Who Are You? A Former CSI Fan Looks Back on the IDW Comics

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Juliet Fromholt

Greetings, Inketeers! Juliet once again humbly reporting for duty as your guest writer. Yes, the promise and the threat have become reality, and despite my prior ramblings on fandom and shipperdom in my X-Files update, Matt’s invited me back to regale you with more of my ramblings….I mean, review the first arc of IDW’s CSI comics. I was initially a little hesitant to do this one because while it’s easy for me to proclaim my allegiance to the X-files from every hilltop, my fan relationship with CSI is rockier, a bit more complex. That said, this is actually the perfect time to explore all of that as I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about it as of late. So let’s get to it, shall we?

Before there was Miami, New York, and heaven knows what other cities, there was just CSI.

I suppose I should clarify that when I’m talking about CSI, I’m referring the to very first one that took place in Las Vegas. The show premiered in the fall of 2000, and I recall thinking the concept looked fun. However, I didn’t really begin to watch it until the second season was rerun during the summer of 2002. I wish I could say what made me latch on to the show so intensely. Yes, it’s got all of the things I like in a show, but to be honest, I think I may have been having some separation anxiety as the X-Files series finale had just aired that spring. So, in essence, I was on the fandom rebound.

Look, those last few seasons were rough, but you guys didn’t have to leave me….

And rebound I did, with the intensity anyone just getting out of a nine year relationship. That year, a fellow X-Files fanfic writer and I had started a small fan group on Yahoo. Given that the show had just ended, the group never really took off in any big way, but it served as inspiration for something that would take off and became a huge part of my life for quite a while, The Graveyard Shift.

I’m kind of surprised any of our graphics were still floating around the internet.

As I said, when I fell for CSI, I fell hard and of course I landed face-first in a ship. I pretty much immediately decided that my OTP (for you non-shippers out there, that’s One True Pairing, a term I’m pretty sure hadn’t been invented in 2002 or at least I had never heard the whole time I was running the group) were Gil and Catherine. I was not alone in this ship, by any means, but interestingly enough, the CSI fandom writ-large was fairly divided on ships: half of us were GCR (Gil + Catherine [the now commonplace practice of combining the names for ships: Pam + Eric = Parric, Susan + Jackson = Sackson, etc hadn’t really taken hold just yet]) and the other half was GSR (Gil + Sarah). If you watched the later seasons of the show, you know how it ended up, and if you didn’t, well, my team lost. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Crissom? Grillow? I think I’ll stick with GCR

For now, back to the Graveyard Shift. We were a group of fans and the majority of us were also fanfic writers who shipped Gil and Catherine. What started as a small core group of co-writers who’d watch episodes together while chatting on AOL Instant Messenger grew into a community of hundreds. But even as the group grew and we made new friends, there was always a great core group, some of whom I still talk to today even though the Graveyard Shift faded away long ago. For those first couple of years, I was heavily, heavily invested in the Graveyard Shift. I was the founder and quickly dubbed the “fearless leader,” and thus felt inclined to lead by example, writing a lot, helping others edit and develop ideas and just keeping the conversation going. Now a days I find myself doing a lot of the same thing on a daily basis, professionally and personally, but at the time, it was extremely taxing, and I’m okay with admitting that I got burnt out really quickly.

You know, if they aren’t going to end up together in the show, maybe don’t have them hanging all over each other in every promo shot. I’m just saying…

But the other problem is that the show really took a turn for the worse around season 4. Sure, we got Lady Heather (who I ADORE) every once in a while, but as the seasons went on, the episodes got increasingly predictable, the characters went in weird directions, there were major cast changes and yes, my ship sank. It was disappointing to say the least.

For the record: Lady Heather and Grissom…totally okay in my book….though I don’t know what you’d call that ship.

I could go on about how the sort of collapse of the CSI fandom, or at least my turning away from it, had a weird domino effect in terms of my relationship with fandom, etc, but I’ll spare you that for now.

Just look at Lady Heather so I don’t have to tell you the sad story of 10 years of writers block and fandom absence.

In my time in the fandom, however, the merchandise was just starting to flow. There were of course DVDs of the first few seasons, and as the show and it’s Miami and New York spinoffs progressed, there were computer games, board games, all of sorts of CSI everything. The first soundtrack, containing lots of wonderful post-triphop (yes, that’s a technical term) was released, but in my time in the fandom, the biggest development was what I’m going to be reviewing, the CSI comic series.

This was a backboard for a CSI pinball machine…yes, CSI pinball is a thing that happened.

In 2003, IDW, who at the time was known for 30 Days of Night, launched its first ever TV tie-in comic with a five part miniseries based on CSI. The arc was called “Serial,” and was written by Max Allan Collins, a mystery writer who’s also known for his movie novelizations (including the great novelization of the first X-Files film) and TV tie-in novels. The artwork was done by Gabriel Rodriguez, who went on to be the primary artist on Locke & Key.

CSI: Serial # 1 **1/2
Released in 2003 Cover price $3.99 IDW #1 of 5

It’s nighttime in Las Vegas, and a young woman’s body is found near a dumpster. Gil Grissom and his team of CSI’s are called in to gather evidence at scene and find something odd, an authentic reproduction of a woman’s bonnet from the 19th century. Catherine and Warrick focus on the bonnet and the body while Nick and Sarah question potential witnesses and doing so, stumble upon another body, this one in a dumpster. In the autopsy room, Catherine observes signature stab wounds before she and Grissom are called to yet another scene. There’s a dead prostitute who’s been stabbed similarly the other victim, and Grissom begins to compare the cases to the murders of Jack the Ripper.

