Tag Archives: Devil’s Due Publishing
Top 30 Comic Series That Aren’t Marvel or DC
Marvel and DC have the comic book market pretty much on lockdown. They are the Coke and Pepsi of their industry and probably always will be. That being said, there are a ridiculous amount of great comic books out there that don’t fall under the Marvel and DC banner. This is a list of my thirty favorite comic books series put out by the smaller and more independent comic book publishers.
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
2. Cerebus
3. Maus
4. Hellboy
5. Bone
6. The Walking Dead
7. Love & Rockets
8. The Fade Out
9. Star Wars (the Dark Horse era)
10. Madman
11. Spawn
12. Hawaiian Dick
13. Kill Or Be Killed
14. The Wicked Righteous
15. It Came Out On a Wednesday
16. Hack/Slash
17. Fatale
18. The Umbrella Academy
19. Red Sonja
20. Wolverton: Thief of Impossible Objects
21. Vampirella
22. Scud, the Disposable Assassin
23. Jawbreakers
24. The Maxx
25. Iron Sights
26. Feast Or Famine
27. Doctor Who (IDW era)
28. Tokyo Ghost
29. Cyberfrog
30. Black Hammer
Comic Review: Comic Review: Hack/Slash – Omnibus Five
Published on: June 12th, 2012
Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Dan Leister, Elena Casagrande, James Lowder
Devil’s Due Publishing, Image Comics, 300 Pages
Review:
I really loved this series back in the day when it was new and fresh. Reading this fifth and final omnibus, however, makes me kinda glad that this series wrapped up. I don’t know why but it lost its luster for me. I know other people still like it but it just feels like it is moving without a clear direction as to where it’s going. But this does end with the series’ official finale.
I’m several years behind on reading these stories but I’ve spent over a decade with Cassie Hack and Vlad and I do love them but even they seem like they’re bored with the proceedings. Tim Seeley has done well with his creation but this just feels like he was ready to move on and put his focus on his other work.
Most of this book just feels like filler that is working towards winding down but also taking its sweet time in doing so. There is an interesting Mercy Sparx crossover thrown in, which was cool to see but not anywhere near as exciting as some of the other crossovers from Hack/Slash‘s past.
When you do reach the finale, which is a story stretched over the final six issues in this collection, it is kind of welcomed. I thought that finale was actually the best part of the book. Granted, the first story dealing with a monster island of kaiju and a mad scientist was also kind of neat.
I do like how this wrapped up even if the characters don’t get a very happy ending. The ending had impact and real finality to it and any return to the series would cheapen it. It’s not the ending I wanted to see but it did bring closure where so many other comic series that call it quits, leave the door wide open for eventual followups.
This series was its strongest when it was at Devil’s Due before moving over to Image due to Devil’s Due’s financial woes. Tim Seeley gave us a damn good series though, overall.
Rating: 6.5/10
Pairs well with: The other Hack/Slash omnibuses. But They should be read in order.
Comic Review: Hack/Slash – Omnibus Four
Published on: June 12th, 2012
Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Dan Leister, Erik Larsen
Devil’s Due Publishing, Image Comics, 300 Pages
Review:
It has been a really long time since I first picked up Hack/Slash and even though I’ve read through the first three omnibuses a few times, I hadn’t picked up the fourth and fifth until recently.
I forgot how much I enjoyed this series. It’s perfect for fans of ’80s era slasher films and it brings me right back tot hat special place where I was a young kid perusing the aisles of mom and pop video stores looking for the next low budget slasher flick.
Where something like this could easily run its course and get repetitive, Tim Seely keeps things fresh and new and knows how to write complex and interesting characters.
The stories in this collection start to steer the series in new ways. Cassie decides that her and Vlad need to go it alone, as all their allies are constantly in danger due to their association. Also, we learn much more about the Black Lamp Society and Samhain. Additionally, some of the classic villains from earlier stories start to return to be thorns in Cassie and Vlad’s sides.
I wasn’t sure if this collection would have any cool crossovers in it and they don’t come till the end. There is a really well done crossover with Victor Crowley of the Hatchet film series. That one is then followed up by a crossover with Zombies vs. Cheerleaders, which I don’t know much about but it is a comic series and a card game. I’ll check out some of the comics in the future.
