Genius Covers Sunday: Selling Your Comic.
No Comments | Posted: May 21st, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Review: Deogratias
No Comments | Posted: May 19th, 2006 | Filed under: UncategorizedJust over a decade ago, the world turned its back on Rwanda, where the majority ethnic group, the Hutu was systematically wiping out the Tutsi. The potent combination of propaganda, artificial lines of racial division, and nationalistic fervor created a poisonous atmosphere that led to the deaths of over 800,000 people despite the presence of a UN peacekeeping force. JP Stassen’s Deogratias follows one young man in the months after the slaughter, showing him dealing with the emotional repercussions of his involvement in the event.
The title character’s story is revealed in flashbacks that run parallel to the main narrative, bringing the reader to a horrific conclusion that managed to bring me to a complete standstill. By showing our protagonist at both the best and worst times of his life and revealing the transmogrification that takes place, Stassen succeeds admirably in giving the reader an understanding, if not forgiveness, of the mentality that can lead someone to perform repugnant acts against their nature. In some ways, the text reminded me of the confusion that strikes young men and how easily it can be manipulated into something devastating. Stassen’s minimal, slightly cartoonish art only brings the emotionally harrowing material into sharper focus.
Deogratias offers no easy solutions, no pithy soundbites about how slaughter is bad, tolerance is good. It paints a picture without judgment and without rancor. Stassen won the his home country’s Goscinny Prize for this work, which is somewhat ironic considering that his native Belgium carries some responsibility for the creation of division in Rwanda after taking over the country in the aftermath of World War I. With Darfur currently embroiled in a similar situation, this work is more important and timely than ever. Highly recommended. You can view sample pages here.
If I offer to show my Giant Grabber, I get kicked off the bus…
No Comments | Posted: May 19th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Promotion.
No Comments | Posted: May 18th, 2006 | Filed under: UncategorizedI forgot to mention that the latest Nitroglycerin is up at the bottom of the main BOOM! Studios page.
So, this is mentioning me that the latest Nitroglycerin is up at the bottom of the main BOOM! Studios page.
Blah Blah Freakin’ Blah.
No Comments | Posted: May 18th, 2006 | Filed under: UncategorizedRandom new comics commentary? I can rock it like that.
So, apparently the Superman that occupies the All Star Batman & Robin The Boy Wonder universe is back to his 1930s roots, considering the fact that we saw him running over water instead of flying. That sort of makes sense, actually, as Miller’s All-Star Batman is a modern punching-and-murdering machine that inhabited the first few adventures that Bob Kane and Bill Finger cranked out in the Golden Age. (Yes, I know that Wagner’s doing some modern retellings of those old stories, but we’re talking about attitude instead of action.) I cackled quite a bit over Robin’s reaction to the ultra-deluxe-mega Batcave that Jim Lee needed a quadruple fold-out to display and found it amusing to peek into Batman’s head when he’s trying so damned hard to be Broody and Dark.
Yes, I know you don’t like the comic. That’s fine.
I know that BOOM! employs me and Birdie to do Nitroglycerin, but I have to say that I would have enjoyed the premise of Talent just fine without such a connection. I’ve never been a big fan of Golden’s or Sniegoski’s comics work, but a good premise – a sole plane crash survivor absorbing the abilities of the other passengers – and solid art by Paul Azaceta (who is the only reason I’m still reading Image’s Grounded) made this a slam-dunk for me. I am a bit worried about the larger conspiracy angle that seems to borrow a bit too much from the current pop zeitgeist that makes people think The DaVinci Code is like, really, really deep, but I’m definitely sticking around to see how it plays out.
Am I the only one that actually pays attention to DC’s house ads when they’re placed in a bundle in the back of a comic? I caught myself spending a minute or two hovering over them when I finished the latest issue of Sgt Rock: The Prophecy and actually thought something along the lines of “Hey, maybe I’ll look at that new JLA book,” which is just plain weird.
The second issue of 52 featured Morrison’s Doc Magnus (Tomorrowtech! Red Inferno! Mad scientists!) and that was good. What was sort of clumsy was the Booster Gold and Renee Montoya pieces, even if I quite like this take on The Question. What was bad? “So say we all.” Christ, somebody likes Galactica a little much, don’t they?
