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Thompson, Bart – Amour #1 (art by Ezequiel Pineda)

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Amour #1 (art by Ezequiel Pineda)

Who likes love stories? Well, modern day love stories anyway, none of that courtship and romance crap. Or maybe I’m just projecting due to my own crappy love life? Drat, I’ve said too much. There are three stories in here, all about the very beginning of a potential relationship. First up is a young woman who’s trying to decide whether or not to meet an online acquaintance, somebody who has been sending her poetry and telling her about his day (and asking about hers) for months. Of course, who knows what you’re getting with an internet romance? Next is the story of romance at a loud concert, which limits the dialogue more than a little, as large chunks of story are taken up by people trying to “make some noise”. Damn kids with their loud music! Finally you have the story of two people, meeting by chance at a diner, who just happen to be competing for the same slot with a comic company. She’s cynical, he’s charming, how will it turn out� Overall this whole thing was a little too heartwarming for my taste, but feel free to attribute most of that to my mood. It would have been nice to have a bit of variation in the type of woman represented here as well (it turns out that women and men of all shapes and sizes fall in love), but all told it’s a pretty decent romance comic, if that’s your sort of thing. $3.50

Thompson, Bart (editor) – The Evil Inside

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The Evil Inside

Three cheers for the horror anthology. Granted, I wish somebody was doing justice to the cheese of the old Tales From The Crypt comics, but I’ll take what I can get. This is a collection of three stories, none of which are in the cheesy vein. First up is Southern Hospitality (drawn by Paul Schultz), probably the strongest piece in the comic, dealing with two traveling businessmen, a lot of booze, a secret serial killer and a family of killer misfits. Next is Word is Bond (drawn by Jake Sumbing), on the dangers of why anydody, ever (especially in story land) starts a sentence with “you know, I’d give my soul for ___”. Finally there’s Fox In The Henhouse (drawn by Giovanni Timpano), a frantic tale about a robbery followed by another robbery and the secret of the man behind the counter. Which, I have to say, didn’t make sense to me until I read the afterward. All told this is a decent bunch of horror stories, although if I had to offer one piece of advice (and this gets into spoilers a bit for people who hate those sorts of things) I’d say that not every evil killer has to have noble reasons for his actions. Bart seemed to fall into that trap for all these stories to some extent, and sometimes people do evil things because they’re crazy or just for the sheer fun of it. Not everything has to have a reason. OK, like I said, still worth a look if you’re a fan of the horror anthology. $3.50