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 All news should be considered an unconfirmed report unless verified, and all information published at KISS Asylum is attributed to the source from which it was received so that readers may judge the validity of the statements for themselves. All information is confirmed where possible, and all publication is governed by common sense.
GENE SIMMONS' DominatrixFrom: Paperback Reader Posted: October 13, 2007 GENE SIMMONS’ Dominatrix: Lesson #1 Writer: Sean Taylor Artist: Flavio Hoffe Cover: Alex Garner Letters: Neil Uyetake Editors: Chris Ryall and Tom Waltz Published by The GENE SIMMONS Comics Group and IDW, 22 pages for $3.99 One of the very cool things about reviewing indies is that you occasionally get some kick-ass free swag. In this case, after I reviewed Zipper #1, Tom Waltz and the guys at IDW sent me a bunch more stuff to review, which is sort of par for the course but which is also one of the better perks of doing this job. But this particular box o’ swag rocked harder than most because it had a copy of GENE SIMMONS’s new comic, Dominatrix—Lesson 1. And it wasn’t just any copy. It was a variant cover edition, signed by none other than GENE SIMMONS himself. People, that was an incredibly righteous thing for those guys to send over, and not just because I happen to be a pretty big fan of KISS. Well, not so much the face-painting aspect of the group, but I like their music a lot and have since I was a kid. As a matter of fact, I even took said signed copy to work and showed it around to my fellow cubicle-dwellers, a thing which I pretty much NEVER do because, let’s face it, it’s not at all easy to be taken seriously as an engineer when you’re a history major like I am, and playing show-and-tell with your comic collection typically doesn’t help around the office. But this time I made an exception because... well, if you can’t figure out why, then I doubt I can help you. With all of that in mind, I feel like I ought to admit up front that Dominatrix is not my normal thing. After all, Mr. Simmons described his book as "T&A meets the CIA" in IDW’s promo literature, whereas I tend to go for more of the pseudo-intellectual stuff—and Danger Girl. But I’ll say this about Dominatrix: it’s a Hell of a lot smarter than I thought it would be. I was expecting a nonsensical Brian Pulido-esque boobathon, but in fact, this is a story that’s entirely sensible, well-crafted, and basically a heck of a lot of fun right from the start. And yeah, this book has its share of tits and ass, but it’s not gratuitous. It’s not like Wonder Woman dressing up in a bathing suit to go fight crime. Instead, our heroine is an actual dominatrix who gets caught up in something scary that she doesn’t understand. And since she’s working at the time of the Event, well, what did you think she was gonna be wearing? Look, I like boobs as much as the next guy, but they’re a whole lot more fun when they make sense in the story. Right? I mean, you can see that, can’t you? If there’s one problem with this book, it’s the figure work. Although the coloring and printing are gorgeous throughout, the figures get a little stiff in some of the medium-long shots. Don’t get me wrong: artist Flavio Hoffe does a nice job on most of his work here, especially on the closer shots, but when he gets to an establishing shot—or basically anything with a full figure in motion—you can see him struggling to keep the characters from looking like contortionists. It’s hardly a fatal error, and it’s nicely masked by the colors, but it’s there, and this is a review, so I’m pointing it out. But I wouldn’t let that stop you from buying this book if you happen to want to read about kick-ass dominatrixes in take-over-the-world conspiracy stories. And this is a cool story, sort of reminiscent of the movie They Live but with a hot chick in the Rowdy Roddy Piper role, and I’m intrigued to see what happens next. Honestly, the number of comics that I actually buy based on review copies that I’m sent is very, very close to zero percent, but in this case I think I’m gonna make an exception just because I happened to enjoy this book a whole bunch. I really want to know what’s going on. And hey, if that’s not a ringing endorsement, then I don’t know what is. From Dan Head's Friday Mad Science column at Paperback Reader http://www.paperbackreader.com/newcolumn2.php?ColumnID=486 |
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