On sale this week is The Darkness #77 by writer Phil Hester and artist Michael Broussard. According to Top Cow, the issue is described thusly, ” An ageless beauty with red ribbon in her hair and her silent enforcer are determined to wipe out another Darkness bearer. Can Jackie break the curse? Meanwhile the mysterious Foreigner reveals new information to Jackie, which shakes him to his core.”
Perty pictures below.
There’s an interesting (and well researched) article on Comic Book Resources by Greg Hatcher. Inspired by the new Star Trek revamp, or relaunch, or reboot, or whatever you want to call it, Hatcher examines all the major revamps that Green Lantern has had, beginning in the 1940s. It assumes some GL knowledge, so mostly readers familiar with the DCU over the years will get a kick out of it, and it is littered with covers from the different eras. If you’re curious as to why characters in comics get a fresh new approach so very often, you’ll want to read the article. Here’s a snippet.
Why do people keep tweaking a perfectly good concept? Why mess with a good thing?
The best I can do is a guess, and here it is: times change and audiences get bored. Sooner or later, even the most popular series runs out of gas. So the only reason to do any kind of a revamp or a relaunch is because you think you can get a bigger audience. The only reason.
However, and here’s the part that drives us all a little nuts — unlike other entertainment franchises, superhero comics are aimed at an audience of hobbyists who regard these stories not so much as light entertainment, but rather as historical dispatches from an alternate universe. What I see when I look at the history of all these different versions of Green Lantern is this — the common factor to all of them is writers laboring under the lunatic misconception that this fictional entertainment really is history.
In July the new animated GL film, focused on Hal Jordan’s origin debuts, and the Martin Campbell directed live action feature is underway too. It’s also the 50th anniversary of Hal Jordan’s debut, plus the Blackest Night epic, penned by Geoff Johns is just around the corner. It’s a good time to be a Lantern fan.
As explained in Tim Buckley’s introduction, he’s been creating this webcomic since 2002 as something he was experimenting with for his portfolio. For the last few years, he’s been making his living from it. That’s mainly because his daily strips are full of geek in-jokes and we love them more than girls at the comic shop.
This first volume from Blind Ferret Publishing (titled This Is A Great Idea) collects about 130 strips from October 2002 to May 2003. Most are funny, but seeing as I’m a casual gamer at best I wasn’t crying with laughter. I know plenty of people who would however. This is for gamers what Comic Critics is to comic fans. The beauty is that there is some x-over, and we all laugh laughing at ourselevs, and our knowledge of pop culture. That’s also why Family Guy is so popular.
The bulk of these strips are four panels to a page and a lot show their age, especially with references to new games like Hitman 2, Star Wars Galexies, etc. For those that were passionate gamers during those years, there will be many chuckles I’m sure. It follows young gamers Ethan, his more level-headed friend Ethan, female gamer Lilah, Ethan’s ex Sara, Ted the penguin and a few random arrows. There are some unusual interludes to this pace, such as a 4 page noir-esque tale about a Detective’s search for his left hand and Chef Brian’s mostly nonsensical ramblings (usually involving carrots). These don’t really work compared to the rest of the work contained within these pages.
However, what impressed me most was Buckley’s subtle weaving of a narrative throughout the pages. Ethan breaks up with his girlfriend, gets a new room-mate and job, falls into gaming addiction,etc. It means you can read the book all the way through and most of the time you’ll get some witty sit-com type gags, but also a loose larger story at play.
Ethan is clearly the star of the show and though the jokes aren’t exactly cutting edge compared to today’s ‘smarter’ strips such as Sinfest or The Perry Bible Fellowship, these strips are from 7 years ago, when webcomics were not the plague they are today.
As Buckley acknowledges in his intro, his style has improved since these early days, but it’s pleasantly cartoony enough. Every page is loosely littered with profanity, violence and Ethan’s general hatred towards those who don’t understand him, which is pretty much everyone, so don’t be fooled by the cover. This isn’t a safe Saturday morning ‘toon. It takes great skill to produce one of these every day for almost a decade though. It’s all about timing and using as few words and expressions as possible to get the biggest smile. Of course, pop culture is simply ammo to Buckley, so he won’t be running out anytime soon.
Strangely, nowhere in the book is the website mentioned, so here it is for your daily gamer laugh.
