Negative Burn #1

Writers: Patton Oswalt, Brian Bolland, Matthew Smith, Phil Hester, Will Voley, Eric Powell, Mark Askwith,
James A. Owen
Artists: Jonathan Luna, Brian Bolland, Matthew Smith, Phil Hester, Greg Ruth, Will Voley, Eric Powell, R.G. Taylor, James A. Owen


This eclectic anthology brings together some of biggest names in comics to tell some very fun and off-the-wall stories.

From what I understand Negative Burn was quite the celebrated, multiple award winning anthology series when it was first put out back in the 90’s by the now defunct
Caliber Comics. The anthology ran some of the very first stories from creators like Brian Michael Bendis, Joe Pruett, Phil Hester and David Mack. It even featured comics by big names such as Art Adams, Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

Now, after a series of quarterly specials published by Image Comics, the series returns to monthly status once again, courtesy of, who else, Image Comics. This truly is an eclectic mix of both talent and genre, providing a book that’s got something for everyone. And even though one or two of the stories weren’t for me I had a lot of fun reading this book. Stand out stories include “How Do You Read a Book That Big” by Patton Oswalt and Jonathan Luna, “Cade vs. The Flu” by Eric Powell, an amazing collection of sketches by Greg Ruth and my personal favorite story in the book, “Moebius: A Sketch” by Mark Askwith and R.G. Taylor.

If the rest of the series is half as good as this debut issue then I’m hooked. This is a book that I can picture looking forward to each and every month, a reminder of why comics are so great and what makes them so much fun to read. I can’t picture a better way to spend six bucks than on 64 pages (that’s 64 full pages, not counting ads) of brand new material from some truly talented folk who love comics as much as you and I do.
 

Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.

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