Kranburn #10

I picked up the digital Kranburn #10 early, then went ahead and got #8, #9, and #10 in print.  They are awesome.

Digital is great, easy and cheap.  Everyone should do it.  Getting them in print was again pricey and a bit challenging, but thanks to the efforts of fec comics and my actually having dollars I can squander on them, I can get slick bits of paper with these cool pictures on them.  I like that.



(I lifted the picture from fec comics, they sell Kranburn, and other stuff.  You should go there and buy stuff.)

The cover of issue #10 is again a scene from the inside, nicely colored.  It might be the most fun picture in the whole of Kranburn, the enormity of the thighs, the horror of the shorts, the pot on his head, the lobster claw mitts, I wonder what the "KSB" on the belt buckle is for.

The story picks up immediately with Lawton and his captor.  Then quickly shifts to Brand preparing for his last "big swing".  In both cases, the tables are turned and horrifying violence ensues.  Lawton brutalizes his tormentor.  Brand is caught in Nong territory and is chased by a mob of crazed thugs.

As far as readers of the webcomic are concerned, I realized I can't help but drop spoilers in reviewing something that won't hit the webcomic for more than a year.  Rather than wait a year, I'll again encourage more of you to go to fec comics and buy Kranburn when it comes out, at least the digital issues.

Brand is in deep trouble.  Unprepared and outnumbered, he's running for his life.  He realizes they want him alive, and decides to die while killing as many Nong as he can.  Holing up in a building, the only escape is off the roof.

This issue is one of the most action packed and brutally violent of the whole story.  If you're not interested in furious depictions of the brutality people are capable of inflicting on each other, then Kranburn is not for you, especially this issue.  But if you're reading this, chances are that you might enjoy the artistic capability and the gonadular fortitude BMB displays with this work, like I do.

The cover picture, it turns out, is edited.  I really almost bust out laughing when I saw it in the story.  I wore shorts like that back in the day, but not quite like that.

A scene I didn't get, that I think might be important to the story, is when Brand looks out a window up in the building, at Brutus standing out in the rain, and flips him off, Brutus smirks, looks away like something hit his face (besides rain?), then looks back in shock.  Maybe it's nothing or it's just a bit of creativity in the timeline, maybe it will be explained in the webcomic.

I wonder what happens to Lawton.  Can he make it back to Kranburn?  I wonder what happens to Brand.  Does he survive, or is this the rare story that continues after the demise of its protagonist?  I wonder about Syliva, I wonder about Egon, I wonder how or if that Berrik slave trade story is going to reappear.  It's almost a cliffhanger.  Hopefully in a few weeks another issue tells me more.

Heavy Metal #269

bein' my lazy self again, slow on the draw with the review, but here goes .....

Cover by Eben - 7 - I didn't see it credited in the mag anywhere, but it's noted on the HM website.  An unenergetic pose and composition is improved by the nicely executed coloring, and she's got a rather imaginative getup.

an ad for TMNT vinyl banks?  puh-leeeze

Animal'z by Bilal - 8 - more exposition, only a little action, the cast of characters makes a feeble trek across the wasteland.  Now it might as well be an art film.  It says "concluded next issue!"  I can only imagine that it will remain mysterious.

Bul & Bal by Marko Djesta - 7 -  a fairly imaginative story of two reptilian space pilots is greatly enhanced by a parallel story of two kids playing in wartime Croatia.  Lively art and storytelling with a not-too-heavyhanded message, nice.

Gallery by Renee Robyn - 7 - a handful of enhanced photos with a fantasy bent.  Often too dark to see their detail on the pages, but many are quite lovely.

The Age by Tayyar Ozkan - 5 - not very interesting but it appears he's getting better at his coloring technique.

Apocalypse Chef by Chris Beukes, Greig Cameron, and Clyde Beech - 6 - a reality cooking show in a post-apocalyptic war zone.  Silly but fun.

E.V.A. by Marco Turini - 8 - still fantastic to look at, it attempts to wrap up the story with some success and some stones yet unturned, it still reminds me of HM days long past.  what fun.

and ad for HM Warriors video slot game?  I saw the announcement a while back, I still think this is really dumb, and now I see it's not available in the US.  seems pointless, and not even fun.

TK-47 by Spyros Verykios - 8 - another apparently painted art story with wonderful telling and mystery.  People are turning into giant bugs.  I hope we keep seeing more from Mr Verykios.

Into the After by Nate Furman - 6 - a digitally manipulated photo story.  Somewhat cool to look at, it's so mysterious that I can't even tell what the story is supposed to be.

Artist's Studio by Jeff Brennan - 6 - digital art including a bunch of blue robot girls, I bet he likes Tron.

Lena Gets a Hobby by Jurgen Speh - 6 - there's a bit of fun to be had, wacky sadistic chick takes up arts and crafts.  The comic art is pretty good, the story wasn't all that interesting to me.  This appears to be part of a series, from Germany, from '95(?).

I Was Looking at Things by Tea Strazicic - 7 - a stylized art story, about loneliness in the big city.  It may not be for everyone, the art can be a bit messy in places, the story is rather simplistic, but I liked how it made an impression on me.  It's kind of introspective.

MI9:  Secret Agent Susan Coby by John Dakin and John M. Burns - 7 - a one page spy story, it's pretty simple, but I liked the old-school-looking art, reminded me of Gray Morrow or something from the old days, but it says 2014.

Back Cover by Renee Robyn - 7 - looks like it's from a video game.

A few nice things and a couple I really liked.  I've liked how the mag has been going lately.  I know it's going to change again before too long, but I hope it's for the better and keeps coming.  Apologies to the authors that I can't get the proper accents on their names.