issue #02 pdf - Razorcake

that make their actions grace the
pages of this here comic. The first
guy is just surprised that anyone at
all would read his book and is kind
of bland but the next one starts the
ball rolling. It seems this guy ran
into some nut fanboy who first
wanted to know how Superman got
his powers and then wanted to
know how he himself could obtain
the very same powers, going as far
as to follow the artist into the bathroom.
The next story is a boozeinduced
romp to Europe where a
portrait of Judge Dredd haunts its
drunk spectator on Halloween
night. The next artist actually does
Dredd and he has a run in with a
fanboy who seems to have a hardon
for Catwoman and suggested
that the artist should write a book
with Dredd falling in love with
Catwoman. The best one in the
comic is the guy who had to deal
with Mr. T. That, my friends, is
comedy. Anyway, there are a couple
of others that lie in the pages of
this comic, but hell, I can't tell you
all of them. That would keep you
from going out and enjoying this all
on your own. On the mere fact that
personal experiences are always
funny and, well, these people are
meeting hundreds of people at
these conventions, you can imagine
the laughs that are stored in this
vault, right? One thing before I let
you go. The artist renderings that
grace the pages do so much justice
to the characters that they meet.
(CD Comics, PO Box 20481
Knoxville, TN 37940)
LES McCLAINE'S HIGHWAY
13: THE SPEED-FREAK
SPOOKS OF SILVER VALLEY
or THE HAUNTED HOT ROD
#1, SLG Comics, $2.95 US
Here is my favorite of the batch. A
kind of cross between "X-Files"
and the Night Stalker. It also has
some depictions reminiscent of the
Tick, but hell, I could be tying fish
line with yarn there. From what I
get of reading this one is that the
main character Rick is on some
kind of monster mash type road trip
- whether he's looking for them or
they find him is to be determined.
For instance, his traveling companion
at the moment - and I'm not
100% sure but I think is a werewolf
(though, to be honest, he never
changes between states, yet it is
disclosed that he has no soul.). The
story has a lot of loose ends that I
hope will be tied up in future
issues. For instance, in the beginning
Rick is filling up with gas
while Garth (he's the werewolf, I
think ) is fighting off a multitude of
gas mask wearing men, whom,
until the end, we know nothing
about. Then there's the guide book
that I'm guessing lists all towns and
their monsters, ghosts and whatever
else certain towns have to offer.
Onto the story. After leaving the
station, the twosome enter the town
of Silver Valley just as night falls.
They stop at a garage to have their
car (some sort of mini station
wagon) checked out, but before
they can finish their sentence the
mechanic hurries them inside just
as a ghostly hot rod pulls up outside
and this rockabilly-looking ghost
and his girlfriend challenge them to
a race... a race for their souls. The
race doesn't happen and the two go
off for some waffles. The next night
has them looking for a race and
they find one, but just as the rockabilly
ghost has Rick in a trance, the
mechanic shows and challenges
instead. He tells Rick if he makes it
back alive he's going to kick his
butt. The race is on. The mechanic
loses. Ghost takes his soul. So the
daughter of the mechanic soups up
the wagon and the next night the
two are looking for another race.
This is where we find the wolf has
no soul which means Rick has to
race and, of course, he wins and the
souls are released and off go the
ghosts to their final rest. OK, look,
I'm going for the "in a nut shell."
It's much better in print. Of course,
the mechanic wakes from his coma.
It's a happy ending except for Rick
because he gets his butt kicked and
off go Rick and Garth to the next
town and the next installment of
Highway 13. Trust me on this one,
the comic I hold in my very hands
is going to be big! So big because it
is written well and is artistically
stylish. If you were a fan of monster
movies and watched Elvira on
the weekends as a kid, your gonna
eat this one up. (S.G. Publishing,
848 The Alameda, San Jose, CA
95126)
PVP
#1, Dork Storm Comics, $2.95 US
Work place comics are usually
inspiring. Take Dilbert, for example
- comical to most rational workers
because at one time or another
we've had to work with the irrational
and, on occasion, asinine coworker
or management personnel.
So in briefing this one, I thought
work place humor should make for
a good comic. Indeed, this comic
pulls through with a high tech
"WKRP in Cincinnati"-type humor.
The weird thing here is that these
characters work for a magazine that
reviews computer and arcade
games. Sounds real close to a guy
who reviews stuff for a magazine
called Razorcake. The seven person
cast is pretty straight forward: the
boss, a guy named Cole Richards
(who rules the world of '80s classic
arcade games), Brent Sienna (who
has little time for games since he
has to put the magazine together),
Jade Fontaine (the hottie chick that
proves girls can play too), Francis
Ottoman (the gaming nut with teen
angst), and my favorites Robbie
and Jase, (two ex-jocks who only
play sports console games from
their couch), and lastly (for what
inspirational motive I don't know),
there's a mythical creature named
Skull, who seems to be the magazine's
butt kisser because he can't
lie and is always reporting to the
boss. Most of the time the comic is
introducing us to the pitfalls and
pranks that take place within the
confines of the workplace, but there
is a series in which the team tries to
help Francis try and distance himself
a little from his obsession with
computer games with the help of
Robbie and Jase. It seems these two
are going to help him by taking him
to the batting cages, where Francis
finds more harm than help, and
when that doesn't work they plan to
take him to a strip joint.
Unfortunately, this is where the
comic ends, so hopefully we'll find
out what happens in the second
installment of this comic. If you
like humor in the break room, then
your going to love this title, just
remember PVP. (Toonhound
Studios, 3930 Glade Road - Suite
108 - PMB 104 Colleyville, TX
76034; )
-Gary Hornberger
13