Review: X-O Manowar #39

X-O Manowar is a series I’ve jumped on and off of for both review and reading. There’s always something to bring me back and with this latest storyline “Exodus”, I became very curious as to what’s going on in the story. Before I get into that I wanted to talk about what I like about Valiant and their continuity as it reminds me a lot of what Marvel was like ten years ago before the movies really started to effect the way they handled their books and publishing schedule. Now, Marvel almost regroups after each yearly event. They need that event otherwise writers get too far ahead and leave readers behind.

With Valiant’s, everything is happening at the same time, but rather than throttle back a story for an event, they either let a series breath and continue or plan far enough ahead that the series lines up with the event. This has been done numerous times, so many that you can basically pick any series and there will be an example. The event doesn’t reset or pull every title up to the same exact point, but rather just remind you that this is a shared universe and events will affect the landscape of everything from time to time.

That brings be to “Exodus” which has nothing to do with the Book of Death which is running right now as well. That doesn’t mean that this story isn’t important, just that the story happening in X-O was more important to the series than a tie-in… something every publisher could learn from.

XO_039_COVER-A_SANDOVALTo put it frankly, the Vine have returned to earth and to X-O’s chunk of land. They view him as their savior and they want their remaining people to land to settle alongside Aric’s people. The problem being that there are thousands of them. It has this tip of the hat to District 9 in a way, but then it all goes terribly wrong because that’s not how Robert Venditti works.

It’s how it goes wrong that’s really interesting. A pilot that’s been named a war hero is suffering from PTSD of the alien variety and let’s be honest, I think most people would have this in general if aliens just popped down and started killing people by the thousands or it would be like Alien Nation. The point being is that this one pilot changes the landscape of Aric’s world.

That is definitely one of the stronger aspects of Venditti’s writing on this series, each story arc feels important to the world. And it really feels as if any storyline could at any point play an important role in the character’s development. Comics have so few surprises now-a-days. If you’re going to change a character dramatically you can expect a press release or a spotlight in USA Today or the NY Times, you know, news jurnos that take on heavy comic stories. It’s just nice to be surprised by a story in which the driving force is a pilot with xenophobia.

Rafa Sandoval continues to be one of the best penciler’s in Valiant’s stable of talent. In general I think that Valiant has great art and that they seem to have found artists that want to continue working with them rather than straying to other publishers for perhaps better pay or the chance to illustrate a character that everyone and their mother has done to death on DeviantART. Sandoval’s illustrations are clean and detailed bringing a realism that’s needed for this iteration of X-O.

He doesn’t do this alone though as inker Jordi Tarragona keeps the artwork clean and the shadows to a minimum. I hate over done shadowing unless that’s the intended style of the artwork. Another player in the process is the talent Brian Reber. I don’t know how long Reber’s been in the biz, but he’s definitely gotten my attention more and more since joining Valiant as one of their best colorists. Overall the art team is synced up and producing great visuals.

In my personal opinion, if you know anything about X-O Manowar, it’s enough to be able to jump on the series at the start of a storyline. It’s not going to perfectly recap the series for you because no comic really is. Even a numbering reboot doesn’t ensure that you’ll know what’s going on in story, but with the start of “Exodus” it’s a nice place to jump on and get back in the mix of things with X-O.

Score: 4/5

X-O Manowar #39 Writer: Robert Venditti Artist: Rafa Sandoval Inker: Jordi Tarragona Colorist: Brian Reber Publisher: Valiant Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

Review: 2000 AD - Prog 1943

... holy crap Henry Flint and Rob Williams are doing fantastic work on Dredd. "Enceladus: Old Life" has been consistently awesome, but if you want to take a peek at short-form, episodic storytelling at its finest in the comics medium, I think the best single example of that so far in this series occurs this week.  It's not just about how much happens in seven pages, but, more importantly, how that stuff happens in seven pages.  At a nice, steady pace, seven pages in a story, even with this much excitement, can be presented in a way that is visually dull.  It's pretty easy, actually, and I see it all too often: familiar page layouts recycled again and again.

Not in this series.  Every single layout Flint puts together is for a reason and the often disheveled qualities of these layouts pair perfectly with the steadily developing chaos that Williams is building with this story.  Add in a lovely little flashback sequence which is elevated by D'Israeli drawing the panels in a contrasting, black-and-white style, and you have a very special chapter of Dredd.  I will continue ranting about this arc long after it's finished.

2000-AD-Prog-1943I believe I compared Helium to The Spire once before, but the parallels keep getting stronger both in story content and quality of its presentation.  Both series are set in societies that are oases juxtaposed with less-fortunate societies on their outskirts.  Both feature female leads who hold positions as police in the main city despite being outcasts from the races beyond the walls.  Both feature stellar artists, lively color work, and feature a level of world-buildery a notch above their contemporaries.  Pretty interesting.

In any case, Helium lacks the space to build a world quite as expansive as The Spire, but this is where the comparison breaks down, since Helium deserves nothing but praise for the amount of familiarity it has managed to lend to such a new world in such a short span of time.  This week, in just a single chapter, this series has managed to communicate the nature and gravity of the situation without moving the characters more than a few feet.

