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Sergeantstein & His Maraudin' Monsters (2005)
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Fiction Review by The Gravedigger
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07.02.05
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(2005) Pete Von Sholly's graphic novel/story collection is a satirical take on the monster genre-and is utterly hysterical. It's one of the better spoofs of the genre I've ever seen, poking fun at everything from the old Marvel monster comics to the computer animated effects in recent Hollywood 'Blockbusters'. SERGEANTSTEIN (basically Frankenstein Monster) leads a group of commandos which includes WARWOLF, G.I.HO-TEP, BATTLEBAT and DEVILFISH. My favorite is G.I. Ho-Tep, who utters lines like 'By the blazing balls of Osiris!'and 'Bring that arm back or suffer the curse of the black pyramid, you swine of a dog'.In the first tale they are pitted against the Spider-Ape and his cronies (a group of evil monsters) and in the next go to a planetoid inhabited by dinosaurs. In a virtual reality tale Sergeanstein is pitted against the more recent horror icons-Freddy, Jason, Chucky and Pinhead (who is holding a rubiks's cube!). My favorite story is AT THE SHADOW OVER THE HORROR OUT OF MADNESS, which pokes fun at H.P. Lovecraft. The scene with Pickman's model is a hoot. Another story, BETWEEN A ROC AND A JIHAD PLACE is a nod to Harryhausen Sinbad movies and how our whole perception of Bagdad and the Middle East has changed since then. There's also a homage to those old Samson and Goliath movies with TESTICLES (pronounced Tess-ti-cleez!) UNCHAINED, in which the not-to-bright strong man is sent on a fool's errand by his father, Zeus.So, if you're a fan of the genre this is something you've got to read. It will have you laughing in a good way.Check out the recent interview with writer/artist Pete Von Sholly in the interview section of Buried.com Also, check out www.vonshollywood.com
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Rating: nan out of 10.0 - votes cast total
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