Stumbling across this photo in a series of similar sky scraping images, I immediately recognised that upon the subject’s legs sat an issue of Marvel’s all-ages superpowered siblings team, Power Pack. Yes, you should be impressed that I know that.
Batman: Year One Trailer
Debuting at San Diego Comic-Con in a few days is DC’s latest animated film. They certainly have got a lot of mileage out of Batman. He’s been in most of their releases, but it just proves what a popular, and adaptable, character he is. The film looks like it’s done a great job of sticking to David Mazzuchelli’s original art style. If you have the Green Lantern: Emerald Knights animated anthology film, you’ll also be able to see a behind the scenes feature on Batman: Year One. It’s also great to see the 15 minute Catwoman short film included, although this may be the last time DC do this unfortunately. Details, (including the usual impressive array of bonus features) and trailer below.
LEGENDARY TALE COMES TO ANIMATED LIFE
FRANK MILLER’S ORIGIN STORY OF THE DARK KNIGHT IS
AN ALL-NEW DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED ORIGINAL MOVIE
BATMAN: YEAR ONE Coming OCTOBER 18, 2011 FROM WARNER HOME VIDEO
Three-time Emmy Award Winner Bryan Cranston and Southland Star
Ben McKenzie Joined by Fanboy Faves Eliza Dushku and Katee Sackhoff in
Stellar Voice Cast; Available as Blu-rayTM Combo Pack & DVD
RELEASE ALSO INCLUDES DC SHOWCASE SHORT, CATWOMAN
Comics legend Frank Miller’s classic retelling of Batman’s gritty, formative days makes its full-length animated debut in Batman: Year One, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated film arrives October 18, 2011 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 SRP) and DVD ($19.98 SRP), On Demand and for Download. Order due date is September 13, 2011.
Batman: Year One is based on the landmark 1987 DC Comics titles from 12-time Eisner Award winner Frank Miller and illustrator David Mazzucchelli. The film depicts young Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham City in his first attempts to fight injustice as a costumed vigilante. The playboy billionaire chooses the guise of a giant bat to combat crime, creates an early bond with a young Lieutenant James Gordon (who is already battling corruption from inside the police department), inadvertently plays a role in the birth of Catwoman, and helps to bring down a crooked political system that infests Gotham.
Primetime television stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Ben McKenzie (Southland, The O.C.), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) provide the core voices for Batman: Year One. Three-time Emmy® Award winner Cranston gives voice to young Jim Gordon, while McKenzie makes his animated voiceover debut as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Fanboy favorites Dushku and Sackhoff fill the roles of Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Detective Sarah Essen, respectively. Alex Rocco (The Godfather) is the voice of crime lord Carmine Falcone.
Animation master Bruce Timm is executive producer of Batman: Year One. Directors are Lauren Montgomery (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) and Sam Liu (All-Star Superman) from a script penned by Academy Award® nominee Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse).
“Batman: Year One offers fans and newcomers alike an animated perspective on one of the true benchmark works in Batman comics history,” said Hersin Magante, Warner Home Video Marketing Manager, Family &, Animation.. “Bruce Timm and the Warner Bros. Animation team have gone to great lengths to realize Frank Miller’s ground-breaking, influential vision. Batman: Year One stands tall as the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie.”
Batman: Year One Blu-ray™ Combo Pack has almost 3 hours of exciting content, including:
- Feature film
- Sneak Peek at Justice League: Doom, the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie
- DC Showcase Animated Original Short – “Catwoman”: This all-new entry to the growing canon of DC Universe animated shorts features the first first solo tale centered around Catwoman. The felonious feline’s adventure takes her through the seedy streets of Gotham City. Catwoman is voiced by Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Tru Calling).
- Featurette –“Heart of Vengeance: Returning Batman to His Roots”: “The Dark Knight Returns” provided the denouement of Batman’s life. Frank Miller’s next seminal work would provide his near-mythic origin in “Batman: Year One.” This documentary uncovers the contemporary genius of Miller and the audience that was poised to appreciate the depths of his work.
