smitten

She says I look like James Dean.

self-publishers anonymous

The first issue of SP! Nexus is out, as of this past thursday. Although I was unable to contribute to the debut issue of the relaunched megazine, I am listed among the contributors. But look for articles and reviews from me in upcoming issues...

Part of the same growing network that includes Dimestore Productions, the Self-Publishers Association, and the Small Press Idol competitions, SP! Nexus aims to cover much ground, under the current and ongoing leadership of Erik Hendrix.

So for those interested, the iss is available for free download hereabouts:

http://www.selfpubmag.com/site/start.htm

a Stiletto in space

Stiletto #1
Created, Written & Illustrated by John B. Lai
Published by Ultimate Comics Group

The fully stacked red-haired wonder, Stiletto, is an intergalactic stripper. As in, this is strictly an adults-only title, but a fun one at that. Lighthearted cheesecake with a penchant for scrounging up trouble, Stiletto is a girl who seems able to handle herself in any given situation, but what she wants most is to just find her way back home.

In this new and hopefully ongoing series, Lai (whose work I have followed for awhile, since I interviewed the man almost a year back) unleashes a dynamo of a heroine in Stiletto. Giving us a science fiction comedy with tongue firmly in cheek, we meet the buxom lady and her pet pup Rigby, who can change forms into the kind of doggie one would rather not deprive of treats. Dealing with pervs at one club, the two flee hoping to score some coordinates from a pair of nutty alien techs. Wackiness ensues, full-on.

Lai is Editor In Chief of the UCG line, their lead writer as well as handling an increasing amount of the lettering and colouring himself in the books. With Stiletto, he fully unleashes himself, debuting full line art that shows true photoshop savvy while coming across with a playful, digital look. His lady is sexy, his aliens are kooky, and his exploding planets are exploding planets. He has really cut loose his inhibitions on this book, obviously having a blast with the raunchy humor and leftfield scenarios. Here's hoping the party never stops.

Issue one is out now, and I hear iss two will follow shortly. If you are looking for a light read, a welcome escape via nipple plenitudes, this comic is worth your dime, worth your time. Of course, although there are no outright sex scenes, there is strong enough innuendo to warrant reader caution. Naughty words, too.
So you just know I liked this one.

http://www.ultimatecomicsgroup.com

tick tock

The clock is pounding, the days flying by as my soon to be relocation from this hellmouth approaches.
I have tried rallying the troops, specifically the local comic book community, for assistance, to generally deaf ears. Am I resented, for my willingness and ability to leave this place? Is whatever strength I possess being lamented before I am even gone? Or is it the air, the genepool, the overall mood of lazed ignorance that wholly infects each and every local pending enough time wasted in this dead and dying part of the country?
And there is a dramatically limited worldview common here, as though this city were in fact some remote island on a far away planet in a lonely galaxy somewhere else entirely beyond the realms of reason and logic. Outsiders are feared, in the form of a quiet spite. I have died here myself a thousand times over the years, murdered by persons both foe and friend. How dare I. How dare I try with every iota of my being to live a life of virtue and ethics and morality, and free will. How dare I thrive on imagination and individuality and intelligence. Such things are outlawed here in the bible belt.

Good fucking riddance, no matter how the one and only attempt at rescuing any of my remaining belongings tomorrow goes. My meager possessions that I will shamelessly sacrifice if it means washing my hands of this place, of these self-possessed people, for good. Forever. Good riddance to utter rubbish.

