Comic Book Resources is one of the best and brightest comic related sites on the net, and I have an article on there! Yay for me! CBR writer Greg Burgas recently started a new series entitled My Comic Book Shoppe, which highlights local comic shops and opened it up for CBR visitors to submit their own, so I did. Here you can find the article on Perth’s own Comic Zone, complete with photos and interesting facts. Thanks Greg!
Comic-Con is only weeks away, and I’ll be there rubbing shoulders with pop culture fans and generally introducing myself to everyone in a desperate attempt at making friends. Radical Publishing will be there of course (one of my fave new comic companies) and Darren Bousman (director of a few Saw films) will be tagging along to reveal his new comic. Press release below.
At SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL 2009, Radical is proud to announce Darren Bousman, the acclaimed director of Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV, at the Radical Publishing booth #3735 as he signs both a limited edition poster and copies of Radical’s San Diego Comic-Con 2009 Exclusive Preview Book which features Bousman’s chilling, supernatural upcoming release Abattoir.
Set for a 2010 debut, Abattoir chronicles real estate agent Richard Ashwalt, assigned the impossible task of cleaning up after a brutal massacre takes place at a mansion. As he cleans the blood-soaked grounds, a twisted old man journeys to the house with a sinister and terrifying purpose, and Richard is drawn into a web of shadows, murders and massacres that will shatter him to his very core…and make him run for his life.
“We’re ecstatic to showcase Darren’s work at this year’s Comic-Con International,” said Radical Publishing’s President and Publisher Barry Levine. “In addition to being a director on the cutting edge of Hollywood horror, Darren is an accomplished writer with an incredibly thrilling story to tell. We’re proud to have Darren at our booth for this year’s Comic-Con.”
Bousman’s directing credits include the horror epics Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV as well as 2008’s Repo! The Genetic Opera. His writing credits include Saw II, 2000’s Butterfly Dreams and 2001’s Identity Lost.
Darren Bousman will be signing on Saturday, July 25th at the Radical Publishing booth.
Radical Publishing booth #373
Saturday
3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Now I’ve probably read less than forty novels in my life, but my younger brother is a huge Star Wars fan and for the last few years has made a point to read every SW novel he can get his hands on. I too share his enthusiasm for George Lucas’ greatest work, but haven’t delved as deeply in to the Expanded Universe that broadens the scope of events seen in the films. I have read a few of the novels which centre on the vile Yuzzhan Vong however and have loved them. This alien race which despises technology and is immune to the ways of the Force is one of the best creations in the Star Wars world. It’s not easy to create credible enemies for the powerful Jedi, but as I read of the Vong I was instantly scared and sickened. I always thought they’d make an awesome enemy in a film, game or comic adaptation. And here we are. Dark Horse knows how to handle licensed properties like no-one else. They’ve taken Star Wars in to bold new places and this latest mini-series looks to continue that tradition. As editor Randy Stradley mentions in the afteword, now is the time for this comic.
Written by fellow Aussie, and playwright Tom Taylor Invasion is a five issue mini that follows the Yuuzhan Vong as they focus their horrific marauding ways upon the peaceful Artorian people. Obviously, the Artorians have no idea what’s in store for them, and no real defence when the attack comes. Most are carried away as terrified captives by the brutal scaly creatures, while the king (a veteran of the Battle of Hoth, as seen in The Empire Strikes Back) and his risk-taking son Finn do their best to save their planet. The focus on this 40 pager is not the Vong. In fact they hardly appear, but when they do they look as horrific as I imagined when reading the books.
This series is set 25 years after the first Star Wars film amid the New Jedi Order era, in which an older Luke Skywalker is gathering fresh Jedi recruits. He appears here and reminds all that he is one bad dude when he wants to be. So far it doesn’t appear to tie in to any of the Vong novels so I’m curious as to where Taylor and artist Colin Wilson (2000 AD) take this. The desperation is laid on thick with the quick battle on Artoria and Skywalker shows interest in training Finn as a Jedi, which is something that holds promise.
Wilson’s art is detailed, with a flair for costume design and page design, particularly in the numerous fights. There have been so many alien races and planets seen in SW over the decades, but Wilson does an admirable job in the few pages he’s given to flesh out the people of Artoria with a Middle Eastern flavour. Wes Dzioba’s colours add a great richness and depth to Wilson’s pencils, making the pages pop with variety.
