Lobster Johnson vol. 5: The Pirate's Ghost & Metal Monsters of Midtown (Horror)

 

by Mike Mignola (Author), John Arcudi (Author), Tonci Zonjic (Illustrator), Dave Stewart (Illustrator)

Publisher ‏: ‎ Dark Horse Manga; Illustrated edition (December 26, 2017)

Softcover, 168 pages

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For those who are unaware, Lobster Johnson is a spin-off character from the Hellboy universe. He is first mentioned as a throwaway character in Wake the Devil and actually appears for the first time in The Conqueror Worm as a ghost who helps Hellboy defeat brain-in-a-bottle Herman von Klempt and the Ogdru Jahad. In this series, set in the 1930s, he resembles the type of pulp masked vigilante common for the era such as The Clown or The Shadow. He is known simply as the Lobster, due to his habit of branding his kills with a lobster claw shaped burn. It wasn’t until after his death that his alter-ego was uncovered and became known as Lobster Johnson. Two three-issue arcs are collected here. 

The first arc is “Metal Monsters of Midtown” and demonstrates that the best part of these Hellboy spin-offs is when they reuse or expand upon a part of the Hellboy Universe already uncovered in a previous volume. In this case, three men from Zinco industries run across a cache of Hyborian technology, high up in the middle of nowhere - as they tended to be. They create giant metal robots operated by remote mental control from the technology, but find themselves addicted to the experience. Lobster Johnson and crew take it upon themselves to take these destructive devices down. 

The second arc “The Pirate's Ghost” is not as good as the first, and is a sequel to “Get the Lobster” a ghostly pirate ship appears on the Hudson River, and the Lobster’s hunt for a major mob boss may have something to do with it. Old villains pop up, the female character is kidnapped and it becomes the object of a hunt. Very over-the-top and the plan doesn’t really make much sense, but the action is fun. 

  For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Clive Barker's Hellraiser Book 5 (Horror)

 

by various writers and illustrators

Publisher : Epic Comics (January 1, 1996)

Softcover, 64 pages

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This is from the Epic series, a former imprint of Marvel Comics, which were published from the late eighties until the early nineties. There were only twenties issues (or books as they called them) for the series, costing an outrageous - for the time $4.95 each. Which was a couple of bucks above the norm at the time. But each book had a minimum of 64 pages, plus the material was substantially darker than most fare produced by a mainstream comic’s publisher.

While Epic was not the first publisher to adapt Clive Barker’s work - Eclipse Comics did an amazing series of painted one-shots - they were the first to create a continuation of Hellraiser, and produced the most interesting material to date, really expanding the characters and world of Hellraiser. At the time, there were only two films in the series.  Hellraiser III was to come out in 1992 about when this series ended. Nor was this the last comic adaptation, Boom and Dynamite both doing their own thing with the title. However those latter series lagged, being dragged down by a lot of terrible backstory and plot decisions. These Epic stories seemed to have a lot more freedom to roam.

Four stories are presented in Book 5 of the Epic series. Each revolve around people being tricked or delivery attempting to open the Lament Configuration box. Various other configurations and puzzle types are mentioned here, each linked to a different corrupt emotional state and sending the soul to a different part of Hell, other than Leviathan’s. The most interesting one is the third “Mazes of the Mind” by Mike Nelson, which focuses on a previously unseen Cenobite who creates the puzzle boxes and has them released into the world.

This isn’t to say that the other stories aren’t worth reading. "Fire Trap", the first tale, has the best art in the comic, and deals with a man who murders his extended family into order to attempt revenge on his father who had become one of the Cenobites. The second, deals with a man who accidentally discovers that a building is secretly a puzzle box, and that going a certain direction up it opens a door to Hell - decently written and illustrated. The last sufferers, I believe from lack of space, it needed two more pages at least to fully develop. The tale deals with a teenage girl who is goes out with a boy to fair and who wins her a puzzle box at the fair, but then ignores her afterwards. Events play out and an innocent opens the box instead of the girl. It’s uncertain if the boy deliberately gave her the box knowing what it was. Lacking, but otherwise enjoyable.

