White Heat Comics Digest No. 2 is a comic with five stories: Kyla, The Goddess Who Walks the Earth: Vampires of the Golden City created by Stephen Reid, Slumber Party and Zom-B-Movie created by Shawn Gabborin, The Comics That Made Us by Pete Stewart, and Deb Bonair: The Jewel of Awon by Stephen Reid and Rory Hensley. Time for some mini-reviews!
Kyla, The Goddess Who Walks the Earth: Vampires of the Golden City is a sci-fi fantasy story starring a woman named Kyla who acts as the guardian of the jungle. She makes an appearance to help investigate why people are going missing. This is a story that takes place on a vastly different earth with many different alien races and familiar creatures that have genetically modified. This gives off the same vibes as jungle stories of old but with much more blood and gore. The pacing is steady and the tone is both adventurous and serious. There are quite a few intense moments and they usually get violent. The dialogue sounds like something from the black-and-white era of TV and movies with most of the words in the characters’ heads. Only a couple of wordy pages here. This story is 43 pages long.
The art here is drawn in a lightly blocky and thick style that is colored in way that’ll remind you of comics from decades ago. The scenery is a mix of plains and lush greens with mountains and rocky areas. The location changes more than a few times as this is a travel-heavy issue but it starts in one village and ends in another with an architecture and environment difference. The backgrounds usually show the scene the characters are in but occasionally it’ll just be a solid color. The expression level is high with an extra dramatic flair. The faces are well-detailed and Kyla especially sports a new look nearly every panel. The creatures here might creep you out as they almost look normal and are larger. The violence here is bloody with some gore and is very biting with plenty of sharp weapons. The action scenes flow well so you shouldn’t get lost. While some of the other aliens dress like they live in ancient times Kyla wears a bikini that seems poised to break at any time.
Slumber Party is a short two-page comic about some girls receiving a visit while having a slumber party. This is like an extended comic strip.
The Comics That Made Us is a six-page autobiographical comic with some unique art and a bit of humor.
Zom-B-Movie is a two-page comic about some women acting in a zombie movie.
Deb Bonair: The Jewel of Awon has our space pirate and her crew on an oppressive planet where Deb Bonair is attempting to steal a jewel. This has hard-hitting violence but isn’t bloody or gory. This is twelve pages long.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes.
“Would I like this?”
If you like science fiction jungle girl stories with a strong protagonist that are reminiscent of comics from around the 60’s with that adventurous spirit than this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Blood, gore, revealing clothes.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“All of this was my idea, I will deal with their tears.”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/928224654/white-heat-comics-digest-no2/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 64
Violent Pages: 23, for 36% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 7, for 11% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 3
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 4
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 3
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 2
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
