The Unexpected #1 Review

The Unexpected #1 is a one-shot from DC Comics/ Vertigo. Under that irresistible cover from Rafael Grampa (look at it! a woman in bloody stilettos, with dead birds strapped to her about to go psycho on some ’50s lovers at a skull screening drive-in!) are some great stories, in the vein of Twilight Zone. As with all mixed bags like this, there’s bound to be some losers amongst the winners, but the strike rate here is pretty good and I hope they publish another one.

The Great Karlini by Dave Gibbons is the first tale. It’s about a cheating escaplogist who eventually gets his comeuppance. It’s all told in 8 panel pages and his narration which lends a certain weight.

Dogs by G. Willow Wilson and Robert Rodriguez is frankly, awesome. It’s a simple story but looks great with Rodriguez’s slightly sketchy and expressive visual style. Set in a small country town filled with pet canines who get fed up with the stupid and violent humans around them, they suddenly start walking upright and take revenge. It’s an entertaining “tables are turned” story in just 8 pages.

Look Alive by Alex Gracian and Jill Thompson is about a woman who’s a zombie in a world full of them who pretends to be normal with constant drug use and lots of makeup, but can’t speak as she still sounds like one. She manages to survive with her crafty ways tough.

The dark humour continues with A Most Delicate Monster by writer Jeffrey Rotter and artist Lelio Bonaccorso which centres on a cloned caveman who’s unleashed upon the world to experience its sin and excess.

There’s a tragic muder drama in The Land by Joshua Dysart and Farel Dalrymple, violent survival in Mat Johnsons’s and David Lapham’s Family First and the blurring of real and online life in Joshua Hale Fialkov’s and Rahsan Ekedal’s Alone. The last two short comics are Americana by Brian Wood and Emily Carroll and a preview of DC’s upcoming Voodoo Child #1 by Selwyn Sefu Hinds and Denys Cowan. They both look good, but don’t really fit in with the thematic link of the previous tales.

If you grabbed the recent Strange Adventures anthology which used sci-fi as a template, this should entice you, if you also like supernatural stuff that is. I hope DC produce more of these grab bags, as not only are they a good “in” for newbies, but they give both veteran and up and coming creators an audience.

October 23, 2011
Categories: New To Comics?, Reviews . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Extra Sequential Podcast #63-Manga for Beginners

70 mins. Prepare for our mammoth manga episode filled with more astounding examples of Eastern comics that you can shake a katana at! Mladen teaches Kris all about manga and how it relates to, and differs from, superhero comics, plus lots, lots more. Also, naked pirates and 40 year old teenagers.

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.

 

1:00 NEWS

Frank Miller on more Sin City

Mark Hamill retires as Joker’s voice

Writer Brian Wood (DMZ, Demo, Northlanders) to do Conan, and Wolverine!

Geoff Darrow brings back the whacky Shaolin Cowboy

Live action Akira film greenlit Die Hard 5 with a bad premise and worse title

Doco on Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Dexter comics written by its creator

Lots of new Dark Horse Star Wars series next year

13:10 THEME – MANGA FOR BEGINNERS

Genre diversity, cultural and thematic differences, pace and action, and the problems with art similarities. Relating them to western comics.

Manga artists of a different style:

Yuichi Yokoyama, Motofumi Kobayashi, Taiyo Matsumoto, Naoki Urasawa, Seiichi Hayashi, Akira Hiromoto, and Tsutomu Nihei

Shorter Manga:

Tekkonkinkreet (aka Black and White), Ghost in the Shell, Uzumaki (aka Spirals), Me and the Devil Blues

Action manga:

Akira, Battle Royale, Gantz, Basilisk, Vagabond

(bonus: Crying Freeman, Shaman Warrior, Fist of the North Star, Blade of the Immortal, Shigurui)

For fans of Vertigo (mix of action and thinking, high concept, intense, supernatural horror etc)

Dragon Head, 20th Century Boys, Ikigami,

(bonus: Monster, Billy Bat, MPD Psycho)

Science fiction manga:

