Take the Helm

Farewell to 2011... and Blogspot.

2010-12-29T09:18:00.001-06:00

As we close out 2010, Take the Helm fades to black. Yes, I am closing down this blog (though it will remain as an archive). Don’t worry though, because...

the Super-Powered Fiction Files are far from over! All the articles you know and love will continue along with new content on our new full-fledged website: www.superpoweredfiction.com!

So please follow us over to the new, fully functional site, and thanks for following Take the Helm for all these years!

Super-Powered Prose: Virals by Kathy Reichs

2010-12-28T08:00:00.007-06:00

Super-powered fiction in prose form has come along way from Weird Heroes and Wild Cards first made the idea work in the seventies and eighties. Many writers have tried their hands at characters with super powers since, but it took even me by surprise when one of those names was Kathy Reichs.

If you do not recognize the name, you’ve probably not read too many forensic mysteries. Ms. Reichs has a successful series of books focused around the character of Temperance Brennan. Tempe sometimes goes by the nickname of Bones, or in the case of the successful television show based on the series, always goes by the name Bones. I have never really been a fan of the series in either form, but when I heard the concept for her new young adult book I knew I needed to give it a read.

Virals is the story of Brennan’s grand niece (she’s older in the books by a bit) Tory, a young girl living on a small island off the coast of Reichs’s home city of Charlotte. Tory only recently moved to the city following her mother’s death, but quickly finds herself embroiled in a mystery.

The story takes two interconnected paths as she finds a dog tag on the island where her father works for a scientific facility. It is while she investigates the tags that she discovers and rescues a captured dog in a remote lab of the facility. That rescue will alter Tory and her three friends Hi, Shelton, and Ben forever.

The dog has been infected with a lab-created parvovirus, designed to infect not just dogs but humans as well. The virus has unintended consquences for the four teenagers, as they all suddenly end up with powers closely linked to the animal they rescued.

While they all suffer through the transformation their new power brings to them, the dog tags lead them in to a murder mystery with huge ramifications for them and their city. In the end, only their powers will allow them the freedom and skill needed to uncover the secrets of the crime.

Ms. Reichs uses her background in forensic science to help shape the continuing story, but unlike the Bones novels never lets it overwhelm the tale. While I could nitpick about a few sudden (if minor) leaps in logic or the skills of the four teenagers being just a bit much to believe, none of that really matters in the end. Ms. Reichs crafts a quick, easy to read story that just flashes by page after page. The tale flows extremely well and makes the entire book hard to put down. I actually read the last two hundred pages in one sitting, an odd occurence for someone so used to reading different things at once. But Tory and friends’ tale is just compelling enough to keep you turning that page.

This book seems clearly set to be the beginning of a series (and maybe a set up for another TV pilot as I could definitely see it easily turned in to a overly-pretty-cast mix of Gossip Girl and Veronica Mars. Still on its own, Virals is an enjoyable read and that’s why it is Recommended.

Pulp Empire closes out 2010 with a special Christmas story!

2010-12-23T09:00:00.027-06:00

Over at Pulp Empire, Libby Cudmore has written a wonderful little Christmas noir short called “Merry Christmas, Mr. Taylor” just in time for the holidays! PE will be taking next week off so this is your last chance to get some holiday pulp cheer in before the end of the year!

And remember that all three Pulp Empire books are still available at our Lulu Store. Ms. Cudmore's tale is featured in our most recent edition. If you're interested in doing some Christmas shopping a little late or just want a good deal on great books, also remember that Lulu is running all kinds of great holiday sales with their Daily Deals. So feel free to pick up a copy, won't you?

Thor's Day 10: The Wild Hunt

2010-12-23T06:45:00.018-06:00

Mighty Thor 346 opens with Roger, the old man (the son of Malekith’s victim last issue) as he contemplates his given task. He’s attacked by Malekith’s servants but escapes.

Meanwhile, Thor starts to investigate the fate of Eric Willis (the aforementioned victim). He meets with the police, but learns they are the same servants of Malekith. They try to poison him with the cookies from previous issues, but he uses his hammer to incapacitate them. After all, “Gods are made of sterner stuff”.

Roger recovers the hidden Casket of Ancient Winters and hides it in a Macy’s back to travel with it.

Malekith arrives too late to retrieve the Casket, but instead pulls out a great horn and blows it in to the air. The horn cannot be heard by human ears, but Thor can make it out: the sound of the Wild Hunt.

And they don’t take very long to show up.

Someone should call the Ghostbusters for these Hellhounds

Roger fights them off with his handgun, but the Master of the Hunt arrives to challenge him more closely. Which is always a good time for a timely hero intervention.

