Title: The Wednesday Conspiracy (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Sergio Bleda (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Greg Burgas (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" An exciting, scary comic that grabs you and doesn’t let you go"
Review:

I might be stereotyping here, but it seems like European comics are designed to be finite stories, even when they’re serialized (as this was), so the creators can be a bit more daring when it comes to storytelling. (I know that several European comics continue to be published for decades, but those seem to be the exception rather than the rule. As always when I stereotype, feel free to contradict me!) Sergio Bleda’s The Wednesday Conspiracy (published by Dark Horse in conjunction with SAF Comics, priced at $19.99 for 150 pages) is such an animal, as while it’s not a superhero comic, it has several superhero-ish tropes and could easily be, say, an X-Men story. There’s a kind mentor who gathers a bunch of freaks, in other words. But because Bleda is telling a complete and finite story, he can totally mess with our expectations, meaning he can kill characters indiscriminately. I know that slaughter doesn’t necessarily make a book good, but because we’re aware that absolutely no one is safe, Bleda’s interesting story takes on an urgency that we just don’t find in an American superhero comic.

The story itself is fairly straightforward horror. Dr. Richard Burton, a psychiatrist in a West Coast city named San Judas (man, did they make a big mistake naming a city that!), has started a support group for people with special and weird abilities. Akiko, the new girl in the group, can speak to her dead parents in her bathroom mirror and reveals some other abilities as the book goes on. Roger is telepathic. Violet carries a jar full of demons around with her. Joe is an exorcist. Brian is pyrotechnic. And Charles, a rich boy who attends the group, appears to be able to channel spirits, but it’s a bit unclear. Meanwhile, a patient of Dr. Burton’s tells him that a group called the “Sect of the Cross” is following him, and not too long after that, he commits suicide after killing his roommate. It’s all very odd!


It’s not surprising that the Sect of the Cross is real, and it’s not surprising that people in Dr. Burton’s group start dying. The sect has a grand scheme to seize power, and there’s all sorts of mystical stuff going on, so it’s not as if Bleda comes up with that original a story. But he tells it very well – there’s a real sense of menace as the sect goes after the members of Dr. Burton’s group (why do they? we don’t know!!!! – at first) and Bleda keeps ratcheting up the tension with regard to the plot, so the book is an exciting read. There’s not a ton of characterization – Violet has the most secrets, but that’s not the same thing, and her secrets are part of what the book hinges upon – but Bleda gives us enough to make us worry about the people involved. This is a pure adventure/horror book, so while there’s nods to the characters, Bleda is much more concerned with the machinations of the plot. But that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to read.

Bleda’s art is beautiful, and helps the book immensely. He has a herky-jerky style, with angular figures who have long limbs and severe faces. His pencil work is very detailed, and the art has a bit of a Moon/Bá style to it. Bleda’s watercolors are wonderful, making the book lusher and more realistic, which allows the supernatural parts stand out even more (there’s a beautiful transformation of a bird into a man that’s colored softer than the rest of the book, adding to the mystical nature of it). Bleda does a superb job with the gory parts of the book, making them extremely visceral and terrifying. While his story barrels along, his precise art helps add to that sense of horror that the story builds.

Good art and solid storytelling that pulls no punches can often overcome vanilla characters and a timeworn plot, and that’s what happens in The Wednesday Conspiracy. I don’t mind the unoriginality of the plot because Bleda is so relentless telling the story and the book looks so good. It’s an exciting, scary comic that grabs you and doesn’t let you go. There’s certainly something to be said for that!

More info:

Writer: Sergio Bleda
Artist: Sergio Bleda

Publisher:

 

Title: Memorial (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Chris Roberson (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Rob Siebert (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" It’s got my attention, that’s for sure."
Review: Memorial #1

Memorial is only one issue old, but the world Chris Roberson and Rich Ellis have created already seems quite large. That in itself is a pretty impressive accomplishment.

Our main character is a girl named Em, who suffers from amnesia and can’t remember anything about her past, including her real name. Her only clue is a locket around her neck with the letter “M” on it, thus her new name. Meanwhile, in the enchanted world of the Everlands, an evil empress (at least that’s what she seems to be) demands that her henchmen, a living marionette named Puppet and a machine/man hybrid named Hook, find a mysterious key in order to destroy a “memory palace.” Back in our world, Em finds a mysterious, and somehow familiar key at a small shop. From there, our hero is suddenly thrust into a wonderous, yet very dangerous world. Little does she know that she may literally hold the key to a larger-than-life conflict she knows nothing of.

Memorial feels like a fairy tale, or at the very least a modern day myth. It reads a lot like an Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz-type story, or even Harry Potter, where a character from our world is tossed from the mundane into the spectacular, and finds that they somehow belong. The amnesia element is a nice twist, and I suspect we’ll find out that Em has some kind of deep connection to the Everlands, and was somehow cast out by this unnamed evil empress.


Chris Roberson has said that he’s packing Memorial with different ideas that he’s always wanted to put in his books, but has never been able to. When you’re building a world like this, I can certainly see how that would be a fun place to start, because it’s all a blank slate. In this issue alone, we see a talking puppet, a machine man, a fairy, some little alien-looking creatures, angry statues, a talking cat, among other things. I get the impression that this book has a lot to show us, which may prove to be it’s strongest selling point.

I’m definitely interested in seeing more of Puppet. Anybody remember Night of the Living Dummy, from R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series? He reminds me of the dummy character in those books. Maybe I’m still hyped up over The Muppets, but that character really grabbed me.

Memorial is definitely a worth taking a look at. It’s got a lot of traditional fairy tale/myth plot points to it, but there’s so many directions Roberson and Ellis can take it that it’s got an element of intrigue that’s very appealing. It’s got my attention, that’s for sure.