  For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth Volume 15: Cometh the Hour (Horror)

 

by Mike Mignola (Author), John Arcudi (Author), Laurence Campbell (Illustrator)

Publisher : Dark Horse Books (April 11, 2017)

Softcover, 144 pages

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The end of the Hell on Earth saga, where the Ogdru Jahad, the ancients dragons of evil, come finally come back to Earth to remake the world in their own image. Since they’ve come, we’ve seen civilization fall apart, heroes and villains die in fantastic manners, and Hell itself overrun and destroyed with Satan’s throat slit by Hellboy himself. It’s the absolute Cthulhu event we’ve always wanted to see, but have never been treated to before. This volume wraps everything up by collecting issues 143-147.

It’s difficult to describe the action without spoilers, so SPOLIERS, the final remnants of the players come together to place doomsday apparatus in place - the last contingence operation in hopes of stopping the Ogdru Jahad, one of whom has now fully manifested on Earth and is busy transforming humanity into frog creatures and hatching thousands of monsters by the hour. After launching the remaining nuclear stockpile at the Dragon, the Russians let loose the Watchers, the first angels, thrown down for mating with human women and birthing the Ogdru Jahad. While Elizabeth Sherman and Johann, blow the monsters apart one by one, until the ultimate revelation falls upon Johan who has his mind transferred into the WWII Sledgehammer suit, causing him to act.

Some people have complained about the ending of the cycle, saying it’s almost a deus ex machina, but I must say that the hints about how the Dragon would be stopped was foreshadowed here and there, it isn’t the greatest AH-HA ending you might want. However the death toll in these issues, and adding up all the others in this series, is correspondingly high for an apocalyptic event. I was satisfied.  But I have to say that only one of the Dragons has been destroyed, and much of their offspring are still about. So the show’s not over.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed (Horror)

 

by Mike Mignola (Author), Chris Roberson (Author), Paul Grist (Illustrator),

        Publisher: Dark Horse Books; Illustrated edition (October 17, 2017)

Softcover, 144 pages

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This character goes way back in the Hellboy universe, to a bit part in The Conqueror Worm. It was so long ago, that I forgot this character’s existence. The place of aliens in the Hellboy universe - that is alien life with inanimate technology similar to humans, rather than eldritch cosmic beings of yore - has been a sticky point and only mentioned in that one comic for a total of two pages. Hellboy gets a warning from the alien, the creature dies, and Hellboy remarks, “Roger look. A dead alien.” I remember being fascinated at the time, figuring the series was about to go in a weirder direction, but it was never mentioned again and I sort of forgot about it.

Finally this old image is dusted off and given life. The Visitor’s initial mission was to destroy Hellboy upon his first manifesting on Earth, but cannot bring himself to destroy the child, seeing the potential for good in him as well as evil. Thus we follow the Visitor through the decades, watching him watching Hellboy, in addition to him creating his own family on this planet. Like The Man Who Fell to Earth, the alien loses sight of his mission and becomes wrapped up in the problems of this planet.

For those who know Hellboy’s long history, a lot of ground is retread, albeit from a different perspective. It was nice to revisit several old menaces from past stories, with some clever additions, until the alien meets his doom with Herman von Klempt - the head in the jar. Not the most important Hellboy story, but it neatly wraps up a mystery which I has assumed the creators had forgotten all about.

Some people have a problem with Paul Grist’s art. They claim it’s childish, or bigfoot lines, and that most of the characters look the same, but that’s all nonsense. He had his own unique style and if you think it's cheap and easy, try replicating it on your own sometime and see just how intricate it can be. Looking at some of his earlier works, Kane and Jack Staff, his ability to capture fast paced motion and violence in page after page lends itself well to a Hellboy tale.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Rasputin: The Voice of the Dragon (Horror)

 

by Mike Mignola (Author), Chris Roberson (Author), Christopher Mitten (Illustrator)

Publisher: Dark Horse Books (August 7, 2018)

Paperback, 136 pages

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This is for those who are Hellboy junkies. I expected this to be similar in scope to Koshchei the Deathless which is a review of the character’s background before being beaten to death or crushed under stones in a dark chamber by the titular Hellboy. That is not the case here. I guess most of Rasputin’s history has been filled in over the years, including his being saved from death by the Ogdru Jahad - the seven dragons outside of time. This acts as a prequel adventure prior to Hellboy issue one.

