Ten years after the outbreak of Moss, humanity is pushed to the fringes in a struggle to stay a step ahead of a virulent pathogen that’s only lethal to humans. There is no cure for Moss, the only thing that can be done to stop the spread of the disease is to remove the infected limb. This is the world of John J. Vendor and he makes his living selling body parts back to the living.

Vendor, published by Viper Comics, is the first project from Keven Abrams and Adam Moore’s Fairtrade Films company. The company’s name gives away their professional background in the movie and television industries but both have backgrounds in scriptwriting and editing, both of which are vital skills for the “direction” of a graphic novel. Couple their professional writing and business experience with Nicc Balce’s art (more on him later) and you’ve got the potential for great comic.

Vendor himself is a very interesting character. He walks around with a box full of body parts wearing a trench coat that’s missing one sleeve. This arm he leaves bare in case he needs to cut it off and replace it with one more suited to his needs. He runs his business under the guise of a dating service and he also has a sort of death-sense which allows him to find the dying and buy their limbs from them. It’s a handy gift for someone who deals in both life and death. Continue reading “Vendor”

Wulf and Batsy is a new black and white series written and illustrated by Bryan Baugh and published by Viper Comics. Baugh has an interesting resume grounded in animation. In his words: “During the day I work for Disney Animation, where I make a living as a storyboard artist, on a new Winnie the Poohanimated TV series. But then I come home at night and draw horror comics, which have monsters and blood and half naked girls in them.”

The story follows Wulf – a.k.a. Cevin – and his vampire “ladyfriend” Batsy. Cevin and Batsy are itinerant, wandering from town to town, looking for some place to call home. When they get to the village of Eppworth Ruddy they hope for a place to settle down, but when a young shepherd woman interrupts Wulf feeding on her father’s flock Batsy intervenes to save the young woman’s life then puts her to sleep to facilitate their exit.

The next day Batsy sleeps while Cevin explores the town. By explore of course I mean slink into the local brothel. And where else would the local shepherd maiden run to first when she woke up but the brothel to let everyone who’s anyone know about this latest monster infestation. I’m not sure if Baugh is trying to be tongue in cheek or if these types of things are merely unintentional incongruities. Either way it’s amusing. Continue reading “Wulf and Batsy: We Have No Home”