Killing Pickman #2 of 6
Written by Jason Becker
Illustrated by Jon Rea
Lettering by Matt Talbot
Archaia Studios Press
Cover Price: $3.50; Available Now

Continuing shortly after the events in issue #1 of this six-part miniseries, the mysterious and demon-inhabited Pickman is now in a hospital while Detective Zhu sits in his car, thumbing his gun as he prepares to execute Pickman. Pickman, completely immobilized by restraints on his bed, opens up his mind to a psychiatrist who has been brought in to analyze Pickman’s mental state to see whether his is fit to stand trial. In a cold and very matter-of-fact way, Pickman explains to the doctor the essence of his soul, reaching deep into the back of his memory as he recounts his unnaturally long life, and how he came to be in the such possession of the powers he now controls. As the conversation nears its end, and with the psychiatrist only seeing a pseudo-intellectual religious nut, Zhu makes his way to the fourth floor, gun in hand, and ready to confront the child-killing monstrosity.

Writer Jason Becker and artist Jon Rea slow the pace down with the second issue of their chilling and gripping miniseries, as they let Pickman explain his raison d’etre. Becker fills the pages with a nigh-gothic examination of what a soul is, whether one even owns their soul, and how one might go about selling it per se, and what is truly means to be sorry in order to be forgiven in the eyes of God. Becker takes his time, allowing Pickman to monologue over several pages with calculating words, with each one painting in detail the infinitely patient creature that he has transformed into.

Dog Bite Dog
Directed by Cheang Pou-Soi
Written by Matt Chow, Szeto Kam-Yuen, Melvin Li
Starring Edison Chen, Sam Lee, Cheung Siu-Fai, Lam Suet
The Weinstein Company/Dragon Dynasty
On sale: October 23, 2007

After a savage assassin named Pang (Edison Chen) enters illegally into Hong Kong and hits his target, the police respond with equal savagery as they tear into the night to find him once they realize that he is a Cambodian that has been raised to do nothing by fight and kill for his very survival. On the team is Inspector Ti (Sam Lee), who makes the case personal and focuses his very being on catching the assassin after an initial negotiation attempt turns deadly.

As the manhunt continues, and with each time the assassin successfully alludes capture, the police resort to rash unprofessional means to capture him that border on criminal. Ti himself becomes an animal as he bursts through the most seedy and disgusting shadows of Hong Kong trying to find information and pummeling anyone who might have some information. When he finally reaches his target, after witnessing his fellow officers murdered, Ti and Pang make their shocking and jaw-dropping last stand that could only be “made in Hong Kong.”

30 Days Of Night
Directed by David Slade
Written by Steve Niles, Stuart Beattie, Brian Nelson
Produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert
Starring Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Mark Boone Junior, Ben Foster
Rated R
Adapted from 30 Days Of Night (IDW Publishing)

I don’t know why we never thought of it. No sunlight for weeks on end. — Marlow, 30 Days Of Night graphic novel

The town of Barrow, Alaska, is the most northern city of the United States. And for thirty days out of the years, the sun does not rise. On the day of the last sunset for the next month, Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett) finds a series of bizarre vandalisms that he can’t quite place why they would be done. It culminates with his meeting of a stranger in the town’s dinner, who is becoming increasingly hostile because they won’t serve him a bowl of raw hamburger. Eben believes that this stranger is the cause of the crimes, but has no idea that this man is merely the scout for something much, much worse.

On the outskirts of town, a clan of vampires gather, and they are planning to turn Barrow into an all-you-can-eat buffet. They quickly begin to work their way in, as they destroy the communications center, kill the power, and begin to ravage those that live on the border. Their massacre reaches crescendo as they hit the town center, and begin ripping, shredding, clawing, biting, and drinking their way through the citizens. In the chaos, Eben, along with his estranged wife Stella, his brother, and a few of the lucky ones that managed to escape, hole up in the diner. For the next thirty days, they will have to maneuver from hiding spot to hiding spot, grabbing food where they can, and hoping against hope that they will survive. But as the endless nights wear on and desperation sets in, what will the few brave do to ensure the survival of the rest?