It begins with Rasputin being recruited into the Third Reich and gaining his three associates - Karl Kroenen, Kurtz, and Ilsa Hauptman who follow him even after the end of World War II. The hero of the piece is a young Trevor Bruttenholm, who is working for the SIS during the war and stumbles across some disturbing information regarding the occult activities of the Nazi’s and something called Project Geist. The Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra becomes involved, along with a number of other lesser known groups from the Hellboy universe. All of this of course, leads them up to discovering the ritual to summon the destroyer, “Hellboy” into the world.

As Hellboy stories go, it’s all right. Not exactly a necessary story, but standard fare for the course. It subtly wraps in a lot of material from the Witchfinder series and the Black Flame. The main problem is tension - or a lack thereof. If you’re a Hellboy fan, then you already know the ultimate fates of each character. You know they’re not going to get killed, or maimed, or fail in their task. This is why the best prequels are told with a new protagonist, to add a new element to the universe, rather than one which is essentially paint-by-numbers. Characters start the series at Point C, therefore they can only go through Point A and then B. Which is why this story is a little flat.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

The Wind in My Heart (Horror)

 

by Douglas Wynne

Publisher : Crystal Lake Publishing (January 15, 2021)

Softcover, 129 pages

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“Against a black background with liquid gold accents, a blue-black potbellied figure radiating a fan of arms and legs dances on a pile of human and animal corpses in a ring of fire. His head is that of an ox with long, sharp horns ascending from a crown of skulls. Three eyes blaze in a triangle formation above flared nostrils and bared fangs. The creature’s hair, beard, and eyebrows are all formed of golden flames. He’s naked, except for a necklace and girdle of human heads, his erect penis red-tipped and pointing skyward. His myriad hands and feet are tipped with white claws, each hand clutching a different object: a lion’s pelt, a noose, and every variety of weapon—knives, spears, arrows, and throwing stars—all radiating outward in a fan of blades, except for the two hands that meet at the center of the body. Of these, one holds a crescent-shaped knife with an ornamented handle, the other a skullcap splashing blood. The creature’s expression is fierce, but a set of additional heads rise in a column above the mane of flaming hair, like a totem pole. The topmost of these is the serene, smiling face of a Buddha.” 

                                                           Author Douglas Wynne

An excellent blend mixing the ever-spiraling mythology of Tibet with the modern horror story. The Tibetan culture is so rich and vibrant, I’ve often wondered why more people haven’t utilized them before. They have the complete and evocative dictionary for the most ridiculous of spiritual beings, yet it is a fascinating read. Douglas Wynne writes with a hard boiled elegance, effortlessly blending complex Tibetan philosophy with the tough guy banter of a Raymond Chandler novel. His descriptive prowess brings a level of reality above the normal literary dialogue.  

What police see as a series of normal gangland killings in the heart of Chinatown, private detective Miles Laundry soon finds out is something far beyond. The reincarnation of a man possessed by a demonic guardian and terrible powers is loose upon the world. His target, the former Tibet masters who suppressed his existence. This is a fast paced work of tension and mysticism. The research into Tibetan culture is obvious and shows in this semi-complex story, of mystery, murder, and magic.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Koshchei the Deathless (Horror)

  

by Mike Mignola  (Author, Illustrator), Ben Stenbeck  & Dave Stewart (Illustrators)

Publisher : Dark Horse Books; Illustrated edition (October 2, 2018)

Softcover, 168 pages

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This is a spin-off from Hellboy dealing with the history of one of Hellboy’s past defeated foes, the titular Koeishi the Deathless who first appeared in Darkness Calls. But that was before the world ended and Hell had a purpose. Now that it's all over - in the Hellboy universe at least - Koeishi and Hellboy sit at a bar in the ruins of Hell where the Deathless tells his story.