Must suck to have a Barroom dropped on you.

Malekith goes all kill crazy at the site of a god and sends the dogs after Thor.

Oh, and unless we forget him this guy is hard at work as well.

Build one sword and apparently an entire army shows up.

The dogs take their toll on the heroes, but Thor knows the weakness of those of the faerie realm (like elves). One well aimed iron girder is enough to seriously injure Malekith and send him and his hunt in to retreat.

The Casket and Roger are rescued, only for the two men to walk in to another trap at the hands of Melodi (Lorelei) and Malekith!

But that’s a story for next week as we go “Into the Realm of Faerie!”.

New at Metahuman Press!

2010-12-22T06:00:00.024-06:00

This may be the most story heavy week in Metahuman Press history, and it’s just in time for Christmas.

David Kachel’s five part weekly story reaches its penultimate chapter with “Saints and Sinners”!

The bi-weekly tale of our other David, a.k.a. Mister Perlmutter, continues as well with its fifth chapter.

Finally, Mark Oldfield’s Invasion continues with “Rescuer”.

As always, the previous chapters are available for new readers! So give yourself a (free) Christmas present and go read some superhero stories!

Wrestling Wednesday: WWE Year End Review

2010-12-22T03:36:00.000-06:00

These guys were kinda important.

I may have missed last week’s installment, but I am back with this week’s, as I take a look at the year in WWE, how it played out, and what it means going in to 2011.

Head over to the Examiner and give it a read.

Tyler Marsh's tale continues in a new installment of Arc!

2010-12-21T15:00:00.009-06:00

Tyler Marsh's prose adventure continues this week over at Arc! Be sure to come check it and the previous forty-five pages of web comics from little ol' me and the amazing Jay Rainford-Nash!

Buy This Right Now #2: Lady Mechanika #1 and Black Panther: Man Without Fear #513

2010-12-19T07:00:00.000-06:00

So I have posted my latest columns on the joys of recent comicdom over on the Examiner, but forgot to link one of them to this blog last week! So everyone gets two for the price of one this week as I bring you two links to two great comics!

Yes, she is a steampunk bad girl!

First is Joe Benitez’s excellent first issue to Lady Mechanika! Gorgeous art and a great story make this a great debut from the folks at Aspen. Check out the full review (with art) here.

Black Panther never looks happy.

Next-up is Black Panther: Man Without Fear by David Liss and Francesco Francavilla. I am a long time fan of Francavilla’s art (though not of his name that’s almost as hard to spell as mine!), and Liss comes off well on his second comic scripting assignment. While I am not a huge fan of the regular Simone Bianchi cover (the one above is Francavilla’s variant), the insides of this issue are everything a superhero fan can want from a comic. Check out the full review (with a four page preview) here.

A slight apology

2010-12-19T01:54:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the sudden disappearance, blogospherions. It seems that when you’re on the slow progression of carpal tunnel you should be careful about how you chip ice off your windshield. My right wrist has been less than game for most of this week. The pain is finally starting to fade now and with a wrist brace on I can type with most of my regular skill (if not quite my regular speed).

And now you know why I really think I need to get a headstart on my upcoming columns! Hopefully, Wrestling Wednesdays and Thor’s Day will be back on track next week.

The trailer for Thor has hit the web

2010-12-11T04:48:00.000-06:00

Hey, look what came to the web just yesterday! It’s none other than the trailer for Marvel’s next big film: Thor.

Chris Hemsworth plays Thor

First things first: go check out the trailer at the Examiner.

Now... that looks pretty cool, right? Thor, Loki, Odin, Sif, Heimdall, and the Warriors Three... not to mention the Destroyer! It looks like Marvel plans to continue what they started with Iron Man and create an interesting movie universe while still trying hard to play fan service to their fans.

The movies not out until May 6th, but I am already excited. What did everyone out in blog-land think?

Thor's Day 9: That Was No Lady!

2010-12-09T06:15:00.000-06:00

Thor vs the world's creepiest mime!

We open Mighty Thor 345 in the office of Doctor Willis. The good doctor ties up his assistant Sheila Ordway and forces a burger down her throat. When the police arrive, Sheila’s vanished and Willis is the prime suspect.

Another woman approached him at the police station and it becomes quickly apparent that neither Doctor Willis or the two women are what they appear to be. And in the world of Thor, that means they could be anyone or anything.

Meanwhile, Thor continues to play second fiddle in his own title as Melodi/Lorelei continues to seduce him in to her plans.

