Saturday, April 16, 2016

Arcana Presents Free Comic Book Day 2008

Another FCBD edition from the unread comics stack.

Title: Arcana Presents
Date: 2008
Publisher: Arcana
Writer: Sean O'Reilly, Scott Sanders, Grant Chastain, Adam Gallardo
Artist: Clint Hilinski, A.T., Camilla D'Errico, Pedro Delgado, Todd DeMong
Colorist: Steve Whitmire, Josh "Bee" Perez
Editor: Eric Bell

Free Comic Book Day anthology from Arcana in 2008. Four stories here, with just a little bit of story to introduce each one.

First up is Kade, a tale of a demon-hunter attempting to track down the "first demon" in India during an unspecified time period in the past. Kade stands in a crowd, who are understandably staring at him. Let's just say he stands out, just a bit. But it soon becomes apparent to him, that not every bystander is what they appear to be. The segment ends just as things are turning violent.

The second story is a b/w manga-influenced story called Burn. It opens with a cyborg boy standing among ruins and dead bodies, before moving into a flashback. Apparently a lot happened in the space of two hours, but the segment ends just as the destruction is beginning, with just a bit of a hint that a new advancement in artificial intelligence may be involved in the coming mayhem.

The third story, The Gwai, involves a species of intelligent furry monsters living in the Canadian Woods. When a mother Gwai and her child encounter a pair of hunters, tragedy ensues. This had an interesting art style that reminded me of classic Warner Brothers cartoons. The setup was something we've all seen before, but it did leave me curious to find out more about the Gwai.

Last up was 100 Girls, with a runaway teen with mutant powers telling her "origin story" to a friend. Once again, the setup was pretty familiar, but there was an interesting twist at the end that suggests there is more going on here than at first meets the eye.

This collection hinted at some good potential in the stories, although none of the teases were so good that I wanted to run out and find the full book. Still, a fairly effective offering with some nice artwork throughout, and a good variety of stories.

Rating: 5.5/10


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