- Featurette –“Conversations with DC Comics”: The Batman creative team at DC Entertainment discusses the personal influence of “Batman: Year One” on their careers. Batman producer Michael Uslan leads the chat amongst well-known writers, editors and artists of the Batman lore, focusing their dialogue on the darker, realistic interpretation of Batman’s origins by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli.
- Audio Commentary with Alan Burnett, Sam Liu, Mike Carlin and Andrea Romano
- “Batman: Year One, Chapter 1” Digital Comic Book
- Two bonus episodes from “Batman: The Animated Series,” handpicked by Bruce Timm
- Standard and high definition versions of the feature film
- Digital copy on disc of the feature film compatible with iTunes and Windows
Extra Sequential #49-Bad Taste Comics
59 mins. We’re joined by Dave Jackson and Pierre of Melbourne comic book Modern Gentlemen to discuss how comics have become the last bastion of Bad Taste in popular art.
We also look at objectionable content in comics, censorship, sex and violence, how far is too far, the indie sub-genre of hardcore sleaze comics as well as the mainstream, and dig into some key creators of the genre.
LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES
You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.
Find the teaser for Fever Dreams, the guy’s upcoming TV show on Channel 31 here.
New Looks, Same Characters
Comic-Con is only days away. I’ve been twice and it is awesome (but also expensive) and as the news on panels, exclusives and celebrities ramps up, so do the freebies, including the Souvenir Book, which features the second piece of art by Jim Lee of the new Justice League. Oddly enough, or maybe not actually, Wonder Woman has her pants back on, after originally having them, and then not. It seems even DC doesn’t know what her costume should look like. Poor woman.
If you are going to Comic-Con, these exclusives (of many available) may be of interest.
Next year’s Spider-Man reboot has had a bunch of cool pics released in the pages of the new issue of Entertainment Weekly. 15 in total in fact. See more here including mechanical web shooters (as it should be), Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spidey and Emma Stone as his first love (again, as it should be) Gwen Stacy.
Finally, there’s more pretty pictures at an Abduzeedo post on artist DC Miller and his excellent cartoon-ish designs on some classic characters seen in films like Star Wars, Watchmen, 300, The Dark Knight and more.
The Dark Knight Rises Poster
The film, the final one on Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, is still a year away, but we have the first official poster. We know Bane and Catwoman are in it, and that’s about it really. Like the posters for the first two films, it doesn’t reveal much. Upon seeing it though, it did vaguely remind me of two comic covers, which also use the cityscape as a Batman design element. Below is the poster, which doesn’t even feature the title as a main element, but rather as the official site.
That’s Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #150 from 2002, with a John Cassady cover, and the third issue of the still unreleased Batman: Europa mini-series with a cover from Diego Latorre.
Amazing Spider-Man #667 Variant
Cool, and rare, variant cover below from one of the best comics cover artists around.
Spider-Island Gets Even Bigger With A Stunning Gabrielle Dell’Otto Variant for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #667!
Kick off Spider-Island in style, with an all-new, ultra rare variant cover (1 for 100) by superstar artist Gabrielle Dell’otto! This summer, Peter Parker comes to the startling realization that he’s only one of several million people with spider-powers! As the infestation becomes an epidemic, can Spider-Man with the help of Earth’s Mightiest, find a cure? Find out as the biggest Spider-Man event of the year turns it up a notch with Amazing Spider-Man #667 Dell’Otto Variant!
Retailers should check the Marvel Mailer for information about this variant cover as well as a number of deep discounts on all issues of Spider-Island including tie-ins! No retailer will want to be unprepared for the Spider-Man event of the year!