This week also contained a Future Shock and it was a wild one.  I'm having trouble deciding exactly how deep the concepts are in this one, but with visuals from John Higgins, it's a unique experience.  I will definitely be on the lookout for more of writer Sally Jane Hurst because even though it wasn't a shock per se it's a gorgeously rendered little story with a focused style that likes to marinate in your gray matter long  after you read it.

Score: 4/5

2000 AD – Prog 1943 Writers: Various Artists: Various Publisher: 2000 AD Price: £1.99 (Digital) £2.49 Release Date: 8/12/2015 Format: Weekly; Print/Digital

Review: The Eltingville Club #2

If it hurts while reading this issue, then you know that you’re probably relating to one or more of these characters in the worst possible way. In fact, it’s a hard issue to read because Evan Dorkin holds a mirror up to the entirety of comic fandom and says, “Look at what you are.” Now granted, not every comic fan stereotype is represented in this comic, social media has changed the landscape a great deal and conversations of the past two years have seen a shift in attitudes and acceptable behavior for comic fans. But that doesn’t mean that these four archetypes don’t still exist.

I didn’t think there would ever be a second issue of The Eltingville Club. Not because the story couldn’t continue, but Dorkin did such an amazing job of nailing the fandom previously that you had to wonder what was left to say? Plenty actually.

The story jumps ten years into the future after our comic shop fire which resulted in the Eltingville Club disbanding. We start with Bill at San Diego Comic Con… which should give you more than enough food for thought on what Dorkin has left to say. He’s approached by Jerry and invited to meet some “industry people” for lunch. The “industry people” turn out to be the other two members of the disbanded club, Pete and Josh. In case you forgot, they all hate Bill.

The-Eltingville-Club-#2After that is a rather sad look at how people get into this industry as each character explains what they went on to do and none of it is flattering or really has any meaning to the real world. I particularly had a gut check on Josh’s story since he started a comic site because he couldn’t get in the industry and ended up just kissing ass. Ouch much. After that the story dissolves into the usual chaos, but a chaos that you’ll never really see coming since it’s just fucking nuts.

I love the mirror that Dorkin holds up to the fandom. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned running a comic website, it’s that you don’t get far not kissing everyone’s ass and that basically everyone reviewing is actually trying to get into comic publishing (with a large exception of the writers on this site). Dorkin also nails the ridiculous criticisms about “Fake Geek Girls” and cosplayers as well. Sadly, Dorkin nails the typical fandom response so well that some might not see the satire in the conversation, that Dorkin is not actually condoning this type of behavior which is why the story elevates to a crazy level of ridiculousness. Though I doubt every reader will see that and instead just laugh and think, “this is exactly like me and my friends!”

Which is terrible since Jerry’s girlfriend nails it when she asks if they were ever really friends. Friends like this are poison. Poison to the nerd culture and more importantly to each other, though Dorkin does make a point in that even without each other they’re still pretty terrible.

I feel obligated to mention something about the art, but really does “Evan Fuckin’ Dorkin” need feedback on his artwork? No, he doesn’t. I enjoyed the large crowds and how Dorkin captured the true vibe of San Diego Comic Con, even if I didn’t believe that these assholes would actually get one of the highly coveted lunch tables at the convention center.

Once again I don’t know how much Dorkin has left in the tank for these characters. I imagine that there’s still enough going on that he could easy pump out another issue, but I have to imagine creating something like this is as painful as it is fun because at the end of the day your kind of criticizing the very people that you’re asking to buy the book and hoping that they get the joke… ie, themselves. This is billed at the final issue… but we’ll see.

Personally I enjoyed the book, but I can laugh at myself. I hope that Dorkin keeps that mirror polished and does some weight training so he can keep holding that mirror up when needed.

Score: 5/5 (Oh no, I’m an ass kisser!!!)

The Eltingville Club #2 Writer/Artist/Creator: Evan Dorkin Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/5/15 Format: Print/Digital

Review: Arcadia #4

Everything just seems messed up in Arcadia. But I guess that is what you get for saving the human race by making essentially robot copies of the “real” humans and not trusting a damn one of them. Now it is time to find the glitch in Arcadia. Why has one of their own died when they are supposed to live forever? By while Pepper and his pals search for these answers, Arcadia already has an answer; Pepper. And I don’t think their problems will be much of a problem anymore. Arcadia has a lot of different stories going on, although the characters are all connected in this comic. So with this connection, you can understand certain character’s motives. Lee is fighting for his family. He is trying to find out from Corey, who seems a little more than insane, the root password. I think these robots are the one real thing I can’t get a full read on. Sure you want to hate Lee right away because he is Pepper, but for some reason you don’t, at least as of now. Maybe he has more feelings than he thinks. I don’t know. Then Sam is the same way. She is this badass who hates Mr. Binetti, but you have to remind yourself that she isn’t the real Sam. But then again, maybe this is what you are supposed to be toying with, obviously Pepper is.

