Two Ladies' Titles Finished Up on Same Day

On the same Wednesday at my LCS the final issues of two limited series arrived. The first was the fifth and final edition of Sam Kieth and John Layman's creation, featured as a Hot Jazz title earlier this year:

All five issues

Eleanor and the Egret was an enjoyable title, two old heads in the industry playing around and stretching. I'm glad I picked the story up. The last two issues took about four months to come in, but what can you do. Almost like 4 Kids... the story's ending felt abrupt, but that may just be my own issues. In a year I'll sit down and read all five in a row over an hour and try to get a better feeling for the flow of the story. I found it whimsical in a non-annoying way.

The second title that came in on that same day was the fourth and final issue of Valiant's heroine of the future:

All four issues and last year's standalone chapter from the 4001 AD story

Valiant featured a "top secret" title back in the run-up to last year's 4001 AD summer event, a title that turned out to be War Mother. I went with the normal David Mack covers for each, because they're both awesome and fully distinct, like Cary Nord's covers for Britannia. This story felt both realized, cohesive and self-contained, and like the building blocks to a bigger thing. Pretty neat to hit all those topics, but I've learned you should never doubt Valiant's storytelling. Also, having met and conversed with Dinesh Shamdasani at a convention recently, it sounds like Rai and the 4001 timeline will return to the main slate of titles in due course, a timeline that will certainly feature Ana, the War Mother.

Hot Jazz: December 2017

This edition of Comics that I'm Excited About is purely driven by nostalgia and most likely won't last beyond issue one, appearing in December:

One of the best cartoons from he early to mid-nineties, Rocko's Modern Life was way ahead of its time. Episodes like "Who Gives a Buck" taught kids about the troubles of credit cards, while other jokes were too deep for kids, like Rocko's buddy, Heifer, a Steer, fell in love with a milking machine.

I hear they're bringing back the show with new episodes, which I'll attempt to see, and this book I'll purchase and read through, and depending in the quality, I'll keep reading them.

Was it me, or did "4 Kids..." end abruptly?

When I first read a write up of Tyler Boss, Thomas Mauer, and Matt Rosenberg's "4 Kids Walk into a Bank" back in April of 2016 (or thereabouts) I thought it sounded fun and different and would be something I wanted to check out. I like the idea of sequential art being used to tell different kinds of stories.

The miniseries covers

My son wasn't even born yet. When the second issue came out, the possibilities, while known mostly from the outset, were going to be teased out with a kind of artistic judiciousness that speaks to great art.

My excitement hadn't cooled exactly by having to wait months for the third issue, and once we readers found out there had been a family health emergency with the writer, Matthew Rosenberg's, father, the delay made sense, but I was left wanting maybe more than could be delivered.

Another few months went by waiting for the fourth issue, and by the time it ended, it seemed like if we ever got to the fifth and final issue, TONS of work would have to be done to wrap up the story.

But that's not to say I wasn't enjoying the hell out of it. Double negatives aside, it was fantastic and exciting and all I wanted from Out There storytelling. The art was beautiful if a touch anachronistic and the colors were that wonderful marriage of dazzling and muted that is almost never even attempted these days.

The last issue arrived a few more months later, much to my surprise at my LCS, and my son is walking and babbling and getting into all sorts of shit. It's only after he goes to bed that I ever get anytime to read anything, colorful comics especially, and I devoured the last issue like a starving person.

Only it came and went quicker than its forty pages of heft would suggest.

The characters all seemed to be older and more mature, but that's probably my own projection of the time between issues, but that alone seems weird. It's not like years passed.

Anyway, the opening scene, instead of the kids' game setting the scene, it's the finale of the robbery. The story backs up and the robbery goes down, and the scene is essentially an action movie montage, but that's all any comic is, right? It goes by, Berg is shot, Paige shoots a cop, and in the last panel years have gone by and she's being released form prison and being greeted by two of her pals and her father. "I'm so sorry, dad." The end.

I guess it couldn't have ended any other way, and I guess I'm really just bummed out by my own reaction. It's silly to be disappointed in the ending, because, really, that's the only way it could have ever ended.

Maybe I just expected more because of the cleverness from earlier in the series, and that would be a me problem.