Wood and Burchielli turn in another quality issue of DMZ. It’s nice to see our protagonist smarten up a bit. Wood took his time with this one, deliberately building to Matty’s realization that he’ll need to completely change his operating methods in the new Manhattan, which is a nice departure from the “Now I Am A Complete Badass” one-issue turnaround that most comics use. I’m now actually excited about the next issue, which is sorta rare on a Vertigo book.
This is what I know about the video game that Rival Schools: United By Fate is based on: people beat each other up using improbable martial arts moves. This is about all I need to know, apparently, as the comic involves just that: people beating up each other while using improbable martial arts moves with names like “Super Guts Bullet” and “Burning Vigor Attack.” Fun, stupid material that lets Corey Lewis cut loose. What I’ve noticed is that his art is a bit tighter now, cutting out the confusion that bugged me a few times in Sharknife and Peng.
Some very dodgy printing plagues the new issue of Jack Staff, but once Alan Moore shows up (as Morlan The Mystic,) I just didn’t care. I was laughing so freaking hard. In public. It was embarrassing.
Anyway, Grist’s usual technique of cutting between parallel plots didn’t work as well as usual for me; the transitions were jarring and uneven, even if the individual pieces were really well constructed, especially the cover character’s.
About that Batman: Year 100. Wow. The motorcycle chase, the final confrontation, the reveal….it was just about perfect. Maybe I wanted a little more explodo, but that’s just me being fussy. I’m like that.
That’s it for the floppies. I’ve got the new Fantagraphics anthology Hotwire, along with Castle Waiting and….er….Firestar to read in the next few days.
Go and be productive now, citizen.
Comic Book Girlfriend: Number Two In A Series.
No Comments | Posted: May 17th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
No man deserves a woman like Milla Donovan, especially not Matthew Murdock. Saved by the man also known as Daredevil when she nearly walked in front of a truck, the blind woman came to his office, thanked him for the whole truck-avoidance thing, then asked him out. Of course, Murdock didn’t want to admit that he was in fact Daredevil, as he was in the midst of trying to put the genie of his revealed identity back into the bottle, but he agreed to go out with her anyway.
It was during this first date that Murdock was dragged in as a suspect in the murder of a newspaper publisher he was suing for libel. Shaken by this, Milla was encouraged by her friends to give Matt a second chance.
Right after this, Typhoid Mary showed up and set Milla’s new boyfriend on fire.
Then, as if this were not enough of a hint, Bullseye popped by to pick up where he’d left off in the whole “murdering the women in Murdock’s life” thing – see also Elektra and Karen Page – but after Daredevil saved her, things went back to normal, at least until they got married. The nuptuals were held just before Matt assumed the role of Kingpin in Hell’s Kitchen and found himself at conflict with the Yakuza, other heroes, and finally his own failure. The stress from this, combined with unresolved issues related to the death of Karen Page, caused a mental breakdown in the hero that was the last straw for Milla.
She came back, of course, once he got himself back together. It was probably against logic and reason, but love isn’t known for its reliance on those concepts.
She didn’t sell his name to get an armful of heroin. She’s not a crazy ninja that came back from the dead or a schizophrenic, pyrokinetic assassin hired by The Kingpin. She’s not an alcoholic that’s going to commit suicide or a Russian superspy. She’s not Foggy’s Irish ex-girlfriend, nor is she a deaf Kingpin-hired assassin (yes, another one.) She’s just an attractive, assertive regular woman who’s patient and kind, probably too much so, in a world that doesn’t necessarily reward it. That’s why Milla Donovan is Comic Book Girlfriend #2.
Free Music.
No Comments | Posted: May 16th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Beep Boop: An Hour Of Electronic Pop Compiled by Kevin Church
Right click to download a 90mb .zip file
containing these songs in MP3 format:
- Wired For Sound // B(If)Tek
- You Can’t Hide Your Love (Hidden Love Mix by Aphex Twin) // DMX Krew
- The Great Commandment (Extended Dance Remix) // Camouflage
- International Rescue (The Orgasmastron Mix) // Fuzzbox
- A Pain That I’m Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Remix) // Depeche Mode
- Situation (Richard X Remix) // Yaz
- Face to Face // The Twins
- Guesthouse // Karacter
- Price Of Love // Client
- You’re My Disco // Waldorf
- My Favorite Song // Lifestyle
Balloon Buster made me cool, daddy-o!.
