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Image preview: Morning Glories #27!
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Do our closets say something about us?
There comes a point in everyone's lives when you have to face your inner demon...known as your closet. I'm referring to one's actual closet, the one we throw all our junk in with just enough room for our clothes and etc. Today was that day for me, to look my closet in the eyes and finally get to cleaning it. Normally I do this once every couple of years, so let's just say it was very cluttered and messy, although not enough to be featured on an episode of Hoarders.
As I was cleaning my closet I found a lot of stuff that I had forgotten about. I noticed there was a lot of comic book paraphernalia like: comic books, posters, graphic novels, figures, etc. It got me thinking to how it all ended up there anyway. I realized it got there once I fell out of the whole comic book scene. As I was sorting through it all I couldn't throw out any of it for good, not even comics with ripped or stained covers. Throwing out any comic book would feel almost sacriligious. I felt guilty for letting my once beloved collection end up as disgarded memories, but I realized all my stuff was there for a reason. It was comforting to know that it was right there in the closet in my room, albeit burried, yet still in close proximity. I mostly put all the random books and issues into boxes, but for the big and fancy stuff I decided to display them in my room.
Along with my comic stuff I found guitar hero guitars, old dvd's, and super out dated clothes that I would never wear today- especially because they were 10 sizes too small. As I looked at the pile shrink, I realized this closet described who I am and what I like perfectly. It had things that you'd have to get to know me to find and things that you can learn just from meeting me. My life isn't the most organized which I guess the mess could explain. But one thing's for sure...we always stay the same on the inside. Our closet represents our past, our present, and the space for our future. Yet, I wondered, in our closets, are we burying our past....or just protecting it?
---Luke Widlund
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My experience as an extra!
It's the first day and let me just say I was tired and nervous the entire day! I think one word that properly sums up the whole day's work is exhausting, mentally and physically. The life of an extra is very testing on limits. From what I could tell, most people there were professional extras in the hopes of becoming professional actors. The funny thing is, I had a hard time talking to most people being that most of which were talking about their careers and the future of their careers. It was all about who you know and what you've done. Of all the actors it was hard to find a genuine personality. I couldn't help but feel incredibly inconsequential in comparison. Here I was doing this just for fun, while others were treating this as their pilgrimage to super stardom. Many of the extras were my own age but I also noticed many in their middle ages and older. At one point the young and the not so young were aligned next to each other on our way to the set. I wondered, were most of the older actors just starting out their careers, or had they once started as young extras and just never made it far in the industry? I know it's definitely the first one, yet it is something to think about.
There were a few interesting characters that we met along the way. Some were very cool and had genuinely good personalities, while others were just kind of.....crazy. Although who am I to judge whether or not someone is crazy? This one person we met, who shall remain nameless, was a little unbearable. She started talking to us....and talked to us.... and talked.... and talked.... and talked until she could see that we couldn't handle it anymore. This person said she was home schooled, yet she was a social butterfly. Was it irony or just nerves? I literally learned her whole life story that day. The next day was even more ironic. It turned out a girl in our group was staying with that other girl I just mentioned at a motel in New Jersey. This girl was more competetive and insanely direct. She even told my friend Kathryn that Kathryn reminded her of the girl she was staying with. I then learned that it wasn't irony, it was just funny. Other hardships included the greuling sun that caused my face and neck to be harshly sunburnt. Along with that the food that was served was horrid. My friends usually eat whatever is given to them, but this time they didn't even touch their food. I know the food is meant to feed the masses, but was it for animal or human masses?
On the bright side of the two days, in a scene where I got to walk across the camera me and the leading lady accidentally bumped into each other and she said sorry to me! Everyone saw it and we had to re-do the scene but hey it was awesome for me! In most of the scenes where I wasn't used I took the time to really look at the things that go on in movie sets. I wondered just how different was the production of a movie from real life? What I realized is that they are totally different. In real life, if you "f&*@ up" there's no re-do's, second takes, or taking back. When making a movie, everything is set to go the way you want it. In life, things are left more up to fate and chance. In movies it's up to the director. Life isn't as prepared for you as it is on the set of a movie. That's why we have friends and family to help us along the way. I'll say it was a memorable experience but I don't know if I'd ever do it again. Especially being that we were paid below minimum wage, yet the experience was worth it.
------Luke Widlund
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Shipping This Week June 05, 2013
New Comic Book & Related Merchandise Scheduled for
This is a list of comic books, graphic novels, and other related merchandise that should be available in comic book shops this week.
Take a look and let us know what books and other goodies you're picking up this week in the comments! Be sure to follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on what is shipping to your local comic shop every week!
Garfield #14 (Cover A Gary Barker), $3.99
CRYSTAL
Astro City Astro City
Pacific Rim Tales From Year Zero HC (Premiere Edition), $24.99
Alice In The Country Of Clover Ace Of Hearts Volume 1 GN, $13.99 Alice In The Country Of Joker Circus And Liar's Game Volume 2 GN, $12.99
( * = Check your local shop for price )
AAZURN PUBLISHING
Indie Comics Horror #2, $6.49
ABSTRACT STUDIOS
Rachel Rising #17, $3.99
ADHOUSE BOOKS
Supermag GN, $9.95
AMIGO COMICS
Rogues #2, $3.99
AMRYL ENTERTAINMENT
Cavewoman Oasis #2 (Of 2)(Budd Root Special Edition), *
Cavewoman Oasis #2 (Of 2)(Devon Massey Regular Cover), $3.75
Cavewoman Oasis #2 (Of 2)(Devon Massey Special Edition), *
ANDREWS MCMEEL PUBLISHING
Dilbert Your New Job Title Is Accomplice TP, $12.99
Get Fuzzy Volume 19 The Birth Of Canis TP, $12.99
ANGRY VIKING PRESS
Evil Diva Volume 1 GN, $12.99
ANTARCTIC PRESS
Macabre #1 (One Shot), $3.50
APE ENTERTAINMENT
Drew Hayes' Poison Elves #3 (Cover A Darick Robertson), $2.99
Drew Hayes' Poison Elves #3 (Cover B Montos), $2.99
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS
Archie Comics Super Special #3, $9.99
Jugheads Double Digest #193, $3.99
Kevin Keller #9 (Dan Parent Regular Cover), $2.99
Kevin Keller #9 (Dan Parent Variant Cover), $2.99
ASPEN COMICS
Aspen Splash 2013 Swimsuit Spectacular (Anniversary Edition), $3.99
Charismagic Volume 2 #2 (Of 6)(Amanda Conner Aspen Reserved Cover), $3.99
Charismagic Volume 2 #2 (Of 6)(J Scott Campbell Sketch Variant Cover), *
Charismagic Volume 2 #2 (Of 6)(Khary Randolph Direct Market Cover), $3.99
Shrugged Volume 2 #3 (Of 6)(Eric Basaldua Aspen Reserved Cover), $3.99
Shrugged Volume 2 #3 (Of 6)(Jonathan Mark Direct Market Cover), $3.99
Shrugged Volume 2 #3 (Of 6)(Eric Basaldua Sketch Variant Cover), *
AVATAR PRESS
Caligula Heart Of Rome #5 (Of 6)(German Noble Gore Cover), $3.99
Caligula Heart Of Rome #5 (Of 6)(German Noble Imperial Incentive Cover), *
Caligula Heart Of Rome #5 (Of 6)(German Noble Regular Cover), $3.99
Caligula Heart Of Rome #5 (Of 6)(German Noble Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #30 (Christian Zanier Torture Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #30 (Gabriel Andrade Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #30 (Jacen Burrows Red Crossed Incentive Cover), *
Crossed Badlands #30 (Jacen Burrows Regular Cover), $3.99
Fashion Beast #10 (Facundo Percio Haute Couture Incentive Cover), *
Fashion Beast #10 (Facundo Percio Regular Cover), $3.99
Fashion Beast #10 (Facundo Percio Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Fashion Beast #10 (Paul Duffield Tarot Incentive Incentive Cover), *
Uber #2 (Caanan White Blitzkrieg Incentive Cover), *
Uber #2 (Caanan White Regular Cover), $3.99
Uber #2 (Caanan White Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Uber #2 (Michael Dipascale Propaganda Poster Cover), $3.99
BIG DOG INK
Critter Volume 2 TP, $14.99
Legend Of Oz The Scarecrow #2 (Of 2)(Carlos Reno Cover), $3.50
Legend Of Oz The Scarecrow #2 (Of 2)(Nei Ruffino Cover), $3.50
Ursa Minor #5 (Ian Snyder Cover), $3.50
Ursa Minor #5 (Natalie Sanders Cover), $3.50
BOOM! STUDIOS
Bravest Warriors #1 (Of 6)(Bob Flynn NYCC Variant Cover), $9.99
Herobear And The Kid Special #1 (Cover A Mike Kunkel), $3.99
Herobear And The Kid Special #1 (Cover B Mike Kunkell), *
Hypernaturals #12 (Cover A Tom Derenick)(Final Issue), $3.99
Planet Of The Apes Cataclysm #10 (Cover A Garry Brown), $3.99
Polarity #3 (Of 4)(Cover A Frazer Irving), $3.99
Polarity #3 (Of 4)(Cover B Ulises Farinas), *
Suicide Risk #2 (Cover A Tommy Lee Edwards), $3.99
Suicide Risk #2 (Cover B Stephanie Hans), *
BROADWAY
Doctor Who Beautiful Chaos MMPB (50th Anniversary Collection Edition), $12.99
Doctor Who Festival Of Death MMPB (50th Anniversary Collection Edition), $12.99
Doctor Who Last Of The Gaderene MMPB (50th Anniversary Collection Edition), $12.99
Doctor Who Only Human MMPB (50th Anniversary Collection Edition), $12.99
CHRONICLE BOOKS
Art Of Monsters University HC, $40.00
COMIC SHOP NEWS
Comic Shop News #1355, *
COMIXTRIBE
Oxymoron HC, $24.99
Silence And Co GN, $9.99
DARK HORSE COMICS
Abe Sapien #3 (Dark And Terrible #3 Of 3)(Sebastian Fiumara Regular Cover), $3.50
Art Of Remember Me HC, $39.99
Blood-C Volume 2 TP, $12.99
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Spike Volume 1 A Dark Place TP, $17.99
Empowered Special #4 (Animal Style), $3.99
Everybody Gets It Wrong And Other Stories David Chelsea's 24-Hour Comics Volume 1 HC, $19.99
Forbidden Worlds Archives Volume 2 HC, $49.99
Gary Baseman Coaster Set, $9.99
Gary Baseman Magnet Set, $8.99
Hellboy Library Edition Volume 6 The Storm And The Fury And The Bride Of Hell HC, $49.99
Lone Wolf 2100 Omnibus TP, $24.99
Lone Wolf And Cub Omnibus Volume 1 TP, $19.99
Michael Avon Oeming's The Victories #2 (Of 5)(Transhuman Part 2), $3.99
Mister X Eviction #2 (Of 3), $3.99
Misty Circus HC, $14.99
San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 (Mike Mignola Signed Edition), $80.00
Star Wars Dark Times Fire Carrier #5 (Of 5), $2.99
Star Wars Legacy Volume 1 HC, $34.99
Strain Volume 2 TP, $19.99
DC COMICS
Action Comics #21 (Tony S. Daniel Black & White Variant Cover), *
Action Comics #21 (Tony S. Daniel Combo Pack Cover), $4.99
Action Comics #21 (Tony S. Daniel Regular Cover), $3.99
Ame-Comi Girls #4, $3.99
Batman And Robin Volume 1 Born To Kill TP, $16.99
Batman And Robin Volume 2 Pearl HC, $24.99
Batman Arkham City The Joker Statue, $124.95
Batwing #21, $2.99
Crisis On Multiple Earths Volume 6 TP (resolicited), $19.99
Detective Comics #21 (Jason Fabok Black & White Variant Cover), *
Detective Comics #21 (Jason Fabok Combo Pack Cover), $4.99
Detective Comics #21 (Jason Fabok Regular Cover), $3.99
Dial H #13, $2.99
Django Unchained #4 (Of 7)(Frank Quitely Regular Cover)(resolicited), $4.99
Django Unchained #4 (Of 7)(Ivan Reis Variant Cover)(resolicited), *
Earth 2 #13 (Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund Black & White Variant Cover), *
Earth 2 #13 (Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund Regular Cover), $2.99
Fairest #16, $2.99
Green Arrow #21 (Andrea Sorrentino Black & White Variant Cover), *
Green Arrow #21 (Andrea Sorrentino Regular Cover), $2.99
Green Lantern #21 (Billy Tan Combo Pack Cover), $3.99
Green Lantern #21 (Billy Tan Regular Cover), $2.99
Green Lantern #21 (Rags Morales Variant Cover), *
Green Lantern Ring (Promotional Item), AR
Harley Quinn Night And Day TP, $16.99
Legends Of The Dark Knight #9, $3.99
Looney Tunes #213, $2.99
Movement #2 (Amanda Conner Black & White Variant Cover), *
Movement #2 (Amanda Conner Regular Cover), $2.99
Scooby-Doo Where Are You #34, $2.99
Solo HC (Deluxe Edition), $49.99
Stormwatch #21, $2.99
Superman The Golden Age Omnibus Volume 1 HC, $75.00
Swamp Thing #21, $2.99
Trinity Of Sin The Phantom Stranger #9, $2.99
DK PUBLISHING
Star Wars The Clone Wars Episode Guide HC, $16.99
Monsters University The Essential Guide HC, $12.99
DRAWN AND QUARTERLY
User's Guide To Neglectful Parenting GN, $12.95
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Black Bat #2 (Ardian Syaf Black & White Variant Cover), *
Black Bat #2 (Billy Tan Black & White Variant Cover), *
Black Bat #2 (Cover A Jae Lee), $3.99
Black Bat #2 (Cover B Joe Benitez), $3.99
