Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
Roger Langridge’s charming modern-day fable concludes here, and the ending is just what I expected. (I previously talked about issues #1-3.) I don’t mean that I knew what was going to happen — Langridge is a better storyteller than to telegraph all his twists and turns too obviously. No, what I meant was that I got all the things I wanted from a kids’ adventure tale: excitement, suspense, silly fun, just rewards, a touch of sadness to give it all […]
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DC has provided the following two character pages from Convergence: Superman Man of Steel #1 by Louise Simonson and June Brigman to provide background on John Henry Irons and his super-suit. (Click to see larger versions.) The issue will be on sale on April 15 with a cover (shown below) by Walter Simonson. The description is STARRING HEROES FROM ZERO HOUR! Superman is missing, so now it’s up to Steel to defend Metropolis from the GEN13 kids! and the Diamond […]
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Excited to hear that a great publisher is teaming up with a great creator! Ben Towle (Midnight Sun) will be publishing his completed webcomic Oyster War through Oni Press on September 23 (so it can debut at this year’s Small Press Expo). Preorders are now available. It’s the story of Commander Davidson Bulloch and his motley crew, who set out to capture the oyster pirates who are jeopardizing the economy of Blood’s Haven, town of oyster farmers. However, “Treacher Fink, […]
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When I reviewed the first two issues of this miniseries from Black Mask Studios, I was most intrigued by the cause portrayed. Sarah and Jeanette were aggressive defenders of animal rights, to the point of sabotaging a hunting camp. This put them in life-threatening danger when the drunk, redneck, two-dimensional hunters returned and discovered them. Unfortunately, the second two issues, as written by Matt Miner, turned into a standard showdown that was more blood-soaked than I was comfortable with, interwoven […]
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“The Case of the Mysterious Zita Makara” continues in these issues of the private eye series by Dave Ebersole and Delia Gable. Unfortunately, they illustrate that my expectations for the book vary from those of the creators. Nothing wrong with that, but I was fascinated by putting a traditional noir detective who happened to be gay into the conventions of the genre. Here, instead, we get a horror overlay, as issue #2 introduces a soul-sucking spirit vampire-type monster. I perhaps […]
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The author of the wonderfully imaginative Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson, brought that creativity to the comic strip format during World War II. This first volume of Barnaby contains comics from April 1942 through the end of 1943. Barnaby is a typical boy who’s visited by the world’s strangest Fairy Godfather. Mr. O’Malley wears a hat and trenchcoat and is never seen without his cigar (which he calls his magic wand). It’s unclear, at times, whether he’s really […]
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Now that CONtv is available, the programming announcements are proceeding. CONtv is a digital network for fans created by Wizard World and Cinedigm that can be watched on iOS, Roku, Android devices, and the web. The first episode of Bruce Campbell’s Last Fan Standing, their standout original show, can be seen here without having to sign in. It’s entertaining, and there’s already a second episode posted, with new ones coming each Monday. Here’s a sample clip: Fight of the Living […]
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The first book collecting Katie Cook’s adorable Gronk webcomic is now more widely available in comic shops through Action Lab Entertainment (as announced last year). Gronk is a classic fish out of water. She’s a little monster adopted by Dale after she left the monster world because she didn’t like being scary. The comics mostly cover how Gronk misunderstands or learns something about how humans live. My favorites are when Gronk interacts with the huge dog Harli or the cat […]
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