Graphic Novel review: SOMETHING ANIMAL from Fanboy Comics

 
SOMETHING ANIMAL
Written by:  Sam Rhodes and Bryant Dillon
Art, Photography, and Design by:  Robert Burrows
Original Story by:  Ben Rhodes
Edited by:  Barbra Dillon

A while back I wrote about a graphic novel and short film called SOMETHING ANIMAL from Fanboy Comics.  Well, the graphic novel is finally out and I recently got my hands on a copy.  For those not familiar with the story, here is the basic plot synopsis from the official website of the graphic novel:

After witnessing his sister's brutal murder, Jack struggles to cope with the disturbing, psychological aftermath. Tormented by images of the attack, Jack finds himself physically ill and unable to eat.

Scared and alone, he is forced to confront a growing thirst for blood and the harsh reality that either his sanity is quickly crumbling or that he is turning into something else... something dark... something animal...

I liked this graphic novel a lot...it is a very simple story and really doesn't have much dialog for a graphic novel.  The majority of the story is told through the artwork of Robert Burrows.  I mentioned in my last post about SOMETHING ANIMAL that the art style is not polished at all.  It is rough and a little distorted at times, but it works perfectly for this dark subject matter.  

I like the story a lot, but I did feel it ended rather abruptly and left many questions to be answered.  I have a feeling this is a just a drop in the bucket of the SOMETHING ANIMAL story.  I think this graphic novel is just setting the background for us and I think this story is really going to take off in a future follow up book.

Get your hands on a copy of SOMETHING ANIMAL before they sell out!  You can get a copy off of the Fanboy Comics website for only $9.99 + shipping!  


CLICK HERE to purchase the graphic novel
CLICK HERE to visit the official website of SOMETHING ANIMAL
CLICK HERE to visit the official website of Fanboy Comics

Fanboy Comics Presents: SOMETHING ANIMAL

Fanboy Comics is a new independent comic book publishing company founded by Barbra Dillon, Bryant Dillon, and Sam Rhodes. Fanboy has some great projects lined up, but the biggest one is a joint-project consisting of an upcoming graphic novel and short film titled, SOMETHING ANIMAL. Here is the basic plot:

After witnessing his sister's brutal murder, Jack struggles to cope with the disturbing psychological aftermath. Tormented by images of the attack, Jack finds himself physically ill and unable to eat. Scared and alone, he is forced to confront a growing thirst for blood and the harsh reality that either his sanity is quickly crumbling or that he is turning into something else....something dark...something animal!

Those lucky enough to attend this years San Diego Comic Con had a chance to nab an exclusive Fanboy Comics DVD, which featured a preview of the SOMETHING ANIMAL graphic novel and 2 trailers for the upcoming short film. I got my hands on one of these DVD's and I am super excited about this project. The short film was produced by Barbra Dillon, written by Sam Rhodes and is directed by Bryant Dillon. The graphic novel was written by both Sam and Bryant based on a story by Ben Rhodes. The graphic novel features the artwork of Robert Burrows.

The trailers for the short film don't give much away, they are more of teasers if anything, but from the little we see, I can say I am super excited about seeing the full film. It looks to be super low budget, and looks to be a gritty tale of vampires. And you gore hounds should not be disappointed, as from the looks of the trailer, we are in store for plenty of bloodshed, as any good vampire film should have!

The graphic novel looks to be just as good if not even better than the film. The artwork by Robert Burrows is great. It is not clean and polished like some comic art, but that is a good thing here, and is a very fitting style for this type of dark story (think Templesmith's artwork for the 30 Days of Night comics).

I will keep you posted once I have seen a release date for both the short film and the graphic novel of SOMETHING ANIMAL!

CLICK HERE to visit the official website of SOMETHING ANIMAL

CLICK HERE to visit the official website of Fanboy Comics

Book Review: ZOMBIES: A RECORD OF THE YEAR OF INFECTION

This is by far one of the best Zombie books I have read in a long time. Although, there is really not that much reading to it. In fact, that is my one complaint about the book is that it is not long enough. You can easily read this cover to cover in about 30 minutes. But don't let that keep you from checking this out, because it will be some of the coolest zombie filled 30 minutes you've experienced in long time. I guess this would be considered more of a graphic novel type book than a regular novel. It is set up with beautiful illustrated zombie pictures on almost every page, with just a short paragraph or so of writing on the pages. The illustrations are the main draw here, with both Black and White, and full color drawings. The book is basically set us as a set of hand written Field Notes from a Dr. Robert Twombly. Here is the description from amazon.com:

The year is 2011, and what starts as a pervasive and inexplicable illness ends up as a zombie infestation that devastates the world's population. Taking the form of a biologist's illustrated journal found in the aftermath of the attack, this pulse-pounding, suspenseful tale of zombie apocalypse follows the narrator as he flees from city to countryside and heads north to Canada, where he hopes the undead will be slowed by the colder climate. Encountering scattered humans and scores of the infected along the way, he fills his notebook with graphic drawings of the zombies and careful observations of their behavior, along with terrifying tales of survival. This frightening new contribution to the massively popular zombie resurgence will keep fans on the edge of their seats right up to the very end.

ZOMBIES is written by Don Roff and illustrated by Chris Lane. I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of the zombie genre.

Click HERE to purchase this book from Amazon.com
Click HERE to go to the author's official website