More info:

AUTHOR: Chris Roberson
PENCILLER: Rich Ellis
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing

Publisher:

Title: DEAD ROMEO (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Jesse Blaze Snider (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Taliesin (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" All in all it was okay but I wasn’t especially moved."
Review:

The Blurb: Jonathan Romero, aka "Dead Romeo," was the lead singer of the '80s rock band "The Dead Romeos." But that was before a mysterious set of circumstances turned him into a vampire and sent him straight to Hell.

Now he's back on Earth and he has a difficult choice to make: Kill his true love and earn his permanent release from eternal damnation - or protect her and burn for eternity. Either way, someone is going to die! Its vampires, romance, rock and dismemberment like you've never seen before!

The review: Dead Romeo was an odd one, A DC comic release the artwork was passable comic stuff and the idea of Death (a sucker for stories) telling the story of Romeo’s return to Earth with a cadre of vampires, who get to stay out of the fires of Hell if they kill a woman called Whisper was original enough. Why kill whisper? Who knows.


The vampire in charge is a psycho named Dwight Phry – I couldn’t really work out if that was wonderfully referential or just a little too far – and he has a succubus as a familiar, who can make men see what she wants. That was interesting but I think it was hereon in that things went wrong for me. All in all there was a cadre of 6 vampires and a succubus (a seventh vampire was killed by Dwight at the head of the graphic) all up against Whisper and Romeo… it all seemed a little too much.

Why Hell needed so many to kill one girl (bear in mind Romeo is meant to be on the hit squad and if it wasn’t for him she would have died at the first encounter) was one question? But comic wise there seemed too many, they really could have just done it with Dwight, and Yoko the familiar up against Whisper and Romeo. The numbers made the story seem crowded and the evil characters devolved into ciphers.

Other than the returning from Hell bit, the lore was fairly standard… sunlight kills, decapitation kills if the head can’t reattach quickly and silver burns. The trope saw the repentant vampire against the unrepentant – the fact that he had done plenty of evil as Hell’s agent is always kept in mind but never played as heavily as it might be.

All in all it was okay but I wasn’t especially moved.

More info:

Writer: Jesse Blaze Snider
Penciller: Ryan Benjamin
Inker: Saleem Crawford
First published: 2009

Publisher:

Title: Infinite Kung Fu (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Kagan McLeod (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Bill Sherman (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" Kagan McLeod has created one entertaining slam-bang comic."
Review:

A bit fat round-up of martial arts madness and seventies drive-in delirium, Kagan McLeod’s Infinite Kung Fu (Top Shelf Productions) is a massive 464-page graphic novel crammed full of chopsocky goodness. Set in an alternate Martial World, the sprawling epic centers on Yang Lei Kung, a low-level soldier in the wicked emperor’s army who is recruited by one of the Eight Immortals to become a “spiritual fighter.”

In the Martial World, we’re told, there are two main paths to mastery: the first, Poison Kung Fu, is efficient but corrupts its practitioners; the second, more enlightened path requires the student to take a long journey of self-discovery. In the book’s opener, we see two students — one of whom will become a major villain in the piece — fight zombies using the forbidden poison techniques; as a consequence, they’re left to fend for themselves as the army of undead grows more plentiful. As the first chapter ends with generation after generation of fighting corpses surrounding the twosome, the reader’s left thinking, “Maybe that ‘infinite’ in the book’s title isn’t an exaggeration, after all.”

As for our hero Lei Kung, he’s forced to un-learn his brutish soldier ways and advance in the emperor’s army at the same time. The ultimate goal of this is to stop the emperor from destroying the universe in his pursuit of ultimate power. Along the way, writer/artist McLeod introduces us a colorful crew of secondary characters. Foremost among these are Moog Joogular, a former funk guitarist who looks like he could’ve played for Parliament and who tells Lei Kung the first time they meet that he’s seen the student’s king moves in the future, and Windy, a tough girl general who strives to fight for right within the emperor’s army. Primary antagonist is Li Zhea, a second general who not incidentally was one of the two students we saw getting corrupted by Poison Kung Fu in the opener. With his porn star 'stash and penchant for laughing long and villainously, you can readily imagine him commandeering an outdoor movie screen as his poorly dubbed laughter crackles through the speakers.


None too surprisingly, Infinite Kung Fu contains a ton of fights between human opponents, supernatural ones, and a squadron of robotic bronze statues. McLeod plays this genre mix-and-match relatively straight. Unlike more obvious seventies inspired send-ups (Greg Houston’s Vatican Hustle, for instance), McLeod lets the material stand for itself without falling back on excessive cartoonishness. Which is not to say his art is deadly serious: at times, there’s a sense of EC Era Jack Davis in his expressions and brushwork, which helps keep the artist’s tribute grounded in its comic book frame. In crafting the Infinite Kung Fu “movie” of his dreams, Kagan McLeod has created one entertaining slam-bang comic.

More info:

Story and art by Kagan McLeod

Publisher:

Title: Smoke and Gun (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Kirsten Baldock (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: MIKE (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" It is one of my favorite graphic novels..."
Review:

Smoke and Guns is like no other graphic novel.

It is almost like a Wes Anderson film. Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson say that when they make their movies, they try to describe a world that follows the rules they like, rather than the rules of the real world.

Smoke and Guns — without ever really coming out and saying so — kind of imagines a prohibition-esque world where beautiful girls sell cigarettes on the street… and lethally guard their street corners and local bar real estate with… you know… guns.

Kirsten Baldock was herself a real-life cigarette girl before writing this graphic novel… Though I assume the more conventional type rather than one of the heat-packing adventurettes depicted in this story; you get this sense of sisterhood and hidden knowledge and almost pride from reading the book that you might not expect given the plot.