I had completely forgotten that this series had a Jack the Ripper parallel, which is oh so fitting given that CSI was sort of my last big fandom (in which I was actively participating in said fandom), and Ripper Street is basically my first fandom back in the game nearly 10 years later. This first issue is a bit slow, but there’s a lot of story to set up and the details are compelling enough to make you eager to read the next one and see how the story unfolds. The artwork is a nice mix of realistic but still comic-esque work and more abstract, painted looking panels for the flashbacks and/or quickshots that were used in the show as transitions between scenes and coming back from commercials. So speaking of transitions, let’s get moving on to the next issue and see how our Ripper mystery unfolds.

CSI: Serial #2 ***
Released in 2003 Cover price $3.99 IDW #2 of 5

We open with Grissom, Catherine and Warrick at the second “Ripper” crime scene. Grissom begins to explain the parallels with this murder and that of Ripper victim Polly Nichols, but they note that although staged as much, Gail Kelly (the victim) was not actually a prostitute. Meanwhile, Nick and Sarah begin to piece together the particulars of the dumpster murder victim, who’s likely not connected to the Ripper murders. They discover the woman’s identity and begin to search her apartment for clues finding garbage packs seemingly full of evidence. Grissom, Warrick and Catherine discover an interesting link to their case; there’s a convention for Jack the Ripper enthusiasts currently happening in Las Vegas. Warrick visits the convention and of course everyone there denies everything. The case seems stalled as elsewhere in the city, a prostitute is ready to meet her end at the hand of the faux Ripper.

Now we’re moving right along…sort of. I recall my mom complaining that CSI was a bit slow for her liking and if the comic is any indication of the pacing of the show, in retrospect, I can see what she means. It’s super procedural, which is why I think I lost interest in the show after a few seasons. You can only watch the same things over and over for so long. Anyway, that’s more of a judgement on the source material than the comic itself. Despite being a tad slow, it’s very well written, good artwork. Hopefully the story speeds up in the next issue so let’s get to it.

CSI: Serial # 3 ***
Released in 2003 Cover price $3.99 IDW #3 of 5

At the scene of the latest murder, Grissom Cath and Warrick talk through the similarities between this case and another Ripper victim, and Grissom observes a change in motive. Back at the lab, Nick and Sarah are ready to give up on the evidence collected in the garbage bags when Greg shows up with DNA evidence from 3 different sources, one female (the victim) and two male, one of which was related to the victim. Later that night Catherine follows up on a lead that Gail Kelly, one of the victims was HIV positive, while Grissom is visited by Hines, the reporter who’s been following the case. He’s obtained a recording on the newspaper’s tipline that may foretell the faux ripper’s next move. Meanwhile Catherine’s got a a lead of her own when she tracks Gail Kelly’s whereabouts through some show dogs, but comes up short. But Nick and Sarah’s lead begins to pan out. They find the victim’s brother whose DNA they obtained earlier and interrogate him. He points to the victim’s abusive boyfriend. The issue ends with Gil and Brass staking out the neighborhood where they Faux Ripper’s been striking. A suspect comes into view, but gets away…though not before leaving evidence on Grissom.

This issue started off a bit slowly and stayed that way, but a lot of things happened. It’s kind of the nature of a story like this that it’s a lot of nitty gritty details that go toward solving the mystery. As I get further into this story, I’ve noticed that I have to keep referring back to the earlier comics to keep the victims straight – that’s not a problem I recall having with the show,but maybe it’s because this particular story has a lot happening between the different CSI’s and the victims each paralleling the Ripper story. That parallel, by the way works really well for the most part, and I’m glad they chose to do this story in comic form rather than on TV. I think the harkening back to Victorian England would have been rather cheesy in the typical CSI-style flashbacks, but the artwork lends itself nicely to subtle stylistic differences between the modern and Victorian flashbacks. I’m very much looking forward to issue 4 because I cannot remember how this story ends…or in this case begins to end. So let’s go!

CSI: Serial #4 ***1/2
Released in 2003 Cover Price $3.99 IDW #4 of 5

We open where the last comic left off, at the scene of Grissom’s stakeout gone slightly awry. Catherine and Warrick arrive on the scene for backup. Grissom’s concerned that by letting the faux ripper go, they’ve only played right into his hand and encouraged him to follow the real ripper’s pattern. Meanwhile, Nick and Sarah interrogate the boyfriend of their garbage dump victim, and while he admits to being violent, he points the finger back at the girl’s brother. Grissom, Warrick and Catherine find another dog hair at the crime scene and one of the cops radios that they’ve got the suspect in their sites, but he once again escapes, this time leaving another body. Warrick mentions that the man running the Ripper convention is named Tumblety, meaning he may be a distant relative of an original Ripper suspect. If the case follows the original Ripper pattern, there’s only one victim left before the killer disappears so Grissom prepares to visit Tumblety.

