‘Reborn: Book One’ (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

There is lots to love in Reborn, Mark Millar’s highly anticipated team up with Batman artist Greg Capullo. These master storytellers comment on aging, the afterlife, superheroes and large scale fantasy in a way that only Millar can.

Millar’s strength always at the base is taking a genre and re-presenting it to the comic book masses. From Kick-Ass‘ Spider-Man fantasy to Kingsmen‘s James Bond/Nick Fury spy stories, the genre gets inverted in Millar’s world.

Reborn, is more Excalibur meets Dungeons & Dragons and Conan The Barbarian meets Willow, than it is a story of what might happen when you die. In the battle between Adystria vs. The Dark Lands we’re immersed in a colorful fantasy world with a hero’s journey.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

‘Captain Kid: Super-People Problems’ TPB (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Captain Kid: Super-People Problems
Written by Mark Waid & Tom Peyer
Illustrated by Wilfredo Torres & Brent Peeples
Colored by Kelly Fitzpatrick
Lettered by A Larger World
Published by AfterShock Comics
$14.99
ISBN-13: 978-1935002864
Comixology Digital Release

Today sees the release of the collected edition ofCaptain Kid Vol. 1 (Aftershock Comics) from writers Mark Waid & Tom Peyer. Waid’s collected an impressive creative team, co-writing with The Atom‘s Tom Peyer with art by Wilfredo Torres (Jupiter’s Circle), and Brent Peeples (TMNT). The origin of the story starts with an idea Peyer (Legion of Superheroes, Tek Jansen) had ten years ago, finally bringing the story to light for Aftershock.

What exactly is Captain Kid, you ask? It is Mark Waid doing what he is best at, retelling familiar comic book superhero stories with a new twist. In the vein of Irredemable and Insufferable, Captain Kid takes the idea of your super powerful tight wearing hero but this time, he’s allowed himself to have a bit more fun with the palette.

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‘Black Hammer Volume 1: Secret Origins’ TPB (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Jeff Lemire’s vision of a superhero universe, rooted deep in his indie roots comes to fruition today in the release of the first volume of Black Hammer (Dark Horse Comics).

Drawn with a Mignola-esque sensibility, the art by Dean Ormston (2000 AD, Sandman Mystery Theatre) drops you into this new universe that is as much Kirby as it is Lemire’s own Sweet Tooth.

Let us back up a couple of steps. Why should you read this book about a superhero team from another dimension trapped within a 10 mile radius of a simple farm house?

The answer is simple: This book is very good.

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Geeky Reader: ‘The Official Making Of Big Trouble In Little China’ and ‘The Art Of Big Trouble In Little China’ (reviews) at FORCES OF GEEK

Written by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry
With Forewords by John Carpenter
With Afterwords by Kurt Russell and Eric Powell
Published by BOOM! Studios

“I’m a reasonable guy. But, I’ve just experienced some very unreasonable things”.

— Jack Burton

The story of Jack Burton vs. David Lo Pan is one for the ages, and one who’s thirty year legacy owes a bit to it’s huge budget and legendary director John Carpenter’s overall vision. While it wasn’t the biggest hit at the box office, in fact it only made back $11 million of it’s astounding $25 million dollar budget, Big Trouble In Little China garnered a generation of loyal fans. Those fans regard the movie as a kung fu science fiction masterpiece destined for cable reruns and cult status.

In tandem, we’d like to present to you two books that take you deep below San Francisco and the furies that lay there. BOOM! Studios has released The Official Making of Big Trouble in Little China as well as The Art Of Big Trouble In Little China to reveal on set special effects secrets and in depth interviews with Carpenter, Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall round out editions celebrating this cult classic.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

‘Hype’ (review) at Forces of Geek

Last year, we talked to Jimmy Palmiotti (Jonah Hex, Painkiller Jane, Marvel Knights) about his Kickstarter project, Hype. After the project reached it’s goal, I couldn’t wait to get the full story in my hands. The superhero sci-fi action graphic novel is available next Wednesday, January 24th.