So, Dick Grayson is the new Batman, and Bruce Wayne’s son, Damian is the new Robin. Though you couldn’t really tell from reading this week’s Battle for the Cowl conclusion. The current Robin, Tim Drake and former (dead) Robin Jason Todd were running around in different Batman costumes while various classic Batman foes watched as Gotham descended into more hellish chaos. And just so you know Batman, AKA Bruce Wayne is not exactly dead. Rather he was sent way back in time thanks to Darkseid’s Omega Sanction eye beams. You can read all about it in Final Crisis if you don’t mind a migraine. However, as a sum up, here’s my latest Broken Frontier article, The Battle for Batman.
There’s also an interview at Newsarama with the writer/artist of the 3 ish mini, Battle for the Cowl, Tony Daniel. For those who are unsure as to the precise identity of the new cowl wearer, as it is rather ambiguous in the final pages of BOC #3, this excerpt from the interview should make it clear.
NRAMA: What can you tell us about how these last couple pages were designed? Why didn’t the readers see the face of the person putting on the cowl? The words from Dick make it pretty clear he is wearing the cowl, so does the lack of a face have another meaning? And anything you want to share about the design of the pages? They’re pretty cool-looking…
TD: Thanks – well, I wanted us to view what Dick was viewing, be Dick, for that moment. Going through the mansion, down to the cave. Putting up the cowl. Yes, his hair is shorter. But it’s been Dick’s captions all the way through issue #3, so I thought it was pretty self-explanatory.
Okay then. Here’s a few pages from Cowl #3 for your perusal.
You know what reading the new Hulk series by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness is like? It’s like going on a blind date with the biggest, dumbest girl you’ve ever met. You may wonder why you stick around, but as she spits when she talks and gives wild stories as to why she’s missing teeth, you can’t help but end the night with a guilty grin on your face.
“Most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on!”
“Blow it out your flaming pants, Dormammu!”
“See if you can subjective this!”
That’s a sample of the bombasity contained within these pages, most of which are concerned with the mysterious, new red Hulk beating up powerful beings much bigger than himself. And yes, there’s an awful lot of exclamation points in here. 16 in fact. That’s the point though. Jeph Loeb knows how to write smart, restrained, tasteful superhero tales, but the Jeph Loeb writing this series is his evil twin. He shouts a lot, slams his fists and his having the time of his life. And it’s fun to watch.
I discovered this snappy little book from local publisher Gestalt Publishing (well local to me in Perth, Western Australia anyway) when I read about it in an article in The Australian newspaper. Written by Tom Taylor, and based on his award winning play, with art by 200AD’s Colin Wilson, this is a prime example of how to create something intense with a surprisingly simple premise. Two people, strangers actually, are waiting for a slow train to arrive. As a man (that we never see) leaves the station, he also leaves behind the hook behind this tale – a suitcase.
The young, bespectacled girl Sam and the older, more distinguished Chris soon break the ice while wondering what exactly the suitcase is and what they should do about it. To say any more than that would be to ruin what’s a truly engrossing short story, including the origin of the title. For anyone new to comics, this is a great entry. For any wannabe writers, this is a great lesson in pacing and suspense. For wannabe artists, this is a great lesson in panel design. Like Watchmen, it uses a simple 9 panel grid on almost every page, but you won’t even notice. I mean, this is just two people talking at an empty suburban space, yet you’ll be lost in the world it creates. If you are I also recommend watching other engrossing tales with two, such as Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 film Rope about two murderers at a dinner party, Richard Linklater’s film Tape, or the Before Sunrise, and Sunset films.
It’s obvious that Taylor and Wilson have thought long and hard about every line (created by the keyboard and the pencil) in creating this standalone drama. At only 11 pages of actual story, space had to be used wisely and is. Extras include a few more pages of character sketches by Wilson as well as musings on the creation of this project by Taylor, Wilson and publisher Wolfgang Bylsma.
You can pick up this excellent issue and their recent Flinch anthology at any good comic shop, or at Gestalt’s site.
Top Cow’s gorgeously gruesome vampire chiller, Impaler continues its blood letting, with issue 3 out on May 28.
It’s written by William Harms, with beautifully moody art by Matt Timson, and focuses on a snow covered Washington being overrun by vamps, with an ancient hero, Vlad the Impaler and an overpowered military as America’s last chance for survival.
In the third issue Vlad’s brother, Mircea shows up, and he ain’t friendly.
Preview pages can be seen below and my interview with Harms can be found here.