Smoke and Guns follows the story of ambitious cigarette girl Scarlett who gets into trouble picking a fight with another merry (and murderous) band of cigarette girls, ends up hostess-ing the wrong party after she is disciplined by her madame-esque cigarette-hawking boss-lady, and ultimately excites a gang war. She is not so much the hero as the protagonist for no other reason than the story mostly follows her. I mean she has a really big chip on her shoulder and I think you want to cheer for her in the same way that you want to cheer for Tony Soprano versus any of the other dirtbags and murderers who happen to share screen-time with him. Beautiful? Yes. Nice? Not so much. You get the feeling that Scarlett has everything coming to her, but she has enough Indiana Jones to her that you don’t care.


Pretty girl, pretty girls, cigarettes, turf war… that’s it?

If it sounds like a thoroughly superficial story… It is.

Yet it’s freaking great!

Smoke and Guns moves with a rare velocity in modern comics. Fabio Moon’s visual storytelling can flow from frame-by-frame, panel-by-panel description of a single cigarette being lit, to ice cold ultra-violence, gun-play, and grenades lobbed between nubile cancer-peddlers. The story tries very hard to be crass — cigarette girls dressing up as everything from sexy nurses to Chun-Li from Street Fighter — but it manages to be demeaning… never. Really never. The book is so overloaded with girl power, the fact that the violent participants are also sexy kind of never comes up.

In that sense, it is a storytelling triumph.

Of course I found this indie book because of Fabio Moon, previously mentioned in my Ursula review. Smoke and Guns was Moon’s first work without his brother Gabriel Ba; and it is well worth the look.

While no one is going to mistake this quick read for Watchmen, Smoke and Guns really does have something unique going for it. It is one of my favorite graphic novels, I read it several times a year, and love almost every page (the Chun-Li stuff is sadly more cheddar than cheesecake).

More info:

Kirsten Baldock author
Fabio Moon artist

Publisher:

Title: Twilight Guardian (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Troy Hickman (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: PaulAllor (Review 1) and Sebastian Piccione (Review 2) (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" I strongly recommend it."
Review: Twilight Guardian #3

Review 1 - Twilight Guardian #3 came out this week. I’ll be doing a longer post on the whole series when the fourth (and final) issue comes out, but I wanted to share a few quick thoughts.

Twilight Guardian is the Top Cow pilot season winner from a few years back. It’s written by fellow Hoosier writer Troy Hickman, with art by Sid Kotian. It’s the story of a young woman who patrols her quiet, crime-free neighborhood, and thinks of herself as a “masked crimefighter.”

There have been a couple of books in recent years about the “ordinary person” who decides to be a superhero (though I should note that Hickman created this character since the early ’90s). But what really sets this book apart is its restraint, it’s subtlety. It’s a beautifully unforced, naturalistic character study. There’s so much to like about this book: the way Twilight Guardian’s comics serve as a contrast and counterpoint to her real life; the way Hickman and Kotian make it feel as the Twilight Guardian is the “real” person, and the real person is a disguise; the way pauses and silences are used to communicate so much more than words ever could. But as I said, I’ll discuss all these things more in depth after the final issue is released, in an in-depth analysis of the entire series.

But in the meantime, I wanted to let you know how great this book is. I strongly recommend it.


Review 2 - TWILIGHT GUARDIAN has quickly become one of my favorite monthly reads. The ONLY thing that I don’t like, is that there’s just one more issue. What I’m hoping, is that it catches enough people’s eye, that they put out more. What I fear, is that it’s going to become another wonderful example of “One of the best/coolest books you’re not reading”.
Hickman continues to do what he does best, which is offer up a book that is both poignant and silly, and sometimes both at once. Lots of comics talk about their heroes being “flawed” which makes them relatable, but non more so than the TWILIGHT GUARDIAN.
Kotian does a great job, not only of providing different art styles for the comics-within-a-comic sequences, but at showing the differences between how Pam sees herself, and the way she realy is. For example, there is a panel in which Pam imagines herself confronting The Dusk Devil, her arch-nemesis that she’s never met. it’s very dynamic and comic-booky. There is another scene where Pam, as TWILIGHT GUARDIAN talks to some kids about the dangers of fireworks. When a parent calls them in, she thinks “My work here is done,” but the look and stance of the father in the doorway CLEARLY reads he’s more concerned about masked, hooded strangers talking to his kids than he is about firework safety. In fact, the cell phone in his hand makes me think he at least considered calling the cops on her.
And, as always, the chapters of TWILIGHT GUARDIAN are broken up with scenes from the comics Pam reads before her patrols…only THIS time out, they are comics about her, pitches from the publisher who found her at last issue’s comic con. In the three versions we see, Hickman and Kotian get to have some fun with comic stereotypes. The first is the gritty, realistic, street vigilante approach; the second (and funniest) is the Angry, Drunken, British type; and finally the main-stream, super –heroic, mega-crossover-event. Good stuff.
And then, We have a surprise ending with the return of someone from Pam’s past.
Twilight Guardian is a metacognitive story that works on so many levels, probably more level than even intended. If you want to read a clever and thoughtful comic that is fun and original, and truly character driven, then look no further.

5 out of 5 Stars.

More info:

Writer: Troy Hickman
Art: Sid Kotian
Colors: Bill Farmer
Letters: Troy Peteri

Publisher:

Title: Widow Warriors (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Lloyd Chao and Christine Chi-Long To (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: seaberry (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" I would enjoy reading more stories set in this universe. "
Review: Widow Warriors #1

Widow Warriors takes a plot that would be at home in a Shaw Brothers Asian Cinema DVD and brings it to life on the printed page. When the story begins, the men of the Yang family are ambushed by the soldiers of the Lao family. Only one male escapes, and he informs the women of their husbands’ fates. Led by the elderly Grandma Sheh, the women decide to protect their home and family name by engaging the Lao in battle. Before that can happen, though, they have to convince the other males in the Yang family and the greater Sung Dynasty to let them go into battle.