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #667 DELL’OTTO VARIANT (MAY118321)
Written by DAN SLOTT
Art & Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
Variant Cover by GABRIELLE DELL’OTTO
Rated A…$3.99
FOC – 7/18/11, ON-SALE – 8/10/11
Xenobrood #1 Review
I haven’t flicked through the dollar bins at my LCS (local comic shop) in years, but recently I had a rather tiny selection of new comics, so I thought I’d revisit some oldies. I also thought it’d be a good time to cast my eyes over a few DC #1s from the ’90s, in light of September’s 52 title relaunch that the publisher is pinning their hopes on. I picked up a surprising number of older debut issues and it reminded me yet again that superhero relaunches are nothing new.
So, my aim is to look at these issues, without jumping to Wiki, and approaching them as if I was a first timer to this series. OK, let’s jump in. First up is Xenobrood #1.
Written by Doug Moench with art by Tomm Coker (whose new, excellent Image series Undying Love has been picked up for a potential film) it’s a 7 issue mini-series that has a cover date of November 1994. The best way to cast your mind back to such days is by checking out the ads inside. We have more ads for video games in this issue than we do today, including Mortal Kombat II, the Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil in Taz: Escape From Mars on the Sega Genesis and Game Gear, and The Death and Return of Superman on the SNES, which I still wish I could play. House ads include a 1 year subscription for $15, and ads for Hawkman, The Flash (my fave Wally West) and Guy Gardner in his weird Warrior phase. I must admit those three ads look cool and they do seem simple and enticing enough for a newbie to be curious about.
OK, the cover. It’s pretty generic, much like the team’s costumes, which are skintight with bits of shiny metal (another ’90s excess) and Zechaharia Leight cowering on the floor looks more weak and nerdy than he does inside. It’s a pretty standard “posing superheroes” approach that doesn’t offer much enticement, or even hint at the greater goings-on within the pages.
The first thing I noticed is that I was playing catch up with this issue right from the first page. There’s four oddly dressed beings standing in front of a young guy (with a mullet) and girl (without a mullet) in “The Genetrix Lab.” These four tell the pair that they “await your commands.”A couple of pages later and we decipher that the pair are scientists (Zechariah and Lorna) and have accidentally created/awoken these beings, who are kind of like alien genies in a bottle, here to serve their unwitting scientist masters.
It turns out that these beings were cooked from four crystals found in an ancient (and probably of alien origin) rock strata in Sumeria by Leight, and the Xenobrood are formed instantly with Lorna’s help. The first few pages show the four aliens and two humans getting to know each other while they are awkwardly given names. Astra is a ghost who can inhabit bodies and is so called because she can perform astral travel. The guy in purple emits power beams from his hands and is called “Zapatak,” since, “his zaps can attack anything.” The second female in the foursome can teleport stuff and is nicknamed Blip. Finally, the big guy in brown and gold (and with another mullet) is the strongman. They call him Thrasher since when he shows off his powers he gives a wall, “a sound thrashing.” So, that’s the obligatory origin of codenames over with, but it’s really no more cringeworthy than the similar scene in X-Men: First Class. Actually, there’s one more codename to be explained – the one on the cover, for the entire team, which comes together from Zecharaiah stating that, “People’s xenophobia is bound to click in faced with a…brood of aliens.”
Zechariah then buys an old, rundown place in a bad neighbourhood to house his new alien buddies and to protect them from the world and their lurking-in-the-wings enemies. Upon their arrival, they’re accosted by a few of the local youths. Blip teleports the teeth of the mouthy leader and drops them on his head. Nice. The rest of the Xenobrood scare off the remaining gang members with their abilities and then renovate their new abode while the last two gang members fight outside, in what is a neato idea for a sequence. Their building soon catches fire (due to the junkie hangout on the roof) so Astra flies up there, possesses the junkie’s body and jumps down into Thrasher’s arms. Another neato idea. The final page shows a guy with a white ponytail and three eyes watching all this and declaring that he must recapture the four.
A letter from editor Kevin Dooley explains the origins of this title and introduces the creative team, which isn’t a bad idea, seeing as Moench’s Batman work was everywhere at the time.
