It's Graphic Time! Exorsisters, Vol. 1 by Ian Boothby

It's Graphic Time is a feature where we review graphic novels and comic books.

Title: Exorsisters

Author: Ian Boothby

Publisher: Image Comics

Publishing Date: April 30th, 2019

Pages: 120
Genre: Fantasy/Horror Graphic Novel 

TW: Demons, selling of souls, cussing, death

Series: Exorsisters Vol. 1

Source: ARC

 

Included in Book Riot's Best Comics of 2018
Did you sign a deal with the devil? Has a loved one been dragged to Hell? Then Kate and Cate Harrow should be the first ones you call for timely soul removal at a reasonable rate. This collection is perfect for fans of case-solving procedurals like Veronica Mars, Netflix's Jessica Jones , and the CW's Supernatural , and introduces readers to the Harrows, who have to deal with the end of the world, fallen angels, demon worshipping ex-boyfriends, and their Mother.
Collects EXORSISTERS #1-5.

What made me pick this book up: 

I saw it for auto approved on Netgalley and it looked interesting.

What did I like about the cover:

I love the artwork, the colors are awesome and I love the sisters sitting upside down each other. Does that make sense? 

What made me read this book: 

I love horror/dark/demon graphic novels.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Yes absolutely! I'm super bummed this is just now about to come out, because I need more of it!

The artwork is really adorable actually. That's something I really liked about this book. It's dark and creepy and demon-y but the artwork is cutesy. But still dark. 




The characters are definitely something that adds to this book. Kate and Cate are both amazing. They both have their own strong personalities. But Cate is definitely my favorite. She cracked me up the whole book I swear. 

This book starts out kinda meh, but quickly turns into HOLY CRAP WHAT IS HAPPENING!? And then it doesn't stop. I read this in about an hour and I didn't want to stop reading it. I swear I was reading this on my phone completely curled up ignoring the world. My husband kept laughing at me because I kept laughing. Not just a little laughing. Snort laughing. So it was fast paced, quick read, and also completely had me enthralled.





I didn't quite get what the story was going to be at the beginning. I loved reading about them casting out demons and saving people from hell, but I figured there had to be more to this than that. It took until the last issue of the volume before it became clear. And it's a good one I think. I can't wait to read more.

So great! Lots of dark humor!

Ian Boothby is a multiple Shuster Award, Harvey Award and Eisner Award nominee and an Eisner Award–winning comic book creator best known for his work as the lead writer on Simpsons Comics and Futurama Comics for Matt Groening's Bongo Comics. Boothby has written more Simpsons Comics than any other writer. He is a regular writer for MAD Magazine. He has also worked on various Canadian television series and is a well known stand-up, sketch and improv comedian working in the Vancouver area. He co-created Free Willie Shakespeare for the Vancouver Theatresports League which won the Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for Excellence in Interactive Theatre.

It's Graphic Time: Lady Killer Vol. 1 by Joelle Jones and James S. Rich

Title: Lady Killer Vol #1

Author:  Joelle Jones and James S. Rich
Publisher:  Dark Horse Books
Publishing Date:  September 15th, 2015

Pages: 138
Genre: Dark Humor, Horror

Series:  Lady Killer Vol #1
 

Josie Schuller is a picture-perfect homemaker, wife, and mother—but she’s also a ruthless, efficient killer for hire! A brand-new original comedy series that combines the wholesome imagery of early 1960s domestic bliss with a tightening web of murder, paranoia, and cold-blooded survival.

I am just now starting to really get into graphic novels. This is one that Ash had on her  list for a while that really piqued my interest. In a graphic novel trade moment, I received this one from Ash. I was so very excited to read this but also a little nervous. I am not the best with gore. I finally read it and I loved it. Yes it is a bit more gory than I like but the story was interesting and I totally adored the artwork... minus the gore. 

Josie is an assassin in the late 1950's/early 1960's. She is also a homemaker, a wife, and a mother. She is ruthless and she gets the job done. Lately though, she hasn't been making her bosses very happy. So they put a hit out on her. Josie decides it's not her time and she retaliates. And this pretty much causes a war among assassins. 

So there is so much great about this graphic novel... but also so much wrong.  Great in that I enjoyed the story, the imagery, and the characters. Wrong as in how okay it is for a mother to be a hitman. Funny too though. 

The story is very interesting to me. I mean to think that an assassin is a girl in the 1960's and also that she has a normal life outside the hits. She has a husband and children, a mother in law that lives with her, and neighbors that she parties with...none of which know what her double life is like. I also loved the way the hits went down. It was fun to see what Josie had to do do to be in the right place at the right time, undetected. 

The artwork is wonderful in this graphic novel. It works well with mixing the tone of the dark humor and the decade together to create a crazy story. The feel of the entire thing is just wonderfully done. The colors and the style follow the decade very well. 

I was actually amazed how much I enjoyed this graphic novel... even though I really was hoping I would love it... I was fearful that it would be too much for me. Now it is a lot... it is very dark and gory.. so it may not be for all. But if you like dark humor, gore, and the macabre.... try this one out. 

I really enjoyed everything about this graphic novel... 

Writer/Illustrator: Joëlle Jones is an Eisner nominated artist currently living and working in Los Angeles, CA.
Since attending PNCA in Portland, OR, she has contributed to a wide range of projects and has most recently has worked on Batman for DC comics. She also wrote and drew the series, Lady Killer, published by Dark Horse comics. Jones has also provided the art for fashion designer Prada, and various projects for Marvel, Boom, Vertigo, Oni Press and The New York Times. Joëlle currently has projects with DC comics as well as continuing her Series Lady Killer.

