Ignition Vol. 1
Written by Various
Penciled by Various
Colors by Various
Edited by Andrew DelQuadro
215 Ink
Release Date: Available for Pre-Order
Cover Price: $29.99

So, there’s a review in here, promise, and it’s going to be about the new collection from 215ink called Ignition Vol. 1. The lede is just, as people who call writing a profession say, buried. First, I need a moment to qualify what I mean and give a frame of reference. So, sorry, but: you can always circumvent that by skipping to the end if you’d like.

There’s been something of a renaissance of creator owned content lately, with a bevy of titles being announced from creators like Grant Morrison, Steve Niles, Brian K Vaughan, and other industry heavyweights. Although artistic control has been a high profile issue in the comics world at least since the early 90s -what with the Creator’s Bill of Rights in 1988, and the creation of Image Comics in 1992- the past calendar year has seemed like something of a watershed moment for the publicity and frequency of creator owned projects. Every major publisher, I believe, has an imprint dedicated to these projects, and the whole thing smacks of a cash-in. That sounds cynical.

Massive Awesome #1
Written by Stephen Lindsay
Art by Rolf Lejdegard
215 Ink
Price: $2.99; Release date: February 19, 2010

You will believe a piece of bacon can kick ass.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard the title for this book. I mean, Massive Awesome? That could be anything, and when you name your comic something like that you better live up to it. Well, this one has lived up to that title, and if you’re a fan of goofy action films, then this is the kind of comic that you will enjoy. What lies in the pages of this book is the tale of a renegade special forces operative who just happens to be a piece of bacon. Oh, and his best friend is a pickle who thinks he’s a zombie, but really isn’t. And they fight ninjas. Have I got you yet?

Yes, this book is goofy as hell. There’s no greater meaning to the plot, there’s no great mystery to solve. This is Schwarzenegger’s Commando in comic form. This can be said of a lot of the stuff that writer Stephen Lindsay writes. If you’ve read his other work, he always finds a way to bring the fun to every project he works on. There is just something about the concept of this book that puts a smile on my face when I think about it. And of course, if you are a fan of Lindsay’s Jesus Hates Zombies series, you’re going to have to pick this up for the full-color back-up story in the issue.