Over at Broken Frontier is my interview with the writers of Red 5’s mini-series, We Kill Monsters. As you can guess by the title , it’s about two brothers who…kill monsters. Christopher Leone and Laura Harkcom talk about the cool series here.
Robert Venditti Is Everywhere
Not surprisingly, Robert Venditti is a popular guy these days. The film based on the writer’s first work, Surrogates is out now starring Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames. The Surrogates is a great book from Top Shelf, and the prequel, Flesh and Bone was also released recently. The Surroagtes’ future tale tells of a world where everyone lives vicariously through robotic avatars, and daily face to face interactions with actual people are rare. Yes, it explores some deep themes but in a mature, cop tale way. Venditti’s tale itself is an interesting one. You can read all about his rise from non-comics reader to mailroom worker to Hollywood visitor in these interviews with Broken Frontier, CBR and Newsarama. At the latter you can also read the first full issue of the series by Venditti and artist Brett Weldele for free.
Awakening Interview
Described as an “existential horror,” the slow-burn zombie series, Awakening from Archaia recently launched the Trade collecting the first few issues. I interviewed writer Nick Tapalansky and artist Alex Eckman-Lawn at Broken Frontier here. While you’re there check out the latest news about the creators’ tour in the States and your chance to get a peek at Awakening Volume 2, due for release next year.
It’s a pretty entertaining book and more like a thriller than a full throttle action series. Plus, the art is suitably creepy.
Kirby Krackle Interview
Now up at Broken Frontier is my interview with comedic comic book musical duo, Kirby Krackle. I met the guys at Comic-Con, grabbed their CD and laughed. Imagine if Weird Al Yankovic was a fanboy, and there were two of him, and you’ll get Kirby Krackle. Check out the interview here.
mpMann Interview
My interview with artist mp (Marvin) Mann is now up at Broken Frontier. Mann is the guy, along with writer David Lewis behind Archaia’s unusual Some New Kind of Slaughter series, which is now collected in Trade form. Slaughter is an examination of the unique flood stories that have occurred across the planet over the last few centuries. You can read the whole interview here.
Secret Six’s Secrets
I met artist Nicola Scott a few weeks ago at the Supanova convention in Perth. I complimented her on her work for Secret Six, DC’s villain-centric series. She thanked me and said it’s writer Gail Simone’s best work. She’s right. Now having two great female creators on a mainstream title is rare enough, but those two ladies are making magic. Secret Six is a spin-off of sorts of the Villains United mini-series, and the quirky cast has grown on fans. It’s a pleasant surprise that it works so well. I initially picked it up out of curiosity, but now it’s one of the few regular series in my pullbox. Over at Newsarama, is a great interview with Simone as she talks about the characters and its secret to success. It’s an insightful read and is filled with as much dark humour as the series itself. Just to prove the point, here’s a few of my favourite quotes from the interview. Out of context, they’re even funnier.
“I liken Secret Six to a beautiful, sunny morning, where you’re walking down the sidewalk eating a delicious, juicy peach, and all of a sudden you step in the carcass of a dead housecat.”
“That’s what those two represent, to me, sort of the proof of chaos theory in human form.”
“I have a well filled with the tears of children.”
“Where normal people talk, they tend to stab.”
If that taste isn’t enough for you, you can read the rest of the interview here.
Jon Rea Interview
To complete my interviews with the creators of Archaia’s thriller Killing Pickman, Broken Frontier now has my chat with artist Jon Rea. He’s a Professor, he runs a design firm and he has a style you don’t see too much of in comics these days. Go here to read my interview with him.
Jason Becker Interview
Now up at Broken Frontier is my interview with writer Jason Becker, from Archaia’s supernatural horror/thriller series Killing Pickman. It’s a pretty candid interview about the realities of being a writer, and trying to make it as a career. You can check out the full interview right here. It’s worth a read.
John Fultz Interview
Now up at Broken Frontier is my interview with writer John Fultz. As well as being an English Language Arts teacher, Fultz has a healthy respect for classic literature, which he brought to his Archaia fantasy series Primordia. You can read the interview here.
Was Superman A Spy?
Brian Cronin’s excellent column for comicbookresourecs.com continues to be fascinating reading. This week it’s all about those popular creatures of the night – vampires. Read it and astound your Twilight loving friends with some fascinating trivia. Where else will you find Bob Hope, a cross dressing Frankenstein and a Japanese animated movie based on Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula?!
On a related note, Cronin’s new book, Was Superman A Spy? is a very interesting read. Like his column, but structured without the false/true clarifications, it focuses on Marvel, DC and other publishers and all the weird legends that surround their storied history. It’s comprised of new and previously published (on his CBR column) material and is a brisk, informative read that serves as an engrossing reminder of the strange and wonderful history of the comic book form. I picked up an extra copy for a friend who hasn’t read comics regularly in about fifteen years and he lapped it up. It really is a great book.
