‘SWEET’ DAN SWEET’S: COMIC REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!
Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural #5
Written by Rick Remender and Illustrated by Jefte Palo / Marvel Comics – A terrific ending to an underappreciated series. I’ll admit it, before the book’s first issue I had my doubts, but I was swayed with #1 and now that the series has come to its short-lived conclusion, I must admit, I already miss it. It was a corner of the Marvel U. that doesn’t get a whole lot of love, and Rick Remender did it as good as I’ve seen it. Jericho Drumm, the Sorcerer Supreme known as Doctor Voodoo, and his only ally left, Doctor Doom take on Nightmare, for control of the Earthly realm. There are a few threads left to dangle, hopefully to be picked up at some point and developed, but other than that it was an entirely satisfying conclusion to a stellar series that deserved more love than it received.
Dingo #4
Written by Michael Alan Nelson and Illustrated by Francesco Biagini / BOOM! Studios – The final chapter in the adventure of Dingo and his devil-dog, Cerberus, as our hero (if he qualifies) narrowly manages to escape from the clutches of his witch of an ex-wife, and her demon mother. Nelson ties everything back to a chance meeting between our main man and man’s best friend, which turns out wasn’t so much by chance as we may have been led to believe. Cerberus’ role has been much larger than I’d originally anticipated, but it’s a twist that I wasn’t able to see coming, and I enjoyed it immensely. This has been just another in a long list of BOOM! Studios titles that have managed to captivate my attention with thrilling, original stories by great creative teams, which, in my opinion, rival the big-three more-so than any other new publisher.
Sweet Tooth #7
Written and Illustrated by Jeff Lemire / DC Comics/Vertigo – Man, does Jeff Lemire know how to lay on the melancholy, or what? This is probably the saddest, most depressing book that I can’t stop reading. Sweet Tooth, after being betrayed by the only man he’s ever known, other than his own father, is left in the ‘preserve’, where scientists perform experiments on young mutates like Sweet Tooth. While in captivity he befriends a young girl/pig mutate who then is swiftly taken out of the picture by guards with large automatic rifles. Mr. Jeffers, on the other hand, continues on his sad, miserable way, reminiscing on a time that doesn’t seem much better than it is for him now. Even as things become worse and worse for our protagonists I can’t help but hold out hope for the young man cursed to wander through life with antlers jetting out from his head, and a penchant for candy.