In “Through the Eyes of Grinelda,” the evil sorcerer and tyrant, Amon Kadesh, works to squash an uprising in a medieval like fortress city. As his magic cat monsters (the size of “Star Wars” AT-AT’s), destroy the rebels, Grinelda narrates and watches Kadesh win the day.
Remember the battle in “The Return of the King” with the Black Riders on the back of dragon/bird things? This battle took a page from that battle and some inspiration from “Army of Darkness.” Even the art has an old “Heavy Metal: The Movie” feel to it.
The writing was fun and it kept my interest; I enjoyed the story. I wish the art was a bit more dynamic, and I thought the poses could have been more exaggerated and have a more kinetic feel (ie. A swordsman seems to pose with a sword, whereas if it were over exaggerated with a wide arc of sorts, it would bring a new energy to the art). That is not to say the artwork is lousy, but, I do believe we are seeing a style in the making.
“The Great Vermin” was a great story and I think the stronger of the two. It is a story of a group of spacemen in spacesuits investigating a massacre on an alien planet and there is a twist. The art in this story has has improved immensely from the first story. The aliens are ugly and scary, the writing is ironic and a lot of fun.
The one other addition I would encourage the creators to add is a logo, price setting and a web site on the front. In the meantime, I would encourage readers to pick this up when it becomes available. Until then, check out Jason Lenox’s website www.jasonlenox.com.
“Ugli Studios Presents” #1
Ugli Studios
Jason Lenox, Story and Pencils
David Paul, Story and Lettering
Dan Kaulakis, Colors
