Along the way, Mathew reconnects with the ex-girlfriend who had recently dumped him. He kills an evil sorceror. He takes possesion of a mystical sword. And finally, we see that there is a someone that has become aware of Mathew and is looking to destroy him.

Overall, not a bad second issue. Not as much action as I would have liked but you can see that plenty of confrontations are in store for Mathew as he takes on his quest as the chosen one.

To top it all off, I also won a poster signed by The Helm writer Jim Hardison courtesy of my comic book source, Heavy Ink. Cheers to you Heavy Ink.

What I like about it: a skewed take on the superhero genre, teen-angst that isn’t annoying, the possibility that there is something deeper brewing in the storyline (hinted at by the brief, utterly violent appearance of a young girl assassin at the end of the last issue.)

What I don’t like about it: over-simplified depiction of criminals. That’s pretty much the only thing I don’t like about it.

Now comes word that there is a movie version in the works. That is great, if the violence isn’t toned down. Nicolas Cage is slated to star as a cop. He better not fuck this up. This could be a chance for him to regain some of his cult status which he has hopelessly lost over the last 10 years or so as he doggedly pursued mainstream stardom. The rest of the cast are relative unknowns. The most recognizable being Christopher MIntz-Plasse who played McLovin in Superbad.

In the mean time, I am looking forward to issue #4 which is due out next week. Who is this young assassin that saved Kick-Ass in the last issue?

“Welcome to Hoxford” hass all the characteristic Ben Templesmith visual elements. The story takes place at Hoxford, a privately run correctional center (owned by a Russian company) for the worst of the worst  criminals: rapists, killers. The story begins with a busload of these criminals being shipped to Hoxford where the warden welcomes them. We are also introduced to a psychiatrist who is trying to gain access to one of her patients. The gruesome murderous war vet Ray Delgado. Slowly the warden and the staff at Hoxford are revealed to have rather sinister inclinations. Great start to the series. Who is Ray. Who is behind the Russian company. And what is with the rampant canabalism?

Issue #10 was recently released and it shows Dara finally catching up to one of the assasins, who we’ve found out are siblings. She confronts him and discovers that he is powerless against the sword. A chase ensues through the city as they leap over buildings, cars are thrown about and finally ends on a rooftop on a beach. As she prepares to attack him it dawns on her that he is able to control water. Oops.

The storyline is great. Kill Bill vibe without the hip soundtrack and ninja assassins. Oh and with demi-gods flying around ruthlessly killing innocent people. Art is almost to polished for me. They seem to use some kind of Photoshop blur filter for a lot of their action panels. However, this really doesn’t distract me enough to not want to keep reading.

All of this is leading up to the Season 3 premiere which airs in a few weeks. On-Demand Showtime courtesy of my cable provider is sooo convenient. I just wish they had posted more than just 3 episodes in HD. And while we’re at it, why can’t I watch Sci-fi Channel in HD yet? Battlestar Galactica in HD!

This is actually a prequel of sorts for an upcoming EA video game. It is slated to be a six-issue series. I originally picked it up because of the Ben Templesmith‘s art. I’ve had to jump around issues as I try to catch up. I first got issue #3 and have since read #1, #4 and #5. Issue #6 should be released soon and I haven’t been able to find #2.

Ben Templesmith’s art is unsettling as usual and the story has been moving forward at a good pace. The story by Antony Johnston revolves around the discovery on a space colony of a mysterious, possibly alien monolith and the struggle between various shady factions trying to take control of it. You have your power hungry politician types and your religious fanatics that believe it is some sign for them. People started going homocidal/ suicidal and a weird goo type growth is discovered. And there is this thoroughly scary looking winged demons making appearances.

Since it is a prequel to a video game, I don’t expect any major resolutions in the story but regardless the art and ominous story have me hooked. One more issue to go plus I need to find #2 to fill in a few gaps. And I probably will never play the game.

Found out about this book through the Dark Horse Comic-Con preview book. It’s about a schlubby young man, Mathew, who is going through a rough patch in this life: just lost girlfriend, just fired, lives with mother.

Lucky for him, he runs into a magical helmet (The Helm) at a yard sale which speaks to him and call him the “chosen one.” Once he places the helm on his head the helm retracts his statements and says it was a mistake. But Mathew will not take “no” for an answer and for one of the first times in his life he takes a proactive stance and steals the helm. To the helm’s displeasure of course.

Mathew is presented with the opportunity to be heroic and he accepts it, although a little clumsily when he is confronted with his first “test.” I liked this first issue of the slated to be 4-issue series written by Jim Hardison with art by Bart Sears and Randy Elliott. Although I do agree to some extent with other reviews that it comes off like a script for a Jack Black movie, I think the fact that it skewers the hero genre some is what appeals to me. We’ll see where this one goes.

The Sword

Dead Space

The Helm

I’ll be reviewing these and more in the next couple of weeks.