It has been hinted that there was much more to Koeishi's take, but the depth of it was surprising. The tale is steeped in Russian and Slavic mythology, mixed with the weird sensibilities of the Hellboy universe. We see Koeishi's early life and dealings with the Baba Yaga. Her war with Hellboy eventually costs them both much, Koeishi being just one of the causalities.

As usual the story is wild and weird. The sort of story comics were built for. It couldn't have worked in any other medium. Hellboy was built for the comics, which is why it's thrived for so many decades. The artwork is impeccable as always with the colors casting the various moons perfectly. I'm not sure what's in the future for this universe, if anything, but I'm looking forward to it.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Deadworld: Tatoo (Horror)

 

by Ralph Griffith (Author), Stuart Kerr (Author), Jake Jacobsen (Illustrator), Mike Larson (Illustrator)

Publisher : Caliber Comics (April 22, 2020)

Softcover, 119 Pages

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Deadworld, the original zombie comic from the 1980s. As it must point out in its blurb, “Before the Walking Dead there was Deadworld”. It started as an indie comic in the late 80s, Deadworld has survived over the last four decades in various forms. Multiple characters have been introduced and killed off over that time, very few could be considered protagonists. I found it shocking when I first read it, at how casually the main characters would be thrown away by the authors. Shocking and exciting. It was the first comic to have variant covers - a regular one and a “not for wussies” version which showed extreme violence or corpse dismemberment.

With the volatile rise and fall and rise and fall of the comics industry, Deadworld has disappeared for a time, only to rise again like the zombies it depicts. It is unique in the zombie apocalypse category as it is the only one, I believe, because it gives a reason for the dead rising. It is an invasion by demonic creatures from another dimension, who wish to fully open a gate between the two worlds and claim Earth for themselves. As such there are intelligent zombies, actually demonic spirits, directing the hordes of mindless dead. Humanity is on the verge of extinction, but the heroes – ever shifting as they are - constantly manage to keep the gates closed for one more day.

This a spin-off from the normal Deadworld cycle. The descriptors claim its self-contained, but it has a lot of characters from previous issues (Deadkiller, Donna, Dan, Rasta Man, the Vamp) and to fully understand the context of what’s happening, I would recommend  beginning elsewhere. But for those who know Deadworld definitely give this a look. It revolves around the often mis-treated Donna who somehow merges with the demonic characters called The Vamp. This unexpected event may tip the tide in expelling the demons from Earth and ending the apocalypse.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst

Eight Cylinders (Horror)

 

By Jason Parent

Publisher : Crystal Lake Publishing (November 13, 2020)

Softcover, 82 pages

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“Instinct made him turn away from the tentacle just as it exploded in an inferno of fire and pudding. With a series of clinks, shrapnel stabbed into his hood and splintered his windshield. A tire once belonging to an ATV, now in pieces, bounced off his hood. He skidded to a halt, ducking as flames leapt through the open window.

“As the air cooled and the smoke cleared, a bodiless tentacle flapped on the road. Slowly, it began to shrivel, withering in a matter of moments much as a corpse would over a decade. After a minute, it stopped moving altogether.”

Author Jason Parent

Eight Cylinders is a novella about a criminal on the outskirts of Las Vegas who, after taking directions from a Magic 8 ball while on the run from enemy gangsters, find himself in a space of desert which seems to not dwell on the planet Earth - but may an adjacent space to it. There he meets a ragtag group of rebels and outcasts, who are stuck in this gateway to Hell. They start to become prey for unseen monsters.

Eight Cylinders is a Mad Max blowout straight from Hell. The action piles on and on, until it reaches a boiling point where an all-or-nothing gambit is their only shot to beat the Devil. A thrill ride from start to finish. It effectively uses Hemminway’s Iceberg Principle to hint at what lurks in the dark, but doesn’t spoon feed every detail to the reader. Leaving the most hideous parts to the reader’s imagination.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.

