Arcade Brewery

Beer and Comics Pairing: IDW’s The Hollows and Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Blackout Stout

This week, Jeremy Teel brings us a Beer & Comics Pairing, sampling Great Lakes Brewing Company’s Blackout Stout while reading IDW’s The Hollows, by Chris Ryall and Sam Kieth.

Bio:
Jeremy lives in the far-west suburbs of Chicago where he and his wife transplanted from central Nebraska seven years ago. Don’t let his rural roots fool you; he grew up reading comics from the lone comic shop in a 90 mile radius, developing a taste for cosmic and “odd” tales over the usual superhero fare. His taste for beer developed relatively early when an acquaintance opened one of the earliest independent breweries in the state, Thunderhead Brewing, in 1999. Jeremy now works as a web content editor while maintaining several blogs, including SubBeerBia, which focuses on beer events and purveyors in the Chicago suburbs. Follow him at @Jeremy_Teel and @SubBeerBia on Twitter.

The Pour: I chose to pair Blackout Stout with this comic because of the dark artwork on the comic’s cover. It just seemed to fit. Cracking open the bottle, the stout pours space-black with a rather thin, brownish head. Immediately, the roasted barley aroma grabs my attention, making me recall times around a campfire swapping stories. Perfect. I grab my glass and comic, take a seat in my favorite reading chair and settle in.

Sip One: Still void-cold from the fridge, the stout coats my tongue with roasted malt first and foremost, followed immediately by mostly-coffee bitters that even it out. Lightly carbonated. I feel my body relax and dive into my reading.

I’ve always been a Sam Kieth fan, typically a divisive creator in the comics medium. For me, his art in Marvel Comics Presents and the Maxx was such a fresh break from the huge guns and pouches of the 90’s. His art holds a strange balance of completely absurd cartoonishness countered by real human attributes. Soft bellies instead of six-pack abs. Slumped shoulders and hunched figures in the shadows. Right away, The Hollows shows these aspects of his work haven’t changed.

Some readers could be turned off by the generally unfinished look of Kieth’s art in the book, but to me, this style is vital to the story. In some places, it looks as though his ball-point pen sketches made their way into the final pages. In others, the combination of ink and watercolor brings the page to life. Still, the artwork never feels disjointed from page to page. It all flows together organically and fits the tale so well that you forget someone else wrote the script.

Sip Two: A touch warmer now, some chocolate starts to come through. Definitely a bit sweeter.

I haven’t read anything else written by Chris Ryall, who is also IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief, but I like that this is his script. Kieth certainly writes interesting tales of his own, but I think Ryall gives this script more direction and focus that Kieth would have. And, strange as it is, the story works and hooks me instantly. I want the next three issues yesterday.

Sip Three: Each taste now is like seeing a friend again after a long absence. The warmer this stout gets, the better it tastes as the sweetness blends with the roasted malt more and more. I swear I smell s’mores in there somewhere…

The Hollows creates a future Japan where two classes exist: one in giant tree cities the loom over the lower class below. In this radioactive wasteland roam the Hollows, monstrous shells of humans who feed on the souls of the survivors. When Kobayashi, a scientist from one of the supertree cities, swoops down using wings of his own creation in search of food and supplies, he crash lands while gazing at the troubled humans below.

Sip Four: Almost room temperature now, Blackout really seems to shine after warming. While the bitter roast still hits early on, the sweetness of the malt lingers longer.

A band of survivors takes Kobayashi’s unconscious form into their hideout. When he comes to, he learns just how much harder life is “down below.” Eventually overwhelmed by the shear amount of need and despair around him, Kobayashi takes off to return home, to safety, to the needs of his own family, but he can’t seem to forget all he has seen below.

Final Sip: The chocolate and malt have really taken the forefront as the beer warmed, which is just fine with me.

As I finish both the comic and the beer, I feel a distinct need for more of both. Stouts always reign supreme as my winter beer of choice, and Blackout Stout is a great example. And The Hollows, while probably not for everyone, has piqued my interest enough to make me anxious for next month’s installment. It seems like a perfect tale to wrap up in a four issue mini-series, just in time for winter to start wrapping up as well.