Hype is the story of superhero Noah Haller and behavioral genetics scientist Amanda Marr. What is special about Noah, and the story, is that when his body is activated to perform an essential mission, he’s only given an hour a day to perform that task before needing to recharge and regenerate his cells.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

‘D4VEocracy #1’ (advance review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Written by Ryan Ferrier 
Art/Cover by Valentin Ramon 
Published by IDW Publishing
In Stores January 25, 2017

The third arc of IDW’s D4VE starts in January, picking up when vacuum robot Roombo is assassinated and the world is left without a leader.

That’s where our hero D4VE steps in, hoping to fill in the roll as Earth’s (34RTH’s) savior once again.

From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, D4VE has seen it all, from aliens to time travel to a big black hole threatening everyone’s existence.

In post-vacuum America, can D4VE be the one that makes everything great again?

Time will certainly tell.

The last volume, D4VE2, exalted D4VE to the Secretary of D-Fense. In his off-time, he’s struggling to maintain with his robot ex-wife S4LLY and raise his son, the mouthy and sexually fluid 5COTTY on the weekends. What we have here is Just your typical robot broken home. Why, you may ask, are robots ruling everything? They’ve taken over and beaten the meat puppet humans in an uprising (but not without learning human’s baser instincts and dank meme slang.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Dean Haspiel Bids Adieu To ‘The Red Hook’ (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Dean Haspiel’s latest original comics creation lands on the scrolling pages of the Line Webtoon (browser and app) and introduces a new superhero universe in New Brooklyn. The Red Hook takes elements of Silver and Golden Age heroes, borrows from modern art and takes cues from Scott McCloud’s Reinventing Comics. 

By releasing content weekly, the webcomic is not like anything you may have seen before. The pages tell their story by scrolling continuously from top to bottom on your screen (tablet/phone/computer screen), stopping at the chapter markers.

The setting is New Brooklyn, a borough seceding from the rest of the world that is not unlike Batman’sNo Man’s Land storyline. The American flag has been replaced by a white flag, not of surrender but independence.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

‘James Bond Vol.1: VARGR’ (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

James Bond Vol. 1: VARGR
Written by Warren Ellis
Illustrated by Jason Masters
Published by Dynamite Entertainment
ISBN: 9781606909010 | Price $19.99
Release date: June 22, 2016

Those fans of 007 may not have gotten all they wanted from Daniel Craig’s most recent performance of the MI-6 agent in Spectre last year, but may very well be delighted at what Warren Ellis has been able to do in the comic series from Dynamite.

Ian Fleming Publications and the Fleming Estate commissioned Ellis to approach the character for comics stemming from a licensing deal with Dynamite. The first story art is collected here in one volume, VARGR. Currently on stands is Ellis’ second arc with artist Jason Masters. More writers and artists including Andy Diggle (Green Arrow) will be brought on later this year to fill out more of 007’s modern comic continuity.

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‘The Sheriff of Babylon Vol. 1: Bang. Bang. Bang.’ (book review) at Forces of Geek

The Sheriff of Babylon Vol. 1: Bang. Bang. Bang
Written by Tom King
Illustrated by Mitch Gerards
Cover by John Paul Leon
Published by Vertigo Comics
ISBN: 978-1401264666 | Price $14.99
Release date: July 13, 2016

Crime and war in post-9/11 Iraq is captured in Sheriff of Babylon written by Tom King (Batman, The Vision) and drawn by Mitch Gerads (The Activity, The Punisher).

King draws on his experience as a CIA officer to create a deeply personal rich reflection of the Baghdad of 2004 through the eyes of a former cop and current military contractor Christopher, his Muslim Iraqi girlfriend Sophia and former Iraqi police officer Nassir.

By being exposed to the environment, King has created, along with the carefully researched accuracy of Gerads’ artwork, a military crime fiction of the highest order—it just so happens to be in comic book form.

‘Tetris: The Games People Play’ by Box Brown (graphic novel review) at Forces Of Geek

Tetris: The Games People Play
Written and Illustrated by Box Brown
Published by First Second
Release Date: October 11, 2016
EAN 9781626723153
Price: $19.99

The New York Times Bestselling author Box Brown (Andre The Giant: Life and Legend) returns for his second major release through First Second to be released in October of this year. With herds of roaming purple-eyed glow kids tripping on curbs to collect the latest Pokemon lately, we thought this a fitting time to review the origin of Tetris in Tetris: The Games People Play.