Willis’s disappearance leads to packages being sent out, one to a mystery man on Long Island. We learn the older man is named Roger but still somehow Willis’s son.

A phone call to Jarvis brings Sigurd Jarlsen’s level of concern up as he learns that something has happened to the Casket of Ancient Winters. He runs out on Melodi again before she can give him her enchanted mead. (Where’s Michael Scott, when you need someone to say, “That’s what she said.”)

The people after him nearly corner him, but a raven-haired beauty named Angel drives up to his rescue at the last moment. She seduces and enchants him. Willis passes out, but first...

We didn’t forget this guy!

Seriously, Dr. Doom should sue.

Anyway, Angle gets out of the car and transforms in to his true form that of Malekith the Accursed! He leaves Willis dead and goes in search of the Casket of Ancient Winters, but as mentioned many times in this issue another threat looms.

A threat known as ...

The problem with an issue like this and a run like Simonson’s on Thor 20+ years ago, is you can never be sure what you are supposed to know. Had Willis and the Casket appeared in previous issues? It is never mentioned in the editorially star comments, but that isn’t necessarily a mark that it didn’t happen. Still, the mystery adds a bit to the tale, only we are left unaware of whether or not the mystery will be explained to us.

Wrestling Wed... Dang it! Thursdays: CHIKARA and the Rise of the Bruderschaft

2010-12-09T01:59:00.004-06:00

In a follow-up to my Wrestling Wednesday column from September, I finally start my look at the Bruderschaft Des Kreuzes and their origins in CHIKARA. Over the next few weeks, I will review a few shows at my time as the Bruderschaft storyline builds up and take a look at how it will effect the promotion and wrestling as a whole.

For now though, take a look at their origin tale at the Examiner.

And comments are always welcome either here or at the Examiner page! Thanks!

Diamond Destinations: December for comics shipping in February 2011

2010-12-05T03:31:00.002-06:00

I haven’t written a Diamond Destinations column since June, but as part of my new online status quo I will be regularly covering each and every issue of Previews, with more detail than I ever did in the past.

So much detail that it actually takes two articles to cover it all.

Right now you can head over to the Examiner to see them both.

Part one focuses on Marvel, DC, Image, IDW, and Dark Horse.

Part two focuses on the rest of the comics available in February.

So check out the articles, let me know what you think, and tell me if you would like to see me cover that last couple hundred pages of merchandise, toys, and whatnot.

Wrestling Wed... er... Saturdays: IWA Mid-South "A Taste of Hardcore Sweetness"

2010-12-04T01:30:00.000-06:00

Well, with this blog just coming back on the first, I may have sort of forgot that I should have posted a Wrestling Wednesday column up on that fine day. But rest assured, I haven’t forgotten for you wrestling and comic fans that read this blog. I made sure to review some (surprisingly) quality independent wrestling from Chicago area based IWA Mid-South. (Yeah, I know Chicago isn’t the Mid-South. Talk to Ian Rotten about that.)

The card had one really big highlight and that was the rematch between then-ROH champion Tyler Black and Jonathan Gresham, in a real mat classic.

Anyway, you can check out the full review at the Examiner.

Space-sharing with the Examiner

2010-12-04T01:23:00.000-06:00

Here’s the dealio, blogosphere fans. In order for this blogging thing to actually be meaningful for me, I need to be able to occasionally work towards making a few pennies off of it. Everyone that clicks on a google link on here or MHP or anyone of my sites helps, but in order to make a real go of it, I need to also be able to pull in a few cents for posting as well. Otherwise, Metahuman Press, Pulp Empire, Arc, and The Dead Walk Again may eventually disappear in to the netherverse of the internet.

With that in mind, I have recently signed up to try my hand at being an Examiner. For those unfamiliar with it, Examiner is basically an attempt to make a massive multi-national internet newspaper. It’s success is somewhat limited on the local level, but it is a sure-fire way to make a bit of money. So while you will see some regular columns and reviews continue here (such as Thor’s Day, some of my blog posts will just be short introductions that lead over to Examiner pages. Please, please, please follow those links and enjoy all the quality commentary you love at this site plus a little extra (like more wrestling content) over at the Examiner.

And thanks for reading!

Buy This Right Now #1: Thunderstrike #1

2010-12-03T06:52:00.000-06:00

Welcome to a new (mostly) weekly column here at Take the Helm with a simple concept: to tell you something cool out there that is worth buying. We open with something this week from a company I rarely recommend in these pages, but will do so today. Yes, it’s Marvel and it’s awesome.

This scene does not happen in the comic.