Adapted from the comic book mini-series of the same name by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith, director David Slade (Hard Candy), along with producer Sam Raimi, brings to the screen a truly horrifying visage of survival horror, and the first truly inspiring and original vampire tale since Near Dark first ran almost twenty years ago.

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls Vs. Zombies
Special Edition Preview Issues #3 and #0
Writer: Bart A. Thompson
Artist: Steve Doty, Jed Raven
Approbation Comics
Cover Price: $3.50; Available Now

Bart A Thompson‘s adventures of three buxom badass zombie-busting gals have been floating around for a few years now, courtesy of his own Approbation Comics. So far there have been three Special Edition Preview issues put forth, and you can read all about the first issue, where Paige, Jamie, and Brittney make their debut, right here on Geeks Of Doom. This review should get you up to speed on just what Thompson is going for with this series.

Issue three of the Preview trilogy puts our busty heroines on the back burner and gives the spotlight to Darren “Worm” Wormsor, a certified geek who spends hours upon hours playing video games, can’t get laid no matter the circumstances, and proudly wears a Chicks Dig Trekkies T-shirt (he’d fit right in with the GoD crew). On a dark night, while Darren plays video games and his jock roommates trash one of the finest black-and-white undead movies ever, a horde of zombies breaks into their duplex apartment and threatens to make a bad night even worse. And while Darren finally thinks that his endless video games and virtual martial arts training will finally pay off, his roommates have a much simpler plan that once again makes a fool of him. Paige, Jamie, and Brittney arrive for no more than a cameo at the end of the issue to give a few verbal sucker punches to Darren.

Thompson goes for an excellent mash-up of Revenge Of The Nerds and Return Of The Living Dead for this essentially stand alone story in the world of Chaos Campus that goes for broke on the stereotypes, takes a swipe at uneducated horror movie fans, and answers the important question of whether or not zombies need love too. It is a little weird that Thompson strays from keeping his gals in the spotlight, and is a bit of a let down to only see them in action for a few pages. As a “side story” or a “meanwhile…” it is a fun read and definitely stays in tone with what we’ve seen so far in Chaos Campus. But to take up a whole issue with Darren as the protagonist just doesn’t feel right. We read Chaos Campus to be titillating. If I wanted to see a nerd pretending he was a badass and instead getting his ass handed to him, well I’d just look in the mirror.

Drawn Together – Season Two
Uncensored and Extended Edition
Creators: Dave Jeser and Matthew Silverstein
Comedy Central

This is the true life story of eight cartoon characters picked to live in a house and have their lives recorded. Find out what happens when they stop acting nice and start acting real. There’s Clara, the racist, homophobic anti-semantic princess; Foxxy Love, the mystery-solving musician; the manly superhero Captain Hero; Ling Ling, the cute but deadly Asian anime animal; Xandir, the video game adventurer; Spanky Ham, the Internet download sensation; and Toots, the black and white 1920’s sex symbol.

Picking up right where the cliffhanger season one episode ended, season two continues to laugh in the face of political correctness, skirts the line of copyright infringement with each scene, and swings for the fences to offend all who dare to tune in. And like any good second season or sequel, creators Dave Jeser and Matthew Silverstein, along with an army of psychotic writers, push everything harder and faster this time around. If any punches were pulled during the first season, they certainly don’t seem to be pulling any this time around, especially with the freedom of the DVD format and those two glorious words “not rated.”

Our eight protagonists, as well as a few secondary characters, provide gratuitous nudity, AIDS jokes, obscene language, forced sexual situations, homosexual taunting, abortion jokes, allusions to the Holocaust, and tear into Lost, The Shawshank Redemption, Strawberry Shortcake, and Speedy Gonzales — and that is just the first episode! Yes, like contemporaries South Park and Family Guy, the gang here goes from 0-60 in a blink of an eye with button-pushing hot topics, entertainment references, and just the most jaw-dropping bottom-of-the-barrel one-liners you can imagine.