2001 Nights, Saturn Apartments, Planetes, Blame!, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Astro Boy

(bonus: 5th Dimension Treatment, Stardust Memories)

Historical or period manga:

Vagabond, Lone Wolf and Cub & Path of the Assassin, Motofumi Kobayashi’s war comics, Joan of Arc by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

Everyday topics:

Real, Prince of Tennis, Firefighter, Initial D, Oishinbo, Yakitate, Iron Wok Jan

Literary and Oddball comics:

New Engineering (Yuichi Yokoyama), The Drifting Life, The Push Man, Bury the Old in Tokyo (Yoshihiro Tatsumi), Human Clock (Tokunan Seiichiro), Tekkonkinkreet, Paranoia Star (Maruo Suehiro), Red Colored Elegy, Me and the Devil Blues

(bonus: Ooku, Sexy Voice and Robo, GoGo Monster, Gon, The Drifting Classroom)

Phew!

    

   

October 21, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics?, News, Podcast, Reviews . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 1 Comment

Orchid #1 Review

Musicians writing comics is nothing new and here’s the latest to do so. Guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, and Audioslave has just launched his dystopian mini-series Orchid from Dark Horse.

Read my review of it here at Broken Frontier.

October 20, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics?, Reviews . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

McCann and Van Meter Interview

My interview with writers Jim McCann and Jen Van Meter is up now at Broken Frontier here. McCann wrote Return of the Dapper Men and Van Meter wrote Black Lightning: Year One, and I’m a fan of both. The pair are scribes of next week’s Avengers Solo mini-series that sees archer Hawkeye getting the spotlight with a backup tale starring Hank Pym.

Look for the first ish on shelves on October 26.

October 19, 2011
Categories: Comics, Interviews, New To Comics? . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

New York Comic Con 2011 Action Figures

Want to see some cool figures, mainly of Marvel and DC characters, thet were shown at NYCC? Sure you do. Plenty more here,  including Young Justice, and Arkham City, and I must say, this is the first time Superman’s redesigned costume has actually looked good.

October 18, 2011
Categories: Comics . Tags: , , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

DC #2 Reviews

Most of the Dc #1s I picked up last month will not have me grabbing their follow up issues. However, last week hit me with three pleasant surprises.

Batman and Robin #2. When Grant Morrison first introduced Damian (son of Bruce) Wayne, he was a proud brat who saw Batman as weak. He was awesome. He eventually softened, but now we have the more hard edged Damian back in the Robin costume. In the first four pages here, writer Peter J. Tomasi does a fantastic job of explaining Damian’s origin and the entire Batman/Robin relationship. Bruce is hesitant to praise Damian’s work in the field, while the boy soldier is retreating further into his inner darkness. This series could turn into a great character study, while an old acquaintance of Bruce (and enemy of Batman) surfaces. Patrick Gleason’s art is fluid and dynamic and this is the kind of series that newbies and us oldies will find irresistible.

Preview here.

Green Lantern #2. Another series putting a new twist on a classic partnership is this emerald beauty. Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke know exactly what they’re doing and kicking things off last month with a green power ring back on the hand of former Lantern and Hal’s mentor, Sinestro is a great way to shake things up. Here Hal gets his desperate desires answered by Sinestro creating a power ring for him, but it comes with a tight leash. The bulk of the issue deals with the tumultuous relationship between these two space faring warriors, while one of Sinestro’s old, ugly comrades from the Sinestro Corps shows up claiming betrayal and promptly gets beaten, well, killed actually. With Sinestro demanding Hal assist him in taking the fight to his old Corps, the action will only ramp up from here on.

Preview here.

Grifter #2. Not as epic (yet) as the above two, but just as entertaining. A character I never cared for until now, Cole Cash is a grifter and former black ops soldier who now wears a groovy mask and tries to explain to his partner in crime (and the bedroom) that he can now see aliens, known as Daemonites, although only the cover refers to them as such. Aliens who follow him, disguise themselves as humans, and want him dead that is. A fight with a cop in a diner and a look at a shadowy military presence, which involves Cash’s brother, makes this a kind of Bourne in the DCU, with effective action staging from artist Cafu and some tight plotting from Nathan Edmondson.