Black Bat #2 (Cover C Ardian Syaf), $3.99
Black Bat #2 (Cover D Billy Tan), $3.99
Black Bat #2 (Jae Lee Black & White Variant Cover), *
Dark Shadows #17 (Francesco Francavilla Regular Cover), $3.99
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #4 (Of 8)(Ale Garza Risque Variant Cover), *
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #4 (Of 8)(Cezar Razek Risque Variant Cover), *
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #4 (Of 8)(Jay Anacleto Regular Cover), $3.99
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #4 (Of 8)(Jay Anacleto Risque Variant Cover), *
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #4 (Of 8)(Jay Anacleto Subscription Variant Cover), $3.99
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #4 (Of 8)(Walter Geovani Risque Red Variant Cover), *
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #4 (Of 8)(Walter Geovani Risque Variant Cover), *
Garth Ennis' Red Team #3 (Howard Chaykin Regular Cover), $3.99
Kirby Genesis Dragonsbane #4 (Alex Ross Regular Cover), $3.99
Lone Ranger #15 (Francesco Francavilla Regular Cover), $3.99
Miss Fury #3 (Ale Garza Risque Variant Cover), *
Miss Fury #3 (Billy Tan Black & White Variant Cover), *
Miss Fury #3 (Cover A Joe Benitez), $3.99
Miss Fury #3 (Cover B Paul Renaud), $3.99
Miss Fury #3 (Cover C Billy Tan), $3.99
Miss Fury #3 (Cover D Warner Reis), $3.99
Miss Fury #3 (Joe Benitez Red Variant Cover), *
Miss Fury #3 (Wagner Reis Black & White Variant Cover), *
Spider #12 (Francesco Francavilla Regular Cover), $3.99
Warlord Of Mars #24 (Risque Red Variant Cover)(Dynamic Forces), $14.99
Warlord Of Mars Dejah Thoris #25 (Risque Red Variant Cover)(Dynamic Forces), $19.99
EAGLEMOSS PUBLICATIONS
DC Batman Automobilia Figurine Collection Magazine #7 (Batman #575 Batmobile), $20.00
DC Batman Automobilia Figurine Collection Magazine #8 (Animated Series Batmobile), $20.00
DC Superhero Chess Figurine Collection Magazine #32 (Batman/Question & Superman 2 Pack), $16.00
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
End HC (not verified by Diamond), $19.99
Today Is The Last Day Of The Rest Of Your Life GN, $35.00
HAYNES PUBLISHING
Dan Dare Spacefleet Operations Manual HC, $27.95
HILL AND WANG
Trinity A Graphic History Of The First Atomic Bomb TP, $14.95
IDW PUBLISHING
Colonized #3 (Of 4)(Cover A Dave Sim), $3.99
Colonized #3 (Of 4)(Cover SUB Gabriel Rodriguez), $3.99
Crow Skinning The Wolves TP, $17.99
Haunted Horror #5 (Cover A Tony Mortellaro & Bernard Baily), $3.99
Hollows HC, $21.99
John K Presents Spumco Comic Book HC, $34.99
Locke And Key Omega #5 (Of 7)(Cover A Gabriel Rodriguez), $3.99
Locke And Key Omega #5 (Of 7)(Cover RI Photo), *
Star Trek Legion Of Super-Heroes TP, $19.99
Tarzan The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips Volume 1 1967-1970 HC, $49.99
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Classics Volume 5 TP, $19.99
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Color Classics #11 (Cover A Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird), $3.99
Transformers Movie Collection Volume 1 TP, $29.99
Transformers Robots In Disguise #18 (Cover A Andrew Griffith), $3.99
Transformers Robots In Disguise #18 (Cover B Casey Coller), $3.99
Transformers Robots In Disguise #18 (Cover RI Phil Jimenez), *
Womanthology Space HC, $24.99
IMAGE COMICS
68 Jungle Jim #3 (Of 4)(Cover A Jeff Zornow & Jay Fotos), $3.99
68 Jungle Jim #3 (Of 4)(Cover B Nat Jones & Jay Fotos), $3.99
All-New Secret Skullkickers #1 (Cover A Edwin Huang & Ross A Campbell), $3.50
All-New Secret Skullkickers #1 (Cover B Saejin Oh), $3.50
Bedlam #7, $3.50
Blackacre #7, $2.99
Darkness #113, $2.99
East Of West #1 (4th Printing Variant Cover), $3.50
East Of West #3, $3.50
Hack Slash Omnibus Volume 5 TP, $34.99
Invincible Universe #3, $2.99
Jupiter's Legacy #1 (Michael Allred 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Mice Templar IV Legend #3 (Cover A Michael Avon Oeming), $2.99
Mice Templar IV Legend #3 (Cover B Victor Santos & Chandra Free), $2.99
Perhapanauts Danger Down Under #5 (Of 5)(Cover A Craig Rousseau), $3.50
Perhapanauts Danger Down Under #5 (Of 5)(Cover B Walter Simonson), $3.50
Perhapanauts Danger Down Under #5 (Of 5)(Cover C Michael Golden), $3.50
Savage Dragon #188, $3.99
Son Of Merlin #5, $2.99
Spawn #232 (Cover A Todd McFarlane), $2.99
Spawn #232 (Cover B Todd McFarlane), *
Ten Grand #1 (2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Ten Grand #2 (Cover A Ben Templesmith), $2.99
Ten Grand #2 (Cover B Bill Sienkiewicz), $2.99
Walking Dead Volume 18 What Comes After TP, $14.99
INSIGHT EDITIONS
After Earth United Ranger Corps Survival Manual HC, $40.00
True Blood The Poster Collection SC, $24.99
KENZER AND COMPANY
Knights Of The Dinner Table #198, $5.99
KODANSHA COMICS
Missions Of Love Volume 3 GN, $10.99
MARVEL COMICS
Age Of Ultron #9 (Of 10)(Carlos Pacheco Regular Cover), $3.99
Age Of Ultron #9 (Of 10)(Jorge Molina Variant Cover), *
Age Of Ultron #9 (Of 10)(Rock-He Kim Ultron Variant Cover), *
All-New X-Men #12 (Leinil Yu Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
All-New X-Men #12 (Stuart Immonen Regular Cover), $3.99
Avengers #13, $3.99
Avengers Arena #10, $2.99
Cable And X-Force #9 (John Tyler Christopher Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Cable And X-Force #9 (Salvador Larroca Regular Cover), $3.99
Daredevil Dark Nights #1 (Of 8), $2.99
Daredevil End Of Days #8 (Of 8)(Alex Maleev Regular Cover), $3.99
Daredevil End Of Days #8 (Of 8)(Bill Sienkiewicz Variant Cover), *
Daredevil End Of Days #8 (Of 8)(David Mack Variant Cover), *
Dark Tower The Gunslinger Evil Ground #2 (Of 2), $3.99
Disney Junior Magazine #14 (Disney Publishing Worldwide), $4.99
Fearless Defenders #5 (Amanda Connor Variant Cover), AR
Fearless Defenders #5 (Larry Stroman Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Fearless Defenders #5 (Mark Brooks Regular Cover), $2.99
Iron Man #11 (Greg Land Regular Cover), $3.99
Iron Man #11 (Mike Deodata Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Kick-Ass 3 #1 (Of 8)(Adam Hughes Variant Cover), $2.99
Kick-Ass 3 #1 (Of 8)(Adam Kubert Variant Cover), $2.99
Kick-Ass 3 #1 (Of 8)(Cully Hamner Variant Cover), $2.99
Kick-Ass 3 #1 (Of 8)(John Romita Jr Regular Cover), $2.99
Kick-Ass 3 #1 (Of 8)(Marc Silvestri Variant Cover), $2.99
Kick-Ass 3 #1 (Of 8)(Pasqual Ferry Variant Cover), $2.99
Marvel's Thor The Dark World Prelude #1 (Of 2), $2.99
Red She-Hulk #66, $2.99
Savage Wolverine #6/Ultimate Comics The Ultimates #25 Mini-Poster (Promotional Item), *
Spider-Man Danger Zone TP, $19.99
Superior Spider-Man #11, $3.99
Superior Spider-Month Postcard (Promotional Item), *
Thanos Rising #3 (Of 5), $3.99
Thunderbolts #10 (Julian Totino Tedesco Regular Cover), $2.99
Thunderbolts #10 (Jung-Geun Yoon Wolverine Costume Variant), *
Ultimate Comics The Ultimates #25 (Greg Land Variant Cover), *
Ultimate Comics The Ultimates #25 (Michael Komarck Regular Cover), $3.99
Winter Soldier #19 (Declan Shalvey Regular Cover)(Last Issue), $2.99
Winter Soldier #19 (Jason Latour Variant Cover)(Last Issue), *
Wolverine By Claremont And Miller HC, $24.99
Wolverine Comic Reader #1, $3.99
Wolverine Origin HC (New Printing), $29.99
Wolverine Sabretooth HC, $39.99
Wolverine Season One HC (Premiere Edition), $24.99
Wolverine The Adamantium Collection HC, $200.00
X-Factor #257, $2.99
X-Men Ghosts TP, $34.99
MOONSTONE
Domino Lady Sherlock Holmes #1 (Of 2)(Paul Niemeyer Regular Cover), $3.99
Domino Lady Sherlock Holmes #1 (Of 2)(Paul Niemeyer Virgin Variant Cover), $3.99
MOVIELAND CLASSICS
Famous Monsters Of Filmland #268 (July/August 2013), $9.99
Monster Attack Team #1, $19.99
PANINI PUBLISHING
Doctor Who Magazine #460, $9.99
PAPERCUTZ
Ariol Volume 2 Thunder Horse SC
Smurfs Anthology Volume 1 HC, $19.99
Sybil The Backpack Fairy Volume 4 Princess Nina HC, $10.99
RARE EARTH COMICS
Doctor Atlantis Volume 2 GN, $9.99
REBELLION
Rogue Trooper Welcome To Nu-Earth Digest GN, $11.00
SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT
Haganai I Don't Have Many Friends Volume 3 GN, $12.99
Kisses Sighs And Cherry Blossom Pink Complete Collection TP, $18.99
Sacred Blacksmith Volume 1 GN, $13.99
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
Super Boys The Amazing Adventures Of Jerry Siegel And Joe Shuster The Creators Of Superman HC, $27.99
STARLOG GROUP
Fangoria #324, $9.99
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS
Walking Dead Novel Volume 2 Road To Woodbury SC
TITAN PUBLISHING
Star Wars The Clone Wars Magazine #18, $4.99
Walking Dead The Official Magazine #4 (Newsstand Edition), $9.99
Walking Dead The Official Magazine #4 (Previews Exclusive Edition), $9.99
TOHAN CORPORATION
Megami March 2013, $16.60
Newtype March 2013, $16.00
TOR BOOKS
Robert Jordan's The Eye Of The World Volume 1 TP, $15.99
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
Best Of Alter Ego Volume 2 SC, $19.95
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT
Archer And Armstrong #10 (Andrew Robinson Variant Cover), *
Archer And Armstrong #10 (Clayton Henry Regular Cover), $3.99
Archer And Armstrong #10 (Juan Doe Pullbox Variant Cover), $3.99
Archer And Armstrong #10 (Matthew Waite 8-Bit Variant Cover), $3.99
Harbinger Volume 2 Renegades TP, $14.99
Shadowman #7 (Dave Johnson Variant Cover), *
Shadowman #7 (Matthew Waite 8-Bit Variant Cover), $3.99
Shadowman #7 (Patrick Zircher Regular Cover), $3.99
Valiant Masters Shadowman Volume 1 Spirits Within HC, $24.99
VIZ MEDIA
Dawn Of The Arcana Volume 10 TP, $9.99
Demon Love Spell Volume 3 GN, $9.99
Devil And Her Love Song Volume 9 GN, $9.99
Dragon Ball 3-In-1 Edition Volume 1 TP, $14.99
Monsuno Combat Chaos Volume 1 Moto Mutants GN, $7.99
Nura Rise Of The Yokai Clan Volume 15 GN, $9.99
One Piece Volume 67 TP, $9.99
Pokemon Adventures Diamond And Pearl Platinum Volume 8 GN, $9.99
Pokemon Black And White Volume 10 GN, $4.99
Rurouni Kenshin Restoration Volume 1 GN, $9.99
Sakura Hime The Legend Of Princess Sakura Volume 10 GN, $9.99
Skip-Beat Volume 31 TP, $9.99
Slam Dunk Volume 28 GN, $9.99
Toriko Volume 16 GN, $9.99
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Volume 3 GN, $9.99
WELDON OWEN
Geek Toys Guide Make A Real Light Saber And 64 Other Amazing Geek Toys SC, $9.99
YEN PRESS
Are You Alice Volume 1 TP, $11.99
Black God Volume 19 TP, $12.99
Blood Lad Volume 3 GN, $18.99
BTOOOM Volume 2 GN, $11.99
Disappearance Of Nagato Yuki-Chan Volume 4 GN, $12.99
Durarara Saika Volume 2 TP, $11.99
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix Volume 1 TP, $12.00
Kingdom Hearts Final Mix Volume 2 TP, $12.00
Omamori Himari Volume 10 GN, $11.99
Soul Eater Volume 14 TP, $11.99
Thermae Romae Volume 2 HC, $34.99
Umineko When They Cry Volume 3 Turn Of The Golden Witch Part 1 GN, $20.99
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Demons The Unseen #1 (Of 3)(Cover A Anthony Spay), $2.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Demons The Unseen #1 (Of 3)(Cover B Harvey Toliboa), $2.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents The Jungle Book Last Of The Species #4 (Of 5)(Cover A Jimbo Salgado), $3.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents The Jungle Book Last Of The Species #4 (Of 5)(Cover B Ivan Nunes), $3.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Omnibus Volume 1 TP, $59.99
Grimm Universe Volume 1 TP, $15.99
Screwed #1 (Of 6)(Cover A Tyler Kirkham), $2.99
Screwed #1 (Of 6)(Cover B David Miller), $2.99
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Image Preview: Bedlam #7
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Doctor Who (Prisoners of Time) #5
This week I picked up issue 5 of Doctor Who Prisoners of Time (the big event for comics to celebrate Doctor Who’s 50thanniversary) and just like the other issues that came before it issue 5 has the 5th Doctor EX: issue 1 had the 1st Doctor #2 had the 2ndDoctor and so on.
In this issue we finally get to see the face of the person who has been kidnaping the Doctor’s companions across time and space (it should be noted that we do not find out his name). At this point this is where everything starts to make sense. The Doctor has been having his mind altered to forget everything that has been happening. (This explains why he hasn’t remembered this in his other lives).
We also get to see the Scentarons, which was a nice change. Adrict also happened to be there (why the hell did they have to bring this kid back I was really hoping for the robot).
This issue it self was not very good. If it wasn’t for all the information provided (which I can’t tell because of spoilers) I will only give this a 3/5. The art was okay but not my taste and the story seemed to drag on in some parts, which I didn’t notice in issues 1-4.
Over all not the best but all the information that we are given helps but it will still be sitting at a 3/5. If you plan on reading all of the Prisoners of Time issues you may need to pick this up. While I am on this topic if IDW makes issus 8 (in other words the 8th Doctor’s story) crap I shall rage for at least 5 or 10 months about it (just saying).
I am CJ and I will see you later.
Happy reading.
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Comparing the Graphic Novel and Film of Watchmen Part 1
Hey guys this is Kat "Comic Uno" and I have a new feature comparing the graphic novel and film of Watchmen. I had to do a ten page paper about Watchmen for a Novel and Film class I took. So, I decided to publish it here on Comic Frontline. Here is the first part of the article. Every week I will release a new part of this feature series.
