Sunday, June 21, 2009

Southern Hostility: The Release Of RACHEL RAGE OGN

PLANET GRIFFIN has come back into orbit on this special FATHERS DAY EDITION, and today's treat is the recent release of the RACHEL RAGE OGN by good friend and fellow NEXT 100 creator, JOHN ASTON! I had the opportunity to hang out with John during my recent trek to HEROES CON, and got my hands on the long awaited print edition of the infamous blaxploitation webcomic that's been brewing since October 2008! After reading this thing in a single night sitdown, I'm honored to report the obvious: THIS GUY CAN WRITE!

To the uninitiated, RACHEL RAGE is a revenge tale centered around the title character. Her hatred towards the town's uber-corrupt Sheriff Stewart and his deputy henchmen is boundless. The reason? The death of the only 'father' who has ever dared to love her--- 'Papa Sol' Soloman. What makes a bad situation worse? Sheriff Stewart is her father, not Papa Sol!

So begins a spectacularly bloody, downward spiral for all the characters involved, and Rachel is subjected to more hell and misery than any 3 women should ever experience in a lifetime... But then, there's something else about Rachel that makes her more than most women---!

To those who have read the online webcomic, you already know this story... Kind of. The twisted cliffhanger ending within the last chapter of the print edition not only caught me off guard, but actually had me go back to re-read the book in order to see how misleading the story is! Sorry folks, you're gonna have to pick up the print edition in order to pick up where the webcomic leaves off...

John effectively hides the surprise out in plain sight, thereby raising the stakes and setting the stage for the sequel, RACHEL RAGE: SHORT TIME WOMAN, which is currently in the works and coming soon to the OldeTowne.com multiplex nearest you! I was also surprised to note that yours truly AND PLANET GRIFFIN were shown love not once, but TWICE within the pages of the RACHEL RAGE compilation! With that said, I'm gonna say this for the cheap seats:


John Aston and his rebellious indie creation RACHEL RAGE will definitely catch saavy readers by surprise, much in the same way Brian Michael Bendis caught indie readers off guard with JINX and GOLDFISH... This series is the startling introduction of a writer/creator whose genre-style of 'Southern Hostility' is definitely the beginning of something much bigger to come! Definitely a NEXT 100 Player

The RACHEL RAGE OGN comes in two editions--- A 'Stripped Down' edition, which is a B+W release of the original story, OR The 'Unrated Director's Cut' , which is full color and contains some of the more--- sleazier aspects of the exploitation genre ( Definitely NOT for the kiddies, but well worth the extra change!)... The UDC version also contains bonus material in the back section.

Click the OldeTownecomix.com link on the sidebar and go order your copy today!

2 comments:

Samax said...

you lucky dog!
i already ordered mines... i can't WAIT to get that joint! i fell in love with this character the first time i saw her on john's mySpace (shortly after reading his Abusilum)... she's out of control!

great review! thanks for not giving anything away. i peek at the webstrip from time to time... but as soon as i found out it was gonna be in print, i knew i wanted to get the full effect!

can't wait...

Rodbuddah said...

Trust me, if it's worth it, I'll hype it, but as much as I wanna scream out the twist, I can't!

John definitely pimped out this one! What I can't wait for is the sequel!