Arcadia-#4That all brings me to Coral. She is on a mission to save her parents and protect her brother at all costs. But we all know her brother is going to get involved soon. He will have to, but for now Coral is trying desperately to keep him at a safe distance. Unfortunately, the rescue seemed to come a little too late. No one dies in the Garner family, but something much worst.

This whole issue keeps you on edge. Just when you think something bigger couldn’t possibly happen in the next few pages, it does. Alex Paknadel draws in the audience with every plot twist. His way of splitting up the stories into this different places with different people but then having them all connect at the most hideous times just makes for great suspense. Plan and simple, I wish more people were writing like Paknadel is.

With Paknadel writing so many different stories in so many different places, this is a chance for Eric Scott Pfeiffer’s art to really stand out. And, of course, it does. He creates so many unique characters, such as Mr. Binetti. Probably everyone’s favorite. He has this robotic skeleton scare to him. And then there is just this mysterious internet control that should be hard to draw on a page, but again Pfeiffer does it well. He makes it feel like magic with the purple colors and the waves of codes or shifting IP addresses. It makes the whole story come alive and jump out at you.

I have no complaints about this comic. I also think that the story is more real than any other futuristic story out there. And Paknadel focuses on it all without getting lost. He shows us the emotional side of a family while dealing with the social changes in the United States. I look forward to every single issue and you should too, because damn this is getting real.

Score: 5/5

Arcadia #4 Writer: Alex Paknadel Artist: Eric Scott Pfeiffer Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

Review: Adam.3 #1

When I read futuristic island utopia about Adam.3, I pictured a Wakandan level of grandness. The thought of an impending apocalypse to a technologically advanced jungle Eden is an interesting grab. The scope of Adam.3 isn’t quite so grand, focusing on an isolated family of three, living in a beautiful jungle landscape with a set of twins on the way. Instead of a Doomsday, our main character, Adam, is limply dealing with the worst case of puberty fueled rage since... well maybe ever! The pubescent nightmare is the obvious, notable threat but somewhere, out in the ether, is a larger, grander danger. Through the first two chapters (issue #1 is actually 2 chapters) not much about this nature bloodening power has been established; in fact, the biggest take away from any of the stories various conflicts is the lack of a firm parenting hand from Adam, despite his overwhelming physical strength.

Adam.3 #1Oh, and there’s animals. Adam is able to talk to all types of creatures! And these creatures are where the artwork really shines. Scott Kolins clearly loves to draw animals and it shows with some impressive line work, splashed with a Mononoke flourish at one point. Our animal friends are not characters of substance, however, and most all of them speak like they were written from a particularly childish and sunny Disney film, but at least they look good and I’d be willing to bet they will be capable of some kickass things... eventually.

The beauty of both the landscapes and the animals really stand out against the ho-hum human character models. The humans (Adam, his wife Skye and his homicidally hormonal son Beo) are all professionally and cleanly drawn, but with only three human characters in the whole story so far I would expect them to really pop off the page.

Kolins wants to establish a doomsday for Adam’s utopia and I have no doubt he will. In this first issue, Adam.3 leans a bit too hard on vagueness to build up the plot, only managing to muddy the waters and delay the story from really finding it’s pace; not to mention keeping me from engaging more fully. Some of the local jargon used by Adam and the other characters also pulled me out of the story once or twice.

Though playing with some fun ideas, Issue #1 adds up to nothing more than a fair start. There is enough cleverness here to reasonably hope for better as we get deeper into the story.

Score: 3/5

Adam.3 #1 Writer/Artist: Scott Kolins Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 08/12/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital

Review: Americatown #1

Americatown #1 is impressive visually, but ultimately marred by its clunky, anachronistic, tone-deaf handling of the relationship between the United States and the issue of immigration. Here is one of those times where I wish publishers would go out on a limb and be more granular with their credits.  Sure, experienced television screenwriters Winters & Cohen most likely put together a tighter script format than other creators not used to writing comics; but, I can't help but think Irizarri deserves a lion's share of the credit for composing these really solid page breakdowns.

Irizarri and Battaglia make one hell of a pair.  If you peep Irizarri's inks, you see a sometimes dense, but always clean approach to characters and locales, frequently packed with just enough detail to make a page pop.  Add in Battaglia's work, and you're riding a rollercoaster of colors.  If you decide to pick up this comic (or already have picked it up), once you've finished reading, un-focus your eyes and just scan every page top-to-bottom, from start to finish.

I can't stress enough in my reviews how important it is to signal themes, characters, and locales with colors, and Battaglia does a great job of this.  It doesn't hurt that within many panels Battaglia breathes a particular kind of life into Irizarri's otherwise stiff inks.

Nearly all of the credit I'm giving this comic is owed to the visuals, with some credit due to bare-bones script stuff like pacing (which is no surprise given the collective resumes of the writers).  Unfortunately, as a comic book coming out in 2015 about immigration and tied explicitly to the United States, Americatown #1 falls flat on its face.

This is a book about a future in which America sucks, so some people immigrate to other countries, illegally, in order to find work and send money back to support their family.  And the main characters are white.

Americatown-#1Sigh.