I liked the stories collected here and things felt new again with some of the narrative shifts.
Rating: 8/10
Pairs well with: The other Hack/Slash omnibuses. But They should be read in order.
Comic Review: G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers, Vol. 4
Published: January, 2007
Written by: Tim Seeley, Josh Blaylock
Art by: Andrew Wildman
Based on: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero & The Transformers by Hasbro
Devil’s Due Publishing, 160 Pages
Review:
At long last, I have gotten to the fourth and final volume in Devil’s Due Publishing’s G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers epic crossover series. This is what everything was building towards, as it features the emergence of Cobra-La and Unicron, the two biggest threats in either franchise and the main antagonists of both franchises’ original motion pictures. Fans of both G.I. Joe and The Transformers should understand the scale of this threat. This is essentially the Infinity War story for the Hasbro/Marvel/Sunbow shared universe.
However, as enjoyable as this tale was, I was slightly disappointed with it. Don’t get me wrong, it had some really cool bits but it was fairly underwhelming. I liked it about the same as the previous story, which featured Serpentor. I felt that one was a step down from the previous two and while this one isn’t another step down, it just isn’t as good as the first two G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers crossover events.
Sure, we got to see Golobulus and Unicron in all their glory but neither was that difficult to defeat, after a massive buildup. Unicron was easily defeated by Flint and Cosmos, who flew into Unicron’s massive body, got to his brain and infected it with metal dissolving spores grown by the people of Cobra-La.
Most of the story takes place in Tibet, at the site of the Cobra-La stronghold. So the vast majority of what we see is just snow and caverns. There’s not a lot in terms of cool and nice looking landscapes. This certainly isn’t as beautiful of a book as the first volume in the crossover that saw a major battle take place on Cobra Island that featured G.I. Joe, Cobra, the Autobots and the Decepticons. And for the threat present in this story, this volume feels the least grandiose.
Still, this was a good way to wrap up this shared universe between the two franchises. We get more time with some of the beloved characters but some are noticeably missing, as this series liked to take some liberties and kill off fan favorites.
It kind of sucks that Megatron was killed very early on and we never got to see Galvatron in any of the volumes. Also, we never got to see Hot Rod become Rodimus Prime. While he shows some leadership skill at points, he’s just kind of an immature jackass most of the time.
G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers was a really good series, despite a few low points. I enjoy the franchises so there was a lot of stuff to sink my teeth into. Most of all, it was really fun and that’s mainly all I actually want out of these two great properties from my childhood.
Rating: 7/10
Pairs well with: The other G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers collections.
Comic Review: G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers, Vol. 3
Published: September 13th, 2006
Written by: Tim Seeley, Josh Blaylock
Art by: Joe Ng
Based on: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero & The Transformers by Hasbro
Devil’s Due Publishing, 140 Pages
Review:
After the first two G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers crossover events put out by Devil’s Due, the third one had it’s work cut out for it, as the previous installments would be hard to top. Well, this one was enjoyable but it fell short.
Reason being, I wasn’t too keen on how they handled the debut of Cobra leader Serpentor, who served as more of a Decepticon leader here with Cobra as an afterthought.
In fact, other than the setup and twist at the ending, Cobra was fairly nonexistent and this just saw G.I. Joe working with the Autobots to stop Serpentor, the new Decepticon ruler on Cybertron, who was essentially the “son” of Megatron.
The tease at the end of the second story that saw Dr. Mindbender encounter Cobra-La and had the mention of Unicron is held off until the fourth chapter, after this one. Which made this a bit of a letdown, as I was really anticipating the Cobra-La and Unicron story line, which would unify the threats of both G.I. Joe and the Transformers motion pictures. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited for Golobulus and Unicron working towards a common goal of ultimate destruction?
A big positive of this story, however, was seeing Hot Rod become a leader, as Optimus Prime was in pretty bad condition for part of the story. Also, it gave us General Hawk on the G.I. Joe side and finally pulled the trigger on the infatuation between Snake-Eyes and Scarlett.
It’s not that this chapter had a bad story, it just didn’t have that epic feel of the other chapters in this massive four-part crossover event. But it is decent filler until the larger than life conclusion, which this was working towards.
