Skullkickers And The Sixth Gun

The two co-creators behind two successful new series talk to each other about breaking into comics and all manner of things. It’s a very insightful discussion between writers Jim Zubkavich (Image’s Skullkickers) and Cullen Bunn (Oni Press’  The Sixth Gun). It’s a must read for aspiring writers and is quite encouraging.

Zub: Time management is everything. I looked at these opportunities and said to myself, “I want to do all these things. They mean so much to me.” Constantly thinking, “This is what I want to do and if I don’t do them will I regret it?” The answer has always been “yes,” so that drives me when I work.

I’m not perfect about organizing or productivity, but when this all started I looked at what I was spending the majority of my free time doing — watching TV, playing video games or whatever. Social time with friends and family is important but even looking at that I realized what was important and what needed to be prioritized in order to get the work done. I guess I’m just obsessive-compulsive.

Cullen: No, I think that’s a good point. I talk to a lot of people who want to break in and they don’t know how to do it while making ends meet, and I was right there with them for many years — trying to write fiction, short stories and novels. It wasn’t until I started really treating this like a job that I was able to make any headway whatsoever.

Zub: I think people look at this and they say, “Well, it’s just comics” or “Hey, I’ve got a cool idea,” but everyone has ideas. Are you going to develop it, work on it, make it into something and really push yourself? That’s the difference between an idea and completing something worthwhile.

Cullen: Folks always say, “I just don’t have time to do it,” but when they sit down in front of the TV watching shows they don’t even enjoy, some sit-com they don’t even laugh at -– there’s 30 minutes right there. You have to make the time.

Awesome, right? Check the whole thing out here and part two of the chat here.

April 12, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Interviews, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Gladstone’s School For World Conquerors

I saw this is the monthly Previews catalogue last month and it looks pretty interesting. If you’re not sick of all-ages tales where the villains are the main characters, such as Despicable Me and Megamind, then this could be for you. I doubt it will be another sell out like the recent wave of Image titles, as they are mostly for mature audiences. However, I could very well be wrong. If you didn’t see the sneak peek in March’s Previews, go here to see 4 pages from the fun comic.

GLADSTONE’S SCHOOL IS NOW IN SESSION

Writer Mark Andrew Smith and Artist Armand Villavert Give Readers an Education in Villainy This May

Veteran Image scribe Mark Andrew Smith (AMAZING JOY BUZZARDS, the Eisner-winning POPGUN anthology, and the two-time Harvey nominated THE NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY) has teamed up with the clean, crisp lines of Armand Villavert to present a brand new title, GLADSTONE’S SCHOOL FOR WORLD CONQUERORS. This series offers a new perspective on the villain training process and a fun new story for kids of all ages to enjoy.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled about GLADSTONE’S SCHOOL FOR WORLD CONQUERORS! Creating the story and the characters has been a truly exciting experience,” Smith exclaimed. “We’re building an entire universe here with GLADSTONE’S and hope the characters will become recognizable icons in the future. GLADSTONE’S has taken on a life of its own. There are so many facets of the GLADSTONE’S universe that we look forward to exploring. Readers are going to fall in love with the universe we’re creating!”

Artist Armand Villavert said, “GLADSTONE’S has been a labor of love for more than 4 years now. I’ve enjoyed drawing GLADSTONE’S every step of the way, mostly because the characters have a great amount of emotion and fun to them. I love drawing and expressing facial expressions and really conveying to the readers what the character is thinking. I hope those readers will have as much fun reading it as I’ve had drawing it. GLADSTONE’S is funny, action packed, and dramatic and I hope I continue to work on it for years to come.”

GLADSTONE’S SCHOOL FOR WORLD CONQUERORS #1 takes place at a top secret academy where many children of the world’s greatest super villains go to learn the family trade. Kid Nefarious, Mummy Girl, Martian Jones, Ghost Girl, and the infamous Skull brothers must navigate the trials of Gladstone’s as they unearth the school’s and their parents’ hidden past. In this action-packed but lighthearted romp, the students find themselves at a time when they must deal with both the problems of growing up as a child of infamous lineage as well as just plain growing up in general.

