Evil Ernie #2
Written by Jesse Snider
Art by Jason Craig
Covers by Ardian Syaf, Dan Brereton, Kyle Hotz, Stephen Segovia
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 14, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Evil Ernie‘s origin story continues with issue #2, and what a friggin’ bloodbath! The goopy, fleshy parts of helpless sinners just drip off the page. Ernie goes on a rampage hunting down his father within a prison, and anyone who gets in Ernie’s way is subject to his wrath of violence. Well, anyone who’s a sinner; a prison complex is an all-you-can-maim buffet of sinners for Ernie to feast upon. Unfortunately, Ernie’s father is a slippery sonofabitch who may avoid meeting his maker.

Smiley plays a much more prominent role in this issue as Ernie’s cohort. While rampaging through the horde of sinners who attempt to take Ernie down, Smiley lets him in on a useful tidbit: all of Ernie’s violent awesomeness isn’t free–like a battery, he can run out of juice. Hmmm, I wonder what this giant hint is foreshadowing? Ernie is a living(?) hypocrite of an anti-hero. However, he revels in his hypocrisy and gleefully tells his victims that he’ll meet them in Hell. He’s one of them.

HIDE #1
Written by Vernon Smith
Art by Vernon Smith
El MacFearsome Comic Squares
Cover Price: $10.00

“Growing up is hard”¦especially when every adult in the world is trying to KILL you!”

Life is good for Kevin. He has a loving little sister, a house, soccer practice, he’s about to learn how to drive, and his parents are the bestest parents ever. He lives the paradisiacal suburban life. One morning while in the shower, his father starts pounding on the bathroom door. Startled, Kevin quickly opens the door. His dad, rocking the Crocs, tries to bash Kevin’s skull with a baseball bat.

HIDE #1 collects the first 20 pages of Vernon Smith‘s webcomic. The story is an interesting twist on the uber-popular zombie genre. Kevin is unwittingly thrust into the middle of a horror story where everyone over the age of 18 just snaps and obsessively hunts down kids. What makes the story even more frightening is that the adults are fully cognizant. They can talk; they can run; they can drive cars. In fact, they can even seem downright normal until they see a kid. Then they go batshit crazy and murderous.

Charismagic: The Death Princess #1
Written by Vince Hernandez
Art by Emilio Lopez
Colors by Emilio Lopez, Jocelyn Dunn, Ivy Beth Gladstone
Letters by Josh Reed
Covers by Emilio Lopez, Khary Randolph, and Siya Oum
Aspen Comics
Release Date: November 7, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Charismagic: The Death Princess is a spin-off miniseries from the original series. It introduces a formidable supervillain named Orlana, a powerful magician who can manipulate and control the minds of others. She uses this ability to enslave her kinsmen and build a kingdom. Kon and his ally Serke make a foolish and ill-fated attempt to invade Orlana’s kingdom. In defeat, Kon abandons Serke and runs off into another dimension and vows to return. Meanwhile, Orlana ensnares Serke into her web of influence and corrupts his mind. On his return Kon reaches out to some fellow warriors to join him on his quest to take down the evil princess.

The first portion of Charismagic: The Death Princess #1 is a prologue to the actual story. Personal bias: I’m not usually a fan of prologues and tend to skim them whenever I read a novel or comic. Writer Vince Hernandez introduces Orlana and Kon to the readers with a brief, narration-heavy opening that flies through Orlana’s childhood and Kon’s over-ambitious attack on her empire. I had difficulty paying attention to this section. The magic world and its backstory are intricately planned and detailed, but much of this information might be better conveyed if it’s sprinkled into the action.

Trio, Volume 1
Written by John Byrne
Art by John Byrne
Colors by Ronda Pattison
Cover by Neil Uyetake, Robbie Robbins
IDW Publishing
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Cover Price: $17.99

John Byrne: The man, the myth, the legend. X-Men, Fantastic Four, Superman, Batman, The Avengers; Byrne has done it all and he’s renowned for his ability to create controversy when he takes on a popular franchise. With Trio, Byrne brews up a super-team up from scratch in the spirit of Bronze Age comics.

Trio features, well, a trio of super-heroes. Amongst themselves they refer to each other as One, Two, and Three. One is a paper-thin woman who can stretch herself out like Plastic Man. Two’s superpower is that his arms turn into giant blades that he can use to deflect bullets. Three is a teenage boy who can transform himself into a Thing-like beast. The press refers to the group as Rock, Paper, and Scissors””a name the team seems uneager to adopt.

Creator-Owned Heroes #5
Written by Steve Niles, Jay Russell, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray
Art by Andrew Ritchie, Jerry Lando
Covers by Dave Johnson, Andrew Ritchie
Image Comics
Release Date: October 10, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Creator-Owned Heroes helps fill the huge void in my monthly comic experience left by the demise of Wizard magazine. This comic/magazine features two serialized comics and articles focused on independent creators. This is my go-to source each month to hear comic creative types talk shop and shower us with tidbits of advice.

The previous issue concluded the stories of American Muscle and Trigger Girl 6. Creator-Owned Heroes #5 kicks off two new stories and, as always, includes fantastic articles to guide wannabe creators on the path to riches and fame.