This title was actually a spinoff from DC’s previous retcon/relaunch, Zero Hour and there was a Xenobrood #0 before this which probably explained a few more details of how Leight found the crystals and formed the team.
I must admit that although the series has a premise that seems to come straight out of some harried Image meeting back in the day (“Four superpowered aliens on earth helping two scientists while avoiding alien ninjas? Sounds awesome. Get it done.”) Moench does manage to convey moments of simple humour and charm. Coker’s art is fine, with the crosshatching of the era prevalent but not distracting, and there’s some definite hints here as to Coker’s future more realistic art, with the use of facial expressions. Would I want to read the remaining six issues though? If I saw them all in the dollar bin, probably.
There seems to be some confusion as to if this was supposed to be an ongoing series (as DC’s Wikia states) or a mini-series (which the cover states) and Wiki also mentions that it was cancelled due to low sales, like a lot of titles in the ’90s philosophy of “let’s publish every idea.” It hasn’t been collected in TPB and will probably never be, but series like this are a nice reminder that flicking through the dollar bins can sometimes be a good idea. It’s only a dollar after all.
Extra Sequential Podcast #48-July Previews
46 mins. We look at the goodies in the latest Previews monthly catalogue, for September releasing comics. Also, Mladen guesses the identities of the new Justice League International, plush toy that reminds us of Kevin Bacon, Ice Man’s clothing choices and the Dead Block zombie game.
LISTEN TO IT BELOW, DOWNLOAD IT HERE OR ON ITUNES
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1:20 NEWS
Marvel’s Facebook popularity
Dark Horizons’ best comics films list
The upcoming animated film Batman: Year One trailer
Warren Ellis and D’Israeli’s unique, ultraviolet comic, SVK
Harvey Award nominees
Read Orc stain #1 for free
Heroes and Villains comics exhibition
11:52 THEME-JULY PREVIEWS
We recommend stuff from a gamut of publishers including Dark Horse, IDW, Alterna, BOOM! Studios, and Fantagraphics. We check out comics such as a few of the DC relaunches, Ghostbusters #1, classic Flash Gordon, Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand, Daniel Clowes’ The Death Ray, Michael Zulli’s The Fracture of the Universal Boy, Frank Miller’s Holy Terror!, Korgi, James Jean’s Rebus art book, Star Wars comics art, and blueprints books, and some possibly alluring Halloween costumes. Phew.
Bucky and Jason
What a sitcom this pair would make! Both characters were superhero sidekicks who had been dead for decades and were oddly resurrected a few years ago within a few weeks of each other, despite Bucky Barnes being a Marvel character and the second Robin, Jason Todd, being a character from DC Comics. Both have pretty complex histories, but Comics Alliance’s latest Comics, Everybody! post joyfully simplifies it.
Read the whole post here.
Elric: The Balance Lost
I quite enjoyed the Elric #0 issue BOOM! offered during this year’s Free Comic Book Day, and I’m looking forward to this official kick-off of the new series too. Yes, what follows is a rather lengthy press release, but the point it raises of BOOM! premiering digital releases is a good one, and people tend to forget that. I remember when North Wind #1 debuted on MySpace and it being a pretty controversial move at the time. Now, however, everyone’s getting on the digital bandwagon, including The Big Two (Marvel and DC) and realising its potential.