Brown illustrates the graphic novel using two color printing (yellow and black) and a simplistic but humorous style that is uniquely his.

The story of Tetris doesn’t include Man from U.N.C.L.E. espionage, but it does have a dramatic element and compelling story that is difficult to put down.

Back in my day, my family, like Brown’s, all fought over the grey screened Game Boys and this addictive Russian video game, shrunken down from the full color version on our ‘big’ TVs.

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The Cloud GN (book review) at Forces Of Geek

Written by K. I. Zachopoulos
Illustrated by Vincenzo Balzano
Published by BOOM! Studios/Archaia
Pub. Date: July 20, 2016
Price: $24.99
UPC:  978160886725752499
Buy It Here

The Cloud is the latest graphic novel release from Archaia, an imprint of BOOM! Studios. This fantasy world is set far in the future as a boy and his trusty flying wolf Cloud travel to discover the secrets of his father and seek after a totem for wishes.

Come along and get lost in this beautifully delightful adventure story with pirates, defiant pachyderms, and talking statues.

This adventure story of a boy and his wolf will transport you to another world that is familiar but forever changed by the actions of our time. In the future of The Cloud we are left with mountain cities in the sky as the earth below is no longer fit from the actions occurring in “The Great Before”.

Each page of this graphic novel is beautifully painted by Vincenzo Balzano (Revenge: The Secret Origin of Emily Thorne) borrowing thoughtful stylistic elements from the likes of Dave McKean (Sandman) and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Fans of The Sandman: The Dream Hunters will most certainly enjoy this story tonally. The pitch and solicit also make sure to mention The NeverEnding Story a bit and for good reason. Cloud and Falkor have much in common. The boys in both stories are adventurers on a quest.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Review: A Look Back at DARWYN COOKE's BEFORE WATCHMEN at FORCES OF GEEK - COSMIC TREADMILL

Before Watchmen was released in 2012 to the grousing of original co-creator Alan Moore and a blessing from the original series artist Dave Gibbons.

Fans at the time seemed to be evenly split on the matter as well, but greeted the new Watchmen books with the skepticism of a new Star Wars movie. I’d be interested in seeing a Venn diagram of original Watchmen fans and their reactions to both the limited prequel and also Zach Snyder’s 2009 film adaptation.

In short, one would be hard pressed to find a more controversial DC property writ large. One of the men responsible for revisiting the Minutemen was Darwyn Cooke. His untimely passing last week spurred this review, but truth be told we’ve been thinking about these books for a long time.

Darwyn provided both the story and his unique Golden to Silver Age pulp magazine style illustration to Hollis Mason’s story in Before Watchmen: Minutemen (6 issues) and also teamed up with Amanda Conner, co-writing her book,  Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre (4 issues).

If you were on the fence about these books, now is a great time to honor Darwyn’s memory and rediscover this amazing work you may have overlooked.

Back in the 90’s when Swingers was all the rage (yeah, I went there), I would scour my school’s magazine library for gas station advertisements, winking lightbulbs and all sorts of retro design to (literally) cut and paste to make new art.

I was always extremely jealous of that cool style, drawn with a pen, perhaps a wash of a single color and dashes of Tex Avery’s cartoon “The House of Tomorrow”. Nothing appealed to me more than that aesthetic, as I sat listening to the chairman of the board on wax, smoking cigarettes in my fedora, pretending to be an Artist!

Darwyn’s illustration was all of the corny stuff and more, a Mad Men explosion of a simpler time when you could forge a driver’s license with penmanship, rattle scotch around in your tumbler and men tried their darnedest to be honorable. How this man was touched with such incredible skill to make things look ‘older’ we may never know. Except, in the industry he was known as a hard worker, perfecting his craft and always drawing until it was right.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

WONDER WOMAN: EARTH ONE by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette (graphic novel review) at FORCES OF GEEK

DC Comics gave us a sneak peak into Grant Morrison’s Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 1 hardcover coming out in April of next year. It may be a few months before you can lasso this hefty treat into your hands, so we thought we would give you a sneak peak.