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
-Oscar Wilde
Lady Windermere's Fan, 1892, Act III

the end is near, hard-boiled style

The Last Days Of American Crime #1 (of 3)
Written by Rick Remender
Illustrated by Greg Tocchini
Lettered by Rus Wooten
Edited by Luis Reyes
Published by Radical
Covers by Alex Maleev and Tocchini

Remender's Last Days Of American Crime iss one is a whiskey-stained bit of hellfire and shell casings of an opener. The Federal Government is soon to zap the country with a psychotropic broadcast that will supposedly nullify criminal urges throughout the US of A. To help downplay the expectantly riotous response to such a plan, a cover-up scheme is set in place so as to coincide with the day wherein all paper money will be officially replaced with electronic funds. However, news of the hidden agenda hits the open and people everywhere cut loose with the sinning before free will becomes a thing of the past. Enter Graham Bricke, a roustabout career criminal with a mug only his senile ma could love. Bricke has enough old scars to know he could never swing a Fred Rogers kinda life, so he needs one more score- one more big score- to set himself up for good.

Honestly, I sat on this review for awhile, unsure how to go about this, to do it justice. Remender has shocked me with his very modern and politically-savvy crime noir story. This is easily his best work I have yet encountered, so the news of a movie deal already in the works makes a world of sense. His characters here are brutal, damaged goods one and all, from the brutish Bricke to the nympho Shelby to the bloody mess of a guy chained up in a bathtub in the opening scene. This world is harsh and bitter, and the people who inhabit it are survivors. Not meager stereotypes familiar to the genre, they are fully-developed personalities so on the money you may need a stiff drink or three after this series is through, if only to cleanse the taste from your mouth.

And Tocchini...by god if there is any justice in this world, in this medium, Greg had damn well better win an Eisner or Harvey or both for his labours come next year. I told a mutual friend that the art in Last Days is Travis Charest scary-good, and I mean it. There are nuances of John Buscema, Mark Texeira, Adam Hughes, and even Sean Phillips here- as diverse as those styles are, but Tocchini has elevated his own style in these pages, from his previous efforts elsewhere on high to something really special that is going to shock everybody who reads the book. Something about this gritty world of desperate people has pulled him in deep, and the passion is evident in every single panel of every single page. I absolutely love dynamic, inventive layouts and lush page designs, and his angular POV's and smart but flowy compositions, his full process art including the kind of knowing colours that can add dimensions to shadows we just don't see in most examples of Western comic book art...everything is just so perfect, so beautiful, so real. An ugly worldview infused with the grace of hopeless, broken dreamers. There is real intuition in the lines drawn by Tocchini.

And anyone who knows me knows well that I hate to gush, but this work is just tremendous, striking a serious chord with me. Obviously.

As hard and heavy handed as this tale is and will be, of course there are strong doses of sex and violence and language generally unfit for the rotary club types, so be forewarned. For fans of pulpy, suspense thrillers full of the brooding darkness you rarely see outside of the bars where fights break out every other night, this is your shot. Forget Sleeper. Forget the shameful work Remender is doing for the House Of Ideas right now. The Last Days Of American Crime may well have just upped the ante a bit for the whole damn medium. I kid you not.

http://www.radicalcomics.com/

Sidewise

the Sidewise webcomic
Written by Dwight L. MacPherson
Illustrated by Igor Noronha
Published online via Zuda



Sidewise, the creation of MacPherson and Noronha, is an in-progress strip hosted by Zuda. The story of teenager Adam Graham who, while preparing for an examination, inadvertently finds himself stuck in a parallel version of post-Victorian 1902 London. Replete with such oddities as Nikola Tesla cast as a freedom fighter challenging the reign of Queen Victoria's disembodied brain, Graham's new predicament is an imaginative world full of action and mystery.
MacPherson's solemn respect for the English language is terribly refreshing, his wordplay starkly original and self-assured. I have exchanged just enough online contact with the man to verify that he is way smarter than me. Seeing the obvious and dire need for all-ages comic book reading materials, he has infused Sidewise with adventurous charm enough to appeal to younger readers, while inhabiting the character roster with historic and literary references that call to mind a manner of League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen- albeit without the kinks and politics.
Noronha's art is fun and lively. Very animated in feel, much thought was given to the designwork of the automatons and Tesla coils and the like that fill the screens. I'm not as familiar with his work beyond Sidewise, but I would like to believe that such efforts will bring his name to a much larger audience. MacPherson does have an eye for uber-creative collaborators.