Lloyd Chao and Christine Chi-Long To have written a very interesting tale of survival and determination. Grandma Sheh and the rest of the women have the potential to be fully realized, fleshed-out characters as the story progresses. They are certainly not the typical “damsel in distress” stereotype, nor are they the “tough girls.” The female protagonists show compassion, rage, and anger. They fight out of duty as opposed to bloodlust or a need for destruction. Also, Pat Lee‘s pencils are decent, though feel a little rushed.

Widow Warriors #1 has a small caption box on the last page that reads “End Book One,” indicating that there are many more stories to tell about these female soldiers and the obstacles that they will encounter on their quest to face the Lao in combat. I would enjoy reading more stories set in this universe.

Widow Warriors #1 does an excellent job of introducing the main characters, settings, and conflict, while whetting the reader’s appetite for further installments.

More info:

Written by Lloyd Chao and Christine Chi-Long To
Pencils and Cover by Pat Lee
Inked by Troy D. Zurel, Craig Yeung, Sergion Anaya Arevalo
Colors: Michelle Lo, Pat Lee

Publisher:

Title: Homunculus (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Hideo Yamamoto (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: : Frank Chavez (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" Science fiction and horror as a backdrop to an intriguing character study. "
Review:

Introduction - Created by Hideo Yamamoto, Homunculus is a psychological thriller that explores the deepest recesses of the human mind. It follows the story of Susumu Nakoshi and Manabu Ito as they unlock the secret connections between the ancient medical practice known as trepanation and ESP. As Nakoshi's ESP develops he is forced to confront his own past while discovering that he is increasingly entangled in the lives of others.
Review

Homunculus is reminiscent of some of the early horror movies of David Cronenberg such as Scanners or Vdeodrome in which the hero undergoes bizarre experiments and strange transformations. However, while Cronenberg's work was meant to shock and horrify, Homunculus hides a complex study of the human condition within the trappings of science fiction and horror.

When we first encounter Susumu Nakoshi he is sleeping in his car in front of a park across from a fancy hotel. An actuary for an insurance company on an extended vacation, he is using this time to evaluate his life. He has developed a jocular and friendly relationship with several homeless people living in the park. He eats dinner and drinks with them while listening to their stories of hard times. They are or were the backbone of Japanese society, the construction workers who built the skyscrapers owned by the corporations and other blue collar workers who fulfilled dangerous, dirty and necessary functions in Japan's increasingly capitalistic and mechanized society. They are now forgotten by society, living in the park, living off of whatever they can scrounge.

While he has been living in his car, Nakoshi has been quietly watched by a mysterious figure with long nails and tattooed hands. This mysterious and effeminate figure approaches Nakoshi one evening after Nakoshi runs out of gas after one of his many evening drives. The tattooed man offers Nakoshi a chance to make a lot of money really quickly if he will only become a guinea pig for a medical experiment involving the ancient practice of trepanation -- drilling a small hole in the skull in order to treat intracranial diseases. Trepanation is one of the oldest surgical procedures known to man. Archaeological evidence suggests that it was known at least as far back as the Neolithic period and is thought to have been used as a treatment for headaches, epilepsy, and mental disorders and as a way to treat head wounds related to blows blunt objects such as clubs or shots from a sling. It is sometimes used in modern medicine to treat both epidural and subdural hematomas (blood pooling in the tough protective layer covering the brain). Manabu Ito, the tattooed man, believes trepanation can be used to activate a person' sixth sense. A medical student and the son of wealthy surgeon, Ito uses his money and influence to have Nakoshi's car towed away in order to force Nakoshi to take part in his trepanation experiment.


Over dinner in the hotel where Nakoshi was once a regular, Ito explains that Nakoshi will be paid 700 thousand yen for his participation and Ito will have Nakoshi's car returned -- paying for the fines out of his own pocket. Ito is willing to risk being expelled from medical school in order to carry out this experiment. It is part of his ongoing study of humans which carries more for him than earning the title doctor -- he feels that the title doctor is no more important than his earring; it's something that can be put on or taken off at will. His study of humans is obsession along the same lines as other young people's obsessions with comics, movies, and video games.

The next day, Ito performs the trepanation surgery on Natoshi in a secret lab at the top floor of an old hotel that's been converted into an apartment complex. Ito's father is so wealthy that he bought Ito the building outright. Ito's lab has all of the accoutrements of the stereotypical mad scientist's lair, skulls, a collection of archaic medical equipment, medical diagrams, and art work depicting trepanation from several periods. After the surgery is completed; Ito returns Nakoshi's car and they begin their experiments to see if trepanation has awakened Nakoshi' sixth sense.

Hideo Yamamoto uses the exotic trappings of science fiction and horror as a backdrop to an intriguing character study. Unlike the homeless men living in the park Ito and Natoshi are outcasts by choice. Ito is the son of wealth and privilege. Like many other youth of his generation he uses his appearance for shock value. It's a put on, his bizarre eyes are created with contacts, his tattoos are simply drawn on -- he's too much of a coward to commit to the real thing just as he won't test trepanation on himself. Instead he trawls the city looking for test subjects and when it comes time to explore supposedly haunted places looking for spirits, he observes from afar. Searching through Ito's files, Nakoshi also discovers that a number of Ito's test subjects have either ended up in an asylum or killed themselves. Ito doesn't care about the lives he his risking so long as it isn't his. His only concern is finding the results he's after -- solid evidence about the sixth sense. He believes that if he can prove that it isn't real then he won't have to be afraid of it anymore.