Watchmen is one of the most popular and well written graphic novels. Like many popular novels on the market Watchmen received its own film adaptation. The film was released in 2009 and was directed by Zack Snyder. Both the film and novel represent the superhero genre, but unlike much of that genre there is a deeper existentialist layer.
Why has Watchmen changed the superhero genre forever? Before Watchmen superhero comic books didn’t have any depth or deeper meaning. There were the bad guys and the good guys. The good guy, after some struggle, usually saved the day and there wasn’t much social commentary or character development involved in the process. In Watchmen the hero is equally a villain and every hero has some questionable motives. Watchmen was not just a superhero book, but also a social commentary of our world. (Klock, 150) After Watchmenwas published in 1986 many readers wanted more stories with the complexity and depth of Watchmen. At the time it became clear that if the comic book industry wanted to survive it would have to change the depth and theme of its stories and create characters that would be more complex.
Watchmenwas needed for the survival of the comic book industry. If Watchmen wasn’t written the comic book industry probably would have severely declined a long time ago. On the other hand, the film adaptation did not impact the movie industry in the same dramatic way. It didn’t even change the film superhero genre. Watchmenwas released in 2009, but the superhero film genre started to become popular with Spider-man in 2002. The big bang of the superhero genre started the year before Watchmen in 2008 with the premiere of Iron Man. These are the movies that were the predecessors to the Avengers, which made over a billion dollars in the box office worldwide. To the mainstream audience Watchmen was just another superhero movie. Its major impact on the comic book industry was not a factor to the film audience.
The film contained much of the symbolism and social commentary of the novel, but did not have as much of the depth of the social commentary that the graphic novel had. Some of the limitations of the film did not allow it to deal with the themes as well as the graphic novel did and some things were cut out of the story. The film did not include the story of a man reading a comic within a comic called Tales of Black Freighter. As the man reads his book the social commentary spoke for itself. Everyone was talking about Russia, nukes, and the coming of World War Three.
The film decided to ignore this story but added social commentary in different ways. Zack Snyder decided to add commentary through the use of media in the film. Throughout the events of Watchmen there would be propaganda or social commentary through news outlets. This was an excellent way to add some depth to the film, but not bore the mainstream audience that is just looking for a superhero movie. To the average viewer the film may have a two dimensional tone, but at closer inspection the movie provides a lot of depth and symbolism.
In the film there was less direct social and character commentary so much of this accomplished by use of symbolism. This made the film seem to have less of a soul than the novel. A major complaint from people who read the novel is that the movie seemed to be very forgettable. The viewer feels somewhat disconnected while watching the film. Although Snyder is faithful to the text, sometimes word for word, he fails to capture much of its significance. The movie gives voice to the characters, but not the depth that is needed in such a deeply written novel.
Moore devotes chapters dedicated to help us understand why the characters do the things that they do. It gives us more of an emotional attachment to these characters. For example, in chapter nine Laurie finds out who her father is. She repeats the name over and over again, because she realizes the man she hated for years and the person who raped her mother is her father. In the movie Dr. Manhattan just says, “The Comedian is your father”. (Snyder, 2009) There was very little emotion in one of the most emotion filled scenes of the novel.
Snyder leaves out many important facts in the origins of Dr. Manhattan and Rorschach. The movie skimmed over the relationship Dr. Manhattan had with his first love, Janey Slater. This showed that Dr. Manhattan had emotions and a strong connection to humanity. This is why he gets so angry in the film during the press conference when he finds out that his first love has cancer because of being exposed to him.
The interaction between Laurie and Dr. Manhattan on Mars made Dr. Manhattan see humanity in a new light. This is connected to his origin story and produced greater emotion in the graphic novel because of the little things we knew about Dr. Manhattan’s personality that Snyder decided to leave out in the movie.
When Rorschach is in the interrogation room with his therapist in the film we see glimpses of Rorschach’s past. We learn that his mother is a prostitute and bullies pick on Rorschach because of his mother’s reputation. In the graphic novel the narration allows the reader to see Rorschach life through his eyes. One feels the emotion he felt and can understand why he becomes the man we know as Rorschach.
The film didn’t touch upon the impact that Rorschach had on the therapist’s life. In the beginning of the graphic novel the therapist is happy to have such a big case, but Rorschach makes the therapist question his life. This makes the therapist drop the case because he started to become distant from his wife. This shows that Rorschach impacts the most positive people in life, and shows them the natural evils in society. Including some of these key points could have made the film less hollow and would have allowed the movie audience to connect better with these characters. (Meaney ,157)
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2
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Action Comics #21 Review
Action Comics #21 Review
By: JayTony S. Daniel is back with the last part of the Andy Diggle plotted/Daniel scripted “Hybrid” story arc. As everyone knows by now, Diggle and Daniel were supposed to be the post-Morrison Action Comics creative team. But before their first issue hit stores, Diggle left under unknown circumstances, leaving Daniel on the book as artist and writer using Diggle’s plot as a template. After this issue Daniel leaves Action Comics and we may never know what their run would truly have been like.
Once again this story is taking place a year before the present day DCU. This issue picks up a little while after the ending of the last issue. Superman battles the new Hybrid with help from Dr. Veritas. Lex decides to engage Superman in his battle suit while Lois goes after the story. In the back-up: on Krypton Lara resists the military coup and escapes, while the Colonel’s men zero in on Jor-El.
Like I said in my review of Action Comics #20, I usually don’t review consecutive issues of a series. I like to mix it up so I can showcase more books on the shelves and hopefully bring attention to a series that may be under the radar. But due to my love of Superman and the controversy surrounding Diggle's sudden departure, I am going to keep reviewing this series for a few more issues to see where the new creative team takes the title.
Like the last issue, you can see that while this story may use the general theme that Diggle presented in the sole issue he penned, that story was altered to fit in with editorial mandates. This is a more solid issue than the previous. The focus is more evenly balanced between character and action. You can tell that Action Comics #19 was Daniel trying to shorten a larger arc and to take it from where it was to where it was required to be. The pacing was much better in this issue making it an overall better read.
While it still isn’t as good as issue #19, Daniel did manage to bring the feel of the characters that Diggle presented to us in that issue. We see the Superman that we knew and love from the pre New 52 DCU alive in well in this book. Just a few lines makes all the difference. Superman’s reaction in this book is true to the character that fans have looked up to for the past 75 years. He’s not dangling people from high rises and dropping them to intimidate them No, he is standing his ground to protect the innocent no matter the cost to himself. That is Superman, and that is what Daniel gives you in this issue.
As always Daniel delivers nothing short of perfection with the art. He conveys emotion, action, power and strength in each and every panel. His panels convey the story on their own. The art works in perfect tandem with the story in telling an overall piece. Lois is just gorgeous to look at, but she looks tough enough to be climbing into a crater and facing down any threat to get the scoop. Every panel is a delight to look at.
DC gives us another back-up story in this issue to justify the cover price of $3.99, but this time they drop two pages making this only a 6-page back-up written by Frank Hannah with Phillip Tan returning for the art. Hannah picks up “Part: 2 Dissension” where Lobdell left off in the last issue. The story has an even flow, so the writing styles don’t clash. Some people don’t like this back-up story, but I am really enjoying it. This is a new look at Lara. She has always been so defined by her relationship to the men she is connected to that it is a nice change to see her being an independent woman who stands up for herself and her beliefs. In this chapter the story is more focused on Lara and the coup and pushed Jor-El’s role as a back-up story, to the back-up story. I think they should have kept those two pages and used them to show us more with Jor-El.
Just like the last chapter of this story Tan has some really great art. not as polished as Daniel’s but he does a great job. His Krypton is a really interesting world that I want to see more of.
That is what I think about this book. Let us know what you think about the book, and about this Action Comics arc in the comments. Don’t forget to follow us onTwitterto know whenever we post more reviews, news and previews on Comic Frontline.
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Guilty pleasures, ashamed or proud?
First of all, I disagree with the title of guilty pleasure. I mean who came up with the phrase guilty pleasures anyway? This man/woman was probably ridiculed everyday for liking something that no one else liked so he/she was like "f$%& it, it's my guilty pleasure!" Then everybody else probably realized hey I have one too and then the whole world lived happily ever after keeping what they loved hidden! This guy right here (me) doesn't play that game! I'm not afraid of what I like and I don't care what people think. The less you care about what people think, the more enjoyable life becomes.
As you can see by the picture, my major guilty pleasure is a reality show on Oxygen called Bad Girls Club. This may or may not be expected of a gay male to watch, yet I still don't care. If I was straight I'd 100% still watch it. Main stream critics view this show as debauchery and trash tv. Yes it is trash tv, but it's trash tv that I love and have loved since 2007! Hell, most of it's probably scripted but I don't care. Seeing 7 women interact and fight with each other over petty drama is just enjoyable to me. Why is it that "bad girls" fighting and cursing is considered crass, yet grown men pulverizing each other's faces till they bleed is considered sport?
Here is a clip of my favorite fight from the show, season 7 New Orleans!
A few of my other
-----Luke Widlund
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Shipping This Week June 12, 2013
New Comic Book & Related Merchandise Scheduled for Wednesday June 12, 2013
This is a list of comic books, graphic novels, and other related merchandise that should be available in comic book shops this week.
Take a look and let us know what books and other goodies you're picking up this week in the comments! Be sure to follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on what is shipping to your local comic shop every week!
( * = Check your local shop for price )
215 INK
AC COMICS
Femforce #163 (Eric Coile Regular Cover), $9.95
Femforce #163 (Eduardo Barreto Variant Cover), *
ACTION LAB ENTERTAINMENT
Ehmm Theory #1 (Of 4), $3.99
Ghost Town #1 (Of 5), $3.99
ALTERNATIVE COMICS
Failure GN, $21.95
ANDREWS MCMEEL
Get Fuzzy The Birth Of Canis TP, $12.99
ANGRY VIKING PRESS
Evil Diva Volume 1 GN, $12.99
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS
Archie And Friends Double Digest #28, $3.99
Archie Comics Super Special #3, $9.99
Archie Fun 'N' Games Activity Book SC
Jinx Volume 2 Little Miss Steps HC, $16.99
Jinx Volume 2 Little Miss Steps TP, $9.99
Mega Man #26 (Patrick Spaziante Regular Cover), $2.99
Mega Man #26 (Patrick Spaziante Throwback Variant Cover), $2.99
ASPEN COMICS
BubbleGun #1 (Of 5)(Mike Bowden Aspen Reserved Cover), $1.00
BubbleGun #1 (Of 5)(Mike Bowden Direct Market Cover), $1.00
BubbleGun #1 (Of 5)(J. Scott Campbell Variant Cover), *
Fathom Volume 3 Worlds At War HC, $79.99
ATHENEUM BOOKS
Zebrafish SPF 40 HC, $19.99
Zebrafish SPF 40 TP, $8.99
AVATAR PRESS
Ferals #15 (Gabriel Andrade Gore Cover), $3.99
Ferals #15 (Gabriel Andrade Regular Cover), $3.99
Ferals #15 (Gabriel Andrade Slashed Incentive Cover), *
Ferals #15 (Gabriel Andrade Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Ferals Volume 2 TP, $19.99
Stitched #14 (Fernando Furukawa Ancient Evil Incentive Cover), *
Stitched #14 (Fernando Furukawa Gore Cover), $3.99
Stitched #14 (Fernando Furukawa Regular Cover), $3.99
Stitched #14 (Fernando Furukawa Wraparound Cover), $3.99
BIG DOG INK
Critter #12 (Cover A Fico Ossio), $3.50
Critter #12 (Cover B Romano Molenaar), $3.50
Legend Of Oz The Wicked West #8 (Cover A Carlos Reno), $3.50
Legend Of Oz The Wicked West #8 (Cover B Nei Ruffino), $3.50
Serusis #1 (Of 5)(Cover A Owen Gieni), $3.50
Serusis #1 (Of 5)(Cover B Owen Gieni), $3.50
Serusis #1 (Of 5)(Cover C Owen Gieni), $3.50
BLACK WATCH COMICS
North End Of The World HC, $49.99
BONGO COMICS
Mylo Xyloto #5, $3.99
BOOM! STUDIOS
Bravest Warriors #9 (Cover A Tyson Hesse), $3.99
Bravest Warriors #9 (Cover B Stephanie Stober), $3.99
Bravest Warriors #9 (Cover C Claire Hummel), *
Bravest Warriors #9 (Cover D Brooke Allen), *
Freelancers #6 (Cover A Joshua Covey), $3.99
Freelancers #6 (Cover B Fan Yang), $3.99
Freelancers #6 (Cover C Joshua Covey), *
Grace Randolph's Supurbia #8 (Cover A Russell Dauterman), $3.99
Six-Gun Gorilla #1 (Of 6)(Cover A Ramon Perez), $3.99
Six-Gun Gorilla #1 (Of 6)(Cover B James Harren), *
BROADWAY
Doctor Who The Silent Stars Go By MMPB (50th Anniversary Collection Edition), $12.99
Doctor Who The Harvest Of Time SC, $9.99
CHRONICLE BOOKS