The Earth-One series, for comic fans, delivers what the title implies. This self-contained universe allows creators to take on DC heroes under an umbrella imprint that is easy for mainstream audiences to pick up at the local chain bookstore. I’ve been enjoying these Earth One with stories from writers Geoff Johns, J. Michael Straczynski, Jeff Lemire and art by heavy hitters Shane Davis, Gary Frank and Terry Dodson.

Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 1 showcases one of our favorite Grant MorrisonBatman, Inc. artists, the versatile and award winning Yanick Paquette. With Morrison’s plan for icons and superheroes laid out in his book Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero (2011), the Scottish writer’s twirling take on his remaining hero of the DC Trinity, Wonder Woman, is highly anticipated.

Wonder Woman has one of the strangest creation stories in all of comics, the history on psychologist William Moulton Marston, his wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston and live in lover Olive Byrne alone is fascinating. This tryst formulated some if not all of the bondage imagery, ropes and chains often associated with the character.

No bat, no alien rocketship, just good old fashioned bondage and submission bore the child that is the Amazonian princess we know today starting with the character’s inception back in 1941.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE DARKSEID WAR PART 1 (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE DARKSEID WAR PART 1 (review) at FORCES OF GEEK

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Jason Fabok, Various
Publisher: DC Comics
Pub. Date: March 09, 2016
Price: $24.99
UPC: 978140125977852499

Collecting Justice League #40-44,
DC Sneak Peak: Justice League #1

BUY IT HERE

In this week leading up to the biggest DC movie event ever, the debut ofBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (still a mouthful), we’ve got a hardcover release of volume 7 of Justice League from Geoff Johns with art by Jason Fabok.  

Volume 7: Darkseid War Part 1 pits the New 52 Justice League against a reimagined Fourth World and introduces some new and interesting characters for the modern age.

These are definitely comics more skewed toward the longstanding DC Comics fan than the casual reader, but if someone were to wander off of the streets and grab this hardcover in preparation for the movie (a scenario often prescribed by comics journalists like myself, but rarely do the masses imbibe) they may be entertained but will certainly leave with a lot of questions.

Johns, recently announcing yet another ‘Crisis’ aka Rebirth, lays the groundwork for the theory of the DC multiverse in Darkseid War.  Besides the usual cast on the side of the righteous, we see Darkseid pitted against the powerful Anti-Monitor and a view of how these worlds came to be.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

TRIPLE SHOT with a DIGITAL CHASER: Black Magick #5, Army of Darkness Furious Road #1, Street Fighter X G.I. Joe #1 Plus Adventures of Supergirl #3 - Forces Of Geek

EDITOR’S NOTE: This reviewer read an unlettered proof of ARMY OF DARKNESS: FURIOUS ROAD. it is now known that this is not a ‘silent’ issue. The new, Updated TRIPLE SHOT below!

TRIPLE SHOT with a DIGITAL CHASER: Black Magick #5, Army of Darkness Furious Road #1, Street Fighter X G.I. Joe #1 Plus Adventures of Supergirl #3

We’ve got witches, werewolves (not swear wolves), and Ivan meeting G.I. Joe
in this week’s Triple Shot!

Rucka and Scott finish up the first volume of Wiccan detective story Black Magick. 

Over at Dynamite, Ash stars in Army of Darkness and a Clash Sandinista track comes

to life as they team up with Capcom to promote a battle royale game 
Street Fighter V with Street Fighter X G.I. Joe #1. I got next game!

Sterling Gates continues on a very satisfying compliment to Supergirl on CBS
with Adventures of Supergirl Chapter 3 only on ComiXology!

Black Magick #5 
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Nicola Scott
Publisher: Image Comics
Pub. Date: February 24, 2016
UPC: 70985301997800511
Price: $3.99
BUY IT HERE

The latest in this witchy supernatural detective story Black Magick
from the superstar team of Greg Rucka (Lazarus, Stumptown,
Star Wars, Gotham Central) and Nicola Scott (Earth 2, Birds of Prey)
wraps up the first arc before taking a hiatus to get an issue in the can
and to release a trade in April.

