THE STRAIN #1

They always talk about the current plethora of monster stuff like there was a period in time when there were no vampire or zombie or werewolf books, movies, or TV shows. I find that hard to believe, although there are definitely a lot more these days of this "monster" genre. I'm not sure the origin of any of them in recent time, but I think 28 Days Later kicked off the current zombie surge (yes, even though it didn't feature zombies but a zombie-like virus) and of course the Twilight quadrilogy kicked off the vampire and werewolf craze. This new comic book, which Dark Horse will be putting out over three years, is about vampires. It's also, more or less, a lot like The Passage, Justin Cronin's vampire epic. Why it's become a comic after three books have already been published can be tied to the fact that film director Guillermo Del Toro co-wrote the books. He did the two Hellboy films, Pan's Labyrinth, and recently quit directing The Hobbit. The comic is in the hands of writer David Lapham (he's been writing Deadpool Max lately) and artist Mike Huddleston. An airplane shows up with a dead crew and dead passengers and a coffin at JFK. Cue the outbreak! For a buck, it's a good read, but it's literally more of the same. When the mummy craze starts, let me know. **1/2

SWEET TOOTH #28

Just admit it, Lemire; you got the idea for this book from a Fall Out Boy video. Either way, the book is at #28 already. Jesus. I didn't think it'd last let alone contain such emotion. It's also, certainly, ultra-bleak. Hell, in this issue a group of men kill a baby.
This is part 3 of 3 of the origin (maybe) of the disease that not only spawned babies being born half-animal but also killing off most of the world's population. Written by Jeff Lemire, this side story might be the best arc of the book so far. It features an Inuit tribe in Antartica and a group of English explorers in the early part of the twentieth century. The three issues have been drawn and painted (yes, painted) by Matt Kindt. It looks wonderful. But it's also very creepy, very sad, but very interesting.
Sweet Tooth, the antler-headed boy, was apparently spawned in a laboratory. So what's this business about these Inuit people unleashing a virus or demonic curse? Does it tie in? What's the deal?
This book started off great and then got a little stale after awhile. This arc has really put new life into it. It's a gorgeous looking arc that is ultimately sad but also very well written and very interesting. & it's a killer last page. ***1/2

THUNDER AGENTS #1

One of DC's better series, Thunder Agents, was unfortunately cancelled to make way for September's big "52" number-one issues. But they brought it back for a six-issue mini-series. The problems? Artist Cafu (yes, like Prince) is gone. And it's December...meaning everything that happened in the series previously I pretty much forgot (the last issue, #10, came out on August 10th). This means I was utterly confused. Yes, I know the premise; regular people get super powers to fight evil but these powers will eventually kill them. I forget who's bad and good and I forget most of the characters. This issue doesn't exactly deliver any sort of intro or summary either, so good luck! Spencer's dialogue is king as usual, but the story is confusing and bland. The art by Wes Craig is standard. Perhaps they should have just cancelled it for good? * (out of ****)