Writers: Various
Artists: Various
Publisher: Komikwerks
Komikwerks is a website where many e-comics can be found. This anthology is a collection of those comics from the site's various contributors. I do not habitually read e-comics. It's nothing personal. I simply haven't the time. So, for people like me, this reasonably priced ($9.95) trade paperback is quite a boon.
As with Liberty Project the book is actually trade paperback sized--a little larger than manga. The comics are printed on sturdy, white paper stock, and that paper is neatly cut to give the entirety a professional look. The slim volume contains about one-hundred-and-eight pages of comic book material, and all of it is well worth your time.
Anissa Dorsey and S.D. Lara open the book with "Cyd & Cyn." It's an amusing and charming fantasy-based story in which a human falls into a fairyland setting.
Cyn is a witch, and like the pre-Crisis Zatanna, witches are not human but a separate species. In fact, Cyd is the only human the denizens of the realm have ever seen. They always considered them mythic, which is a nice touch.
S.D. Lara's artwork has a gothic flavor to it, but he/she adds touches such as the seal like eyes of the witches as well as the often smiling Al that soften the typical black and black imagery.
"Dewclaw" by Matt Johnson creates an alien world filled with caninoids who are under the rule of a human federation. The gist is easy to discern. The particulars are a little confusing, but the artwork is ornate, well-done and meaty. Impressive is the Japanese-styled assassination attempt.
Writer Shannon Denton and artist Andy Kuhn bring readers into the hyper-toon world of Doctor Good. This story is simply hilarious. Readers will guffaw upon watching the torment a kid sidekick must endure as his uncle pursues justice as the title character. Bizarre as well as fun, it's like watching a Hanna-Barbera super-hero toon, after being exposed to glue fumes.
And if you had decided to pass on the glue and go straight to acid, you may have conceived the Samurai Koimandos. For those unknowledgeable in the field of ichthyology, koi are an orange to scarlet striped white species of carp commonly found in Japanese gardens. Danny Miki turns them into Koimandos, which is an SNL type bad pun that really pays off with fun artwork and funny characters working off an absurd concept. Though, why don't the fish need water?
Vinton T. Heuck seems to be recalling with the evocative artwork of Mike Docherty and Armando Gil another tale to be found in the tome of the Celtic legendary god the Master of the Hunt. The ending however will surprise you.
"Forced Migration" sets Steve Withrow and Vatche Mavlian from Spider-Man/Daredevil on the wagon train from the bison's point of view. The narration is very fitting for the subject, and the ending brings to mind the style of ghost story that one could have found in Weird Tales.
"G.I. Spy" is goofy, screwball type fun by Andrew Cosby and the always-worthwhile Matt Haley. The central agent while trying to be Bond is nothing like the suave, sophisticated MI-6 Operative. However unlike most spy-spoofs, the jokes aren't painful but instead playful.
James Burks introduces readers to a nice selection of his comic strip "Martin's Misdirection." The genuinely comedic stories focus on Martin, an out of work stage magician, his talking bunny and his super-smart little girl neighbor Evi. The artwork's a nice riff on comic-strip rules of proportion and anatomy.
"Mary America" by good-girl artist Will Meugniot is my favorite selection. A broad send-up of the Phantom Girl type Nazi-fighter heroine of yore, Mary America also happens to be stuck in a wheelchair but only until she's hit by a super-science raygun that gives her the power of Mary America. Babs Gordon envies you, baby. Most of the DC stable of super heroines are also jealous since you're the kind of take-no-prisoners style of character they once were.
Patrick Coyle's "Power Lunch" is an oddball story focusing on the exploits of an agent who handles the affairs of super-powered beings. The artwork looks as thought it might come from an agent's advertisement which helps bring the reader into this cutthroat world.
Finally, Aaron Sowd, Lance Karutz and James Denning bring us "The Master Minds." This takes a loving look at several inept villains who are thwarted by a goofy family of super-heroes. I laughed pretty hard at this one especially at the malevolent gorilla and the brain trapped in a robot body.
Komikwerks definitely gave me more than my money's worth. I look forward to volume two.
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