Why?  Is this a script that needs to be flipped?  Here's an idea: make these characters Latino and you can tell a story about how after years of fighting for an opportunity to earn a living in America, the American Dream failed them and the struggle continues.

Here is where you say, "Austin, you can't criticize them for the story you wanted them to tell."  That's true.  But by making the family white, the writers have committed an error that makes it hard to absorb this story.  The fact that this story reads like dystopic fiction at all is sort of disturbing specifically because this story is about America and centers on a white family.  After all, what's so dystopic about other places in the world having opportunity besides America?  The dystopic qualities of this world are awkwardly predicated on an American Exceptionalist streak the reader must bring to the table.

Thus, this comic comes off like a faux-patriot's tragic wet dream of the future.  It at least sounds a little interesting to test the boundaries of the American Dream, but this comic opts to chauffeur a very stale 1950's Walt Disney conception of the American Dream over two decades into the future.  Here is a quote from an interview the writers did at USA Today:

Winter says one question throughout informed the idea from the beginning: "Is the American Dream a portable one? Can it flourish abroad or must it reside within the borders of America proper?"

By asking the above question and having the family be white, the overall theme of this comic strikes uncomfortably close to, "oh my God are the white people going to be okay?"  It is tremendously hard for me to suspend belief and enjoy this story in a bubble when my government--the government of the United States--is deporting record numbers of people and creating a massively racist shit-tsunami of fear and danger at the border and beyond.

I can't in good conscience sit and read a story that hypothetically asks "in the future, what if this was us?" when the subject matter--the animus, the racism, the violence, the death, the squalor, the unfairness--when all of this shit is real, I can't sit and enjoy some futuristic Think Piece about immigration that uses such an imposing, soul-crushing problem as a foundation to make people with brown skin the bad guys.  That's fucked.

Score: 2/5

Americatown #1 Writer: Bradford Winters and Larry Cohen Artist: Daniel Irizarri Colorist: Marco Battaglia Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Mini-Series, Print/Digital

Review: The Beauty #1

Set in a world where an STD that makes people look beautiful has been contracted by half of the population, The Beauty takes a look at our obsession with appearance through a dark and slightly twisted science-fiction filter. Needless to say fans of the TV show Black Mirror will feel right at home here, but honestly I’d recommend this comic-book to anyone who likes good science fiction, because this is a very strong first issue indeed. The story unfolds from the perspective of Detectives Foster and Vaughn; at the beginning of the issue they’re called in to investigate the sudden death of someone with the beauty, who seemed to spontaneously combust from the inside. This is particularly alarming news to Vaughn, one of the few people to have contracted the disease by sheer accident. What follows is part police drama, part science fiction, with a dash of horror thrown in for good measure. Writers Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley push the plot along at a fast pace, while still taking time to properly introduce the main cast of characters. The pair gives us just enough hints and clues to ground us in this potentially thrilling mystery, but don’t by any means place all their cards on the table. This combined with a fantastic last page reveal leaves you awaiting the next issue of this series with great anticipation, as there is huge potential for The Beauty to go from strength to strength.

Beauty-#1The art duties are carried out by Haun who does an excellent job in making the world of The Beauty look and feel much like our own, thus making the story feel very much grounded in reality. Haun’s art is really brought to life by colorist John Rauch who uses shadow very effectively to create an eerie sense of foreboding throughout the issue. Another clever use of colour can be found in the way that all people infected with the beauty disease have a brighter skin tone than those without it. This was a small touch, but I found it really helped build the distorted reality in which this story is set.

The Beauty #1 is one of the most promising debuts of the year so far. With some believable characters making up the cast, an intriguing mystery developing and some beautiful art to top it all off, I’m very excited to see where The Beauty goes next. If you’re a science fiction fan then you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not picking this book up.

Score: 5/5

The Beauty #1 Writers: Jeremy Haun, Jason A. Hurley Artist: Jeremy Haun Colorist: John rauch Publisher: Image Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

Review: Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War #2

Hal Jordan and the crayola-verse have entered the universe explored by Capt. James T. Kirk and the Starship Enterprise. All the rings have flown off to find their new bearer and lines have been drawn in Star Trek/Green Lantern #2. A ship without power, a Klingon holding the power of Fear, and a crew who has no idea why their uniforms have changed colors, and why they’re glowing and flying. Both Hal Jordan and Captain Kirk have their hands full to deal with. Hal wants to get ahead of the rings still missing a hand to go with (insert Beyonce joke here).

Captain Chang has figured out how to make constructs, and makes a Parallax-like monster to finally destroy the USS Enterprise. Luckily for Hal, none other than Chekov, powered with the blue light of Hope is able to administer the power to the ship so the Green Lantern can focus on the giant yellow construct in front of him. In the meantime, the red ring of Rage and the Orange light of Avarice find themselves a host. As Hal Jordan is dealing with everything, he asks himself a question, if Ganthet, him, and the rings made it to this reality, who else did?

