Written and drawn by Ross Campbell the same guy who does the amazing book, Wet Moon, for Minx. Minx was DC's attempt at attracting more female readers by tapping some of the industries best independent creators for a handful of really fucking awesome digest sized books.
Water Baby is the story of a young surfer who during a set gets attacked by a shark and loses her leg as a result. The story jumps forward several months where Brody is refusing to wear her prosthetic leg and now has a roommate in her best friend Louisa who has been tapped with the job of watching after Brody during this difficult time in her life. Brody is a tattooed, pierced tomboy hottie. Louisa is a little more laid back and feminine. Brody has dreams about shark attacks that become reminiscent of a Salvidor Dahli painting is it's obscurity and abstractness.
Brody's ex, Jake shows up one day saying her mom said he could stay with the duo. Brody's been trying to get over Jake, who never even wrote or stopped by during Brody's rehab or hospital stay. The next several weeks, that was only supposed to last a few days, Jake spends on the couch vegging out and not getting a job, eating all the ice cream sandwiches. This reminded me of my mom's second husband, who got fired from his job shortly after the wedding and then refused to get another, eating all the ice cream sandwiches and throwing away my stuffed animals. He was a 'Nam vet who had a drug habit. Mom didn't let that last too long tho. Brody on the other hand let's Jake just loaf and not do shit. The tool even brings some piece of jail bate to the house and almost gets laid before being caught by Brody and Louisa. Jake gets wasted one night, throwing up all over the couch and living room. To which Brody calls enough, steals her mom's car and her, Louisa and Jake are off the New York to drop Jake off at his folks'.
The road trip yields some unplanned results, including the car being stolen and Jake picking up on some other piece of jail bate at a diner. The girl ends up riding with the trio. Finally reaching their destination, Jake is dropped off and Louisa and Brody begin their long journey back to Florida where it all began.
This book had a lot of the great qualities that made me like Wet Moon, Campbell's other solo book series. But there was some stuff I didn't care for. Ross does an amazing job with facial expressions. However his lack of diversity when rendering males or seriously butch chicks is a bit frustrating. However both Brody and Louisa were wholly original in their appearances. Especially with all the ink Brody sports. Water Baby is an awesome ride, with some unforgettable characters, with the exception of Jake. But there's always got to be in order to make you love the other characters even more than you would if all the characters were equally cool.
The book fires on seven of eight cylinders. And for sheer purposes of this review, as it pertains to hardcore moments in wrestling history, I take you back to 2001. Shortly after both ECW and WCW had gone out of business. One night on Raw, during a WWF vs. WCW match Kane and Jericho took on the Awesome Mike Awesome and Lance Storm. During the match two guys jump the railing and with Storm and Awesome take out Jericho and Kane. The two are revealed to be Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer. To the rescue of the WWF superstars runs out the B team of the WWF. They face off with Kane and Y2J against the four invaders. However you realize something is off. And then it hits you. The remaining six guys are the Dudley Boys, Rhino, Raven, Taz and Justin Credible. All ECW guys. The brawl starts as the group of ten begins destroying Jericho and Kane. All topped by Paul Heyman on color saying, "I want you to remember this moment." Takes off his headset and climbs into the ring proclaiming the ECW is invading.
Showing posts with label ross campbell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ross campbell. Show all posts
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wet Moon vol. 1-5; A Hardcore Review
I already reviewed volume on of Ross Campbell's Wet Moon series, but I'm gonna review all five volumes of it right here and now. For those of you who do not know, Wet Moon is THEE slice of life comic. And if you're not reading it you are either broke or a fucking idiot. Or maybe you just read super hero books. And if you're broke, go out and rob someone, but don't steal the book, cause Ross is a small press guy. He doesn't work with a contract, he hasn't sold the rights to his work for a movie or tv show. And if you just read super hero comics, put down a book you're unsatisfied with and pick this up. And if you're just a fucking idiot, sorry, but there's really nothing I can recommend to fix that. But maybe reading Wet Moon might help. IT SURE AS FUCK WON'T HURT! This series was recommended to my by my dealer, Charlie Harris, of Charlies Comics in Tucson, Arizona. And unlike a lot of comic shop owners, Charlie reads every new comic that comes into his shop. So he knows all the storylines, hot characters and even what's most appropriate for readers of any age, or pertaining to their tastes.
