Tag: Vault Comics

“The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you’ll never have.”

― Søren Kierkegaard

Do you love horror? Stories about being trapped in a god-forsaken small town with a myriad of colorful characters? Vault Comics? New or old Vault Comics horror fans will be fighting to obtain a copy of Deadbox #1. Okay, maybe only Captain Kirk-worthy wrestling match battles should ensue, but you get the idea.

Mark Russell makes his foray into the horror genre as the writer of Deadbox #1. The creative team for Vault Comics’ new five-issue miniseries also includes illustrator Benjamin Tiesma, colorist Vladimir Popov, letterer Jim Campbell, and Vault superstar, designer Tim Daniel. 

This review begins with a quote from Danish philosopher Søren Aabye Kierkegaard about internalized pain accrued from yearning for a future that will never come to fruition. I question society’s general cognitive dissonance and memory lapse every day now. Lately, a meme that has been circulating, known as “My Fall Plans vs. The Delta Variant” (humorously?) tries to show how the latest COVID-19 variant has nullified people’s autumn event schedule. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here wondering who had Fall plans in the first place during this unceasing pandemic? The future may not be written in stone, but mapping out plans for the final months of this year never seemed like a viable option (for me, anyway) based on current events, COVID, and distrust. I’m not here at all to criticize individuals’ sadness over another holiday season contaminated by a deadly virus. Personally, my expectations lowered a year and a half ago and I haven’t felt hopeful about the future in a long time. 

Needless to say, Kierkegaard’s words hit home, particularly considering the throbbing ache — those privileged to even consider a more agreeable future — are currently collectively experiencing.

If you were to list all the intriguing themes in Deadbox, you might line them up side-by-side inside a crimson media vending machine. Would you like to check out “Kierkegaard & Existential Philosophy”? Does “Belonging & Meaning” suit your cinematic tastes? Can you palate the sweeping epic horror movie, “I Had to Give Up My Future and Stay in a Shitty Town I Hate Because I Have Too Much Empathy to Leave My Dying Dad Behind For College?” Here’s a personal favorite: “Life Sucks XVIII: Movies Are Escapism.” Grab some popcorn, because you’re about to read a comic seething with philosophizing, fright, and relatability. 

Deadbox #1 features an ominous DVD rental machine called a Deadbox and a self-delayed college student who imagines an unrepressed future outside of her rural town, Lost Turkey. Penny’s desperation for a future beyond her reach drives the slow-burn pace in Deadbox. She longs for more — for a life beyond interacting with backwards-thinking townspeople at the convenience store she works at and halting her college plans in order to care for her sickly father. 

Immediately, Deadbox asserts its first issue thesis: Where do any of us truly belong?

Russell’s dialogue launches readers into rumination from Deadbox’s opening pages. The narrator waxes philosophical, correlating America’s obsession with “patriotism” and land ownership while questioning the affinity for belonging. Caption boxes with Jim Campell’s typeface aesthetic emulating formal document lettering hover over Benjamin Tiesma and colorist Vladimir Popov’s images of a dusty, rural landscape. Tiesma illustrates Lost Turkey with dark shadows and rough linework. Here, readers immediately gain familiarity with the town. All touchstones of American rural existence appear from varying angles in a noteworthy, four-panel grid composition: A man holds a gun in his lap, a police officer cruises along the road, a dog leashed to an American flag barks loudly, and a storefront bears posters reading “Enlist” and Christian cross imagery. From there, we are pulled into the darkness looming in Penny’s isolated world. The transition works seamlessly as colors dim further, shadows linger longer, and lines feel more weighted. 

Visual horror awaits readers, but plenty of fright is present as we learn about Penny’s depressing existence in the dual narrative comic issue. How many of us can relate to Penny’s plight? When your head is contemplating a future pulsing with possibility and your body is trapped in a place restricting your sense of personhood, your heart ascribes both physical and psychological pain to yourself. Because of this, we retreat within ourselves. People seek comfort in many forms. One such form of shelter is physical media. 

Deadbox points to film as escapism, where we can take solace in watching a fictional story casting characters in situations we either feel relieved in not having to endure or find a piece of ourselves within. In Deadbox #1, the latter statement manifests itself all too tangibly. The films in the Lost Turkey Deadbox aren’t found anywhere else because they are a reflection of the watchers’ own lives. Duality runs through the Kierkegaard-influenced comic in both theme and artistry. Without spoiling too much, the Deadbox movie Penny dares to watch exhibits dramatic parallels to the comics’ opening cogitation and an adroit sci-fi artistic look. Binaries exist in immensely well-executed form in this 10/10 comic.

If there is any criticism to be had, I would argue Deadbox #1 boasts a highly elevated script you may need to re-read to gain a fuller understanding. However, you’ll probably end up flipping through the comic pages again anyway because the art and story are incredible. Gleaning additional analogs in the process acts as a bonus. 

There’s no renting like a DVD rental box when comics are involved. You need to have your money in hand when bursting into your comic shop on September 1st to buy a copy of Deadbox #1.

Mark Russell makes his foray into the horror genre as the writer of Deadbox #1. The creative team for Vault Comics’ new five-issue miniseries, Deadbox, also includes illustrator Benjamin Tiesma, colorist Vladimir Popov, letterer Jim Campbell, and Vault superstar, designer Tim Daniel. 