Preview here.

October 17, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, New To Comics?, Reviews . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

My Comic Kingdom Article

When I was in Sydney a few weeks ago I wrote two articles on two very different comic shops in the CBD there for Comic Book Resources. The Kings Comics one went up a while ago and now, here’s Comic Kingdom’s turn!

 

October 17, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics? . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Star Wars Mania at Dark Horse

Dark Horse have gone nutso with Star Wars announcements at New York Comic Con this week. All the official lowdown of next year’s SW action below, including another series from Invasion scribe Tom Taylor, and Dawn of the Jedi which gives the Jedi an origin for the first time. Awesome.

 

STAR WARS™: KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC—WAR!

A NEW BEGINNING FOR THE OLD REPUBLIC!

Straight from New York Comic Con, Dark Horse Comics is proud to announce the next addition to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic . . .

War!

The Knights of the Old Republic video games and comics chronicle one of the most popular eras in Star Wars, making Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic—War the perfect entry point into the Star Wars galaxy!

The Republic and the Mandalorians are at war! Following the charismatic Revan, Jedi are joining the fight, despite the noninterference stance of the Council. One Jedi, however, has found himself on the front lines against his wishes—the peace-loving Zayne Carrick has been drafted!

Written by Star Wars master John Jackson Miller, with cover art by Benjamin Carré and a variant cover by Dave Wilkins, Knights of the Old Republic—War doesn’t just mark the return of one of the most popular eras in Star Wars video games and comics—it is an entry point for any reader interested in Star Wars!

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic—War is on sale January 11, 2012!

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES STAR WARS: DAWN OF THE JEDI

TAKING YOU BACK TO THE BEGINNINGS OF THE JEDI!

Direct from New York Comic Con, Dark Horse Comics announces its most exciting Star Wars title for 2012! A brand-new series that establishes the beginnings of the Jedi!

Series creators John Ostrander and Jan Duursema have gone from the future of Star Wars (Legacy) to the beginnings of that galaxy far, far away to reveal the mythic age of the Jedi’s origin. This is the Star Wars era of legend! Launching with a #0 issue, which will serve as the official guide for readers -Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi is the perfect jumping on point for any fan of Star Wars.

Here’s your first look at the Star Wars of 25,000 years ago—before there were lightsabers, when the ties to the Force were new, and before the Jedi spread out into the galaxy. It began with the mysterious pyramid ships—the Tho Yor—scattered to the eight corners of the galaxy, and ended with the establishment of an Order that would change the universe forever.

On the planet Tython, in the center of the galaxy, an order of warrior monks strives to maintain peace and to balance the mysterious power known as the Force. But a stranger is coming—one who will destroy both peace and balance, and open the galaxy to exploration and conquest. This is where it all begins!

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #0 is on sale 1 February 2012.

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi—Force Storm #1 is on sale 15 February 2012.

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES STAR WARS: DARTH VADER AND THE GHOST PRISON!

Darth Vader is back and kicking ass in the brand new series announced today at New York Comic Con by Dark Horse Comics.

The upcoming 5-issue series is slated to be released next May and will be written by Haden Blackman, with artwork by Agustin Alessio.

Ghost Prison takes place a year after Revenge of the Sith and will showcase Darth Vader’s impact on the galaxy in ways fans have never seen. Darth Vader will serve the Emperor to the best of his abilities, after all – Darth Vader makes no mistakes.

Ghost Prison also marks the return of Star Wars character Moff Trachta who will be vital to how the series unfolds.

Star Wars: Darth Vader and The Ghost Prison is in stores May 2012.

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES NEW KNIGHT ERRANT & BLOOD TIES SERIES!

Fresh from the panel at New York Comic Con, Dark Horse Comics is back with new series arcs from two of their most popular Star Wars books!

Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead

Established Star Wars writer Tom Taylor is back with another stunning Blood Ties series to be released in April 2012.

