Alabaster: Wolves #3
Written by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Art and Letters by Steve Lieber
Colors by Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover by Greg Ruth
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 20, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

Set in the deep South, this is the tale of Dancy Flammarius and her quest to destroy the evil that haunts this world. Alabaster: Wolves #3 is a story within a story, another stepping stone on the path to redemption. Unfortunately for her, Dancy had a parting of ways with the angel who originally stood at her side.

Imagine a time, in the not too distant future, where society has collapsed, magic and monsters are real, and no one is to be trusted. Simply wandering through a town can be deadly if you cannot defend yourself. So what teenage girl in her right mind would take on the task of traveling about in these conditions? Perhaps that is the real dilemma. Dancy is armed with not just her wits and skills, but also travels with a talking raven for a guide and a companion in the form of a ghost (of the werewolf she killed).

Alabaster: Wolves #2
Written by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Art and Letters by Steve Lieber
Colors by Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover by Greg Ruth
Designer Amy Arendts
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 9, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a strange title pounced out of Dark Horse last month and leaped onto comic review sites (including this very one), causing critics to shout their approval for Alabastor: Wolves. People spoke of the art by Steve Lieber and the writing (the dialogue in particular) by Caitlín R. Kiernan as being strong and fresh and unique. What particularly piqued my interest, however, was just how vague folks were in describing what actually happens in the book. Most reviews I read went something like this: “It’s about a little Albino girl who speaks with a southern drawl, walking a wasteland filled with werewolves and other monsters, who talks to a bird and an angel who tells her who to kill. Oh, and she might be crazy.”

“Heck,” I thought, “I can describe a comic better then that.”

Alabaster: Wolves #1
Written by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Art and Letters by Steve Lieber
Colors by Rachelle Rosenberg
Covers by Greg Ruth, Michael Avon Oeming
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 11, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

As luck would have it, I just randomly chose some of the comics up for review this week. And I scored with this one, let me tell you. I read this and loved every moment of it. Alabaster: Wolves #1 stands out from the average comic book in a multitude of ways.

Caitlin R. Kiernan‘s protagonist, Dancy Flammarion, is a remarkable character in that she is both an atypical teenager and a complete badass. Backed by one of the creepiest looking angels ever, she is a dangerous slayer of all things evil. Her no nonsense attitude and inability to back down from a fight makes her a very deadly opponent, indeed. Add to that her albino skin and total disregard for niceties and you get one of the best anti-heroes I have ever seen or read.

Did you miss out on the acclaimed Image Comics miniseries Underground by writer Jeff Parker and artist Steve Lieber? Never fear, Geeks Of Doom is here! We’d like to direct your attention to CBR, which currently has the entire first issue online for free for your viewing pleasure.

UNDERGROUND #1 (of 4)
Story by JEFF PARKER
Art & Cover by STEVE LIEBER
Release Date SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
32 PAGES / Full Color
Cover Price $3.50

Whiteout
DVD | Blu-ray | Video On Demand
Directed by Dominic Sena
Starring Kate Beckinsale, Tom Skerritt, Gabriel Macht
Warner Bros Home Entertainment
Release date: January 19, 2010

In the frozen wasteland of the South Pole a serve storm, known as a ‘whiteout’, is rapidly making its way to the across Antarctica, prompting an early winter evacuation of a geological encampment. All non-evaculating personal will stay behind for the winter with no flights in or out for six months, so those scheduled for winter leave have get out now. Agent Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) is one of the people on their way out. After a two-year stint in Antarctica, the agent is ready to leave her sub-zero beat and resign from her position as a U.S. Marshal all together. Unfortunately, just as she’s about to finally leave, a body is found on the ice, with evidence of foul play. While her friend, Dr. Fury (Tom Skerritt) offers to ship the body elsewhere to absolve Carrie of her duties, the Agent decides to continue the investigation herself with only days left to solve the case before she’s stuck there for the winter.

Based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber, Whiteout takes quite a few liberties from its source material, the major one being how Agent Stetko is presented. In the film, Beckinsale plays Agent Stetko as a beautiful, yet withdrawn woman married to the job which she seemingly once loved, but is now conflicted about after a pre-Antarctica drug bust gone array left her traumatized. In the comic, Agent Stetko’s reasons for taking an assignment in Antarctica remain the same — to run away from the trauma from her previous assignment — but how others treat her is entirely different.