Overview

Comics luminary Gilbert Hernandez envisions his strangest, most thrilling future yet! A drug called “spin” offers the wildest trip imaginable, followed by its users’ inevitable, rapid deterioration into undead flesh eaters. Despite the side effect, the drug is so popular that the human population is dying out! With no cure to be found, the beautiful, lovesick Fatima may be the only thing standing between the survivors and the apocalypse. Get ready for four issues of zombies, drug lords, and gorgeous women!

The Good

                My 1^st thought was a more sarcastic “yay, more zombies” theme. However, I ended up really enjoying the premise to this breed of zombies.  This world is filled with terrible things that people can be addicted to, so, to me, the plot is a natural progression. What if people did this to themselves because they thought their addiction was worth it. The story has a great line “they will do what they are going to do.” I just found that to be so poignant.

 The Bad

                This style of art is so not my style.  I enjoy comic art with some type of detail within the work. This comic has none of that. I just find this style way too undeveloped, like what you would see in a story board of a still developing animation. 

                The uniforms of the task force.  They were not seen very much but when they show up, it is so noticeable. They wear the stereotypical black task force outfit but, so some reason, they  appear to be wearing cotton thongs over their clothing. I just found it distracting to the art I wasn’t already a fan of.

The Summary

                As much as I did not enjoy the art, I oppositely enjoyed the premise. The story works in 2 ways- a quick “ooo zombie, kill it” story and a “huh, never thought of it that way before” story.  There is still some character development that needs to occur but, overall, the story was enough to make me care to wonder what happens next.  If you enjoy zombies, this goes right with the genre. Or, if you enjoy thinking about the human psyche while reading comics, this could spark a thought or two. 

For more information regarding this book, check out the Dark Horse website, their Facebook page or your local comic book shop!

--Walter--

Life With Katie received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions belong to the author and not the site or publisher.

Volume 1 – 1st printing. "Live Through This!" Collects Angel and Faith (2011 Dark Horse) #1-5. Written by Christos N. Gage. Art by Rebekah Isaacs and Phil Noto. Cover Art by Dan Jackson and Steve Morris. 

"Angel has made bad choices in his life. Most recently? While possessed, he killed Giles. However, he believes he's found a way to make amends, by bringing the Watcher back from the grave! Cue Faith-rebel Slayer, and Angel's only ally-who only supports this harebrained scheme in order to keep her friend from catatonia. New threats emerge as this unlikely duo struggles against real and personal demons alike, while hitting the dark streets of London!" Softcover, full color, 136 pages

The Good

            Easily, the 1^st thing that stood out to me was the beautiful piece by Joe Chen in the front of the book. Just breathe taking.

            The humor. From the start, you can see that the book will be filled with pretty great humor. Both blatant and dry. Honestly, that is something I wasn’t expecting. The humor just added so much to the story. It helped just keep the story flowing very smoothly. And within the 2^nd story, the Doctor Who joke made me smirk.

            The “real life” aspect. I am new to the Buffy world, so the idea of a world with demons and magic bound by rules was greatly entertaining.  So many daily ideas are bound within the 1^st story. A class system amongst demons, what happens when violence no longer bothers you, having great skills and talents but not having an outlet for them, sanity. I was surprised to find all these ideas within this book. Even minor characters having “real” problems was very interesting to see.

The Bad.

            Story 1-“Live Through This”. Once the main plot came to a close, the story just seemed to go on a little too long. It went on for four pages longer than I expected. The story was good, just could have ended sooner.

            Back story- I am brand new to these characters. A quick summary of who people are would have been nice for the readers. I didn’t know who everyone was and I didn’t know who was supposed to be alive at the beginning of the story.

Most of story 2. The entire book just seemed so out of place. Where the 1^st story made me want to read, the second just irritated me. In my notes, I wrote the word “fluff”.  Maybe it is just that I do not know the Buffy world, but the story just seemed too silly to follow the “Live through this”. I rolled my eyes at the zombie vampires.

            The art in story 2. The characters did not really resemble Angel and Faith. I know that it is difficult to make to resemble real people but some of the pictures were not even close.

Summary

            On my own, I probably wouldn’t have ever picked up this book, just because it wasn’t my style. However, after reading it, I am wondering if the still open plot lines will come to an epic conclusion. The potential of the villains is pretty great and I’m still not sure if I’m supposed to like Angel or not- and I find that a good thing.

            Overall, it was a good read with great art for the most part. I am a fan of Christos Gage’s work and he continued to keep me as a fan. I’m sure this book fits well with the Whedon vampire universe. I found it interesting and I’m sure the fans would like it even more.

Felicia Day and The Guild are back, along with costar Wil Wheaton, for a brand-new story spotlighting Fawkes, the dashing, debonair, and douchey leader of the evil guild Axis of Anarchy! His relationship with Codex threatened to tear the Knights of Good apart until he was thrown off a balcony for his treatment of her. Set after season 4 of the show, this issue reveals how Fawkes deals with his split from Codex and navigates the aggressive personalities of the Axis, and follows his journey to his surprising state when he returns in season 5!

*Cowritten by Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton!

* Art by Jamie McKelvie (Phonogram, X-Men, Secret Avengers)!

The Good :

                Felicia Day has an incredible talent for comedy and it continues with Fawkes. In its entirety, this book keeps the same hilarity as the show. Some of the jokes even caused me to chuckle out loud. As with the show, most of the comedy is on the intelligent side. Fawkes’ quotes are well timed.

                In its own separate form, the sarcasm is great for the Axis of Evil. Fawkes is a total douche. Again, keeping with the theme of the show. You just love to hate him.

                And Venom, my favorite character from the Axis, is finally given more play. It was good to see her and realize that she is just that mean to her own friends as she is to the Knights of Good. Her description of Fawkes having a “sad little boner” was so in tune with her character.

The Bad :

                The story should’ve been released a year ago. In this one shot, the story takes place between the 4^th and 5^th season. With season 6 in development, it took me a minute to remember what all happened and when to make this story fit. With such a beautifully crafted story and series, I didn’t really expect to an “oh yeah, that’s what happened” moment.

                Some of the character development. It has been over a year since we’ve seen the Axis and half of the characters only really have face time. There were a few times in the story where I wondered if that character would really say that or act in a certain way. Honestly, I’m a huge fan of the show, but there was 1 character I didn’t even identify until the very end. It didn’t change the story any but most of the Axis is “just there to be hated”, you don’t really know more than a couple of them.

Summary :

                Being a huge fan, I tried to read this as just a book. But you can’t. From all the people I’ve met that are fans of The Guild, they are big fans. From the 1^st panel, seeing Fawkes, you remember the hatred you’re supposed to have for him. This book has a strong portrayal of the show’s main villains.  You get to see how they really are compared to their avatars. And it’s pretty much the same. You dislike them but that is the entertaining part. I like that they continue to be unlikable.

                This book fits right into the continuity of the series. Nothing is taken away or changed, just further explained. Fans of the show will understand the books style of humor and the characters do actually look like themselves.

                The only main negative would be for anyone who has not seen the show. They could probably enjoy the book, but they would miss so many quirks and Easter eggs from the show. As for me, I’m still laughing as I write this.

For more information on purchasing this book for your collection, head on over to the Dark Horse website!