I have been vocal in the past regarding my thoughts on Zuda, and wanted to review this work stoically without slipping into a more obvert commentary. Of course there is a place for digital presentations of the medium, and Zuda is certainly one of the larger and more esteemed breeding grounds for such. However, for those followers who have themselves attempted an entry into this world, or with friends who have tried, one is quick to see the status quo therein of a high school popularity contest in full effect. Although, I truly wish that Sidewise, along with other of the more industrious offerings, can continue to rise above and stand on their own two feet, deservedly helping to fill the void of responsible figureheads- as to what comic books in general can be, at their very best. Namely, something for everyone (and even dangerously educational!). So far, so good I am pleased to say.
Sidewise is updated weekly and past chapters are well-worth updating yourself on. I would say the comic strip runs a very close second to my all-time favorite Zuda comic, Gus Higuera's Re-Evolution. Great comics.

See more of Dwight's work here and more of Igor's work here.

Read Sidewise right now at Zuda: http://www.zudacomics.com/sidewise

louevil, kerosene. kerosene, louevil.

Hercules 5

Hercules: The Knives Of Kush #5 (of 5)
Written by Steve Moore
Illustrated by Cris Bolson & Manuel and Leonardo Silva
Lettered by Todd Klein
Coloured by Doug Sirois & Cliff Cramp
Edited by Renae Geerlings
Character (& Logo) designed by Jim freaking Steranko
Published by Radical
Covers by Clint Langley

I am a wee bit sad to see this mini-series finish. I know ongoings are hard to push these days, with many publishers tempting creative teams to think in terms of collectible arcs, but this book really deserves a more regular spot on the stands. My reviews of past issues were from pdf copies, but I admit to then buying real copies myself for my own collection.

That said, there is the expectant big finale. With so many threads to tie up, it is a credit to Moore's skill as a writer, the complete lack of claustrophobic inundation. Things do feel a bit rushed though, as Hercules and the gang resolve the all-out civil war in Egypt, from taking down the major players from the opposing side, to tactically deducing and so dealing with the in-house spies who have been complicating things since the start of it all. Some great fight sequences, and some great character moments, give the reader a terrific conclusion to an extremely well-packaged series. Special brownie points for the Whore of Babylon joke.
The art is as good as it ever was, though like the plot things have the impression of a tight race to the finish line. The linework seems scratchier as the story progresses, though the colorists seem to play into that even more, advancing a gorgeous overall style and a palette as concise as vivid dreamscapes. Bolson and Sirois, I have said before and will say again, are a creative combo turning out some of the most appealing sequential art on the racks today.

And I have not really discussed the cover work before, but Langley gives a double dose this time, showcasing why the talent will be handling full art chores for an upcoming title from Radical. The spirit of Frazetta lives on, indeed.
This is not the first Hercules series from this publisher, and as smoothe as this one turned out I doubt it to be the last.
Praise Bacchus.

http://www.radicalcomics.com/

CARDBOARD GODS

2

Issue two of what is quite possibly the world's only self-published motion comic is out. Cardboard Gods is the pet rock of creators Phil Stark , Ben Sheppard, and Mat Startup, a story of three working class Brits who realize the darkness of waning dreams and awaken to the fullest potential of the untapped pineal scream. Your world is near dead, your culture is a self-mockery. Your job keeps your booze costs high. What do you do, when you realize yours is suddenly the power to pulverize boulders, to soar on high, to burn what is wrong all around you and your pathetic joke of a life?

The story takes us there, and somewhere beyond, as the trinity gather themselves following the barroom brawl of the last iss. This is a plot full of the kind of earnest world-weighing dialogue and in-jokes that only arise among lifelong friends. Exploring the new turns of fate, the heroes push some boundaries, sniffing about to see where the drama might unfold next. Things get broken, paths are considered, and the future opens up to threatening potentialities aplenty.