READ IT if you haven't yet...you won't be disappointed...or maybe you will be, but who's counting?

Hot Jazz: November 2017

Something I'm very excited about come November is a newly translated from the French classic "Niourk":

The sample pages are stunning, and Stefan Wul is a writer I've been interested in since seeing his animated collaboration with Rene Laloux "Fantastic Planet":

Looks like they liked "Fantastic Planet" more than "Savage Planet" for the translation?

Stefan Wul wrote the stories that both of these are based upon, and since he died a while back, I'm not sure he was involved with the graphic novel Niourk.

The last few Hot Jazz posts have been about either ongoing series (Grass Kings) or miniseries (Eleanor and the Egret), but this is a longer and denser offering, and one I'm excited to get into.

Weird side note: I came across Fantastic Planet while researching Rene Laloux, and I learned about Laloux from a short animated piece he made called "Les Escargots (The Snails)", and that short was buried on a DVD of hundreds of animated shorts from the thirties and forties, all of which were public domain and after the government put the kibosh on the racier items in animated shorts (which means they were crushingly boring). It was fully out of place among the dreck; it was in color, and lovingly made, and French, and looked thirty years newer than anything else on the DVD. How I even saw it while cleaning the house or making dinner in between gin and tonics is still a mystery to me...

G.I. Joe Cover Homage?

This is weird. Issue 21 of the early 80's run of Marvel's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was honored with homage by Valiant with an alternate cover to issue 22, their silent interlude between the "Fist and Steel" storyline and the "Seven Blades of Master Darque" storyline:

I love this kind of thing...

Praising Kurt Busiek's "Astro City"

I was visiting my brother's house and saw a copy of the trade paperback that collects the first go around of Kurt Busiek's "Astro City", the initial six issues from 1995:

I turned 16 that same summer and remember the beautiful covers from Alex Ross and the talk about how awesome this miniseries was, how revolutionary and the like. Not that I didn't believe it, but this was about the time I had moved on from comics and was only really purchasing Frank Miller's work (300 and Sin City books).

I may have been mature enough for Astro City, but by now, twenty-plus years, I'm certainly mature enough for it.

I read the accompanying essays and got a feel for the premise: instead of the grim/gritty '80s, instead of the DADA-esque fracturing of the medium from Grant Morrison, instead of the "this is what the world where superheroes exist looks like" era, Busiek strove to look at the world where superheroes existed, for sure, but at the untold stories.

Not hyper-realism, but more of a tweaking of the metaphor that caped superheroes personify.

When I saw the trade paperback I asked my brother if I could borrow it. I'd been intent on finding it recently, and to see it at my brother's place was a boon. The following exchange took place:

Brother: "Didn't you give me that?"
Me: "I forget plenty of gifts, but this one specifically I know I didn't get you."
Brother: "Really?...Oh you know, yeah...so a few years back I bought a huge collection of Stephen King's 'The Stand' in graphic novels, like a bunch of them, like over a hundred bucks worth. They threw that in for free. You can just have it...I'm not even sure I know where 'The Stand' is."

This copy had a "Used: $3.99" sticker on it, so the store must have felt like they were doing someone a favor, because the collection is that good.

The first issue/chapter follows the exemplar of Superman, here named The Samaritan, for oe complete day. It begins and ends with the Samaritan dreaming. In his dreams he flies.

In reality he flies also, only from one person who needs to be saved to another. The day is presented as a series of flights to save lives, to meet with other heroes, to work to pretend to be getting articles written. Only he doesn't pretend---he actually gets work done. Throughout the day we see his grind.

Eventually the editor comes to him with a super-secret dossier---here's a new juicy article to write. Excitedly the Samaritan scurries to get some privacy and take a closer look at the contents of the file. It turns out to be a list of the contestants of Astro City's newest beauty pageant.

For one, the article is a crock, but for two, here this guy has the names and addresses of Astro City's 100 most beautiful women, 100 women who would likely love to meet and possibly even become romantically entangled with the Samaritan, but when would he ever have time for that? He laments the article on too many levels.

