Until December 30, quality indie publisher Fantagraphics are having a sale on about 100 items, with at least a 40% discount.
Relentless Novel for Free
For a limited time, you can grab a digital copy form Amazon of author Robin Parrish’s book, Relentless. This over 400 page novel is the first in Parrish’s Dominion trilogy and has been widely praised.
Grab a free copy here, and keep your eye out for his latest book from Stonehouse Ink, Corridor, which is described thusly:
THE ONLY WAY OUT IS TO RUN.
On the eve of his seventeenth birthday, Troy Goggin finds himself inexplicably transported to an impossibly huge, miles-long structure called the Corridor. But what is the Corridor, and why was he brought to it?
It’s a place of mystery, wonder, and heart-stopping danger. It will test him and push him both mentally and physically. His only companion is the girl whose voice he hears inside his head, explaining the rules he must follow if he hopes to escape.
But there is much more to this extraordinary place than Troy could ever imagine. The Corridor’s true purpose — the biggest mystery of all — is revealed only to those who make it to the end.
Extra Sequential Podcast #72-Best Comics of 2011
60 mins. What a crazy good year it’s been for comics. We talk about what has impressed us the most from breakout talent, to new series to movie adaptation. Also, Star Trek: TNG’s Riker, and which superhero series resembles Breaking Bad.
LISTEN TO IT HERE
You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.
1:20 NEWS
The Hobbit, and The Dark Knight Rises trailers
Jail time for Wolverine movie pirate
6:20 THEME-BEST COMICS OF 2011
Reprint:
Mladen – Fantagraphics’ ‘Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes’
Kris – IDW’s ‘Artist’s Edition’ series
Film:
Mladen – ‘Gantz’
Kris – ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’
Australian Comic
Mladen – Bobby N’s ‘Digested’ (Gestalt)
Honorable mention – ‘Zorro’ (Silver Fox comics)
Foreign Language Comic (in English)
Mladen – ‘The Drops of God’
Honorable mention – ’20th Century Boys’, ‘AX Manga Anthology’
New talent:
Mladen – Ian Bertram
Kris – Mike Huddleston
Honorable mention – Nick Spencer
Continuing series:
Kris – ‘Green Lantern’ (DC Comics)
New ongoing series or mini
Mladen – ‘Blue Estate’ (Image comics)
Kris – ‘Who is Jake Ellis?’ (Image comics)
One-shot or OGN
Mladen – Joseph Lambert’s ‘I Will Bite You’
Kris – Jim Henson’s ‘Tale of Sand’
Best comic overall
Mladen – Anders Nilsen’s ‘Big Questions’
Kris – ‘Who is Jake Ellis?’
99 Cent Batman Comics Sale
At DC Comics’ digital store you can get a bunch of Batman issues, including the futuristic Batman Beyond and the gritty Gotham Central for only 99 cents each. The sale is on now for 10 days.
Seizure Magazine
I just ran across this new mag in a bookstore in Subiaco the other day, and was impressed so upon further investigation, I have discovered that it’s a new publishing venture from Sydney. Each bi-annual issue focuses on a different theme. So far, they’ve produced Food and Sci-Fi (the ish I saw). I’m a softie when it comes to new mags (thanks to my work on the free Extra Sequential mag), especially arty Aussie ones, so am glad to see another.
Check them out here. That is all.
Makeshift Miracle Chapter 2 Review
The second chapter of Jim Zubkavich’s (Image’s great Skullkickers) Makeshift Miracle has now concluded, and just like the first one, which I reviewed here, is also available for free download in order to spread the word about how good this webcomic is. Thankfully, it is actually good.
Our spiky haired, loner protagonist Colby began his adventure at the end of the debut chapter, after discovering a beautiful, naked girl falling at his feet like a comet. Here he talks to himself and does what he can to keep her alive.
Zubkavich is building the pieces at a glacial pace, which those weened on hectic superheroics may find annoying, but I find charming. It helps that the narration, like the story (at least so far) is simple and very understandable. It’s an all-ages comic really.
