The talents behind “Chew” and “Luthor Strode” should be enough to sell you on this anthology. A good anthology, though, offers a recognizable name or two that draws you in, but lesser known creators whose tales stick with you for extensive periods of time. Luckily, if ‘Son of Tavern Tales’ is anything, it’s sticky.
That’s a compliment, I promise.
Written and Illustrated by Various
“SON OF TAVERN TALES”
With our third story arc wrapped up, it’s time for the next Tavern Tales issue. This time, the tales can’t be contained in just 32 pages. This extra large issue is jammed with some of the biggest indie creators in the business alongside our Tavern Tales Contest Winners!
First up is the killer combo of Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore, best known for their killer miniseries “The Strange Talent of Luther Strode.” Perhaps the most noticable difference between this story and the usual “Skullkickers” fare is the massive visual contrast between Moore and series regular Edwin Huang. Tradd’s art has a rough quality to it — in style, not in technique — that looks quite different from the cleaner, more iconic lines (in the Scott McCloud sense) of Huang. This, however, is where Moore demonstrates his strength as an artist: despite the stylistic differences, Moore’s Baldy and Shorty are still unmistakeably the same characters from the previous 17 issues, and not only because of the clothes they’re wearing. Every movement, every facial expression, every bit of body language matches the mannerisms that Huang has made the “Skullkickers” standard. These are Baldy and Shorty seen through a different lense, nothing more — and that’s great. Throw in the technical precision and top-notch sequential storytelling that Moore turned heads with in “Luther Strode,” and you have an A+ in the artistic category. The same strength is seen in Jordan’s writing; the characters and even the tone of humor are so spot-on that one could be forgiven for thinking the story was written by Jim Zub himself. The motives behind the adventuring duo’s employer are a bit vague, but once that hurdle is crossed, the story opens itself up to a variety of chuckles that avoid relying on the same style of gag.
In a series known for its humorous dialogue, Blair Butler and Enrique Rivera’s ‘The Magic Bag’ comes as a bit of a shock — there isn’t a speck of conversation in the whole thing. As such, it is understandable that Rivera’s contribution is the most notable. Any “silent” comic needs a lively artist whose grasp on expression and movement is impeccable, and in this field, Rivera is second to none. Even without any dialogue, the reader just knows that Rivera’s Baldy and Shorty would “sound” like they normally do under Zub’s pen, because Rivera is able to represent their voices through the way they emote. And, similar to Moore, even if Rivera’s work didn’t almost perfectly capture the characters, his incredible grasp on proper comic crafting would ease the pain by quite a bit. Unfortunately, it’s hard to assess how much of the comic Butler is responsible for without having a script on hand, but even without such a script the creative concept behind the story is one that will give many an established fantasy nerd a laugh — though anyone who has wondered “Where do all those items protagonists carry go?” will be able to join in on the joke, even if they don’t know a bag of holding from a portable hole.
Charles Soule and Michael Mayne’s ‘The Corran’s Tears’ returns the duo to their preferred habitat — a bar — for a tale of drunken revelry. Unfortunately, this is probably the weakest of the Tavern Tales in this issue — not because it is bad at all, but simply because it does not stand out. The first few pages are pretty standard drinking fare, with the expected silly but not necessarily noteworthy drunken mumbling one might expect from such a tale. The ending certainly sets it apart from your typical night out, save a few of mine, but, wild as it may be, it doesn’t quite do enough. A twist ending does not make an otherwise normal story stick out from the rest of the pack, and while there are a few good jokes — the barkeep’s misfortune turning out to be success being a clever one that will resonate with anyone who has benefitted from others’ collective nature standing out — it is not quite up to par with the rest of the comics in this anthology. Mayne, though, gets special note for being the closest without going over, to use Price Is Right terminology; his style perhaps most closely resembles series artist Edwin Huang’s, but not necessarily imitative, and he carries the same talent for comical expression.
Continued below‘Games People Play’ by J. Torres and Alberto J. Alburquerque is essentially a four-page buildup to a single punchline, plus a few asides, but that doesn’t mean the punchline in question is bad. Alburquerque and colorist Ross A. Campbell are the standout stars here; Alberto’s art has a distinct style that is full of movement, partially due to his tendency to avoid standard layouts. Even though he primarily works in rectangles, the placement of his panels avoids boring norms without becoming confusingly complex, and his tendency to break borders adds life when most necessarily. Campbell, on the other hand, plays to Alburquerque’s strengths, landing a look the works perfectly with the line artist’s heavy borders. Compare this to his work with Huang on this very series, as well as on “Pathfinder,” and one can tell that it isn’t just luck — Campbell has an eye for playing to various artists’ strengths.
“Chew” creators John Layman and Rob Guillory are up next, with ‘Tavern Tails’ — sure, it seems likely that the team picked their clever title first, normally a fiction no-no, but the actual content proves this short tail story to be the exception to the rule. The story finds our two protagonists in a tavern — I sense a theme, here — one that offers free drinks for a certain commodity. The concept itself is silly enough, but the antics of Baldy and Shorty as they try to find their way around the rules are uproariously funny, successfully employing the comedic tactic of escalation while adhering to the revered “rule of three.” The story’s final punchline is hilarious, and manages to tie into the story’s premise without telegraphing the punchline from page one, panel one. The jokes may be Layman’s, but boy is Guillory the key to selling them. This is clearly the same Guillory of “Chew,” but he has appropriately fiddled with his style to fit the more comical nature, if you will, of this tavern ta– oh, you get it. The jokes themselves are giggle-worthy, but the faces the pair make as they try their latest “brilliant” ideas are just as funny as the jokes themselves. In four pages, the pair pack in just as much laughs as the first three do in six or seven, which is no easy feat.
The highlight of this issue, though, is the combined efforts of contest winners Aubrey Sitterson and Ivan Anaya. To anyone who might be feeling down from losing the contest, don’t be a sore loser — these two earned it. This is easily the most clever of the various stories in this issue, poking fun at one of the more silly tropes of the fantasy genre (especially when it comes to fantasy video games looking for quest material). The humorous plotting of Sitterson is, quite literally, or as near as possible, perfect. The heroes are tying up the loose ends of a previous, seemingly unrelated job at the beginning, when the conflict presents itself. The conflict itself is ridiculous enough, and opens up a variety of funny quips, both related and unrelated to the matter at hand. The situation is resolved in an unexpected manner, but it doesn’t come out of nowhere — careful readers will notice clues at the story’s beginning. The final gag shows the same finesse, tying into both a seemingly one-off joke from the beginning and the theme of the story as a whole. Bravo, Sitterson, for a job well done. Then, there’s the enormous talent that is artist Ivan Anaya. Anaya’s artwork is highly detailed without going so far as to become stiff, and dynamic doesn’t even begin to describe how bursting with energy his figures are. Both of these new talents may have found their ticket into the industry, and I cannot be the only one who will be keeping an eye out for anything else from them in the future. When your work outshines even the likes of team “Chew” and team “Luther Strode” — in the context of the anthology, of course — you know you have made an entrance.
At standard comic book pricing, this anthology would be worth every penny. At $3.99 for 35 story pages, it’s an absolute steal. ‘Son of Tavern Tales’ is everything you love about “Skullkickers” except for Jim and Edwin themselves — though the former finds his way into a few stories in ways readers unfamiliar with the man’s versatility may find surprising. Whether you’ve been interested in “Skullkickers” but have yet to dip into the series, or if you have been reading since issue one, the various creators’ authenticity to the characters and the humor insure that #18 is just as good a place to start as #1.
Total: 9.0 – Buy it!