As he heads home to sleep, he's attacked by a a recent iteration of a magical monster that feeds on fear and anxiety and tends to appear right as the Samaritan is about to pass out. During the pummeling he contemplates surviving this time, and if so, then what useful information could he give his super-group at the next meeting. He gets underneath the monster, which is his trap: he then flies straight up into space and throws it in the direction of the sun. Of course since it feeds on bad vibes, it disappears within fifty yards, making for an unsatisfying battle conclusion.

The second chapter is a flashback anecdote about a rookie reporter trying to crack his first big story and working at a newspaper with journalistic integrity. The third chapter is about a two bit hood learning the identity of one of the masked superheroes and then diving himself nuts with the information, eventually leaving town with the secret intact.

Everything is good and deep and real and new, which is the most important part. That it's new twenty-plus years on is a testament to how novel the approach is.

I couldn't recommend this corner of the comic universe more.

Calexit Finally Hits the Shelves

Bursting with extra pages and political essays, Black Mask has finally delivered the first issue of "Calexit", their speculative fiction comic about the secession of California from the United States.

Make that "attempted secession."

When I first heard about it, I thought it was a nice time-capsule that harnessed the anger and frustration of the nation after the election of 2016.

I was excited to check it out, and included it as a Hot Jazz book for May, when it was due out.

Black Mask has, eh, shall we say aggressive deadline claims? It has a difficult time meeting some of those timetables, especially as the Big Two companies snatch up their talent.

Well, here's to hoping the next issue comes out within the next two months. Why two months?

Why not? It seems reasonable and likely, seeing as how it sounds like we'll be waiting until December for the last issue of 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, only eighteen months after the first issue was released.

Is it "Comix" or a "Sequential Art Project"?

I found some more underground, small print run graphic art comic that could be construed as comix, but that could be a stretch, seeing as how the subject matter isn't exactly comix-themed:

It's a collection of The Cave Man Speaks comics from Guarino and Westerfield, who I believe published originally online.

It also collects a longer form silent piece starring the main caveman from the cover in a bit of a darker role.

All in all, its pretty good, and I like supporting the fringes of the fringe. I am inspired to check out their other, far longer collaborations: "Amboy, Pop. 5" and "Moses", both of which are stationed at a local indie record store.

Free Graphic History Lesson

Recently returning from an adventure to old stomping grounds in New York City, I'm able to sit down and type up about a random free comic I grabbed from the park center at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn:

Daly Clement is credited with the writing duties, with the job being the adaptation of Thomas During's memoir of surviving a British prison ship during the Revolutionary War.

This is an aspect of history I didn't know: the British would imprison their POWs in ships in Brooklyn's harbor where they were mercilessly treated.

James Bentley is the illustrator and while he has talent, is likely his first work that's gone to an outside publisher. The first and last page are digitally colored, while the interior is black and white, and the backgrounds are rather plain, but the story---and the storytelling---is moving.

I love these types of surprises: free comics independently printed and funded by Chase Bank and the Rush Philanthropic Foundation that illuminate a thing I previously knew nothing about.

Future Force Returns for Valiant

Like Secret Weapons a month before, Valiant is dusting off one of their older property names, using nearly identical font.

Back in 1992, starting with issue #9, "Rai" became "Rai and the Future Force":

And this summer the concept is either getting recycled, rebooted, or re-purposed, only it's a miniseries and it stars Faith:

I can honestly say with a touch of embarrassment that I haven't done my research into either of these story arcs. I read plenty of Valiant books, but I likely won't be adding this to my pull list. I like that not only are they re-purposing the title (my guess), they're using essentially the same word marking.

Beyond the Margins

If "sequential art" is mostly referred to as "comics", and this site is a place to talk about "independent" or the hipper "indie" comics, then "comix" is the drugged out punk rock bassist cousin of comics, selling cigarette smelling swag at shows.

Robert Crumb used to create sequential art about his scene, the first LSD wave in 1965 in San Francisco, and sell them out of a baby carriage walking up and down the Haight. They were sequential art stories about drug use and sex, police brutality, and general counter cultural stuff. It was given the title "comix."

Nowadays comix can be found in indie record stores, skate shops, and other random spots where punk rock still means something.