The story’s progressing nicely in this issue, though I’m wondering how they’ll wrap everything up in only more comic without seeming cliched or contrived. I actually had to do some research on the whole Francis Tumblety thing because his name wasn’t ringing a bell from my prior Jack the Ripper reading. Tumblety was an actual Ripper suspect, and based on his biography, I’m wondering if he wasn’t a partial inspiration for Jackson on Ripper Street. Then again, I could probably link just about anything to Ripper Street if I tried hard enough (obsessed much?). I’m going to keep this one short as I’m eager to get to our conclusion. So onward to issue 5.

CSI: Serial #5 ***
Released in 2003 Cover Price $3.99 IDW #5 of 5

The media is on to the Ripper story, but the good news is that Sarah and Nick have solved the dumpster murder (it was the brother) and can help the rest of the team with the Ripper murders. They’re sent to Tumblety’s house while Grissom ambushes him at the Ripper convention in the middle of a panel discussion during which he’s passionately defending his ancestor. Grissom interrogates Tumblety, and it’s looking worse and worse as a knife found in his garbage is proved to be the murder weapon. So….whodunit? Well dear reader, I’m not going to spoil it for you. You’ll just have to read for yourself.

If you watched early 2000s crime dramas (CSI, Law & Order, Without a Trace), you won’t be terribly surprised by how the ending of this comic series panned out. It’s not a disappointing ending at all, and probably the first time I read it, it was really cool. Now, however, having seen it a million times, the ending feels just a bit cliche. Ultimately though, this is a really good series. The artwork and story are consistently well done and fit the sensibility of the show. An ad on the back of the final issue reminds me that IDW had already begun advertising a follow up story called “Thicker Than Blood,” which I also own and remember even less of than this first story. Perhaps I shall grace Rotten Ink once more to tell you all about it at some future point.

In the meantime, Matt will be returning for the next update and taking you on a delicious trek into the woods as you travel to Camp Candy.

IT! The True Terror of Space!

Posted on July 27, 2013 by bloodlinematt

Hey everyone, thanks for coming back. This update’s going to be a short one, and we will be taking a look at IDW’s “IT! THE TERROR FROM BETOND SPACE,” a 3 issue mini series based on the old 1958 black and white Sci-Fi film that has been released on DVD and VHS via MGM’s Midnight Movie line. MGM’s Midnight Movie line was a great way to own and re-watch classic films, and with the mass amount of this type of horror and sci-fi films in their vault, this was the perfect way to get them out, but like all good things, the label came to an end when MGM started to have major money issue that almost led to them being closed down for good. And that’s a shame; this DVD line had so much potential and made cult genre fans very happy.

Some of the best films to come out from this line besides IT! Terror from Beyond Space include The Return of Dracula, Motel Hell, The Angry Red Planet, The Raven, The Vampire Lovers, The Beast Within, Theater of Blood, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Dr. Phibes Rises Again!, Reptilicus, Konga, Countess Dracula, Count Yorga Vampire, Deranged and so many more amazing films. MGM, if you’re reading this, please bring the line back and get films like The Town That Dreaded Sundown on DVD!

Has anyone else noticed the huge boom in very attractive girls loving nerdy stuff? I work part time in a comic store and more and more, you see these amazing girl next-door types buying comics and Magic The Gathering cards and don’t seem to be ashamed of the fact they are. Plus I have been seeing and hearing more and more about cosplay becoming super popular with women who want to dress up as their favorite game/comic/movie character, and I for one am okay with this trend! It’s nice to see people not hiding what they like and coming right out and showing fellow fans how much they do as well. Say what you will, but my hat is off to you women of the world who embrace your nerdy ways! When I was a teen, my best friend was a girl and she used to say if I bought her a Wonder Woman costume she would have worn it. Looking back, I should have bought that costume. And just for fun here’s some women who dress like their favorite heroes, enjoy!

And how about some more!! I mean you can never have to many pictures of attractive girls dressed as your favorite fantasy characters.

And hell, why not a few more. The first girl is Ivy Doomkitty, my favorite of all the cosplay girls and she can truly pull off the Mrs. Marvel look, don’t you think?

IT! Terror From Beyond Space is a 1958 black and white Sci-Fi film directed by Edward L. Cahn and was distributed by United Artist. The story has a group on a rescue mission to Mars. They find only one survivor who they think killed his crewmates in order to survive. The journey home turns into a nightmare as an alien is aboard the ship and looking to kill them all. The film starred Marshall Thompson, Ray Corrigan, Shirley Patterson and Kim Spalding and is considered a cult classic. The film also inspired Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 film, Alien. The first time I saw this film was on a cruddy beat up VHS tape. It was late at night. I used to put horror films on before I would go to bed and fall asleep to them, but for some reason I was glued to this film and spent the whole time watching before I fell asleep. I remember loving the look of the creature and thinking they should have made a sequel. The film has been released on DVD and VHS, and has had a model kit made of the alien as well as a different comic book back in 1993. IT! The Terror From Beyond Space is a must see film for fans of Alien, The Thing From Another World, Mars Attacks or even War of the Worlds.

Now that we all have IT! on the brain, let’s get down to looking at IDW’s take on the classic Sci-Fi film. Remember I grade these on a standard 1-4 star rating and base it on entertainment value, quality of the story, the art and how true it stays to the source martial. So, onto the reviews.