Writer: Rich is an author of both prose (Cut My Hair, I Was Someone Dead, and The Everlasting) and comics (the two-volume series Love the Way You Love; the Spell Checkers series). His third full-length novel, Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?, was released by Oni Press in the summer of 2007. He regularly collaborates with artist Joelle Jones, including the Oni graphic novels 12 Reasons Why I Love Her and You Have Killed Me. Rich most recently wrote It Girl & the Atomics for Image Comics and A Boy and a Girl with artist Natalie Nourigat. He also serialized his fourth novel, Bobby Pins and Mary Janes , online.

Review: Scream All Night by Derek Milman

Title: Scream All Night 

Author:  Derek Milman
Publisher: Balzer & Bray 

Publishing Date: July 12th, 2018 

Pages: 400
Genre: YA Coming of Age
Series:  Stand Alone 

Source:  Audio

 

Dario Heyward knows one thing: He’s never going back to Moldavia Studios, the iconic castle that served as the set, studio, and home to the cast and crew of dozens of cult classic B-horror movies. It’s been three years since Dario’s even seen the place, after getting legally emancipated from his father, the infamous director of Moldavia’s creature features.But then Dario’s brother invites him home to a mysterious ceremony involving his father and a tribute to his first film—The Curse of the Mummy’s Tongue. Dario swears his homecoming will be a one-time visit. A way for him to get closure on his past—and reunite with Hayley, his first love and costar of Zombie Children of the Harvest Sun, a production fraught with real-life tragedy—and say good-bye for good. But the unthinkable happens—Dario gets sucked back into the twisted world of Moldavia and the horrors, both real and imagined, he’s left there.With only months to rescue the sinking studio and everyone who has built their lives there, Dario must confront the demons of his past—and the uncertainties of his future. But can he escape the place that’s haunted him his whole life?

I was very excited for the release of this book. I had it pre-ordered on audible and I also had the ARC. I always choose the audio when I have a choice. This was a smart choice for this book. I think it read better on audio than it would have in my own head. This book was very interesting. It's going to be very hard to put into words the way this book felt and read. There really isn't a genre to describe it or really a category to put it in. It's so unique. It was a good read. It was very emotional at times, humorous, and very strange. I rather enjoyed it! 

This story is about a family that owns a horror movie franchise. Two sons, a father, family friends, and a few others. The father dies... there are two sons. One strange and one estranged. Dario hasn't spoken to his family in years. At a young age he left and is living in a group home. He is graduating soon and has his future to think about. He gets a call from his older brother that there is a funeral for his father and he is requested to be there. He goes, he gets sucked into the past, the present, and possibly his future that is wrapped in a creepy old house, a B-Horror film production company, a girl, a crazy old brother, and maybe some truth from his past. 

I want to start of by first saying this book was nothing as I thought it would be. I though this would be more of a horror book. This is not a horror book. It is twisted and has some dark humor, but its a coming of age story with a bit of family drama and romance. The only horror in this book is in the movies that the main characters family business produces and directs.... which is crazy in its own right. The story is not about the horror movies or the creepy house. The story is about a boy who finds his way back to his family. 

This book was a bit more emotional then I was prepared for. I did like the story and the direction it took. Like I said I wasn't prepared for it but I was happy with the read. It was a very good read. A great cast of characters that held their own and each had a very important role in the story. 

Dario is a great character. His  journey throughout the story was a pleasure to be apart of. In the beginning he was a confused, scared, boy who had no idea what his future held or how to get away from his past. He had a hard childhood and wasn't close to his family. His older brother 20 years older, his mother mentally ill, and his father was a bit abusive. He has made a life of his own but he still can't escape the life he didn't choose. He finds away to forgive and move past and also mend what was broken. 

There is romance, friendship, family drama, and so much more. I think the relationship that really stuck out for me is the relationship between Dario and his older brother. I enjoyed watching how crazy and volatile it was and then morphed into something new and different. 

I also enjoyed the romance, it was sweet and not to overpowering. Dario and Hayley grew up together and they have always been important to each other. They drifted apart and when they reunite, a flame is ignited and it just grows. In a very sweet and subtle way. 

This book ended on a good note for me. Was it all rainbows and unicorns, no. There were some hard times and sad times and all the times between. Many many growing pains and the ending for Dario was not perfect, but I was left with a very warm and glowing feeling inside my heart when I read the last word of the book. 

The only complaint I have is the beginning was a little slow for me. It took me a while to grasp the weirdness and all the nutty characters and to see where the story was going. I think it may have felt a little different if I was prepared for what I was getting myself into. 

I will for sure be looking forward to more books from this author. 

Pretty amazing. 

Derek Milman was born in New York City, but grew up in Westchester, NY, where he wrote and published a successful underground humor magazine that caught the attention of the New York Times, who wrote a profile on him at the age of 14. Derek studied English, Creative Writing, and Theater at Northwestern University. He began his career as a playwright (his first play was staged in New York City when he was just out of college), and earned an MFA in acting at the Yale School of Drama. Derek has performed on stages across the country, and appeared in numerous TV shows and films, working with two Academy Award winning film directors. Scream All Night is Derek's debut YA novel. He currently lives in Brooklyn where he is hard at work on his next book.