We learn nothing new in this second chapter, as the overwhelmed teenager quickly jumps into action realising no other help is at hand, bundles his new friend up to keep her warm and soon discovers that she has a handy ability.
I’d imagine in the following chapter, we’ll get to the bottom of who this girl is, which will drive the story to some unexpected places. At this point, it needs it. However, it seems to me that Zubkavich has a grand plan in mind and is obviously playing coy for now, making deliberate pacing choices and ending each chapter on a cliffhanger. What this story needs now though is more understanding of our two main characters, the introduction of some key supporting players and the inevitable threat that comes calling for the girl from the sky. The rather intriguing foundation has been laid. Now it’s time for the solid gripping narrative to take centre stage.
Shun Hong Chan’s art is simply delicious. It’s crystal clear, dynamic with a manga flair that makes even these pages, in which not a lot actually happens, seem alive and bristling with a restrained energy. The deft colouring builds a great environment and snow covered claustrophobia and uses black and white when needed to great effect, not as flashbacks as seen in the previous chapter, but with more subtlety when the characters’ isolation needs to come to the fore.
It appears luscious on the computer screen and will look even more so when Makeshift Miracle comes to print as a collection from Udon next year.
Follow Makeshift Miracle right here and download Chapter 2 as a PDF or CBR file here.
Extra Sequential Podcast #71-Christmas Gifts
59 mins. Christmas is just around the corner so we recommend a few comics to buy for those who may be new to this wonderful medium. We cover the gamut of styles and genres. There’s something for everybody! Also, putting a crooner in your stocking, and which Futurama characters we most closely resemble.
LISTEN TO IT HERE
You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.
2:44 NEWS
New G.I. Joe and Men in Black sequel trailers
An Austin Powers musical
Shaun Tan’s The Arrival at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre
Jay and Silent Bob come to Perth too! (Nope! Sold out!)
11:46 THEME-CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE
What to buy (including James Jean’s sketchbooks) and not to buy (including the mammoth DCnU 52 Hardcover).
Dinosaur Comics’ oversized T-Rex beanbag
Superheroes – The Ultimates, All Star Superman, Batwoman, Secret Avengers, Batman and Robin
Action – Red, Who is Jake Ellis?, Image’s Blue Estate, The Last Days of American Crime by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini, The Losers, Jason Aaron’s Scalped
Indie – IDW’s Starstruck, Daytipper, The Nightly News, Drops of God manga, Blankets, and Habibi by Craig Thompson
Horror – Hellboy, The Occultist, The Strain, Baltimore: The Curse Bells, BPRD, Creepy collections, Gestalt’s Changing Ways and Rombies
Comedy – Wilson, Axe Cop, The Goon
TV adaptations – The Walking Dead, Buffy, Game of Thrones, Voltron, Transformers, and G.I. Joe from IDW
Fantasy – Mice Templar, the Sixth Gun
Older comic collections – Donald Duck Lost in the Andes, Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse, the very cheap Marvel’s Essentials and DC’s Showcase Presents
Justice League: Doom Box Art
Inspired by Mark Waid and Howard Porter’s excellent Tower of Babel storyline from the Justice League comics in the ’90s that had Batman unwittingly defeating his teammates, is this next animated film From DC Comics and Warner Bros. The only new info we have is the release date of February 28, and the box art below. Judging by the previously released trailer, it does seem a loose adaptation though, with Cyborg now in the team, and the immortal Vandal Savage as the main villain. It is the last screenplay written by the late, great Dwayne McDuffie though, so it should be entertaining.
The film features the voices of primetime stars Nathan Fillion (Castle), Tim Daly (Private Practice) and Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) in addition to a cavalcade of voiceover alums from the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated television series.
Avengers: X-Sanction Variant Covers
Remember Cable? Well, he’s back and Marvel are celebrating by releasing a bunch of covers for next week’s return.
If you don’t know who Cable is, check out this short and funny recap.
All Star Covers To AVENGERS: X-SANCTION Revealed!