GLADSTONES SCHOOL FOR WORLD CONQUERORS #1, a 40 page full-color all-ages super villain/adventure comic book, is in stores soon on May 4, 2011 for $2.99.

April 11, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics? . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Extra Sequential Podcast #35-Comic Parodies

59 mins. We chat about some of our fave comic book parodies, including poking fun at superheroes. Also the Star Wars episode of That ’70s Show, the beauty of modern video games and Scream 4.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES


1:00 NEWS

Swancon and Natcon convention in Perth

Next DC animated film based on Tower of Babel JLA storyline

DC’s Retro-Active series of one-shots

Supernatural: The Anime Series to be released in July

The 4 minutes of the Green Lantern film that have been officially released

13:43 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Kris – Action Comics #899 filled with Lex vs Braniac and madcap action

Who Is Jake Ellis? #3 by Nathan Edmondson and Tonci Zonjic

Undying Love #1 by Tomm Coker and Daniel Freedman. Another winner from Image Comics about a human in love with a Chinese vampire.

Mladen – Crossing Midnight Volume 1 from Mike Carey and Jim Fern about twins born just before and just after midnight. Strange abilities, greedy demons and more ensue.

Digested #4 by Bobby N.

27: 27 FEATURE TOPIC-PARODIES

Red 5’s Abyss mini-series

The classic Justice league International

Ape Entertainment’s Super Human Resources by Ken Marcus and Justin Bleep

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen

Tank Girl: The Odyssey by Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett

James Turner’s Rex Libris

Plus, as an added extra, we answer some fanmail!


April 10, 2011
Categories: Movies, New To Comics?, News, Podcast, Reviews . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 2 Comments

This Week’s Winners

I haven’t followed the monthly X-Men adventures since the ’90s, but I buy the occasional issue and know enough to understand what’s going on. Marvel’s new Point One one-shots are a good way to help new readrs get the gist though. Uncanny X-Men #534.1 by Kieron Gillen (who has been co-writing with Matt Fraction until now) and Carlos Pacheco is an entertaining newbie-friendly book. It opens with Kate Kildare, a superhuman PR specialist and Donald Evans, a respected photographer landing on the island of Utopia, where the few remaining mutants dwell to give the X-Men some spin so the public will love them more. That’s needed these days, as Magneto is now on the team, and he’s the focus of this issue. That’s not much bad guy bashing, but two pretend A.I.M agents (who are rather amusing) do get a smackdown. They threaten an earthquake in San Francisco and Namor (also a new X-Men member) tells them that, “Only Namor has the ability to make the earth move, and he reserves that privilege for one woman at a time.” It seems out of character, but it is funny. Kate’s chat with Magneto, which includes his philisophies, and a suggested costume change is the main plot of this issue. They chat about the difference between public relations and propaganda, Machiavelli, and if it’s better to be loved or feared. As a talky issue, it lays out Magento’s complex personality very well. Pacheco’s manga tendencies are softened with the inks of Cam Smith, Dan Green and Nathan Lee (yes, 3 inkers. Wow.) and Erik actually looks his age for once, rather than a generic bodybuilder with grey hair.