I found this, issue number five from Dumptruck Press:

Inside there is a specifically comix story, some drawings from one of Dumptruck's publishers, some neat photographs from different folks of skate boarding in action, and two separate anecdotes about meeting up with band members of different bands (and taking mushrooms).

It holds all the aspects of a comix publication these days: comix-styled sequential art, and content from other medium.

Here's the reverse of this issue:

This was a glossy production printed on 8.5" x 11" paper and folded in half.

I try to support sequential art in all it's forms, mostly independents and way-independents, but also occasionally one of the majors as well.

Catching Up on Readings, Part 2

This is the threatened follow up to the last post about catching up on reading the titles I get from my local store (the indie-cross sectional), but this is the Valiant edition:

The fist issue above is #27 from their Ninjak line:

This is actually the last of this title run. From here they're moving on with their Rapture title, with Ninjak, Magpie/Shadowman, and Punk Mambo helping the geomancer in the Deadside. That will span four months during which there will be no regular Ninjak title, and then they return after Rapture with a new numbering system and title Ninja-K, which is where this new iteration got his name, the 11th of MI-6's ninja agents.

Anyway, this is one helluva single issue. farewell or not. Ninjak ends up killing a scientist who has been busy with vivisection of some sort---splicing human DNA with other animals to varying degrees. Ninjak got the research, so killing the scientist was just a bonus. The main takeaway is that there's a secret government agency that is funding this research and its creation of human-hybrid-super-warriors. There are just too many risks in the world---magic, aliens, psiots---for regular humans to not do anything.

Next on the list is the second issue to the high profile follow up of one of their most well regarded titles of last year, Britannia:

Antonious Axia is back in the middle of everything again, only this time in Rome, as he's working for Nero specifically, and this time Nero is finally pushed to the brink. I'm sure our hero, and his lady-warrior-enemy/ally will survive the assault on the last page.

Juan Jose Ryp's art is phenomenal, if a little busy, and Peter Milligan is doing his thing. Sometimes I think this title could be published by Image or IDW or Boom! or Dark Horse...what makes it specifically have to be in the Valiant Universe? Is it the Vestal's Codex? Is that the same book hunted for in the Dr. Mirage series?

Next up is the third issue of this year's biggest Valiant title, the new X-O Manowar launch:

Lush to look at, this pre-order edition has all the extras that I'll be missing with the other issues (since I missed the pre-order deadline). Also, I can't get enough of Matt Kindt.

Lastly is the first issue of their fantasy epic storyline Rapture:

The art by Cafu is great and the story is multi-faceted like Kindt's best work. I wasn't really planning on getting this miniseries, but it was in my pull, and I'll definitely stick with it. Having read much of Kindt's work over the last few years, I can say that this issue reminds me more of his awesome multi-layered early Ninjak material than even the great new X-O series.

The new X-O is awesome, but fairly straightforward. Obviously it's hard work creating an entire universe with dynamic and contentious civilizations, and the nuance of the multi-layered, more earth-bound stories, will return, I'm sure. The fact that Kindt has already created three contentious and dynamic civilizations in three issues is a testament to his skill.

Rapture is going to be great when all chapters are in.

Catching Up On Readings, Part 1

With school coming to an end and a baby that's beginning to walk (and get fevers), I've fallen behind in reading the few books I have at my local shop.

Always a champion of the indie-fare, I realized that my reading pile was a cross section of some of the cooler independent works available.

This post is split between these four comics and the next four, only the next four are all Valiant books. Here we have a fully independent Italian-created Texan cowboy, and works from some of the day's hottest tiny companies: Black Mask, Aftershock, and Boom! Studios:

The first stop on my reading tour was this FCBD offer, a title and character of which I'd never heard:

Created in the 1950s in Italy, and as much a part of their collective consciousness as Superman and Batman, Tex is a cowboy and social justice warrior, the father to a half Navajo boy and apparently the leader of the Navajo themselves, he seems to epitomize all of the romantic Old West ideals that appeal so keenly to Europeans.

