Coffee Shop reviews: Gutt Ghost, Red Winter (Heavy Metal?)
I might do this from time to time if people like it. There's a gorgeous little coffee shop next to my LCS. I like to pick up a few random indies on my day off and have a coffee while reading them.
Here's my thoughts.
[B]Gutt Ghost #1 - Scout Comics.[/B]
This book had me hyped hard until halfway. I love out of left field weirdness! Gutt Ghost appears to be a creature made of intestine. He/she/it(?... We'll go with he) covers up in a blanket with eyeholes. So he gets mistaken for a ghost all the time. The plot follow Gutt along his quest to find a good pizza place. He encounters a number of ghouls, dead bodies, civilians and suchlike along the way.
It's hilarious in its novelty but lacks a strong hook to incentivize further reading. This is more of a character introduction issue.
Artwork is sharp and loose. Evokes youthful urban life successfully. It's strength was its chemistry with the dialog. The characters are expressive. Backgrounds are very good when they do appear but much of the book is backgroundless.
Unsure as to whether I'll pick up a second issue. I might if it comes out on a thin week.
[B]Red Winter #1 - Scout Comics[/B] -> spoiler review
Eli Winter is an aging American cop in Moscow working for a crime organization. It's not made clear why. His boss calls him up to "investigate" a hit on one of his factories (7 dead). Eli confronts a competing crime boss in a bar and gets tossed out on his ass. Recovering at home, Eli's estranged son awaits and confesses to being responsible for the factory hit job.
It reads like a basic first episode of a crime drama. It hits all the right notes though and I'm very likely to pick up the second issue. What does make this interesting is the location. There is a quick mention of a fuel line generating heat. This attracts many homeless, it's the only way they can survive the harsh winter. If this story becomes more than a crime drama and incorporates some elements of the dystopian future genre, I'll be more inclined to add it it to my pull list.
Artwork is grungy in style. Color pallette is appealing. The pencils remind me of Black Road a bit. Visual story telling is strong. The camera placement always makes sense. I like clarity in the panel layouts and this was just pleasant to read in that it has all that you need to piece the story together.
All in all a good read.
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[B]How about you, did you check these out? What did you think?[/B]
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I might come back and edit this to add my review of Heavy Metal 294 --> So I read part of this issue. I didn't even notice but it had a Morrisson story in it about cats, and an asylum and tuning into God. Rad shit. I had read some Heavy Metal in the past and thought of it as the magazine with titties and cussing but I liked that it has artist interviews and a bunch of random cool stories in it. I'm thinking my wife will like this. She works at a contemporary art gallery and is a fine artist. But she gets fed up with the stuffy snobishness of it all. She gets fine art mags and reads them for work but I think she might like this more rough around the edges, rogue art kind of thing. I'm going to leave it lying around and if she likes it I'll keep buying it for her.