Rating: 7/10
Pairs well with: Other chapters in the G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers series by Devil’s Due.
Comic Review: G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers, Vol. 2
Published: May 25th, 2005
Written by: Dan Jolley, Josh Blaylock
Art by: Tim Seeley, E.J. Su, others
Based on: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero & The Transformers by Hasbro
Devil’s Due Publishing, 128 Pages
Review:
I thought that the first G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers story would be hard to top but this one did it.
The story picks up sometime after the events of the first story. Here, we see Cobra Commander reveal to Destro that he still has control of Starscream and that he has learned about an alien computer on Cybertron that controls a network of wormholes for instant travel around that planet. With that device, Cobra could easily take over Earth. Cobra then finds themselves on Cybertron and a big fight breaks out between Cobra and G.I. Joe, which damages the alien computer, sending Transformers back to Earth at different points throughout time. G.I. Joe, Cobra and some of the Transformers then have to work together to save Earth, which will be ravaged by the power of the damaged computer for centuries. Members of G.I. Joe and Cobra break off into different groups and go to different points in time to rescue the displaced Transformers in an effort to set things right.
The thing I really like about this specific tale in the G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers crossovers, is the entertainment value of the multiple squads of G.I. Joe and Cobra members. I also love the time travel part, as we get to see the past and a potential future where a crippled and slightly mad Duke leads a resistance force of reformed Dreadnoks against Shockwave’s Decepticon forces. I also like that Shockwave is the big villain of this story, as I always felt that he was too cool to be as underutilized as he was in the original cartoon.
But then there is the big badass ending! I don’t mean to spoil anything, so ignore the rest of this paragraph if you don’t want spoilers but Dusty shows up from prehistoric times with the Dinobots and they literally tear shit up! It’s absolutely friggin’ glorious!
The thing I also love about this series is the art. Devil’s Due Publishing always put out really dynamic comic books with great colors and fantastic illustrations. It’s unfortunate that they had money problems and weren’t paying some of their creative staff properly, which lead to some departures, such as Hack/Slash moving to Image Comics. I always liked how they handled the G.I. Joe and The Transformers franchises but they’ve also been in good hands since going to IDW Publishing and being rebooted.
G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers, Vol. 2 is a great example of Devil’s Due at their creative best, though. A solid story, amazing art and characters that are adored by every boy that grew up in the mid ’80s.
Rating: 9/10
Pairs well with: Other chapters in the G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers series by Devil’s Due.
Comic Review: G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers, Vol. 1
Published: April 6th, 2004
Written by: Josh Blaylock
Art by: Mike S. Miller
Based on: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero & The Transformers by Hasbro
Devil’s Due Publishing, 160 Pages
Review:
G.I. Joe and The Transformers have always existed in the same universe since the 1980s. Even if they only had a hint at a crossover when Cobra Commander appeared as a character named Snake in a very late episode of The Transformers cartoon, young boys in the ’80s knew that they occupied a similar space. The Transformers just exist a little bit further into the future, so they never really crossed over with the G.I. Joe and Cobra characters when those groups were at their peak.
The story here is interesting and Devil’s Due did a good job bringing these properties together in a practical and creative way. While it isn’t as fabulous as the old school Larry Hama G.I. Joe stories, it was well crafted and had the same sort of spirit.
In this chapter of this massive crossover that spanned four large stories, we meet the Transformers as they are unearthed by Cobra Commander and his Cobra minions. They crash landed on Earth at some point in the past. Cobra then uses the Transformers, Autobots and Decepticons, along with their alien technology to give them an advantage in their quest for world domination. G.I. Joe is formed after the initial Cobra attack and we also get to meet Autobots Wheeljack and Bumblebee, who have been lying in wait for the perfect moment to make their presence known. The Joes and the two Autobot heroes work together to free the other Autobots in an effort to protect Earth from Cobra and the Decepticons. Everything comes to a big awesome finale on Cobra Island in the Caribbean.
One real highlight for me was seeing two of my favorite childhood toys merged as one, as Cobra had Optimus Prime in the vehicle form of a H.I.S.S. tank.
