V_Scarlotte_Rose

Posting Reviews Again. :) http://www.comicvine.com/forums/gen-discussion-1/i-review-the-lowest-selling-comic-of-the-month-feb-1550141/#0

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I Review Low Seller Runners-Up: October 2013(Part 2).

Hi Everyone.

This is the first October review that isn't looking at a comic from Titan. I wasn't blown away by either of them, so let's see how this one goes.

The 478th best selling(2nd lowest) comic of October 2013(according to Comichron.com) with 1,919 issues sold was Ursa Minor #1, from Big Dog Ink.

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Cover:

The cover is pretty nicely drawn. I like how these flames are drawn, and the way they're coloured, and light up Naomis' face is very well done. Kind of unfortunate that it looks like it's teasing an up skirt shot though.

The cover image doesn't directly reflect a scene from the comic, but after reading it, I wonder if the flames are there to represent some burning that is referenced. Naomi doesn't wear this outfit in the issue, but she's in disguise for most of it, so it kind of makes sense for her to not be in her regular costume.

Art:

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The art by Ian Snyder, with Vic Moya and Steve Sprayson inking, is rather good throughout. Having the same interior artist as the one who drew the cover adds a nice bit of consistency to the issue. It makes judging a book by it's cover a little easier(though my reviews would be a little short if I did that). It's generally neat and nice to look at. There's some violent scenes that do give off a real sense of pain, and the werewolves(and bear) are great looking, and are a real contrast to their human forms.

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The colours by Nei Ruffino are handled well, with distinctive colour palettes for each source of light, be it moonlight, candlelight or disco light.

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I don't usually talk about lettering, but I feel I should mention it for this issue. Humans are given ordinary white speech bubbles with black text, vampires have black bubbles with a more jagged font, and werewolves have wiggly orange bubbles a thicker font. Handled by HDE, It's a nice system for showing whose side everyone is on. There's even an instance of the bubble changing halfway through a transformation, which is a nice touch.

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Story/Writing:

The issue starts with a recap of a previous mini-series presented as a news report, telling us that around the world, vampires have been spontaneously bursting into flames, which leads to the internet being shut down, to try and stop news of the happenings spreading. A vampire press conference is in progress as a spokesman condemns humanitys' disrespect for the vampires, despite their sacrifices keeping America safe from werewolves. The scen turns to chaos as a pack of werewolves attacks. We then see Naomis' roommate April finding Naomi is nowhere to be found, and we cut to her out hunting vampires, leading them into an alley in her human form, before unleashing her savage were-bear form on them. Two vampires are shown discussing the recent burnings, and how the only way that they could have happened is a werebear has killed one of their creators, and is continuing to kill off vampires. Naomi arrives home and her and April discuss a recent battle with "Bathory" who Naomi killed, and the fact that their friend Angela was killed. It is revealed that Naomi was in love with Angela but couldn't get close to her for fear of her coming to harm. The issue ends with the revelation that someone called Onyx is still alive, and knows Naomis secret.

The issue is well paced and does a great job of giving enough information for new readers to understand the story, even using some of those little editors note boxes that you don't see very often nowadays. I didn't feel at all lost, and the issue seems to be a good first issue that sets up ideas for future issues.

Other Things Worth Mentioning:

22 Pages of comic content for $3.50. Fairly normal.

Printed on nice high quality paper. Kind of like DCs Forever Evil issues are printed on, but this is actually thicker, and feels a bit sturdier.

No bonus art, but the back cover shows a recoloured collage of scenes from the issue, plus there is a two page photograph of a Naomi cosplayer.

No advertising through, just four pages left to the end.

There are five other covers available.

Overall:

I liked it. The art and writing were good, and I felt fairly up to speed despite having missed the previous mini-series. I think I'm interested in looking into #2, but can't find a copy online. I'll have to keep an eye out for it next time I'm at a comic book shop. I'll give this a High 4/5(12/15).

So has anyone on here read this issue? What did you think of it?

For this months main review, see here.

For the first runner-up this month, see here.

For the list of all the comics I've reviewed, see here.

Thanks for reading this months reviews. I hope you enjoyed them. Look out for the first of the November reviews, in hopefully under two weeks from now. :)

Scarlotte.

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