Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Bad Kids Go To Hell

As a special thank to my new followers, I'm going to recommend and indie graphic novel.  Today's subject is Bad Kids Go To Hell by Matthew Spradlin and Barry Wernick.

Before I review the graphic novel I want to say a few things about reviewing indie comics and how I got this.  Indie comics have little expectations for the reader, and depending on how good it may be, it could exceed all expectations and leaves the reader with a good impression.  It's not like characters from well-known properties who you expect to be in character all the time, and then get a bad impression when they are be out of character.  Bad Kids Go To Hell has the advantage of being mostly original and exceeding expectations.

Now how I got this was a story of its own.  I was walking around the convention center of the San Diego Comic-Con dressed as Cogpool (or Deadpool if he was in Gears of War) when a hot booth babe, known only as Th3 Rogue, pitched it to me.  As charming as she was, I then listened to the creators and decided, what the Hell?  It'll be a good read.  They then autographed my copy and Th3 Rogue kissed and blew on it.  I also asked Th3 Rogue out on a date, but she refused.  So I cut off her arm with my lancer.




I told her I would give her arm back if she gone out with me, but she decided to donate herself to science and got a robotic arm, technically making her a cyborg.  So on to BKGTH.

BKGTH already reminds me of the Breakfast Club, with a bunch of angsty teenagers coming into the library for detention on a Saturday.  There are differences, like the teens go to a prep school, they're wearing their uniforms, and there's a supernatural force haunting the library.  The teens are locked in the library and they must stay alive and not let the supernatural force kill them.  What drives this graphic novel are the characters, whose names I forget because my memory is shotty and I don't have the graphic novel with me, so this is a review from memory.

I'll just name the characters by description.  The black jock with a broken leg.  The mysterious new student.  The nerdy brunette.  The bitchy blond.  The hot goth chick.  The smart Arab guy.  And the a-hole teacher keeping them there.  By the way, is it really necessary for students getting Saturday detention to show up in their uniforms?  It's bad enough they're in detention, now they got to wear their uniforms.  Don't they have other clothes, or do they have multiple sets of the same uniform?  I'm looking at you Goth girl.

The main plot concerns with the students waiting through detention in the library, while the supernatural force is haunting them.  Aside from detention, there are also flashbacks as to how each student received detention.  These are kind of important, because they do concern some of the twists that result from the story.

I'm not really an art critic, so I'll just say that the art passes.  Everything is in proportion and there are no complaints.  Sometimes, I feel as if the text get shorter than it needs to be that my face touches the paper. It's like some of the characters are being played by Ray Palmer.  That's a small gripe that I can get over, but small text is always unnecessary, unless the character's have shrinking powers.

Throughout the story, characters meet tragic ends (I won't say which ones), they freak out, develop, and many twists come about.  It's the kind of stuff M. Night Shyamalan used to do before he got lazy.

The verdict:  BKGTH is an entertaining read for those who have a hankering for some indie books.  I definitely recommend it, and not because a booth babe altered my senses.  You can get BKGTH from their booth at the given convention or buy it from their online store.  I wouldn't know if you can buy it in the book store, since I heard the first print was sold out.

Official site:  http://www.badkidsgotohell.com/
Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/badkidsgotohell

87 comments:

  1. the title's definitely intriguing.

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  2. COSPLAY!!!

    lol, that's awesome.

    Supportin'

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  3. Huge fan of indie comics, will add this to the list of to be read.

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  4. Really nice artwork those comics have.

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  5. Sounds really interesting, will definitely check it out

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  6. "So I cut off her arm with my lancer."

    hahaha.

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  7. thanks
    feel free to follow/comment on my blog too pleaes, will always return favor

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  8. Chekcin out blogs and showin support
    VIEW my blogs n follow if youre interested?

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  9. Sounds like an interesting read... May look it up...

    Keep it up!

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  10. This graphic novel peaks my interest.

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  11. I am planning on going to Comicon next year. Everyone says its an absolute blast.

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  12. Man I can´t wait to play as deadpool on MVC3!!

    Supporting

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  13. you lost me after "The nerdy brunette. The bitchy blond" <3

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  14. legit review bro. I need to check this out ASAP.

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  15. Good review, on my opinion those "alternative" histories has good ideas an a good opportunity to meet something new.

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  16. Not too much into comic books. Wouldn't mind going to one of those conventions though were the girls are dressed as them though. :D

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  17. join the facebook fan page, there's a contest associated with it to win a poster.

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  18. "So I cut off her arm with my lancer."
    LMAO

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  19. I've never seen a Shayamalan movie that I liked. One movie was so bad I told my friend I would rather have paid for the seats to hang out with my friends than have to sit quietly watching that stupid movie. (No, that's not all I got out of your post:)

    Though I'm not into graphic novels, I do like your review. So I think I'll follow you...check in now and then and see wassup!

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  20. nice reviews man. really givin me some stuff to look into

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  21. Cool stuff man. Keep up the good work.

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  22. Cool story bro. Showing support!

    http://the-state-of-human-intelligence.blogspot.com/

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  23. sounds cool, comic cons and stuff always look so nerdy x]

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  24. One hell of a gun she has there.

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  25. Sounds good, I think I'll look into it.

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  26. get some more cosplay shiz up :D

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  27. i'm definitely motivated to read this. good lookin' out bro.

    get rid of your capcha it's a waste of my time though

    (dashboard-settings-comments)

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  28. haha sickk

    http://aceofbassmaster.blogspot.com/

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  29. Lol this is hilarious. I'm thinking of getting this graphic novel. I'm going to lurk your site from now on (:

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  30. awesome lol i love it

    :) clickzzzz

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  31. indie graphic novel?

    I watch webcomics. QC for life!

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  32. Not a graphic novel fan but looks interesting.
    <- hit it

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  33. keep up the nice blog man!

    you have my support. :)

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  34. Looks good, can't wait to read more of the reviews.

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  35. I bet those guys of Insane clown Poossy wore bad kids.. fckin hell how do they work?

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  36. might have to check this shit out



    showin' lurv

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  37. follow me, i added u. i read blogs every day

    http://marketengine.blogspot.com

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    ReplyDelete
  38. Good review! I may check it out.

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  39. Dead pool? lol good review...I'll defiantly check back.

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  40. Very thorough. Quality writing here, my cosplay friend agrees!

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  41. Really nice artwork those comics have.

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  42. I would not mind having that gun.

    And that girl.

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  43. supp im loving it

    http://wordofdodd.blogspot.com/

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  44. nice post man :)

    http://dailyiandn.blogspot.com/

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  45. Wow, may have to check this out sometime. Very nice review sir.

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  46. really nice blog man, keep it coming

    http://dailyiandn.blogspot.com/

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