No Comments | Posted: May 16th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
This Week’s Future Picks Of Tomorrow
No Comments | Posted: May 15th, 2006 | Filed under: UncategorizedBelow is what I will purchase, with commentary.
Any questions?
I didn’t think so.
DC Comics
MAR060381 100 BULLETS #72 (MR) $2.99
Crime comic, reason Brian Azzarrello is on this planet, etc, etc, yawn.
MAR060310 52 WEEK #2 $2.50
I’m giving this one month to start to bore me so I can drop it. After that, I’ll probably hit Completist Mentality Mode.
NOV050225 ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #4 (RES) $2.99
Shut up. I love it.
MAR060287 BATMAN YEAR ONE HUNDRED #4 (OF 4) $5.99
How brilliant was the thing with the teeth? Fucking brilliant.
MAR060380 BITE CLUB VAMPIRE CRIME UNIT #2 (OF 5) (MR) $2.99
I liked this, many other people weren’t crazy about it. Many other people are unworthy of their status as bipedal, evolved mammals and need to get the hell off my planet.
MAR060382 DMZ #7 (MR) $2.99
I gotta say that last issue grabbed me by the untouchables and I’m eager to see what happens to everyone’s favorite reporter-on-the-scene who is not Kevin Sites.
MAR060337 SGT ROCK THE PROPHECY #5 (OF 6) $2.99
True Fact: this will not be cheery or uplifting, except for the bits when they shoot Nazis.
Image
NOV051740 FELL #5 $1.99
I read the shop’s preview copy and it’s another well done-in-one.
Ha. I like what I did there.
Marvel
MAR062150 BLACK PANTHER BAD MUTHA TP $10.99
I love that Marvel takes their one successful solo black hero that’s achieved some level of respect and decides to use the phrase “Bad Mutha” to describe him. I think that’s swell, in fact.
MAR062101 MARVEL LEGACY 1970S HANDBOOK $4.99
Oh, yes, I’ll be getting this. The 1960s volume had me cackling in a few places.
MAR062144 X-MEN FIRESTAR DIGEST TP $7.99
I support this format because I love freedom and America.
Other Publishers
MAR063205 CASTLE WAITING HC $29.95
$30 for the complete Castle Waiting saga? Sold!
FEB062921 JEREMIAH HARM #3 $3.99
JAN068080 JEREMIAH HARM 2ND PRTG #1 (PP #706) $3.99
FEB062920 TALENT #1 (OF 4) $3.99
Boom! Studios offers only the highest-quality in comics entertainment for you, the discerning consumer. It’s hard to imagine anyone achieving a parallel level of unbridled perfection without consorting with dark forces.
Ross, please let the puppy go.
Seriously, let the puppy go.
NOV053236 RIVAL SCHOOLS #1 REY COVER A $4.95
I am buying a goddamn video game comic because Corey Lewis makes with the fun art that I love.
Damn you, Corey Lewis.
Press Release Machine Go.
No Comments | Posted: May 15th, 2006 | Filed under: UncategorizedBOOM! Studios launches new exclusive web strip Nitroglycerin at its site with all-new forums!
Wizard’s �Best New Publisher� increases website presence.
Los Angeles: Boom! Studios welcomes latest addition Nitroglycerin to its site, along with an all-new forums presence.
Wizard Magazine’s Best New Publisher, Boom! Studios, has announced today that an all-new, totally exclusive web comic strip, NITROGLYCERIN, will appear weekly on the site’s front page. Building off the new content at the site, Boom! Studios is also moving its forums from its former home at Comic Book Resources over to the www.boom-studios.com site.
Written by noted comics blogger Kevin Church (http://www.beaucoupkevin.com/) and drawn by Benjamin Birdie, Nitroglycerin is the debut of their collaboration together. “It’s really great working with Kevin, as we share nicely complimentary sensibilities. Which is to say, we both find things funny on a five year old level,� added Birdie, creator of the monster webcomic hits �Genre City� and �Kings Of Pop� at http://www.webcomicsnation.com/bb/ and the mini-comic sensation �Kevin Analog.� Birdie is also excited about not having to worry about writing for a change: “As a classically trained writer, it’s nice to be able to focus on the art and have someone else worry about the gags. The best part, though, is that if I feel like it, I can contribute jokes as well. It really adds to my overall feeling of superiority over Kevin.”
