As people, we are happy his father is on the mend.
As selfish fans, we are excited as hell for the return of Paige and her pals as they try to help her dad stay out of trouble---by robbing a bank themselves.
Happy day:
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Matthew Rosenberg returns, and we selfish fans rejoice!
The writer for one of our favorite newest titles, "4 Kids Walk Into a Bank", was away with his ailing father for months, according to his apology letter to the fans of his books.
As people, we are happy his father is on the mend.
As selfish fans, we are excited as hell for the return of Paige and her pals as they try to help her dad stay out of trouble---by robbing a bank themselves.
Happy day:
As people, we are happy his father is on the mend.
As selfish fans, we are excited as hell for the return of Paige and her pals as they try to help her dad stay out of trouble---by robbing a bank themselves.
Happy day:
Monday, December 19, 2016
Valiant's 2016 Began and Ended with Successful Mini-series
Valiant in 2016 saw wide commercial and critical success with a variety of projects. The early-2016 notable title that took some folks by surprise stars their most positive happy-to-be-a-superhero heroine, Faith Hebert, in an eponymous mini-series:
The popularity of which has spawned a regular monthly title, a slew of plush dolls and figurines, and plenty of notice from mainstream media.
2016 ends for Valiant as another high profile mini-series ends, only this limited series had enough buildup and fanfare that it's nearly impossible to consider it a sleeper. A commercial and critical success, though, it certainly is. It stars the world's first detective (or, in ancient Rome's time, called a "detectioner"), Antonius Axia:
A wildly striking and entertaining read, I find myself smitten with Valiant's prestige format. The above shots are the regular Cary Nord covers, and upon seeing all the choices, I can't imagine wanting any of the other "specials."
There is much I'd like to say about Valiant's 2016, but now I don't have the time. Bummer.
CHECK OUT THESE STORIES IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!
The popularity of which has spawned a regular monthly title, a slew of plush dolls and figurines, and plenty of notice from mainstream media.
2016 ends for Valiant as another high profile mini-series ends, only this limited series had enough buildup and fanfare that it's nearly impossible to consider it a sleeper. A commercial and critical success, though, it certainly is. It stars the world's first detective (or, in ancient Rome's time, called a "detectioner"), Antonius Axia:
A wildly striking and entertaining read, I find myself smitten with Valiant's prestige format. The above shots are the regular Cary Nord covers, and upon seeing all the choices, I can't imagine wanting any of the other "specials."
There is much I'd like to say about Valiant's 2016, but now I don't have the time. Bummer.
CHECK OUT THESE STORIES IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!
Monday, November 28, 2016
Stunning Sci-Fi
A book that I missed in its original run, but picked up in the collected format, is Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's Descender:
It tells the story of Tim-21, a robot who is rebooted a few decades after the robot culls and the destruction of the tentative alliance between non-robots (humans included) by planet sized robots.
It's good, and dense, and you can see where Lemire and Nguyen are heading, and the various aliens and neat, and their worlds are beautiful, and the androids are cool outlaws, but ultimately these topics come down to look.
That may be to superficial, and generally I try to avoid those snap decisions. There are plenty of good science fiction stories being created in the world today. What sets this apart?
One thing that got me was the fully painted watercolors from Dustin Nguyen.
Holy cow, it's a stunning artifact from some creative geniuses!
Published mostly monthly from Image, and collected every six months or so. Fully recommended.
It tells the story of Tim-21, a robot who is rebooted a few decades after the robot culls and the destruction of the tentative alliance between non-robots (humans included) by planet sized robots.
It's good, and dense, and you can see where Lemire and Nguyen are heading, and the various aliens and neat, and their worlds are beautiful, and the androids are cool outlaws, but ultimately these topics come down to look.
That may be to superficial, and generally I try to avoid those snap decisions. There are plenty of good science fiction stories being created in the world today. What sets this apart?
One thing that got me was the fully painted watercolors from Dustin Nguyen.
Holy cow, it's a stunning artifact from some creative geniuses!
Published mostly monthly from Image, and collected every six months or so. Fully recommended.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Valiant Throwback Variants
Valiant Entertainment has been using their Harvey-nominated title, Bloodshot Reborn, as a staging ground for some exciting throwback covers.
Bloodshot Reborn normally has pretty dynamic covers to go along with Jeff Lemire's great writing and Mico Suayan and Lewis LaRosa's lush artwork. Here's the main cover from issue number 1:
It was with issue 14 that the throwback covers started, when Jeff Lemire painted his own send-up of comic's first "chromium" cover, Valiant's own Bloodshot #1, though Lemire is using the figment of imagination character Bloodsquirt:
For issue #15, they parodied the look of the late '80's Marvel comics, and specifically the title "The 'Nam." This was surely inspired by the Vietnam-era version of the nanite-infested killing machine. Also, this cover is done by Darick Robertson, co-creator of Spider Jerusalem and Transmetropolitan, one of my favorite comic creations ever.