The art is more than a traditional comic book, veins sucked from the most thoughtfully stylish indie flicks of current years, giving us a multi-coloured ride with the beat of some of the finest songs never composed. Unlike the intelligence-insulting structure and presentation of recent motion comics from the larger publishing houses, roots are remembered well in the digital wonders conducted by Startup here. No voiceovers, no cartoons, Cardboard Gods 2 molests the imagination the way that any rock and roll fantasy really should.

See for yourself here, free of charge and absolutely independent in spirit:

http://www.youtube.com/user/StarmaGFX

and more spooks

FVZA: Federal Vampire And Zombie Agency #2
Developed by Beau Flynn & Tripp Vinson
Written by David Hine
Illustrated by Roy Allan Martinez & Wayne Nichols
Painted by Kinson Loh & Jerry Choo
Lettered by Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt
Edited by Luis Reyes
Covers by (deserving Radical mainstay) Clint Langley & Yang Xueguo
Published by Radical

This, the second issue of Radical's Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency mini is rock hard solid. In all honesty, this is writer David Hine's finest and most elaborate work to date which, considering his growing comics resume, is not a statement to be taken lightly- most especially not from me.
Jumping ahead a few months from the events of last issue, we see so many different sides to this world where zombies and vampires are not only a real threat, but enough to warrant a decades-old government agency setup specifically to deal with the deadly issue. Following a widescale national battlefront and a believed cure, the FVZA were retired in the 70's, only now the threat is borne anew with a topically terroristic slant, calling for agency founder Hugo Pecos to leave retirement and his two grandchildren (who've spent their lives training in seclusion for such extremity) to help lead the rekindled defense. This plot shows us all sides, and borrows heavily from the obscenely well-researched FVZA website which inspired this very series. So much well-thought out science injecting these otherwise tired premises with a real-world and mature edge, casting political agendas into a modernized and credible Masquerade with the zombie plague itself being presented as the penultimate in bio-genetic threats to the global well-being of the living. This is not just horror fiction with a smart science fiction twist, this is action-packed fare with hyper-strong characterizations and a growing mystery exhibiting more intuitive depth than anything involving spandex-clad undead from other current comic books. This series is rocking serious socks, for those following.
The art, as with every other Radical book right now, is insanely top notch, full bleed pictures that blend smart page constructions with digital paintings to give this multi-layered story a three dimensional look in all its bloody glory. So much more than just competent, the Martinez and Nichols and Loh and Choo team are pulling off some truly pretty pages here. Cerebral AND eyecandy, all rolled into one.

This series is just that good. Sure, zombies are everywhere nowadays, while vampires have been reduced exhaustively to a point well beyond obnoxiousness, but this is so much more- something written in an adult taste with a broad enough worldview to host the kind of scenarios and characters that diehard Romero enthusiasts have been wishfully dreaming of for years.

http://www.radicalcomics.com/

Bleed Cool

Good news today.
Months ago, while still Managing Editorizing at ComicNews.Info, I had begun a four-way interview with the creative team behind the Love Buzz original graphic novel that has just been released from Oni. Author Len Wallace along with artists Michelle Silva and Dave Tuney and I worked on this in piecemeal fashion over many moons, despite Len, Dave, and I all residing in the same setting. It turned out great regardless, the book is a fantastic read, and Rich Johnston was groovy enough to run the interview at his Bleeding Cool site.

Check it out!