IT! Terror From Beyond Space # 1 ***
Released in 2010 Cover Price $3.99 IDW Comics #1 of 3

The year is 1973, and spaceship Challenge 141 has gone missing on the planet Mars. Challenge 142 has been sent on a rescue mission to save any survivors if found. This rescue mission is run by Colonel Van Heusen and his team that consists of Ann Anderson his one time lover and scientist, security officer James Colder, husband and wife Eric and Mary Royce (he’s the fixer, she’s a doctor) and last is young rookie Joe who is the cleaner. But when they get to Mars, they find the missing ship destroyed and only one survivor Colonel Edward Caruthers. Things point to foul play as gun shots and skulls are found with bullet holes. The crew takes off, as Van wants to get Caruthers to trial for murder, all the while Caruthers is speaking of an IT that killed his crew. But something is on the ship brought on by Colder, and whatever it is gets Joe as issue one comes to an end.

This first issue is a fun sci-fi adventure that sets the story up and gets us closer to the characters on this doomed ship. While not much action happens here, it’s the slow build up and the flashback of Caruthers story that makes the atmosphere spooky and cheesy. Van Heusen comes off as a self-centered jackass who is more into himself then really trying to find out what happened to the “missing”/”dead” crew. Plus it’s clear he likes to still push Ann’s buttons. Ann seems to be the one more into facts and finding the truth about the accident and Mars. Also, not much is shown to why Colder brought the frozen alien on board that kills Joe in the end, making for some mystery. The other side storyline that comes to an end in this issue is the affair Mary is having with Joe, making you look down on each. See that’s the best part about this issue, each character has something about them that draws you in. While this is not a comic book version of the film, it’s a nice take on the film’s universe that shows what happened several years after, keeping the story alive. The alien at the end is puzzling though and looks nothing like the film’s IT. Over all this has a solid plot, good classic style art and characters that have depth. I can’t wait to read issue 2!

IT! Terror From Beyond Space # 2 ***
Released in 2010 Cover Price $3.99 IDW Comics #2 of 3

Caruthers has a bad feeling, and he and Van go to the lower level of the ship and find Joe’s body and a very pissed off alien who wants them dead. With the help of Colder, they manage to retrieve Joe’s body and escape and capture IT below. Van and Crew now all believe Caruthers and come up with a plan to use poison gas on IT, hoping to kill it once and for all. Mary meanwhile is heart broken over the death of her secret lover and finds out his body has been drained of all moisture, making her an emotional mess. The poison gas plan backfires, and Van is seriously injured during the attempt. They pull back again and come up with a new plan and to get Van medical help. In the end it’s shown that Colder brought IT aboard unknowingly via orders from the Pentagon, and this makes Mary very upset and she pulls a gun on Colder. And this ends issue 2, let’s see how the pay off comes in issue 3.

This issue makes all look grim as Van could be dying, Mary might blow Colder’s head off and IT is still on the ship looking to kill. This comic series feels like a classic film serial and is delivering on a fast paced fun ride and ending on cliffhangers that I am sure made classic Sci-Fi fans happy. But fans of the film might be a little annoyed with IT who looks 100% nothing like he does in the film. It’s clear in this issue that Ann and Caruthers are going to have to be the ones who save themselves and the crew from IT, as Van bull headedly rushed into his plan that left him with a cut to the guts. The panels of them trying to use the poison gas against IT are well done and show how bad ass the creature is as the gas doesn’t even phase him nor do their shock guns. Action, suspense and drama are here as this issue brings us one step closer to finding out if the crew or IT is going to win. Once more the plot, art and entertainment are here and make for a very good read. So let’s not waste any time and jump into issue 3!

IT! Terror From Beyond Space # 3 ***
Released in 2010 Cover Price $3.99 IDW Comics #3 of 3

All Hell breaks loose in this issue as Mary fires and misses Colder, and then they all must patch things up and forgive and forget to work together to try and stop IT from killing them all. The plan goes wrong as Van awakens in a fever fury and Ann must stop him for good before he kills them all, and Colder and Eric become IT food! Mary figures out the monsters weakness and alongside Ann and Caruthers they set IT up to overdose on water, its only true weakness. But like all plans, one of the crew members as well dies as Mary becomes the bait. In the end Caruthers and Ann must travel home with an unbelievable story and face the government for killing its creature.

Issue 3 brings the story home and is a pure blood bath as IT seems to want to feed on all the humans aboard the ship. The not so shocking yet effective thing in this issue is the fact only two of the characters survive and fall in love. They also step up the blood in this one as people are killed in brutal ways, as IT seems to want to feed on the human bodies’ moisture. By the end you feel bad for all those who lost their lives and find that Mary, while a dirty cheater, was still a great person with a sense of loyalty and love. This is a nice fast paced way to end this mini series and has enough horror, action and drama to please fans of horror comics. This is something I love to see, a great mini series with not a weak issue present.

While it takes names and places from the source material (in this case the film), the makers of the comic retold it and changed things to make it their own, and it works very well! The way the twist and turns happen in the comic help add to the suspense and changing the creature’s weakness from none to water was also a nice move and fans of the movie SIGNS should take a liking to it. IT’s look in the film is better than in the comic as for some reason the comic version reminded me of a giant frog with teeth, making it not as scary as it should be. I give credit to IDW for making this line of comics based on MGM’s Midnight Movies, and while so far only Motel Hell has joined IT, I still find the idea to be one that I hope gets further explored. Over all IT! Terror From Beyond Space is a fun mini series that was worth checking out for an old Horror/Sci-Fi fan like myself. I got these issues from the artist and writers direct at the comic convention called The Gem City Comic Con at Wright State University.