It’s an intriguing set up and I hope to see more of the Vong’s harsh religion and culture in the following issues, as that’s one of the things that make them so unique. With the novels, there’s some great source material to mine from. I look forward to this being a dark and ominous series, and hopefully the rest of the Skywalker clan will show up at some point.
You can see a preview of this ish here. There’s also an original 16 page preview on starwars.com by the same creative team set before this first issue.
I have a feeling that I’m going to lose any fanboy cred I may have with the next sentence, but I’ll say it anyway; I enjoyed Marvel Divas. Of course, I also liked Twilight, so perhaps it’s no surprise. The best, and most obvious, description of this four ish mini is Sex and the City in the Marvel U. It’s an apt indication of what lies in these pages. Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa’s playwright tendencies show through with great aplomb. He has a terrific handle on dialogue. Witty, casual and sometimes funny, it’s kind of like Kevin Smith or Joss Whedon. Kind of.
Giving a mini-series to four superheroines who are also BFFs is a bold move, but as is the constant cry of fangirls, there really aren’t many titles with chicks in mind. There’s far more talking (about boys, sex and parties)than fighting and this could just as easily work without Hellcat, Photon, Black Cat and Firestar as you’d never know they were superheroines. There’s the occasional Marvel cameo (Black Panther, Son of Satan, Brother Voodoo) and some slightly odd lines that veer closely to fourth-wall-breakers. And would busy superheroines really go to a glitzy book launch? Maybe.
This book is light and fluffy and there’s a loose plot about Patsy Walker’s novel debut and Felicia Hardy’s plans for a detective agency and a last page where one of the Sisters of the Spandex Pants reveals she has cancer. Where this all goes is anyone’s guess, but it’d be a safe bet to say there’s more hugging, tears, and clingy boyfriends. Tonci Zonic’s art fits in to this daytime soap opera like a leather glove on a well manicured hand. Reminiscent of Marcos Martin at his best, it’s simple yet expressive.
It’s not exactly the sort of book that a fanboy can give to his uncertain girlfriend or wife and declare, “Here honey! Finally a comic with girl superheroes! You’ll love it!” There’s too many Marvel U references in it for that, but if you want something different and enjoyed The Notebook, then don’t feel ashamed by taking this to the counter.
The Editor In Chief of new publisher Outlaw Entertainment is one prolific guy. Jason M. Burns is also the primary writer for Outlaw, with a slew of titles out now, and more to come this year, including Jenna Blue and We The People. My interview with ex-journo Burns is up now at Broken Frontier and you can see more of Outlaw’s work here.
Thanks to Andrei Molotiu of Abstract Comics making me aware of this site. Not that I’m very familiar with some of the American political references, but I was quite impressed with a few of the entries. Chris Duffy’s July 4th Project is an “art blog featuring variations by many cartoonists on the notion of the patriotic, all-American superhero.” It appears they accept submissions too, which is great. The entries are primarily pictures of the above theme with a short origin. Most are witty, and more than a few are laugh out loud funny. Molotiu has two recent entries – The Star Spangled Badger and Rockets Redglare whose “power only falters when her adversaries turn out to be reasonable, responsible adults; but, since most of them are men, this rarely ever happens.”
Other highlights are Redneck-Dude Man by Amanda Geisinger, who is described thusly:
After a quick change in the outhouse, mild mannered Bubba becomes our mulleted hero, Redneck-Dude-Man—ready to fight for everyone’s god-given right to have Christmas lights on their porch in June, an armory in their basement, and a refrigerator on their front lawn.
and I have to mention Jef Czekaj’s The Second Amendment which focuses on a 10 year old boy and a bear who swapped appendages. This is how Czekaj describes the concept:
Young Nathan R. Armstrong has invented a teleportation device, which he plans to demonstrate at his school’s Science Fair. Unfortunately, as he enters the teleporter, a bear enters the school (it’s a long story) and sneaks into the device. The two emerge from the teleporter seemingly unharmed, but with a bizarre mix-up: N.R. Armstrong now has the arms of a bear, and the bear is left with puny 10-year-old human arms.
