RM Guera: Scalped

Preview of "Rend and Tear with Tooth and Claw part 1" in 2000 AD Prog 2376, written by Rob Williams, art by RM Guera, colors by Giulia Brusco

This Week's Rebellion Releases: New Judge Dredd story begins in 2000AD, Jon Lock joins Tharg's ranks!

New issues of 2000AD, Prog 2376, and Monster Fun No. 18 are on sale from today in all good comic shops and newsagents. Joining Tharg's team this week - Jon Lock, creator of Afterlife Inc.

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Scalped Omnibus Vol.1 HC cover by R. M. Guéra (released in November 2024).

Comics Review: ‘The Goddamned’ TPB #2

The Goddamned, Volume 2: The Virgin Brides by Jason Aaron My rating: 5 of 5 stars "And they're not worth your tears." (Jael) One girl is rebellious by choice. In the face of inscrutable tyranny and feckless zealotry, she lifts her chin and boisterously curses the conspiratorial ignorance that would dare misinform the innocent. The other girl hungers for her piety to matter, to someone, anyone, who would dare repay kindness with kindness. She has, regrettably, witnessed since her birth the aberrant and grotesque proclivities of the impious masked as dutiful, faithful, good, godly. THE GODDAMNED #2 weaves a parallel and late-intersecting side-story to the first. Jael, the rebel, and Sharri, the pious one, are two girls whom have come of age at a grubby convent at the head of a mountain, apart from the decay of humankind below. The convent is guided by mothers in service to their god, grooming (and disciplining) girls of pre-pubertal age and instilling in them thoughts of heavenly service as literal offerings to a higher power. Here, religion, as always, is a tool of control. The girls of the convent don't know that to be an offering is to be forcibly bred by an angel. The girls don't know of the horrors awaiting them in birthing monstrous nephilim. The girls don't know of the brambles full of snakes encircling the mountain, of the hunting parties that decapitate families and steal babies, of the coming deluge that will wipe out all of humankind. The girls know nothing. But Jael and Sharri? They fight back. They know something's wrong. They hear the screams at night. They mark the odd disappearance of close friends. They closely eye the carrion riding on thermals overhead. Jael and Sharri fight back. And when they spot their chance, they run. Because these corrupt nuns? Their gutless warrior-woman hunter-guardians? Their deaf god? They're not worth their tears. THE GODDAMNED #2 is another extraordinary creative effort. The previous volume in this comics series was garish, brutal, and upfront. The current volume is fearless and emotionally demanding. However, as one slips into the minds of Jael and Sharri, one quickly learns that to be fearless isn't so much as to be without fear as it is to live in a constant state of perturbation and anxiety, knowing that one's fear will either be what saves you or kills you. Fear will freeze your legs at the sight of the talking snake; fear will also push you to stab it through the skull and run for your life. Fear will force you to throw down your weapon when faced with an opponent decades your senior; fear will also gift you the courage to deceive your foe, stab her in the sternum, and let the heavens burn her from the inside-out. The current volume also exceeds the initial trade release in terms of crafting a more complete and compelling narrative. Previously, it was up to the reader to determine whether Cain's efforts (foibles) were merely eccentric in their blasphemy or righteous in their arrogance. THE GODDAMNED #2 doesn't give readers a choice. The abuse the girls suffer at the convent is demoralizing. The lengths to which the girls will go to ensure they are free of the inflamed negligence of the nuns' so-called god is gut-wrenching. And the level of devotion these girls have for one another, despite the surrounding violence and deceit, is heartwarming. The creative team didn't merely manifest a tale built on the apocryphal, it created characters whose grit and devotion and heart, no matter how noncanonical, is the stuff of legend. This book is worth weeping over.

Comics Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

BRZRKR: A Faceful of Bullets #1 (BOOM! Studios, June 2024) variant cover by RM Guera

Heroes Reborn #5

This is why I love world rewrite events. They made Nighthawk into some weird amalgamation of Batman,Spider-man and Captain America.

Comics are so weird

THE GODDAMNED: THE VIRGIN BRIDES #2 (OF 5)

WRITER: JASON AARON ARTIST / COVER: r.m.GUÉRA JUNE 10 / 32 PAGES / FC / M / $3.99 To escape a wedded fate worse than death, Sharri and Jael flee into the thorny wilderness beyond the secret nunnery that’s all they’ve ever known. But the brutal Old Mothers of the Mountain, with their stone spears and bone daggers, aren’t about to let the young brides slip away.

