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Advance Battle Review: Undying Love #3

By | June 13th, 2011
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Undying Love #3
Written and Illustrated by Thom Coker and Daniel Freedman

After saving himself from the vampire curse, John Sargent races to rescue Mei. But there are others after the girl and they will stop at nothing to capture her.

Today, Walt and I have brought back a feature that hasn’t been featured in a while. The Battle Review! We both read Corvx Studios and Image Comics’ book Undying Love #3 and we tell you exactly what we thought of the book that comes out on Wednesday the 15th of June. If you want to check out what it looks like, check out our exclusive preview and check Walt’s and my chat beyond the cut.

Gilbert Short: So tell me, Walt, you connected with the book as much as I did. But tell me, what drew you to the book?

Walter Richardson: Well, what originally drew me to the book was the artistic style. I’ve seen Coker and Freedman’s work in a variety of places, so when I heard that they would be doing an action-packed series involving vampires that didn’t sparkle, I figured I would give it a look. And man am I glad that I did.

GS: They’ll never escape that comparison, will they? Even if it’s just to make fun of Twilight. I mean, I made that comparison too.

WR: I think you have to these days, just to assure your would-be fans that you aren’t going in that direction.

GS: Yeah, kind of a shame. I’d probably sooner compare it to a John Woo film or even something like Buffy.

WR: That’s exactly what I would compare it to. John Woo, that is. In my last review I believe I said something along the lines of “these guys are to action comics as Woo is to action films,” and I stand by that.

GS: Anyway, I digress. This issue seemed to be an origin story of sorts, with the revelation of how our couple came to meet. Thoughts?

WR: Well, I think that this is exactly what the series needed. Even with great action, you need to do a little bit more to give your book a bit of direction and keep the readers interested, and that’s exactly what this issue did.

GS: Yeah, I agree. It slowed things down a bit after a knuckle buster first and second issues and gave us more of the humanity in the story. If you can call it that.

WR: Right. Up until now, my main concern has been the main character, John, and how he seemed to be a bit flat. We really get to see more of him as a character this issue, though, and it makes the title that much stronger.

GS: That’s quite true. For a while he just seemed like your standard action grunt, but now he’s more 3 dimensional. One thing I really loved about the story was more of the interaction between the lovers. And when we reached the end of the issue, there was some of the more intense and (pardon the pun) gut wrenching art I’ve seen all year. This book could be completely without words and it’d be fantastic.

WR: Oh, exactly. That one full page spread? I don’t want to spoil our readers, but you know the one. It’s simultaneously grotesque and beautiful.

GS: Yes, that one exactly. I saw that one page and told a friend of mine to go pick up the book ASAP.

WR: I feel that only three issues in, we’ve already seen a change for the better with Coker’s already brilliant art. The first issue, I had a bit of a problem with people’s expressions being a bit too static — more like a photograph than a bit of sequential art — but I didn’t catch that problem at all in this issue.

GS: I can see that. I didn’t quite notice it, but that’s a fair point for sure. What problems, if any, did you have with the book?

Continued below

WR: Well, I didn’t really feel like anything was done wrong, per se.

GS: Anything you felt needed a little improvement?

WR: Rather, this is one of the more sentimental issues of an action series. Sure, there was action, but the budding of the romance isn’t exactly what you’re reading the comic for. That being said, though, while I might not have liked this issue as much as last, an issue like this is what enables the comic to stand together as a whole. If you get what I’m trying (and probably failing) to say.

GS: Are you saying while this book didn’t stick out as much (perhaps the relative lack of action), it helps bring all the books together?

WR: Precisely. It’s not that I need heaps of action in a comic for it to be “good.” You know that. And it’s not that the romance is done poorly in any way, shape, or form. It’s more that while the action of this series is great, this issue is here to make sure that it doesn’t just devolve into BLAM BLAM BLAM.

WR: Eloquently put, I know.

GS: I couldn’t have put it any better. But then I suppose we can’t compare it to a John Woo film after all. (Kidding!)

WR: Hey, there’s definitely a romance in The Killer. And again, it’s not just the standard arm candy romance that you see in most Hollywood action flicks. It’s important to the film. We have the same thing going on here, really.

GS: If there’s one thing I’d like a little more of, it’s John’s creepy helpers. That kid is creepy, but in a Damian Wayne sorta way.

WR: Oh yeah, and I’m interested if we’ll be seeing more of John’s brothers-in-arms.

GS: So in final words: what would you give the book overall, and what would you say to people who haven’t picked the book up by now?

WR: Well, I didn’t mean to make it sound like I didn’t care for this issue. Quite the opposite, really. This book gets a solid 8.0 from me. If you’re buying a cape book chock full of senseless action, this does it better, only the action isn’t senseless.

GS: I think it gets the same from me. Straight 8.0’s across the board, and I’d just have to make sure anyone who feels put off by anything The Big Two are doing to check out this book, among others from Image. And anyone who avoids books with vampires, they should know this book couldn’t be more different from any other vampire property if it tried.

WR: High five!.

Final Verdict:

Walt: 8.0
Gil: 8.0
Overall: 8.0


Gilbert Short

Gilbert Short. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. When he's not reading comic books so you don't have to, he's likely listening to mediocre music or watching excellent television. Passionate about Giants baseball and 49ers football. When he was a kid he wanted to be The Ultimate Warrior. He still kind of does. His favorite character is Superman and he will argue with you about it if you try to convince him otherwise. He also happens to be the head of Social Media Relations, which means you should totally give him a follow onTwitter.

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