In this excerpt of the longer and black & white Tex: Patagonia, an American reader gets a glimpse of a world they never even conceive of: westward expansion of the white man (definitely familiar territory) in Argentina (???). We get Gauchos, cool non-American cowboy hats, and frank discussions between a half Navajo/half white kid and the general of the expeditionary forces about how the possible slaughter of native tribes may not sit so well with him and his father, the titular character of the tale. The general's response showed me the level of big-picture storytelling going on: (to paraphrase) "That I recognize some tribes are allies while others are not is why I have been sent."

The second issue on my current reading list is the long-awaited issue #4 of 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank:

The only thing that remotely bothers me about this series---and books in general from Black Mask---is the release schedule. Tiny companies that are trying to exist on the margins by creating awesome niche or otherwise novel and original content should be better about getting their books out at regular intervals.

I understand that Matthew Rosenberg's father has medical issues that pushed issue #3 back months, and that reset the entire series timeline. And I understand that tiny companies trying to exist on the margins must have an extraordinarily difficult time just staying afloat. Mad props.

Anyway, the tale of Paige trying to save her dad from going to prison by teaming up with her friends to rob the same bank her dad and his idiot cronies are planing on robbing is starting to pay off, and with just a single issue to go, I can tell that the subdued yet fantastically quirky art and wild storyline are just going to leave me wanting more.

Next, from another company on the margin, Aftershock, comes John Layman and Sam Kieth's second (of five) issue of Eleanor and the Egret:

I love the art: rough and raw, expressive and colorful, Kieth's passion flows from every panel. The story is just weird enough to grip me, and the plot thickened as we get the news of a connection between Anastasia Rue, the artist whose paintings Eleanor is stealing, and Eleanor herself. Also, it seems like everyone has a pet of some kind.

Last on this list is Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins third issue of Grass Kings from Boom! Studios:

Jenkins's watercolors are beautiful and Kindt's story is paced like an episode of network television, but a half-hour show. It goes by so fast, leaving you thirsty for more, and not feeling like you've just read two dozen pages.

The cover image from above is the gruesome climax to this issue: one of the sheriff's henchmen from the town across the lake---the Grass Kingdom's foe---has been killed and must be disposed of. Only it's too dangerous to weigh him down and sink him in the lake because that's the first place anyone would look. So these guys just drop the corpse behind some blockers, set up a guard, and let the scavengers have at him.

There is some really good work being done at the moment in the industry, and I'm glad to be able to enjoy it.

Look at these titles. Four books: one excerpt of a graphic novel, two miniseries, and one ongoing title, and nary a superpowered character anywhere in sight...unless we're counting the talking egret Ellis, I suppose.

FCBD Haul 2017

This year was an example of extremes. Like last year I visited two comic shops---in fact the same shops as last year---only this year the closer tourist-driven-business shop had a line snaking out of the hallway where one of their two entrances is located. The other entrance was locked up tight.

Last year I entered through that now-closed door and grabbed my allotted three books. This year, though, as the minutes creeped up to thirty for having waited, I'd made up my mind to ditch it altogether and head to mt main shop. At that moment a lady came out and let us all know that we'd all be inside in just a few minutes and that we'd be allowed eight books.

Eight? 

Just the idea that we could grab eight free comics was enough incentive to keep me in line. It would take another hour to get in, and when that time came I got to see the ransacking that had taken place. Piles were decimated and the remains were occasionally obscure. That's one way to hurry along the day: let people take a bunch of books and hope they shop as well.

Before making it inside, I got the first free comic of the day: Cougar and Cub, the white papered indie comic below in the top row. It was a single 11x17 with a cover and three other pages of content. The concept is a superheroine (Cougar) who fights crime with her sidekick (Cub), who is also her young lover.

The other book on top in the below picture is Valerian, a reprint of a French comic of the same name from the '60s. They are finally getting around to making a movie about Valerian and Luareline, a duo of which I'd never heard. This book was a freebie that was given out as we waited in line. "Don't worry, " we were told, "this won't count toward your 8 free comics." 

Point Central, so the story goes, is the point of which the most traveled space voyagers pass and has, over the millennia, developed into a series of augmented civilizations---a planet sized space-ship hodge-podged city. Some sectors can't even visit others, and each civilization gets a chance to be the leaders of the governing council. Of course when the earthlings are given their chance, they move to make their rule permanent. This was an exciting story and one I'd be interested in pursuing later and checking out on my moving-picture screen.