So now for a bonus I want to throw in a review for an old Gold Key comic based on the WB Looney Tune characters Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat. The best thing about this is the fact Sylvester is my second favorite Looney Tune character, and Tweety is my least favorite. Growing up Looney Tunes was super popular, and I can’t count the times I rented old VHS tapes from the local library to watch. My Brother and I both would watch it on TV when ever it was on. Sylvester always peeked my interest because I think he is a huge underdog who just wants to eat an annoying bird that torments and hurts him any chance he can. Tweety is a pompous ego manic who hides behind his high childish voice, and oh so sweet nature to be a complete A-Hole! I despise Tweety and everything he stands for, but I have noticed something about him and that’s girls seem to love that yellow bird. Many, many years back I had a girlfriend that was 19, who was cutesy and she loved Tweety bird, not sure why but she did, she even talked about at one time getting a Tweety Tramp Stamp (Lower Back Tattoo)! I think I would have had to leave her if she got that….I hate that bird!

But with that let’s get into this short review for issue # 43, and remember I grade these on a scale of 1-4 and base it on entertainment value, plot, how true it is to the source material and art. Thanks to Game Swap Kettering for this issue!

Tweety and Sylvester # 43 **
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Gold Key Comics #43 of 102

This issue is cut up into 4 short stories, and the first is “Back To Nature” with Sylvester wanting to go back to his roots. He and Tweety go to the jungle only for him to realize that he misses TV and air conditioning. 2^nd is “Food for Thought” and has Sylvester pretending to be a vegetarian even going to meetings, but his cover is blown while at the meeting Tweety crawls in between pieces of bread tempting him and showing him as a liar. “Photo Finish” is the 3^rd story and has Sylvester taking pictures of Tweety to win $10.00 from a newspaper photo contest. He wins and wants to buy his own bird to eat but the shop owner has a dog who wants to meet him in the ally. The final story is “Tat Trouble” has Sylvester trying to capture a burglar, but before he captures him, he also captures the Milk Man, Newspaper boy and many others!

This issue is a little boring and each story follows the same format. While that’s just like the cartoon, I feel it’s more fun to watch then it is to read. Three out of the four stories also have Tweety and Sylvester almost being friends and having mini little adventures with each other. To me, this takes it away from the source material and makes it feel like a fan made comic series. If I had to choose out of the 4 stories, my favorite would have to be“Food for Thought,” just for the clever use of vegetables, nuts and an AA style meeting. The cover is pretty classic slapstick stuff, and while generic, the stories are fun and goofy. I will say the art is pretty bad and Sylvester looks like a fat imitation who has blue eyes in some sections. Plus why does Sylvester talk normal without his lisp? Over all I am sure for the time this was a fun way for kids to have extra adventures of Tweety, but by today’s standards this is a cheap cash in that has only a base of the source material and just didn’t deliver, nor did it make for some fun retro style reading.

So in this update we learned about MGM’s Midnight Movies, took a look at IDW’s IT mini series, drooled over cute nerd chicks, looked at Sylvester and Tweety and you got to know a little more about my weird boring life. Next update, we should take a look at IDW’s 3 issue mini-series based on the farmer slasher film MOTEL HELL! So get your beef jerky ready, and fire up your chainsaw ’cause we are going to go down to the farm!

Rob Zombie presents The Legend of Bigfoot

Posted on June 3, 2013 by bloodlinematt

Ohio is known for many monsters, ghosts and beasts, and this is a great thing for a person like me who loves everything about the unknown and Cryptozoology. For those who don’t know what Cryptozoology is, Webster Dictionary has this as its meaning: ” the study of and search for animals and especially legendary animals (as Sasquatch) usually in order to evaluate the possibility of their existence”. From this form of study, one of my favorites is Sasquatch,better known as Bigfoot, and Ohio has had its share of Bigfoot sightings! So in this update we are going to take a look at IDW’s 4 issue miniseries, Bigfoot! This series is written by shock rocker and horror filmmaker Rob Zombie and Steve Niles, the man behind comic series 30 DAYS OF NIGHT. Now I know what your thinking: Matt this is not a classic Star or Marvel Comic, or even a old DC issue, and it’s not even that old only coming out in 2005. I understand that it breaks the mold that has been set but I figured since this is a blog about my youth and fun stories, then why not take a look at Bigfoot!

Bigfoot has been around since time has been recorded, and many Native American tribes have spoke of a giant hairy man that lived in the woods. Even outside of the USA sightings and records have been documented about the appearance of this creature. What is always reported alongside this unknown creature is large foot prints, a foul oder, howls and yells and even UFO’s in some cases.The most famous case that even got us quick video footage of the creature is the infamous Patterson Film. On October 20^th 1967 Roger Patterson (an author) and his friend Robert Gimlin were horseback riding in Bluff Creek when by a creek bed they spotted a Bigfoot. The creature was none combative and quickly retreated into the woods but not before Patterson was able to get his camera and take some footage of the creature. The footage was a media hit and gained Patterson and Gimlin fame among believers, but many people thought the story and film to be a hoax due to the holes in the friends’ story. Patterson died in 1972 of cancer but held strong that his footage is real. Gimlin, who is still alive and tours Bigfoot conventions as well, still holds to the story. But the debate remains to this day on whether or not this footage is fact of fiction. I happen to think that it’s very possible that this is in fact footage of a Bigfoot!

