Secret Society Comics

Haunting Anthology by Scout Comics Raises Unsettling Questions

Review By : Reece Guida

Eccentric shopkeeper Julius Black may be evil as hell, but at least he knows the customers of the Electric Black as well as he knows his haunted inventory.

In book one, we meet Julius Black, the sinister shopkeeper of the Electric Black antique store, where “every customer gets what they deserve.” In the first page, we see that the shop is just floating in space — until a crystal ball summons the Electric Black back to earth to greet its next customer.

After the crystal ball emits its eerie purple glow, Julius sends his bored and buxom assistant, June Bug, to run errands. In the city streets of some dark corner on earth, she is mugged by an addict named Sully. As Sully hides out and waits to pawn the purse for his next score, the Electric Black shop appears from thin air and beckons him with its neon red hue.

Inside, Julius regales Sully with tales of two cursed objects on display in the shop, and he will never be the same.

Immersive mini comics give THE ELECTRIC BLACK depth

Joseph Schmalke and Rich Woodall take turns spinning yarns of strange objects inside Julius’s house of wonders. The creative duo’s writing and drawing styles in this anthology are distinct, and that is precisely what gives each object in the Electric Black a life of its own.

Julius shares the origin story of a golden compass Sully picked up in Woodall’s “The Rat Ship.” Aboard the Orion Sky ship in the stormy Bering Sea, Captain Fortier and his crew answer a distress call, find treasure, and meet their untimely fate. The killer, body-invading swarm of red-eyed rats in this story made me dread going underground to catch a subway out of fear that I’ll also become a vessel for whatever the hell their nefarious agenda may be.

In “Bixby’s Miracle Drops” by Schmalke, Julius tells the tragic tale of Bixby and his life’s work: to create medicine that heals the masses…and brings him fame. This mini comic had moments of tenderness and vulnerability that were otherwise absent in the issue, and I appreciate that Schmalke wasn’t afraid to go there. After failing to master medicine, Bixby finds a book of “devilry, rituals, and forbidden rites” in the hands of a rotting gypsy. He tests an eternal youth potion on a sickly, green dog, who becomes his fast friend. The concoction brings Bixby the success he craves, and that’s precisely what kills him.

Sinister, dark imagery brings the stories together

The consistent pallet of deep red, green, blue, purple, and brown heightens the intensity of book one, and bridges Schmalke and Woodall’s different styles. I admire the attention to detail: the sneaky middle fingers, the many objects in the shop, the speckles of blood and mist, and especially the intricate costumes — which play a big role in characterization.

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THE ELECTRIC BLACK is a lethal concoction of horror, occult, and supernatural genres

Rating 8.5/10

I’m impressed with how the author-writer duo gave me three comics for one, and made me really impatient for the next issue to just come out already. Book one of THE ELECTRIC BLACK has all the elements that make a reader want to come back for more: intrigue, violence, humor, and tragedy. The influences of Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King are readily apparent, and yet THE ELECTRIC BLACK felt like something I’ve never encountered before. I can imagine Netflix optioning this wickedly good series for October streaming.

The suspense that Schmalke and Woodall create with the questions raised in this issue might just kill me, along with whatever else lurks in the Electric Black shop.

• What evil forces and unsavory events tether June Bug, Julius, Jack, and Roy to the Electric Black? Why do they have to feed customers to Roy?
• What happened 300 years ago, when Julius and Jack last saw the symbol tattooed on Sully’s body?

While the main characters at the Electric Black shop look really cool, I lacked the emotional connection with them that I had with the doomed characters in the mini comics. But good things take time, and as Julius says, time is relative…

I can’t wait to see how Schmalke and Woodall explore these questions in the books to come. Until then, I’ll be sleeping with the light on.

BOOM! STUDIOS’ EROTIC NEW SERIES FEATURES MESMERIZING ART, WITTY DIALOGUE, AND CONTROVERSY

Review By : Reece Guida

On April 10, BOOM! Studios introduced Faith, a young woman exploring her sexuality and the forces of nature…with a little help from the devil. New York Times bestselling author Brian Azzarello and artist Maria Llovet will make you question what is and isn’t dark magic in their gripping, fast-paced introduction to the very promising FAITHLESS arc.

