Northlanders, Vol. 3: Blood in the Snow Brian Wood, Dean Ormstson, Vaslish Lolos, et al. DC/Vertigo, $14.99 paper (144p) ISBN 978-1-4012-2620-6
From examining a shattered future America in DMZ, Wood turns to life in an even more disturbing time: the Viking Age. The four pieces gathered here fall between longer story arcs in the monthly comic; together, they form a mosaic showing how children, warriors, women, and families fared when sharp weapons were the sum total of law and order. No one had it easy. Wood isn’t unsympathetic to the Vikings, who started raiding because life in their native land was so brutal. However, he is unsentimental about their own brutality, as they raped and robbed anyone vulnerable and as they turned on themselves in self-destructive violence. The scripts are taut, historically well researched without being pedantic, and the four artists respond to them well. Most striking is “The Viking Art of Single Combat,” in which Lolos’s dynamic style complements Wood’s coolly distant analysis of dueling champions. As a picture of human behavior in extreme conditions, these stories are moving and memorable. (Mar.)
Zombie Tales: Good Eatin’ Various Boom! $15.99 paper (112p) ISBN 978-1-934506-59-2
The third volume in Boom!’s anthology series (containing 12 short stories) capitalizes on the zombie trend, but it transcends the monster genre to make strong points about human nature and the will to survive. The comics cover belief, redemption, love, hope, and compassion in creative and eye-opening ways, punctuated by brain eating and gut rending. From the start, this is something special, with a surprising piece about the power of faith by William Messner-Loebs and Matt Cossin. It’s not all high aspiring and inspirational, though; Monty Cook and Jeremy Rock illustrate how those who preach the survival of the fittest are generally not part of the best group, while Michael Alan Nelson and Cossin (again) show how badly jealousy can play out at the end of the world. The writers are generally better known than the artists, but the work overall is highly professional and wide-ranging in style, adding to the diverse feel. Unlike many anthologies, this one has no additional information about its contributors, so there’s no way to easily find more of their work, which is worth seeking out based on this assemblage. (Feb.)
Wizzywig Volume 3: Fugitive Ed Piskor. Ed Piskor, $15 paper (112p) http://www.edpiskor.com/
On the run from the police for a variety of computer crimes, Kevin “Boingthump” Phenicle is brilliant at living under the radar, but can’t quite resist the lure of hacking, phone phreaking, and a crooked dollar. Wizzywig Vol. 3: Fugitive is the latest installment in Piskor’s ongoing epic inspired by the lives and exploits of the early hackers. Boingthump’s best friend, radio DJ and fellow hacker Winston Smith, sees the manhunt and public hysteria as a sign of the government’s unreasonable persecution of hackers, and his radio commentary on the subject serves as a Greek chorus to Phenicle’s life underground. Yet Phenicle is not the beleaguered innocent he imagines himself. Unthinkingly amoral and always looking for an angle, he happily rigs radio contests, runs a phone service for a prostitution ring, sets up illegal wiretaps, and sees nothing wrong with creating computer viruses for fun. Piskor’s quirky art is fittingly offbeat and eminently readable, and his knowledge of the subject shines through on every page. Every trick the fictional Boingthump pulls is based on a historical example, almost a how-to of early ’90s white collar crime. Historical fiction for the XKCD set, Wizzywig is a fascinating and funny story. (Feb.)