“It’s nice to know I can help out with Birdie’s inferiority complex,” Church responded. “Seriously, though. I don’t want to be that guy, because we all know ‘that guy’ from press releases, but it’s rare that I instantly have a working relationship like the one with Ben. We bounce ideas off each other constantly and he always surprises me with how well his art clicks with my babble.”
�This is about having fun, plain and simple,� Boom! Studios publisher Ross Richie said. �I hope everybody likes it! Comics publishing can often be driven by big-time Hollywood studio deals, or cross-branding action figures, and generating variants to cash in on collectors. I wanted to find something to do that was all about having a good time. We’re just hoping that we can get people to chuckle each week. That, and we’re showing everyone what my true face looks like in the first strip, unveiled in public for the very first time!�
“Ross Richie makes unabashadly pop comics that recall the smart blockbusters of the 70s and 80s. It’s easy to see why I’m excited about working with Boom!, where material isn’t focus-grouped to death and audiences get some real stimulation from the books,� Church asserted. Birdie went on: “My favorite thing about Nitroglycerin is what a retro idea it is. These days most editorial content has become painfully unfunny attempts at generating hype. It’s nice to see a publisher interested in those old school kinds of promotional ideas and who isn’t afraid to offer two damaged individuals the opportunity to roast his life’s work week after week.”
Nitroglycerin will update every week on New Comics Day: Wednesday and joins the recently re-started Boom! Studios forums, expanding the content offered at www.boom-studios.com. Since being awarded BEST NEW PUBLISHER by Wizard Magazine and nominated for the same award by DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS for 2005, Boom! Studios has seen an uptick in sell-through and initial orders. Selling most of its outstanding backlist now, Boom! Studios is having a record year.
http://www.boom-studios.com
http://www.beaucoupkevin.com/
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/bb/
Greetings, Programs!
No Comments | Posted: May 15th, 2006 | Filed under: UncategorizedTo the seething masses visiting from Kung Fu Monkey: howdy! My name is Kevin Church. I write about comic books far, far too much on my own site and I put words in people’s mouth for the brand-new, all-original Nitroglycerin strip over at the BOOM! studios website, which is drawn by the far-too-talented Benjamin Birdie.
Anyway, explore the archives and kick the tires a bit. Holler at me if you need your drink refreshed.
Best. Thing. Ever.
No Comments | Posted: May 14th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Genius Covers Sunday: Space Western
No Comments | Posted: May 14th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Kirby Saturday: The Blue Beetle
No Comments | Posted: May 13th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Working for the Fox Feature Syndicate, Kirby earned $15 a week drawing the adventures of The Blue Beetle under the pseudonym Charles Nicholas. Other pseudonyms used by Jack for his work for Fox and the Eisner and Iger studio include Jack Curtiss, Teddy, Ted Grey, Curt Davis, Lance Kirby, Bob Brown, and Fred Sande. It was while doing this material that he met Joe Simon and the rest is pretty well documented.
An Important Message from the American Bar Association.
No Comments | Posted: May 12th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Can you imagine anybody saying that sort of thing in a regular workplace? Let’s try a similar scenario in the average office, shall we?
Boss: Does anybody know where Elaine is?
Worker: I dunno! Maybe she’s put peanut butter on her crotch and is waiting to see if any dogs come by!
Boss: You’re fired, John. Meet security at your cube.
As a socially progressive hero, Green Arrow surely knows that this sort of behavior only makes for an uncomfortable working environment for all parties involved. Aquaman now has the stigma of being called a fishfucker (yes, I know, porpoise!=fish), Wonder Woman (for example) now wonders what animals she’s accused of consorting with, and nobody wants to confront Ollie on this because they probably haven’t written up this sort of behavior in the JLA employee handbook.