Nakoshi, by contrast, in spite of his scruffy face and unkempt hair, at first seems like an average Japanese salaryman. Yet, unlike his contemporaries, he's a misanthrope who distrusts most people, and he has no taste for the trappings of contemporary consumer culture beyond his car. Nakoshi is a deeply philosophical character. He doesn't just sleep in his car; he has an almost spiritual bond with it. He understands its problems without looking under the hood, by the feel of its vibrations and even by the smell. When he sleeps in the car, it becomes a second womb; he sleeps in a fetal position and even sucks his thumb. It is the place he feel most safe and secure. He feels that the people of contemporary Japan are more machinelike than the machines. Since he is homeless by choice he feels as though he were in the middle between those who live "above the waistline" leading lives of consumerism and privilege and those who live "below the waist" in poverty and despair. He no longer feels a connection to the former but refuses to fully become one of the latter. He eats with the homeless but always forces himself to regurgitate the food he shares with them -- as if eating their food would make him one of them. Yet at the same time he feels physically ill when "normal" people look down on him. Although dressed as a horror story or thriller, Homunculus is less about the spirits that Nakoshi starts seeing and more about Nakoshi finding his own inner humanity, finding his lost connection to his fellow human being.

Visually, Homunculus is a tour de force. Yamamoto draws his characters and the world they inhabit with an eye to realism and detail. His characters look like slightly exaggerated versions of actual human beings. The reader can learn a character's entire life story from the clothes, lines, wrinkles, and facial expressions Yamamoto gives them. When we first see the homeless men Nakoshi interacts with, their haggard faces tell the story. These are the men who built Japan, cast away like so much refuse. We can read Nakoshi's disinterest in his fellow human being from his slightly droopy eyed appearance. It's as if he finds his fellow human beings so boring that he is constantly on the verge of falling asleep. Even Ito's bizarre appearance falls into societal norms. Walk through a public park in Tokyo and you're likely to see a dozen kids dressed just like him. By maintaining this level of realism Yamamoto allows his readers to be as shocked as Nakoshi is when he starts seeing spirits. His eyes go wide, his mouth goes slack and he begins sweating. Underneath the world he knows is world of spirits of all shapes, sizes, and colors. He sees ambulatory trees with cell phones, women whose bodies are divided into segments but are otherwise perfectly formed, and even robots that could have walked right out of Mobile Suit Gundam or Super Dimension Fortress Macross.

Nakoshi However, these aren't the spirits of the dead he's seeing but rather the souls of the living, when he looks at them with his left eye, Nakoshi sees people as they really are. For instance, when Nakoshi gets into a confrontation with a Yakuza street tough, he doesn't see a gangster, he sees a giant robot. Beneath the robot's hard outer shell is scared little boy, the gangster as a child. The gangster acts tough and threatens other because deep down, he is still the scared kid. Violence silences the fear and frustration and masks the tears. This is the beginning of Nakoshi's transformation and understanding.
Conclusion

First and foremost Homunculus is a story about human connections. While the story does involve experimental surgery, a character who fits into the mad doctor archetype and even visions of spirits, Hideo Yamamoto uses these trappings of science fiction and horror as an exotic backdrop for the exploration of characters. He follows his hero's transformation from misanthrope posing as an outcast to a genuine human being, fully aware of his connection to other human beings.

More info:

Type: Manga
Genre: Drama Mature Mystery Psychological Seinen Supernatural
Author(s): Hideo Yamamoto
Artist(s): Hideo Yamamoto
Original Publisher: Shogakukan. 2003.
Serialized In (magazine): Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan)
English Publisher: N/A

Publisher:

Title: Brothers In Arms (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): MIKE NEUMANN and DAVID WOHL (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Chris (Review 1) and gearbox (Review 2) (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" Not recommended."
Review:

Review 1 - A title to the game series of the same name, Brothers in Arms follows a platoon of parachute infantry and their landing into France to support D-Day. Frankly, I didn’t enjoy it at all, and I’m a huge WW2 buff. During every major event, there was a flashback to peacetime history with said character. It really ruins the pacing when a 1-man assault on a German squad from behind is interrupted by a baseball game. In addition, it follows the same principle of the game, which is the jingoistic American super-soldier platoon that can rack up about 200 German kills before one of their own is even wounded. Not recommended.


Review 2 - Brothers In Arms is based on the true story of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the famed 101st Airborne Division who were dropped behind German Lines on D-day. Players assume the role of Sergeant Matt Baker, a paratrooper (based on Harrison C. Summers and various other people), and the leader of an airborne squad from Fox Company. The Brothers In Arms games are a tactically accurate, "first-person shooter" style of game that combine meticulously researched and historically accurate weapons, weather, and environments with the excitement of first-person, "squad level" command in the European Theater during World War II. The missions range from dropping into France on June 6th to the final defense of Hill 30 eight days later.

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is the third entry in the Brothers in Arms series of video games. Once again players can reprise the heroic role of Sergeant Matt Baker, a soldier of the 101st Airborne Division, during Operation Market Garden in the late stages of World War II. The game has many new features, including the ability to command a further squad, from a selection of new specialized units (Bazooka Teams, Machine Gun teams, Mortar Teams, as well as Radio Teams with which to call in artillery support).

Although exact details of the comic book series are in development now with creative and cover artists being kept a closely guarded secret, Dynamite plans for the series to incorporate all the intensity and accuracy of the Brothers in Arms video games. Information on the creative team and scheduling for the series will be released in the coming weeks.