Art Of Monsters University HC, $40.00
COMIC SHOP NEWS
Comic Shop News #1356, *
DARK HORSE COMICS
Breath Of Bones A Tale Of The Golem #1 (Of 3), $3.99
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9 #22 (Georges Jeanty Variant Cover), $2.99
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 9 #22 (Phil Noto Regular Cover), $2.99
Creepy Archives Volume 16 HC, $49.99
Lone Wolf 2100 Omnibus TP, $24.99
Manara Library Volume 5 More Adventures Of Guiseppe Bergman HC, $59.99
Michael Avon Oeming's The Victories Volume 1 TP, $9.99
Star Wars #6 (Alex Ross Sketch Variant Cover), *
Star Wars #6 (Rodolfo Migliari Regular Cover), $2.99
True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys #1 (Of 6)(Becky Cloonan Regular Cover), $3.99
True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys #1 (Of 6)(Gabriel Ba Variant Cover), *
True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys #1 (Of 6)(Gerard Way Variant Cover), *
True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys #1 (Of 6)(Phantom Variant Cover), *
X #2 (Of 4), $2.99
DC COMICS
American Vampire The Long Road To Hell #1 (One Shot)(Rafael Albuquerque Regular Cover), $6.99
American Vampire The Long Road To Hell #1 (One Shot)(Tony Moore Variant Cover), *
Batgirl #21, $2.99
Batman #21 (Greg Capullo Black & White Variant Cover), *
Batman #21 (Greg Capullo Combo Pack Cover), $4.99
Batman #21 (Greg Capullo Regular Cover), $3.99
Batman #21 (Jock Variant Cover), *
Batman Arkham Unhinged #15, $3.99
Batman Li'l Gotham #3, $2.99
Blue Lantern Ring (Promotional Item), *
Catwoman Volume 2 No Easy Way Down TP, $24.99
Demon Knights #21, $2.99
Green Lantern Corps #21 (Bernard Chang Regular Cover), $2.99
Green Lantern Corps #21 (Rags Morales Variant Cover), *
Green Lantern Ring (Promotional Item), *
Katana #5 (Juan Jose Ryp Black & White Variant Cover), *
Katana #5 (Juan Jose Ryp Regular Cover), $2.99
MAD Presents Superman #1, $4.99
Man Of Steel Superman Vs Zod 1:12 Scale Statue, $124.95
Masters Of The Universe The Origin Of Hordak #1 (One Shot), $2.99
Nightwing #21, $2.99
Preacher Volume 1 TP, $19.99
Resurrection Man Volume 2 A Matter Of Death And Life TP, $14.99
Smallville Season 11 #14, $3.99
Stormwatch Volume 1 TP, $19.99
Stormwatch Volume 2 HC (resolicited), $29.99
Suicide Squad #21, $2.99
Superboy #21, $2.99
Superman Unchained #1 (Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund 75th Anniversary New 52 Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Bruce Timm 75th Anniversary 1930s Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund 75th Anniversary Superman Reborn Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Dan Jurgens Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Dave Johnson 75th Anniversary Golden Age Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Director's Cut Edition), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Jerry Ordway 75th Anniversary Modern Age Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Jim Lee & Scott Williams Black & White Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Jim Lee & Scott Williams Combo Pack Cover), $5.99
Superman Unchained #1 (Jim Lee & Scott Williams Regular Cover), $4.99
Superman Unchained #1 (Jose Luis Garcia Lopez 75th Anniversary Silver Age Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Lee Bermejo 75th Anniversary Lex Luthor Variant Cover), *
Superman Unchained #1 (Neal Adams 75th Anniversary Bronze Age Variant Cover), *
Threshold #6, $3.99
Worlds' Finest #13, $2.99
DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING
Atomcat GN, $12.95
DRAWN AND QUARTERLY
Animals With Sharpies HC, $16.95
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Battlestar Galactica #1 (Alex Ross Virgin Variant Cover)(Dynamic Forces), $10.00
Damsels Mermaids #2 (Paul Renaud Regular Cover), $3.99
Garth Ennis' Jennifer Blood #28 (Mike Mayhew Regular Cover), $3.99
Grimm #2 (Lucio Parillo Regular Cover), $3.99
Grimm #2 (Lucio Parillo Virgin Variant Cover), *
Grimm #2 (Photo Subscription Variant Cover), *
Shadow #14 (Alex Ross Regular Cover), $3.99
Shadow #14 (Alex Ross Sketch Variant Cover), *
Shadow #14 (Alex Ross Virgin Variant Cover), *
Shadow #14 (Francesco Francavilla Regular Cover), $3.99
Shadow #14 (Jason Shawn Alexander Regular Cover), $3.99
Shadow #14 (Tim Bradstreet Regular Cover), $3.99
Sherlock Holmes The Liverpool Demon #5 (Of 5)(Francesco Francavilla Regular Cover), $3.99
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
End HC, $19.99
King A Comics Biography HC (Special Edition), $25.00
Wake Up Percy Gloom HC, $28.99
HIGH SPEED PRODUCTIONS
Juxtapoz #150 (July 2013), $5.99
IDW PUBLISHING
Complete Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie Volume 9 1940-1941 HC, $49.99
Crow Curare #1 (Of 3)(Cover A Antoine Dode), $3.99
Crow Curare #1 (Of 3)(Cover B James O'Barr), $3.99
Crow Curare #1 (Of 3)(Cover SUB Miran Kim), $3.99
Doomsday.1 #2 (Of 4)(Cover A John Byrne), $3.99
Dungeons And Dragons Cutter #3 (Of 5)(Cover A Steve Ellis), $3.99
Dungeons And Dragons Cutter #3 (Of 5)(Cover B David Baldeon), $3.99
G.I. JOE Hearts And Minds Volume 1 TP, $19.99
G.I. JOE The IDW Collection Volume 2 HC, $49.99
Half Past Danger #2 (Of 6)(Cover A Stephen Mooney), $3.99
Half Past Danger #2 (Of 6)(Cover SUB Declan Shalvey), $3.99
Machine Sabbath HC, $17.99
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #8 (Cover A Amy Mebberson), $3.99
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #8 (Cover B Tony Fleecs), $3.99
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic #8 (Cover RI Andy Price), *
Popeye Classics #11 (Cover A Bud Sagendorf), $3.99
Popeye Classics #11 (Cover RI Roz Chast), *
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Secret History Of The Foot Clan TP, $17.99
Thumbprint By Joe Hill #1 (Of 3)(Cover A Vic Malhotra), $3.99
Thumbprint By Joe Hill #1 (Of 3)(Cover SUB Vincent Chong), $3.99
Transformers Prime Beast Hunters #2 (Cover A Ken Christiansen), $3.99
Transformers Prime Beast Hunters #2 (Cover RI Animation Art), *
Transformers Prime Beast Hunters #2 (Cover SUB Michael Lark), $3.99
Transformers Regeneration One #92 (Cover A Andrew Wildman), $3.99
Transformers Regeneration One #92 (Cover B Guido Guidi), $3.99
Transformers Regeneration One #92 (Cover RI Geoff Senior), *
IMAGE COMICS
Aphrodite IX #1 (Sjepan Sejic 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Aphrodite IX #2 (Cover A Stjepan Sejic), $2.99
Aphrodite IX #2 (Cover B Marc Silvestri), $2.99
Artifacts #28, $3.99
Distant Soil #40, $3.50
Dream Merchant #2 (Of 6), $3.50
Great Pacific #7, $2.99
Invincible #101 (2nd Printing Variant Cover), $2.99
Peter Panzerfaust #11 (Cover A Tyler Jenkins), $3.50
Peter Panzerfaust #11 (Cover B Rob Guillory), *
Walking Dead #111, $2.99
INSIGHT EDITIONS
After Earth United Ranger Corps Survival Manual HC, $40.00
KODANSHA COMICS
Air Gear Omnibus Volume 1 GN, $19.99
Attack On Titan Volume 5 GN, $10.99
Fairy Tail Volume 26 GN, $10.99
Mardock Scramble Volume 7 GN, $10.99
LOCUS MAGAZINE
Locus #629 (June 2013), $7.50
MARRS MEDIA
Rue Morgue Magazine #134 (June 2013), $9.95
MARVEL COMICS
Alpha Big Time #5 (Of 5), $2.99
Astonishing X-Men #63, $3.99
Astonishing X-Men Gifted Prose Novel MMPB, $7.99
Avengers Assemble #16 (Amanda Conner Variant Cover), *
Avengers Assemble #16 (Joe Quinones Regular Cover), $3.99
Avenging Spider-Man #22, $3.99
Cable And X-Force #9 (John Tyler Christopher Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Captain America Volume 1 Castaway In Dimension Z Book 1 HC (Premiere Edition), $24.99
Captain Marvel By Milo Manara Poster, $8.99
Deadpool #11 (Amanda Conner Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Deadpool #11 (Tradd Moore Regular Cover), $2.99
Deadpool Killustrated TP, $14.99
Essential Wolverine Volume 7 TP, $19.99
Guardians Of The Galaxy #3 (Ed McGuinness Variant Cover), *
Guardians Of The Galaxy #3 (Leinil Yu Variant Cover), *
Guardians Of The Galaxy #3 (Movie Variant Cover), *
Guardians Of The Galaxy #3 (Steve McNiven Regular Cover), $3.99
Marvel Noir Daredevil Cage Iron Man TP, $34.99
Marvel Universe The Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes #15, $2.99
Marvel Universe Wolverine Digest TP, $9.99
Savage Wolverine #6 (Blank Variant Cover), *
Savage Wolverine #6 (Humberto Ramos Variant Cover), *
Savage Wolverine #6 (J. Scott Campbell Variant Cover), *
Savage Wolverine #6 (Joe Madureira Regular Cover), $3.99
Savage Wolverine #6 (Mike Perkins Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Savage Wolverine #6 (Walt Simonson X-Men 50th Anniversary Variant Cover), *
Savage Wolverine Spider-Man By Joe Madeiuera Poster, $8.99
Thanos Rising #1 (Of 5)(Simone Bianchi 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
Thor God Of Thunder #9 (Esad Ribic Regular Cover), $3.99
Thor God Of Thunder #9 (Julian Totino Tedesco Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Ultimate Comics X-Men #27, $3.99
Uncanny X-Force #6 (Carlo Pagulayan Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Uncanny X-Force #6 (Kris Anka Regular Cover), $3.99
Venom #36, $2.99
Wasp By Milo Manara Poster, $8.99
Wolverine #4 (Alan Davis Regular Cover), $3.99
Wolverine #4 (Pascal Campion Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Wolverine #4 (Salvador Larroca Artist Variant Cover), *
Wolverine And The X-Men #31 (Nick Bradshaw Regular Cover), $3.99
Wolverine And The X-Men #31 (Ryan Stegman Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Wolverine Comic Reader #2, $3.99
Wolverine First Cuts TP, $19.99
MOONSTONE
Domino Lady Sherlock Holmes #1 (Of 2)(Paul Niemeyer Regular Cover), $3.99
Domino Lady Sherlock Holmes #1 (Of 2)(Paul Niemeyer Virgin Variant Cover), $3.99
ONI PRESS
Helheim #4 (Joelle Jones Regular Cover), $3.99
Helheim #4 (Phantom Variant Cover), *
ORION
Asterix Omnibus Volume 5 SC, $19.95
PANINI PUBLISHING
Doctor Who Magazine #460, $9.99
Doctor Who Nemesis Of The Daleks TP, $24.99
QUIRK BOOKS
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children SC, $10.99
REBELLION
Rogue Trooper Welcome To Nu-Earth Digest GN, $11.00
SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS
Shadow Double Novel Volume 73 SC, $14.95
Whisperer Double Novel Volume 6 SC, $14.95
SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT
Jack The Ripper Hell Blade Volume 4 GN, $11.99
SOLO PUBLISHING
Cinema Retro #26, $11.99
SOURCE INTERLINK
Geek Magazine #7, $6.99
SUBLIME
His Favorite Volume 4 GN, $12.99
Sleeping Moon Volume 1 GN, $12.99
TASCHEN AMERICA
Little Book Of Butts SC, $9.99
Little Book Of Legs SC, $9.99
TH3RD WORLD STUDIOS
Stuff Of Legend Volume IV The Toy Collector #5 (Of 5), $3.99
TITAN PUBLISHING
A1 #1 (Of 6)(Garrie Gastonny & Sakti Yuwono Odyssey Cover), $3.99
A1 #1 (Of 6)(Phantom Variant Cover), *
A1 #1 (Of 6)(Rhoald Marcelius Carpe DIEm Cover), $3.99
A1 #1 (Of 6)(Stanley Lau Weirding Willows Cover), $3.99
Simon And Kirby HC Library Science Fiction (resolicited), $49.95
Star Wars Insider #142 (July 2013)(Newsstand Edition), $7.99
Star Wars Insider #142 (July 2013)(Previews Exclusive Edition), $7.99
Stephen King Joyland MMPB, $12.95
TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS
Burning Building Comix HC, $19.95
UNITED PLANKTON PICTURES
SpongeBob Comics #21, $2.99
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT
Harbinger Wars #3 (Of 4)(Khari Evans Variant Cover), *
Harbinger Wars #3 (Of 4)(Patrick Zircher Regular Cover), $3.99
Harbinger Wars #3 (Of 4)(Patrick Zircher Variant Cover), *
Harbinger Wars #3 (Of 4)(Trevor Hairsine Pullbox Variant Cover), $3.99
VERTICAL
GTO 14 Days In Shonan Volume 9 GN, $10.95
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Arata The Legend Volume 14 TP, $9.99
Loveless Volume 11 GN, $9.99
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Are You Alice Volume 1 TP, $11.99
Black God Volume 19 TP, $12.99
Blood Lad Omnibus Volume 3 GN, $18.99
Durarara Saika Volume 2 TP, $11.99
Umineko When They Cry Volume 3 Turn Of The Golden Witch Part 1 GN, $20.99
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Hunters The Shadowlands #2 (Of 5)(Cover A Alfredo Reyes), $2.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Hunters The Shadowlands #2 (Of 5)(Cover B Giuseppe Cafaro), $2.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Robyn Hood Wanted #2 (Of 5)(Cover A Richard Ortiz), $2.99
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Image Preview: Peter Panzerfaust #11
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In Brightest Day In Blackest Night A Green Lantern Retrospective
I wanted to review Green Lantern #20, but I couldn’t write it without either spoiling the issue, or going over Johns’ whole run on the book. So I figured with the issue being out for almost three weeks now, whatever I mention here is not really a spoiler (unless you live under a rock), and I get the chance to look at his run as a whole.
I have been reading Geoff Johns’ work for years now. I started with Stars And S.T.R.P.I.E.S. From there I followed him to JSA, Hawkman, Flash, Teen Titans and then to Green Lantern, which is what this article is all about.
First I must preface this with what happened before Geoff Johns came on the book. Comic books have always been up and down in sales. In 1993 Green Lantern sales weren’t where DC wanted them and looking to boost sales and bring in a new audience they decided to do something daring, turn Hal Jordan , “The Greatest Green Lantern Ever” evil. The plan was to replace Hal with a new guy, Kyle Rayner and give him a bold new start as the sole Green Lantern, no Guardians, no Corps, just him. What DC didn’t expect was how fans would react to the replacement. DC had seen success when they killed off Barry Allen and replaced him with the younger Wally West as the Flash, and thought fans would accept Kyle. The big difference was that Barry died a hero and fans had grew up with Wally as Kid Flash, so when he took over his mentor’s role it felt like a natural progression, the circle of life. With Green Lanternthough fans felt DC disgraced a beloved character by having him go psycho and tear the Corps apart not caring about his friends.
The backlash from fans was so great that DC tried to rectify it by redeeming Hal Jordan in 1996’s Final Night, where Hal would save the world and sacrifice himself in the process. Hal Jordan died a hero. But even Batman didn’t accept this as redemption and fans echoed his feelings. Now enters Geoff Johns. Many people think Geoff started with Green Lantern Rebirth, but he actually started in the 1999 DC event Day of Judgment. In this mini The Spectre’s host Jim Corrigan had finally ascended to heaven, leaving the “Spirit of Vengeance” without a host. Geoff Johns made Hal Jordan the host, and changed the Spectre from the “Spirit of Vengance” to the “Spirit of Redemption.” Geoff would use Hal Jordan as the Spectre in his Flash run, giving Wally West his secret identity back. None of this was enough for Green Lantern fans.