Once again this issue misses the mark, unfortunately this time it did so in both the writing and the art. There’s a lot of talking in this issue, even more so for unnecessary things. I understand giving me an introduction to the characters and the races who become red and orange lanterns, but as a Green Lantern reader, I don’t really care for the politics of each race, instead of spending 2 pages on their political climates to see them turn into greed or rage filled creatures in the last panel, I’d rather see a page of introduction, then a page of what they do with their newly found powers; something that would make me go “Oh shit! if they did that to their people. What’ll they do to our misfit band of intergalactic heroes?”

ST-GL02-coverAAnd there’s my biggest beef with this issue and probably this entire mini-series in general. Almost everyone who got a ring is male, except for Uhura who got the Sapphire ring. Are you serious? The one girl who is chosen and she’s given the Star Sapphire ring. It’s one of the most blatant “Well, she’s the girl so she has to get the power of love, right?” How about mixing it up a little? One of my biggest complaints about Star Trek Into Darkness was turning Uhura from a strong female character who can stand on her own and reject sleazebags like Kirk into an overzealous girlfriend who existed almost solely to be angry at Spock or just worry about his well-being.

Mike Johnson putting the Sapphire ring in the only woman in this comic feels cheap and terribly thought out. I’m not saying there is no bases to make Uhura a member of the Star Sapphire, but when the rings are coming from a universe where John Stewart, the architect, war veteran, Green Lantern, and killer of not one but TWO planets, is also a Star Sapphire; where the leader of the Indigo tribe is a female; and where a very powerful princess is ranked among the Red Lanterns, slapping rings on all males except for Uhura feels not only like a regression, but it might as well have been given the ring to Nichelle Nichols.

Bones, the healer and carer for the whole crew could have easily been a Star Sapphire as well, Uhura would be perfect as a member of the Blue Lanterns since she always works for diplomatic ways to solve conflicts. Show me a female Romulan getting the red or Orange ring. Hell, throw the house out the window and make Spock’s human side so filled with love that he’s deserving to be a member of the Star Sapphire. All of these could have been better options to what was done in this comic.

The art suffers from the same issues I mentioned on my last review. And they’re more noticeable now that they have the rings and should be succumbing to their emotions. Colors on the other hand, are beautiful, Alejandro Sanchez knows very well how to make the page vibrant with the contrast of the different lanterns battling each other.

Score: 2/5

Star Trek/Green Lantern: The Spectrum War #2 Writer: Mike Johnson Artist: Angel Hernandez Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez Letterer: Neil Uyetake Publisher: IDW/DC Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital

Review: Hero Cats of Stellar City #7

What the what?! A new cat is being introduced. Yeah, the cover says it all, so I am not ruining anything for you. I have to say that Bandit looks pretty freaking cool (although if you’ve been keeping up with Hero Cats then you probably recognize this feline), but still has that cool cat vibe going on. Can’t wait to dive into this issue and you shouldn’t wait either. So let’s talk about Bandit before we jump into the issue. He is more of a tech cat. Although not as advanced as Rocket, Bandit uses his tech for the fight rather than for the data. Not to mention that at the end of this issue, we get some pages about just how cool Bandit’s gear is. He is smart and witty, and of course Ace doesn’t trust him. It is suspicious that this new cat just showed up all of a sudden when needing some help to solve a case, but with his flashy charm you soon forget that Bandit isn’t part of the team.

That brings me to the real plot of this Hero Cats chapter; The Crow King. My one big thing about Hero Cats is the inconsistency in the storyline. I wanted something to stick, and Kyle Puttkammer wanted some introductions and some teasing of a supervillain before jumping in... well now I am certainly hooked. I think this will give fans something to hold to and keep them buying issue after issue. Bandit is actually the dude that knows The Crow King, and he doesn’t seem like the nicest man in the world. To be honest, I don’t know if he even is a man. It looks like he is half bird and half man, so that should be interesting moving forward. You’ll have to keep on reading to see what will happen to this dude.

Herocats #7The real star of this issue is the art! I can’t get over how awesome every panel, splash page, and color is. The artist behind this series, which consist of Marcus Williams, Ryan Sellers, and Omaka Schultz, have taken the superhero cat to a whole new level. Down to the little things, like the cats’ expressions. You can see when Rocket is excited, Cassie is upset, or Ace is angry. Having all these different cats has got to be crazy, but everything is balanced so well. Every cat gets a chance to shine and it all falls in place.

All in all, if you have been jumping around on Hero Cats, or haven’t tried it all, this is a great jumping off point. We get about a page of background to get you up to date, but who I am kidding? If you love cats, it doesn’t matter about background so much as it does just awesome cats doing awesome things. Did I mention lasers are involved too? Williams and Sellers put an all-out battle scene in this issue, so you get a little flavor of how cool the ultimate showdown will be. Honestly, the action is so cool, you will think that it is a final showdown. On top of lasers, there are cats, cats with rockets, feathers, flames, and a whole lotta other things to get you pumped. Plus, with a team of cats, you jump from action to convos to action again. The pace is fast and the reading is addictive. Just pick up this issue of Hero Cats already and watch your feline instincts come alive!