Frustrated by his disfigurement (and the fact that he didn’t win the Science Fair), Nathan turns to a life of crime under the name The Second Amendment. His side-kick, the bear he has named Winnie the Goon, can’t really do much with his little arms, but he sure looks weird.
For more of this patriotic craziness, visit the official site.
Yep, it’s that time again. Last year was the first time the Supanova Pop Culture Convention came to the sunny shores of Perth after a few years in the Easter states of Australia. The turnout impressed everyone, so here we are again. There wasn’t much difference from last year’s event, but the weather was better. This year I actually knew a few more people, thanks to this here blog and my Extra Sequential mag so I spent the bulk of my time saying hello and catching up with friends. Just like last year, the number ofsuperhero costumes, and presumably fans, were overshadowed by the swarm of teen manga and anime readers. Most of the stalls seen last year were here once more, with Kings Comics and Madman Entertainment being the biggest booths. The local geek scene was proudly represented by Quality Comics, Comic Zone, Empire Toys and snazzy publisher, Gestalt. $25 is perhaps a bit much to ask for attendees, especially as you can see the whole event in less than 2 hours. The only things I noticed misisng from last year were the free coffee, a presence from a film studio (last year’s was Hellboy II, this year was supposed to be Paramount’s G.I. Joe, though I did see posters for the film) and a lack of considerable goodies in the giveaway bag.
Great costumes were on display, including two brave young girls sporting a Princess Leia slave outfit and a Ms. Marvel costume. Funny how all the males were all covered up. I guess that’s because every male superhero or villain makes wise costume choices. Only the foolish would come dressed as Dr. Manhattan I guess. There was also a life-size Dalek, and TARDIS, with wearers/operators inside.
I felt kind of bad for the lack of queues for the original Battlestar Galactica cast and Anakin from The Phantom Menace, but it was early in the day. The lines would’ve been longer for Karl Urban and two of the Twilight cast. I did say hello to Urban who was strolling around in a nice suit and who said, “G’day mate,” to me. I also chatted briefly with artist Tim Sale and Secret Six’s Nicola Scott, which was cool, and chatted to a Stormtrooper from the cool looking 501st Legion.
I also saw Dave Gibbons who was understandably popular. There was a sign saying no photos, no sketches and a limit of 3 signed items per customer however. Perhaps he’s just fed up with all the Watchmen film attention. One female fan gave him her copy of Watchmen and asked him to sign his favourite page. He closed his eyes, opened up the book and chose a random page. Nice.
I didn’t buy anything this year, as nothing screamed out at me. If I were a fan of Japanese animation I could’ve bought a lot. It’s good that readers of American comics aren’t the main focus, as it is a pop culture exhibition after all. Well done once more to the event organisers and volunteers for another job well done. They obviously know the pulse of Perth’s pop culture savvy consumers and cater for them. The guests were a big draw for a lot of people this year that didn’t go last year and the advertising stepped up a notch too. Of course, after going to Comic-Con I’m spoilt, as I’ll again realise when I go to San Diego in 3 weeks. However, seeing Perth represented and respected in this manner is a wonderful thing.
I haven’t been this excited about the Justice League for literally, years. I have virtually every issue of JLA since Grant Morrison and Howard Porter breathed new life in to the characters back in 1996. Morrison got the JLA. He brought brash, epic storytelling that matched the heroic icons represented by the League. After he left, it was OK, with a few high notes thanks to Mark Waid, Joe Kelly and Brad Meltzer, but the last 2 or 3 years I’ve really only been buying the title because the completist inside me feels compelled to do so.
However, James Robinson is now writing the League and it’s time to get excited once more. This is the best League since Morrison. Cry For Justice is a 7 issue mini-series that effectively stars a new JLA. Headlined by a disenchanted Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and a mish-mash of DC superheroes, this is no longer the JLA-lite we’ve had in the last year or two. This is the JLA with espresso in their veins. What’s most intriguing is the line-up. When it was first revealed it was somewhat perplexing. Hal and Green Arrow make sense, as does Ray Palmer (The Atom), but Batwoman, Congorilla and Mikaal Tomas (Starman)? They’re odd choices, but as Robinson describes in the 5 page regular feature, that’s what he wanted. The mix of new and old, or old made new, heroes, such as Freddy Freeman as the new Captain Marvel means that the interplay will be as exciting as the villain bashing. Robinson also uses the extra pages to give brief backgrounds for the roster and his buddy Len Wein writes a 2 page Congorilla origin (a hunter who had his mind transferred to a golden gorilla-that’s either cool or laughable).