DC had a tricky situation while Hal had his fans, so did Kyle. In 2004 DC released the 6-issue mini-series Green Lantern: Rebirth by Geoff Johns. The mini-series was true to its title, a rebirth of Green Lantern. Like sales during the end of Hal’s time as Green Lantern, Kyle’s sales were down, and Rebirth gave the title and all of comics a huge boost. Geoff Johns told an epic story on a scale that had not been done until then. Geoff used 60 years of the character’s history in comics to weave a tale that explained how Hal Jordan was possessed by an evil entity named Parallax. Johns explained that Parallax was the embodiment of fear and connected to the yellow power introducing the Emotional Spectrum.
Johns along with artist Ethan Van Sciver showed us how Hal Jordan became possessed by Parallax, explaining everything from Hal’s premature graying, to the rings vulnerability to yellow. Johns used his first issue of the newly relaunched Hal-centric Green Lantern title to set up future stories promising us epic wars. Fans knew Johns had big plans for Green Lantern, but none could fathom the level he would achieve.
Johns introduced the Emotional Spectrum setting up different Corps, each representing a different color, and each color a different emotion, or trait. With the Green light representing Will, Johns tied other Green Lantern-like powers to the spectrum with Sinestro’s yellow ring tapping into the Fear, the violet ring of the Star Sapphire: Love, and even giving the old Green Lantern foe Black Hand a ring that represented Death. He introduced new Corps with Red/Rage, Blue/Hope, Orange/Avarice, Indigo/Compassion, and White/Life. Each Corps had a guardian entity like Parallax and with it Johns had changed the Green Lantern Mythos forever.
In 2007 the second part of the promised trilogy from Johns started in the Sinestro Corps War, an 11-issue story that pitted Hal Jordan and the newly reborn Green Lantern Corps against Sinestro’s own twisted group, the Sinestro Corps. The event played out on an epic scale and led to the third chapter in this trilogy, the Blackest Night in 2009. By the time the Blackest Night came along the Green Lantern Universe had grown to cover all the colors of the emotional spectrum and the mini-series and its tie-ins left no corner of the DCU untouched. Fans from all titles flocked to the mini-series with their favorite character brought back from the dead as members of the Black Lantern Corps. Johns used his encyclopedia-like knowledge of the DCU history to resurrect characters from the mega popular like Earth-2 Superman to the little known Teen Titan Kole, and affected everyone. After the Blackest Night, DC had its Brightest Day a special event that brought in the White Lantern power and brought back characters that had died.
In 2011 DC decided to gamble and dump over 70 years worth of its history to relaunch every title. DC relaunched Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps and released two more titles, Red Lanterns and Green Lantern The New Guardians in the New 52. The Green Lantern Universe was bigger and more successful than ever, and Geoff Johns was responsible for it. As popular as he had become, fans began to lose faith in Johns with the lackluster “Rise of the Third Army” arc in the Green Lantern books. DC announced that Johns along with all current Green Lantern title creative teams were going to leave at the conclusion of John’s final Green Lanternevent “Rise of the First Lantern.” Fans all over began talking about how he would end his nine year run. Some feared that it couldn’t live up to his previous work like Blackest Night, which many hold up as the best of his work to date. Throughout the crossover event fans pretty much had the same reaction while, Johns told a good story in the Green Lantern title itself the rest of the issues connected to the other Green Lantern titles dragged the overall story down. Fans began to let the fear of Johns going out on a fizzle and not a BANG creep in.
Johns is known for pulling rabbits out of his hat. He has taken on characters and books that have been deemed impossible to get people to read due to unpopularity or the weight of constant reboots and revisions weighing them down and make them popular and easy for new and old readers to jump on. With Green Lantern #20 he pulled out another rabbit. Just when fans thought they were going to get another disappointing arc like “Rise of the Third Army,” Johns in true Hal Jordan fashion pulled up at the last minute and made a successful landing.
The issue not only wrapped up the “Wrath of the First Lantern” arc, or his 9-year run on the book, it wrapped up the Green Lanterntitle. You could close issue 20 and walk away from Green Lantern feeling satisfied, whether you’re a Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Sinestro or any other Lantern fan. Johns didn’t end a run, he ended an era. An era that I am sure will be talked about in 25 years from now and beyond as epic and revolutionary. The conclusion of the “Wrath of the First Lantern” arc wasn’t all that eventful, it was actually anti-climatic by action standards, but it was the personal moments and the character development in this issue that made it in many fans (mine included) opinion comic of the year.
Every character in this book achieved their fandom’s ideal happy ending with Guy Gardner still being true to himself knocking a guy out with one punch using an ongoing JLE joke. John continues his fight for the everyday man not as a Lantern, but as a political leader while finding love with Fatality. Kyle fulfilled his role as the Torchbearer by bringing light to those all over. Every Corps is touched on with some finding new loves, and others their inner spirit. Hal Jordan and Carol got their happy ending as parents, grandparents, and always as Lanterns. While those scenes were nice, the true heart of this issue fell to Hal and Sinestro. When Hal asked Sinestro if they had ever been friends, Sinestro lets him know that, that is the true tragedy of all of this, that they will always be friends. That moment said so much about these two characters and their six-decade long relationship and touched the hearts of the fans.
Many saw that as “the moment” of the book, but for me it was the one between Hal and his younger self. I lost my father a few years ago, and when Johns put the moment where Hal lost his father as the time he felt real fear hit home. Even though I was an adult when I lost my dad, my relationship to him was close, he got me into comics, he was my hero, and was my best friend until the day he passed. The scene where Hal hugs his younger self giving the young boy that feeling of closure was something I connected to on a personal level.
While Johns delivered a lot of action in his run, introduced a mess load of characters, and new creative concepts that will forever be a part of the Green Lantern mythos, I think the true legacy he left behind is the heart and soul that he gave each character throughout his run. He built bridges between fans of Hal and Kyle, John and Guy uniting us all as Green Lantern fans.
Let us know what you think about Green Lantern #20 and Geoff Johns’ run on Green Lantern in the comments. Don’t forget to follow us onTwitter to know whenever we post more reviews, news and previews on Comic Frontline.
Thank you too all those that contributed to this retrospective.
Contribution Links
Brant Fowler
Comic Bloc
Comic Book Corner 2.0
Comic Uno
DarkAvengerINC
DarkAvengerC86
DudeOfRock18
Zone 4 Podcast
Contribution Links
Brant Fowler
Comic Bloc
Comic Book Corner 2.0
Comic Uno
DarkAvengerINC
DarkAvengerC86
DudeOfRock18
Zone 4 Podcast
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Pat Shand: Interview With A Realm Knight
Pat Shand: Interview With A Realm Knight
By: Jay
I recently had the chance to interview Mr. Pat Shand, writer at Zenescope Entertainment. He is the writer of some of Zenescope’s biggest hits like Godstorm, and Robyn Hood now their first big event, Unleashed. Pat Shand’s latest book Realm Knights is about to hit comic shops. Find out about the new mini-series, his creator-owned all-ages title and more.
Comic Frontline: First I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your day for this interview. Can you tell our readers a little about yourself?
Pat Shand: Sure! My name is Pat Shand and I am a staff writer for Zenescope Entertainment. I’ve written Robyn Hood, Unleashed, Godstorm, Grimm Fairy Tales, and other titles, for Zenescope. We’re also currently releasing my creator-owned title, Family Pets, through Silver Dragon Books, the all-ages imprint of Zenescope. Besides my Zenescope work, I’ve written for Joss Whedon’s Angel with IDW Publishing and produced short plays off-off Broadway in NYC. I teach Screenwriting, Script Writing, and English 101 at Five Towns College New York . I am ginger. I once had a beard. I have DFTBA tattooed on my wrist.
I think that about covers the Spark Notes.
CF: It's funny that you said you worked on a Whedon book, because in my review of Unleashed #1 I compared the story to how Joss Whedon would build up to these epic season finales on his show Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.
PS: I loved reading that. Buffy is my favorite show, and Joss’s work on that and Angel has influenced me as a writer and a person more than any other fictional work.
CF: What can you tell us about Family Pets?
PS: It’s an all-ages comic about a girl who wakes up to discover her family has been turned into animals. The elevator pitch would be “If Pixar had created Harry Potter with a female lead,” but it’s such a quirky and emotional read that it feels like a different comic every time I think about it. Sometimes I feel like I’m writing a Brian Wood-esque examination of teenage years, and other times it feels like a romp through a metropolitan Narnia. Issue #2 is out on Comixology tomorrow, and #1 is available for just 99 cents here!
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| Realm Knights #1 Cover A |
CF: That sounds pretty awesome. I am going to be adding that to my cart right after this.
How did Realm Knights come about?
PS: The idea had been in place for a while, and it just lined up that I happened to be the guy Joe Brusha (Zenescope prez) chose to write the series. It’s Joe’s concept, and the two of us went back and forth on the phone a lot to plan this out and make sure it’s going to kick as much ass as possible. Which I think, hey, “fairy tale Avengers” has a pretty high ass-kickery potential.
CF: You have written Robyn Hood, Red Riding Hood, Sela Mathers and Van Helsing before. How did that affect how you handle them in the team setting?
PS: At this point, all three of those characters are very natural to me. Sela is the hardest I guess because she’s been written by so many writers and she’s really Joe and Ralph’s baby, as she’s been around since 2005! Helsing, Red, and especially Robyn, I’d written a lot of before. Robyn’s voice is very much my own. I’m so immersed, both as a writer and a fan, in all of these characters, so it was very natural to have them reach to each other. Robyn and Helsing have a really cool back-and-forth in #1.
CF: The Realm Knights prelude, or prequel issue, came out and the team is slightly different due to events fromUnleashed. Was this always the plan or did you have to change gears in the story?
PS: I outlined and pitched Unleashed before I got the gig to do the Realm Knights one-shot, and there was a character I was killing in Unleashed #1 that Joe had as an integral part of Realm Knights. I remember the two of us talked about the logistics of killing this character and if the stories could line up. They lined up perfectly, and also allowed us to let that character shine in the Realm Knights prelude one-shot. It all worked out very well.
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| Realm Knights One-Shot |
CF: What else will be changed from that issue to Realm Knights #1?
PS: Their handler from the one-shot, Agent Aranda, is not around after the events of that issue. I introduced their new handler, Agent Jessica Ciampo, in this month’s issue of Grimm Fairy Tales. She’s a really cool character and I think she’s going to be a blast to write as she interacts more and more with the main cast. Also, a big difference is the scale. The one-shot was big action, but the miniseries is global action. It’s summer blockbustering the Grimm Universe.
CF: Speaking of Unleashed, you’re currently writing Unleashed, Robyn Hood: Wanted, and now the up-coming Realm Knights. How do you handle all of that, and are you planting any seeds in one title for any of the others?
PS: Yep, each title stands on its own while also lending itself to its sister titles. The way I handle it is because I love it. I’d be writing as many comic book scripts even if I weren’t being published. It’s my passion. I can’t not do it.
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| Realm Knights #1 Cover B |
CF: Unleashed is the big event for Zenescope right now, and Robyn Hood: Wanted is something fans have been looking forward to since the first mini-series ended. Realm Knights uses very key characters from these books. Where does it fit into continuity in relation to the other two titles?
PS: Unleashed and Robyn Hood: Wanted take place during each other, though Wanted only spans about a week and Unleashed spans over a year. The Realm Knights mini is set firmly after both of them.
CF: I got into reading Zenescope books through your first Robyn Hood mini-series after Mike Spider-Slayer reviewed it and gave it a high recommendation. I really love your writing style. You write for both a new reader as well as long time fans. How important do you think that is, especially with comic book companies looking for new readers now?
PS: It’s vital. Any chance to get a new reader without talking down to the returning fans is a chance I will take. Each book, whether it be a mini or an ongoing or a spin-off or an event or a tie-in… should be completely new reader friendly. No one should be grasping at straws trying to figure out what is going on in a comic book.
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| Realm Knights One-Shot |
CF: With team books, members usually fall into roles such as the comedic relief, etc. How would you describe each Knight’s role in the book?
PS: I want to answer very badly, but I think I’ll have to let the story speak for that.
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| Real Knights #1 Cover D |
CF: Was there any other character that you would have liked to have used, but couldn’t?
PS: I originally pitched Belinda as an addition to the team along with Helsing, but Joe and I spoke about it and the two of us couldn’t come up with something for her to do. She didn’t add to the story, and she’s such a cool character and her role in Unleashed was one of the most rewarding character arcs I’ve been a part of, so I decided that I didn’t want to cheapen that by throwing her into a team she would never join just to write her again.
CF: Will the Knights be limited to this mini-series, or can we expect them popping up as the Knights from time to time in other titles?
PS: It’s a big cohesive universe, so I’d say other titles. I include the supporting cast in Grimm Fairy Tales #86and #87, and I reference the Realm Knights throughout Unleashed.
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| Realm Knights #1 Cover C |
CF: Are there any hopes/plans in making Realm Knights an ongoing?
PS: No plans, but I certainly hope it does well enough.
CF: How about Robyn Hood?
PS: That’s the dream.
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| Realm Knights One-Shot |
CF: What can our readers expect from Realm Knights?
PS: Big action, big scares, big heart. Fairy tale characters, Medieval legends, Greek gods, and horror icons fighting off the biggest of bads… together in one comic book. Take that, Justice League!
CF: What’s coming up in Unleashed and Robyn Hood: Wanted?
PS: This month’s Unleashed closes out the saga of the gods. Zeus, Neptune, and Hades’ story comes to an end… for now. It’s the big finale of the first act of Unleashed, and there will be blood. This month’s issue of Robyn Hood: Wanted shows Robyn getting taken into police custody while Nottingham is invaded by the mysterious Sheriff and his band of monsters.
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| Unleashed |
CF: Do you have anything else coming up?
PS: I’m writing a lot of Wonderland stuff with Raven Gregory. Besides that, stay tuned for announcements!
Well that is it for now. I will like to once again thank Pat Shand for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview, and encourage everyone to check out Unleashed, Robyn Hood: Wanted, and Realm Knights. Don’t forget to also check out his creator-owned title Family Pets!
Let us know what you think in the comments Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to know whenever we post more previews, reviews, news and interviews on Comic Frontline.
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Superman Unchained #1 Review
Superman Unchained #1 Review
By: Jay
Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Superman Unchained #1! The much hyped Scott Snyder and Jim Lee book is finally here on Superman Day! Does this book live up to its hype? Can Scott Snyder do for Superman what he has done for Batman? Is Jim Lee’s art super? Find out in my review of Superman Unchained #1.
Someone or something has knocked eight objects out of orbit, including satellites and a space station. Superman looks into whom or what is doing this, even questioning Lex Luthor, but his biggest lead comes from Lois Lane .
