Review- The Nightmare Factory Vol. 2

THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY VOL. 2 (Fox Atomic/ Harper Collins, 2008; Softcover)

Original Graphic Novel

Writers: Thomas Ligotti, with adaptations by Joe Harris and Stuart Moore

Artists: Vasillis Lolos, Bill Sienkiewicz, Tony Cypress, and Nick Stakal

I think that this series of graphic novels might have done better if they went the floppy (single issue) route first and then collected them in trade paperbacks. Most folks won't buy books blind ( even though I do it all of the time), especially with untested material from a writer they have never heard of. It's a shame that these two graphic novels sank like a stone, with hardly any notice in comic book circles. I didn't even notice them when they came out. I stumbled across them in discount bins.

Bill Sienkiewicz artwork from The Clown Puppet.

These stories are excellent, and every bit as enjoyable as the ones in Volume One. I love the psychological Horror aspect of this book. When something is as visceral as, say, Crossed, it is just graphic. That's not true Horror, in my opinion. While I enjoy Crossed immensely, it doesn't really make me think like these stories do. The human mind is far more terrifying than anything under the sun, and when a writer is able to bore into your brain, then you end up with something special like The Nightmare Factory.

The OCD zone- The cover of this one also feels unpleasant to the touch, but not anywhere near as bad as Volume One. The paper is the same super thick, high quality coated stock.

Review- The Nightmare Factory Vol. 1

THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY (Fox Atomic/ Harper Collins, 2007; Softcover)

Original Graphic Novel

Writers: Thomas Ligotti, with adaptations by Stuart Moore and Joe Harris

Artists: Colleen Doran, Ben Templesmith, Ted McKeever, and Michael Gaydos

Yet another bargain bin find, I was surprised when I got to this one in the backlog. Where did this come from? Is this book so evil that it planted itself into my collection in order to enslave my soul? I must have picked this up when I was on one of my more adventurous kicks. The artwork is quite different from story to story, and for the most part it works for each respective story. The writing is superb, with these stories being incredibly layered and nuanced. The ideas Ligotti has have bore themselves into my brain like maggots into a rotting corpse, and are forcing me to reflect on their foulness.

The Last Feast of Harlequin is the best, with it's H.P. Lovecraft ancient ones flavored evil. I am a big fan of psychological Horror and suspense, and Ligotti (with Moore and Harris) deliver it in spades. I am not sure if I bought this book or if I am cursed and it has chosen to possess me. Either way, there's no turning back...

The OCD zone- I dislike the way that the cover of this book feels in my hands. It's uncoated cardstock and it has a rough, gritty feel to it that makes me ill. I was a stockboy in my adolescence, and one of my tasks was stocking shelves with liquor bottles. Gilby's Gin had frosted glass some 20 plus years ago, and it made me feel ill and creepy crawly just touching it for an instant. This book gave me a similar feeling and brought back that memory from way back when. The paper is at least super thick, high quality coated stock. I just wish that the cover didn't feel so gross.

Reviews: G.I. Joe Special Missions Vol. 1; H20; Kiss Kompendium

G.I. JOE SPECIAL MISSIONS VOL. 1 (IDW, 2010; softcover)

Collects G. I. Joe Special Missions Nos. 1-7 and material from G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero No. 50 (cover dates August, 1986- August, 1987)

This was the more realistic offshoot of G.I. Joe, devoid of the sillier aspects that had started creeping into the main series and TV shows at this time. The Joes combat terrorists and go on covert operations. There is more violence, and people actually get killed, unlike the main series where a vehicle can explode and the driver survived the wreckage unharmed. I am not criticizing that aspect of the comic or cartoon since they were intended for small children, just noting the more "adult" tone of this particular series.

Larry Hama's scripts are quite a bit different than on G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero. Herb Trimpe turns his typically fine artwork, which is marred here by IDW's lackluster restoration. There are pages that look fine, others where the lines look like one of the Joes used a bazooka to obliterate them. Some of the re-coloring has a gradient shading to it not found in the original issues, which is highly annoying to me.

H20 (Liquid/ Dynamite, 2010; softcover original graphic novel)

I saw an ad for this in the back of Untouchable Vol. 1 and decided to give it a go. The story deals with Earth in 2250, where after a decade of droughts and man's intervention, water becomes the world's most precious commodity. Wars are fought for it, etc. It's interesting and plausible, and makes for an entertaining read. I guess that's all that you can ask for when reading a comic book, right? I'm not exactly shouting from the rooftops for everyone to buy this, though.

The whole thing basically reads like a storyboard for a movie that I wouldn't spend $9.00 to watch. It's almost like the creators made this as an elaborate pitch to Hollywood so that they could option it for a movie.

KISS KOMPENDIUM (Harper Collins, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Marvel Super Special Nos. 1, 5, Kissnation, Kiss: Psycho Circus Nos. 1-31, Kiss Nos. 1-13 and selections from Kisstory (cover dates September, 1977- September, 2003)

In the world of Kiss, bigger is always better. Going with that logic, the Kiss Kompendium is easily the best there is. This book is a monster, clocking in at 1,280 pages, being as tall as a DC Absolute Edition or EC Library Edition, with superb paper and sewn binding. If production values alone made a book great, then this would be the greatest book ever made. Unfortunately for Kiss, this is not the case. These are the worst comic books that I have read in a long time. 

There are moments where it's enjoyable (the dated but lovable Bronze Age goodness of the Marvel Super Specials, Clayton Crain's early artwork on the later issues of Kiss: Psycho Circus), but most of this book was such a chore to read. It took several months of on again, off again reading for me to make it to the end. I take no joy in writing this because I am a lifelong Kiss fan, but these comics are for masochists only. This book reprints all of the Marvel, Dark Horse, and Image Kiss comic books in one "handy" package.