Wet Moon stars a plethora of amazing characters including Cleo, Trilby, Penny, Mara, Audrey, Fern and Maladay. It takes place in Wet Moon, Florida on the campus of a university. The story entails the lives of these characters and more, and their everyday lives, which rarely involve anything inside a classroom or doing any semblance of homework. Nope, it mostly involves relationships. And at the pinnacle of that, mostly lesbian relationships. I dunno, possible that Campbell has a fetish for the lesbians. Maybe he's trying to make a statement. Or maybe, much like fat man of slackerdom, Kevin Smith, Ross may have a family member that he's secretly outing by fervently referencing homosexuality. Maybe...
In light of all that, Wet Moon is fucking amazing. I keep telling people about it. And some people pull the whole, "I only read action comics." And maybe this will never get past the thick skull you got, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna stop trying. Fuck, I'll sing the praises of Wet Moon until Ross Campbell till I'm blue in the face and he sends me a half dozen restraining orders and some free art to shut me up cause, as he'll put it, "it's not helping."
This book has everything. But my favorite character is by far Trilby Bernarde. She's the balance to this whole thing. Cleo's usually down in the dumps about whether she should stay with Myrtle, who's actually a butcher knife wielding psychopath or hook up with one of her long time friends, whom she kissed while sharing a hotel room with Trilby and Glen when they went to a comic book convention where Trilby made Cleo cosplay as Lillith from Darkstalkers while she went as Felicia. My comic book crush Becky "Demo" Cloonan even has a cameo in volume 4.
And Ross, with respect to Justice League's Kevin Maguire, does the best facial expressions in the business. It is how I aim to focus my artwork. I am working on over exaggeration of my characters. Not just of their facial expressions, but of their posture, movement and bodies as a whole. It's one of the first things they teach you when you decide you want to be an animator. Just take a look at everything Pixar does, or Anime, it's all there. And if you're an aspiring comic book creator, who isn't bent on realism where a lot of this is lost, study Ross Campbell and Kevin Maguire.
Campbell has done other works, including Water Baby from the Minx imprint from DC a few years back and Shadoweyes from Slave Labor Graphics. But I gotta think that Wet Moon is Ross' baby. I carted my copy of volume three to Comic Con International this past summer to have Ross sign it, and got to talk to him a little bit about things. He told me that he is shooting for ten volumes of Wet Moon. So we have a few years yet of the daily ins and outs of these amazing characters.
There are some great storylines going on in the pages of Wet Moon. Including Myrtle's homicidal tendencies and who she'll go after next; the mystery of the "Cleo Eats It" signs posted around campus; the Worm Lizards' season, who is "Unknown?", Fern and her obsession with Penny Lovedrop; Penny's bastard pregnancy; Cleo and who is she gonna choose; Maladay's obsession with collecting and then showing Cleo all of the signs posted around campus; and many many more.
Wet Moon would make an awesome live action television show, or a phenomenal animated series. Each volume could be collected in a season.
Wet Moon is the best thing to happen to graphic novels in recent memory. As painful as it is waiting for the next volume to be finished, I think it's better than getting one issue and then having to wait a month or more for my next bump. I don't think that some people realize how addicting comics are to some people. When I pick up Wet Moon I could easily jam through the whole thing in one sitting, but that might cheapen the experience. "She is like a fine aged whore, who laughs at you when you take your clothes off. But you keep going back, because she is the only prostitute you can afford."