Here it is, the book that Superman fans have been waiting for for months. I wasn’t so sure about Scott Snyder being the writer for this series to be perfectly honest. I am a HUGE Superman fan and as great of a writer as Snyder is I didn’t think he could tell a great Superman story. He is great with the darkness of the Batman side of the DCU and delivers a chilling tale in The Wake, but Superman isn’t dark. He isn’t something to be frightened of. So I wasn’t really sure what to expect. With that said, I am surprisingly pleased.
Snyder weaved a terrific Superman story. This wasn’t a Batman story with Superman as the main character, or Superman in a horror story, but an outright proper Superman story. There have been only a few instances where Superman has really felt true to the character to me in the New 52, and this issue can now join that club. Snyder doesn’t just capture the voice of Superman, but the very premise of the character. The major difference between Batman and Superman is that in his head Bruce Wayne thinks of himself as Batman, whereas Superman thinks of himself as Clark Kent . That is something I think most writers have forgotten since the New 52, but Snyder uses that in his internal monologue. When Superman is thinking of a way to shut down the space station’s engine he refers to himself as Clark .
Snyder’s story is told on a blockbuster scale. There is intrigue from the opening pages where we are in Nagasaki August 9, 1945 , and something emerges from a dropping bomb. That intrigue is coupled with action when we see Superman trying to stop a space station from falling to Earth. But this issue has more than action and intrigue, it has well written characters. Lois Lane is in true form here. She playfully tells Clark that he made a big mistake in his article while setting up the layout for the latest edition of the Daily Planet, and never misses a beat. Perry White is worried about how the paper looks and selling add space, and the flow of conversation between him and Lois is classic. Then you have the antagonistic relationship between Superman and Lex and the friendship between Clark and Jim Olsen, both showcasing different aspects of Superman. He’s more direct and blunt with Lex like a cop with a perp, while Jim brings out that nurturing big brother farmboy side of him.
Jim Lee’s art is really good, but not great to me. This isn’t anything against him, or to say he doesn’t have talent, because the man does. Personally I am not a fan of his work because he tends to add these lines to things. For instance on the splash page where the bomb is dropping from the plane; a small child is looking up at it with binoculars. His face has so many lines on it that he looks older. He tends to do this where simple shading is normally placed.
Now the thing I always really liked about Lee’s work on Superman is in this book. He makes Superman/Clark Kent look just a little bit different than the average person. He still looks like he could have fallen off of a turnip truck from Smallville, but he also has this alien quality to him that makes him visually unique and interesting.
This is a first issue, and I’m on board. Snyder and Lee have sold me on this book, and have me interested enough to want to grab not just the next issue, but at least the first arc to see where they are going with this “weapon” that the U.S. has had for the last 75 years. With a great story and solid art, I highly recommend you pick Superman Unchained #1 up.
That is what I think about this book. Let us know what you think about Superman Unchained in the comments. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to know whenever we post more previews, reviews, news and interviews on Comic Frontline.
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Comparing the Graphic Novel and Film of Watchmen Part 2
Hey guys this is Kat "Comic Uno" and I have a new feature comparing the graphic novel and film of Watchmen. I had to do a ten page paper about Watchmen for a Novel and Film class I took. So, I decided to publish it here on Comic Frontline. Here is the second part of the article. Every week I will release a new part of this feature series.
What could the film provide that the novel didn’t provide to its fullest? The answer to this question is music. This film uses that aspect to its advantage. The graphic novel references lyrics from Bob Dylan’s songs and even based some of its chapters on his songs. (Borsellino, 32) One of the phrases on the Nostalgia perfume ad was “the times they are changing”. The graphic novel could reference music, but it could never have the same effect that the movie would have when it added music into the background of certain scenes.
Bob Dylan’s “The Times are A Changin” is the introduction song to the film. This is a perfect introduction to Watchmen because the past has changed so much because of the involvement of these superheroes. JFK was shot by the Comedian and the American’s won the Vietnam War because of Dr. Manhattan. These are only some of the major changes that were made in history because of these heroes. This song also gives a social commentary of how society has changed over the years. Society has destroyed itself.
When the Comedian dies, a light tone from the 1950’s “Unforgettable” from Nat “King” Cole plays in the background. As the comedian falls to his death and his smiley face button with a mark of blood falls with him the lyrics play “That someone so unforgettable thinks I am unforgettable too.” The Comedian is an unforgettable character and the movie is based on his actions, and how it affected all the heroes’ lives.
During the Comedian’s funeral “Sounds of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel plays in the background. The song was written in the wake of JFK’s death, and this is ironic because in the Watchmen’s universe the Comedian killed JFK. The twin towers in the background during the Comedian’s funeral also give homage to 9/11 and add even more emotion during this sad toned song. The movie makes reference to 9/11 again in the end of the film when New York City is destroyed. There is an immense hole where Time Square used to be, but this references Ground Zero. (Sanderson, 128) During the funeral there is a close up shot of Dr. Manhattan and the lyrics say, “Silence like a cancer grows”. This will be a foreshadowing of the scandal Dr. Manhattan will face further on in the movie.
Most novels adapted into film don’t have the luxury or problems, depending on the way you look at it, associated with having visuals within the novel. In most novels imagery is left to the reader’s imagination, but since Watchmenis a graphic novel it shares words and images. This is one of the reasons that sound and music played such a big part in the film. It was the one thing that the comic book could not provide.
By watching the film and reading the graphic novel you get the best perspective on the Watchmen. There were minor and major changes in the film that intensified the Watchmen story. The first minor detail that the film added was Sally Jupiter being called Silk Spectre. In the graphic novel she is known as Silk Specter, but mostly referred to as Sally Jupiter. In the movie they call her Silk Spectre on many occasions and this reminds the audience that Laurie doesn’t have a real identity. She doesn’t even have her own superhero name as she is the second Silk Spectre. She will always be living in her mother’s shadow. Laurie never wanted to be the Silk Spectre, but her mother forced Laurie to train. Laurie has a hard time making an identity of her own. I think the minor detail of calling Sally Jupiter Silk Spectre adds more to the fact that Laurie does not have her own identity.
In the graphic novel the theme of identity is also developed even with Dr. Manhattan’s character. His father said that fixing watches was a dying trade. He pushed his son to go into a modern age trade as a scientist. If his father never had pushed him into that direction there would be no Dr. Manhattan. His father, without knowing it, changed Dr. Manhattan’s identity forever and thus the future of the world.
The biggest difference between the film and the graphic novel is the ending. In the graphic novel a giant squid destroys New York City and kills millions of people. In the movie the energy that created Dr. Manhattan destroyed New York City. It is debatable which ending is better because they both have the same result.
I believe that Dr. Manhattan’s energy has a bigger impact for the story than a giant squid destroying New York. It makes it more ironic and directly related to Dr Manhattan’s character. Everyone thinks that it is Dr. Manhattan’s fault. Dr. Manhattan is the person who saved America from the Vietnam War, but in the end he is the very thing that kills millions of Americans. They fear other nations, but never question America’s motives. Americans were paranoid over World War 3 and a nuclear war, but an American is the person who killed them. “God exists, and he is American.” (Snyder, 2009) This is an irony to the general paranoia.
The giant squid ending still has a similar meaning to the film ending. It is less character driven and more socially driven. The giant squid is one of the oldest creatures in the world, and the irony is that this is the creature that kills millions. Everyone is paranoid over nuclear bombs and new science, but surprisingly these are not the things that kill them. People looked to the future, but never thought to look to the past.
Both endings lead to utopia as a result of millions of American’s deaths. Rorschach believes that the people have the right to know who killed the people in New York. Ozymandias believes if the people knew than there was no point in trying to reach peace. There will just be another war and utopia will be lost. After the death in New York there was no more paranoia. The world had united, and this created utopia.
Dr. Manhattan says, “It will never end. Nothing ever ends.” (Moore, Chapter 12 27) Ozymandias believes that with this action he has changed the world and has ended war forever, but with Dr. Manhattan saying this he now has some doubts.
Rorschach’s journal is given to a newspaper outlet. The newspaper outlet doesn’t have any more stories to tell. Rorschach’s journal is in the news hamper. In the graphic novel it is under other papers, but in the movie the journal is on top of the pile. This proves that Rorschach’s journal was the driving force of Watchmen. It began the story and it is most likely will continue the story. Dr. Manhattan says that it will never end. Rorschach’s journal is the only source with the truth of how New York was destroyed. This can create more wars for the future. Utopia would be destroyed. Those deaths would mean nothing. But maybe the red headed boy at the newspaper outlet will not pick up the journal. There is a never-ending amount of possibilities where the Watchman story can continue. The movie and the graphic novel both respect this idea. That is what makes Watchmenunique. Most comic books would continue this story, and most movies of the superhero genre have sequel movies. Watchmenmakes you analyze the story for different interpretations. This is why Watchmen is meant to be re-read and re-watched. (Thomson, 103) Richard Benson says in his article Obsolete Models a Specialty: An Introduction,“But in Watchmen, these different viewpoints mean something more than Rorschach blot, if you will, or a chance to play “Choose Your Own Adventure.” The fact that there are so many different possible interpretations is the whole point; it’s not which one you choose that matters, it’s that you have a choice.”
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True Blood, season 6, ep.1 review!
Well the premiere drew in a good 4.5 million viewers, even though the NBA finals were on as well. The number dropped down from last season's premier but I think that was due to the NBA finals last night. I even tuned in for the little 15 minute preshow before the premiere. It was nice to see the cast hanging out and just being themselves and one can tell they're all genuinely friends. Then came the premiere...
What did I think of the premiere? I was very....disappointed, which is becoming a usual thing with me and True Blood. The first episode suffered the same follies as last season. It was jumbled with too many stories, (most of which, are inconsequential to what the fans want). I'm not even worried about revealing any spoilers because NOTHING REALLY HAPPENED. Let me give a run down of each story in the episode. Bill is still being controlled by Lilith because of the blood he drank last season. Jessica feels alone and wants to stay with "mayor of crazy town" as my friend Kathryn once called him. Jason is still seeing and hearing his parents and hates vampires now. The governor of the town wants to implement laws on the vampires for them to stay indoors at night because of the attacks. He cosigns with a factory owner of Tru blood to produce the product in an abandoned workshop in Bon Temps (for ulterior motives). Andy has like 6 kids from that annoying fairy woman, so Arlene and Terry are helping him raise them for now. Luna died (like anyone cares). Lafeyette cooked her daughter some dinner after she so pleasantly said "my mommy died, i'm hungry". Alcide is having threesomes with Ricki and some other girl, Ricki gets mad and says "I'm your top bitch". Eric and Sookie's relationship almost went somewhere special until Sookie rescinds Eric's invitation after he gives her back the deed to her house.... QUE EYE ROLL. Jason gets in a car with Warlow, the vampire we know almost nothing about but is sooooo important to Sookie's life.
The Good: Well I can scrape some good things from this episode. One being that the governor's plan for vampires (as seen in the upcoming season trailer) seems very interesting. Something that was almost good was the talk Eric had with Sookie at the end, when he told her "I still remember you as the girl with the white dress who walked into my bar" and then she shits all over the fans by saying "I want to be the girl in the white dress, which is why I'm rescinding your invitation". WTF SOOKIE, this gorgeous incredibly hot man who you have chemistry with YOU'RE GONNA TURN DOWN?! I mean I know for her to live a more normal life, she would have to stay away from vampires and etc. but come on they're meant to be!!
The Bad: To be honest, this entire episode was mostly unenjoyable. Their biggest mistake was putting in all these stupid stories that no one cares about. This show shined in seasons 1-3 for keeping the story line down to like 1 or 2 maybe 3 different follow ups, now it's like what 7 or 8? What I also didn't like was that most of the lines in this episode either felt forced or just cliche? Also I was really hoping that Bill would be killed because let's be honest, nobody likes Bill. Let's get him killed and take the show back to it's roots with a simpler story line, less super super super natural, and more mystery and horror. I think if the show sticks to that, it might not get cancelled for a long time, but if it goes the way it's going it will be cancelled soon. My only saving grace for still watching this show is because I've watched it from the beginning and the men on this show are the hottest men on the planet!! Alexander Skarsgard, Joe Manganiello, and Ryan Kwanten can all get it....Bill can watch.
Conclusion: So in conclusion, I don't expect any new fans jumping on this season, in fact I expect a decline in views from this point on. I'll keep watching because I'm faithful to this show and to my husband Joe Manganiello (Alcide). I give this episode 2 stars out of 5.
----Luke Widlund
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Shipping This Week June 19, 2013
New Comic Book & Related Merchandise Scheduled for Wednesday June 19, 2013
This is a list of comic books, graphic novels, and other related merchandise that should be available in comic book shops this week.
Take a look and let us know what books and other goodies you're picking up this week in the comments! Be sure to follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on what is shipping to your local comic shop every week!