Midnight Horror Show (Horror)

 

Ben Lathrop

Publisher : Crystal Lake Publishing (September 25, 2020)

Softcover, 292 pages

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“You know why people don’t talk about those rods anymore? Why nobody shows up in one of my jobs at the cruise-ins or the county auto show? Because they’re all gone. Not one of ‘em lasted more than a year. They didn’t fail, now. They all ran just like they was supposed to, but every last goddamn one of those cars put somebody in the ground. They were killers. And I’m the one who turned ‘em loose.”

An ode to the nearly lost tradition of the Midnight Creature Feature and their macabre hosts. If you fondly remember Elvira, the Svengoolie, Vampira, Dr. Creep, Sinister Seymour, or Grampa Al Lewis you will absolutely love this sinister adaptation of the late night monster movie scene. The debut novel of this author, Midnight Horror Show takes place in the 1980s when the horror host was on its last legs, with a few flashbacks to the 1960s when they were at the height of popularity.

The actions of the last late-night horror host in the small town of Dubois come back to haunt the present day. A series of savage murders rocks the town. The local sheriff is stumped as the evidence begins to point to revenge by a dead man and a pair of satanic sisters who died nearly twenty years earlier. Many twists and turns occur and just when you things are wrapped up in a nice tight bow, and other criminal complication springs up to throw the theories out of whack. All of it ends with an October surprise and a Halloween event no one in Debois will ever forget.

 For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.

From the Belly of the Goat (Horror)

by Donald Armfield

Publisher: Independently published (April 13, 2020)

Softcover, 170 pages

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“I sent out the SOS from my fishing boat at high noon, far west from the town out of the North Channel. My crew of five men were showing signs of an unknown sickness. Their skin was deteriorating and drooping from their bones, skeletons. They looked like melting wax candles, with aggressive coughing fits, spitting out thick wads of black phlegm. I showed no signs of their sickness and stayed clear from my crew. I told the officials of the tribe, made up of men and women living in the forest outskirts of the small town.”

This is a slam-bang brutal collection of horror stories from an author who is destined to make his mark in the genre. The stories are not interlinked, but they carry a thematic quality of man struggling against forces outside of his sphere of understanding. All are different. All are worthwhile.

There are five stories, plus a bonus one at the end. They run the gambit from celestial giraffes, to classic tropes of golems and trolls (old-school European troll stories, not fuzzy-headed toys), to a near-unstoppable parasite, to an emerging albino race. The stories move at a fast-paced violent jerking motion, forcing you through the paces of the story with barely a chance to breathe. One can only sit back and enjoy the ride.

                                   For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.

Shattered With Curve of Horn (Horror)

by Max Miller Dowdle (Author)

Publisher: Artagem Graphic Library; First Edition (2014)

Hardcover, 154 pages

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On the eve of a major exhibition of new paintings, prosperous artist Matthew and his wife Caitlin, a pharmaceutical company researcher, encounter an old friend, a philosophical ex-con named Pierce. Pierce confronts the couple about the enigmatic experimental drug they took eight years ago, and the puzzling circumstances that led to his incarceration. In light of Pierce's revelations, Matthew must fight to keep his marriage and career secure, for the secret of all of his success may have sprung directly from Pierce's tragedy.

This is the first work by the author and illustrator, so I tend to go a little easy. Essentially this is an interesting story with sci-fi overtones - a drug that allows a person to share dreams with others, which the protagonist uses to steal inspiration from others and literally paint their dreams. The problem with this story is one of pacing. The story easily could have been told in half the time and much of the action takes place in a bland motel room - which doesn’t really allow the artist to show off his full range of skill.

Additionally at the end of the book, there are various bits and pieces - fake police reports, autopsy, various other personal effects of the characters- which probably would’ve been better used scattered throughout the story as hints of what was coming and the eventually big reveal. Again, this isn’t a bad book. It had some great ideas, but it doesn’t live up to its potential, especially when it comes to the dream sequences.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.

