Angel & Faith #8
Executive Producer: Joss Whedon
Script by Christos Gage
Art by Rebekah Isaacs
Colors by Dan Jackson
Letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
Covers by Steve Morris, Rebekah Isaacs with Dan Jackson
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 28, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

Geez… miss a couple of months of a comic book series and everything is different. Lots of introspection in this issue leads me to believe I need to go get the missing comics and play catch up. Sure, Faith is still leading the slayers around but she seems to have her hands full at it.

What makes a slayer turn on one of her sisters? It seems guilt does. Though they seemed well matched at first, Faith gains the upper hand and disarms her fellow slayer. A very sensitive Faith gives the other girl some rather helpful advice but allows her to deal with the pain in her own way, though not as she would have her do.

The Strain #1
Story by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Script by David Lapham
Art by Mike Huddleston
Colors by Dan Jackson
Letters by Clem Robins
Covers by Mike Huddleston, Steve Morris
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 14, 2011
Cover Price: $1.00

Amazing story, wicked plot, gorgeous art. There, that is my review of The Strain #1… no, seriously. It is that good. Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan wrote an excellent book and David Lapham did a very worthy adaptation for comic form. Add to that mix some great art from Mike Huddleston and you have the making of a stellar comic. No matter what your bag, this has something for you. This is a vampire tale that defies what you may have read in other comics or books. This takes a very modern view of the supernatural.

Occultist #2
Story by Mike Richardson & Tim Seeley
Script by Tim Seeley
Art by Victor Drujiniu
Colors by Andrew Dalhouse
Letters by Nate Peikos of Blambot
Cover by Steve Morris
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 14th, 2011
Cover Price: $3.50

The Occultist #2 is wall to wall action. It gets going on the first page and doesn’t stop until the last. Unfortunately, I was left a little confused by the issue.

While I read and enjoyed the first issue, this issue would’ve benefited greatly by some introduction of the characters as you go footnotes or panels. There’s a lot of characters in this book, and it’s very hard to keep track of them at some points in the issue. Yes, there’s recap paragraph inside the front cover, but it just recaps the overall story, it’s not character-specific. Other than that, writer Tim Seeley does a fantastic job with this issue. The pacing is perfect, and the story is well written.

House of Night #1
Written by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast, Kent Dalian
Art by Joëlle Jones, Karl Kerschl
Covers by Jenny Frison, Steve Morris
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: November 9, 2011
Cover Price: $2.99

Imagine my surprise when I started reading this comic, one that I chose on a whim, and found it’s based on a young adult book series that I used to sell tons of during the last few years my bookstore was open. Now imagine my further surprise when I realized that I liked it! It’s got its quirks, but House of Night #1 is a pretty fun read.

Now, I went into this knowing exactly zilch about the books, so no preconceived notions about the characters or setting. Add to that the fact that there is absolutely no back story or prologue and you have a blank slate on which to create this series. P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast were familiar to me, but Kent Dalian is someone I didn’t know.

The Occultist #1
Story by Mike Richardson, Tim Seeley
Script by Tim Seeley
Art by Victor Drujiniu
Colors by Andrew Dalhouse
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Designer: Justin Couch
Created by Mike Richardson
Covers by Steve Morris, Jenny Frison
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: November 9th, 2011
Cover Price: $3.50

The Occultist is one of those comics that has something for everyone. Horror, magic, mystery, and most importantly, hot girls. Everybody wins! I hadn’t read the previous Occultist one-shot, but I was very impressed with this issue.

What I liked most about this The Occultist #1 is writer Tim Seeley’s ability to catch the audience up on what has happened previously with the character without talking down to them or wasting pages recapping last year’s one-shot. This book is all over the place and it’s a really fun read. We get not only plenty of time with the main character and his story, we also get a good amount of time with the villains and supporting cast and find out their motivations.