( * = Check your local shop for price )
AC COMICS
Crypt Of Horror Volume 18 TP, $29.95
ALTERNATIVE COMICS
Alternative Comics #4, $5.99
Failure GN, $21.95
ANTARCTIC PRESS
Gearhearts Steampunk Glamor Revue #7, $3.99
Gold Digger #201, $3.99
Last Zombie The End #2 (Of 5), $3.99
APE ENTERTAINMENT
Sesame Street I Is For Imagination #1 (Amy Mebberson Super Power Variant Cover), *
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS
Betty And Veronica #266 (Dan Parent Regular Cover), $2.99
Betty And Veronica #266 (Jill Thompson Variant Cover), $2.99
Betty And Veronica Friends Double Digest #234, $3.99
Life With Archie #30 (Bob Smith Regular Cover), $3.99
Life With Archie #30 (Phil Jimenez Variant Cover), $3.99
Sonic Saga Volume 3 Eggman Empire TP, $11.99
Sonic Universe #53 (Patrick Spaziante Evil Friends Forever Variant Cover), $2.99
Sonic Universe #53 (Patrick Spaziante Regular Cover), $2.99
World Of Archie Double Digest #30, $5.99
ASPEN COMICS
Executive Assistant Iris Volume 3 #4 (Cover A Alex Lei), $3.99
Executive Assistant Iris Volume 3 #4 (Cover B Paolo Pantalena), $3.99
Fathom The Elite Saga #1 (Cover A Ken Marion), $3.99
Fathom The Elite Saga #1 (Cover B Talent Caldwell ), $3.99
Fathom The Elite Saga #1 (Cover C Michael Turner), *
ATHENEUM BOOKS
Zebrafish SPF 40 HC, $19.99
AUDIOGO
Torchwood The Men Who Sold The World Audio CD, $19.95
AVATAR PRESS
Extinction Parade #1 (Raulo Caceres Bloodwashed Incentive Cover), *
Extinction Parade #1 (Raulo Caceres End Of Species Cover), $3.99
Extinction Parade #1 (Raulo Caceres Regular Cover), $3.99
Extinction Parade #1 (Raulo Caceres Wraparound Cover), $3.99
BANTAM
Game Of Thrones The Graphic Novel Volume 2 HC (resolicited), $25.00
BBC BOOKS
Doctor Who Who-ology The Official Miscellany HC, $19.99
BIG DOG INK
Legend Of Oz The Wicked West Volume 2 TP, $17.99
BLACK LIBRARY
Warhammer 40K Macharian Crusade Angel Of Fire SC
Warhammer 40K The Soul Drinkers First Omnibus SC, $17.50
Warhammer Headtaker SC, $14.00
BLACK MASK COMICS
Liberator #1 (Of 4), $3.50
Occupy Comics #2, $3.50
BONGO COMICS
Sergio Aragones' Funnies #8 (resolicited), $3.50
Simpsons Comics #203, $2.99
BOOM! STUDIOS
Adventure Time Volume 3 TP, $14.99
Bravest Warriors #1 (Of 6)(Get-A-Sketch Variant Cover), $9.99
Clive Barker's Hellraiser The Dark Watch #5 (Cover A Sami Makkonen), $3.99
Deathmatch #1 (Dan Panosian Emerald City
Extermination Volume 2 TP, $14.99
Fanboys Vs Zombies #15 (Cover A Dominike Stanton), $3.99
Freelancers #1 (Reilly Brown Emerald City
Regular Show #1 (Dynamic Forces Exclusive Cover), $10.00
Suicide Risk #1 (Garry Brown 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
CHRONICLE BOOKS
True Blood Drinks And Bites HC, $18.95
CINEBOOK
Betelgeuse Volume 3 The Other TP, $11.95
Blake And Mortimer Volume 13 The Curse Of The 30 Pieces Of Silver Part 1 GN, $15.95
Lucky Luke Volume 31 Lucky Luke Vs The Pinkertons TP, $11.95
Lucky Luke Volume 32 Rails On The Prairie TP, $11.95
Thorgal Volume 8 Wolf Cub GN, $11.95
XIII Volume 17 The Irish Version GN, $11.95
COMIC SHOP NEWS
Comic Shop News #1357, *
Comic Shop News Summer 2013 Preview, *
CONUNDRUM PRESS
Paul Joins The Scouts GN, $20.00
Science Fiction GN, $18.00
DARK HORSE COMICS
Art Of The Last Of Us HC, $39.99
B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth #108 (Wasteland Part 2 Of 3), $3.50
Bloodhound Volume 1 Brass Knuckle Psychology TP, $19.99
Captain Midnight #0 (One Shot), $2.99
Conan The Barbarian #17, $3.50
Conan Volume 13 Queen Of The Black Coast TP, $19.99
Dark Horse Presents #25, $7.99
Domovoi GN, $19.99
Dream Thief #2 (Of 5), $3.99
Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall Of The House Of Usher #2 (Of 2), $3.99
House Of Gold And Bones #3 (Of 4)(Jason Shawn Alexander Regular Cover), $3.99
House Of Gold And Bones #3 (Of 4)(Steve Morris Variant Cover), *
Star Wars Darth Vader And The Ninth Assassin #3 (Of 5), $3.50
Star Wars Lost Tribe Of The Sith Spiral TP, $18.99
Star Wars The Clone Wars The Smuggler's Code TP, $7.99
DC COMICS
100 Bullets Brother Lono #1 (Of 8)(Dave Johnson Regular Cover), $3.99
100 Bullets Brother Lono #1 (Of 8)(Eduardo Risso Variant Cover), *
Animal Man #21 , $2.99
Annotated Sandman Volume 3 HC, $49.99
Batgirl Robin Year One TP, $24.99
Batman And Batgirl #21, $2.99
Batman Beyond Unlimited #17, $3.99
Batwoman #21 (J.H. Williams III Black & White Variant Cover), *
Batwoman #21 (J.H. Williams III Regular Cover), $2.99
Birds Of Prey #21, $2.99
Fables #130, $2.99
Fury Of Firestorm The Nuclear Men Volume 2 The Firestorm Protocols TP, $14.99
Green Lantern New Guardians #21 (Rafael Albuquerque Regular Cover), $2.99
Green Lantern New Guardians #21 (Rags Morales Variant Cover), *
Indigo Lantern Ring (Promotional Item), *
Injustice Gods Among Us Cyborg Vs Harley Quinn Action Figure 2-Pack , $29.95
Injustice Gods Among Us The Flash Vs Raven Action Figure 2-Pack , $29.95
Justice League Of America 's Vibe #5 (Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund Black & White Variant Cover), *
Justice League Of America 's Vibe #5 (Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund Regular Cover), $2.99
Legion Of Super-Heroes #21, $2.99
Metal Men Archives Volume 2 HC , $75.00
Red Hood And The Outlaws #21, $2.99
Supergirl #21, $2.99
Sweet Tooth Volume 6 Wild Game TP, $16.99
Teen Titans Volume 2 The Culling TP, $16.99
Wonder Woman #21 (Cliff Chiang Black & White Variant Cover), *
Wonder Woman #21 (Cliff Chiang Regular Cover), $2.99
DISNEY EDITIONS
Don't Pigeonhole Me Two Decades Of The Mo Willems Sketchbook HC, $40.00
DKE INC
Color Ink The DIY Art Periodical Volume 17, $10.00
Color Ink The DIY Art Periodical Volume 18, $10.00
DRAGONFLY BOOKS
Boys Of Steel The Creators Of Superman SC, $7.99
DRAWN AND QUARTERLY
John Stanley Library Nancy Volume 4 HC, $29.95
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Dark Shadows Year One #3 (Patrick Berkenkotter Regular Cover), $3.99
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #1 (Of 8)(Mel Rubi Emerald City
Dejah Thoris And The Green Men Of Mars #4 (Of 8)(Jay Anacleto Risque Variant Cover)(Dynamic Forces), $18.99
Evil Ernie #6 (Ardian Syaf Black & White Variant Cover), *
Evil Ernie #6 (Ardian Syaf Green Variant Cover), *
Evil Ernie #6 (Ardian Syaf Regular Cover), $3.99
Evil Ernie #6 (Chaos Smiley Logo Subscription Variant Cover), $3.99
Evil Ernie #6 (Daniel Brereton Regular Cover), $3.99
Evil Ernie #6 (Daniel Brereton Virgin Variant Cover), *
Evil Ernie #6 (Kyle Hotz Green Variant Cover), *
Evil Ernie #6 (Kyle Hotz Regular Cover), $3.99
Evil Ernie #6 (Stephen Segovia Regular Cover), $3.99
George R.R. Martin's A Game Of Thrones #15 (Mike S. Miller Regular Cover), $3.99
Green Hornet Legacy #38 (Phil Hester Regular Cover), $3.99
Robert Jordan's The Wheel Of Time The Eye Of The World #35 (Adam Moore Regular Cover), $3.99
Vampirella Strikes #1 (Of 6)(Michael Turner Black & White ComicsPRO Variant Cover)(Dynamic Forces), $50.00
Vampirella Strikes #6 (Of 6)(Cover A Johnny Desjardins), $3.99
Vampirella Strikes #6 (Of 6)(Cover B Fabio Neves), $3.99
Vampirella Strikes #6 (Of 6)(Fabio Neves Black & White Variant Cover), *
Vampirella Strikes #6 (Of 6)(Fabio Neves Red Variant Cover), *
Vampirella Strikes #6 (Of 6)(Johnny Desjardins Red Variant Cover), *
Vampirella Strikes #6 (Of 6)(Johnny Desjardins Black & White Variant Cover), *
Vampirella Strikes #6 (Of 6)(Kitana Baker Photo Subscription Variant Cover), $3.99
Vampirella Strikes #6 (Of 6)(Kitana Baker Photo Virgin Variant Cover), *
Warlord Of Mars #25 (Risque Red Variant Cover)(Dynamic Forces), $14.99
Warlord Of Mars Dejah Thoris #26 (Cezar Razek Risque Variant Cover), *
Warlord Of Mars Dejah Thoris #26 (Fabiano Neves Regular Cover), $3.99
Warlord Of Mars Dejah Thoris #26 (Jose Malaga Risque Variant Cover), *
Warlord Of Mars Dejah Thoris #26 (Paul Renaud Regular Cover), $3.99
Warlord Of Mars Volume 3 TP, $19.99
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
Barnaby Volume 1 HC, $35.00
New School HC, $35.00
Zippy Dingburg Diaries TP, $29.99
FIRST SECOND
Primates The Fearless Science Of Jane Goodall Dian Fossey And Birute Galdikas HC, $19.99
GRAPHIX
Silver Six GN, $10.99
HORROR UNLIMITED
Diabolique #16, $9.98
HYPERION
Rogue Touch GN, $14.99
She-Hulk Diaries GN, $14.99
IDW PUBLISHING
Alan Robert's Killogy TP, $19.99
Comics About Cartoonists HC (Limited Sketch Edition), *
Danger Girl Trinity #3 (Of 4)(Cover A J. Scott Campbell), $3.99
Danger Girl Trinity #3 (Of 4)(Cover RI J. Scott Campbell), *
Doctor Who #10 (Cover A Mark Buckingham), $3.99
Doctor Who #10 (Cover B Photo), $3.99
Edison Rex TP, $19.99
G.I. JOE #5 (Cover A Juan Doe), $3.99
G.I. JOE #5 (Cover B Steve Kurth), $3.99
G.I. JOE #5 (Cover RI Ryan Dunlavey), *
G.I. JOE A Real American Hero #191 (Cover A S L Gallant & Gary Erskine), $3.99
G.I. JOE A Real American Hero #191 (Cover RI Larry Hama), *
G.I. JOE The Cobra Files #3 (Cover A Michael Lark), $3.99
G.I. JOE The Cobra Files #3 (Cover B Antonio Fuso), $3.99
G.I. JOE The Cobra Files #3 (Cover RI Tom Whalen), *
Judge Dredd Year One #3 (Of 4)(Cover A Greg Staples), $3.99
Judge Dredd Year One #3 (Of 4)(Cover RI Dave Sim), *
My Little Pony Color Me Treasury Edition TP, $9.99
My Little Pony Micro-Series #5 (Of 6)(Pinkie Pie)(Cover A Amy Mebberson), $3.99
My Little Pony Micro-Series #5 (Of 6)(Pinkie Pie)(Cover B Ben Bates), $3.99
My Little Pony Micro-Series #5 (Of 6)(Pinkie Pie)(Cover RI Sabrina Alberghetti), *
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Villain Microseries #3 (Of 4)(Old Hob)(Cover A Tyler Walpole), $3.99
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Villain Microseries #3 (Of 4)(Old Hob)(Cover RI Dave Wachter), *
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 1 Change Is Constant HC (Red Label Edition), *
Transformers Monstrosity #1 (Of 4)(Cover A Livio Ramondelli), $3.99
Transformers Monstrosity #1 (Of 4)(Cover B Livio Ramondelli), $3.99
Transformers Monstrosity #1 (Of 4)(Cover C Livio Ramondelli), $3.99
Transformers More Than Meets The Eye #18 (Cover A Alex Milne), $3.99
Transformers More Than Meets The Eye #18 (Cover B Sean Chen), $3.99
Transformers More Than Meets The Eye #18 (Cover RI Nick Roche), *
Transformers The Art Of Fall Of Cybertron HC (Red Label Edition), *
Transformers The IDW Collection Volume 2 HC (Red Label Edition), *
Wild Blue Yonder #1 (Of 5)(Cover A Zach Howard), $3.99
Wild Blue Yonder #1 (Of 5)(Cover RI Nick Runge), *
Wild Blue Yonder #1 (Of 5)(Cover SUB Nelson Daniel), $3.99
X-Files Season 10 #1 (Cover A Carlos Valenzuela), $3.99
X-Files Season 10 #1 (Cover B Photo), $3.99
X-Files Season 10 #1 (Cover RI Joe Corroney), *
X-Files Season 10 #1 (Cover SUB Dave Johnson), $3.99
ILLUSTRATION MAGAZINE
Illustration Magazine #41, $15.00
IMAGE COMICS
Invincible #103, $2.99
It Girl And The Atomics #11, $2.99
Mara #5 (Of 6), $2.99
Mind The Gap #11 (Cover A Rodin Esquejo), $2.99
Mind The Gap #11 (Cover B Michael Gaydos), $2.99
Mind The Gap Volume 2 Wish You Were Here TP, $14.99
Miniature Jesus #3 (Of 5), $3.99
Revival #11, $2.99
Saga Volume 2 TP, $14.99
Witch Doctor Volume 2 Mal Practice TP, $14.99
Witchblade #167 (Cover A John Tyler Christopher), $2.99
Witchblade #167 (Cover B Diego Bernard), $2.99
INSIGHT EDITIONS
Man Of Steel Inside The Legendary World Of Superman HC, $45.00
Walking Dead The Poster Collection SC, $24.99
KODANSHA COMICS
No. 6 Volume 1 GN, $10.99
Sankarea Volume 1 Undying Love GN, $10.99
MARVEL COMICS
A+X #9, $3.99
Age Of Ultron #10 (Of 10)(Brandon Peterson Regular Cover), $3.99
Age Of Ultron #10 (Of 10)(Joe Quesada Angela Sketch Variant Cover), *
Age Of Ultron #10 (Of 10)(Joe Quesada Angela Variant Cover), *
Age Of Ultron #10 (Of 10)(Mark Brooks Variant Cover), *
Age Of Ultron #10 (Of 10)(Rock-He Kim Ultron Variant Cover), *
Avengers #14 (Daniel Acuna Avengers 50th Anniversary Variant Cover), *
Avengers #14 (Leinil Yu Regular Cover), $3.99
Avengers By Brian Michael Bendis Volume 4 TP, $19.99
Cable And X-Force #10, $3.99
Captain Marvel #13 (Amanda Conner Variant Cover), *
Captain Marvel #13 (Joe Quinones Regular Cover), $2.99
Fantastic Four #9 (David Yardin Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Fantastic Four #9 (Mark Bagley Regular Cover), $2.99
Incredible Hulk By Jason Aaron Volume 2 TP, $24.99
Indestructible Hulk #9 (Paolo Rivera Regular Cover), $3.99
Indestructible Hulk #9 (Stephane Roux Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Invincible Iron Man Volume 11 The Future TP, $19.99
Marvel Masterworks The Avengers Volume 13 HC, $69.99
Marvel Masterworks The Avengers Volume 13 HC (Direct Market Variant Edition Volume 195), $69.99
Morbius The Living Vampire #6 (David Lopez Regular Cover), $2.99
Morbius The Living Vampire #6 (Pat Zircher Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
New Avengers #7 (Mike Deodato Regular Cover), $3.99
New Avengers #7 (Terry Dodson Wolverine Costume Variant Cover), *
Phineas And Ferb Magazine #18 (Disney Publishing Worldwide), $4.99
Superior Spider-Man #12, $3.99
Thor God Of Thunder #1 (Jason Aaron Signed Edition)(Dynamic Forces), $29.99
Thunderbolts #11, $2.99
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #24, $3.99
Ultimate Comics The Ultimates #26, $3.99
Uncanny Avengers #9, $3.99
Uncanny X-Men The Complete Collection By Matt Fraction Volume 3 TP, $29.99
Wolverine MAX #8, $3.99
X-Factor #258, $2.99
X-Men Legacy #12, $2.99
MCFARLAND
Doctor Who In Time And Space Essays On Themes Characters History And Fandom 1963-2012 SC, $45.00
Women Of Hammer Horror HC, $49.95
MOONSTONE
Domino Lady Blonde Bombshell TP, $25.95
Lai Wan The Dreamwalker TP, $9.99
OMNIBUS PRESS
Gabba Gabba Hey The Ramones Graphic GN, $24.95
ONI PRESS
Sixth Gun #32, $3.99
Sixth Gun Sons Of The Gun #4 (Of 5), $3.99
OSSM COMICS
Xenoglyphs #3 (Of 6), $3.99
PANINI PUBLISHING
Doctor Who Bookazine #1 (The Daleks), $19.99
PS ARTBOOKS
American Comics Group Collected Works Adventures Into The Unknown Volume 1 HC (Slipcase Edition), $119.99
American Comics Group Collected Works Adventures Into The Unknown Volume 4 HC, $47.99
Roy Thomas Presents Phantom Lady Collected Works Volume 1 HC (Slipcase Edition), $69.99
REBELLION
2000 AD Pack May 2013 (1830-1834), $26.25
SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT
Haganai I Don't Have Many Friends Volume 3 GN, $12.99
Kisses Sighs And Cherry Blossoms Pink The Complete Collection Volume 1 TP, $18.99
STUDIO E3
Beast of Wolfes Bay GN, $17.99
TITAN PUBLISHING
Complete Flash Gordon Library Volume 3 The Fall Of Ming HC (resolicited), $39.95
Mad Goblin Secrets Of The Nine Novel SC
TOHAN CORPORATION
Gothic And Lolita Bible #46, $35.00
Hobby Japan #113 (May 2013), $16.60
Megami April 2013, $16.60
Newtype April 2013, $16.00
TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS
Burning Building Comix HC, $19.95
Crater XV HC, $19.95
Heck HC, $19.95
Matter Of Life HC, $14.95
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
Dan Spiegle A Life In Comic Art SC, $17.95
