Comic review: Reanimator #4- A gloriously daft ending to a thoroughly enjoyable series

Writer: Keith Davidsen
Artist: Randy Valiente
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Released: 15th July 2015



It’s Friday, the end of my comic book reviewing week, and it’s been heavy. All week long I’ve been talking about politics, order following, statism and officially sanctioned corporate evil.

Godzilla in Hell #1 was fun, but check out my review, somehow along the way I get wrapped up in life again and go on a big rant about quiet acquiescence to real world evil. And if you think that’s an over the top, self-righteous rant, check out my review of this week’s 2000AD.

Wow, I really go overboard on that one.

I guess I’m just a crazy loon who can’t help himself. I read a book, sit down to review it, and off I go, on a wild reality tangent, coming across like a crazy (or should that be ‘manic’) street preacher.

‘Reanimator’ allowed me to take a break from all of that. I read it, enjoyed it, and that’s that. Here is a book about reanimated corpses, voodoo, swamps, monsters, magic and mayhem, and it’s all very, very daft.

I've enjoyed this series because it’s being deliberately silly, and it’s not trying to do anything other than that. There’s no forced, ironic cleverness to the dialogue. The characters talk to move the story forward, explain the silliness, and to make sure that there is no confusion going on. I like the fact that writer Keith Davidsen is making sure that nobody is confused. It’s not patronising, it’s reader friendly, and I really appreciate it.

Too many books today try to be subtle, and all they end up doing is confusing me. The worst kind of comic book is the book that you read, put down, and think, ‘What the Hell was all that about then?’ Give me something simple, and silly, and I’m fine with it. That’s probably why I enjoyed Godzilla in Hell #1 so much as well.

I’m not that hard to please. All I want is a bit of fun, a bit of silliness, and an occasional good book that deals with important issues, a book that has broken free from the mainstream education promoted ideology of Cultural Marxism that is sweeping through, and destroying, mainstream comic books in 2015.

Reanimator isn’t going to go down in history as a revolutionary, paradigm shifting comic book, but that’s okay, because it’s not trying to force any ideology down your throat.

I read it as four issues of forget the world, kick off your working boots, sit down, relax, and enjoy the fun. I’ve enjoyed the arc, not because it was saying anything, but because it wasn’t saying anything.

The lack of agenda or ideology allowed me to relax, to laugh and to enjoy the book for the silly, escapist bit of fun that it was supposed to be. The ride is over now, and there’s a gap in my diary for silly, throwaway, escapist, daft fun. I’m going to miss this book. Fun and comic books don’t always go hand in hand today.



Rating: 8/10 (I was hoping for a delightfully silly final panel to wrap up the story, and that’s exactly what I got here. Leave me smiling and I’m a happy comic book reader)

Blitz review: Reanimator #3- Old School Horror Comic fun-time

Writer: Keith Davidsen
Artist: Randy Valiente
Cover B artists: Andrew Mangum & Kyle Ritter
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Released: 10th June 2010


I love this wonderfully deranged comic about a loony tune mad scientist, drug gangs, a cult of Cthulhu fanatics and a hot babe who has found herself mixed up in all of the craziness.

I shouldn’t like it so much, but I do, it’s my break from reality, and it’s the perfect counterbalance to my day to day research and writings about neo-liberalism and what can loosely be termed the ‘New World Order.’

My issue #3 had the B cover, the one at the top of this review, and I knew that it was fun time again before I'd even read the book. That cover is so deliciously corny, look at that tight T-shirt slowly lifting, tightening at the bosoms, and revealing some belly. It’s old-fashioned ridiculous sexist, objectifying the female form, and I have to say that I’m a huge fan of it.

Inside the actual book is a narrative that should be convoluted, but really isn’t, due to the precise way that it’s structured as an instantly readable reader-friendly fun comic book. Not all comic books are like this. Some just tell their tale, and if the reader gets lost half way, then tough luck.

Writer Keith Davidsen is a bit friendlier than that. He takes his time, explains what is going on, asks if you have any questions, then moves on to the next part of the story. That accessibility makes the book a joy to read you can just sit back, sip your cuppa, and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

If you are a fan of old school horror comics, or anything to do with a certain H.P. Lovecraft, then ‘Reanimator’ is something that you’ll get a huge kick out of. It always makes me smile, it entertains me, it stops me from being so damn serious all of the time, it’s great silly stuff, and man, that cover just made my day.

Rating: 8/10 (Reader friendly horror comic fun) 

Comic Review: Reanimator #2- Busy, Silly & Fun

Writer: Keith Davidsen
Artist: Randy Valiente
Cover A: Francesco Francavilla
Cover B (Above): Andrew Mangum & Kyle Ritter

Publisher: Dynamite Comics

Released: 13th May 2015


Sometimes I need a break from all of the thinking, the endless drumming beat of neoliberalism that fascinates, but tires me out so much. I can’t spend all of my day obsessing over that stuff, it would drive me insane, and I’d be a gibbering wreck by the end of the week.