Dynamite stated, "Brothers in Arms is one of the most popular video games in the market today. This should open up new doors for Dynamite, as well as for comic and gaming retailers. We're going to launch this with a unique initiative! This should lead to existing comic fans who have not played the game to sample it, and fans who do play the game can come in to purchase the original comic at the same time. This is a whole new adventure for us on so many levels, and we're really excited to have this opportunity to add another genre to our list of growing titles. Creative details are still in the preliminary stages, but based on the overwhelming response and praise we've had regarding our titles to date, we're positive that comics fans, fans of the game, as well as military enthusiast and action seekers will be blown away by this new addition to our 'dynamite' line up! We're showcasing images from the game to let fans know we're going after the cannon of the game, but with the 'dynamite' ability to execute Dynamite has shown!"

More info:

Covers: DAVIDE FABBRI (50%) and STJEPAN SEJIC (50%)
Writer: MIKE NEUMANN w/DAVID WOHL
Penciller/Inker: DAVIDE FABBRI

Publisher:

Title: Mercenaries (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Brian Reed (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Press Release (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" Truly a win-win for both industries!"
Review:

Pandemic Studios and Dynamite Entertainment are proud to announce the signing of an agreement to create a new comic book series based on the characters and story of the Mercenaries videogames.

The Mercenaries comic book series will incorporate all the intensity of the Mercenaries video games. The series will feature covers by artist extraordinaire, Michael Turner, interior art by Edgar Salazar and is being written by Brian Reed. As an added bonus, Mercenaries #1 will feature two connecting covers by Michael Turner -- A first for Dynamite!

The Mercenaries video game franchise provides explosive third-person shooter action set in a massive, highly reactive, war-torn world. The first Mercenaries game, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (2005), featured the mercenaries capturing or killing members of the Deck of 52 and their ruthless leader, General Song, to prevent his launch of nuclear warheads. In the highly anticipated sequel, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, the mercenaries return as a power-hungry tyrant makes a play for Venezuela's oil supply, sparking an invasion that turns the country into a war zone. But for the mercenaries, profit comes hand-in-hand with chaos. "You are not a soldier. You don't have to play by anyone's rules. You have your own code: EVERYBODY PAYS."


"Mercenaries is one of the most intense videogames in the market today, and it's going to be an explosive addition to our 'dynamite' line up," said Dynamite's Nick Barrucci. "Writer Brian Reed is blowing comics fans away with his work on New Avengers: Illuminati, Ms. Marvel and Red Sonja, so you can expect more of the same incredible action-packed storylines and intrigue from him on Mercenaries. And one cover couldn't contain all the action, so the series debuts with connecting covers by superstar artist Michael (Civil War) Turner!!!

If that's not reason enough to pick up this book, than we suggest you play a few rounds of Mercenaries and see what you've been missing! And to add to the excitement, Dynamite will be working hand in hand with Pandemic to help expand both of our audiences, as Pandemic will help get word out on the 800 Comic Shop Locater Service and Dynamite will help get word out on the upcoming video game! Truly a win-win for both industries!"

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is currently in development by Pandemic Studios and is slated for release on the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, PlayStation¿2 computer entertainment system, PLAYSTATION¿3 computer entertainment system and PC.

More info:

Writer: Brian Reed
Artist: Edgar Salazar
Covers: Michael Turner
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Publisher:

Title: Legendary Talespinners (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): James Kuhoric (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Lan Pitts (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" There should always be room on the shelves for these sorts of books. "
Review: Legendary Talespinners #2

"You don't know what you're talking about. I'm not a legendary anything. I'm just a student who is apparently having freaky hallucinations."

Having really enjoyed the first installment of Legendary Talespinners, I eagerly awaited the next chapter and it continues to "spin" a pretty wonderful story. When we last saw our protagonist, Abby, she was falling into a magic mirror with the unknown on the other side. We see that on the other side is a fairy tale kingdom that has gone to ruin. The legendary Baron von Munchhausen, along with Tinkerbelle (who looks like her best friend Tina) and one of Snow White's dwarves explain to Abby what has happened to their homeland. From there the adventure goes on and ends on quite the cliffhanger much like the previous issue.


This story touches on principles about losing a childhood, regaining your imagination, and having that place in your heart for such stories on many levels. While Abby faces the difficult reality of her being washed away to a make-believe land, it's up to her on whether that realm withers away, much like how most stories disappear if not passed on to a younger generation. A good message to send in such a format that could be given to young readers since this book is a fantastic middle road between Tiny Titans and X-Men.

Again, Grant Bond's art compliments the story and fits with James Kuhoric's imaginative world. Fans of Stuff of Legend, Fables, and The 10th Kingdom (does anybody else remember that?) are sure to be delighted by this tale. My one complaint is that this is the second part of three issues, so I still have this lingering annoyance that it's almost over, but hopefully the creative team would come back to this world if given the chance. There should always be room on the shelves for these sorts of books.

More info:

Written by James Kuhoric
Art by Grant Bond

Publisher:

Title: Zorro Matanzas (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Don McGregor (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Timothy Callahan (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" This isn't a very good comic book"
Review: Zorro: Matanzas #2

This isn't a very good comic book. As an artifact from an earlier time -- a Topps "Zorro" tale that never saw the dimly-lit environs of your local comic shop but has found a home, a decade-and-a-half later, at Dynamite -- it reads like an overblown, archaic kind of comic book story. It doesn't even read like a comic from the 1990s, but more like Bronze Age version of "Classics Illustrated," with leaden storytelling, reams of unnecessary words, and a stilted formality that seems anachronistic today.

It's certainly an interesting contrast to the ongoing Dynamite "Zorro" title, and as a curiosity for Zorro fans, it might be worth a look, but as a casual reader of the saga of Don Diego, this thing reads like a lecture from an out-of-touch assistant professor.