When the trade hits, I’m hoping for more attention to this incredible book.

Part police procedural, part Wiccan ceremony, Black Magick tells the story
of Rowan Black, a witch on the Portsmouth police department as a detective. 

Fans of the show iZombie (and the comic, duh) will appreciate the
supernatural mixed with the police work that we know Rucka
is so great at constructing. When I read Rucka’s crime books
I want to marathon The Rockford Files!

Of course Nicola Scott’s art is knockout amazing, full of detail, and with the
exception of expressions of magick it self is black and white (published in
four color process, with greyscale inks). She draws beautiful and
realistic ladies and is one of the best artists on the shelves today.
Color assists on the art by Chiara Arena.

This story wraps up some loose ends but leaves you wanting to know more
about the threats darkening Rowan’s door.

I don’t know much about spells and witchcraft in real life but if
I want to pretend, I can recite the spells from this well-researched book,
cleverly edited by Jeanine Schaefer (formerly of Marvel, now a freelance editor).

Army of Darkness Furious Road #1
Writer: Nancy A. Collins
Art: Kewber Baal
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Pub. Date: March 2, 2016
UPC: 72513024590801011
Price: $3.99
BUY IT HERE

I’ve said it before, and now that I see another Army of Darkness title from Dynamite,
I’m even more confused.

Oh well, we live in a time where Flash and Supergirl will team up across different
networks, Ash vs. Evil Dead is a TV show and someone more scary than a
hologram from The Dark Knight Returns is angling to be president.

What am I on about? I simply do not understand the rights issues
involved with Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise! Can the TV show not really
not use the store name of S-Mart? Is it even possible to break up print distribution
rights for a property? 

Just last month, I praised Space Goat’s Evil Dead 2: Cradle of the Damned
and looked forward to Ash taking on Hitler. …and then this happened!

Dynamite (perhaps the holder of the MGM Army of Darkness license?
Spitballing here…) is about to unleash Furious Road, a Mad Max
 style look into the future 20 years from ‘now’.
This story is set twenty years from whenever ‘now’ is.

Acclaimed horror writer Nancy A. Collins also has a few
comics under her belt (Swamp Thing, Jason vs. Leatherface, Vampirella)
set us up here with a post-apocalyptic road warrior view of Ash’s beloved hometown,
complete with ridiculous outfits, shaved haircuts and heavily armored cars. 

Many reviewers (myself included) were mistakenly slipped an unlettered proof.
Thankfully we received a new copy of the book for us to revise our review. Sorry about that! 

What was criminally missing was the famous Ash quips and references to
previous issues and even a certain Cabin in the Woods.

Not to be one-upped by a Hitler book, Dynamite goes Legion of Monsters 

 with this one has Frank N. Stein (he prefers Michael),
Eva and the Daughter of Dracula enlist Ash to track down the Necronomicon.
I guess this is just another tricky day at the Housewares Department at S-Mart for Ash.

Highly recommended for fans of whatever movie or tv show is your
favorite one starring the guy with the chainsaw hand!

 

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]

Classic PEANUTS Return To Ride THE COSMIC TREADMILL - at FORCES OF GEEK

Charles Shultz’ comic creation The Peanuts Movie hit the big screen earlier this month and Titan Comics has been releasing volumes all year to commemorate the occasion.

Snoopy and the kids looked a lot different in the early strips, (Charlie Brown himself sometimes missing his signature zig-zag shirt) but the timeless humor of the daily and Sunday Peanuts comics can still resonate with children of all ages today.

Titan Comics offered us a look at these modern day reprints of classic black and white Peanuts strips from the early days before Snoopy took on The Red Baron.

Titan has the rights to reproduce favorites from my childhood, the Rinehart & Company (Holt, Rinehart & Winston) collected black and white paperbacks accumulated from yard sales or perhaps even my parent’s well spent youth.

It had been years since I remembered even reading these books, and as an adult a new appreciation and nostalgia sets in.

[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]