This website goes into the importance of a sexual harassment policy and item number one is:
If your company does not have a sexual harassment/discrimination policy, get one fast! The policy should communicate that the company is taking a “zero tolerance” approach toward sexual harassment. Have an attorney review it, and make sure it gets out to all your employees either through the employee handbook or in memo form. Have the employees sign it to acknowledged that they received and read the policy. The policy should be verbally communicated to all new employees, and can even be posted in the workplace. If you have employees whose primary language is not English, have your sexual harassment policy translated or communicate to them in their primary language.
To this, I say a hearty “Hear, Hear!” Making anyone uncomfortable in the workplace for anything other than their incompetence is unacceptable and deserves more than a healthy amount of scorn. If I were Batman, I’d bring in the Wayne Foundation office policy manual at the next meeting and use that as a basis for an addendum to the JLA charter to cover behavior such as this. Then I would kick Green Arrow in the throat.
Zero tolerance, indeed.
Random Notes From Some Of This Week’s Comics
No Comments | Posted: May 11th, 2006 | Filed under: UncategorizedSo, the big buzz book for this week has been DC’s 52 and not even I, Captain Contrarian in these matters, can complain overly much about the end result. Sure, there’s some clumsy bits here and there (wallowing in Ralph’s misery may be necessary for later events, but I really didn’t appreciate it for whatever reason) but overall, this is a very competently done, not flashy-at-al book that does exactly what I expect. Dan DiDio should get some sort of special Stan Lee Hypermeister Award for his afterward to this issue, though. Saying “redefining what readers should expect from comics” instead of “tweaking a superhero universe yet again while trying a different storytelling technique than the bog-standard norm” indicates that he’s learned valuable lessons from his marketing team. For a much smarter and more in-depth look at the book, check out Douglas Wolk’s dedicated blog.
Speaking of bog standard, Jonah Hex had another issue that was meaner’n a sack a’ cut snakes. Maybe with Luke Ross’s departure from the title, Palmiotti and Gray will experiment a bit while (hopefully) maintaining the quality that has made this a series a favorite among right-thinking individuals such as myself.
The other day, I described BOOM! as a company that produced high-quality pop comics. While not everything they produce manages to capture that blockbuster-with-brains mentality that follows the mold created by movies like Aliens and Raiders Of The Lost Ark, I am generally impressed with their output. The latest venture from the company, Cthulhu Tales takes the Lovecraftian mythos and lets guys like my internet pal John Rogers loose on them. It’s to Rogers I want to direct a question: What the fuck is wrong with you, amigo? Man alive, I wanted to crawl under a table and hug myself after reading “Quality Time,” where you and Andy Kuhn managed to make sure I never, ever attend a school play, ever.
Besides Rogers, two other highlights include Andrew Cosby’s collaboration with Lee Carter, “Witch Hunter,” which read like a first issue for the medium’s next Hellblazer and the hilarious “Cthulhu Calls,” where Mark Badger cartoons the living hell out of a hilarious Casey Grey script. I don’t think either participant in the latter would have hit the heights they did without the otherand I look forward to future collaborations.
I also got a chance to look at the FCBD books and I’ve got just one thing to say to publishers about the whole lot: I don’t care if you’re giving me the goddamn comic for free, I just expect the copy to have been given at least one pass before the book went out to print. Many books were sprinkled with misused words, where “it’s” and “you’re” replaced their soundalikes and even a basic spell check seemed to elude the staff. Still, Free Scott Pilgrim was a hoot and Fantagraphics and Adhouse made fantastic showings.
Blade Runner Again.
No Comments | Posted: May 11th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
Here’s the opening theme(5mb) to Blade Runner. Vangelis may get knocked like his name is Yanni by certain people, but this score is a very innovative piece of film music and is considered a touchstone among electronic music boffins like myself.
Rutger Hauer Bonus File
Rutger Hauer’s most famous monologue plays over the beginning of “Tears In The Rain”(4mb) from the soundtrack.
Super Disco Bonus
Download Cosmic Baby’s trance version of the film’s main theme(9mb), which still gives me a goofy kick.
Right-click to download. All files are 192kbps MP3s.
He say Blade Runner.
No Comments | Posted: May 11th, 2006 | Filed under: Uncategorized
From the Marvel Comics adaptation.
Script by Archie Goodwin, art by
Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon.