It’s the end of the month, which means it is Witchblood time once again! We last saw our favorite chaotic cerulean-haired witch, Yonna, teaming up with her rivals Atlacoya and Big Red at the conclusion of issue four. The last month has been spent with countless questions being asked about all the wild reveals and twists that were dropped, so how does one keep that momentum going?

Witchblood’s fifth issue is much quieter than the last. It almost feels as though issue four didn’t happen in some ways. I don’t mean that as a bad thing in the slightest, mind you. Issue five feels more like it comes after issue three than four, and in that I find both the previous issue and the continuing larger narrative arc of Witchblood that much more intriguing. 

We start this next chapter with yet another new face. A woman with an adorable otter and dowsing rods is surveying an area, only to happen upon the town of Sargasso. The town is ominous, and seems to almost be under sea, despite being very much on land like any other regular small town. After an ominous start with our new character, the trio we’ve come to know and love are shown essentially right where we left them: in hot pursuit of the Hounds of Love. The banter between Atla, Red, and Yonna is snarky and fun as usual and I personally could watch them bicker and be put in a “play nice” sweater together for eternity. The ladies end up in the same town as our fresh-faced mystery lady, Sargasso, to try and get some fuel for Atla’s gas guzzling truck only to find themselves knee-deep in the town’s sea-centric curse. While trying to uncover the source of this curse, Yonna runs into our mystery woman. Arteria is a witch and knows Yonna from “the old days”, which also gives us a glimpse of what Yonna was like before the tale of Witchblood began. 

The issue continues with discovering the source of the curse via a quippy spelunking expedition with our ladies, and low and behold, it was a witch. When Yonna ensures the curse has been fully listed, she’s asked if she knew the witch in question, to which she hauntingly replies, “I knew all of them.” Arteria asks to join up and help our witch and her reluctant allies, but Yonna assures her that her dowsing talents are more needed in Sargasso to help them rebuild after the curse. We end on another self-reflective soliloquy from Yonna about her intimacy issues and whether or not she truly believes she keeps people at arm’s length for their safety, like she tells herself. The very last thing shown is the Hounds of Love seemingly close to approaching Esme in the flesh and are left to spend the next month wondering how all of this is going to play out.

Overall, I did feel a bit let down after the adrenaline rush of issue four initially, but I think in retrospect, the way this issue played out gives the audience more time to flesh out theories, think of new questions, and continue to read Yonna and company’s adventures with rapt attention. With so much still unknown and unanswered, the road ahead for our gals looks to be very exciting. Now to spend the next month chewing on what we do know, and where it could all lead!

Review by Jimmy Gaspero Jr.

The Blue Flame opens with an homage to Silver Age science fiction/superhero stories to introduce the reader to Sam Brausam aka The Blue Flame. Not just a fun throwback, it gives the sense that this story is going to attempt to get at something fundamental about the superheroes that have played such a large role in popular culture since, at least, the Silver Age. Sam is described as an ordinary, blue-collar Everyman, but he finds himself in strange circumstances in Outer Space, with both Sam and the reader not quite sure what is going on, which instantly helps connect the reader to Sam.

After Sam learns the reason he’s been called to this planet, the story shifts to Sam’s life on Earth. Sam is shown at work, shoveling snow, and driving what I think is a late 70’s model Mercury Comet. It’s all a bit mundane, and that’s the point. Everything shown about Sam on Earth reinforces the idea that he doesn’t have superpowers, he’s not a billionaire, he wasn’t gifted with godly power jewelry.

This issue also introduces the Night Brigade, a team of Sam’s fellow vigilantes. None appear to have superpowers and it’s reminiscent of Watchmen, except the Night Brigade all feel like decent people.  The personal relationships among the Night Brigade are not perfect, but are genuine. Christopher Cantwell’s dialogue quickly endears the Night Brigade to the reader. The mundane side of vigilantism continues as various members of the Night Brigade discuss testifying at a trial and how they will afford to repair their damaged truck. There’s such a sense of camaraderie, respect, and light-hearted humor that later events are a massive tonal shift.

The design of Sam’s suit and logo, along with The Blue Flame logo (by Tim Daniel) is incredible. The Blue Flame suit and helmet are sleek, but functional. I was reminded a little of The Rocketeer and The Great Machine from Ex Machina, but with a strong Mega Man influence.

Adam Gorham’s artwork is stunning in the opening cosmic sequence, but no less remarkable later on as he employs inventive panel layouts and inset panels that keep the story visually interesting. Kurt Michael Russell colors everything so beautifully. The colors, especially for the Night Brigade, are bright and vibrant without being brash or too bold. The cold grayish white of a snowy day, the yellowy green of working in a boiler room with artificial light, the cool blue of the evening. Sam’s life looks like a happy one.

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou is an exceptional letterer. His font choices fit the story so well and are never stagnant as can be seen when Sam sings while he shovels or how he conveys the quickened speech of the radio DJ. Another interesting technique is the irregularly shaped speech bubbles he uses for the aliens in the opening sequence.

For Vault Comics’ first foray into superhero stories, this is a compelling narrative that has set up some very interesting questions combining an Everyman vigilante with a cosmic dilemma. It’s an incredible creative team and if it isn’t yet on your pull list, it should be. 

The Blue Flame #1 is available in all good comic stores and digital storefronts May 26th.