“Boba Fett is dead. The most infamous hunter in the galaxy has been hunted. He’s lying, broken, on the desert floor. He’s more blaster-holes than man. It’s the ultimate ending. However, this is just the start of our story. With the fall of Fett broadcast across the galaxy, someone rises to avenge him. But who would care about the death of a man like Fett? Bounty hunters aren’t exactly known for their enduring, close friendships but even a man like Boba Fett has family… and now a Blood Tie demands blood.” -Tom Taylor

Star Wars: Knight Errant – Escape 

The next installment of the sunning Knight Errant series was announced today. Star Wars: Knight Errant – Escapewill launch in June 2012 for a 5-issue arc.

Fan favorite John Jackson Miller is writing the series, with artwork from penciller, Marco Castiello, inking by Vincenzo Acunzo, colors by Michael Atiyeh and lettering by Michael Heiser.

John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant novel for Del Rey was a New York Times Bestseller.

Jedi Knight Kerra Holt continues her one woman crusade against the Sith from behind enemy lines on her most dangerous mission yet!

October 15, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, New To Comics?, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 2 Comments

Cereal, Conan and Coma

New York Comic Con is underway this week, which means there’s been a whole lot of comics news. Here we go…

DC are expanding their reach to new readers by giving away free Justice League comics in various Big G cereal brands in America. There’s also related, free digital tie-ins, which you can read here. Obviously geared towards kids, and showing the classic costumes, rather than the relaunch versions it’s actually a smart initiative. If you’ve ever want to read Batman and Aquaman playing hide and seek read the 4th digital issue.

Fan fave Green Lantern G’nort  is being written out of the New 52 continuity? As Dart Vader would say, “NOOOOO!” Green Lantern will also be the focus of an upcoming Robot Chicken special.

Creators of the excellent Demo series, Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan are working on a new Conan title for Dark Horse for release in February. An unexpected choice, but certainly an intriguing one.

Apparently The Avengers trailer which debuted this week has been downloaded more than 10 million times and here’s The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s commentary for said trailer. Not that I’ve heard as it’s one of those videos that can’t be streamed outside of America. I can only assume it’s funny though.

Writer Jim McCann (Return of the Dapper Men, the upcoming Avengers Solo) is launching a new mini-series at Image about a woman in a coma who must solve the mystery of her own attempted murder. It’s called Mind The Gap and debuts in April.

October 15, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, New To Comics?, News . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

The Frontiersman #28 Out Now

Out on Grpahicly for only $1.49 is the latest issue of digital comics mag, The Frontiersman. Within it’s 66 full colour pages you’ll find a bunch of reviews, interviews and articles, and even 8 pages written by me. Yay!

Grab it here.

 

October 15, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, New To Comics?, News, Reviews . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Ape May Create Sesame Street Comics

Well this is certainly the first press release I’ve seen in which a publisher purports to be “in negotiations” for a licence. Jim Henson’s work is being done in comics thanks to Archaia, BOOM! and now Marvel are doing Pixar and Muppets stuff, and Ape recently produced Shrek comics, so it was only a matter of time before Seasme Street finally came to print. Here’s the official lowdown.

 APE ENTERTAINMENT HOPES TO SET UP SHOP ON SESAME STREET


Ape Entertainment and Sesame Workshop in Negotiations to Create Educational Comics for Young Readers

Ape Entertainment announced today that it is currently negotiating with Sesame Workshop for the right to produce a series of comic books featuring the cast of the beloved children’s show Sesame Street.  Ape Entertainment hopes to work with Sesame Workshop to create a series of comic books that will be both educational and entertaining for young readers.  Subject to successful negotiations, the comics will be produced in full color and available in printed editions as well as in digital editions that will be available through the Sesame Street store on Apple’s iTunes in 2012.

“We are incredibly excited about our current negotiations with Sesame Workshop and the possibility of being able to bring their expertise in educating and entertaining children to comics,” said Ape Entertainment COO Brent E. Erwin. He went on to say, “I love the idea of creating educational comics that will both teach and entertain children. And the possibility of getting to work with Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Grover, well…that’s just a dream come true.”