Beer Rating: 8.0 out of 10
Comic Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Beer & Comic Pairing!

We love beer. We love comics. We are excited to bring you our first special guest “Beer & Comic” pairing! First up is the dynamic, Mike DeVivo!

Mike DeVivo is a self described handsome 30 year old living in Chicago I work as a Retail Manager and Write for a website called Comicvault at www.comicvaultdigital.com Born and raised with a Love of comics by my father I carried that into a future of pop culture obsession. I grew my love for beer like most people, drinking the stuff over and over until I started developing a palette for what I liked. My local comic shop is Alley Cats and you can find me most weekend nights enjoying whatevers on tap at either The Longroom or Holiday Club.

This week Ill be reviewing All New X-Men #3 and Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout.

First up the Beer review.
Name: Black Chocolate Stout
Brewery: Brooklyn Brewery
Type of Beer: Imperial Stout

I’m a huge fan of Stout’s in general so when I decided to pick this up I was genuinely excited. First off I picked this up as a 4 pack for just under 9.99. Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout is 10% Alcohol by volume so if you plan on finishing all four be prepared to feel it in the morning.
In the last century, British Brewers made strong Stouts for the Czar’s court. They were called Imperial Stouts. Brooklyn’s Black Chocolate Stout is brewed once yearly for the winter season. The taste comes from a special blend of black, chocolate and roasted malts. I know all of this because Brooklyn’s label is very informative and tells me so.
Now lets get into how this tastes shall we. Upon first drink the Stout starts off very Sour but finishes very full with a bitter chocolate finish. Its a very complex beer. After the second beer I was fully on board with how it tasted even noticing a bit of a smoky taste at the end. The complexity continues to improve as you go from one bottle to the next. Its definitely dark and those of you who aren’t partial to beers like Guinness or Porters should avoid this beer. It’s not a beer for people who are curious about Stouts. However if your someone who enjoys trying new Stouts on the regular I believe you will appreciate whats going on inside of this 12 ounce bottle. Remember its a limited bottling so if you want to try run out and find it now. After winter I doubt many places will have it.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Now the Comic
Name: All New X Men #3
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Stuart Immomen

After the Events of A vs X Cyclops has became public enemy number one. Killing Xavier and claiming the Phoenix Force as his own he was finally stopped but in the process the mutant population has grown overnight. Beast from this time period decides hes seen enough and knows things are only going to get worse. His plan, go back into the past and grab the original  X-Men consisting of Angel, Iceman, Beast, Cyclops and Jean Grey. That’s the story thus far to get you all caught up. Brian Michael Bendis takes over the X universe now and so far I’m liking where hes going with this. He isn’t over explaining anything yet and the dialogue between most characters rings pretty true to core of who they are and without being too “talky” which detractors of Bendis’s writing also point at.
This issue deals mostly with what we will refer to as Adult Cyclops introducing Magneto and Magik to their new base of operations. Weapon X or as Cyclops now calls it the New Xavier School. From there we are shot to 8 days ago as Adult Cyclops and Magneto attempt to break out a prisoner from a truck. Emma Frost happens to be that prisoner and is still in disgust with Scott for his actions at the end of A vs X. During the breakout attempt both Cyclops and Magnetos powers go haywire and Emma informs them that since they were in touch with the Phoenix its left all 3 of them with side effects.
I especially like the conversation between Magneto and Cyclops afterwards. Magneto shows a ton of compassion for Scott but still reminds him that he murdered one of his best friends in front of him and that if he doesn’t atone for what hes done as well as fix his powers he will make sure he pays for what hes done.
Stuart Immomens art is beautiful as always. He breaks up the art with a lot of small panels here but does a great job himself of carrying the storytelling forward with subtle touches. Seeing Cyclops visor being removed followed by Magneto entering the picture is just one example of this. As always character look varied and what happens on every page genuinely feels big.The ending and cover for next issue have me extremely excited to see whats next for for the X-Men both past and present.

Rating: 8.5/10

Thanks, Mike! If you’re interested in doing a Beer & Comic pairing please contact lance (at) arcadebrewery (dot) com and we’ll send you some swag and comics for your effort!

Kapow!