**AS ALWAYS BE MINDFUL THAT THERE WILL BE SLIGHT SPOILERS, READ AT YOUR OWN PERIL!!**

Crossed 2014 Special #2

Writer: Justin Jordan
Art: Fernando Heinz
Reviewer: Ray “I got my eyes Crossed” Willis

Crossed still continues to be one of the most graphic and violent comics out there but I love it. We are usually accustomed to zombies, robots, or aliens taking over the world but Crossed gives us a look at a world as if the 28 Days virus really let loose. In this issue of Crossed, we go to a federal prison where Jesse Bullock is held and keeps his cousin Otis out of trouble but when the “Crossed” are involved there’s going to be lots of blood and depravity.

Justin Jordan works up a fairly simple story for this issue of special issue of Crossed with introducing us to an inmate there planning to make an escape but has to deal with the daily shanking in a shower. The first scene in the book is a few prisoners trying to get the jump Jesse in the shower but the fight scene that happened during that scene is really nice. It reminds me of the fight scene in “Eastern Promises” with Viggo Mortensen but gets broken up and Jesse is sent to solitary confinement. You get to see why Jesse is there and why he plans on escaping the federal prison. Jesse is a bad guy but wants to look out for his cousin Otis, who isn’t the toughest guy in the prison. The story is cohesive but when an inmate who is infected arrives everything goes crazy and that’s when things go south very quickly. I can say for one thing; this series is not for the faint of heart and this coming from a horror fan. The scenes in this issue and others are brutal and violent. I’m not going to get into what happens in the outbreak scene but Fernando Heinz really captures the brutality of the infected. The art is really good and really matches the brutality and craziness of the “Crossed” infected prisoners and guards.

This issue wasn’t bad but it felt really had a generic plot and when it’s about the Crossed, it comes down to survival at all costs and staying away from their deadly blood. You can only do so much with one story that focuses on characters in a prison. There is a cliffhanger ending but in the “Crossed” series, you have to ask is there really such thing as that? The art was good and really matches the tone of the series. I do love the “Crossed” series with its interesting stories of survival and branching stories but for someone picking this up beware it’s very violent. Also this is a mature book so watch out for what’s to come if you pick this up.

3.5 out of 5 Crossed Inmates

Rot and Ruin #2

Writer: Jonathan Maberry
Artist: Tony Vargas
Color Artist: Olive Lee Arce
Reviewer: Ray Willis

As we left off in the last issue Benny Imura and his group is trapped in a hospital with no means of escape from the imminent threat of the zoms that lay outside the room they are in, will the group be able to get out?

This issue was really good with bringing in some really clever elements about what going on. Jonathan Maberry has really helped me remember why zombies are zombies and the meeting of groups in the zombie infested world. With comics like “The Walking Dead” showing what you have to do to survive and struggle against not just zombies but humans really breaks the mold. His writing is really clever and has characters that are likeable but still have some moral compass to them. When one of the characters decides to kill the zombie babies the others decide to stop that person and it does bring up a good question of do zombies really feel pain? The art is also very good working well with the strong writing from Maberry. The look and feel of the zombies and humans look really amazing. We do get see some zombie babies as well, along with a new camp and people Benny meets after escaping the hospital.

I did not really find anything bad about this issue. The writing brings you in and lets you get to know these characters. The characters are likeable and have interesting stories furthermore; the characters are strong but also still have morals to them. This is a really good read and if you like “The Walking Dead” or anything zombie related pick this up. It’s only two issues in so it will not be hard to catch up.

5 out of 5 Zoms

Starlight #6
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Goran Parlov
Reviewer: Oz Longworth aka Not To Be Confused With Black Dynamite

Okay, I’ll say it. Mark Millar writes his books at a pace I can only describe as glacial, but even with the delays, you have to hand it to the man. He can write his ass off. It took a while to get here but the finale to his space epic, Starlight is here. And, HOLY SHIT, we’re glad to see it!

It’s the bottom of the ninth for our hero, Duke McQueen. The traitor is revealed, Tilda Starr, “Space Boy” and the rest of the resistance is finally captured and facing certain execution. Kingfisher’s control of Tantalus is nearly absolute. The odds are against our hero, to say the least. But of course, McQueen The GAWD has a plan for a last ditch effort to take home the win. Obviously, there are some very familiar beats to this issue and, ultimately, the story as a whole, but Millar approaches the whole endeavor in a way that isn’t jaded or cynical (as much of his work could be accused of being). Starlight is an upbeat, hopeful masterpiece that reduces its reader to a child, cheering out loud for the good guys to win. I don’t know if Millar intended for this to be a send up of space opera, but he took it one step further and created a successor to a throne previously occupied by titans such as Flash Gordon and John Carter of Mars. The visuals here are some of the best I’ve seen all year. Goran Parlov spared no creative expense to ensure this is the best looking book of the series. I mean, there is something exciting to look at in every single panel. I complain every time that the book could have stood to give us a splash page here and there, but that’s a piece of fanwhining that’s more a testament to how beautiful this book is.

Bottom Line: Millar and Parlov’s collaboration is the closest thing I’ve seen this year to a superhero team up in real life. The result is a kind, heartwarming finish to a truly great tale that will go down as some of Millar’s best work.

5 out of 5 Dukes of Earl