Yet it has one thing going for it, beyond its appeal as a curio, and that's the illustrative work of Mike Mayhew. Mayhew, who is best known for his painted artwork on covers and interiors for Marvel, used a more traditional pen and brush and ink style back in the days of this comic. It's a much better style, much more evocative, more dynamic, more visually layered, than the glossy mannequin-like pages he produces today. This comic looks great, and its vivid visuals almost make up for the overwrought narrative and the declarative sentences that offer little room for the story to breathe.

The story of this series centers on the ritual of La Mantanza -- the "killing of the goats" -- which is basically a series of ritualistic animal sacrifices, a way to celebrate the food that's provided. Schemes and subplots whirl around this event in issue #2, but they are merely implied, while the majority of the pages are spent showing the animals unleashed: Zorro fights a bear with his whip, a rampaging bull gores a man who matters. It might seem like a strong basis for a comic book story. Who doesn't want to see the age old struggle of Zorro vs. bear? But in its telling, with Don McGregor's overly prosaic captions and verbose dialogue, it loses its power.

I'm always glad to see a long-lost work find a home, and it's nice to see Dynamite bring this story to the public. I just wish it were a better comic book than it actually is.

More info:

Writer: Don McGregor
Artist: Mike Mayhew
Colorist: Sam Parsons
Inking: Kel-o-Graphics
Letterer: John Costanza

Publisher:

Title: Dracula vs Zorro (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Don McGregor (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: The Masked Bookwyrm (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" It's a pretty rudimentary plot that doesn't really warrant the length"
Review:

In the 1990s, long time trading card company, Topps, made efforts to become a genuine comic book company. One property they latched onto was Zorro, who in addition to starring in his own (short-lived) series (which introduced the cult heroine, Lady Rawhide) also landed a mini-series or two. One of which was Dracula vs. Zorro (Topps was also in the midst of doing a few Dracula-themed comics).

Written by Don McGregor, whose association with "The Fox" of Old California included not only the Topps monthly series, but a short-lived run published by NBM, and a Zorro newspaper comic strip, and drawn by Tom Yeates (who also drew some of the Zorro newspaper strip), the premise has Zorro in Europe, picking up a sword crafted by a master swordmaker (and alchemist) and finding himself on a sea vessel where his other passengers include a lovely Senorita...and Dracula, lord of vampires.

Beginning his career in the early 1970s at Marvel Comics when a lot of newcomers to the field were pushing the conventions of comics in terms of themes and pretentiousness, Don McGregor's scripts tend to be overwritten and pompous, full of purple prose and dense captions full of ruminations on life and love. When it works, it works well, creating lyrical, thoughtful comics that are so much more than just the surface action...when it doesn't, it can just seem ridiculously verbose and without subtlety. I tend to be in McGregor's corner, liking some of his stuff, even as I'm aware even his best stuff can be erratic (not unlike, say, Ann Nocenti).

But the problem with this story (and, indeed, some of McGregor's other later work) is there's a feeling he's trying too hard to milk thoughtful captions out of material that doesn't really have that much juice in it. As well, the plot is pretty basic, much of the action taking place on the ship, in one night. (In fact, for all that dialogue seems to intimate it's a passenger ship...we don't actually see any other passengers on board!)

The nature of McGregor's analytical style is that relatively minor scenes can get stretched out far more than they warrant, and fight scenes can spread over multiple pages -- hence why he can get sixty-one pages out of a story where not too much happens. And by changing the milieu, we lose some sense of what makes Zorro...Zorro; that is, by being in Europe or an the high seas, it lacks that Old California presence that is as much a character of the Zorro saga as he is. McGregor did it, presumably, to make the story fresh and off-beat but, as I say, it's problematic. Now that's ironic because, conversely, another criticism is that as a Dracula story...it just seems like a stock Dracula story, with nothing particularly interesting or unusual to the story.


Funnily enough, Marvel Comics did a Spider-Man comic in the 1970s in which Spidey and Dracula...are on a sea vessel together (yet I actually think there was more twists to the plot in that 30-page Spider-Man comic than this 61 page saga).

With that being said, McGregor does do some nice stuff with characterization, with trying to flesh out his limited cast (which basically is Zorro, Dracula, Senorita Carmelita and Dracula's henchman Skorka).Yet even then, the limited plot means McGregor more tells us about the characters than shows us. The scene where Zorro, as Don Diego, first meets Dracula and they get into a verbal sparring match is well done. McGregor threads a theme, by having the Senorita casually say to Don Diego that no one can "promise" to keep someone safe, and those words echo in Zorro's mind when later he is trying to defend her from Dracula -- but even that becomes a bit thin by virtue of its repetition.

Despite McGregor's clear love for the Zorro character (having written for the character in so many different venues) part of the problem is that his Zorro never fully comes together as a complex, intriguing hero (the way McGregor's Black Panther did). It's hard to milk nuance out of a guy whose defining characteristic is, well, that he's perpetually upbeat!

Tom Yeates' art is certainly decent (and with some cute touches, like making the henchman look like Boris Karloff)...without quite being exceptional. I think of Yeates as having a vaguely sketchy style, evocative slightly of Joe Kubert, which can be quite attractive. But maybe Magyar's firmer inks rob it of some of that flavour (which, over some artists' pencils, can be beneficial). Or maybe being presented in colour it loses some of the stark appeal it had in the Zorro newspaper comic strip.

The bottom line? If you're looking for a stand alone tale of Zorro (or Dracula) it is that. And for all my negativity, in the telling -- writing and art -- it's a perfectly okay. I don't think it's appreciated much over the years, so it should be cheap enough to acquire. But it's a pretty rudimentary plot that doesn't really warrant the length, even with McGregor's efforts to pad things out with character and philosophical musings.