Pariah, Missouri: Answering the Call (Horror)

by Andres Salazar  (Author), JL Pescador (Illustrator)  

Publisher: Salazar Entertainment (2014)

Softcover, 112 pages

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The supernatural Western has been done before, but it is still uncommon enough to be an interesting development. This book is a cut above many of its rivals due to the amazing, stylistic art and character development. It’s interesting how many of these types of stories don't bother to make interesting characters and rely on the old Clint Eastwood chestnut of the-man-with-no-name trope, the gruff barely talking man alone with a mysterious past who defeats the evil. None of that crap here.

This is the first of three books and while the story for the next is set up in this volume, a complete story is presented as well. Taking place four years before the Civil War, the boom town of Pariah is riddled with secrets. An undercover Pinkerton, recovering from a massive tragedy, arrives to investigate an underground society and runs into monsters instead, and ends up saving the town with the help of a group of social outsiders.

The town feels fully realized, with the art and water-coloring making it feel fully realized on a physical and emotional level. An excellent effort and one of the best in the genre. Well worth a look.

   For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.

Light Brigade (Horror) (War)

 by Peter J. Tomasi (Author), Peter Snejbjerg (Illustrator)

Publisher: Dark Horse Books (April 1, 2014)

Softcover, 224 pages

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Set during WW II, a group of soldiers is recruited by a dying archangel to defend a monastery who is under attack by a rogue group to steal the light of God which is burning eternally from the remnants of the true cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The tale uses quite a few obscure Christian tales from apocrypha and the Bible. Marcus Longinus, the centurion who caused the final wound of Christ on the cross, makes an appearance. The Grigori, angels who were cast from heaven for sleeping with human women, are the antagonists, while the Nephilim, the off-spring of angels and humans are their foot soldiers. All of this material is gone into detail and this backstory provides much-needed depth and suspense to the supernatural aspects of this story and acts as a cohesive bond to the plot.

The book is well paced and action oriented. You get to know the characters, their hopes and dreams, and ultimately their final fates. This is not a graphic novel which plays favorites. Unlike some writers, who have difficulty letting go of their creations. No so here, there is no pulling punches, no spared bullet. The novel is a suspenseful death fight right up until the very end - even though you kind of know who is going to survive.

A lot of credit has to be placed on the artist for the success of this book, but also with the colorist. As much of the material takes place at night, the colorist gave that effect, yet did not diminish our understanding of what was happening. There was a point when the Nephilim first appear, we see the brigade engage them, and it was difficult to see who survived and who died. The material didn’t make it quite clear on which characters survived, and ones I had thought died turned up again. Should’ve taken a page from Joe Kubert who was a master of differentiating soldiers in combat.

   For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.

Hell on Earth (Horror) (Graphic Novel)

by Robert Loren Fleming (Adapter), Keith Giffen  (Artist), Robert Bloch (Author)

Publisher: DC Comics Inc. (1985)

Softcover, 48 pages

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"But what about Satan? What about the spell to send him back? Back to where -- to hell? But we could have hell here on Earth!

And why not?

An Earth filled with man-made war and misery. An earth filled with grasping, cheating, lying, stealing, raping, murdering, crazy humans. Filled with pestilence, disease, idiocy. Let the Lord of Evil come into his own!”

This is a graphic novel adaption of the original short story by Robert Bloch, famed author of Psycho. Bloch, as we know, was a contemporary of Lovecraft and part of his writer’s circle. In fact the character of Robert Blake from The Haunter in the Dark is based on Bloch. Hell on Earth was originally published in Weird Tales (where else) back in 1942. DC made a number of these thin volumes of graphic adaptations of old Sci-Fi classics in the 1980s with varying degrees of success.

A horror writer is paid $100,000 to be part of an experiment to determine through scientific principles if magic is real. It is and through misadventure the scientists, his assistant, and the writer accidentally conjure up the living devil whom they trap under a protective glass (similar to Dream in the first issue of Sandman). The next question is, what to do with the creature? One by one, the participants in the experiment succumbs to the Devil’s power.

For those familiar with the story it may seem that 48 pages isn’t enough space for this tale. However the format of this book is larger than usual. Each page has a 16 panel grid, which was necessary to accommodate a faithful adaptation of the story. And they succeeded. Visually this was a stunning work that pumped new life into an old classic that nobody remembers. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.