Next week, the road to Avengers VS X-Men begins in Avengers X-Sanction #1 from the blockbuster creative team of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness! And just in time to witness Cable go head to head against Earth’s Mightiest, three prolific artists who put their stamp on Cable join us for more as Marvel unveils their variant covers to Avengers X: Sanction. Stephen Platt, Ian Churchill & Steve Skroce join Marvel’s CCO, Joe Quesada, superstar artists Ed McGuinness and Leinil Yu on amazing covers for the biggest chapter in Cable’s life!
“When Cable came back we knew it had to be big, but I had no idea that we could get superstars STEVE SKROCE and IAN CHURCHILL — who I had a blast working on the monthly Cable comic back in the day – and, making his return to Marvel, STEPHEN PLATT to all do variant covers for AVENGERS X-SANCTION!” exclaimed Loeb. “This series is a celebration of everything we love about Nathan Summers and it wouldn’t have felt complete without all these guys onboard.”
Cable’s actions will send shockwaves throughout the Marvel Universe and with these special variants featuring brawls against each of Earth’s Mightiest, no fan can miss them!
Retailers: Please note that Marvel is rush printing a second printing of Avengers: X-Sanction #1 due to expected demand and its relationship to Avengers vs X-Men. Check the Marvel Mailer and Diamond Daily for more details.
AVENGERS: X-SANCTION #1 SECOND PRINTING VARIANT A (OCT118095)
AVENGERS: X-SANCTION #1 SECOND PRINTING VARIANT B (OCT118096)
AVENGERS: X-SANCTION #1 QUESADA VARIANT (OCT110607)
AVENGERS: X-SANCTION #1 YU VARIANT (OCT110609)
AVENGERS: X-SANCTION #1 MCGUINNESS VARIANT (OCT110608)
Written by JEPH LOEB
Art & Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Covers by ED MCGUINNESS, JOE QUESADA, & LEINIL YU
ON SALE THIS WEDNESDAY
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #2 (NOV110504)
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #2 PLATT VARIANT (NOV110506)
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #2 YU VARIANT (NOV110505)
Written by JEPH LOEB
Pencils & Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Covers by STEPHEN PLATT & LEINIL YU
FOC – 12/12/11, ON SALE – 1/4/12
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #3 (DEC110616)
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #3 CHURCHILL VARIANT (DEC110617)
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #3 YU VARIANT (DEC110618)
Written by JEPH LOEB
Pencils & Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Covers by IAN CHURCHILL & LEINIL YU
FOC – 1/9/12, ON SALE – 2/1/12
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #4
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #4 SKROCE VARIANT
AVENGERS X-SANCTION #4 YU VARIANT
Written by JEPH LOEB
Pencils & Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Variant Cover by STEVE SKROCE & LEINIL YU
ON SALE THIS MARCH!
Extra Sequential Podcast #70-Unread Stack
53 mins. We all have one – a pile of shame. In other words, comics that have been sitting, and gathering dust, on our bookshelves for far too long. We discuss our own examples, and the reasons why they’ve remained unopened. Also, Brigitte Nielsen’s body of work.
LISTEN TO IT HERE
You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.
1:44 NEWS
Brian Wood’s thoughts on digital comics
Jim Zubkavich’s thoughts on comics piracy
Brian Michael Bendis leaves the Avengers franchise
Chewbacca on Glee (yes, it’s true)
19:07 THEME-UNREAD PILE
The whys of our collecting habits, plus books on our stack we’ve finally read this week.
Kris’ stack:
Jack Kirby’s OMAC
The Rocketeer
Starman Omnibus
Elephantmen
Madame Mirage
Superman: Emperor Joker
Fray
Seeds from Com.x
Underground
Thor Visionaries Vol. 1 Walt Simonson
Hulk Visionaries Peter David Vols 1-4
(and recently read) Meltdown, and A God Somewhere
Mladen’s stack:
Spirou
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Epic Comics’ Interface
Moebius’ Blueberry
Peter Milligan’s Shade the Changing Man
Bonelli comic Ken Parker
Dragon Ball Z
Battle Angel Alita
Cerebus (after Minds)
(and recently read) Tintin and the Alph-Art, and Vic and Blood: The Chronicles of a Boy and His Dog
Plus, stuff we’d like to own, and hopefully read one day!