Here's the picture and the explanations following, as some of these titles I needed to look up:

From X-O to Riverdale represent the 8 titles I picked up from Shoreline Comics after waiting for 90 minutes to get inside. Also, I didn't buy anything that day, feel adequately guilty even now, and will return to purchase something soon enough.

X-O Manowar: This is the Valiant FCBD offering and the book that motivates me to head out on these Saturdays. There is a tiny amount of non-essential content for the X-O-in-space storyline and a preview of their Secret Weapons title and a bit of other reprinted content. As always, this Valiant homer is on board.

Beyond that there weren't too many titles I was actually looking for. And by the time I made it inside at Shoreline, I started to just grab things that either a) I hadn't heard of; or b) that I was mildly interested in.

Star Trek: TNG: Mirror Broken: I'd heard about this title--the Mirror Broken story--somewhere. I am a fan of Star Trek: TNG, and my wife and I have gone to see a few of the newer movies, but I don't consider myself a Trekkie. The Mirror Universe, I hear, made appearances on the Original Series, and had copies of everyone from the show that were now evil...or something. I thought that if given the opportunity and scarcity of other properties, I'd pick this book up. Just those circumstances presented themselves on FCBD 2017. I haven't read it yet, but the art looks like Clayton Crain's painting work from 4001 AD, which is great. There are also short excerpts of a new series based on the new movies and even the Green Lantern/Star Trek crossover.

Crossfire: The Looking Glass Wars: I had to look up this content. I grabbed it totally blind, just looking for something different. The art inside resembles German expressionism, and frankly that was enough for me. It turns out that the "Looking Glass Wars" is the title of an entire series of stories set in the Wonderland of Lewis Carrol's creation. I'm not sure Alice makes any appearances.

Tex: Patagonia: Another series I had to look up. Tex is a social justice warrior from the old west, a champion of the aboriginal American and the working man, an enemy of marauding hordes, a Texan who proudly fought for the North during the Civil War because he was such an abolitionist...he also was created in the 1950s by two Italian artists for the Italian market. Only Batman and Superman have been published as long in Italy as Tex, and only those two are remotely as well known in Italy as Tex. This FCBD copy is an excerpt of a newly translated award-winning graphic novel, and we're lucky enough that it is presented in color---the GN it comes from is still in black and white.

Colorful Monsters: I picked this up because it was extra thick. It wasn't until later that I realized it was the FCBD offering from Drawn and Quarterly, a publisher of more artsy fare than normal comics, and this is a collection that speaks to that: heady works and think-pieces and some translated manga.

Legend of Zelda Manga Collection: This reads from right to left and has excerpts from the manga adaptations of Twilight Princes and Ocarina of Time. In a different world I would have left this on the table, but I'm happy I have it. I think I may have been pushed by the idea I could use it as incentive for my kids.

Doctor Who: Four Doctors: Ditto with the student dangling. I don't watch Doctor Who, but maybe I should.

Riverdale: Like the Zelda manga, in another world I would have left this comic on the pile. But I have a soft spot for Archie The Survivor, even if the company did their part to muzzle comics over the decades. Also, I have a feeling this is turning into a Moment, with the show and new direction of the comics.

Betty and Veronica: See above...

The bottom four comics I picked up at Pulp Fiction, and were at least items I had read about previously. Wonder Woman is one of those. Having a legitimate Moment.

Hellboy 20th Anniversary Sampler: This comic isn't an official FCBD book, rather a sampler from 2014, but a give-a-way nonetheless. It's actually a pretty great issue, freebie or at cost. One piece is written by Mike Mignola and illustrated by Fabio Moon; one is both written and illustrated by Mignola; and there's a center spread of the funnies style work---jumbles and Peanuts/Family Circus-like parodies.

The Incal: This is probably the only book I would have looked for besides X-O. It's the opening 26 pages from Jodorowsky's classic. I think it may have been hearing about this particular FCBD book that may have tipped me off to Jodorowsky's great comic epic Incal storylines. I'd known of his writing, his philosophy and his film making, but not of the details of his comic universe. After reading a synopsis, I quickly educated myself. I haven't picked up the complete works yet, but I'm considering it.

