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Sunday 12 March 2023

Hexagon Comics - WAMPUS #3: THE END TIMES

 WAMPUS #3: THE END TIMES



Stories by Jean-Marc Lofficier; art by Luciano Bernasconi; cover by Ladrönn.
7x10 squarebound trade paperback, 
170 pp. 
b&w
ISBN-13: 978-1-64932-153-4. US$15.95

Contents:
- Foreword by J.-M. Lofficier
8. THE SACRAMENTOF EVIL
9. ENTER: DRAGUT
10. THE FALL OF CAMELOT
11. THE MARK OF ROME
12. THE POWER OF KABUR 
13 & 14. THE END TIMES

EPILOG: DRAGUT. art & dialogues by Jean-Marc Lainé

EPILOG: GALLIX. story by Nathan Legendre; art by Marco Lataste

Annotations by Jean-Marc Lofficier


Wampus was the herald of a second generation of comic heroes and magazines launched by Editions Lug in 1969, which eventually led to Jaleb, Homicron, the Time Brigade, Kabur, Jeff Sullivan and many more.

Wampus is a shape-shifting monster sent to Earth by an evil cosmic power called The Great Mind to sow havoc and destruction. He can change into any form by merely touching water, and revert to type by coming into contact with fire. His only adversary seems to be a French ex-secret agent named Jean Sten, whom, in typical Invaders tradition, no one believes.

In this third and final issue, Wampus travels to the ends of time for his final duel with Jean Sten, which will decide once and for all the fate of the Earth. Guest-stars: Kabur, Gallix, C.L.A.S.H., the Time Brigade and more.

Six thrilling stories by Jean-Marc Lofficier, illustrated by Luciano Bernasconi, plus two extra bonus stories.

"Wow!" was my reaction. Wampus and his evil plans spanning thousands of years and the number of characters involved and locations from London, Paris and the Vatican....

I first saw images of Wampus... eek -40 years ago (I refuse to believe that it was any further back) and the look of the character was , to me, amazing but I could never find out anything in English and my French is basically "Parlez vous a cuppa?" and I learnt that from one of the PG Tips chimpanzees. Then the internet came along and one of the good things I found was Cool French Comics -I think it was last updated in 2013 but it is still there and contains a lot of info on old French characters -pulp and comic. And there was Wampus.

And that was it; I was hooked even more and seeing the actual books (plus a Nexus v Wampus strip from Image Comics). My reviews are linked below.

I think the first Wampus book from 2014 us book 1 as I cannot find anything other than that reviewed on CBO or on my shelf:

Wampus 2 Doomsday March

This book is a classic and the character interactions and plot are wonderful -as is that final warning. I will put it to you this way: I just read Marvel Avengers #66 and as a lifelong Avengers fan I can tell you it is a mess. Art and story -a mess. This Wampus book outshines the Avengers and, let's face it -Hexagon has been outshining Marvel titles and the other factor is that the characters are not rebooted rebooted to a point where you do not care; you are with the heroes all the way.

As I always write: try something from Hexagon and if I had to recommend a book -this is it.


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