BOOM! STUDIOS DEBUTS ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST AS DAY-AND-DATE RELEASE
READ THE ELRIC FREE ONLINE PRELUDE AT WWW.ELRICCOMIC.COM
BUY ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST #1 IN PRINT OR DIGITALLY TODAY
THE PIONEERS OF “DAY-AND-DATE” KEEP LEADING THE FIELD
Today BOOM! Studios launches their latest epic series ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST #1 with a historic day-and-date release of print and digital, making this new series available through your local comic shop and online exclusively through the BOOM! Studios Comics App and the Comics by comiXology App at the same time! Paired with this epic promotion, BOOM! also gives comic fans a chance to try out ELRIC absolutely free through their web browser with the ELRIC FREE ONLINE PRELUDE available at www.elriccomic.com. That’s right! Three ways to try the all-new epic series ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST written byNew York Times bestselling author Chris Roberson (iZOMBIE, SUPERMAN) and drawn by white-hot artist Francesco Biagini (DINGO) based on Michael Moorcock’s seminal fantasy creation. Pick up or download your copy today!
BOOM! Studios pioneered day-and-date releases in the comic industry back in January of 2008 with the debut of the NORTH WIND series and continued this innovative promotion with HEXED a year later. With ELRIC, BOOM! enters its third year as the cutting-edge leader of “day-and-date” release.
“We were the first to do day-and-date back in 2008 and now we’re doing it again with Elric! We’re pumped to offer ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST in both print and digital on the same day partnered with a new website, www.elriccomic.com, that hosts an original 10-page story. If you love Elric or are new to the character, the website will introduce you to the series and leads directly into the new issue for sale in print or digital!” says BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon. “Chris Roberson and Francesco Biagini take Michael Moorcock’s seminal fantasy character to the next level with such an epic scope from the very first page that it’ll be hard to put down!”
“Jumping aboard an all-new comic series has never been this easy!” says BOOM! Studios Marketing & Sales Director Chip Mosher. “With so many ways to check out ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST, you’d be crazy to not take advantage of these great promotions. And be sure to let your friends know that they too can check out the exciting prelude to the ELRIC series, absolutely free at www.elriccomic.com!”
“With ELRIC, we’re not only focusing on print and mobile devices exclusively, but getting out onto internet browsers that billions of people use every day,” says Marketing & Sales Director Chip Mosher. “While there are only 25 million iPads out in the marketplace, there are billions of potential readers that have the ability to find comic books through their internet browsers. With our ELRIC microsite at www.elriccomic.com we’ve not only included a complete prelude for free, but information on how and where to buy our comics both in print and digital — linking to both print, mobile vendors, and the lesser-known web-based option where you can buy and read through the browser as well.”
Comic fans, be sure to visit your local comic shop today to pick up your copy of ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST #1. Not sure where there’s a comic shop near you? Visit http://www.elriccomic.com/local-comic-shop to find out! And for all you folks that love digital comics, you can download ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST #1 from the BOOM! Studios Comics App or Comics by comiXology App today!
Created by Michael Moorcock, Elric has thrilled comic fans for more than 40 years beginning with an appearance in Marvel Comics’ CONAN THE BARBARIAN #15 in 1972. Neil Gaiman called Michael Moorcock “my model for what a writer was” while Warren Ellis said he is one of the “eight core sites in my creative genome” — now, the godfather of the Multiverse concept brings one of the most critically acclaimed and most recognizable figures in the history of fantasy fiction back to sequential art with BOOM! Studios’ ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST!
And if you’ve never heard of ELRIC, you’re in luck! BOOM! Studios is offering the ELRIC FREE ONLINE PRELUDE for anyone to read online at www.elriccomic.com! Showcasing an original complete 10-page story not found in the first issue, along with artist bios and a brief history of Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion ELRIC!
ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST features the return of Michael Moorcock’s legendary Multiverse, featuring some of the greatest fantasy characters of all time: Elric of Melniboné, Corum of the Scarlet Robe, and Dorian Hawkmoon in a brand-new story that will test the courage of the Eternal Champion! In this new series, the workings of Fate are being tampered with across the Multiverse, upsetting the Cosmic Balance. Elric of Melniboné must preserve the Balance and save the entire Multiverse from ruin. But no sooner has his journey begun than he is waylaid by dark forces and lost on the Moonbeam Roads. Elric finds himself stranded on a world where Chaos holds sway and where change is the only constant. Heroes are forced into action far and wide, but will they fight on the side of Law or Chaos?