But with anything that is unproved without a shadow of doubt, there are hoaxes and one of the most recent ones came in 2008 when Rick Dyer and Matthew Whitton claimed that they found a dead Bigfoot in the woods of Georgia and had the body frozen in a freezer. This discovery lead the two men to press conferences on many major news outlets that included CNN and BBC, and gained them $50,000 from a Bigfoot research team for the body. But when the body was dropped off and thawed it was shown that the frozen Bigfoot was in fact a suit stuffed complete with roadkill animal guts. The suit was purchased from The Horror Dome, a Halloween online super store. Dyer and Whitton got in trouble for being pranksters and this sparked a rash of more hoaxes. One funny thing that happened after this event was on EBAY the Bigfoot Costume’s head became up for auction inside a cooler. When this story first broke that a Bigfoot body had been found, I was working for a used media store called Buy Backs, and I kept telling my store manager that they found him. He had also seen the picture and thought it looked fake from the first moment, but it became our inside joke as every morning I kept saying that we finally got him. While this was a hoax, it still was a fun time that got my blood pumping.

One of Ohio’s most well known Bigfoot is The Ohio Grassman who is seen mostly in Kenmore. He is said to be 7 to 9 feet tall and to have huge feet and a more human face. Many claim he is a Bigfoot, while others try to say it’s just a tall homeless human. But whatever it is, it’s been known to attack people in the wooded areas. The History Channel had a show called Monster Quest, and in 2008 they tried to see if this thing was real. By the end of the show they could not prove or disprove that the creature was real. Another famous Bigfoot around here is The White Eyed Bigfoot, who in Eaton Ohio in 1977 chased some kids around a bridge and through a open field, scaring the boys half to death. Josh Weinberg and I have traveled to this location in 2003-2005 and looked for this Bigfoot. We found no footprints or any other evidence that the creature was still around. The area was very quiet, and the site would have been a perfect place for a Bigfoot to hideout. That’s another great thing, besides Josh I have many other friends that use to love to go monster/ghost hunting with me that included my cousin Stephen Alexander, Jason Gilmore, Andrea Seay, Misty Altick, Matt Hoffman, Dave Wean and Kevin Kinsley. And while most of the time we would not find anything, it was the times we did and the fun we had that made those moments outstanding. For season two of Terrifying Tales of The Macabre Baron Von Porkchop alongside Iris and Retina (of the show Mondo Smash A-Go-Go) go on the hunt for Eaton’s White Eyed Bigfoot.

Besides tabloid magazines, Bigfoot has also made his way into film and television and here are some of the creature’s most known appearances. In 1976, a Bionic Bigfoot (played by WWF Wrestler Andre The Giant) was featured on an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. This episode proved to be one of the most popular in the TV series run. In 1977, a kids Saturday morning program called Bigfoot and Wildboy amazed the youth for a short amount of time. 1976 showed a slow-paced semi documentary film called Legend of Bigfoot. In 1987, a family film called Harry and the Hendersons showed a gentle Bigfoot and sparked a new love for the creature, especially in kids. And most recently Jack Links Beef Jerky runs ads about messing around with the beast and pulling pranks on it. Not to mention many more films that have been made about the creature and other ones just like it.

One other quick thing I want to mention before we get into the review for IDW’s Bigfoot series is that we have talked about spottings, hoaxes, local legends, film and TV but let’s talk about toys and merchandise! Yes, if Bigfoot could make money on his likeness, it would be a very rich creature. Bigfoot has had t-shirts, stuffed toys, action figures, board games, video games, lawn statues, stamps, beer, Halloween masks and costumes, books, comics, a monster truck named after him and so much more based on him. Some of the best stuff include the Monster In My Pocket Bigfoot figure, The Bionic Bigfoot action figure, the Bigfoot rubber stamp footed action figure, the Milton Bradley Board Game and the best is Mezco’s figure that came in a line alongside The Jersey Devil, Mothman and the Lochness Monster!

So now that we have some quick facts about this famed creature, let’s take a look at a comic series that peeked my interest back in 2005 when they were released. This makes only my second time reading this mini series since it came out so I am hyped to see what I think of it this many years removed from its first run. Remember I grade these comics on a 1-4 star ratting, so with that let’s get to the reviews!

Bigfoot # 1 ***
Released in 2005 Cover Price $3.99 IDW #1 of 4

It’s 1973 at Happy Trails Camp Ground, and Billy Fuller is a 9 year old boy on his way to a fun time with his mom and dad. At night Billy is hearing weird noises that are filling the night air around their cabin. Scared by this he goes to his Dad, and the two make plans to go fishing early the next morning. As Billy goes to bed his mother and father decide to mess around, but this fun time is cut short as a Bigfoot busts in and attacks the couple. In the fight the father is able to take out on of the beast’s eyes as Billy and his pet dog enter and the dog goes on the attack. The fight leaves his father and dog dead, and his mother is dragged off by the creature. When Billy is found the next morning he is in shock, and the cops walk into a bloodbath that they claim is nothing more then a bear attack. But one cop seems to know it’s something more. The issue ends with Billy waking up years later and older having a nightmare about his mother being raped and Bigfoot being his new father!

