Evil Ernie #4
Written by Jesse Snider
Art by Jason Craig
Colors by Maxflan Araujo
Letters by Troy Peteri
Covers by Ardian Syaf, Dan Brereton, Kyle Hotz, Stephen Segovia
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 13, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Evil Ernie is shaping up to be more than just a splatterhouse comic. Oh, don’t worry, there’s plenty of delicious limb cleaving and ball eating. Yes, ball eating. This series is sick. But, Evil Ernie is displaying much more character development and meticulous plotting than you’d ever expect from the comic subgenre of gratuitous violence.

In the last issue, Ernie ran into Uriel the archangel who told him that his true destiny was to lead Heaven’s war against Hell. Uriel was right in the middle of trying to save Ernie’s soul when Smiley revealed himself as a demonic, facehugging parasite and stabbed him in the head. Evil Ernie #4 was all teed up for a huge showdown between Smiley and Ernie. However, after a little sitdown, Ernie shelves his moral crises and instead focuses on his missing arm and surviving the chaos unleashed at the Widmark maximum security prison.

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.

Evil Ernie #1
Written by Jesse Blaze Snider
Art by Jason Craig
Colors by Marcio Menyz & Adriano Augusto
Letters by Troy Peteri
Covers by Tim Seeley, Adrian Syaf, Nick Bradshaw, Dan Brereton
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: October 10, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

In 2010, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to Evil Ernie from Chaos! Comics. That acquisition finally bears fruit as writer Jesse Blaze Snider, a long-time fan of Evil Ernie, takes the helm on this character reboot. Dynamite could not, however, nab the rights to Lady Death, who held a significant role in Evil Ernie‘s original storyline. Her absence from Evil Ernie #1‘s story alters Evil Ernie’s origin and motivations, but the look, personality, and Smiley button of the undead psychopath remain.

Evil Ernie #1 briefly covers Ernest Fairchild’s traumatic childhood which directly leads into his demonic transformation. Ernest was born in 1993 during a bizarre car accident where his entire family was killed. His father, possessed by something, taunts his daughter and pregnant wife right before slamming the car into a light pole.

Toy Story: The Return of Buzz Lightyear
TPB
Writer: Jesse Blaze Snider
Art: Nathan Watson
BOOM! Studios
Release date: May 5, 2010

What’s the most exciting return going on in comics today? The Return of Bruce Wayne? No, the Return of Buzz Lightyear!

You know, as I am being exposed to more and more kid-friendly comics, I find myself truly appreciating their appeal. Lighthearted humor mixed with a small dose of drama to propel a storyline is the perfect combination to make a successful all-ages and family-friendly story, whether it be traditional prose, television, film, or comics, and this Toy Story series from BOOM! Kids definitely meets the criteria.

With a story based on the popular Disney/Pixar franchise, the Toy Story comic book truly expands the universe of Andy’s Room. In Toy Story: The Return of Buzz Lightyear, Andy mistakenly receives a gift of another Buzz Lightyear who is so determined to stay in Andy’s Room and claim the title of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, that he fights and places our Buzz Lightyear into the new toy’s package and has him returned to the Toy Store.

Toy Story #3
Written by Jesse Blaze Snider
Art by Nathan Wilson and Mike DeCarlo
Colors by Mickey Clausen and Eric Cobain
Letters by Deron Bennett
BOOM! Studios
Price: $2.99
Release date: April 14, 2010

Toy Story #3 continues the ongoing series with part four of The Return of Buzz Lightyear. This storyline started with Andy receiving a new Buzz Lightyear toy. When they found out that Andy was going to return the new Buzz Lightyear for a different toy, we see the new Buzz force the old Buzz, or ‘Sally’, into the box so he doesn’t have to return to the shelf of the store. This spurs a rescue mission with the new Buzz and the recently purchased Booster. In the last issue, new Buzz and Sally are in a race to see who should go back to Andy and the new Buzz cheats by releasing a display of bouncing balls to stop Sally from winning the race. In this issue, we see the conclusion of the race and a lot of the backstory of the new Buzz and the end of his adventure.