The Goddamned: The Virgin Brides #1

The Goddamned: The Virgin Brides #1 Image Comics 2020 Written by Jason Aaron Illustrated by r.m. Guéra Coloured by Giulia Brusco Lettered & Designed by Jared K. Fletcher    Genesis 6:4. “…the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men. And they bore children to them…”     In the time before the Great Flood, the world of man is a place of wanton violence and unbridled depravity. But hidden high atop a mountain, there is a very different sort of world. One without men. Here, the holy sisters at a secret nunnery live in paradise, a new Eden, rearing their flock of orphaned girls to embrace their future as blessed Brides of the Sons of God. But when Sharri and Jael, two girls on the cusp of flowering, uncover what it truly means to become a Bride, they realize there’s only one way to escape the bonds of matrimony: run like hell.     I really enjoyed the first arc of this and it was crass, rude, vulgar and so much more and while at first I was taken aback but after a bit I understood the reasoning and it became something that we just expected to see.  So that we see more of the same unapologetic approach to the storytelling here is utterly sensational.  The whole mood, tone and feel of this book and how it talks to the reader while showing the characters living out their lives, and duties, in such a manner.  I couldn’t turn away and I couldn’t stop thinking about it all day after reading it and that impact is something Jason seems to be able to do seemingly effortlessly.     The way that this is being told really is bloody brilliant.  The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented perfectly.  From how this arc is set up to how we see the stars of the story emerge it is simply one of the best crafted stories I have ever read.  The character development we see is phenomenal and the girls are amazing as we begin to see them and how their world treats them.  To see them at this stage of the story knowing they are going to grow and evolve still well that makes me wish we could read this all now.  The pacing is amazing and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns and a revelation of two we see how all of this works together to create the books ebb & flow.     I am totally into and digging the interiors here.  There is something so raw and angry about what we see and perhaps that just the mind of the reader, me, being influenced by the story and if so then Bravissimo!  The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques utilised in bringing out the attention to detail is magnificently rendered.  The way that the backgrounds are utilised and how they not only enhance the moments but bring us this depth perception, sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope for the story.  The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling.  The colour work we see is really, really nice to see.  How the various hues and tones within the colours are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work and how they set the tone and mood of the moment is beautifully done.   ​     This is fantastic and even if you didn’t read the first arc that’s fine, though you should get that too, this is a new reader friendly beginning.  Just beware this is a great thinking person’s book and you have to have an open mind and be too easily offended.  After all this is based on times that occurred before Noah and flood so the world is full of those who need to be cleansed.  Still this is a raucous good time folks.

RM Guera

Steve Ekstrom Joins Behemoth as new Editorial Director

Steve Ekstrom Joins Behemoth as new Editorial Director #Comics #ComicBooks

Behemoth Comics has announced the addition of comic book creator Steve Ekstrom to their company as the new Editorial Director. Ekstrom’s role will primarily focus on the development of new creator-owned content with Behemoth’s Publisher, Nathan Yocum. Ekstrom will have expanded creative roles on several licensed projects connected to recent popular horror and sci-fi films as well as developing…

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Thor: God of Thunder #25

Rebellion Releases: Don't Miss Out on a Bumper 2000AD Prog!

This week's 2000AD is a bumper issue of the Galaxy ’s Greatest Comic — the first of four that will be seeded throughout the year, allowing for bonus stories to run alongside the ongoing Thrills

This week’s 2000AD is a bumper issue of the Galaxy ’s Greatest Comic — the first of four that will be seeded throughout the year, allowing for bonus stories to run alongside the ongoing Thrills. Publisher Rebellion‘s hope is that they should prove “jumping on points” for new readers to join the throng of 2000AD devotees, and this pulse-pounding prog is no exception. Joining the latest…

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Scalped's Dash Bad Horse by R.M. Guéra.

Afterthoughts

Scalped by Aaron & Guera

The Goddamned: The Virgin Brides #1arrives from Image Comics this week, as Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera continue their “biblical-noir epic.” See what else is arriving this week.