Sesame Workshop is a nonprofit educational organization with the mission of making a meaningful difference in the lives of children worldwide by addressing their critical developmental needs.  Sesame Workshop has been producing Sesame Street for over forty years.

Ape Entertainment intends to continue its mission to grow the comics industry by increasing awareness about comics among a new generation of readers.  Ape Entertainment hopes young readers and their parents will discover the exciting world of comics and start visiting a local comic book shop.

For more information, please visit www.apecomics.com or www.sesameworkshop.org

October 14, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Jake Ellis and Dark Age Reviews

Now at Broken Frontier are a couple of my reviews of two very impressive comics.

The latest issue of the entertaining spy series Who is Jake Ellis? and the indie debut American Dark Age. Both should be bought.

 

October 14, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics?, Reviews . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Extra Sequential Podcast #62-Arkham Asylum

72 mins. In honour of next week’s highly anticipated release of the Batman: Arkham City videogame, we discuss the best Arkham Asylum comics, the dark history of Gotham City and a few of its cruel and unusual inhabitants. Also, predictable superhero posing, Woody Allen as Batman and the ice-cold woman known as Frostbite McDonough.

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.

1:23 NEWS

Avengers movie trailer

NoNoWriMo – write a novel in November. You can do it!

Vertigo to publish The Millenium Trilogy novels

DC relaunch sales figures

15:55 THEME – ARKHAM ASYLUM

Grant Morrison & Dave McKean’s “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth”

Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle’s “The Last Arkham”

Batman: The Animated Series: “Lockup”, “Trial”

Dan Slott & Ryan Sook’s “Arkham Asylum: Living Hell”

David Hine & Jeremy Haun’s “Arkham Reborn”

The characters that turn evil after visiting Arkham (and not as inmates) including Lock Up and Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn.

The little known ‘90s one-shots “Batman: Ghosts” and “Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet”, and Arkham as seen in Batman: The Animated Series.

October 13, 2011
Categories: Comics, New To Comics?, News, Podcast . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

New Ardden Goodies

Dynamite Entertainment have added Flash Gordon to their list of old timey characters they’re bringing back on to the comics shelves, along with Green Hornet and Lone Ranger and the upcoming Tarzan and The Shadow. However, Ardden Entertainment have been publishing Flash Gordon comics for a while now, and their line has been expanding lately. Here’s their newest 3 issues.

If you’re at  New York Comic-Con this week, you can visit the team at Booth #659, right across from Marvel. They will be having a few signings, including Tom Peyer, Tony Isabella, Jim Krueger, and others.

 

FLASH GORDON: INVASION OF THE RED SWORD #5 by Brendan Deneen & Eduardo Garcia

 

The Invasion Continues! As Flash finally reunites with Zarkov, Barin and Thun, Prince Vultan and Dale Arden realize that they aren’t so much guests of the Power Men of Mongo as much as prisoners!

 

Vultan’s reunion with someone from his past leads to a deadly confrontation with the leader of the Power Men. Meanwhile, the Red Sword continues its dominance of Mongo, leading Flash and his team to come up with a desperate last-minute plan to defeat them before all hope for the planet is lost!

 

PHOENIX #4 by Jim Krueger, Brendan Deneen & Dean Zachary

 

As Phoenix learns more about the aliens who captured him from a surprising new ally, he also discovers that his powers are growing exponentially – and that might not be such a good thing!

 

An encounter at a bar leaves a number of innocents hurt and has Ed questioning which side he’s really on!

 

WULF #3 by Steve Niles & Nat Jones

 

The war for two worlds grows even more deadly! Wulf finds himself trapped in present-day New York City…or does he?…along with Detective Sam Lomax. Meanwhile, an ancient evil continues its insidious attack and the enemy seems to be none other than Iron Jaw!

 

And if you missed any previous issues, or any other Ardden/Atlas titles, check out: www.Ardden-Entertainment.com and www.Atlas-Comics.com

 

 

 


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

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