There’s twists, cliffhangers, and a little bit of bloodshed, all wrapped up in some snide political and social commentary.

Comic Review

Title: The Homeland Directive

Writer: Robert Venditti

Artist: Mike Huddleston

Publisher: Top Shelf Comics

Page Count: 152 pages

Release: May 2011

Reviewed By Richard Lam

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

The ‘thriller’ has many subgenres, and most are familiar to us. There’s the conspiracy theory story, with a man or woman unwittingly stumbling upon some bundle of information, much to the chagrin of the government or other institution. And then there’s the plague or epidemic thriller, with a mad dash to stop some sort of virus from spreading to worldwide chaos. But how often have you seen these two been mashed together?

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Reviewed By Adam A. Donaldson

For those in the know, the first Saturday in May is always an occasion to get up early head down to the local comic book shop and pick up some free comics. Here is a review of a few of the titles offered this year.

The Amazing Spider-Man – Marvel Comics

If you haven’t picked up a Spider-Man comic in a while, you might be out to sea with all the set up for Spider-Island and referencing to all of Spidey’s antics in the Avengers (actually, the line about charging super-battle damage to Tony Stark was pretty good). But really, if you want a good, solid Spider-Man story, you can’t get much better than the combination of the words of Dan Slott and the art of Humberto Ramos. Sure, the fight between Spidey and a hypnotized Spider-Woman enables the well-worn comic book hero-on-hero battle concept, but under Slott, Spider-Man is at his quipy best and Ramos art is dynamic and expressive. This is a really fun read.

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Comic Review

Title: Chester 5000

Written and Drawn By Jess Fink

Publisher: Top Shelf Comics

144 pages

Release: May 2011

Reviewed By Richard Lam

Whew. This is a difficult comic to review. Clearly, I had no idea what I was getting into. Looking at the cover and reading the description (“An erotic, robotic, Victorian romance. Est. 1889”), one would maybe expect a charming, steampunk love story. A pull-quote from Alan Moore, long-time master of comics, adds to its credibility. But cracking open the first page, we are treated to full-out nudity of both sexes, in mid-coitus.

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Comic Review

Title: Hellraiser #1 (of 8)

Written By Clive Barker and Christopher Monfette; Art By Leonardo Manco

Publisher: BOOM! Studios

Release Date: March 23^rd, 2011

24 Pages plus Bonus Material; Three Covers

Reviewed By Adam A. Donaldson

There are a total of nine movies in the Hellraiser film series, and since the first film debuted over 20 years ago, they’ve been steadily dwindling in quality. It’s gotten so bad that the latest film, which is scheduled to be released direct-to-video later this year, will be without its signature star: Doug Bradley. Bradley has played lead villain, the Cenobite Pinhead, ever since the very first film, but apparently the script for this new film is so messed up that Bradley would have no part of it. He’s made a mint off Hellraiser, and even he’s saying enough’s enough.

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