Comic Bento - August 2015 - Dynamite

A few weeks ago, I had an idea that I wanted to start subscribing to Comic Bento.  That’s a service that sends you a blind box of trades each month.  Sort of like Loot Crate, but for comics.  $25 bucks for 4 trades seemed like an idea that really appealed to me, but I don’t have a lot of space for comics right now.  So, what I have decided is that I will read and review them each month, and then donate them to local libraries and schools.  So, I get some random new comics each month, you guys get some fresh reviews, and some lucky readers get some new comics at their library or school.  Sounds like a win for everyone.

Last week, my first box came in.  Each month has a theme.  This month’s theme was Dynamite.  Which was awesome to me; I love Dynamite comics.  I’m going to start with some general comments about the service and then do some individual reviews of each book.

First of all, the packaging on these books was great.  The box might have been a little bigger than necessary for four trades, but they were tightly packed and the books came in perfect condition.

Also, you can’t beat the value. With shipping, the box cost me $25 dollars.  The four trades had cover prices of $19.99, $24.99, $24.99, and $14.99 for a total of $84.96.  While I am sure you can get some of the books cheaper on Amazon or whatever online service you would like, this is still a great deal.  And it also came with a coupon to get $10 off for an order from Dynamite’s website.  Granted, if I paid my own way, I could pick exactly the comics I want to read, but I really like the random nature of this.  It helps me find new books I might not normally think of buying on my own.

I did have a bit of issue with the variety of books here.  The books came with a card promoting the wide variety of books Dynamite has to offer.  And I totally agree with that; Dynamite currently has excellent books covering quite a few genres.  BUT, all the books included here are horror books with most of them being adaptations or licensed works.  This didn’t really showcase Dynamite all that well.  I would have liked them to include something like MASKS or KEVIN SMITH’s GREEN HORNET, or even their PROJECT SUPERPOWERS books.  Instead, this box seemed more suitable as a Halloween box instead of an August box featuring the best of Dynamite.

Published by: Dynamite
Cover Price: $19.99

Trade Contains Grimm 0, 1-5

Back in 8 century B.C., special coins were minted on the island of Zakynthos.  Whoever has held these coins throughout history has been granted the power of being a charismatic leader who has reshaped the world: Alexander the Great, Julius Ceasar, Cleopatra, Napoleon, and Hitler have all held the coins.

Today, Detective Nick Burkhadt of the Portland Police Department has discovered that he is from a long heritage of monster hunters called Grimms.  His mom has stolen the coins and was trying to destroy them, but she had been captured.  She hid the coins, and got a message to Nick that he is to find and destroy the coins himself.  Nick and his partners Detective Hank Griffith and reformed werewolf friend Monroe have gone to Austria to find them. 

I actually have never seem Grimm, but I though this comic did a great job making a new reader feel very comfortable getting to know the characters and what seems to be a big sweeping plot.   Obviously, a fan of the show would be in a far better position to judge if this was a good adaptation, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.  From the quick research I did, it seems like the Coins of Zakynthos storyline started in the show and these issues expanded on it.  To me, that is the perfect use of a tie-in comic.  Something that builds on the show and tells a meaningful story, not just filler. They also seemed to have killed a major character here, which definitely made it feel very substantial to the series. 

This story also added some intriguing new characters to the story, but I doubt they ever appeared again, so that is kind of unfortunate.  There are a lot of threads left at the end of this trade.  From what I can tell, the show and later issues of the comic series didn’t deal with these characters too much, so that is definitely a missed opportunity.

This trade didn’t have a lot of extras here.  Just a cover gallery. 

All in all, this was a real enjoyable story with great art.  Even without knowing much about Grimm, I got a lot of entertainment out of this story. 

Score: 3.5/5

VAMPIRELLA VOL. 1 - OUR LADY OF SHADOWS

Written by: Nancy A. Collins
Art by: Patrick Berkenkotter & Cristhian Crizam Zamora
Inked by: Dennis Crisostomo
Cover by: Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson
Colored by: Jorge Sutil & John Miele
Lettered by: Rob Steen

Published by: Dynamite
Cover Price: $24.99

Trade Contains Vampirella (2014) 1-6 and Prelude to Shadows

I was so glad they included this one.  I got to read and review the digital version a few months ago, and I am now a huge Vampirella fan.  Just click on the above link to read my review.

Trade Contains “The Complete Dracula” 1-5

This trade is a beautifully painted adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic DRACULA.  It was a terrific way of presenting the story, taking the original format of DRACULA (which was told as diary entries and letters) and adding gorgeous art.  I had not read DRACULA since high school, and I definitely enjoyed this version more.

What really impressed me here was the research that went into this.  The notes at the end show how determined Leah Moore and John Reppio were to get this right.  They even contacted Dracula scholars to make sure they weren’t committing any major acts of blasphemy.  The art is also well researched.  One of the cover quotes comments about the artists even used typewriters as a model to make sure every detail was authentic.

I also loved that they kept the original tone perfectly. When you read DRACULA, there is a lot of the book that feels “normal” story about life and courting at the time with the supernatural elements slowly creeping in.  You hear about characters with difficulty sleeping, only to later find out the cause was Dracula haunting their dreams.  The art here does a brilliant job of adding creepy details to remind you that it’s still a horror story.

This trade comes with quite a few extras.  Extensive writer’s notes, some script pages, and a cover gallery.  All this in a nice hardcover package for $25 bucks.  A great value for a terrific book!  This was my favorite book in the Bento box, which is saying a lot since Dynamite’s VAMPIRELLA is one of my favorite series.

Of the four books, this was the one that least appealed to me when I opened the box.  I have nothing against Dean Koontz, but I have just never had any interest to read anything by him.  Also, it seemed very high priced.  This graphic novel is $15 for only the first part of the story.  And as far as I can tell, they never even bother printing the rest of the story.

The story is about Christopher Snow, a mid-twenties man who suffers from a condition where he can’t be exposed to sunlight or light without seriously damaging his body.  After his father is murdered, Chris accidentally stumbles into a conspiracy involving a nearby military base. 

This book had some real strong suspenseful moments. At one point, Chris is being chased by several nefarious thugs when he is investigating his father’s death, and I thought they did a great job building up the chase and Chris’s desperation in trying to escape.

But then there were moments that were so over the top they went from suspenseful to eye-rolling.  After Chris finds someone dead, he is going through the woman’s house, and it becomes an almost textbook horror story making sure every element is thrown in.  Creepy dolls, including one that looks like Chris and then another doll that is holding bleeding eyes.  It goes way too far to the point that I just couldn’t take it seriously. 

You also never quite get a handle on the characters here.  Characters appear and disappear without leaving all that much of an impression.  To be honest, I learned more about Chris from the back of the book and the introduction than anything we got from the actual text.  That is some weak writing when that happens.  I had no idea who Chris’s friend Bobby was until I read over the little card Comic Bento included with a quick summary of each book in the box.

I also thought that the art was kind of generic and ugly.  I have commented in earlier reviews that I have never read a Dynamite book where I didn’t love the art…well, this book broke that streak. Dynamite has come a long way since this book came out.  In a lot of ways, it feels like a kind of artifact of a lesser company.

For extras, this one comes with a sketchbook and a short interview with the writers who adapted the original novel.

This graphic novel came out 5 years ago, and I doubt they will ever get around to finishing it.  What was here was kind of disappointing.  A lot of questions for the reader, but not enough context to make the reader care enough to want the answers.  At no point in reading this did I ever think “I really want to buy the book and see what I am missing here.”  And like I said earlier, the book is $15, so you are paying quite a bit for only part of a not-particularly compelling story.