More info:

Written by Don McGregor.
Pencils by Tom Yeates.
Inks by Rick Magyar.
Colours: Sam Parsons.
Letters: John Costanza.
Editors: Jim Salicrup, Dwight Jon Zimmerman.

Publisher:

Title: Blackbeard Legend Of The Pyrate King (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): ROBERT PLACE NAPTON and JAMIE NASH (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: ProjectFanboy (Review 1) and Kirkus (Review 2) (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" One of the best pirate themed comics I’ve ever read."
Review:

Review 1 - Dynamite presents their most ambitious undertaking yet – BLACKBEARD: THE LEGEND OF THE PYRATE KING #1! Under the stunning John Cassaday, producers Eduardo (writer of The Blair Witch Project) Sanchez and Gregg (Producer of The Blair Witch Project) Hale are joined by Robert Napton and Jamie Nash to present the ultimate adventure tale of a bygone age, when pyrates ruled the waters!

Beginning with his childhood and carry through to his bitter end, Blackbeard’s legacy has never been explored as deeply and illustrated as beautifully (by Mario Guevara) than now!

Reviewer Comments:

BLACK BEARD: LEGEND OF THE PIRATE KING is a smart, exciting, wonderfully executed comic.

Sometimes too many cooks spoil the broth, but that’s not the case here. The four writers (story writers Hale & Sanchez, and script writers Napton & Nash) come together to deliver a brilliant debut issue. There was some serious research done, about Blackbeard, the times, and colonial age sailing; and it shows.

While the book definitely portrays Eduard Teach in a positive, and relatable, light, it still shows us the horrors the man is capable of. This is captured rather poignantly in one brutally extreme, if somewhat justified, act at the end.

The story moves swiftly and carries you along for the ride, while the artwork breathes with an energy that equals the rough and tumultuous seas it illustrates. Fajardo’s colors are muted, but not murky, giving the book a suitably gas-lit look.

One of the best pirate themed comics I’ve ever read.


Review 2 - In variously rhymed verses as swashbuckling as the figure they celebrate, Lewis tries to flesh out the little that is actually known about the character and career of the most renowned pirate ever. As the poet sticks to the facts, Blackbeard remains a menacing but shadowy figure with a visage "so frightful that it chilled his foes / Straight to the marrowbone." But Lewis also notes that, until his final fight, there is no evidence that he ever killed anyone, and he evidently lifted the blockade of Charleston, which was his crowning exploit, in exchange for a chest not of loot, but of medical supplies. With notes and captions at the bottom of each balladic entry and illustrations that range from a contemporary portrait to dramatic battle scenes from N.C. Wyeth and other recent artists, this offers an unusual mix of historical roots and rousing rhetoric. Young readers and listeners will fervently agree that, "of all the thieves of the Seven Seas, / No one would ever reach / The height and might / Of the roguish Knight / Of the Black Flag, Edward Teach."

More info:

Written: ROBERT PLACE NAPTON & JAMIE NASH
Story: GREGG HALE & EDUARDO SANCHEZ
Penciller: MARIO GUEVARA
Covers: JOHN CASSADAY (50%), LUCIO PARRILLO (50%)
Colorist: ROMULO FAJARDO JR.
Genre: HISTORICAL ADVENTURE

Publisher:

Title: Rock ‘n’ Roll Comics (Click to go to the release post)
Writer(s): Various writers (Click to see other books from this writer released on this site)
Review source: Wiki (Don't click it, read the review here... )

" Stories of rock, metal, and pop stars’ tales on their way to stardom..."
Review:

Rock 'n' Roll Comics told the (alleged) stories of rock, metal, and pop stars’ tales on their way to stardom. The series was created and written by Todd Loren and were published by Revolutionary Comics. The series debuted in 1989, with their first issue (June) telling the story of Guns and Roses, which sold for $1.50 U. S. Other music artists the series covered included Pearl Jam, Queensryche, Michael Jackson and N. W. A., among many others. Several music acts sued, although courts ruled in favor of Revolutionary Comics, due to satire being protected under the Free Speech Amendment.

Along with the subject artist’s biography being covered in each issue, there were also one or more parodies of each music artist afterwards as well, along with other side comics, such as fictional rock star Stan Back, plus Twisted Image, both lampooning the music scene in general on various subjects, although material did change around as the series continued throughout the years.

Less than 70 issues were created when the company went out of business in 1994.


Metallica issue

The August, 1989 issue told the story of Metallica from their origins through their recent album (at the time) of ...And Justice For All.

The story begins with future Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich being dragged to a Deep Purple concert in Denmark, while vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield toils in his local high school in La Brea, California. It then skips to 1981 when Ulrich places the fateful ad in Recycler wanting musicians, leading up to him meeting with Hetfield. Dave Mustaine and Ron McGovney later round out the group, along with the band name being christened, then later the guys move to San Francisco and replace McGovney with Cliff Burton.

They also decide on various music and band direction (nothing in regards to Satanism as far as song subjects) until Ulrich gets contacted in regards to their “No Life 'Til Leather” demo could result in a record contract. Mustaine then leaves the band, who gets replaced by Kirk Hammett.

Things go pretty well with being picked up by Elektra Records for their second full-length album and touring and album response until the tragic bus accident in late 1986 takes the life of Burton. They decide to press on after a while, bringing in Jason Newsted and starting to rehearse in a new place. Unfortunately new material has to be put on hold as Hetfield breaks his arm, which it is decided that an E. P. of cover songs be released instead, as well as compiling several bootleg recordings of Burton performances, resulting in the Cliff 'Em All video tape.

The story of Metallica ends with their performing on the Grammys and their tour of 1989.

More info:

Written by Various writers and artists.

Publisher: