Revival #6
Story by Tim Seeley
Art by Mike Norton
Colors by Mark Englert
Letters by Crank!
Edited by Four Star Studios
Design by Sean Dove
Cover by Jenny Frison
Image Comics
Release Date: January 23, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

Comics really don’t get more weird than Revival #6. And I mean that in a GOOD way. From cover to cover, the mysteries only deepen this issue, and, I’m enjoying it so much, that I don’t care that we haven’t had any of them solved yet!

Thank you Tim Seeley!!! This issue is, by far, my favorite issue yet of this series. What should frustrate me, doesn’t. I’m a big mystery buff, and by six chapters in we logically should start getting some clues to just what’s going on, but we haven’t (OK, we probably have, but just don’t know it) and that’s FINE because this book is so damned entertaining!!! Things keep happening! Shocking things! Scary things! Strange things! But, it’s SO good that you really do just end up getting lost in this comic rather than trying to figure out just what they hell happened, who did it, and how it’s all going to be revealed. This is a VERY entertaining comic book, folks. In my opinion, the best issue of Revival so far!

Revival #5
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Mike Norton
Colors by Mark Englert
Letters by Crank!
Edited by Four Star Studios
Design by Sean Dove
Cover by Jenny Frison
Image Comics
Release Date: November 21, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

Revival #5 continues the mystery in that small town of Wausau, Wisconsin. Usually comics with an ongoing mystery lose their momentum around the fifth or sixth issue, if they don’t offer a huge reveal. Does Revival escape that trap, or does is jump over it? Let’s take a look…

Writer Tim Seeley goes outside the box with this issue, and this series in general. What starts off as a mystery in a small town of people coming back from the dead, turns into a LOT more than just that. It’s really turned into a story of basic human survival and with some great characters that we’ve quickly come to love and care about. One of the things that impresses me most is one of the “b plots” that focuses on the officials at the CDC and the drama that’s going on in their lives. Not to be outdone at all, the main focus of the issue is the conflict between EM, a reporter named May and the evil Blaine Abel. There is a great deal of both action and story development in this issue. Seeley keeps revealing just enough of the mystery to keep us turning the pages, but not enough to reveal anything too quickly. Very well written issue.

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.

Revival #1
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Mike Norton
Image Comics
Release Date: July 11, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

It’s not many comics that literally take you to another place when you open them up to read them, but this, is definitely one of them. You quickly forget where you are in the “real world” and are transported to a small town in frosty Wisconsin, where everything is not as quiet and peaceful as it seems from a bird’s eye view.

Writer Tim Seeley really hits his “suspense” stride in the writing of this book. We know he can write horror, but this book solidifies that he can do more. WAY more. I really hate to compare comics to other media, but this book has a really great Twin Peaks vibe to it. There’s the main mystery, but every place you go, every corner you turn, and every character you meet, more and more mystery and plot twists are revealed. By the end of the book, there are several plot threads that you’re interested in. Seeley weaves all of these together flawlessly and naturally, making for a great read.

The Guild, Volume 2
Written by Felicia Day, Jeff Lewis, Sean Becker, Kim Evey, Sandeep Parikh
Pencils by Darick Robertson, Kristian Donaldson, Ron Chan, Becky Cloonan, Tim Seeley
Inks by Ron Chan, Becky Cloonan
Colors by Dave Stewart
Covers by Georges Jeanty
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 27, 2012
Cover Price: $14.99

The Guild: Volume 2 collects the one-shot comic released for each member of the Knights of Good: Vork, Tink, Bladezz, Clara, and Zaboo. Each comic delves into the characters’ lives away from The Game and sheds a little more light on their personalities and motivations. These stories are not exactly earth-shattering revelations, but they’re brief, fun, focused explorations into the characters that fans love. Watching at least the first season of The Guild web series is a prerequisite to reading this collection. However, if you have not yet read the first volume of The Guild, fear not, this volume completely stands on its own.

Fans of The Guild undoubtedly have their favorite Knights of Good characters. Mine is the leader of the Knights of Good, Vork. He’s obsessively cheap and orderly. He’s also incredibly literal; my favorite scene in this chapter is the very beginning where he reveals why he plays the game the way he does. In this comic, we discover that Vork takes care of his retiree grandfather. While Vork follows rules to the letter, his loose cannon grandfather aligns somewhere around Chaotic Good””possibly Evil. In this play on opposites, Vork must reconcile his differences with his grandfather and learn to compromise with his inferiors””er, guildmates.