Comic Nation

DARK HORSE COMICS’ OWN RESIDENT ALIEN! THE DOCTOR IS IN!

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Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse bring their epic Dark Horse Presents tale of an alien hero named Harry to a fully fledged series beginning with Resident Alien #0!  

“I blame Steve Parkhouse. Having collaborated with him long ago on a couple of stories for The Dreaming, I was keen to do so again—and anyone who’s ever seen Steve’s work (on The Bojeffries Saga or The Milkman Murders, to name but two) already knows the reason why: he’s stunningly good,” stated Hogan. “We introduced our friendly alien to the world in the pages of Dark Horse Presents last year, and those installments have now been collected into Resident Alien #0. Over the next few months, you’ll learn a bit more about Harry and his supporting cast and watch as he attempts to catch a murderer—and that’s just for starters. This alien is here to stay.”

A stranded alien seeks refuge in the small town of Patience, USA, where he hides undercover as a semiretired doctor, masking his appearance using his unique mental abilities. Now known as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle, all the alien wants is to be left alone until he’s rescued. However, when the town’s real doctor dies, “Dr. Harry” is pulled into medical service—and also finds himself smack dab in the middle of a murder mystery! He’d rather be fishing. Acclaimed creators Peter Hogan (2000 AD, Tom Strong) and Steve Parkhouse (Doctor Who) deliver a truly unique sci-fi adventure tale!

Resident Alien #0 is on sale April 18, 2012.

Resident Alien #1 is on sale May 23, 2012.

Preview! Ice Age Iced In (kaboom!)

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By Chuck Suffel

From kaboom! studios:

“Everyone’s favorite sub-zero heroes are back you won’t want to miss this. ICE AGE: ICED IN reunites prehistoric friends Manny the wooly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the smilodon, Scrat the “saber-toothed” squirrel, and the rest of your Paleolithic pals in one big unforgettable icecapade. Venture out into the wild and pick up the only comic that gives you a license to chill!”

If you read this site you’re familiar with my quest for interesting all ages comics. I’ve brought my daughter up on Tiny Titans, Scooby Doo, as well as Mark Mariano’s HappLoo (more on that in a later post) and she’s thoroughly enjoyed all of it. This month I may have found something new to add to her collection.

I loved the Ice Age movies, it’s hard to believe the first came out around ten years ago (2002), when I saw this title in my Boom! previews I knew I had to have a look. The book looks great, the transition from moving to non moving imagery was done perfectly. The panels flow well and they were even able to tell the usual Scrat parallel story seamlessly.  The characters work well in this medium and their mannerisms and voices are true to the films.

The only complaint I had was that the story was a too short, too simple. We read comics every month that pack drama and fun into 32 pages, this was written down to kids. What made these characters great in three separate movies was more than just Manny and Diego busting Sid’s chops or Sid acting like a lovable idiot, it was the challenges they faced and how their friendships grew. That was what made them interesting and lovable.

I would even go as far as to say if this is going to be someones introduction to these characters, don’t do it. Watch the movies, any of them, first then come back to this. If this were an ongoing series I could forgive the simpleness of this issue and hope for character and story depth later on but this isn’t being presented that way. So my resulting opinion has to be good book, could’ve been much better, wish there were going to be more but if this is being put out to test the waters? They severely underestimated the intelligence and depth of their audience.

Will my daughter read this title? Let me put it this way, she’ll be at the comic shop on February 1st, I’ll point it out. She likes it we’ll buy it, there’s no good reason not to. I just wish it were better, I wish it was one of those books I couldn’t wait to hand her.

ICE AGE: ICED IN
Written by Caleb Monroe
Drawn by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb
SC, 32pgs, FC, SRP: $3.99
COVER: Liam Sharp
ISBN: 9781608862528
Diamond Code: OCT110938

 

Follow Chuck on Twitter @Chuck_Suffel

VALEN THE OUTCAST #3 in stores Wed Feb 1st! (Boom! Studios)

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By Chuck Suffel

VALEN THE OUTCAST #3 (COVER A)
Written by Michael Alan Nelson (@roquesdoodle)
Drawn by Matteo Scalera
Cover (A) Liam Sharp
SC, 32pgs, FC, SRP: $3.99
Diamond Code: NOV110826

In a recent review I was lamenting an issue number 4 of a book that had so much plot exposition there was nothing else to the book and after I finished it I still didn’t feel like I had a grasp of what was going on.