BOOM! Studios anthology, Zombie Tales, proved that there’s still some life left in the ever popular zombie stories hovering around pop culture like flies on a resurrected corpse. Writer Kim Krizan’s three short stories about a zombie infested future earth were often the highlight. They were both darkly funny and frightening at the same time. Now they’ve been collected into one volume, for release in July. Press release below.
The living dead walk among us! Zombies have taken over the planet! Humans only exist as novelty attractions… or worse. But today is the day of revolution and soon the tide will turn on undead supremacy! Enter the world of ZOMBIE TALES 2061. From Academy Award-nomintated writer Kim Krizan (BEFORE SUNRISE, BEFORE SUNSET) comes an epic saga ripped from the pages of the critically acclaimed ZOMBIE TALES anthology and collected in one volume for the first time!
Best known for writing the generation definining romance movies BEFORE SUNRISE and BEFORE SUNSET, Krizan jumped into the horror genre with both feet, delivering a unique new vision of the zombie apocalypse for Zombie Tales: The Series #1. Originally planned as just an 8 pager and slotted between stories from more seasoned horror vets Steve Niles and Joe R. Lansdale, critics and fans spotlighted Krizan’s freshman horror venture and clamored for a sequel. Krizan immediately expanded her Zombie universe into a triptych, finally collected in one easy reading volume with ZOMBIE TALES 2061.
“When horror tastemaker RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE begs for a sequel, you know you have a hit on your hands,” said Publisher Ross Richie. “I really don’t think people have seen as an original take on Zombies since Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. That is how blown away I was by this book.”
“It was great fun for me to write ‘2061’ and it’s an honor to have it collected,” said ZOMBIE TALES writer Kim Krizan. “Though it seemed on the surface to be a light, fun project, it really gets to the heart of what I believe about our species. For me, zombie dominance is now!”
Outside garnering an Academy Award nomination for BEFORE SUNSET, Krizan also acted in the cult films SLACKER, DAZED AND CONFUSED and WAKING LIFE. Her turn as high school teacher Ginny Stroud in DAZED AND CONFUSED led her to speak the immortal lines “…this summer when you’re being inundated with all this American bicentennial Fourth Of July brouhaha, don’t forget what you’re celebrating, and that’s the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn’t want to pay their taxes.”
When asked about the rumor of a Zombified follow-up to the BEFORE SUNRISE franchise, Krizan had no comment.
ZOMBIE TALES 2061 features 24 pages of interior art by newcomer Jon Reed and a cover by Patrick McEvoy. SRP: $3.99, Diamond Order Code: MAY090726.
This new series was previewed in Red 5’s recent Free Comic Book Day offering, but if you didn’t pick it up – fear not! It’s available here, and it’s still free.
This six issue mini-series is off to a good start. From Red 5, the fine folks who have given us Atomic Robo and Neozoic, We Kill Monsters tells the story of two brothers and their extracurricular activities, as summed up in the title.
Jake and Drew are mechanics at the Basher Bros. Auto Repair and Body Shop. After another day fixing cars, they head to their usual haunt for a few drinks. The brothers lives are soon interrupted by more than Vanessa, the pretty barmaid however. After calling it a night, the somewhat sullen Drew is faced with two horrors – Vanessa’s new boyfriend and a terrifying beast leaping from the shadows. Thankfully, his bro’s got his back, and with a shovel to the face and some blood loss on both sides, the brothers emerge victorious, but not unchanged. They drag the horned corpse to their shop after seeing another creature following them and soon realize that their problems are just beginning.
I wasn’t expecting much from this book. It’s not a revolutionary concept or anything. However, I liked what I read. The cartoony art may be too jarring for some, considering its forlorn characters and such, but Brian Churilla (The Engineer from Archaia) conveys the inner feelings of the characters well, considering the few lines he uses. Christopher Leone’s script moves things along at a brisk pace, but it never feels like its rushing to get all the talking out of the way until the monster shows his face. He shows the awkward concern that the brothers have for one another, and how that affects the relationships around them. I expect a war between Drew and Jake on one side, with their handy skills and new abilities and knowledge and a horde of ugly creatures on the other, but six issues is a long tale to tell, so there may yet be further surprises in store. Hopefully they’ll come from the brothers and how they interact with each other while battling baddies. I think that a family drama in the midst of invading evil will set this series apart from just another ‘average guy saves world from aliens’ type adventure. Hopefully I’m right.
