Comic Review: Cabra Cini Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman

                It’s time to dip our toes back in the Actuality Press waters once again as Sam Johnson keeps churning out title after title for our pleasure.  “Dark New Year”, the current release sees Cabra Cini back in the forefront.  Cabra Cini is a character that made an appearance a while back in the Geek Girl/Mr. Mash-up anthology.  In fact, the first story in “Dark New Year” is a reprint of that story, so I won’t get into much detail on it, but if you want to check out my review, go here. 

                After that, we get a few art pages, showing cover designs and some shots of characters before we head into preview art from the new mini-series that will be released this year.  Johnson has done a great thing here, building up the interest and anticipation for his new series with the free digital comic.  I wish Sam would start pimping out Eat @ Shrimpy’s, it would be an international success overnight. 

                The preview pages are broken down into two sections.  One is an unlettered preview, which is predictably a little hard to follow.  I have no doubt it will get easier once the text is added.  The art by R.D. Ricci is a little stiff, but the varied angles and panel types make for solid storytelling.  When there are backgrounds in the panels, they are very well executed as well.  In fact, the backgrounds blow the character work out of the water.  The coloring is pretty grey and monotone, but that’s standard comic book coloring nowadays, so I can’t really fault anyone for sticking with the trend I suppose. 

                The second section is a two page lettered preview, with art by Nathan Ramirez and colors by M.K. Dodson (everything is written by Sam Johnson, in case you didn’t gather that).  This preview is an interesting setup, and while the dialogue is about as stiff as the characters in the previous preview, the premise is interesting and one that I am actually interested in seeing to completion.  The art is dark and gloomy, fitting for this type of story.  Again, the backgrounds are a highlight as Ramirez looks like he really referenced the building/car/etc. instead of drawing them from memory.  The character work is pretty good as well.  The acting of the characters is a little hit and miss, but it doesn’t really make you stop and wonder what the hell’s going on, which is a good thing. 

                I am definitely interested in seeing where these stories go.  While “Voodoo Junkie Hitwoman” is a bit convoluted of a concept (not to mention a title), the product itself is pretty well done.

            I would suggest giving this a shot.  Hopefully it will get picked up by a publisher as well.  As an artist that has done work on spec before and never been paid for it, I would love to see these artists get paid something for their work.  If you want to check it out, “Dark New Year” can be found FREE at www.actualitypress.com and www.drivethrucomics.com.