Well that’s not a problem here! Valen The Outcast is definitely plot heavy fantasy with all the weird unpronounceable names we’ve all come to expect but it’s done right. The story was really easy to get into and follow. I’d never even heard of this title before this issue and when I finished number 4 I felt I knew the characters, the world and how it worked. Not only that but I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

From Boom!:
“The King is dead — long live the DEAD KING! King Valen Brand was a just ruler and a great warrior until he was killed in battle by the necromancer Korrus Null and resurrected as one of the walking dead. Now he’s considered an abomination in his own realm, an outcast with only one purpose: to restore his lost soul… Valen has slaughtered his former allies, assembled a ragtag band of renegades and smugglers, and cut a path through his war-torn kingdom as a dozen armies vie for his old throne. But when Korrus Null’s right-hand man finally catches up with him, will Valen fall back under the Necromancer’s wicked control? From the mind of fan-favorite creator Michael Alan Nelson (28 DAYS LATER, ROBERT E. HOWARD’S HAWKS OF OUTREMER) and DEADPOOL artist Matteo Scalera comes OUTCAST, a visceral new ongoing series that’s perfect for fans of Game of Thrones and Conan!

Sounds good right? It really is! The writing is very smooth, character interactions work well and the plot moves nicely. It’s fun to read a book that knows what it wants to be. As for the art, I loved Scalera’s work in Knights of the W.T.F. and while this is a different style his detailed beautiful drawings coupled with Archie Van Buren’s (Stan Lee’s Soldier Zero) inks are just wonderful.

Here’s Matteo Scalera’s cover:

As it says above in the blurb from Boom!, Valen Brand was king, and a good one. First killed and now resurrected he’s on a quest to restore his soul, and his kingdom. The ragtag “team” described above, at this point, consists of a hill-girl and a brigand. Both are solid well nuanced characters and I hope they both stick around a while. I don’t want to spoil the story so I’ll just say it’s a forest chase with all manner of dangers, some from the forest and some from the evil that’s hot on Valen’s tail.

Here’s twos page from the preview just to give you an idea of the art:

Pick up this title or at least check it out at your local shop, it’s a well done addition to the sword and sorcery genre. And check out the links below for the artists’ and writers’ sites, they’ve got some more pages from this and other issues posted!

Micheal Alan Nelson’s blog mansmachinery.blogspot.com

Matteo Scalera’s blog matteoscalera.blogspot.com

 

Follow Chuck on Twitter @Chuck_Suffel

 

Winter Soldier #1 Spoiler Free Review

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by Charles Suffel

 

Well tovarich (can tovarich be plural?) my secret contact has supplied me with the upcoming Winter Soldier comic and let me tell you it looks good! As evidenced here in the preview pages posted by Marvel.

First thought when I saw it was: hmm… ok looks good but what can they really do to fix all the silly Bucky is Cap was The Winter Soldier stuff they pulled? I guess time will tell.

They’re employing a kind of crime / spy story vibe, the visuals carry it well…

On to the writing and story, no sorry you’ll get no spoilers here. This cold war style romp teams up Black Widow, Natasha Romanov, and Winter Soldier, James “Bucky” Barnes, on what seems at first to be a chase to locate the rest of the Zephyr program, sleeper agents sent to the US for who knows what nefarious purposes. Will they catch up to whoever has the sleepers? Can they figure out the target or who could be behind waking the sleepers?

The dynamic between Natasha and Bucky has worked in the past and this time is no exception. Their relationship reminds me of what Green Arrow and Black Canary’s would be if they could cut out all the guilt and bickering. Every time DC puts those two together in a book you get like three pages of good story and the rest is all… Sorry for the tangent as I was saying, Natasha and Bucky work well together and they really play up the stealthy spy stuff in this first issue, as well as a little happy adult time. The plot moves smoothly along bringing the reader deeper into what was Bucky’s past as a Soviet agent and starts filling in the blanks right away. I haven’t read Captain America in a while so I don’t know how much was revealed concerning Bucky’s past and only recently did Black Widow get a mini showing some of the stuff she’d done for the Russians so this series definitely hooked me quick. The first issue gives us a good grasp of the what and why of it all and has a great reveal in the last pages.

It’s good to see that they haven’t abandoned Bucky after his stint as Cap and I’m always happy to see Natasha in a series. I have a funny feeling this will be a series I’ll follow for a while, I mean c’mon its Ed Brubaker if he can’t make espionage interesting then who can? Artist Butch Guice has long been a favorite of mine, his work on Ruse (Crossgen) with Mark Waid is still something I reread regularly. This first issue is a little murky at times, though that may have more to do with the fact that the action takes place at night. I’m waiting to see how issue two looks before passing judgement on the art.