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/12/16/richard-caldwell-talks-to-love-buzz

Robot 13

Robot 13 #'s 1 and 2
Created, Written, & Illustrated by Thomas Hall & Daniel Bradford
Published by Blacklist Studios

Mignola. You'll read it in other reviews, and upon actually reading the books, there is a strong and inspired bit of Mike Mignola influence employed here, which is by no definition a bad thing. What sets Robot 13 apart however, is the grandiose imagery on almost every page. Big scenes, big creatures, big ideas at work.
Issue one introduces the reader somewhat to this Robot 13 chap, being salvaged from oceanic depths by a crew of fishermen. A derelect monster, a skeleton in a deep sea diver's suit who lies deathlike as a cold machine until the fishing trolley is attacked by a massive tentacled thing right out of Lovecraft. Exploding to life, to action, the inherent hero saves the day in a dynamic slugfest, earning the immediate favour of the fishermen and their wizened captain. Aside from the battle itself, the plot relies more on intimation of mystery called into being by the strangeness of the fighting monstrosities. Robot 13 himself we find, is seemingly as clueless as the captain as to his own origins.
The art is vivid, effectively displaying shadows to add a murky depth to the events of the tale. Unnatural forms, to be sure, in the sense of a Harryhausen comic finally done some level of justice. If only. Nice work, not as detailed in rendering as someone like Guy Davis, but the mood is certainly carried well, and the action is absolutely well conducted.

Issue two deepens the mystery, with implications that this may not be the world we know. In the aftermath of the death of the octopoid thing, our new hero dreams of other places, and soon enough a fiery phoenix attacks the ship further along in its trek. Again, Robot 13 dukes it out with the bird, while holding on adrift in the sky. Falling like an archaic flaming missile, the fate of Robot 13 is ill-announced by the captain, as the mysterious skull in an iron suit is discovered by strangers once more...
The story does expand with this issue, as nefarious faces are shown, and other potential threats look in from supranormal means. Robot 13 is on a quest of self-discovery, but the cards are not stacked in his favour.
The art shines on, with Bradford clearly having a love of the mythic and paranormal. Other times, other lands, and fiends out of the darkest storybooks all have a home here in this title, and the art style used here is a fun rebreather from the homogeneous works all over the mainstream comics on the racks today. I am not familiar with his previous work, if any, but this guy is one to watch.

Robot 13 is presumably an ongoing, published irregularly but with some clear cut passion in the production. Horror meets action-adventure and the supernatural/mythological. Maybe some science fantasy to boot, pending wherever the hell Robot 13 initially crawled forth from into this strange world of his. A fun read, and very unique, I look forward to some longevity for this character and his creators. Lots of positive potential.

http://www.blackliststudios.com

nobody's business

Not been dabbling with yon intrawebz as much of late, due entirely to the strangulations of the poor boy blues. Five months of kicking the dead horse that is LouEVIL, KY, and I am calling it. I have been burned quite enough by the local citizenry, been ripped off and let down by plenty of friends. It occurred to me the other day that I have more bad memories associated with this burg than every other place I have been to throughout my lifetime thus far, in all. So, the wanderlust beckons, the thirst for adventure is screaming in my ear whilst trying to find brief windows to rest my weary bones, and I am off.
I left my job today, the security venture that was the fruit of four months of desperate searching. I aim to leave via the lonely buslines one week from today, quite possibly for good. I will spend the days taking care of certain loose ends, but otherwise catching up on some writing endeavors- especially a big helping of reviews- but also a pair of prose pulp tales which pulptone's Anthony Schiavino and Episodes From The Zero Hour! co-hort Jason Butkowski have been gracious enough thus far to overlook my delinquency in regardance thereof. Kudos also to Radical Publishing's Gianluca Glazer, a marketing and promotions man with no equal, for his belief in my words since parting ComicNews.Info and his patience in my scribing my three cents worth for a variety of fantastic books from his lot.
I do find it funny, as chaotic as life increasingly insists on presenting itself to be, the offers and doors opened for me in the cause of my own chosen career, tradescribing. The future is so big, so damn big.
I also find it funny, how I have lost apartments before over my ready willingness to have my home be a safehaven for those in need, while the past many months have been the complete reversal, with the humiliating experiences of always wondering where I will stay and sleep, how will I eat today, how much more exhausted must I feel compelled to be. Humility is a cruel teacher, always keeping us late after class, always scratching the chalkboard with her erect nipples and even harder demeanor. I have not slept a full night's rest in over a year, maybe two. Is the frustration a kind of penance for sins yet to be committed then? Then sin I shall.