Score: 4/5

Hero Cats of Stellar City #7 Writer: Kyle Puttkammer Artist: Marcus Williams & Ryan Sellers Colorist: Omaka Schultz Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

Review: Vampirella/Army of Darkness #2

I did this to myself.  Ultimately, when I look back on the pain and misery this book makes me feel I have nobody to blame but me.  I saw it on the call sheet, I requested it and I read it.  TWICE!  But I wanted to see if they would redeem the wretchedness of the last issue with some kind of brilliant twist.  They did not, instead they plot magic’d Vampirella and made her normal again where she proclaimed her allegiance against the Deadites.  Ash is still a misogynistic jerk and Vampirella is a cardboard cutout.  I think all the research that went into finding Ash’s character and voice was perhaps done by watching a music video featuring clips from the Evil Dead movies.  I can’t imagine how anyone could get the character this wrong unless they either knew nothing about the character or picked up on all the wrong things about the character.  One panel he’s saying something totally not funny, the next he’s pushing a woman back into her room by the ass, the next he’s totally serious, the next a coward, the next a bad-ass and the next he’s Dynamite’s answer to Deadpool.  As a character, tonally, he’s all over the place.  Who is this person?  There’s very little consistency and what is consistent is loathsome. My honest to god hope was this asshole pretending to be Ash was going to be murdered in panel one of this issue with Vampirella taking on the Ash role against the Deadites.  Maybe even dress her in the Ash outfit, there’s a little more dignity in a button down denim shirt and a pair of brown corduroy’s.  She could have drank his blood and taken on aspects of his personality.  Ash’s love interest in the first issue is clearly repelled by him so maybe with Vampirella toning down Ash’s personality the two of them fall in love or something, anything else.  All that would have been at least interesting to see and then she could go up against Evil Ash so you still have the Ash/Vampirella dynamic.  As it is it kind of feels like we have Evil Ash as our protagonist.  He is stupid and belittling and entirely unlikable.  Vampirella, looking and acting somewhat like Ash while wielding a chainsaw would at least be something kind of new.  This isn’t new and if it could be categorized as new then it’s just vomit.  New vomit is still just vomit.

Army of Darkness Vampirella #2The book tries for humor in a couple of spots and while those moments may have worked in a better written book I hate everything that’s going on so much that I just can’t find them funny.  The comedic action is a bit of a double edged sword in that with no dialogue and large panels full of ‘humor’ the book flies by.  A good third of this book is just panels of ‘comedic action’ so you can cruise through it without having to be bogged down by pesky things like ‘story’, ‘plot’ or ‘characterization’.  This is a good thing if you’ve volunteered to read and review it and you just want the pain to end.  It’s kind of a bad thing if you paid $4 for an entertaining experience because there is not $4 of entertainment here.

I liken reading this book to taking a dump after you’ve held it in too long.  Like the urge wasn’t great enough to interrupt your work day so you just held onto it until you got home.  Then you ate and changed and finally you decide “Alright, I need to just make time to handle this.” Because while it’s not urgent you can’t really sit comfortably or go to sleep.  So you go to take this dump and it’s just built up around the middle from compressing against your back door all day and it starts easy but quickly becomes painful and suddenly it feels like all the air has been driven out of your body through your asshole and you can’t breathe to catch it again.  You’re face twists in agony, your hands reach out to grab something because you feel your whole being may be sucked into the toilet by the force of this one shit.  Then you push and your eyes tear and you feel a moment of indescribable pain and then it’s done.  You’ve passed a log of shit the size of your arm, sideways, and the relief that washes over you, nothing has ever felt as good as you not passing that massive crap.  You catch your breath, smile and you sleep.  You sleep the sleep of the just.  This book is that shit, nothing feels as good as finally being done with it.  Don’t read this book.

Score: 1/5

Vampirella/Army of Darkness #2 Writer: Mark Rahner Artist: Jett Morales Colorist: Morgan Hickman Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital

Review: Harrow County #4

To put it frankly, Harrow County #4 plays it safe. The ending is interesting, but everything leading up to it is pretty timid compared to the first three issues. It’s not bad by any means, but if you really enjoyed the first three issues of Harrow County, then you might be left with an overwhelming feeling of “heh, well at least it’s going somewhere interesting…” The story starts off with Emmy alone and crying, but with a four-eyed Minotaur looking haint stalking her. Their conversation isn’t necessary to the story and is only used to push Emmy in the road at the right time. She’s picked up by the town pharmacist who pretends to be ignorant of the situation until he drugs her. Then there’s a bit of a reveal afterwards, but aspects of this where previously revealed if you caught it before. Emmy’s character develops a bit and then we’re left with an almost happy ending.

Harrow-County-#4This issue feels rushed compared to the other issues from writer Cullen Bunn. It’s almost as if the editors asked him to end it in four rather than letting Bunn go five or six. Again, it’s not bad, but it wasn’t exciting. It wasn’t creepy as hell like the other issues. It was just a conclusion with a solid cliffhanger to bring you back for more and I will be back for more.

Tyler Crook delivers on the art. The visuals are still very strong even if the story is more on the safe side. The four-eyed Minotaur is more cool looking than creepy, but I’m hopeful that he’ll play a better developed role in the story going forward. In particular I enjoyed the way that Crook illustrated the flashbacks. It felt and looked different from the rest of the story. It was as if we were whisked away by the character’s story rather than just reading an info dump.