UNITED PLANKTON PICTURES
SpongeBob Comics Annual Giant Swimtacular #1, $4.99
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT
Bloodshot #12 (Kalman Andrasofszky Regular Cover), $3.99
Bloodshot #12 (Matthew Waite 8-Bit Variant Cover), $3.99
Bloodshot #12 (Patrick Zircher Variant Cover), $3.99
Harbinger #13 (Khari Evans Variant Cover), $3.99
Harbinger #13 (Matthew Waite 8-Bit Variant Cover), $3.99
Harbinger #13 (Patrick Zircher Regular Cover), $3.99
VIZ MEDIA
Children Of The Sea Volume 5 TP, $14.99
WILLIAM MORROW
Ocean At End Of The Lane HC, $25.99
YEN PRESS
Dissociation Of Haruhi Suzumiya SC, $8.99
ZENESCOPE ENTERTAINMENT
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Madness Of Wonderland TP, $12.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Vampires The Eternal #3 (Of 3)(Cover A Abhishek Malsuni), $3.99
Grimm Fairy Tales Presents Vampires The Eternal #3 (Of 3)(Cover B Pasquale Qualano), $3.99
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Image Preview: Invincible #103
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Man of Steel Review and Analysis
Man of Steel Review and Analysis
By: Jay
I’m a HUGE Superman fan. I have been all my life. My family and friends joke and call me Clark Kent , Superman, etc. I have even been called Clark , Mr. Kent and C.K. at work. So when news of a new Superman movie was being made I was, well Super excited. Especially when it was a reboot, so we would be getting a new origin instead of a fanboy film like Superman Returns. I saw this movie a few times, because I wanted to really get the movie on a level beyond the major Superman Fan viewpoint. This isn’t a casual review. This is going to delve into my thoughts on the movie, on the characters and I will be detailing things as if the reader has already seen the movie, so if you haven’t seen it, and do not wish to be MAJORLY SPOILED, please do NOT read past the Spoiler Warning image.
The movie starts off on Krypton, which is a mixture between the John Byrnes’ post-Crisis Man of Steel, Superman: The Animated Series, and Avatar. I have seen reviews and the most common complaint is that this part dragged on. I didn’t mind the Krypton scenes for the most part though. Russell Crowe as Jor-El was more active and more passionate than we are used to seeing Jor-El, but he reminded me of the animated Jor-El, especially when he is being chased.
My problem with Krypton came from the destruction of the planet. One of the key factors of Superman’s origins is that he was sent from his planet moments before its destruction. In this movie, he is sent away some time before. Another big change is Jor-El’s death. It has always been by Lara’s side as they watch their son leave just as their planet explodes. But with Man of Steel Jor-El’s fate is met when Zod stabs him just as Kal-El’s ship takes off a good time before the destruction of the planet. I prefer the traditional death, because Jor-El and Lara stand together and make peace with their deaths, because they know their son will live on.
One of the early trailers for Man of Steel had Clark and Jonathan talking and Clark asks if he should have let a boy die, and he replies “Maybe.” When I first saw that trailer I felt like Peter Parker with my Spider-Senses going off that this isn’t going to be something I will really enjoy as a true blue diehard Superman fan. But I remained optimistic and decided to wait until I see the movie, because it might have been out of context, or he could have followed that up by saying “No, you did the right thing son.” Neither happened though, Jonathan Kent, the father who raised a Superman, who is responsible for his morale compass made Clark think he maybe should have let someone die.
Kevin Costner really looks like he could be a Kansas farmer. Something about his demeanor let’s you believe he can be that guy, but that is about as close to Jonathan Kent as he gets. This Jonathan Kent isn’t Pa Kent. He isn’t even the Smallvile Jonathan Kent. His death scene ripped my heart out. As a Superman fan, and son who lost his father this scene just ripped out my heart. Not because it was so touching, but because it was just wrong. The lead in scene has a 17-18 year old Clark Kent wanting to go out into the world to discover who he is, which is good, a lot of kids do at that age. Jonathan tries to sell him on farming and tells him that his family has been farming for generations to which Clark retorts, “Your family. Not mine.” That was hard to hear, but then they twist the knife in deeper by having him continue with, “You’re not my dad. You’re just some guy that found me in the corn field.” Yes this is something that happens with parents and the children they have adopted, but the bond between Clark and the Kents have never been like that in any story. But it doesn’t end there, because those would be his last words to his father.
After that scene a tornado appears out of nowhere and Jonathan sends everyone to the overpass, for protection. The overpass wouldn’t protect anyone since it would actually create a wind tunnel (which is talked about more in Comic Uno’s Man of Steel Roundtable Movie Review), but I digress. Jonathan goes into hero mode and helps people to safety while 
That is another issue I had with the movie. Yes I get it Lois Lane is a reporter and she is smart. Well guess what so are other people, which I will get to later on but for now I am focusing on Lois. A key element to the Lois and Clark relationship for 75 years has been the duality of Clark and Lois’ feelings for Superman and Clark. Lois falls in lust with Superman, because he is this guy who can fly and do amazing things. He is a god who notices her and represents all the potential of humanity. But then there is Clark Kent, who is just the guy next door admiring her from afar and is in “The Friend Zone,” who she eventually begins to fall in love with not because of the Super, but for the Man. Even in Smallville they knew that relationship was a key factor to their story and had Clark become the Blur. Another key aspect of their story is stolen in a throw-away moment when someone mentions that they are calling him Superman, yeah Lois doesn’t give him the name just a nameless “they” are credited as naming him. With that said, I think Lois was handled the best. She was a bold, daring and in your face reporter who when she got a story was like a dog with a bone. Amy Adams did a great job bringing strength to one of my all time favorite female characters ever.
My major problem with this movie though is Clark Kent , or the lack thereof. This movie plays on Kal-El being the alien on Earth, and then Superman. Years ago I did a psych paper on Bruce Wayne’s psyche. In it I explain how he could have Dissociative Identity Disorder (D.I.D.) reasons why he needs a Robin in his life, and I compare his dual identity to the Clark Kent/Superman one. Batman is the main identity and Bruce Wayne is the mask, while Clark Kent is the true persona and Superman is the mask. Superman is Clark using his powers for good. At his core, Superman is just a country boy with old fashion values who sees the world for its potential for goodness. This movie however does something different. They make the Kal-El/Superman persona the true man and Clark Kent the mask. There really isn’t a Clark he is moody, and brooding through out the whole movie to the point where he almost hates himself because of who he is. The only moment I saw the Clark I knew was during the first flight when he smiles.
The most controversial moment in the movie for fans comes at the end when Superman kills Zod by snapping his neck. Zod and Superman are in an epic battle. They smash up the town of Smallville and the city of Metropolis without Superman worrying about all the innocents dying in the buildings they are smashing through. Superman never tries to move the fight to a field or another unpopulated area they just smash through another populated area. Superman has Zod in a headlock who is threatening to kill innocents using his heat vision. Superman finally says no, and in a blink of an eye snaps his neck. Now I have read the introduction of the Matrix Supergirl where Superman kills the three Kryptonians in a pocket universe, so I know it has been done before. But there was a difference. In that story Superman has no other choice, he tried to just take away their powers and gave thought to other options and finally used the Kryptonite on them as his last remaining option. This was too easy for him. Superman didn’t try to stop Zod from using his heat vision by jamming him in the eyes or smashing his face into the ground, no he just snaps his neck. Then afterwards, there was no reflection, no doubt just a primal scream and he was back to normal. But at least he showed some emotion, the emotion that was lacking after his dad dies due to him not doing anything.
As for the rest of the cast, they were ok. Diane Lane did a great job as Martha, but her role was so minute that I was left wondering did they need a big name actress and the salary that comes with it for this role? I have to say no. It was a waste of money and star power. Lawrence Fishburne is a geat actor, but I think he suffered from two things: One he is too known. He is a big name actor who brings his persona to the screen, so the whole time I am thinking this is Lawrence Fishbourne as Perry White. The second thing is they didn’t give him any Perry White moments. He was a generic newspaper editor he didn’t stand out as Perry White. There was also a character named Jenny, who many believed to be a gender swap of Jimmy Olsen who was ineffective. The character could be removed from the film and no one would notice. Where was the hard nose editor that is Perry White, and the “Man of Action” Jimmy Olsen?
Remember when I mentioned Lois Lane being smart enough to figure out who Clark was? Ok, here is why I have a problem with that. Growing up, a lot of people saw Clark do amazing things like saving a bus full of students, etc. Lois tracks down these stories working backwards interviewing people and figures it out with ease. Zod finds out because he goes into her head. At this point the Government and the world as a whole know there is an alien that has been living amongst us for years. Zod’s ship literally lands on the Kent ’s front lawn. The battle starts in Smallville. Superman mentions that he has been here for 33 years. He also says he’s from Kansas . Yet no one but Lois puts the pieces together and concludes that he is Clark Kent ? That is why I don’t think Lois should have been able to figure it out, yes it does show how smart she is, but it makes everyone else including the U.S. Military look really dumb. It also makes me ask: Why have a Clark Kent in this universe?
Overall this is really strong solid action and sci-fi movie. If you want a movie that delivers on action and great fight scenes, this is the movie for you. If you’re a comic book fan but not too much into Superman before the New-52, then again this is the movie for you. But if you’re like me and you love Superman for how he was for 95% of his 75 years, then this is not the movie you have been waiting for. I would say this was a better movie than Superman Returns, but it is not as great as Superman: The Movie. This movie doesn’t make anyone believe anything except big fights and flashy scenes sells tickets. I initially saw this as a failure because I am a diehard Superman fan, but that is why I agreed to see it again. I know that not everyone is a purist when it comes to Superman. I knew that when the New 52 Action Comics #1came out and people loved it. So while this isn’t my dream come true Superman movie, I am glad that it is a strong movie that has enough content to be a good movie on its own and could bring people into the theater and support a Superman movie, which is a good thing.
I say this is a movie you should see, but not one you must see. But as always these are just my thoughts on this movie. Let us know in the comments what you think about Man of Steel. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to know whenever we post more previews, reviews, news and interviews on Comic Frontline.
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Red Hood and the Outlaws issue 21
I am a big fan of Red Hood and the Outlaws and I am aware that RHOL still has a large fan base. So, I am inclined to be magnanimous this time and give a spoiler free review. So with out spoilers this book isn’t all that great, in fact it really doesn’t work. Once again Jason has nothing to do in his own book, aside from being completely useless. He is even taken hostage by the League of Assassins while Korri and Roy run around trying to find him/figure out what’s going on.
This next part will contain spoilers so if you don’t want to get spoiled turn back now. We start off this issue with Hugo Strange having a therapy session with Roy (which is kind of funnybecause even if Hugo was a therapist than he should have had his license taken away from him a long time ago, but what ever). During this session Hugo is trying to get Roy to abandon his friends, which doesn’t work because…well because this is DC Comics and their stories haven’t really made a whole lot of sense, since 2008. Korri then shows up after finding out what is really going on from Essence. So I guess Essence is on their side now?
While all this is going on Jason is having a fight with the League of Assassins. Then we flash back to Hugo’s office and find that The Untitled are there. They are demanding Korri and Roy to help them break in to The Leagues secret city in the mountains Korri leaves and is pissed off to find Essence and Roy pretty much say “okay sure why not”. I guess he wants Jason back and this is all about as suicidal as a bed of bricks being dropped on a metal floor (we get it already DC Roy misses Jason you can stop telling us this). The issue ends with Jason being asked to lead the League of Assassins.
Overall, I am sick of this series! I know that this part of Red Hood and the Outlaws is suppose to be focusing on Roy and Korri. That’s fine but did DC really have to make Jason completely ______ing useless in order to do it. Guys I am just sick and tired of this crap. I get that its summer, which means that most people are going to be at the beach, out camping, or whatever so comics are one of the first things people stop buying (note how I said people not fans).
Lazy writing and bad stories are still lazy writing and bad stories! With that being said Red Hood and the Outlaws will be getting a 2/5 and in fact the only reason I am picking up the next issue is because it seems like Jason will be leading the League but I really can’t say for sure.
Until next time I am CJ and thanks for reading.
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