With both the BOOM! Studios Comics App on the iOS platform and the Comics by comiXology App on iOS and Android devices, you can buy ELRIC on either your iPhone, iPad or Android device and enjoy it on that device. When you buy a comic on one of these mobile platforms, you can also enjoy reading the comic through the comics.comixology.com website. If you do not own a mobile device and want to read the comic digitally, all you have to do is go to comics.comixology.com to buy ELRIC to read on your PC or Mac through your browser. Utilizing www.elriccomic.com as an introduction and a portal gives comic book readers an easy way to enjoy the free prelude, then buy the first issue in print at their local comic shop, on their mobile device or on their browser.
In late August, comic book retailers everywhere will be able to participate in the sales of BOOM! Studios digital comics as BOOM! Studios and comiXology roll out retailer digital store fronts.
ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST #1 debuts in print and digitally today, July 6, 2011, and is written by Chris Roberson (iZOMBIE, SUPERMAN) and drawn by Francesco Biagini (DINGO) and includes an afterword by Neil Gaiman. This title ships with A & B covers in a 50/50 split with art by Francesco Mattina and Francesco Biagini respectively, as well as a 1-in-10 incentive cover by Dennis Calero and a 1-in-25 incentive cover by Tim Bradstreet. This premiere issue can be purchased at your local comic shop, through the BOOM! Studios Comics App, Comics by comiXology App and the web atcomics.comixology.com for $3.99. ELRIC: THE BALANCE LOST #1 carries a Diamond Code of MAY110918.
27 Aliens
Image Comics imprint Shadowline released 2 new upcoming series today. The killer premise of 27 (a conspiracy asking why so many famous musicians die at 27) gets collected, and a sequel, and a teaser image annoucning an October releasing project, presumably called Xenoholics.
27: SECOND SET ROCKS
Soule and Podesta Return To the Stage With 27 Backup Story & Second Miniseries
Image Comics and Shadowline recently announced that 27, the first story arc of the sell out miniseries by writer Charles Soule (Strongman) and artist Renzo Podesta, will be followed by a second story arc. The second arc, 27: SECOND SET, will include more mysteries of rock and roll history, more of those talented and famous musicians that become legend, and more untimely deaths!
27: FIRST SET has wrapped up and is already on sale. This first collection includes issues 1-4 as well as a new 12-page backup story called “Crossroad Blues.”
“We’re thrilled to bring readers more of this excellent comic,” said Shadowline Publisher and Image founder Jim Valentino. “Everything about this book, from Scott Forbe’s gorgeous covers, Renzo Podesta’s edgy interior art, and Charles Soule’s dark twists about the mysteries of rock and roll legend spells great storytelling. This book has it all!”
Not only does the first volume include new material, but as a show of appreciation to fans, Charles Soule hid a puzzle contest within the pages of the first miniseries story arc. The first person to solve the puzzle will win a plane ticket to this year’s San Diego Comic Con!
“While I know a ton of people have been working on it, I may have made it too tricky, because no one has actually solved the puzzle yet!” explained Soule. “So, I decided to change up the rules just a bit – after all, I do want someone to win. I put the answer to the puzzle into the 27: FIRST SET trade – it’s right there in the back, in plain English. The solution involves doing a certain thing, and anyone who picks up the trade and does that thing within a week after the book hits shelves will be entered into a drawing for the plane ticket. It’s open to everyone, and I hope plenty of people give it a shot!”
27: FIRST SET TP (APR110417), a 136-page Golden Age size full color trade paperback, is on sale now for $16.99. 27: SECOND SET #1 (JUL110437), a 32 page full color comic book for $3.99, is available to order in the July edition of the Diamond Previews catalog, and goes on sale in September. For more information about Charles Soule, the 27 series, and the puzzle contest, visit http://charlessoule.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter @charlessoule.