Superman/Batman Annual #5 – Reign of Doomsday. Superman’s spiky killer Doomsday has been doing the rounds in a few DC titles lately, and this annual picks up after JLA #55 and continues in Superboy #6. It features great art by Miguel Sepulveda, which looks kind of like a cross between Phil Jiminez and Jae Lee. James Robisnson writes this action packed issue. Despite the title, it doesn’t really feature Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent, but rather Dick Grayson as Batman, and Supergirl. For most of the tale Kara (initially in her black costume) is stuck in safety of sick bay in the JLAWatchtower base as she’s sick. After receiving a diagnosis from  Dr Mid-Nite and advice from Dr. Fate, (or rather the man under the golden helmet, Kent Nelson), she gets her health and classic costume back and begins punching. Most of the action here is between cyborg Superman and Doomsday, as Cyborg Supes uses the Watchtower itself as a weapon. Doomsday however easily adapts to the attack and becomes Cyborg Doomsday, seen in an awesome double page transformation. Driven mainly by Cyborg Superman’s death wish narration, and a brief Dick and Kara team up inside, it also Blue Lantern Saint Walker and Mikaal Starman are stuck outside and see the Watchtower transform first into Cyborg Supes’ face and then DD’s. Sure it’s in the middle of a story arc I’m not following, but it looks great and Cyborg Supes has always been one of my fave DC bad guys.

Nonplayer #1 has received a lot of praise, and deservedly so. I actually read a preview digital copy last week, but loved it so much I picked up a print copy too, and it looks even more awesome on paper. I, and Mladen, talked about it in our latest podcast, but as every other reviewer who’s read this will tell you – get a copy of this unique sci-fi/fantasy/virtual life debut from Nate Simpson. If you can find a copy that is.

Thankfully a second printing will be released on May 11.

April 9, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Reviews, Uncategorized . Tags: , , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Planet Of The Apes #1 Preview

For an old French sci-fi novel, Planet of the Apes sure has some longevity. The upcoming prequel has now had a third title change and is now known as Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It stars James Franco and Andy Serkis and opens in August. If you can’t wait that long, BOOM! Studios has you sorted. The publisher is releasing its new Planet of the Apes comic at the end of this month. Multiple covers and preview pages below.

HITTING STORE SHELVES APRIL 27, 2011!

BOOM! Studios brings you a stunning first look at the all-new ongoing PLANET OF THE APES comic series hitting store shelves April 27,2011! It’s a bold new vision of the classic Apes universe written by award-winning sci-fi novelist Daryl Gregory (Dracula: The Company of Monsters, Pandemonium) and drawn by sensational artist Carlos Magno (Green Lantern Corps). So be sure to contact your local comic shop to reserve your copy of PLANET OF THE APES #1 today!

Taking place before the original 1968 PLANET OF THE APES movie, but true to the continuity of the first five films, this new ongoing comic series begins in a time when Ape society reaches a new golden age. But there are ripples of dissent in both the ape and human ranks. Tensions will rise and soon all will be caught in chaos! And amidst all this uncertainty, what is the fate of…The Lawgiver? Find out as a new chapter of the acclaimed sci-fi classic, PLANET OF THE APES, begins this April!

PLANET OF THE APES #1 is written by Daryl Gregory with art by Carlos Magno and ships with an A & B cover by Karl Richardson and Carlos Magno respectively, a special 1-in-10 “Damn Dirty Apes” incentive cover and a retailer variant for Larry’s Comics by Chad Hardin! This title ships in April and carries a Diamond Code of FEB110852.

April 8, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, New To Comics?, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Who Is Jake Ellis? #3 Review

My review of the excellent spy Image series by Nathan Edmondson and Tonci Zonjic is up now at Broken Frontier, right here.

Image have been on fire lately, with new series just gaining heaps of acclaim and flying off the shelves. New series like the above, plus Undying Love and Nonplayer are equally worthy of such attention. Here’s a press release from Image that must have been a joy for its writer and has some good advice for retailers.

SELLING OUT
Five More Image Titles Sell Out Simultaneously

Continuing the recent trend of releasing new series to rave reviews and instant sellouts, Image Comics has announced that BLUE ESTATE #1, GREEN WAKE #1, NONPLAYER #1, UNDYING LOVE #1 and the second printing of THE INFINITE VACATION #1 have all sold out at the distributor level and are going back to press.