Wet Moon is one of the top reads every time it comes out. I am super glad I got past the idea of only reading so called "super hero" books. Cause honestly, lately there's been not a whole lot of super going on in my opinion. And far too many titles that don't belong on a shelf taking up space when something like Wet Moon is usually, if carried by said shop, put on a trade paperback shelf where it is much harder to locate. But go to your local shop and ask them for it. And if they no have it, knock all the "big two" off the new comic rack and start singing Green Day's "Basket Case" at the top of your lungs while running out the door.
You want a grade for this? You seriously want a grade for this book? Well, I just quit smoking, and I'm no where close to alcohol of any kind so here you fucking go. Mother's Day 2000. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Rave. Extreme Championship Wrestling's pay per view called Hardcore Heaven. The match, almost six months in the making. Yoshihiro Tajiri, "The Japanese Buzzsaw." The man you better not be a midget around, cause he'll kick your fucking head off Tajiri. Yeah, that Tajiri. And his opponent, "The King of Old School" Steve Corino. Corino was pissed cause Tajiri had won the vacated World Television Title. And afterward, he was forced to hand the belt over to "the Network's" chosen successor, Rhino. And when "the Network" screwed Tajiri, he got pissed, and started kicking everything in his path. And that included the bleached blond heel, Corino. This culminated in a battle that included a "four alarm" blade job by Corino that stained his nearly white locks crimson. It was fucking amazing. The only gripe I have about this match is the finish. Which somehow got edited from the table being set up to the pinfall under the busted remnants of said table. Happy Mother's Day Ma'!
Wet Moon stars a plethora of amazing characters including Cleo, Trilby, Penny, Mara, Audrey, Fern and Maladay. It takes place in Wet Moon, Florida on the campus of a university. The story entails the lives of these characters and more, and their everyday lives, which rarely involve anything inside a classroom or doing any semblance of homework. Nope, it mostly involves relationships. And at the pinnacle of that, mostly lesbian relationships. I dunno, possible that Campbell has a fetish for the lesbians. Maybe he's trying to make a statement. Or maybe, much like fat man of slackerdom, Kevin Smith, Ross may have a family member that he's secretly outing by fervently referencing homosexuality. Maybe...
In light of all that, Wet Moon is fucking amazing. I keep telling people about it. And some people pull the whole, "I only read action comics." And maybe this will never get past the thick skull you got, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna stop trying. Fuck, I'll sing the praises of Wet Moon until Ross Campbell till I'm blue in the face and he sends me a half dozen restraining orders and some free art to shut me up cause, as he'll put it, "it's not helping."
This book has everything. But my favorite character is by far Trilby Bernarde. She's the balance to this whole thing. Cleo's usually down in the dumps about whether she should stay with Myrtle, who's actually a butcher knife wielding psychopath or hook up with one of her long time friends, whom she kissed while sharing a hotel room with Trilby and Glen when they went to a comic book convention where Trilby made Cleo cosplay as Lillith from Darkstalkers while she went as Felicia. My comic book crush Becky "Demo" Cloonan even has a cameo in volume 4.
And Ross, with respect to Justice League's Kevin Maguire, does the best facial expressions in the business. It is how I aim to focus my artwork. I am working on over exaggeration of my characters. Not just of their facial expressions, but of their posture, movement and bodies as a whole. It's one of the first things they teach you when you decide you want to be an animator. Just take a look at everything Pixar does, or Anime, it's all there. And if you're an aspiring comic book creator, who isn't bent on realism where a lot of this is lost, study Ross Campbell and Kevin Maguire.
Campbell has done other works, including Water Baby from the Minx imprint from DC a few years back and Shadoweyes from Slave Labor Graphics. But I gotta think that Wet Moon is Ross' baby. I carted my copy of volume three to Comic Con International this past summer to have Ross sign it, and got to talk to him a little bit about things. He told me that he is shooting for ten volumes of Wet Moon. So we have a few years yet of the daily ins and outs of these amazing characters.
