Worlds of Aspen 2011

Title: Worlds of Aspen 2011
Date: 2011
Publisher: Aspen Comics
Writer: J.T. Krul, Vince Hernandez, Joe Benitez
Penciler: Jason Fabok, Khary Randolph, Joe Benitez
Colorist: John Starr, Emilio Lopez, Peter Steigerwald

Aspen's offering for Free Comic Book Day 2011 previews six titles, although only three of these actually get to show off completed pages. The opening story, Soulfire, is visually impressive, but looks complicated enough to be potentially off-putting to new readers. There was a fight between two winged women with not a whole lot of rhyme, reason, or explanation. I wasn't sure who was the good girl and who was the bad girl by the end of it, or even if there was supposed to be definite good and bad sides to the conflict.

Charismagic had an intriguing concept: a Vegas stage magician swept into the world of real sorcery. I liked what I saw of the story, but it was a very short piece that barely introduced the lead character.

The latest incarnation of Fathom only got a pinup page. Fathom is pretty, but uninteresting with a generic comic-book body in a generic bikini. I know the character has been used in interesting ways in the past, but I can only judge by what I got here, which was basically just cheesecake of the sort you'd find in better quality fanart.

Next up is Lady Mechanika, and we finally get something interesting. The genre is all-out steampunk, and there is a reasonable amount of plot in the five-page preview, along with the introduction of a pretty diverse cast of characters and the beginnings of a mystery. Easily the best preview in this book.

Last up was Executive Assistant Iris, which features a succession of female assassins who double as mild ethnic stereotypes when they're not being sex objects. All we get are some character profiles. If you're into women with weapons I suppose this might be your thing. It wasn't mine.

Loved Lady Mechanika. Nothing else in the book had me interested in reading further.

Rating: 5.5/10