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Blog Archives: October 2007
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EMBRACING THE DARKNESS
This Wednesday Top Cow gives the world the a sneak peek at December's major relaunch of the DARKNESS in the pages of their ninety-nine cent FIRST LOOK preview book.
While I was highly anticipating Phil Hester's ongoing FIREBREATHER debuting next year, I initially wasn't sure about how he would work on THE DARKNESS. However, just as soon as I thought that I remembered he made his name on his own dark antihero with demonic origins, THE WRETCH. Once I saw him combined with industry newcomer and a true artist to watch out for, Michael Broussaro, I predicted we would have a winner here.
DARKNESS: FIRST LOOK confirms this. Phil kicks off with an absolutely brilliant three page introduction which sums up everything you could possibly need to know about the series. The subsequent pages make it hard to believe Michael is brand new to drawing comics. He illustrates like a true professional and, with all due respect to everyone who proceeded him, may be my favorite DARKNESS artist since Marc Silvestri.
If this preview is any indication the events of FIRST BORN put Darkness bearer and Mob enforcer, Jackie Estacado, into a very different place. He's in South America and is running a small country without any aspirations to return home. Apparently, the war with The Angelus over Sara Pezinni's child has ended in tragedy and subsequently Jackie leaving his old life completely behind. However, mysterious forces want to bring him down, forcing him to once again use The Darkness.
Besides all this, the FIRST LOOK contains a letter from Phil Hester, plus illustrations from Michael Broussaro's personal sketchbook. At ninety-nine cents it's the perfect primer for even the casual fan.
DARKNESS: FIRST LOOK (SEP072026), a 16-page full-color comic book for $0.99, is available in-stores October 31st.
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HAPPY HECTORWEEN!
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago the main thing I love about this time of year are horror comics. I've been obsessed with them since I first read a huge stack of EC's finest at the barbershop of my youth.
The best horror comics are the ones by people who really have a passion for the genre. It's said that comedy is the hardest to pull off in any medium, but I feel really true horror is too. The thing is, it's not just about the big scare. There's a lot more to it.
Benito Cereno and Nate Bellegarde obviously love horror. I first caught onto this in their HECTOR PLASM back ups in INVINCIBLE and later in Hector's own one-shot, HECTOR PLASM DE MORTUIS.
Every year for the past few years they've done an online exclusive "Hectorween" special and this year is no different. Click on over to Benito's blog to read the latest tale of terror.
In addition, if you haven't picked up already I highly suggest the aforementioned HECTOR PLASM: DE MORTUIS (JAN061786) one-shot which is available at stores everywhere for $5.99.
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MADMAN UNDER THE RADAR
Ever since his very first published work, GRAPHIQUE MUSIQUE, it's been obvious Mike Allred shares an equal passion for both comics and music.
The guy infuses it into everything he does. MADMAN is chock full of musical inspiration and his RED ROCKET SEVEN was a complete history of rock 'n roll through the lens of sci-fi. There's nothing he does that doesn't create some sort of connection to the mediums.
Comic fans have loved his work for well over a decade, and it's now looking like the music world agrees.
UNDER THE RADAR magazine began running comic book reviews in their Fall 2007 issue, with the highest rated review being MADMAN at a whooping 9/10.
Those of you who haven't seen the article yet can check out the scan to the right. However, you're highly encouraged to pick up a copy of the magazine at your soonest possible convenience. As a long-time reader of UNDER THE RADAR I can't help but notice they're really upping the ante on their content - not just with content reviews, but also their first sampler CD that may be one of the best compilations I've listened to in awhile.
MADMAN GARGANTUA (DEC061861) and MADMAN VOL. 1 TP are currently available in stores. VOL. 2 (AUG071993), VOL. 3 (OCT071981) and the MADMAN AND THE ATOMICS TP (JUL071933) are all available for pre-orders.
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YOUNGBLOOD AT HEART
Last week Rob Liefeld was the cover feature on the OC Weekly, reaching thousands of potential new comic book readers.
Luke Thompson, the writer of the article, gave a very in-depth look into Liefeld's past and a glimpse of his future, including the upcoming YOUNGBLOOD hardcover. Rob's a very controversial guy and there's not a stone unturned in the five-page story.
Don't live in Orange County? Not a problem, as you can now read the entire article online.
YOUNGBLOOD VOL. 1 HC (AUG071974), a 168-page hardcover for $34.99, is due out in stores soon.
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That Time Of Year
It's that time of year, isn't it?
I'm not talking about leaves turning brown, kids going back to school or your favorite TV shows returning.
I'm talking about horror.
With Halloween on its way everyone has the bug. Most of the big movies involve serials killers or monsters. Stephen King's books see their annual bump in sales.
And the best part?
Horror comics. Lots and lots of horror comics.
THE RIDE: HALLOWEEN SPECIAL was just released this passed week. It's essentially the lost third reel of the best never-before-seen slasher film as drawn by Tomm Coker. Tomm's artwork captures every gruesome detail in gorgeous black and white, giving it a creepy edge not seen since the heyday of The Twilight Zone. In addition, he's one of the few guys who could get away with not having a word of text in the whole comic and still put you on the edge of your seat.