Being a first issue, it’s all set up, with the opening pages dedicated to a fed up Hal confronting his JLA team-mates in the orbital Watchtower, while his pal Ollie also tags along for the justice serving adventures. The rest of the story shows glimpses of the rest of the new team as they cope with recent losses and find a burning desire for proactive justice. Robinson’s comfort with these characters is superb. Hal and Ollie’s dialogue is just like two old friends, and having written Starman for years, he knows the blue-hued alien Mikaal Tomas well too.
Mauro Cascioli wowed many with his painted art on the Trials of Shazam mini that moved Freddy Freeman to drop the Junior from his Captain Marvel moniker. These pages are lush and realistic, not in an Alex Ross way, but with texture and tone and superb backgrounds. These characters look foreboding and heroic and scary. Thank you Robinson and Cascioli for giving the JLA CPR. It is for DC fans, but Robinson also knows that some of these heroes are more familiar than others and doesn’t act on assumed knowledge. This is going to be an exciting series and thankfully, once it’s over Robinson will be taking his skills, and possibly his new crew, on to the ongoing JLA series.
Batman and Robin #2 is just as good as the first issue. Some may find the circus talk frustrating, but Morrison shows Alfred’s concern for Dick, Dick’s frustration with Damian as his new Robin, and his weariness about being the new Batman very well. He also wisely brings up the idea of the Gotham cops, including Commissioner Gordon, knowing that this Dynamic Duo is not the old Dynamic Duo. Frank Quitely draws action scenes of such fluid motion you’ll feel like you’re watching a John Woo film. Little touches like Dick hating the cape as it makes him “way off balance,” and Alfred encouraging Dick to treat his new cowled role as exactly that, like a part in a play remind us that Morrison knows how to handle realism just as well as freaky villains and life and death scenarios.
Actually, there’s a Preview Night on as I type this, but it officially kicks off this coming weekend on the 4th and 5th of july. It’s at the Claremont Showgrounds, and you can go here for the full list of events. As happened last year, there have been some last minute roster changes, but I’m not really concerned about the celebrities, though I know many are going for Karl Urban (Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings), Gil Birmingham (Twilight), Dave Gibbons (Watchmen artist) and Jake Lloyd (Anakin in Episode 1). There will also be a few anime voice-over people, and of course, lots of pop culture goodies on sale.
I was actually thinking of that mini-series Marvel did with Gotham Entertainment Group in 2004 called Spider-Man: India, where the Spidey mythos was re-imagined for Indian audiences. I don’t know how successful that was, but it appears DC are broadening their reach too. As announced on DC’s blog the Justice League of Amercia will be teaming up with The 99, an Islamic group of superheroes from Teshkeel Comics. The writer will be Fabian Nicieza who is no stranger to either universe. No artist or any other details have been announced as yet, but I’m sure once it hits stands, it’ll grab a few headlines. It’s actually a good idea. I don’t know if Gotham continues to translate superhero comics for the overseas market (their web-site is “under construction” which is rarely a good sign) but I’d safely assume Eastern readers aren’t as familiar with spandex wearers as English speaking readers are, so there’s definite potential.
Publishers these days are all too aware of the price of comics, and after hearing consumers grumble, and seeing the TPBs increasing in popularity, they’re taking positive steps to ease fans’ minds. DC have done pretty well with their $1 entry point issues (the last one was the great The Unwritten #1, and the next one is September’s Sweet Tooth #1 by Jeff Lemire). Now Radical (Hotwire, City of Dust) are doing something..yeah, radical. They’re increasing their page counts considerably and keeping the price the same for a few new releases beginning in August. Radical steamed into the marketplace with great art to match their great concepts. Their cheaper books are definitely worth a look if you haven’t picked up any of their series yet. Press release below.
