Tag: Victor Gischler

Clown Fatale 1 (November 2013)

289262 20131117035312 largeI sort of didn’t want to like Clown Fatale. It’s about four female clowns in a lame circus–where the circus owners moonlight as assassins. Given the Fatale in the title, I should have guessed they were sexy clowns. I didn’t, but they are sexy clowns. I’m not sure if Victor Gischler came up with this genre or if there are other examples….

Oh, they’re also kick-ass sexy clowns.

There are four of them; the lead, the two vaguely nondescript ones (except their race) and the psycho one. Gischler writes them some funny dialogue and he keeps the conversations going between four or five characters rather well. He never lets things go too long.

Maurizio Rosenzweig does okay on the art. When things are too static, not so much. Except his static cheesecake, he works at those panels. But both the action and humor are good.

Clown’s unexpectedly amusing.

CREDITS

Writer, Victor Gischler; penciller, Maurizio Rosenzweig; inker and colorist, Moreno Dinisio; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Shantel LaRocque and Daniel Chabon; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Kiss Me, Satan 3 (November 2013)

289526 20131120094026 largeUh oh, I was supposed to be paying attention to the awkward flirting between the lead character and one of the witches. Gischler tries so hard for chemistry between the two of them it’s nauseating. Actually, the way the girl swoons for the guy reminds of Jeph Loeb’s Superman/Batman.

Otherwise, the issue’s reasonably okay. It’s mostly action, which doesn’t look great in Ferreyra’s somewhat painted art. But the scene has a couple unexpected moments and it moves well, static art or not.

Then comes the stuff with the witches, which works because Gischler writes the old witch lady so well. Ferreyra also renders her perfectly. She carries the second half of the issue. Gischler doesn’t bother giving anyone else as much personality. In the case of the protagonist, that lack of depth is already hurting things.

The series’s quality is evening out lower than I hoped; still, not bad.

B- 

CREDITS

Writer, Victor Gischler; artist, Juan Ferreyra; colorists, Eduardo Ferreyra and Juan Ferreyra; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Shantel LaRocque and Daniel Chabon; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Kiss Me, Satan (2013) #2

Kiss Me Satan 2

Didn’t the first issue have some really mediocre or bad narration from the protagonist? Gischler doesn’t make that mistake in this issue. It’s a lot of action–actually, I think it’s nonstop action at least for the witches and their mysterious protector.

Gischler goes for humor with the witches and it works. His banter between the protector and the vampire hit woman is a little weak, but it’s still all right. Kiss Me, Satan is interesting in how it’s not too ambitious, Ferreyra’s art isn’t exactly good–he goes for a static painted look–but the comic is rather entertaining nonetheless.

There’s some good, actually nerve-wracking stuff with the lady giving birth to the heir to the werewolf clan. It provides a fine companion to the main fight between the witches and the ninja zombies, which is definitely more for humor.

It’s a pleasant book; tough, but not really.

Kiss Me, Satan 2 (October 2013)

287283 20131023182023 largeDidn’t the first issue have some really mediocre or bad narration from the protagonist? Gischler doesn’t make that mistake in this issue. It’s a lot of action–actually, I think it’s nonstop action at least for the witches and their mysterious protector.

Gischler goes for humor with the witches and it works. His banter between the protector and the vampire hit woman is a little weak, but it’s still all right. Kiss Me, Satan is interesting in how it’s not too ambitious, Ferreyra’s art isn’t exactly good–he goes for a static painted look–but the comic is rather entertaining nonetheless.

There’s some good, actually nerve-wracking stuff with the lady giving birth to the heir to the werewolf clan. It provides a fine companion to the main fight between the witches and the ninja zombies, which is definitely more for humor.

It’s a pleasant book; tough, but not really.

B 

CREDITS

Writer, Victor Gischler; artist, Juan Ferreyra; colorists, Eduardo Ferreyra and Juan Ferreyra; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Shantel LaRocque and Daniel Chabon; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.

Kiss Me, Satan 1 (September 2013)

284499 20130923105337 largeI can’t believe I’m going to make this complaint–writer Victor Gischler has way too much structure for the first issue of Kiss Me, Satan. At least at the beginning.

He adopts a three act structure for the issue. He introduces protagonist Barnabas Black–apparently some kind of fallen angel trying to get back into Heaven–on the run from some demons. Except Barnabas isn’t the focus of the issue, but the leader of the werewolf pack.

Gischler gets to him and his problems in the second act. The third act is bringing everything together.

The comic is best when Barnabas isn’t around, especially when he’s not narrating. Gischler doesn’t do well with the narration; he makes it all sound hackneyed, but he and artist Juan Ferreyra are able to sell the rest.

Satan’s fast and often funny. But having a boring character for a protagonist’s never a good thing.

B 

CREDITS

Writer, Victor Gischler; artist, Juan Ferreyra; colorists, Eduardo Ferreyra and Juan Ferreyra; letterer, Nate Piekos; editors, Shantel LaRocque and Daniel Chabon; publisher, Dark Horse Comics.