​Faith is into the occult. She draws spells and runes in her notebook to conjure magic, connect to energy, and influence things. She flaunts a pentagram necklace, and doesn’t care that her friends don’t take her magic seriously.

In the opening pages, Faith tries and fails to make herself orgasm, immediately setting the pace for what follows. Later, we find Faith in a cafe drawing a money and sabotage spell. As Faith leaves the cafe, she collides into the mysterious and beautiful Poppy, spilling coffee all over her. She remarks, “If that’s not an omen, I don’t know what is.” 

The two instantly connect and embark on a series of adventures that manifest peril and pleasure in the world.

THE PERFECT COMIC FOR 2019

Let’s address the elephant in the room: FAITHLESS is a comic about female sexuality written by an old, white, heterosexual male. Brian Azzarello also happens to be an industry veteran with a proven track record, but that’s not what impresses me. Here, he takes on a challenge that few in his position would feel comfortable pursuing, and executes with witty dialogue and tight storytelling.
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The writing is charged with empathy for the struggles women face in sex and relationships, like having difficulty orgasming and dealing controlling boyfriends. When Poppy’s ex-boyfriend, Michael, aggressively chases her down to win her back, Faith intervenes. Watching the usually timid Faith step up for Poppy is almost as satisfying as witnessing Azzarello and Llovet briefly, but gracefully, depict the confusion and frustration of young white men today.

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THE ART IS SEDUCTIVE

The cover artists and Maria Llovet bring the controversial topics and sexual energy behind this issue to life. I read the Erotica Cover variant by Tula Lotay, and found her provocative and brilliant art set the tone for Llovet’s enticing, dynamic visuals. 

FAITHLESS #1 proves that when you balance gender on a creative team and combine writing experience with a fresh visual perspective, readers everywhere can enjoy a revolutionary comic.

THEMES: FAITH, SEX, AND THE DEVIL

The debut of the FAITHLESS arc is inherently controversial. The themes and subject matter of this issue show that like Faith, Azzarello and Llovet aren’t afraid to indulge in the taboo. In just one issue, they touch on lesbian sex, dark magic, suicide, and the elusive female orgasm. ​

FAITH

Faith (the protagonist) and FAITHLESS (the title) create a curiously tense and ambiguous dynamic that the series is poised to explore. Faith is also the motif in The Inferno, Dante’s divine comedy about a soul’s journey through hell to paradise. The the series claims to pay homage to the tradition of the divine comedy, and the parallels are clear in FAITHLESS #1

SEX

This issue plays with the “demonization” of female sexuality, especially lesbian sex. It was refreshing to see Poppy and Faith have sex as two women actually do, and I applaud Llovet for putting the “scissoring” myth to bed with her tasteful images of oral sex.

Thematically, FAITHLESS explores sex as the conduit to another spiritual or mystical realm. I am excited to see how Faith will continue to pursue the link between her sexuality and the occult, and how that will wreak havoc on the material world.

THE DEVIL

The devil is Faith’s constant companion throughout the issue. Although he was entirely offscreen, it seemed that his influence increased with each page. 

After Faith casts the sabotage and money spell in her notebook, strange coincidences pile up. As she and Poppy day drink and play pool in a bar, they witness Michael jump to his death from a building on TV. Moments later, Faith stumbles upon good fortune when a stranger gives her a $100 bill for returning his wallet after they collided while crossing the street.
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The tag line for FAITHLESS is “An erotic depiction of faith, sex, and the devil in the tradition of the divine comedy,” and the creative team delivers on what it promises. 

FAITHLESS #1 is a refreshingly unique take on horror and erotica Rating 9/10

Faith practices the dark arts to unfuck the world and herself, and transfixes us in the process. This is the first story I’ve read that embraces sexual fluidity as I’ve experienced it, and treats its characters like they’re people living in the world who we just happened to walk in on. However, I felt that the pacing was very fast, and that there were a lack of establishing details, such as city this occurs in, or how Faith spends her time when she’s not summoning satan to do her bidding.

I anticipate that the creative team behind FAITHLESS will continue to deliver a seductive, dark narrative that will terrify me, turn me on, and make me laugh.