Deadpool Dead at 50
This is just really an excuse to show another cover by Dave Johnson.
DEAD At 50!
Could this be it? Has everyone’s favorite Merc With A Mouth finally made an appointment with Lady Death? This February, witness the biggest change in Deadpool’s life as “DEAD” kicks off in Deadpool #50! From the creative team of Daniel Way & Carlo Barberi, Deadpool’s lease on life is about to expire and those around him are going to feel the consequences including X-Force! Following the epic battle with his former body parts gone rogue, Wade Wilson makes a monumental decision that will forever change who he is. See how it all goes down this February, in Deadpool #50!
DEADPOOL #50 (DEC110676)
Written by DANIEL WAY
Pencils by CARLO BARBERI
Cover by DAVE JOHNSON
FOC – 1/16/12, ON SALE 2/8/12
JLA 100 Project
The HERO Initiative charity that helps creators in need have announced that there are now Hard and Soft cover collections of their recent JLA 100 project. They’ve done similar projects on Spider-Man, and The Avengers and now here’s your chance to see over 100 different interpretations of the Justice League from artists all over the world.
Check out the complete gallery here, and some of my faves below. You can also get details about the upcoming auctions for the original art at the same link.
Extra Sequential Podcast #69-’50s Sci-fi
58 mins. Don’t suffer from space sickness or hard radiation, but listen to our discussion about manly heroes, jetpacks, rayguns and the lost art of adventuring. From comic strips to comic books we look at some of the genre’s best tough guys and their unique tales. Also, Timothy Dalton and a tree.
LISTEN TO IT HERE
You can email us at kris (at)extrasequential(dot)com and befriend us on the NEW ES Facebook page.
2:15 NEWS
Watch the Neil Gaiman The Simpsons episode (if you’re in the U.S)
Dark Horse going day and date digital on all their titles
Writer Mark Millar ain’t a fan of digital though
Nicolas Cage’s former copy of 1938’s Action Comics #1 sells for a record amount
7:20 THEME – ’50s SCI-FI
Race relations, strange aliens and thoughtful ambassadors in these grand and well constructed tales from the halcyon days of the 1950s.
EC’s Weird Fantasy
Al Feldstein & Joe Orlando’s “Judgment Day”
Wally Wood’s upcoming collection from Vanguard
Buck Rogers
Flash Gordon’s new series from Dynamite Entertainment (and read the first two issues of Ardden’s Flash Gordon series here)
Sky Masters of the Space Force
Jeff Hawke
Dan Dare
Trigan Empire
Rick Random
Tintin: Destination Moon & Explorers on the Moon
Astro Boy
Finally, here’s a clip of Flash Gordon “fighting” Timothy Dalton in the 1980 film!
Cyber Sale All Week at TwoMorrows
TwoMorrows do good work. They’re the premier publisher for comics and pop culture mags, DVDs and books. If you want to learn more about comics history, or certain characters or creators, chances are they’ll have just the thing for you, and now they’re having a great sale all week. Details below.
CYBER WEEK SALE AT TWOMORROWS! Now through December 5, BOOKS and DVDs are HALF-PRICE!
Just in time for holiday shopping, TwoMorrows Publishing is making their large selection of award-winning books on COMICS & LEGO available at 50% off cover price! That’s less than you’ll find them at Amazon.com or bookstores, but this offer is available THIS WEEK ONLY at www.twomorrows.com. Customers can choose from over 100 titles, including:
• Artist biographies
• Companion books
• Modern Masters books & DVDs
• Comics history volumes
• “How-to” create comics resources and DVDs
• Jack Kirby books
• BrickJournal Compendiums (for LEGO enthusiastists)
and more!
To order from the full list of titles, go to:
EASY ORDERING!
Just download our DIGITAL CATALOG at this link, then browse through it, and click on any item to be taken to its page on our website for easy ordering:
This offer applies to online orders for most in-stock print books (with free Digital Edition included where applicable).
This offer is for BOOKS ONLY (not magazines), and does not include new and pre-order items, which are still on sale for 15% off cover price.
Some titles are in low stock, so don’t delay! Order at www.twomorrows.com
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