This story is full of wonderful art, an engaging story that reinvents the mythos quite a bit while not necessarily betraying anything, great battles and just a whole lot of nostalgic fun. This is the comic book version of the crossover battles I would have on my bedroom floor as a kid in the ’80s.
Luckily, there are three sequels to this series.
Rating: 9/10
Pairs well with: The other G.I. Joe Vs. The Transformers collections.
Comic Review: Hack/Slash – Omnibus Three
Published on: December 21st, 2010
Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Tim Seeley, Bryan Baugh, Kevin Mellon
Devil’s Due Publishing, Image Comics, 300 Pages
Review:
It has been a few years since I’ve read through the Hack/Slash series but it is my favorite horror comic. I read this omnibus back when it first came out and since I just recently picked up the fourth and fifth omnibuses, I’m revisiting the first three to refresh my memory.
Out of the first three, this one is my least favorite. Granted, it is still thoroughly enjoyable. It has longer stories but some of them feel like filler without as much action as there was in the earlier volumes. Also, the number of slashers in this entry isn’t as large as the earlier stories.
However, at this point in the series, we get more stability. New villains pop up that are bigger than just being one off or two off threats. Samhain, for instance, feels like a presence that will maintain an important position throughout the series as it keeps going. But is Samhain even a villain? Or is he an antihero that out antiheroes our regular antiheroes? He’s a complex and interesting character, almost like the Deadpool of the Hack/Slash universe.
There is a lot more emotional baggage that comes forward in these stories, which contributes to the action not being as much in the forefront as it was previously. That’s okay, as Cassie is dealing with the death of her parents in a really awful way. This book deals with her sorting that out and figuring out what her real place is in the world and how that is going to effect Vlad and others close to her.
While I love the variety in art styles that grace the pages of comic books, this omnibus has so many drastic changes in style that it is a distraction. Maybe seeing each issue as a separate piece is a better way to approach it but as I was thumbing through the pages of this big collection, it just jumped around too much stylistically and the changes were quite drastic. Not to say any of the art was bad, it was all good but it messes with the tone.
This third omnibus sits in the middle of the five. This is the Wednesday of the series, or the hump day. It connects the beginning with the end and is a bridge that looks back at what’s happened and sets the stage for what’s still to come. It mostly works and it still leaves me excited to finally read the last two books and to see how the end of this story plays out.
Rating: 7.25/10
Pairs well with: The other Hack/Slash omnibus collections.
Comic Review: Hack/Slash – Omnibus Two
Published on: September 28th, 2010
Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Emily Stone, Rebekah Isaacs
Devil’s Due Publishing, Image Comics, 300 Pages
Review:
Reworking my way through the Hack/Slash comic series, I have now finished the second omnibus.
Revisiting this series has been a lot of fun and I’m doing it to refresh my memory, as I am a bit behind and need to read the fourth and fifth omnibuses, as I last stopped at the third.
In this collection, the series really finds its footing. The series begins to really take shape, as Cassie Hack’s team of allies start to come together to create something bigger than just her and Vlad taking on slashers. The people she has saved and helped, up to this point, want to assist her in her noble fight by putting their talents to use from wherever they are.
The stories in this volume are more fleshed out and not just one-offs. This collection is also capped off with a crossover between Hack/Slash and Re-Animator. In fact, the Re-Animator story works as a sequel to the film series, following the events of the three movies but tying the character of Dr. Herbert West to the family affairs of Cassie Hack.
This omnibus has a good mix of artists. One story in the book also takes on the form of a classic Archie comic in its visual style.
Cassie and Vlad’s relationship develops deeper and we also get to see possible love interests for both characters enter the picture. Plus, we get the introduction of my favorite demon dog Pooch, a talking, grotesque but very comedic mutt from the depths of Nef, a special kind of Lovecraftian Hell.
I prefer this omnibus to the first, even though the first was a great introduction to the series. Now the series feels more lived in, the characters have more depth and the relationships are blossoming into something more complex than just victims appreciating the hero. The emotionally complex hero now has people that she can put that emotion into, as well as her trust.
Rating: 9/10
Pairs well with: The other Hack/Slash omnibus collections.
Talking Pulp 
You must be logged in to post a comment.