This book doesn’t hit stores till February 1st. That’s more than enough time for you all to get down to your local comic shop and pre-order it!

Winter Soldier 1
Format: FC, 32pg., COMIC
Price: $2.99
UPC: 75960606876000111

 

ADVENTURE TIME #1 SELLS OUT! GOES TO SECOND PRINTING

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KaBOOM!, BOOM! Studios’ all-ages imprint, is proud to announce that eight days before the first issue goes on-sale ADVENTURE TIME #1 has completely sold out of its first printing, sending best pals Jake and Finn into a second print!

Fans should keep in mind, while Diamond Comic Distributors is completely sold out, first printings of ADVENTURE TIME #1 may still be found at a direct market retailer near you when the issue goes on-sale February 8th. Not sure where to find your nearest comic retailer? Use www.comicshoplocator.com to find one!

Diamond Comic Distributors is making the second printing of ADVENTURE TIME #1, featuring an all-new cover drawn by Chris Houghton, available for retailers to order immediately.

ADVENTURE TIME #1 is the first installment of the exciting new ongoing ADVENTURE TIME series written by Ryan North (DINOSAUR COMICS) with cover art and interiors drawn by Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb (THE MUPPET SHOW, ICE AGE: ICED IN) with a back-up story by Aaron Renier (THE UNSINKABLE WALKER BEAN) and alternate covers by Jeffrey Brown and Chris Houghton.

In this first issue of ADVENTURE TIME join Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, and Princess Bubblegum for all-new adventures through The Land of Ooo! The top-rated Cartoon Network show now has its own comic book! With the show exploding in the ratings, garnering rave online reviews, major cosplay at the San Diego Comic-Con, and huge displays dominating the New York Comic Con, it’s clear fandom is obsessed and 2012 is the Year of Adventure Time! Don’t miss out on the phenomenon!

REVIEW: Sumomomo Momomo

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By Jeff Steward

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3OY0H102O_c/TyGvkm87hzI/AAAAAAAAAbk/in2rddmiQGY/s1600/Sumomomo+Momomo.gif

Sumomomo Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth


Written by: Shinobu Ohtaka Published by: Yen Press(USA) Young Gangan(JPN) Genre: Martial Arts, Romantic Comedy Volumes: 12

Synopsis: Momoko is the only child of the Kuzuryuu clan, a powerful martial arts family with inhuman strength. But strong as she is, her father fears a woman will never be able to master the skills of the family. Unless Momoko marries and bears a capable heir, the Kuzuryuu line is doomed to weaken and die off! With this mission in mind, Momoko is sent to the rival Inuzuka clan, where she is to marry the son of their mighty leader. But Koushi Inuzuka abandoned the martial arts long ago. Now committed to his legal studies, the last thing Koushi has on his mind is marriage — especially not to the world’s strongest bride!

Review:

So I picked up the first five volumes of Sumomomo Momomo when Borders was closing down having no real idea what the series was about beside marital arts. I like romantic comedies and I like marital arts but somewhere along the line the story just kind of died for me, it felt like a loop for about two volumes. Someone shows up they fight, girl proclaims loves for boy, and boy rejects girls’ advances… Blah blah blah… Luckily it picked back up and the story got interesting but by that time I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. The art work is solid and the characters are well drawn. Fight scenes are cool and have some nice action but nothing is outstanding about them. Sumomomo Momomo is a decent love story and a decent marital arts story and doesn’t bring anything new to the table or do anything to overly impress. OtakuStew.net gives Sumomomo Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth…

The whole thing is just kind of average, I was hoping more from the story and even though it’s not a great series I will continue to read it.

 

Follow Jeff on Twitter @CrazedOtakuStew

SUPURBIA flies into stores in March!!

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What goes down when the capes come off? This March, BOOM! Studios debuts SUPURBIA — written by Bleeding Cool’s Grace Randolph (Marvel’s NATION X, HER-OES) and drawn by red hot artist Russell Dauterman — a new series that features the secret lives of the world’s greatest heroes’ spouses!