Taken together, the five titles are an almost perfect example of the diversity of creator-owned comics showcased by Image on a weekly basis: BLUE ESTATE is a crime comic that leads readers through the tangled web of mistaken identities, backstabbing conspirators and dubious alliances; GREEN WAKE is a riveting horror tale set in a town plagued by a string of grisly murders; NONPLAYER is a sci-fi/fantasy epic that takes inspiration from mutli-player online roleplaying games; UNDYING LOVE is a horror/action series set in modern day Hong Kong that mixes Chinese folklore with vampire mythology; THE INFINITE VACATION is a high concept sci-fi love story set in a parallel reality, where an app that allows users to answer the age-old question of “what if” has changed everyone’s lives forever.
“For years, Image has specialized in producing a wide variety of titles, but we’ve just been blown away by the work these creators are bringing us,” said Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson. “These are writers and artists with singular visions, telling unique stories that you just can’t find anywhere else, and I think that’s something audiences are responding to more and more. We’re more than happy to keep ’em coming.”
Stephenson also urged direct market retailers to take a closer look at the orders: “We set our print runs based off the orders we receive at final order cut-off, but more and more frequently, we’re finding our overprint estimates aren’t matching demand. Selling out is nice, but honestly, it’s not helping anyone when the books aren’t on the stands. Going back to press takes time, and I’d just as soon have the books available.”
With that in mind, new printings of Image’s most recent sell-out titles are available for order now, with the following ship dates:
FEB118120 BLUE ESTATE #1 (2nd Printing) $2.99 on sale 5/4
FEB118259 GREEN WAKE #1 (2nd Printing) $3.50 on sale 5/4
FEB118267 NONPLAYER #1 (2nd Printing) $2.99 on sale 5/11
FEB118097 UNDYING LOVE #1 (2nd Printing) $2.99 on sale 5/11
FEB118268 THE INFINITE VACATION #1 (3rd Printing) $3.50 on sale 5/11

April 7, 2011
Categories: Comics, Reviews . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Moon Knight #1 Preview

Remember when characters like Spider-Woman and Moon Knight were at the back of Marvel’s superhero queue? It seems so long ago. Spider-Woman’s been at the forefront for a few years now, and it’s time for Brian Michael Bendis to bring Moon Knight and his multiple identities out of the shadows. Details, text-free preview pages and three variant covers for the May releasing debut issue below.

Your First Look at MOON KNIGHT #1

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Moon Knight #1, from the Eisner Award-winning creative team of Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev! Moon Knight heads to Los Angeles as a one-man Avengers team to dissolve a criminal syndicate tearing the City of Angels apart. Except there will be no warm welcome, because once word gets out about Marc Spector’s arrival, the mastermind behind LA’s crime circuit will stop at nothing to make an example of any Avengers who cross him.  Plagued by incurable schizophrenia, can Moon Knight hold it together to clear out a city riddled with villains?  This May, two of comics’ biggest talents reunite to redraw, and redefine one of Marvel’s Big Shots, only in Moon Knight #1!

MOON KNIGHT #1 (MAR110697)

MOON KNIGHT #1 RAMOS VARIANT (MAR110699)

MOON KNIGHT #1 HITCH VARIANT (MAR110698)

MOON KNIGHT #1 TEXIERA VARIANT (MAR110700)

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

Pencils & Cover by ALEX MALEEV

Variant Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS

Variant Cover by BRYAN HITCH

Variant Cover by MARK TEXIERA

Parental Advisory …$3.99

FOC – 4/11/11, On-Sale 5/4/11


 

April 7, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

X-Men Stuff

The latest face-in-silhouette X-Men First Class posters released a while ago are bad. Go here and judge for yourself. Thankfully, as we all know, fans are smart and creative! Super Punch shows off some fan made posters, and an imaginary opening title video for the June-releasing film. My two faves are below, and go here to see them all, in their great ’60s era glory.

