Rapid Reviews - Review Copies

Sidekicks: The Candy Man Cometh (hardcover) by Dan Danko and Tom Mason: More foreshadowing in this book, and more indications of the unexpected depths to the universe, but the villain in this book wasn't as funny as the previous ones and Guy's problems, while nasty, aren't as bad. Besides the fact that everyone else in this universe is completely nuts, of course. Super Vision Lad was a particularly nice touch. So, who else thinks (spoilers)The Strike is Guy's father?(end spoilers).

Proof of Concept: I wasn't really sure about this one. It's a collection of short stories, but it's also an effort to show how to pitch a story idea. The framing sequence does a nice job of showing what pieces of a story need to be presented to hook a potential reader. The stories varies in interest level for me. Hemogoblin, about the last vampire, and Zombie Dinosaur, about... um... zombie dinosaurs, probably held my interest the most. For The Time Being also held a lot of promise, but something about the story felt "off" to me. Whether it was the artwork or something in the concept that bothered me, I can't really put my finger on it. The only story in the book I didn't really like at all was the final one, The Bod. The art was fine but the concept did nothing for me. As usual, this AiT/Planet Lar book does exactly what was promised and manages to make it fun, as well. And hey, it might just be worth the price of admission to read a story about a planet full of Abe Lincoln clones...