This is a fun take on the Bigfoot legend and turns what is suppose to be a gentle beast into a blood thirsty, perverted meat eating killing machine. This first issue is a nice way to build the story and has main character Billy being 9 years old and shows the event that has tormented him throughout his life. The pace is very quick, and in fact this seems like a very quick read (only 23 pages) and goes for broke when in the first few pages Bigfoot slaughters a deer. The Bigfoot looks great and scaring up his eye helps add a more menacing look to an already large intimidating beast. This issue also keeps me wondering what is going to happen in issue 2, and makes me want to ask questions like was Billy’s mom ever found and if not is she still alive? What does the cop know that he’s not telling? And what is Billy going to do now? All these questions make for a comic that has captured my imagination. The art for Bigfoot is great but the humans are just too “modern” and strange looking for my taste. Many times they look like the have been hit by Joker’s laughing gas. The cover is a nice take on the old Patterson Bigfoot footage and that’s pretty kick ass in my book. Great first issue to kick off this limited series that makes me look forward to re-reading issue 2.

Bigfoot # 2 ***
Released in 2005 Cover Price $3.99 IDW #2 of 4

It’s now 2004, and a man is driving down the road when a 900 pound bear’s carcass is thrown at his moving car crushing him. When the cops arrive they find that the man’s body is missing. Billy is now a man who has some major issues and is still haunted by the image of Bigfoot making him want to buy a big shotgun. Meanwhile in the woods Bigfoot has attacked two young girls and a pack of boys who are riding four wheelers and goes ballistic and blood thirsty on them, leaving only one girl alive. It’s nighttime as Billy packs up what he needs and leaves his wife and son behind to head back to Happy Trails Camp Ground.

Issue two is more sizzle than steak as most of the issue is spent on Bigfoot attacks, and I am okay with this! While Billy is still the focus and it,s shown that he is a man with lots of issues, he gets the nerve to take a stand and go after the one thing that scares him. I like where this is leading as Billy is now more focused and wants to hunt his tormenter. The cop is now a sheriff and we’re shown that he is going to try and cover up the bear crash. Bigfoot in this issue is one mean S.O.B who spends most his time brutally killing innocent people. He is also shown now to be super fast as he runs and catches up to a four wheeler and gives the driver the best kill of the issue as he pounds the injured kid into the ground and splats him like a grape. The plot of this one is a nice follow up to the first issue and still in the process builds a little more to the story that we are reading to unfold. Great cheesy horror film style plot, blood and gore, decent art and a wicked cover makes issue two a fun time. Let’s see if issue 3 keeps this pace up.

Bigfoot # 3 **1/2
Released in 2005 Cover Price $3.99 IDW #3 of 4

Hicks (the cop from issues 1-2) is in the woods and finds a rotten body of a human as a female deputy comes for him to tell him they captured a man with many guns in the woods, and that man is Billy Fuller. Hicks leaves the deputy there as Bigfoot comes calling and eats her face off. In a jail cell Billy speaks to Hicks about his parents’ death and why it was covered up. Hicks opens up to Billy and tells him about when he was a young boy he also had a run in with Bigfoot that left him scared of the creature in the woods. Billy tells Hicks that they both need to face the creature and kill it once and for all. As Bigfoot attacks a family’s camper, Billy and Hicks are preparing for the ultimate hunt.

This issue slows down a bit and while still good seems to be a little more filler than the last two issues. This issue’s main focus is Hicks and his fear of the beast and his patching things up with Billy who he made to look like a liar so many years ago. In this issue Billy seems to be the button pusher who wants to get help on his hunt from a man who he feels owes him. Bigfoot has only two kills in this one, the best being when he eats the female deputy’s face! This issue keeps the story going but is a little less impactful as the past issues, making this one an average issue that seems to be more about keeping the story going to make it to the four issue mini series deadline. Not much much more to say about this issue: okay plot, good art, eye catching cover and Bigfoot going ape shit once more sums up this issue that made the series loose a little steam. Let’s see how the final issue plays out, shall we?

Bigfoot # 4 **
Released in 2005 Cover Price $3.99 IDW #4 of 4

Billy and Hicks alongside a rookie deputy go out into the woods to find the missing deputy and Bigfoot, and they don’t have to wait long as Bigfoot attacks them knocking Hicks off a cliff and sending the rookie running for his life. Billy must face the beast one on one and hits the creature with some major blows as the beast takes a shotgun blast to the back and a knife to his skull but this seems to not even slow down the Bigfoot! During the battle Billy falls down a hole and lands in a cave were he finds that the Bigfoot and a mate and kids. Billy hides in a small section of the cave as Bigfoot comes to his family’s aid and tries to reach the human to protect and kill. Billy uses his flashlight and shotgun shells to make a bomb that blows the cave up, and then bashes Bigfoot’s brains in with a rock and knocking its body off the cliff. In the end Billy finds Hicks who is still alive and suspended from trees, and the nightmare has ended for them both. While in the cave a baby Bigfoot is under some rocks as a adult Bigfoot hands remove it.

