Eibon Press: Bottomfeeder #2

Grab your Baretta semi-auto, your drug of choice and a trench-coat because it’s time to head back to San Lucifer with the second issue of Bottomfeeder. Just like the first, issue two dives deep into a grimy underworld of a city just on the edge of your nastiest dreams, filled with corruption and b-movie monsters, telling the story of a Bad Lieutenant-esque cop who is having a particularly terrible couple of days. Last issue saw Joe Angell, played (thats right, they cast him) by genre favourite Joe Pilato, lifting the lid and taking a peek at some particularly nasty shit. This issue see’s that nasty shit running wild across the city, cutting a path of death through anything it comes across.

Through the work of Pat Carbajal and Javi Laparra, the pages are filled edge to edge with grindhouse-era visuals that allow this series to really stand out and make the impact that Eibon Press is after. The thing that makes these comics stand out to me is that they don’t just give you lip-service on the back cover about how it’s “grindhouse inspired” or is “an 80’s throwback” and then just give you some lame half-baked story with sub-par art; they walk the walk on 47th street that they are inspired by and deliver a product that feels accurate . Joe Angell isn’t just drawn into a scene; you feel him stagger into the room on unsteady legs, filling the air with the smell of gas station coffee, American cigarettes and a bad attitude. The comics exude the same grindhouse sensibilities (or lack of!) that I’ve spent most of my cult movie loving life chasing down, like some sort of dragon or something. What I’m trying to say here is that this is the good shit!

The dialogue (written by Stephen Romano, Shawn Lewis and Joseph Melendez Jr) is even nastier this time around, with words spilling off the page that could only come from the mouth of Joe Pilato. For example: “Do you have any idea what kind of multi-lingual clusterfuck we’re all swimming in now?” Gold right? In my mind, there’s maybe only one other person who could deliver those words (even if that delivery is in comic book form) and that’s Harvey Kietel. I think we all know why that is. This comic, like all of the comics that Eibon Press have released, is for hardcore fans of grindhouse style, grimy ’70s flicks. There’s shit in here that will make you balk and question why you put yourself through such atrocious imagery for the sake of entertainment. These comics strike the very same nerve old school horror movies did for me years ago when I first got into the game. They’re disturbing and visceral, grabbing you and not letting you go until it’s wormed its way inside your head.Do yourself a favour and grab a copy from Eibon Press. They’ve got more than a couple different options for you to choose from, all with a ton of extra stuff like trading cards, stickers, small prints and (my favourite and the thing I’m most looking forward to on this release) a soundtrack.