On its way is CRAWL SPACE: XXXOMBIES #1 written by Rick (NIGHT MARY) Remender and drawn by Kieron (REMAINS) Dwyer with special guest co-plotting done by the original WALKING DEAD artist, Tony Moore. All three of them have dipped their toes into tales of the undead before and are aiming to have their last say on the sub-genre in CRAWL SPACE's opening arc. It's the first of four issues featuring what could be described as BOOGIE NIGHTS meets RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, but even that's not doing it justice.
PROOF #1 seems like a lighter-hearted book on its surface, but it quickly gets gruesome. Agent Ginger Brown is reassigned to a division of the FBI she didn't know existed with a partner she thought was an urban legend, Agent John Prufrock AKA Bigfoot. Their first assignment takes them all the way to South America where another cryptid legend is murdering humans in a manner that may out due the most spine-tingling moments of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or SE7EN.
I'm sure you're all already familiar with WALKING DEAD, but I want to mention the book's current storyline, touted with the tag-line 'NO ONE IS SAFE', promises to shift the series' direction in a long-lasting way. Major cast members fall as their safe haven is under siege by the residents of Woodbury. Plus, the upcoming issue #43 promises to show just how Wizard's Villain of the Year, The Governor, survived Michonne's vicious vengeance.
All of the titles above will be available by this upcoming Wednesday, October 24th with a cover price of $2.99.
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AS SEEN ON TV!
I'm not TV guy.
I used to be to an almost ridiculous degree. However, once my house mates and I decided to throw away the DVR and cancel the digital cable I found I didn't miss it all that much.
Of course, there are exceptions.
I've been a big fan of The Sarah Silverman Program since it launched in February. Not only do I dig on her stand up, but the team behind her show consists of some of my favorite folks around - including Image creators! Rob Schrab from SCUD co-created the series and directs just about every episode. One of the main supporting cast members is none other than LAST CHRISTMAS co-writer Brian Posehn. If that's not enough for you an awful lot of the background art - especially at their local hang out - is drawn by GRRL SCOUTS' Jim Mahfood.
Imagine my surprise when Brian appeared on screen in our YOU'RE NOT THE DM OF ME t-shirt. I was thrilled, but it got even better when one of his friends showed up in our GØDLAND t-shirt featuring none other than Basil Discordia.
I have a feeling some of our fans may want to grab the shirts after seeing them on TV. If your store doesn't have them in stock refer to the order code guide below to have them order your size! Sorry, we no longer stock YOU'RE NOT THE DM OF ME in Small or XX-Large.
GØDLAND
SMALL: AUG061753
MEDIUM: AUG061754
LARGE: AUG061755
X-LARGE: AUG061756
XX-LARGE: AUG061757
YOU'RE NOT THE DM OF ME
MEDIUM: JUL061692
LARGE: JUL061693
X-LARGE: JUL061694
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ENDING THE PARADE!
In 2006 a group of seven artists wanted complete creative freedom and broke away from the standard method of creating comics to form their own studio.
Sound familiar?
It did to me. I always felt the online studio, ACT-I-VATE, shared a lot in common with the original seven Image founders. Their art styles and content couldn't be any more different from what Image made popular in the early nineties, but the core idea remains the same. Everyone who started ACT-I-VATE wanted the freedom to create whatever they wanted and used the instantaneous nature of delivery in the online world to make it happen.
The results were - and still are - pretty amazing. You had extremely talented cartoonists like Nick Bertozzi, just before the release of THE SALON if I recall correctly, starting off with web comics such as PERMISSION CUP and PECAN SANDY. Michel Fiffe's PANORAMA is being collected in the upcoming Image series BRAWL, along with Dean Haspiel's BILLY DOGMA. Each one of those aforementioned stories are completely different from the other, but each cartoonist shares the same passion of creating their own work without restraints. Other members include Simon Fraser, Chip Zdarsky, Jason Little, Josh Neufeld, Paul Maybury and many more.
Another member, Michael Cavallaro wanted to tell the stories he's heard for his entire life, based off his family's life in 1920s Italy. The first story, PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS), concludes this week in issue #2.
It started in post-World War I Italy, a time when the slightest perceived transgression could result in violence. On the evening of The Feast of the Epiphany, it did. Our lead, Paolo, was caught between a rowdy group of local Fascist Party members and his family, and the choice he's forced to make will change his life forever.
As Cavallaro put it, “These are tales that I grew up hearing from my relatives. The basis of the comic spans decades of my family’s history on their journeys from an Italian countryside lost between two World Wars, to the coalmines of the American south and the factories of the northeast. Parade is the beginning of these stories.”
I can't suggest this book enough to fans of such graphic novels as Eric Shanower's AGE OF BRONZE, art spiegelman's MAUS or Marjane Satrapi's PERSEPOLIS. It's not even so much due to the historical aspects the four works share, but rather each cartoonist's very personal and unique take on their subject matter. PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS) is equal parts gripping, tear-jerking and beautiful. Shadowline, the Image partner studio behind PARADE, has done the comics field a major service by giving Cavallaro the exposure he deserves.
AUG072021 PARADE (WITH FIREWORKS) #2, a 32-page full-color comic for $3.50, is in stores this Wednesday, October 3rd.
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