Reviews- John Carpenter's Asylum No. 2 and Planet of the Apes: Before The Dawn

John Carpenter's Asylum No. 2 (Storm King, no cover date, released August 7, 2013)

Writer: Bruce Jones

Artist: Leonardo Manco

Colorist: Kinsun Loh

Outstanding! Some comic books feel cinematic in scope, with each panel being a movie screen shot. Some comic books are blatant “pitches” trying to get their “IP” noticed by a studio so that they can cash in and make a movie “based on the graphic novel”. Then there's this title, which John Carpenter and company could have made as a movie but instead chose the comic book medium to present it in. 

Things move at a breackneck pace, and there are scene changes that plant a sharp edit/cut in your head. This comic “moves” in my mind as I read it. Great comic books always do, and this is certainly great. Leonardo Manco's artwork is as top notch as ever, Jones' script is clear and concise, and Loh's coloring has the perfect balance between grimy and polished.

I am loving the whole age-old evil, demonic possession versus defrocked priest, good versus evil for the fate of the world vibe of this series. I can't wait for issue 3!

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5. 

Planet of the Apes: Before The Dawn (Boom Studios, cover date July, 2013)

My homeskillet and curator of http://alldaycomics.com/, Mike Hansen, picked this up at the San Diego Comic Con and gave it to me for the cost of postage. This was one of those freebies that people scoop up and usually flip on eBay, but Mike, who knows what an Apes nut I am, passed it along to me for free. Major, major thanks, Mike!

For those of you who are having a hard time procuring a copy, fret not. This is available as a free web comic. Just use that thar Google button on yer Internet machine. 

This comes with a cardstock cover, although it is stapled like a regular comic book. There are 6 pages which are a collage of images from various sources filling in the gaps between the reboot and this second installment of the reboot franchise. I loved the reboot and am beyond pumped about Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, out next summer. The Apes films and the Apes comics from Boom can seemingly do no wrong!