Review Copy Reviews

I answered the call for reviewers on Monitor Duty, and was sent this book. In the interests of full disclosure, Scott McCullar, who is involved in the book, is a friend of mine, so I was expecting to like it anyway. The book is available at Shooting Star Comics.

Job Wanted: There have been a lot of excellent anthologies out in the world of comic books recently, and this is another one. In fact, I'll go so far as to recommend this one to just about anyone, as there's something in it that would appeal to almost any reader. Like I do with some anthology reviews, I'm going to tackle this one story by story.

• "Behind the Fuzz": The weakest story in the bunch, it's meant to be a quick intro to the concept and the team. It's funny, but that's about all to recommend it.
  
• "Gone to Texas: Rogue": The art is a little too stylish for my tastes, but the more I looked at it the more I enjoyed it. The story is simple and evocative. I found myself wanting to read more about the character, to learn more about how he became a cowboy. An excellent short tale.
  
• "The Slime": Predictable from the start, it's still pretty nicely done with a couple of cute twists.
  
• "Night Route": The art was slightly confusing, which meant I had to read it a couple of times before I got the key sequence. It could have been made more clear. Even with thhise small lack of clarity, it was a good story.
  
• "Enigma in Outer Space": Nice little mystery which shows the dangers of paranoia. Great artwork, and a strong narrative make this one of the strongest stories in the book.
  
• "Beekeeper": Brutal story. Could have used a little more set up with the beekeeper and his son to make their fates more powerful, but the focus was definitely on the main character instead. Not bad at all. Good art.
  
• "Devil in the Playbox": This one meandered a bit and lost focus, but the artwork is great and the concept was fun.
  
• "Evil, Inc.": Um. It's cute. A little off the beaten path, but then it's nice to learn how all those villains get their thugs.

Overall, a very strong anthology with a lot of good stories in it. Recommended.