me. I do believe that fans of heavy metal rock bands (which I understand is legion) will get a kick out of this story.

The first half of the story was well written and I especially enjoyed the narrative by our central character and his description of what was happening to what was really happening.

Brian’s art is more akin to a cartoonist strip style then anything else. The panel by panel layout struck me as being almost more of a strip comic, then a normal comic book.

Framing/Introduction: Maybe my favorite part of the book was Editor Mike Raicht acting as Uncle Creepy (certainly not Elvira) as he introduced each story as he was running the film projector onto the drive-in movie screen. It was very funny and each introduction played upon the story just told.

Overall Grade A

Tagline: Creature Features delivers on its promise, a fun filled fright fest with monsters and laughter. A pure and unadulterated joy.


Also a breaking news item: Space Doubles – another fun product from Th3rd World is now coming out in graphic novel form and you can pre-order it from Amazon here. It includes the never published stories for issue #4 and #5! Order it today, you won’t be disappointed – Think Outer Limits and Twilight Zone and you have the core concept.

Space Doubles - A Review

It appears that our little blog is getting more and more notice. This week, Th3rd World Studios, another small publisher, contacted us about a book they produce called Space Doubles. The creator of Space Doubles and business director Scott Closter was kind enough to send us a review copy.

Jim: As the name implies Space Doubles is really two stories in the old flip book format. What is very cool about this book is the throwback feel to it. It reminds me of Outer Limits episodes or EC Weird Science stories. It is horror-science fiction at its most fun. I think the horror science fiction genre grew up in the fifties because the prospect of true space exploration was in the air and anytime we are dealing with the unknown it can be a scary thing.
Lee: I am really glad that Scott contacted us. I loved this cover the first time I saw it. It was strong, vibrant, and had a great horror feel to it. The claw on top of the helmet is just perfect. AND.... Outer Limits, Jim??? Wasn't that the name of the first monkey in space???
Gwen: I really enjoyed these books! Old school sci-fi at its best with good art to boot! This is something I'd have missed if we hadn't been asked to do this review. I definitely glad I got the chance to read this.

The first story was Red Rain – writer Mike Raicht and artist Alecia Rodriguez with grayscaler David Barkmann.

Jim: The moon was hit by an unknown object and the impact surrounded the moon in a red cloud. The United States gathered a team to send them to the moon to investigate. Once they arrive they find that things are not what they imagined them to be. I don’t want to do a full story summary, because I want you to pick up the book and try it out.

The twist ending and the actual story itself is not an shocker or even a wholly new idea, but the story reads very well and evokes a little of the old time feeling that I had when the US space program was beginning. The ending had a really nice tone to it and conveyed the proper feeling. I’m unfamiliar with the artist Alecia Rodriguez, but while John Cassady and Frank Quietly aren’t quaking in their boots, it was a well done job. Solid layouts and a clean depiction of the story. A really great job of showing emotions on the faces of the characters. My one complaint is that since it is entitled Red Rain a judicious use of the color red with the gray scale would have really added that extra pizzazz to the story.

Lee: I have to agree with Jim. This was a really good story and Mike Raicht did a fantastic job with the few pages he was allocated. Raicht wrote a first person narrative from the viewpoint of the head of the Space Mission which really helped to ground the book. He also did a great job of not only instilling the characters with original voices but creating a believable response to the event. The small details such as some of the astronauts being too young to know who the Beatles were and NASA creating action figures of the astronauts to generate revenue really helped set a tone for the story. It became very believable. The art was solid and conveyed the story well. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't Neal Adams or Gil Kane, but Alecia has a good handle on the basics and enough personality that it will be fun to watch her art grow in the coming years.

Uuummm Jim... When the space program was beginning????? Maybe, in your free time, you could post what it was like seeing the Wright Brothers flying for the first time too.

Gwen: Geeze Lee, it's like the pot calling the kettle black - you're both old men!

Anyway, this was my favorite of the two stories. I'm not sure what it was like when the space program was just beginning, but having gone to space camp (twice!) as a kid I'd have to say this story creates a fairly realistic setting. It also reminded me a bit of Fear Agent with the overall feel of the plot. The aliens were excellent and even with only brief introductions you felt as if you got to know the characters. I really enjoyed the art as well - very accessible and nice paneling (especially considering the amount of space to work with). In general just a fun comic book!

The second story was Project Obeah written by Leah Moore and John Reppion, Art Jeremy Dale and Inker Jason Roth.

Jim: Okay first off Scott Closter wrote the introduction for both stories and the first one is straight up why I’m involved in doing this book. The second was just downright amusing.

This story starts with a narrator but he "disappears" after the second page. Overall, this is about an expedition to build and or terraform another planet for human habitation. The story is told well enough, but suffers from having a similar ending to the first story. Since I didn't' know what Obeah meant, I looked it up prior to reading the story. Apparently Obeah deals with West Indies “occult power”, so I was expecting the story to have something to do with that and it did not. Still a solid horror/science fiction tale and very similar to the beginning of a Robert Kirkman story.

Again I’m unfamiliar with the artist but I enjoyed the more fluid nature of Jeremy Dale’s work and believe that Jason Roth added a lot to the final product.

Lee: It's interesting that we read the same story, had the same basic reaction, but managed to "read" different things. I agree the story was told well enough but I felt it suffered from generic ideas instead of similar endings. Actually, I felt the endings of the two stories weren't similar in the least. And, the twist ending is the only thing that saved this story from being pedestrian. Writing a good hook into a 11 page story is an incredibly difficult task. Raicht managed to do it in the first story but Moore/Reppion somehow miss the mark.

The art was good and Dale shows some promise. His style wasn't as distinctive as but handled the story well.

Gwen: This story was a bit more predictable, although still entertaining. Then again, I find it hard to go wrong with zombies in space. In fact, zombies are almost always entertaining. I digress - The story was well paced although I felt that it was hampered by its' length. Still, there were some good ideas and the ending was well done. The art was nice and shows potential to become even better with time. This story worked well in concert with Red Rain.

Jim: Bottom line I have ordered this book and will sign up for future issues. It really has an enjoyable feel to it and definitely is an enjoyable read. If you liked the old time science fiction / horror comics of the fifties and enjoyed the Outer Limits, you should get a kick out of this book.

Lee: I'm really on the fence with this book. I really enjoyed the art because I really like seeing the up and coming artists. I also liked the difference between the styles. Rodriguez went for the Cary Nord pencil look with the gray scale while Dale went for the traditional Derek Robertson, hint of Pander Bros style. Both guys have lots of potential. On the other hand, one story was good while the other was ok. Jim best described the book with the 50's sci-fi feel. Although I might have gone with Twilight Zone which people under 40 have a chance of knowing v. the cult classic Outer Limits, Jim was accurate in the description. Bottom line, this is worth your time investigating.
Gwen: You know... I know what the Outer Limits is too Lee. Actually I think the Outer Limits is a closer comparison than the Twilight zone. Either way, I enjoyed Space Doubles. I liked Red Rain better than Project Obeah, but felt that they worked well together. If you want a break from overly involved and overbearing comics I'd give this book a try. Sometimes it's nice to just out and out have fun reading a comic book.

The diamond order # OCT073781