There are some great storylines going on in the pages of Wet Moon. Including Myrtle's homicidal tendencies and who she'll go after next; the mystery of the "Cleo Eats It" signs posted around campus; the Worm Lizards' season, who is "Unknown?", Fern and her obsession with Penny Lovedrop; Penny's bastard pregnancy; Cleo and who is she gonna choose; Maladay's obsession with collecting and then showing Cleo all of the signs posted around campus; and many many more.
Wet Moon would make an awesome live action television show, or a phenomenal animated series. Each volume could be collected in a season.
Wet Moon is the best thing to happen to graphic novels in recent memory. As painful as it is waiting for the next volume to be finished, I think it's better than getting one issue and then having to wait a month or more for my next bump. I don't think that some people realize how addicting comics are to some people. When I pick up Wet Moon I could easily jam through the whole thing in one sitting, but that might cheapen the experience. "She is like a fine aged whore, who laughs at you when you take your clothes off. But you keep going back, because she is the only prostitute you can afford."
Wet Moon is one of the top reads every time it comes out. I am super glad I got past the idea of only reading so called "super hero" books. Cause honestly, lately there's been not a whole lot of super going on in my opinion. And far too many titles that don't belong on a shelf taking up space when something like Wet Moon is usually, if carried by said shop, put on a trade paperback shelf where it is much harder to locate. But go to your local shop and ask them for it. And if they no have it, knock all the "big two" off the new comic rack and start singing Green Day's "Basket Case" at the top of your lungs while running out the door.
You want a grade for this? You seriously want a grade for this book? Well, I just quit smoking, and I'm no where close to alcohol of any kind so here you fucking go. Mother's Day 2000. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Rave. Extreme Championship Wrestling's pay per view called Hardcore Heaven. The match, almost six months in the making. Yoshihiro Tajiri, "The Japanese Buzzsaw." The man you better not be a midget around, cause he'll kick your fucking head off Tajiri. Yeah, that Tajiri. And his opponent, "The King of Old School" Steve Corino. Corino was pissed cause Tajiri had won the vacated World Television Title. And afterward, he was forced to hand the belt over to "the Network's" chosen successor, Rhino. And when "the Network" screwed Tajiri, he got pissed, and started kicking everything in his path. And that included the bleached blond heel, Corino. This culminated in a battle that included a "four alarm" blade job by Corino that stained his nearly white locks crimson. It was fucking amazing. The only gripe I have about this match is the finish. Which somehow got edited from the table being set up to the pinfall under the busted remnants of said table. Happy Mother's Day Ma'!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Wet Moon vol. 1; A Hardcore Review
I am going to remind everyone who reads these reviews that the grading system I use is this: instead of thumbs up or stars, I rate on hardcore moments in pro wrestling history. The more hardcore the event, match, promo or moment the more I liked the book, comic, movie or video game I am reviewing. The less hardcore the moment, the more I disliked it. An example would be anything related to Hulk Hogan would be highly NOT recommended. Onto the review...
With some of greatest facial features since Kevin Maguire's run on the Justice League, Ross Campbell 's art speaks volumes. Wet Moon's true to life dialog and story concepts make for endearing characters and some extremely funny and heartfelt situations. Campbell has crafted a series which has the necessary ingredients to become a longtime fan favorite. The central characters long for awareness and caring during the tumultuous moment in life, "college life." Cleo learns what it's like to not be on top of everyone's friend's list. However this doesn't keep her from trying to help her friend, Audrey score with the cute video store clerk. Trilby, an extrovert to Cleo's introvert, shows up to a "goth" party in a patent leather bra and bondage pants, all the while making obsurd faces at Cleo from across the room. Trilby gets drunk at the party and attempts to force herself on Cleo, who runs out of the room, allowing Trilby to collapse quietly on the couch. Only later does the reader find out Trilby is secretly a Trekie, seeking to keep her pending nerdlike tendencies from spilling out into her circle of friends.
Cleo's serious infatuation with the mysterious longhaired boy in her European Gothic Literature class, sends the mousey girl sprinting out of the room, tumbling down the stairs and into the path of Myrtle, who seems to play a more integral part in the whole master plan of Ross Campbell's opus.
