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A review by emergencily
EX.Mag Vol. 05 by Peow Studio
5.0
Beautifully bound, printed and well designed book -- easily the most gorgeous, stunning book I own. Thanking my lucky stars I caught wind of the Kickstarter because the dust jacket that the KS edition comes with is so breathtakingly beautiful I plan to flatten it out and frame it. There's an incredible list of contributors in this vampire-themed anthology and an amazing range of comics and illustrations ranging in tone from comedic to horrific to homoerotic. Loved the diversity of themes and art styles represented here. The way the book is designed and set brings all these different styles and comics together seamlessly into a really cohesive, fun anthology.
Speaking visually, I was especially blown away by the final comic by Matthew Houston's "The Long Penance." Genuinely jaw-dropping use of the limited palette of rich black and vibrant red inks this book was printed with. I also loved the beginning comic by Theo Shultz, and thought it was an amazing comic to start the anthology with and set the tone at a high note. I enjoyed the break between the more serious comics with comedic ones to switch up the pace as you read. I especially found myself laughing out loud at Luca Oliveri's "Le Blood," "Papercut" by Ryan Plaisance and Morgan Nix, and the brief short story parodying YA vampire works like Twilight and Buffy (and perhaps the infamous fanfiction "My Immortal"?). I do think the comedic works could have been interspersed more evenly between the serious ones, because it felt like they got sandwiched all together in the middle. But that's up to personal preference too.
Also loooved the illustration section with works from the well-known Takato Yamamoto, although I think some of the single full-page prints of their larger works would have benefited with close-up shots on the accompanying page (this was done with one or two works, but not all of them). Because of Yamamoto's incredibly fine linework and intensive detail, it was sometimes a little hard to make out on the smaller canvas of this book's pages. But I also had fun sticking my nose right in the book and slowly tracing every line and detail with my eyes.
Overall, truly an incredible and well put together anthology that is palpably full of passion, genuine love and joy that celebrates the medium of comics. Can’t wait to see more future Ex. Mag volumes (I hope!!!) and more publications in general from the amazing indie publisher Peow! Also will beg on my knees for Peow to do a second print run of previous Ex. Mag volumes...
Speaking visually, I was especially blown away by the final comic by Matthew Houston's "The Long Penance." Genuinely jaw-dropping use of the limited palette of rich black and vibrant red inks this book was printed with. I also loved the beginning comic by Theo Shultz, and thought it was an amazing comic to start the anthology with and set the tone at a high note. I enjoyed the break between the more serious comics with comedic ones to switch up the pace as you read. I especially found myself laughing out loud at Luca Oliveri's "Le Blood," "Papercut" by Ryan Plaisance and Morgan Nix, and the brief short story parodying YA vampire works like Twilight and Buffy (and perhaps the infamous fanfiction "My Immortal"?). I do think the comedic works could have been interspersed more evenly between the serious ones, because it felt like they got sandwiched all together in the middle. But that's up to personal preference too.
Also loooved the illustration section with works from the well-known Takato Yamamoto, although I think some of the single full-page prints of their larger works would have benefited with close-up shots on the accompanying page (this was done with one or two works, but not all of them). Because of Yamamoto's incredibly fine linework and intensive detail, it was sometimes a little hard to make out on the smaller canvas of this book's pages. But I also had fun sticking my nose right in the book and slowly tracing every line and detail with my eyes.
Overall, truly an incredible and well put together anthology that is palpably full of passion, genuine love and joy that celebrates the medium of comics. Can’t wait to see more future Ex. Mag volumes (I hope!!!) and more publications in general from the amazing indie publisher Peow! Also will beg on my knees for Peow to do a second print run of previous Ex. Mag volumes...