Staying on the topic of costumed mutants, CBR has an interesting interview with X-Men writer Kieron Gillen (Phonogram) here. Fans pose the questions to the scribe and the discussion ranges from the Uncanny X-Men title to Fear Itself to the upcoming Schism. It’s for X-Men fans only really, as Nightcrawler’s death, Kitty in a space suit and the similiarities between Hope and Jean Grey are all brought up.

Lastly, and not really an X-Men story, but certainly a Marvel one – here’s a preview and trailer for Marvel’s 7 part Fear Itself series by Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen.

 

April 6, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, Interviews, Movies, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

R News Episode 3

Radical Publishing are hoping to produce their new video series, called R News, on a bi-weekly or monthly schedule. From this latest episode host Josh Berger is joined by new co-host Karolina Nilsson as they put the spotlight on the dark sci-fi mini-series After Dark and it’s 3rd issue. It’s a short video, but is well made and not a bad way at all to let the world know of Radical’s great (and great looking) books.

 

April 5, 2011
Categories: New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Artist Opportunity

Aussie writer/artist Jason Paulos (who I just interviewed here) is the creator of Hairbutt the Hippo and has recently been working on EEK!, a great horror anthology, which has just been collected by Asylum Press. He’s also looking for artists, so this could be your big break!

Email Jason for more details, and with samples of your work, here:

jasonpaulos@optusnet.com.au

April 5, 2011
Categories: New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Captain America And Black Panther

Unsurprisingly, with the patriotic Super Soldier getting his film treatment released in July, Marvel is putting  a lot of attention on Steve Rogers. Here’s the latest official news from Marvel, plus a few more tidbits.

Marvel Announces Brubaker & McNiven’s CAPTAIN AMERICA #1

New Ongoing Series Begins In July Featuring Marvel’s First Avenger

Marvel Entertainment is proud to announce Captain America #1, the first issue of an all new ongoing series premiering in July from two of the comic industry’s most acclaimed creators—writer Ed Brubaker (Death of Captain America) and artist Steve McNiven (Civil War)!

Steve Rogers is back as Captain America but when a mysterious figure from his past returns with the Sentinel of Liberty in his crosshairs, deadly secrets will surface—and send shockwaves through the lives of everyone Steve holds dear. An all-new, high octane Captain America series begins here, just in time for the First Avenger’s highly anticipated feature film from Marvel Studios.

“I gave myself a few challenges for this new #1 – I wanted to do the perfect Cap comic for anyone who walks out of the Cap movie and wants to know what’s next, but it also had to build on everything I’ve done on the book beforehand, too, and feel like the natural next step,” explained Brubaker. “Thank God Brevoort wrangled me Steve McNiven to pull all this off. Steve is at the top of his game, and no one draws action like him. I can’t wait for these issues to start coming out.”

McNiven revealed, “Captain America has been a character I’ve wanted to work on in more depth since Civil War, a real icon of the Marvel Universe. Not only do I get to run with Cap, but Ed Brubaker, a guy who has redefined the character at Marvel, is writing the books and he’s come up with an absolutely brilliant storyline that I can’t wait for folks to read.”

Perfect for readers new and old alike, the extra-sized Captain America #1 kicks off the next big chapter in the life of Steve Rogers, courtesy of superstars Ed Brubaker and Steve McNiven!

CAPTAIN AMERICA #1

Written by ED BRUBAKER

Pencils & Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN

Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN

Variant Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL

Variant Cover by NEAL ADAMS

Variant Cover by TBA

Movie variant available

Blank cover also available

Rated T+ …$3.99

ON SALE IN JULY

The good Captain also has a few recent one-shots out now, spotlighting his allies and enemies, such as The First Thirteen (what or whoever that is), Crossbones and Batroc The Leaper (who’s a bad guy that …leaps). I picked up only one of these – Captain America and the Secret Avengers. Cap only appears in one panel, despite the title, and as for his Secret Avengers, well, they don’t appear at all. Not the whole team anyway, only Black Widow and new member Sharon Carter. I only grabbed this tale because Greg Tocchini (who created interlocking covers for these Cap one-shots) is the interior artist. Unfortunately it’s not his exotic painted style as seen in last year’s great Last Days of American Crime, but it’s still dynamic. Written by Kelly Sue Deconnick, it has the two lovely ladies infiltrating an evil all girls assassin training school ball and thankfully, it never takes itself too seriously. The art is stylised, but the blank backgrounds are a bit disappointing. It’s fast paced and entertaining enough though, and also includes a short ’80s story from Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld starring Black Widow and Silver Sable chasing a baddie in France.