From potential romantic interests like Fern and the mysterious longhaired guy, to perenial societal outcast, "The Pringles Guy," Wet Moon is full of characters that you can't help but like and root for. Ross Campbell knows how to do one of the most difficult things in comics, he writes female charaters so well. This is one of those rare things, where the words and art blend into one amazing story that you can't help but shell out your mind and emotions into. I liken Campbell to Kevin Smith in terms of his dialog, for some obvious reasons, and in the fact that the characters, no matter how extreme or different from the perceived norm of society's expectations of entertainment. Campbell has modeled the next great indy comic with Wet Moon. This volume rates a serious and rare event in ECW history. No matter what mainstream wrestling fan's thoughts on what ECW brought to the dance, the barbed wire match was not a common event in the more than eight years in the company's storied history. In 1996, during one of the most personal and remembered feuds, Raven faced off with the Sandman in one of only four known, no rope, barbed wire matches. The then World Champion Sandman, had persevered through the adversity of having Raven steal and brainwash his ex-wife, Lori and then suffered the ultimate horror, when Raven stole his 7 year old son, Tyler. The match saw, blood, and beatings, along with one of the most unexpected finishes, when Raven, attempted to deliver a tabletop piledriver to the Sandman. The table broke before the move could be finished and somehow Raven garnered the strength to cover the beleagured Sandman for his second ECW World Championship.
With some of greatest facial features since Kevin Maguire's run on the Justice League, Ross Campbell 's art speaks volumes. Wet Moon's true to life dialog and story concepts make for endearing characters and some extremely funny and heartfelt situations. Campbell has crafted a series which has the necessary ingredients to become a longtime fan favorite. The central characters long for awareness and caring during the tumultuous moment in life, "college life." Cleo learns what it's like to not be on top of everyone's friend's list. However this doesn't keep her from trying to help her friend, Audrey score with the cute video store clerk. Trilby, an extrovert to Cleo's introvert, shows up to a "goth" party in a patent leather bra and bondage pants, all the while making obsurd faces at Cleo from across the room. Trilby gets drunk at the party and attempts to force herself on Cleo, who runs out of the room, allowing Trilby to collapse quietly on the couch. Only later does the reader find out Trilby is secretly a Trekie, seeking to keep her pending nerdlike tendencies from spilling out into her circle of friends.
Cleo's serious infatuation with the mysterious longhaired boy in her European Gothic Literature class, sends the mousey girl sprinting out of the room, tumbling down the stairs and into the path of Myrtle, who seems to play a more integral part in the whole master plan of Ross Campbell's opus.
From potential romantic interests like Fern and the mysterious longhaired guy, to perenial societal outcast, "The Pringles Guy," Wet Moon is full of characters that you can't help but like and root for. Ross Campbell knows how to do one of the most difficult things in comics, he writes female charaters so well. This is one of those rare things, where the words and art blend into one amazing story that you can't help but shell out your mind and emotions into. I liken Campbell to Kevin Smith in terms of his dialog, for some obvious reasons, and in the fact that the characters, no matter how extreme or different from the perceived norm of society's expectations of entertainment. Campbell has modeled the next great indy comic with Wet Moon. This volume rates a serious and rare event in ECW history. No matter what mainstream wrestling fan's thoughts on what ECW brought to the dance, the barbed wire match was not a common event in the more than eight years in the company's storied history. In 1996, during one of the most personal and remembered feuds, Raven faced off with the Sandman in one of only four known, no rope, barbed wire matches. The then World Champion Sandman, had persevered through the adversity of having Raven steal and brainwash his ex-wife, Lori and then suffered the ultimate horror, when Raven stole his 7 year old son, Tyler. The match saw, blood, and beatings, along with one of the most unexpected finishes, when Raven, attempted to deliver a tabletop piledriver to the Sandman. The table broke before the move could be finished and somehow Raven garnered the strength to cover the beleagured Sandman for his second ECW World Championship.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