This is a rather short review because there’s not much to say and what does happen shouldn’t be spoiled. Telling you wouldn’t really be interesting either, but just picture a happy ending here and you’ll basically be right. I was left curious about the next issue though so we’ll see what Bunn and Crook have in store for future issues of Harrow County and hopefully they can stick the landing with the next arc.

Score: 3/5

Harrow County #4 Writer: Cullen Bunn Artist/Letterer: Tyler Crook Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $3.50 Release Date: 8/12/15 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

THE TIMBER hits BD & DVD October 6th

Set against the harsh backdrop of the 1898 Yukon, Josh Peck (Danny Collins, The Wackness) and James Ransone (Sinister, Inside Man) star in the apocalyptic Western-thriller THE TIMBER, debuting on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD October 6 from Well Go USA Entertainment. In the Wild West, two brothers embark on a journey to collect a bounty in a desperate attempt to save their home: but what they find along the way is more than they bargained for. Directed by Anthony O’Brien (Perfect Sport), THE TIMBER also stars Elisa Lasowski (Eastern Promises), Mark Caven (Maleficent) and David Bailie (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise). Bonus materials on THE TIMBER include two featurettes exploring the creation of the “Gunfight” and “Nightmare” sequences, interviews with actors Josh Peck, Elisa Lasowski and Julian Glover, as well as commentary with Director Anthony O’Brien.

3D-Ocards-TheTimberSynopsis:

1898. Alaskan frontier. Two brothers, balanced on the knife’s edge between foreclosure and salvation, head deep into the wilderness in an attempt to execute a warrant in hopes of saving their home. Torn from their family, they face harsh elements, crazed men, and death at every corner in pursuit of the outlaw, a twisted man who has turned the Yukon Territory into his own personal hell. THE TIMBER captures the mania, starvation, swindles, hardships, and dangers that were part of the late 19th century’s historic rush for gold. This is a story of greed, betrayal, and redemption in a place where bloodshed was common and graves were carved in ice.

Bonus Features Include:

  • Audio Commentary with Director Anthony O’Brien
  • Behind the Scenes:

o   “Gunfight” Featurette

o   “Nightmare” Featurette

  • Interviews with Cast:

o   Josh Peck & Elisa Lasowski

o   Julian Glover

THE TIMBER has a runtime of approximately 80 minutes and is not rated.

For more information, please visit www.wellgousa.com.

Blu-ray DVD
Catalog #: WGU01642B Catalog #: WGU01641D
UPC Code: 812491016428 UPC Code: 812491016411
Pre-Order Date: 9/1/15 Pre-Order Date: 9/1/15
SLP: $29.98 SLP: $24.98

It Was Ms. Scarlett, In The Study, With The Atom Paperweight...

Seriously if you buy these then your spouse has ever right to kill you with it and then get away with your murder because all they would have to say is, "Well he bought an Atom, Arrow and Flash paperweight, but I ain't never seen that mother fucker have a stack of paper worth keeping down."

Here's some real info on these gems of the Nile.

From Diamond Comics:

Organize your workspace with new PREVIEWS exclusive paperweights featuring popular DC Comics heroes from The Flash and Arrow TV series. Created by Icon Heroes, these hand-painted, high quality resin statues are available to order from the August PREVIEWS and are sure to save your office from being ordinary. The paperweights are scheduled to release in comic book specialty shops in late November 2015.

Keep your papers from flying away next time a superhero races through your office with the collectible Flash statue paperweight. Featuring the likeness of actor Grant Gustin from the CW’s sensational breakout hit, this paperweight features the Scarlet Speedster in motion, getting ready to take off to save the day again.

The Arrow statue paperweight will certainly hit the mark for Arrow fans. Featuring Oliver Queen’s costume from the first season of the hit TV show when he was just known as the “Hood,” this paperweight is painstakingly modeled after Stephen Amell and is well-equipped to pin your papers into place.

Finally, fans will love feeling their clutter shrink with the Atom statue paperweight. Modeled off of Brandon Routh’s portrayal of the Silver Age hero Ray Palmer in both The Flash and Arrow, this paperweight would be perfect for fans eagerly anticipating the upcoming show DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

  • Flash TV Statue Paperweight (Item Code: AUG152807, SRP: $50)
  • Arrow TV Season 1 Statue Paperweight (Item Code: AUG152809, SRP: $50)
  • Atom Statue Paperweight (Item Code: AUG152810, SRP: $50)

Each statue paperweight is exclusive to comic book specialty shops and available to pre-order at any comic shop from page 598 of the August PREVIEWS catalog. Find a shop at www.comicshoplocator.com.

CBMFP 197: You'd Fuk That Hair

Let me tell you all... this has been a hell of a weekend! We did this podcast twice. Fucking Twice! For whatever reason the computer really fucked up the first one, but I've slapped it on the end of this episode in case you want to listen to the same thing basically twice. Frankly, I thought the first one was great and I didn't want to rob you guys of some good material. Otherwise just tap out after the first half. As for news... Fantastic Four and the X-Men dominate the news. Well pretty much anything Fox is coming up... Deadpool. Also Affleck's pushing movies back for Batman...

