Review- WITCH DOCTOR VOL. 2: MAL PRACTICE

WITCH DOCTOR VOL. 2: MAL PRACTICE (Image, 2013; Softcover)

Collects Witch Doctor: The Resuscitation and Witch Doctor: Mal Practice Nos. 1-6 (cover dates December, 2011- April, 2013)

Writer: Brandon Seifert

Artist: Lucas Ketner

Colorist: Andy Troy

Image has been scoring tons of home runs with all of their creator owned titles lately. Fatale, Revival, and most certainly Witch Doctor, are all worthy of your attention and hard earned money. And this is before today's Image Expo announcements. Needless to say, my discretionary income will be stretched to the limit.

There is a charming purity to the tongue in cheek macabre happenings in the life of Dr. Vincent Morrow, an “Occult Doctor” who treats patients plagued by magical maladies. Everything here feels very British, and I imagine Morrow talking with a British accent even though there is nothing in his backstory that would corroborate this.

We meet a potential love interest and/or arch nemesis for the Doctor in Catrina Macabrey, a ne'er do well Necromancer/Pathologist of the occult. I love the faux scientific and medical explanations for these spells and curses. Seifert goes to great lengths to keep the characters playing it straight even when the events are whimsical, at least in a macabre black humor sort of way.

I also loved the introduction of the Surgeons. Truly creepy stuff there. The artwork and the coloring are effectively moody without being overly dark. If Andy Troy used darker hues the lighthearted aspect of the title would be lost amidst the murkiness. Things are “dark” here without being depressing. It's like a big fat witchcraft party or something.

The names of the characters are great. Dr. Morrow instead of Dr. Moreau (as in The Island of...), Penny Dreadful (Google it), Catrina Macabrey...macabre...get it? Great tongue in cheek stuff there.

According to the biography blurb on the inside back cover, Brandon Seifert was a student of Brian Michael Bendis. Well, this is one case where the student far exceeds the ability of his teacher. Seifert has a far better grasp on what makes a solid, entertaining comic that can stand alone yet be part of a larger tapestry than Bendis does. Bendis would have milked the amount of story in this book for three or four trades. 

While I would love to see this title cranked out on a more regular basis I am more than happy to have these trades come out every other year as long as the quality is there. There are tons of other things to read to help keep me occupied until Volume 3 makes the rounds.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Image makes decent quality trade paperbacks, with the exception of their choice of cardstock cover lamination.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Nice thick coated stock paper with a very, very slight sheen to it. This grade of paper works well for comic books colored on computers.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Glued binding.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 3 out of 5. The portions of the cover that are colored have a screen printed coating, while the blacks have that horrid thin dull matte finish coating that will scuff if you breathe on it too hard.

Buy WITCH DOCTOR VOL. 2: MAL PRACTICE TP at InStockTrades!

Reviews: Witch Doctor Vol. 1: Under the Knife; Robert Bloch's That Hellbound Train

WITCH DOCTOR VOL. 1: UNDER THE KNIFE (Image, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Witch Doctor Nos. 0-4 (cover dates June- October, 2011)

Writer: Brandon Seifert

Artist: Lukas Ketner

Bravo! Seifert and Ketner, take a bow! Young comic creators out there, this is how you do it. You employ the best storytelling techniques of the older generation, namely each issue telling a complete story with a beginning, middle and end while building towards a larger arc while offering identifiable, memorable characters that I actually give a damn about. The best aspects of classic and modern comic book storytelling converge, and the result is Witch Doctor. Well done!

I must also give a shout out to colorists Sunny Gho and Andy Troy, who add classic yet modern flourishes to the artwork with their subtle, tasteful coloring. Modern computer coloring is amazing when employed correctly. It can add tremendous amounts of depth to the artwork when it is done like this. Color should add to the artwork, not try to outshine it.

There is a character sketch gallery in the back, where they mention that several self-published issues were released first, and how they may someday re-release them. I hope that they do, if as DVD-style extras in the back of a future collected edition if nothing else. I can't wait for the follow up mini-series to be collected.

The OCD zone- The production values on this trade paperback are top notch. This has a pleasing feel and heft to it, and has nice paper to boot. 

ROBERT BLOCH'S THAT HELLBOUND TRAIN (IDW, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Robert Bloch's That Hellbound Train Nos. 1-3 (cover dates June- August, 2011)

Writer: Robert Bloch; adapted by Joe & John Lansdale

Artist: David Wachter

This is an excellent read, even better than I thought it would be. This mini-series is based on a 1958 shorty story by Robert Bloch (Psycho and Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper), who studied under H.P. Lovecraft.