If I could have had any two FCBD books, one would be the X-O, the other would have been this Incal issue, or the Wonder Woman issue, or the Lion Forge issue. Captain Canuck and the Star Trek TNG: Mirror Broken probably fill out the next tier. The Tick was sorely missed.

Hot Jazz: May 2017

Not quite sure which day it will be released, the book that has me excited this month comes from Black Mask Studios, their take on California's secession, CalExit:

Speculative fiction is perfect for the medium of sequential art, and my own beliefs and love for my home state have me interested here. Also, I get to support a company I ballyhoo.

Also also, they had me at this flag mock up used as a promotional deal:

Happy 420 and Happy Birthday Ninjak

Ninjak's first appearance was back in Bloodshot #6 from the original Valiant Comics back on April 20, 1993:

Kind of a stab-first-and-ask-questions-later guy, Ninjak didn't play even back then:

Giant Valiant homer, I know, I know.

Shout out to Steven Simmons for the screenshot of the page and date research. Saved me lots of trouble, sir, thank you.

Biggest Indie Seller of 2017

Congratulations to Valiant for their new X-O Manowar series topping 90,000 issues in sales. This gives it the top spot for the year so far in terms of independent comic sales.

It's a spectacular read with great layouts and visuals. Sometimes I think the chests of Giorello's male characters are a little baroque, but the art is epic. Matt Kindt is one of the best writers working in any field.

This series also allowed Valiant to experiment with their product in new ways, offering special incentives to readers and fans who had their LCS pre-order the first three-issue story arc "Soldier." Those incentives included extra pages of design concepts and a special cover.

Of course that's the cover I have...and I think the original cover, the first shown here, is more beautiful.

Anyway, kudos Valiant!

I am a homer, but it is a great read.

Hot Jazz: April 2017

The first Wednesday in April brings the Hot Jazz book "Eleanor and the Egret" from Aftershock:

WTF, you may be asking. What a strange title for a comic from an up-and-coming publisher. After reading about it, I was sold.

John Layman is helming the writing duties, now that he has time since ending his popular title "Chew." It follows an intrepid art thief, Eleanor, and her accomplice, an egret that grows with each theft.

That's bizarre enough for the weirdo inside of each of us, but it wasn't until I heard that Sam Kieth was on art duty. The pencils behind the Sandman and his own Maxx, Kieth gets the time of day to find out the nature of the project.

And, for me, that was the tipping point.

The releases remind me of a very-Windsor McKay-like apeing, but maybe that's just me.

Chapter House Comics

Website: chapterhouse.ca

Style Classification: Cohesive Universe (sorta)

Notable Works: Captain Canuck

Story:

Chapter House is the current publisher of the Captain Canuck stories and stable of characters. This makes it a self contained, cohesive universe. It does look like there are a few characters and titles from Chapter House that aren't part of the Capt Canuck's so-called "Chapterverse", but still, the Captain Canuck world is pretty neat.

The first appearance was back in 1975, when Richard Comely unleashed his Canadian-themed hero upon the Great North:

He was often confused with Marvels similarly-Canadian themed Guardian from Chris Claremont's "Alpha Flight:"

Captain Canuck resurfaced in '9, being published by Semple Comics, whomever they are:

Back again in the early aughts, his outfit has slightly changed:

A miniseries changed the look even further:

And that brings us to the Chapter House license (if that's what you could call it):

Canuck is back to beefy, and now with a futuristic suit to boot.

To come along with the Captain is Northguard, hopefully not the Boo-Boo to his Yogi:

Canadians like comics, too!

Livewire (Almost) Gets Her Own Title at Valiant

Livewire, the teletechnopath and psiot who can control machines, has long been a fan favorite for Valiant. As a strong, black woman character, she's also a bit of a rarity on the superhero-books shelves this side of Storm.

Her importance to the Valiant universe is seen through her leading of their multi-hero team Unity, and while she was featured in the company's "Imperium", she hasn't had her own book.

Until now, sort of. She heads a team of misfits, kids who's powers are not exactly perfect for fighting crime or war. Or creating peace, as it were.