Books covered on this episode:

CBMFP-ep-197

Last time on the CBMFP...

New Attack on Titan Trailer Shows More Munching

It's also for a more mature audience in Japan. Not quite a red band trailer, but we're getting there. I'm looking forward to this film, I just hope it isn't like the typical film adaptations in which they change parts of the story and you're left wondering why they changed something that would totally work for the film and kept other things that don't at all. Fingers crossed.

NASA Teams With 'Star Trek' For New Credit Cards

NASA Federal Credit Union announced today the pending launch of a series of Star Trek credit cards. The Star Trek credit cards, under license by CBS Consumer Products, will provide unique rewards of Star Trek merchandise and experiences – in addition to the outstanding value of the current NASA Federal Credit Union Platinum Advantage Rewards credit card program. Star Trek Card Mockups V1“We’re excited to offer these new cards to Star Trek enthusiasts to express their support every time they use the card,” says NASA Federal Credit Union President & CEO, Douglas Allman. “We hope fans will take advantage of this exciting new benefit while also remembering that, as NASA Federal members, they can take advantage of a full array of financial services designed to save them time and money.”

The four new Star Trek Platinum Advantage Rewards Credit Cards include: the Starfleet Academy Alumni, Starfleet Command, United Federation of Planets, and the Captain’s Card. All of these credit cards will be available this September. In addition to exclusive Star Trek merchandise and experiences, all four cards feature a competitive interest rate, no balance transfer fee, and a very generous rewards program.

Star Trek fans may become NASA Federal members and apply for the new cards online at nasafcu.com/startrek or by calling 1-855-369-NASA (6272).

Crossy Road Launches Clothing Store

The official merchandise store for mobile gaming phenomenon, Crossy Road, has launched online, offering fans around the World the first and only place to buy officially licensed merchandise. www.crossyroadstore.com hosts a range of officially licensed clothing for adults and children with several gifts and accessories soon to follow, all featuring characters from the game.

Andy Sum of Hipster Whale, the creators of Crossy Road said “We’ve had a lot of requests for Crossy Road t-shirts and clothing and now we're excited to bring this range to all our players.”

Attracting over 90 million players since it’s launch in November 2014, Crossy Road is now one of the hottest mobile games around today, drawing inspiration from games such Temple Run and Flappy Birds. With a high demand for branded merchandise around the World, the decision was made to launch an official web store to cater for the game’s ever increasing legion of fans.

Matt Haull of Hipster Whale said “We think there’s something for everyone in Crossy Road and we have worked hard to ensure that universal appeal is evident in our clothing range as well as our game.”

Catering to an international player base from day one, the website will launch in a multitude of languages including; English, Spanish, Italian, French and German, with Korean, Chinese and Japanese translations to follow. The site will also offer a free Worldwide shipping service and the option to pay in one of thirteen different currencies.

Fans can go to www.crossyroadstore.com now and buy official Crossy Road merchandise as well as registering for updates, competitions and special offers at www.twitter.com/crossyroadstoreor www.facebook.com/crossyroadstore.

Mobile Gaming Studio HUTCH Release Revved Up WWE Edition of MMX Racing

Get Ready To Rumble! HUTCH has announced the release of WWE vs. MMX, available now via the App Store and Google Play as the latest instalment of their flagship title MMX Racing. For the occasion, the studio have added brand new features to MMX Racing’s already addictive gameplay, including an all-new car crushing mode, destructible track objects and pyrotechnics, bringing the game to a whole new level. All this on top of eight brand new, fully customised trucks inspired by WWE Superstars and Divas including Stone Cold Steve Austin®, John Cena®, Triple H®, The Undertaker® and Paige®, as well as a bespoke WWE racing stadium with new tracks to master!

With benchmark graphics and adrenaline-filled excitement, MMX Racing is the best monster truck game you’ll find anywhere. With unique gameplay and a thrilling multiplayer mode introduced earlier this year, it has already achieved more than 15 million installs, reaching the Top 100 Grossing Overall Apps and Top 5 in the Racing Category Grossing Charts. And this time you go up against your favourite Superstars and Divas!

Speaking about the WWE partnership, Hutch’s CEO and co-founder, Shaun Rutland, said in a statement: “We’re incredibly excited to be able to announce the release of WWE vs. MMX. Having been huge fans for decades, the fact that we can now add our favourite Superstars and Divas to MMX Racing is very much a dream come true. We hope players everywhere take up the chance to join in the fun of the multiplayer game and see the community grow and enjoying the game as much as we do.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with Hutch and bring WWE’s larger than life Superstars and Divas to the highly successful MMX Racing franchise,” said Casey Collins, WWE Executive Vice President, Consumer Products. “This new action-packed racing experience will provide fans around the world with a chance to engage with WWE talent in new and exciting ways.”

Download WWE vs. MMX via the App Store http://www.appstore.com/mmx and Google Play http://bit.ly/1ubBXAc