Final Women

Alan Baxter's The Roo is a fast paced, gory creature feature, featuring a bizarre but surprisingly effective monster. People begin disappearing in the small Australian outback town of Morgan Creek, and it doesn't take long for the surviving townspeople to figure out what's killing them, a giant, supernaturally strong, demonic kangaroo. This is one gory, outlandish romp with the titular roo acting as a serial killer along the lines of a marsupial Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. However, there is a message to the madness here. The Roo also offers a searing indictment of domestic violence and how its ripple effects damage more than just those immediately affected by it. My only problem with the book is that there a few too many named characters; keeping track of them all was occasionally difficult, especially because some weren't terribly important to the story. I get why the author chose to do this (he explains it in the book's introduction), but the result was sti...

  Dracula, Motherf***ker! by Alex de Campi Between this and Archie vs. Predator , Alex de Campi is quickly becoming one of my favorite names in comics. Dracula, Motherf**ker! is a fascinating, quick read with starkly beautiful artwork. My only complaint is that I wish it were longer. I would love to see de Campi and artist Erica Henderson revisit this world - 1970s L.A. gone gothic and haunted by vampires. Speaking of the vampires, this is one of my favorite depictions of Dracula's brides yet. Note: Be sure to read de Campi's postscript, "On Monsters" at the back of the book. It's enlightening on her vision for the story, and I agree with her thoughts on the depiction of Dracula (he should never be depicted as beautiful) and her reasonings for her portrayal of the brides. Night Trap by Cullen Bunn There are very few things I love more than a good (or at least fun) slasher movie, so Cullen Bunn's Night Trap was right up my alley. A bunch of friends gather a...