So, please forgive me here. I need to review a book about zombie girls in bikini’s and reanimated corpses, and Lovecraftian cults and swamp fighting and a mad scientist. A book that is set in a nowhere time, and isn’t really saying anything other than put your brain on sleep mode, forget your worries and let us take you on a daftly horrorific funfair ride.

Reanimator #2 is about a bored girl. She’s still grieving for her recently deceased boyfriend, and has an insatiable need for some adrenaline, for some excitement in her life, just to make here feel...something.

So, how to break that interminable boredom, the awful, belly aching pang of ennui that leaves you feeling empty and devoid of all hope?

How about a hoverboat ride through the everglades with a mad scientist doing mad scientist stuff, followed by a tussle with a zombie girl, a bracing swim in the alligator infested swamp, a meet and greet with a slightly silly cult leader, and a surprise twist to the end of the day that you’ll never, ever forget?

That all sounds pretty exciting to me, and although she might end up feeling a tad traumatised by the whole experience at least she can’t complain about feeling bored anymore.

The book has slightly wonky art, it’s a bit messy, but the story is a grand silly adventure and things are always happening, so you are never bored and the fast pace ensures that you are always looking forward to seeing what is going to happen next.

There’s a huge revelation at the end of this issue, so hopefully it hasn’t peaked too soon, but as a short boredom busting rest-stop between my more serious hard hitting political type books then Reanimator #2 was the perfect pit-stop.

The book gave me a fun ten minutes break, and now I’m back, re-energised and ready to get straight back into all of the serious, yet daunting, new world order, neoliberalism, statism, slavery, barking mad monkey at midnight banana curry insanity political nonsense. Thanks for the break lads. I needed it.


Rating: 7/10 (Busy, silly and fun)

Comic Review: Reanimator #1- So much more than just another awesome Francavilla B Cover

Writer: Keith Davidsen
Artist: Randy Valiente
Cover B: Francesco Francavilla
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Released: 8th April 2015


I’ve just read a comic book that I really enjoyed, and I want to say some nice things about it and thank everybody involved, so here goes:

I only bought Reanimator #1 because of the typically awesome Francavilla front cover. I read the preview and it didn’t appeal, but when I saw that cover in my comic book store I decided to take a chance on the book. After all, if it turned out to be terrible then at least I’d have a great looking cover for my money.

So what’s the book all about? That’s the problem really. It sounds pretty formulaic on the surface. It’s about a Dr. Frankenstein type, and it has elements of magic and Lovecraftian horror mythology in it as well. The main protagonist is a girl, a scientist, and she’s pretty.

See what I mean?

Sounds unoriginal and uninspired doesn’t it? The strange thing however is that the book is actually a lot of fun and offers a lot more than you might think. The Dr. Frankenstein character is odd, but oddly likeable as well. The magic and Lovecraftian thematic meat of the narrative is interesting because it’s mixed in with elements of contemporary science, new-age ideas and street/thug life. Plus the girl protagonist is believably human and nowhere near as generic or annoying as your usual strong independent female warrior comic book type in 2015. She’s unfulfilled, bored, middle class and stuck in a safe career rut. She is doing daft things and taking unnecessary risks just to inject some much needed drama and sense of danger into the empty routine and meaning free existence in which she has found herself living in.

I read her and I can believe that she exists because she is bored, she has flaws, and she is lonely. In other words, she comes across like a real life flesh and blood human being, and reading that type of character in a comic book is something that really stands out. It shouldn’t. Fictional characters should always feel at least somewhat real, but the fact of the matter is that they don’t, so when you read one that is well written and believable she stands out like a (depressingly rare) truth told on a mainstream television ‘programme.’

The narrative flow of the book is fast, eventful, and fun, and features a final page reveal that makes a lot of sense, bridging the gap between contrivance for the sake of drama and creating a believable scenario that connects the main two protagonists. Did that make sense? Probably not. What I am trying to say is that the writing is good, very good.

The art (which I often neglect to talk about in my reviews) is easy on the eye, and that’s not just a cliché that I’m throwing in here because I don’t know what else to say about it. It’s clear, precise, uncluttered, and easy to follow and exists as good art should exist in a comic book, acting as the perfect companion to an interesting story, servicing that story rather than distracting from it.

Hopefully I’ve convinced everybody reading this review that Reanimator #1 is a comic book that is worth taking a chance on. It’s more than just the awesome Cover B from Francesco Francavilla. That cover is an excellent starter, but the main course of the book itself is just as delicious as well, and I’m happy to recommend it here on my occasionally daft, occasionally pompous, occasionally preachy, occasionally po-faced and serious, but always honest blog.


Rating: 8/10 (A fun filled horror comic book)