This issue seems so rushed, and while the fight between Billy and Bigfoot is cool, it just seems very thrown together and not as epic as what you would hope for and what was built up to be. The whole build up is well done, and when they finally get out to the woods two out of the three characters are not used and not even killed off, and given this Bigfoot’s track record of murder I don’t see how Billy really stood a chance. The issue is more fighting action with the art being bigger, showing, in my opinion, that they ran out of story line and used the bigger art to take up pages. I do like the fact the Bigfoot took a shotgun blast and a knife to the skull and still came after his target showing that this creature was a true fighter and protector. A neat aspect of the issue is the Bigfoot family members who are in a cave that is scattered with human bones showing that when it killed, it brought home the human meat to feed its family. But over all this is a lackluster way to end this 4 issue mini series and for me was a huge letdown. The cover art on this one is also pretty well done.

This series started out with a bang and looked as if it was going to be a fun solid Bigfoot horror book that was done in the same vein as “Night of the Demon,” an old 1980 movie where Bigfoot goes around murdering people. The character build up is well done in the first three issues and let’s you a little inside the mind of Billy and even Sheriff Hicks, two men that live in fear of the one eyed Bigfoot. One thing I did notice as well is issue 1 seemed to pull no punched with the blood and gore while the rest seemed to have blood and gore, just not so in your face with it. The storyline is fun but a little weak for four issues; this could have been easily wrapped up in 2 or 3 at the most, in my opinion showing that they made this last 4 for the sake of a contract or money. The art is hit and miss with me. Bigfoot looks great, but the people look like big mouth freaks who have been zapped with Joker’s laughing gas! I am sure that one of the main reasons I have a soft spot for this comic series is the fact I am a Bigfoot fan, but it’s one I will sum up like this: it starts with a bang and goes down with a mere yell.

Oh, I also wanted to share with you this picture of me with some friends at a Halloween party, and yes, I am the one dressed as Bigfoot! These guys are also my co-workers and are all around kick ass people. I also dressed up as Bigfoot for an episode of Terrifying Tales of the Macabre, and both times dressing up as the creature I had a blast!

Well let’s take a look at 2001’s One Second Too Late and its 2007 sequel Two Seconds Too Late more films put out/made for Independent B Movie! As I have stated, Josh Weinberg was in a class with my brother Bryan taught by Andy Copp and one of the classes project was to make a short film. While my brother made the trippy stop motion film “Nightmare,” Josh Weinberg set out to make a slasher film that followed a crazed man who escapes from an asylum and kills as a detective tracks him. He set out to make that film but really made a film about a young man who’s dad is a drunk and beats and shoves him down stairs, and the aftermath of this warps the direction of the film. Weinberg armed with a VHS camera and tripod came over for his first day of the film shoot and cast himself as the troubled young man also named Josh and cast me as his best friend. We shot this at 10 Wilmington Place, a retirement home as we chatted in the car about him needing to move out of his father’s house, and Josh’s worries of doing so. The first day of filming was a breeze and took no time to get right. The second day of filming was more of a pain as my brother and I got into a huge argument before Weinberg came over, making me not help on most of the shoot and sit in my room playing Baseball Stars on the NES. My brother was casted as the Drunken Father, and the tripod was used as the cameraman as Josh and Bryan acted out this emotional look at child abuse that lead to Josh being pushed down stairs or better yet running down stairs breaking my parents banister and having one of the worst “stunts” in our company’s history. The fall leads the Josh character into a nightmare world of murder and suicide that ends with a shockingly. From there Josh went home and shot some scenes of his own that involved suicide. The film’s camera was off center in shots making crotches and stuff the center of shots, but some how this worked! Weinberg during editing left the chroma key effect on given the finished project a dirty yet some how appropriate look. The film played in Copp’s class and a film class Josh was also taking and earned him a good grade in both classes. This film and Werewolf of Ohio were written about in the Dayton Impact Weekly. While the rest of Independent B Movie snubbed the film, I for one think Weinberg did a great job. Sadly this is the least selling movie on VHS and DVD.

A few years later Weinberg started a sequel to his film that had a group of kids being haunted by the Ghost of Josh, but after only two days of filming the film was canceled. But in 2004, Weinberg started it up again, and this time it followed his best friend (once more played by me) and his girlfriend (played by my then girlfriend Misty Altick) trying to hunt down and find Josh who has been missing, while the drunken father tried to throw them off the track. The film’s shooting was plagued with setbacks and took years to get finished, and after it wrapped, Andy Copp edited and did the music score for the film that was released quietly on DVD with the original. While these films might not be huge sellers, they still have a place in the history of Independent B Movie and mark the first two films Josh Weinberg directed.

This is the most violent comic series we have looked at so far and won’t be the last. One of the things that I loved in my youth and to this day is horror films and with more horror film-inspired comics out there then I can shake a stick at, look for every once in a while a update about them. So be prepared for Halloween, Night Breed, Werewolf, A Nightmare on Elm Street and so many more! We also took a quick look at Josh Weinberg’s shot on video classic. And with that let’s get back to basics and take a look at another great series from Marvel Comics based on a cartoon and toy line on the first mutated super hero from New Jersey and a rag tag team of freaks. This means I could only be talking about The Toxic Crusaders! Thanks to Mavericks Cards and Comics for this review who stocked this title in 2005 and put every issue into my pull file. See you next blog entry for a toxic good time.