The gist(spoiler free): An orphan whose father worked for the railroad and told him stories about a Hell-bound train ends up encountering this train in adulthood. He makes a deal with the conductor, who is really Beelzebub, and it becomes a game of wits between the two. This is a fast paced yet thoroughly satisfying read that I would recommend to all comic book fans of discriminating taste.

The OCD zone- Exceptionally high quality, heavy duty paper coupled with a laminated cardstock cover makes my OCD glow in a greenish hue. 

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Reviews: Dracula; Witch Doctor #1; American Vampire Vol. 1

DRACULA (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Dracula Nos. 1-4 (cover dates July- September, 2010)

Writer Roy Thomas and artist Dick Giordano's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula has had a long, storied road to completion. It started out in chapter form in Marvel's '70s magazines. The stories from issues 1 and 2 first appeared in Dracula Lives! Nos. 5-8, 10, 11, and Legion of Monsters No. 1 (cover dates March- September, 1975). The project was cancelled, and editor Mark Beazely got the ball rolling to see it completed in 2004. This must have been a pet project for him, as he got Tomb of Dracula reprinted in Essential phone books and later in 3 gorgeous Omnibus editions (which I am proud to own).

This 2010 hardcover edition collects the colorized version from 2010. I am usually a purist, preferring things as they were originally presented, but for some reason my OCD permitted me to buy this version. The computer coloring over Giordano's greyshade '70s pencils has a scratchy look to it, like an old movie, and looks wonderful. His pencils from 2004 were not as heavy handed. It's pretty easy to spot where the original material ended and the 2004 picked up, because his art choices became slightly different, and he utilized full bleed pages versus the traditional bordered panel pages. I wish that he would have stuck with the bordered panel look for consistency's sake. Most people probably wouldn't notice, but I have an eye for detail for stuff like this. This was a better adaptation than Dynamite's recent Complete Dracula series. While that series was a more comprehensive adaptation and excellent in it's own right, this was a better read as a comic book.

Production quibbles: Like all Marvel Premiere Edition hardcovers, this has glued binding. The book is thin, so it's not too bad. The problem is that this format is designed for comic book width. The material in the first half of this book is shrunk down from the wider magazine size, so the gutters get a bit tight for my tastes. Sewn binding, like that found in the same size Marvel Premiere Classic hardcover format would have helped rectify this to a degree. Another problem is that some of the hand lettering can be difficult to read, like the journal portions. This has been recently solicited in Marvel graphic novel-TP format for the mass book market, and I am not sure how well it will read in that format. The Vampire Tales GN-TPBs are in that format and read fine, but certain lettering in portions of this story may prove otherwise for this title. Your mileage may vary. This is most definitely worth a read in some format.

Witch Doctor #1 (Image, June, 2011)

Say what?? A first issue that tells a complete story? Writer Brandon Seifert will never make it in this business of padded, talking head, made-for-the-trade comic books. I for one am wholly impressed by this bold move...let's call it storytelling...where there is a beginning, middle, and end. Where there is an underlying, ongoing plot line laid out, but things just don't go SPLAT and the issue stops. I thoroughly enjoyed the supernatural with a wink aspect of this title, and will be back for more when the inevitable trade paperback is released.

AMERICAN VAMPIRE VOL. 1 (Vertigo/ DC, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects American Vampire Nos. 1-5 (cover dates May- September, 2010)

The comic book press and community hyped this series as the second coming of the Horror genre when it first came out. I picked up the floppy of issue one, flipped through it, and put it back down. Still, the name Stephen King was attached to it, so I was a little curious. Time passed, this hardcover came out, and I didn't bother buying it. I have too many irons in the fire as it is, and won't add more unless the quality is there. My local library has been expanding their graphic novel section. I am "friends" with them on Facebook, and they listed their latest additions. I took a peek at what they had and saw this on the shelf, along with a few other things that I will check out in due time. 

Reading things for free kicks ass. I have three criteria which determine if I will read a title. Time, space and money. My space is limited, as my house is small and I have a wife and 2 kids. I also have too many books. Money...well, that doesn't grow on trees, and it is that which determines the bulk of my purchases. The library removes 2 of the 3 factors which determine if I will read something. I only had to invest my time in this book. So was it worth it? In short...not really. This book presents a slightly fresh take on vampires, but the whole thing doesn't work for me. The artwork seems amateurish, and it prevented me from really enjoying the story. Would I recommend this title, even for free from your local library? No. You'd have to be a vampire obsessive to give a rat's ass about it.