Housewives to the all-powerful tell all! We all know that behind every great hero is the woman or man who makes their world run. SUPURBIA tells the other side of the superhero story… and a whole lot more. This 4-issue series brings you a can’t-turn-away look at the private lives of superheroes and the drama, conflict and outrageous behavior of their everyday lives. When the hero’s away…

“So often in superhero comics, the girlfriend or boyfriend is left totally in the dark and unable to participate in their loved one’s heroic activities.  But in the real world, significant others not only know what their other half is up to, but they have an opinion!” said writer Grace Randolph.  “These couples have a fabulous and fascinating mix of ordinary problems seen through the superhero lens, and superhero problems seen through the ordinary lens.  However, what really makes this book soar is that with BOOM! I’m able to push these characters in directions that the bigger publishers simply can’t or won’t.  See your favorite archetypes explored as you only wish they could be and should be.”

“Superheros are an institution in comic books. It’s always fun and interesting to tell a story that shows a different side of the genre,” said BOOM! Studios Editor-in-Chief Matt Gagnon.  “Grace’s writing is top-notch. It delivers all the drama of a really juicy tabloid story.”

Meet the Real Housewives of Earth’s greatest super-team, the Meta Legion! It’s the egos, the tantrums, and the betrayals of the super set. Find out what happens behind the masks as superhero families are faced with the sordid problems of everyday life — and then some! This series takes the familiar super-team and turns it on its head with a scandalous, TMZ-fueled look at what it’s like to live with a superhero! Let the battle for the neighborhood begin!

SUPURBIA #1 by writer Grace Randolph and artist Russell Dauterman will ship in March, with an Alè Garza cover and 32 pages of story for $3.99 carrying a Diamond Order Code of JAN120927 .

 

Review: Conan the Barbarian #1

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By Alex Vazquez

Conan the Barbarian #1brings us Robert E. Howard’s short story, ‘The Queen of the Black Coast’, in highly demanded comic form. To my knowledge, I haven’t read the original, but given how well Dark Horse handled King Conan (another great adaption of an REH story) I feel I am in good hands.

Most of the story in this issue is told in retrospect by the characters and serves as set up for thing to come. Moreover, it manages to be entertaining without any sword fighting or bloodletting (a feat for any Sword n’ Sorcery tale). I attribute this to Wood’s excellent character writing. He presents a young and very charismatic Conan whose rebelliousness is tempered with signs of greatness. I instantly found myself wanting to adventure with this Cimmerian lad.

Becky Cloonan’s art suits this point in Conan life. She draws us a more svelte hero in his early twenties, not the one with the gigantic mirth we have come to know (damn you Frazetta and Arnold).

Dave Stewart’s colors area appropriately morbid, especially in the pages where we glimpse the Black Coast Queen in question (drool). If she doesn’t haunt your dreams then you are no barbarian (I chide, I chide).

If you’ve never read the short story, then you owe it to yourself to pick this series up. Know ye now, O Prince!

Follow Alex on Twitter @Nettomono

John Romita’s The Amazing Spider-Man: Artist’s Edition in Stores February 1st!

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IDW and Marvel present classic stories, all scanned from original art

 JOHN ROMITA’S THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: ARTIST’S EDITION is the next book in the ongoing Artist’s Edition series from IDW Publishing. Collecting six classic issues from Romita’s stellar run on The Amazing Spider-Man, each and every page scanned from the original art and presented at full size, the same as it looked on Romita’s drawing table.

“It’s such a treat to put these books together and be able to get up close and see pages by great artists, like John Romita,” said Artist’s Editions Editor, Scott Dunbier “His work is so precise and clean, he is one of the true masters of the Silver Age of comics.”

As Harry Knowles of Aintitcool.com wrote, “Track this puppy down–go down to your local comic shop and pre-order it. You don’t want to try picking this up on the second hand market.” John Romita’s The Amazing Spider-Man: Artist’s Edition is in stores on February 1st.

What is an Artist’s Edition? Artist’s Editions are printed the same size as the original art. While appearing to be in black & white, each page has been scanned in COLOR to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art—for example, you are able to clearly see paste-overs, blue pencils in the art, editorial notes, art corrections. Each page is printed the same size as drawn, and the paper selected is as close as possible to the original art board.

Previous Artist’s Editions include DAVE STEVENS’ THE ROCKETEER: ARTIST’S EDITION and WALTER SIMONSON’S THE MIGHTY THOR: ARTIST’S EDITION. The ROCKETEER ARTIST’S EDITION won two Eisner Awards last year, for Best Archival Project and Best Design.

JOHN ROMITA’S THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: ARTIST’S EDITION ($100, hardcover, black and white, 152 pages,) will be available in stores in February. ISBN: 978-1-61377-144-0.

Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its top-selling books.