A Dark Horse Weekend
Avoiding this week’s Flashpoint offerings from DC Comics, I had a look at the shelf in my LCS this week and picked up a few interesting goodies from Dark Horse and am I glad I did.
The Goon #34. It’s been a while since I’ve read this delicious series and this is a great place to return to his madcap adventures, with the ugly anti-hero now going bi-monthly.
Things kick off with The Goon and his pal Franky strolling on a summer’s day before being beset, or rather, sparkled upon, by a group of pouty metrosexuals. These vamps just wanna play baseball, but The Goon mocks their manliness and a battle begins, with a great page of prose describing its “ferocity and magnitude,” before The Goon breaks the fourth wall and lets the reader know that he isn’t going to bash the cats of Twilight for the rest of the issue. It’s an unexpected and welcome approach. Deciding that the real root of the vampire popularity sweeping the world is tween girls, The Goon reluctantly goes to a home for orphans, but his timing is bad as a young, blonde with a blank stare has just been dropped off there, and she doesn’t play nice. In other words, she turns into a monstrosity and attacks the other poor kids. They manage to trap her under the floorboards while Dog (a werewolf child with a wooden leg) sits on a bucket to keep her there.
There are some genuinely LOL moments here, including the aforementioned bucket sitter, and the kids method of getting The Goon to visit their house and lay the smackdown on their new monster tenant (it involves lots of beer). No other comic you read will contain lines such as, “Ah! The sound alone is making my testes smaller!” That’s a guarantee.
There’s 2 letters pages in which creator Powell replies to fans including soldiers, a professional fighter and a former prisoner. The humour is outrageous and the art is beautiful., despite being filled with ugly characters.
Go here for a preview.
Conan #1. Adding to the multitude of mini-series Dark Horse produced over the last few years about the sword winging barbarian is this new short, sharp 2 ish mini. Written by Ron Marz (Witchblade) with gorgeous art by Bart Sears, like the issue above, this is a great story for those new to the character. Marz is one of those writers who doesn’t get the credit he deserves and is able to create interesting tales in any genre. His name and Sears on the cover made me pick this up. Sears just doesn’t do enough comics work these days, so I’m always sure to pick up whenever he gives us a new treasure.
Titled Island of no Return, this story begins with Conan doing his best rooftop dash while clutching an array of jewels and weapons. He’s just been caught sleeping with a judge’s wife and the angry man has sent a few soldiers to bring back his head. Saved by two sisters, Brenna and Venya, from the eyes of the swarming soldiers, Conan agrees to help them on a quest to snatch some treasure from a haunted and long abandoned island. All 3 thieves get to know each other a little better on their treacherous journey across raging seas and sheer cliffs and upon arriving at the rundown palace Conan discovers that it may indeed be haunted.
Marz does a great job of giving the tale some genuine ancient flavour with Conan’s proud nature and dialogue that sounds like it’s from the ages. There isn’t a lot of action here, apart from the great chase/battle in the opening pages, but there is a sense that the 2 sisters are up to something wicked. Mark Roberts’ colours make Sears already exquisitely fluid pencils pop withe even more dynamism, adding to the already adventurous feel.
Go here for a preview.
Creepy #6. I’m a sucker for a good anthology, and usually avoid horror as my comic genre of choice, but I’ve bought every one of these issues of the relaunched series as they generally offer tasty bite size morsels of..creepiness by some great legends of the biz, plus exciting new talent.
This 48 pager, black and white issue features 5 stories. The opener, called Mine is from Joe R. Lansdale and Nathan Fox and follows a cowboy who finds a corpse and steals his footwear and timepiece. The corpse wakes up and chases him into town, while the cowboy gets to the bottom of who the corpse is. Fox’s slightly sketchy style works splendidly with Lansdale’s well paced script.