For issue #16 they dove further back into the past, back to the '60s era Marvel:
Another variant for issue #16 had Valiant again parodying their own property---or joint property, as it is---with the Deathmate cover. The original on the left is the awesome Joe Quesada "Deathmate: Prologue" comic that introduced the crossover between Valiant and Image. I remember one reviewer describing the crossover's ultimate failure in the following terms: If you mix five pounds of ice cream with five pounds of dog shit, you won't get anything edible. In the modern version, Deathmate is the name of the black and silver lady character on the right-side cover. She's a killing machine: part T-1000, part Universal Soldier:
Issue #17 is a pretty direct parody of early '90s DC Comics' Suicide Squad:
The idea of using an older property as a design influence is nothing new for Valiant Entertainment, as we see here from their Summer 2015 event, the Book of Death, where each of the four issues from the miniseries had a classic Rai #0 variant, and the one I chose here is the Livewire copy, #2.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
It's a Celebration!
National Comic Day is today, September 25th.
Celebrate! Read a book! Share an author or a title or some fun!
Check it out for yourself.
Celebrate! Read a book! Share an author or a title or some fun!
Check it out for yourself.
Aardvark-Vanheim
Website: Unable to locate;Here is the link to the Aardvark portal on ComicBookDb.
Style Classification: Single Creator
Notable Works: Cerebus
Story:
Dave Sim is the Canadian grandfather of independent comics. In 1977 he started publishing his Conan-send up Cerebus independently through his own imprint, Aardvark-Vanheim. Over the course of 25+ years and 300 issues, the adventures of the surly aardvark Cerebus gave the world a few things: hope and inspiration for independent publishers as well as a forum for Dave Sim to discuss his specific brand of Canadian philosophy.
That point of view has gotten the man in some hot water through the years, most notably his views on women and his anti-feminist stances taken within the pages of his comics. I don't know enough about these specific controversies, but I'm not one to defend misogyny.
Notwithstanding that, at this point the guy's position in the historical hierarchy of independent comics is basically Rushmore-d.
Style Classification: Single Creator
Notable Works: Cerebus
Story:
Dave Sim is the Canadian grandfather of independent comics. In 1977 he started publishing his Conan-send up Cerebus independently through his own imprint, Aardvark-Vanheim. Over the course of 25+ years and 300 issues, the adventures of the surly aardvark Cerebus gave the world a few things: hope and inspiration for independent publishers as well as a forum for Dave Sim to discuss his specific brand of Canadian philosophy.
That point of view has gotten the man in some hot water through the years, most notably his views on women and his anti-feminist stances taken within the pages of his comics. I don't know enough about these specific controversies, but I'm not one to defend misogyny.
Notwithstanding that, at this point the guy's position in the historical hierarchy of independent comics is basically Rushmore-d.
Cartoon Books
Website: Boneville.com
Style Classification: Single Creator
Notable Works: Bone; RASL
Story:
Jeff Smith founded Cartoon Books as a means of independently publishing his "Bone" comic book series. It is a nod to Carl Barks' "Uncle Scrooge" and answers the question: Wouldn't it be cool if Uncle Scrooge had a twenty year long adventure?
As lushly illustrated as the title Bone-cousins are simple, the complete Bone series is a masterpiece, but anything as influenced by Walt Kelly and Tolkien and Tolstoy as this story is bound to be at least interesting.
I'm lucky enough to be in possession of the door-stopper complete collection, seen below. The sadness creeps in as the story is wrapping up, because you just want it to continue.
This is a story and creator I've suggested to people who harbor specific negative views of the comic industry and its super-hero mainstream.
Style Classification: Single Creator
Notable Works: Bone; RASL
Story:
Jeff Smith founded Cartoon Books as a means of independently publishing his "Bone" comic book series. It is a nod to Carl Barks' "Uncle Scrooge" and answers the question: Wouldn't it be cool if Uncle Scrooge had a twenty year long adventure?
As lushly illustrated as the title Bone-cousins are simple, the complete Bone series is a masterpiece, but anything as influenced by Walt Kelly and Tolkien and Tolstoy as this story is bound to be at least interesting.
I'm lucky enough to be in possession of the door-stopper complete collection, seen below. The sadness creeps in as the story is wrapping up, because you just want it to continue.
This is a story and creator I've suggested to people who harbor specific negative views of the comic industry and its super-hero mainstream.
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