I also reviewed Cronin for the last issue of Extra Sequential about the book (starting on page 18.) Go here for my interview with Cronin and here for his latest Legends column.
Jason M. Burns Interview
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.
Extra Sequential #3
Our farewell, or “see you later” issue, before we move to print in January has finally landed. It’s 40 pages of goodness including the obligatory perty pages and reviews. There’s also interviews with sci-fi author Robin Parrish, Brian Cronin from comicbookresources on his new book, Was Superman A Spy? and Wolfgang Bylsma from very successful indie publisher, Gestalt. Check it out below or here.
Captain America Returns?
Two and a half years ago Marvel killed Captain America, AKA Steve Rogers in #25 of his title, and received mainstream attention,with Marvel head honcho Joe Quesada doing his bit to promote the issue on radio and TV. Now he’s back, maybe. In Rogers’ place, his one time sidekick Bucky Barnes stepped up as the new Cap, with a new costume, and writer Ed Brubaker really made it work. So, do we really need Steve Rogers back? According to an article in the Daily News that’s exactly what we’re getting anyway. Reborn is a new 5 ish mini that Marvel have kept shrouded in secrecy, much like they did with his death, and will be the triumphant return of Captain America. But which Captain America? Steve Rogers? Joe Q doesn’t mention his name in the interview. What he does say is it will be the return of the “original Captain America.” Some may see that as Isaiah Bradley, who was introduced in 2003’s Truth: Red, White and Black mini-series as the African American test subject of the Super Soldier formula and has hardly been seen since. Also controversial is Marvel’ decision to release Captain America #600 (not the return issue BTW) today, on a Monday, instead of the usual Wednesday, without Marvel giving retailers enough info to order the issue in advance. Below are a few pages from the landmark 600th issue, courtesy of Joe Q’s new Cup O’ Joe series, which has just moved from MySpace to CBR.
UPDATED: Nope, Steve Rogers is coming back in Reborn #1, which arrives on July 1. From Marvel’s fresh off the press, press release:
It was the shot heard ‘round the world. Following the most shocking and controversial event in comic book history – the assassination of Captain America in the pages of Captain America #25 – neither the heroes of the Marvel Universe nor the rest of the world have quite come to grips with this most traumatic of losses. From the moment he was taken from us until today, one fact has proven to be true: the world still needs Captain America . And now, the time has come! At long last, the legend, the hero, is back. Steve Rogers makes his triumphant return from the grave in the publishing event of the year: Captain America Reborn, a five part series from Marvel Comics beginning this July.
Kevin J. Anderson Interview
His name may be familiar to some, thanks to all the Star Wars novels he has written, but he’s also written his own works, plus novels set in the world of Dune, and even a few comics. I recently finished his book, The Last Days of Krypton, which is about , well, the last days of Krypton. I was pretty impressed by it. There’s a few things that puzzled me, such as a few grammatical errors and the use of other characters names instead of Non and Ursa. You may remember those characters primarily from the first two Superman films starring Christopher Reeve. Perhaps due to copyright reasons, their names are changed, but their personalities are clearly those of the fesity woman and brute mute. No-one but hardcore Superman fans will notice however, and the replacement names Aethyr and Nam-Ek belong to a pair of characters from earlier episodes of Smallville, taken from the comics from decades ago. However, it’s not a biggie really. General Zod is a manipulating genius who uses fear tactics to get what he wants after Braniac shows up and takes the whole city of Kandor away. The budding romance between respected (for the most part) scientist Jor-El and artist Lara is handled beautifully. The age difference between the pair and the fact that they’re newlyweds before shuttling their baby Kal-El off to Earth seemed somewhat unusual, but only because I’ve never seen them portrayed that way before.
This is a book for Superman fans, or at least those vaguely aware of the character’s origins. Anderson is a good writer, and I felt at times like I wanted to wring the necks of the stuffy Council for ignoring Jor-El’s pleas and ultimately giving rise to Zod’s megalomania. Most of the characters are fully developed, though Anderson has the uncanny need to describe everyones hairstyles. He does take this vague knowledge of Superman’s distant origins and throw in nice cameos such as the Phantom Zone, and Martian Manhunter, and even hints at the Green Lantern Corps. Comics scribe Geoff Johns has taken these concepts and run with them with his Last Son arc and the more recent New World of Krypton maxi-series that has most of these characters appear once more. Plus the cover by Fables cover artist James Jean is grand. If Warner Bros. ever wise up and give writer Mark Millar his dream job of creating a Superman film trilogy, this book would be an awesome opener. There’s no Superman in sight, yet it is a surprising and often riveting sci-fi tale.
You can read my interview with Anderson about his new book, Enemies and Allies here. It’s about the first meeting between Superman and Batman in the 1950s Cold War era. It’s an unusual take, but it has guest stars galore, including the supporting cast and baddies from both heroes worlds.
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