Even Kramer form Seinfeld hates clowns, as does anyone who’s seen Stephen King’s It film, I’m sure. The next 10 page story is not for you if you suffer from coulrophobia as Christopher Taylor and Jason Shawn Alexander present a clown who believes he’s kind of like DC Comics’ The Spectre, and doles out God’s justice by protecting kids from demons hiding in humans. Not a lothappens, but the clown’s narration works well, as do Alexander’s violent brush strokes.
Alice Henderson and Kevin Ferrara ‘s 1880 set tale fuses two different genres, which could work with more pages, but doesn’t really with this largely silent train crash scenario.
The 3 page Loathsome Lore from Dan Braun, Craig Haffner and Gary Brown is a look at a few of they key, evil women behind Adolf Hitler, proving that real life is usually scarier than fantasty.
Fair Exchange is the final, 8 page story, from Archie Goodwin and Neal Adams. It’s a classic detailing Dr Ralph’s Courtney who is paid a fortune to give the ailing entrepreneur Mr Mannix a second chance at life by transferring his brain to a young, virile body. The twist is a good one, as after the success of the experiment, he awakens, kills the doctor and ventures outside. However, he doesn’t realise that his new body is a vampire and he burns to death in the sunlight.
The one panel Uncle Creepy introductions aren’t needed for each tale, but do serve to honour the history of the series.
Go here for a preview.
Dark Horse Presents relaunched series returned for its 2nd issue this week – an 80 pager no less. I’ve had a quick look and Paul Chadwick’s Concrete in the desert tale is great, as is a silent 8 page Batman parody called The Wraith from Jason Alexander featuring a bully Dark Knight-esque kid.
The Greatest American Heroes
No, not a sequel to that ’80s TV show with the cool theme song, but rather, MTV Geek’s brief list of their Top 10 patriotic heroes in honour of Independence Day. It’s actually a pretty good rundown, including the evil Iron Patriot and The Tick’s American Maid, and as a surprise, this guy is at number 2.
Go here to see the complete list and discover who’s number 1.
Malinky Robot In August
Official press release below about Sonny Liew’s pretty anthology set for an August release from Image Comics.
GRIME AND WONDER ON THE STREETS OF MALINKY ROBOT
Image Comics Collects Sonny Liew’s Inspired Short Stories
The captivating world and quirky characters detailed by award-winning artist Sonny Liew’s (LIQUID CITY VOL. 1 and 2, My Faith in Frankie, Wonderland, Sense and Sensibility) loose and emotive watercolor-drenched pencil work are set to charm readers in August, with the release of MALINKY ROBOT: COLLECTED STORIES AND OTHER BITS from Image Comics.
A recipient of the Xeric Award and Best Science Fiction Comic Album award at the Utopiales International SF Festival, MALINKY ROBOT blends dystopic sci-fi and indie sensibilities into a uniquely oddball world, where street urchins Atari and Oliver scrounge, steal bicycles and watch Giant Robot movies.
Liew says, “The stories of MALINKY ROBOT have always been the ones that I feel most personally connected with, from their rhythms and structure, to the character and architectural designs. It’s very exciting to see them collected together in this book.”
MALINKY ROBOT not only includes short stories like “Stinky Fish Blues” and “Karakuri” from the LIQUID CITY and Flight anthologies, but also a gallery of Liew’s concept and sketch art, along with pinups by incredible artists such as Mike Allred, Roger Langridge and Skottie Young. Writer Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Secret Six, Deadpool, Wonder Woman) described the collection as “[a] book so full of wonders and treasures it feels like you should need a pirate’s map to find it. A stunningly gorgeous mix of urban fantasy and charming adventure that I plan to read until the spine falls off.”
MALINKY ROBOT: COLLECTED STORIES AND OTHER BITS TP (JUN110503), a 128-page full color collection of short sequential art stories retailing for $16.99, will be available at a comic store near you on August 3, 2011. It is available for pre-orders from Diamond Comics, and from retailers such as Amazon. For more information, please visit www.malinkyrobot.com.
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