But there is a young lady. I do not wish to jinx what might well come to pass, but I do have something to look forward to. And fully in keeping with the orders of Objectivism, nothing else holds weight by comparison. Like Kundera's Unbearable Lightness Of Being, I find myself indeed aloft. So, I am seeing firsthand once more how strong a catch the wind can be, with my bucket full of caution. Already I feel the twangs of the cosmic geetar, drawing me in with the promise of completion, of a kindred spirit to throw my arms around, willingly. Unabashedly.

In Crowley's interpretation of the I Ching, hexagram 23 means essentially, to destroy the couch. To uproot the foundation, and venture down the road less travelled. Or in zen-speak, to find the answer without asking the question. So I sacrifice everything, as only a freeman can, and I pull my dreams into reality.

Yes, I am smiling right about now. And with good reason.

And Lo Was The Beast...Incarnate

Incarnate #3
Created & Written by Nick Simmons
Illustrated by Simmons & Matt Dalton
Assisted by Nan Kim & Ben Harvey
Lettering by Rob Steen
Colouring by Dami Digital
Editing by Tim Beedle
Published by Radical

And here it is, the violent conclusion to book one of Nick Simmons' Incarnate series, which I was pleasantly surprised by the overall strength and character of.
Character is a very key word here, as things come to a head for the brooding (although painstakingly emotive in the derogative sense) Mot and his young protege Connor in their newfound roles as personal bodyguards for the nymphet daughter of the man raising a private army to enact genocide upon all of the Revenants. The Revenants being a vampiric sub race of demonic mysteries one and all, no longer living but filled with destructive power, and destructive hunger. Last iss saw the core Revenants springing a surprise attack on the Sanctum mansion, with Mot and Connor forced into self-preservation mode in light of being branded traitors by their ilk. Lines are crossed, allies announce themselves, and limbs go flying everywhere in the melee of the over-sized issue's fight sequence. Mot is near death himself, only to explode his true form, complicating the battle for all sides.
Nick is well-versed in the storytelling sensibilities of the more dramatic samplings of anime/manga, with the rhythm of his plot pulsing with the forcibly-induced silence of raw physical power. His characters are all monstrous, even the delectable Sibyl who uses both her illicit age and form to play Machiavelli over poor Mot. And I want to add, their are a few surprisingly adequate lines of dialogue in this issue, with such self-assuredness as to give breath to the scenes therein.

"I won't allow you to die. Not 'til I'm good and ready to kill you myself."

As a mangaka, Simmons is still hard to gauge. Many of the pages seem a bit sloppy with layouts, and with a number of artists also listed in the credits box the jury is still out as to how much of the work he himself can honestly take credit for. Large portions of the book feel less like comic book imagery, even manga, and more like still-frames from anime. For fans of such, this is not necessarily a bad thing, not at all.

The book ends on a strong note of possibility. The ball is definitely rolling, and while allegiances might be on the murky side, many allusions to events centuries past do make for a promise of empowered stories down the line. With so much lost, where do Mot and the Revenants go now? And who stands for what anymore, amidst the political backstabbings and bloodlusting decision-makers galore? And might Mot, as ancient as he is, might he somehow find a spark of his long long lost humanity somewhere beneath the teasing and ego-centric whims of schoolgirl Sibyl? I imagine many readers by now are as interested to find out. Turn down the hype and give the undoubtedly in the works trade a credible read, and I seriously doubt one will be all that disappointed.

http://www.radicalcomics.com/

neo:nuevo

I am working full-time both as a Security Officer and an increasingly heavy in demand freelance writer.

That sounds like a ballsy summary, but by the gods...