I interviewed partners Leah Moore (yes, Alan’s daughter) and John Reppion regarding their great new Sherlock Holmes series from Dynamite. Now, from the same company and same creators is The Complete Dracula. It’s a very faithful retelling of Bram Stoker’s legendary horror novel for comic fans. My interview with the pair is here and my review of the latest issue of the impressive Witchblade monthly is here.
As always, there’s a bunch of new comics coming out from the House of Ideas on Wednesday (in America at least). Here’s a look at but some of them. The ones with the prettiest covers of course. For the full list of releases, see the link below.
The new 120 page anthology from Perth publisher Gestalt has arrived. It’s described as “a collection of engaging stories by established and emerging creators, all playing on their interpretation of ‘flinch.'” The impressive creators involved include the likes of Shaun Tan, Justin Randall, Skye Ogden and Mel Tregonning. The trailer for Flinch is below and you can see a preview of some of the stories here. Flinch, and Gestalt in general, have been getting some pretty impressive mainstream news coverage as of late, and have some interesting books on the way. It’s great to see such talent coming from my humble home town.
Last week I picked up a couple of self published mini comics that impressed me. A Bird With Crossed Wires by C.S. Markle was completed at the 24 Hour Comics Day in 2007 and features a crazed, car smashing bird who is offered friendship by one of his victims. It’s actually quite delightfully simple and mature with a touch of black comedy. Dead By 30 by Andrei S. Buters is a different affair. Artistically, its more complex and plays with rock, death, magic and friendship to great effect. Both black and white comics are well made and give me hope for the future of my little town. It’s already given the world Ben Templesmith, Ashley Wood and Shane McCarthy and I’m thankful that the two main comic shops in Perth (Quality Comics and Comic Zone) have shelves devoted to the work of local writers and artists.
I loved watching the original series from the 1960s. They repeated them very late at night when I was a teenager and I lapped those three seasons up. They were astronomically ahead of their time, and the characterisation and themes were grand. Gene Roddenberry created something very special with Star Trek and it continues to resonate with all generations. I also loved the films with the original cast made primarily in the 1980s and I’m not ashamed to say I cried when Spock died in the second film.
The franchise was due for an update. It deserves to loom large in pop culture once more and unfortunately the series that followed Kirk, et al, didn’t justify another big screen outing. J.J Abrams was the perfect choice. He helped create Alias and Lost and knows how to do conduct grand action, as seen in Mission Impossible 3. The only other logical choice would’ve been Joss Whedon.
Written by Transformers writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and directed by Abrams, Star Trek goes back to its fun roots, but misses the deeper meanings and social commentary the TV series was known for. However, that’s not a bad thing. With its pretty young cast and sense of fun, it’s a joy to witness. It looks great, with its clean, sleek interiors and lens flares and doesn’t suffer too badly from the handheld fight scene direction that’s all the rage these days.
I hope this film introduces Star Trek to new fans. It has enough nods to the classic show to be appreciated by fans, but isn’t hindered by it. With it’s time travelling Romulan villain Nero (Eric Bana), emotional Spock (Zachary Quinto from Heroes) and initially purposeless Kirk (Chris Pine) it touches on themes of destiny and courage with restraint. The simple costumes and gadgets such as phasers remain almost identical, while the beaming has been slightly modified. Captain Pine’s (Bruce Greenwood) ultimate fate and Karl Urban’s portryal of Dr. ‘Bones’ McCoy were also nice nods to the past. Simon Pegg is great as Scotty though Anton Yelchin’s Chekov accent is perhaps too much.
The beauty of this film is that it’s an acknowledgment of all that’s gone before it, and really, it had to be. The original Spock, Leonard Nimoy’s screen presence is more than the cameo I expected and his inclusion means this film is essentially not canon, but rather an alternate timeline. It works well. The sequel is due in 2011 and I wouldn’t be surprised if Shatner shows up too. It makes me want to watch all those older films again.
Consider this a community service announcement to all you budding artists out there. Jaran Studios, the company behind Dawn of the Dread Force (who featured on pages 26-31 of Extra Sequential #2) are looking for an artist for a potential new web comic. It doesn’t even have to be mech-related. Details are below and more info can be found at the Dread Force website. This is a great opportunity for artists looking for a break.
We’re currently looking for a talented penciller for a potentially upcoming DREAD FORCE web comic, so if you’ve got too much spare time on your hands and are looking for a very low-paying, but rewarding, job working with us, drop us a link to your sequential samples, and we’ll be in touch. Thanks in advance!
comicbookjesus 