Livewire has more faith in them and considers the assembly Secret Weapons. The book is being written by Oscar-nominated writer Eric Heisserer and the previews look great. Raul Allen's pencil work is quietly spectacular. 

I think it's cool that Valiant is finding ways to dust off some of the old titles in the property. My first experience with the title back in the '90s was due to issue 5 having the third appearance of Ninjak:

 

As fantastic as a solo titled Livewire book would be, the company has earned the benefit of the doubt, from me at least. They follow The Story with a vigorous energy that's inspiring, and with little regard to the blowing of the popular winds.

(Also: I want to thank the decision makers for ultimately giving me the opportunity to show off a 24 year old memory---being excited for Ninjak's 3rd appearance.)

Hot Jazz: March 2017

What I'm looking forward to in March from outside my usual suspects in the indie comics world is Matt Kindt's and Tyler Jenkin's "Grass Kings," being published by Boom! Studios:

Matt Kindt is one of the best writers working in the industry today, and the combination of his story of people on the margins of society being forced to create a society, with complex protagonists and antagonists, and what appear to be lush watercolors from Jenkins has drawn me in.

This is the kind of story that is so different from the mainstream that I'm inspired to purchase it for myself and others, folks who aren't really comic folks.

Bongo Comics Group

Website: bongocomics.com

Style Classification: Matt Groening's Comics Brand

Notable Works: "Simpsons Comics", "Futurama", "Spongebob Squarepants"

Story: Matt Groening is not responsible for Spongebob directly, but his comic publisher is the holder of the license and uses the imprint United Plankton, which is amusing...

For "Style Classification" above it seems funny to label it specifically as Matt Groening's baby, but that is exactly what it is. Bongo is the name of one Matt's creations from "Life in Hell", and once the Simpsons started to take off, he was able to start his own imprint, and, as he calls it, realizing a lifelong dream.

Seriously, in 1993, Matt Groening could pretty much do whatever he wanted, and not much has changed.

They publish various Simpsons comics, Futurama comics, Spongebob content, as well as collections of Groenng's Life in Hell strip from alt-weeklies, which has since ended.

Anyway, I thought I'd highlight a cool shoutout from them to the makers of Valiant comics from back in the day:

In the panel from left to right are Ninjak, Bloodshot, X-O Manowar and Rai, and the names assigned to them are based on the real folks: Jim Shooter, Steve Massarsky, Jon Mitchell, and Bob Layton.

This is from an issue of Radioactive Man, number 106 specifically, when they were parodying the beautiful painted covers of Gold Key Comics:

The reach of the brand of humor found in the Simpsons is both global and as influential as you'd expect something like that to be.

Evolution of Comix: Vigneault's "Titan"

"Comix", with the "x," began as an underground form of the otherwise-called comic. Sex and drug use were regularly large components, along with a-typical looking character design.

The form is alive and well and forming a portion of online content, and today I am happy and proud to present Francois Vigneault's "Titan:"

Above is the first issue's "cover," as the comic series was originally published online beginning in 2012.

You can find the home by clicking right here and jumping over.

The story is part of the revolution/evolution:

Titan is a moon of Saturn and in this story it is a mining colony. On Titan are people from Earth, Terrans, and the genetically modified humans, Titans. The Titans were created to take advantage of the lower gravity and are essentially giants. There are about 250,000 Titans versus their Terran overlords, numbering maybe 1,000.

The main character is a Terran who has been sent by the company that runs the mining concern to figure out how and when to shut the plant down. He thinks he's there just to check efficiency levels, but its obvious that tensions are running so high that a revolt may be in the offering.

The politics and the sci-fi are both great, the illicit affair between the Terran and the Titan is rendered with that loving hotness you'd expect from the comix tradition, and there are many issues available for the reading for free, if you don't mind the computer. I've yet to finish what's up on Study Group Comics, and I'm happy to report that paper copies have been published recently.

Here's a panel to get a sense of the sizes of our two main characters, the Terran MNGR Joao and his, eh, Titan liaison, Phoebe, a former underground fighter. It showcases both the comix visual tradition and the duo-color scheme unique to each issue:

If you try any webcomics this month, this would be the one I suggest: just click that link above.