Archie vs. Predator

Archie vs Predator by Alex de Campi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Archie and the gang return from spring break in Costa Rica, a teenage Predator follows them back to Riverdale. Will anyone survive the carnage that ensues?

Confession time: I read my share of Archie comics when I was 11-12 and have much love for the Predator. How could I not give this a chance?

What do you get when you mix the saccharine, G-rated teen comedy of Archie with the wholesale carnage that is the Predator? You get a bizarre comic book the likes of which have never been seen!

The first issue was a little light on the Predator but had more blood than the all the previous Archie comics I've read combined. When the Predator gets to Riverdale and starts his mass decapitations, things get gory in a hurry. Seeing someone's head and spinal column get yanked off, drawn in the Archie style, is something to behold.

The body count is surprisingly high. Since it's not bound by the Archie continuity, whatever that is, no one is safe and very few people walk out alive. It's a surreal contrast to the never-changing, ever-teenage world of Archie I remember.

Four stars, mostly for the book's train wreck appeal. That's all I have to say about that.

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The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia

The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia by Patrick Thorpe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hyrule Historia is a book celebrating 25 years of Zelda games.

Confession time: I played a shit ton of video games from the age of 8 until sometime in my late twenties. A lot of that time was spent playing various Zelda games.

Hyrule Historia is packed with info about the various games, fitting them together in a nice chronology and explaining why almost every damn one features Link, Zelda, and Ganon, despite taking place at different points in the timeline. A lot of focus was put on The Skyward Sword, which was the most recent release at the time of this book's publication. It also made me want to buy a Wii on which to play it.

The games other than Skyward Sword were given a few pages each. Did you know Zelda was named after Zelda Fitzgerald? It was interesting to see how the games evolved over time and it made me want to fire up the N64 to play Majora's Mask again, which I did. Since I hadn't played it for almost fifteen years, it's like a whole new game!

The remainder of the book was unused concept art, which was very interesting, and some translated manga, which was kind of meh.

For the Zelda enthusiast, Hyrule Historia is a must have. Now if you'll excuse me, I have masks to collect.


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