In striving to provide audiences with the highest quality at the best possible value, Radical Publishing is introducing a revolutionary new book format to our readers.
Radical has made it a company mandate to set trends—not follow them—and while we fulfill our goal to produce cutting-edge stories with gorgeous artwork, we also believe in keeping our products at an affordable price.
Radical is proud to announce our new “Bigger Books! Bigger Value!” campaign. Starting in August, we will be doubling, even tripling, our page count to bring you more story, more art, more pages…all for less money. For only $4.99 (just a dollar more than what the other publishers often charge for only 22 story pages), you are getting more than two issues worth of story. Whether it’s a 56-page Incarnate from Nick Simmons (A&E’s Gene Simmons Family Jewels), a 64-page October debut of FVZA: Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency from David Hine (Civil War: X-Men) or a 72-page Earp: Saints for Sinners, our modern reinvention of the Wyatt Earp legend, from Matt Cirulnick and M. Zachary Sherman (Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising) the price will be the same for every single one of these issues: $4.99—and they’ll all have the top-notch quality and production values you’ve come to expect from the Radical name brand.
Be a part of the revolution: Bigger Books! Bigger Value! Only $4.99! Now that’s Radical.
I’ll get to see this when it debuts at Comic-Con next month. Yay for me! The Green Lantern animated movie, is the fifth direct-to-DVD film from Warner Bros. and DC, and stars everyone’s favourite ring slinger Hal Jordan as he learns to become an interstellar peacekeeper and meets Sinestro, Kilowog, Boodikka, the Guardians and the rest of the gang. It looks like quite the space faring adventure. You can enter the Sweepstakes here (if you’re a U.S resident) for the chance to win a host of goodies, including a Playstation 3, a 40″ LCD HDTV and a bunch of other cool goodies. The Facebook page also has news updates, interviews, and more. The film debuts on single and double disc DVD and Blu-ray on July 28.
There’s a fair amount of hype about the return of Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America this week. In Captain America Reborn #1, writer Ed Brubaker and artist Bryan Hitch (The Ultimates) present Rogers’ return as classic enemy Red Skull makes nefarious plans. The covers of the first issue are truly striking, as you can see below, with covers by Bryan Hitch, Joe Quesada, Alex Ross and John Cassaday.
“What do you think we do? We grab a couple of chainsaws and start hacking up walking stiffs.”
“Nice try freak, but you’re not eating my brain!”
“Well you look great! I mean, you’ve hardly decomposed at all!”
And so on. There’s some classic moments in this great offering from Slave Labor Graphics. Fat Chunk is an anthology series dedicated to giving talented artists the spotlight they deserve. Last year’s Volume 1 was all about robots, while this new follow up is all about zombies. Yep, zombies are more popular than the US President in comics these days and this digest is over 130 pages of black and white undead entertainment.
Most of the stories are 3 or 4 pages, while a few are silent and some have no clear end to the narrative. Like any anthology, not every page is a winner, but with Zombie they’re definitely…unique. There’s a glorious splatter of styles across these pages and I found myself laughing more than I expected. There’s a lot of profanity and raunchy material, and most of the humour is of the gallows brand, but it works. Splendid examples would be the black comedy seen in The New Kid by D Z Greene and Seph77’s Scabby the Cat. They’re funny because they’re wrong.
After reading this, I also realise how adaptable zombies are. In this collection, there’s zombies on blind dates, zombies as the focus of a charitable organisation, as hosts of cooking shows (guess what’s for dinner!), and as literal “working stiffs.”
There’s a wealth of talent out there, and every contributor mentions their website in their credits. The Fat Chunk website also has heaps of previews (some exclusive and updated) and links to more of the artists’ works. A lot of the work here is somewhat similar, with the exaggerated super-deformed style of street mags and hip hop tattoos, or manga-lite stuff of Saturday morning toons being the most represented styles. Some of my faves would have to be Jesus Briosso, Perca, Bill Neff and Aurelio. I hope Volume 3 is in the works.
Props to SLG for getting Fat Chunk out there, and for giving this skilled roster of storytellers a shot at grabbing new fans. If you believe you too are a worthy artist, they’re always on the lookout for fresh meat, er, talent, so give it a go.
comicbookjesus 