Black Panther, the African former king from the nation of Wakanda (and husband of X-Men’s Storm) is the new Daredevil. Well, he’s just taking over the protection of Hell’s Kitchen from blind lawyer Matt Murdock after he went crazy evil, but don’t worry, Daredevil returned in Daredevil: Reborn. Novelist David Liss took over when Black Panther did and created a street level tale with new characters, a new costume for the Panther without his Wakandan riches, a new day job at a diner, and most importantly a new villain in super powered mob boss Vlad. I’ve enjoyed this new arc, but with artist Jefte Palo now on board (taking over from Francesco Francavilla, who’s been working on the James Gordon-centred Detective Comics lately), it’s much more impressive. Francavilla is a good artist, certainly, but his creepy visuals work much better in ‘Tec than they did with Black Panther. Palo’s style is less washed out and more rendered and Jean-Francois Beaulieu’s moody colouring adds real grit. With rare but focused action, evil family feuds and a wise cracking guest appearance by Spider-Man, Black Panther #516 works a treat and it’s obvious that things are building to a fateful end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a nice combo of Cap and Panther, Marvel will be launching something called American Panther in July, with Black Panther sporting a new Captain America-styled armour. All we have so far is the teaser image below, but it looks like it will tie in to the upcoming Fear Itself event.

April 4, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, New To Comics?, News, Reviews . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

The Frontiersman #22 Out Now

Now at Broken Frontier is the latest edition of the digital magazine, The Frontiersman. In it is, well a bunch of stuff, including a review by me of the first TPB collection of Image Comics’ fun, fantasy series, Skullkickers.

Buy the issue here for just $1.49.

April 4, 2011
Categories: New To Comics?, News, Reviews . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

First Green Lantern Footage

Opening on June 17 and starring Ryan Reynolds, and now Aussie Geoffrey Rush (as the voice of Tomar Re, the Lantern who welcomes Hal in the trailer) as well as Mark Strong  as Sinestro, is the Green Lantern film. I’ve had my doubts, but this new footage, just show at Wondercon has given my renewed faith in it. It looks fantastic.

April 3, 2011
Categories: Movies, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 1 Comment

Extra Sequential Podcast #34-Elephantmen and Nonplayer

40 mins. Mladen and I occupy the same space once more as we talk about 2 new Image comics debuts we liked plus Ninja Turtles, April Fool’s Day office pranks, iPad 2 queues, and animated Plastic Man.

LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES


00:56 NEWS

Writer Jonathan Hickman’s new creator owned series

Justice League film set for 2013

Amy Adams has been cast as Lois Lane in the Superman reboot

Wonder Woman’s TV costume changes. Now with less shininess!

6:40 WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING

Kris – IDW’s Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters

FF #1, the new Fantastic Four relaunch. Spider-Man joins the team and it’s black and white costumes all round!

Mladen – Sequelcast film podcast

20:14 FEATURE REVIEWS

Elephantmen: Man and Elephantman by Richard Starkings and Axel Medellin. We find it to be a good intro for new readers, love the art and its effective colour palette and just the general noir vibe of the whole tale.

Nonplayer #1 by Nate Simpson. A very entertaining genre mash-up of a sci-fi world and a fantasy virtual world, with art that you’ll fall in love with. See a preview here and an interview with Simpson here.

Our rambling and amusing conclusion.

 

April 2, 2011
Categories: Interviews, Movies, New To Comics?, News, Podcast . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 1 Comment

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