As expected, strange and fascinating things happen when an instructor of Art and Design decides to retell the epic story of Beowolf in the form of an indie graphic novel, giving it a tone of Twin Peaks-meets-The Legend of Boggy Creek, and then uses Kickstarter to fund the project. The result is the quirky (some might say geeky), well-researched, and carefully executed tale entitled The Beast of Wolfe’s Bay by Erik Evensen from Evensen Creative.
Evensen propels reluctant grad student Brian Wegman on an exciting mission as a consultant in a police investigation at Wolfe’s Bay. Why Brian? Because the case involves the deaths of two students at the hands of what may or may not be a giant primate, and Brian has the know-how in the niche specialty of paleoanthropology that the police need to solve the mystery.
The Bionic Man #12 Written by Phil Hester & Aaron Gillespie
Pencils by Ed Tadeo
Colors by Thiago Ribeiro
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Alex Ross & Ed Tadeo Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 22, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99
When reading The Bionic Man #12, pretty much two words came to mind. HOLY. SHIT. Now, I doubt if BOTH those words will make the final edit of this review, and to my editor, I apologize for them, but honestly, reading the whole issue, that is what I was thinking.
There are certain fights that you will always remember. The parking lot fight in They Live. The opening fight in Casino Royale. The News Team gang fight in Anchorman. Rocky vs. Drago in Rocky IV. The runway fight scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and now, Col. Steve Austin vs. Bigfoot. What we get from writers Phil Hester and Aaron Gillespie in this issue is basically a love letter/homage to those fights and from now on, The Bionic Man #12 will be known in years to come as “the one where he fights Bigfoot.” While I won’t go into spoilers, what starts off as another kind of story entirely turns into one of the best comic book fights that I HAVE EVER READ EVER. TWICE during the book I actually cringed, and that hasn’t happened since I was like 12.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press