Here’s the gist of the story: Eric Masterson a.k.a. Thunderstrike died many years ago at the end of his own title. But now the character is returning in the form of his son, now teenager Kevin Masterson. Kevin has been a troubled kid since his father’s death and, well, is more Flash Thompson than Peter Parker. In other words, he’s a bully.

Steve Rogers knows that the world still needs heroes (a play on a tagline from the old book, “the world needs heroes”) so he gives Kevin his father’s old mace, also named Thunderstrike. It has been unusable since Eric died, but when Kevin stumbles upon an attack by Rhino it invariably comes back to life and transforms him in to... Thunderstrike. The exact same (in appearance) Thunderstrike last seen over a decade ago.

And that’s awesome.

Thunderstrike was one of the most underrated titles in the entire history of comics. While many of the Marvel spin-off books of the early to mid-nineties were produced by bland talent (and I use that term loosely), Thunderstrike took the team that was on Thor and moved them to the spin-off. Together, DeFalco and Frenz grafted a very strong 24 issues of story that unfortunately remain uncollected to this day.

That same creative team, Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, are back for the new book and they haven’t missed a step. Plus if you never read the last book, DeFalco and Todd Nauck even get together for a nifty 8 page back-up recapping the original Thunderstrike’s life.

So yeah, if you haven’t got your issue, go to your local comic shop and shell out the $3.99. Then prepare to enjoy superhero goodness.

Thor's Day 8: Whatever Happened to Balder the Brave?

2010-12-02T06:15:00.013-06:00

Mighty Thor 344 opens with a massive wolf, a creature of Odin, sent to the Nornkeep to find Balder. But for what purpose still remains unknown.

We return to Asgard and Odin. The king of the god reveals that his ravens’s quest in to the burning galaxy went poorly, though he fails to reveal how this relates to his recall of Balder from the land of the Norns.

Odin’s mission is simple: Balder must deliver a message to Loki, the god that only recently tried to kill him (in the issues proceeding Walt Simonson’s run). He agrees to the mission but only if he is allowed to continue his vow of pacifism.

Oh, and this guy is still at it:

(Can you imagine anybody doing this kind of thing nowadays for eight issues? Just a one page subplot over and over again with no link whatsoever to the current narrative?)

Anyway, Balder fights some trolls and invariably gets captured by Loki. There he meets an important figure in the coming issues of Mighty Thor, but let’s let Loki give the introductions (with a little commentary by Balder):

As Balder tries to reason with Loki, Thor plays comic relief back on Midgard as he makes his foreman think he might be a superhero of somekind:

Makes sense to me.

Balder battles it out with the troll minions of Loki, and in the process compromises himself, with consquences most dire for the Shining Realm.

Next time, Thor is back to center stage in “Dinner For Two or That Was No Lady!”

...and we're back!

2010-12-01T03:48:00.000-06:00

Oh yes we are.

And we should be back to semi-regular updates starting tomorrow. I am still working on monetizing this site more to keep it functional as a whole, but for the time being I will be running it like it has been running. For the time being, if you’re reading this, please go down a bit and click on one of those Google links. Every button press makes us a few extra bucks. It’s those impressions that are currently paying to keep the Metahuman Press family of sites alive so they are kind of important.

Now for the news from around the MHP family.

Metahuman Press

The old warhorse has debuted two new stories in the last few weeks with David Perlmutter’s offbeat The Pups and ShoaKi Girl by Charlie Thrun. Today we debuted David Kachel’s follow-up to Legacy, entitled Diary of a Genius. And the best news is that it will be running weakly. Five chapters over the five weeks of December!

Pulp Empire

Pulp Empire continues to chug along nicely. New stories have went up every Thursday. Right now we are running a 15% off sale on the first two books at the Pulp Empire store, so be sure to go pick those up. The sale will continue for the next few days, so get them while they’re hot. And need I mention they make a great gift?

Arc

Arc will update throughout December with the continuation of Tyler Marsh’s prose adventures. Stay tuned as things start to get a little crazy next week.

The Dead Walk Again

We need submissions! If you like zombies, please, please, please! send us your zombie stories for our little online journal. I would like to have an inventory before it launches in a few months.

National Novel Writing Month is underway!

2010-11-07T08:02:00.000-06:00

I am nearly 12,000 words deep in this year's Nanowrimo entry with more words to come later today after a nap. I've quite enjoyed my work on my Nano novels over the past two years, though I still haven't quite finished either work. My first work, working title Neo-Tokyo, was an adventure story that basically took my ideas of what a manga-inspired superhero world would actually look like. I plan to revisit it in the near future, finish it up, and possibly release it as the first MHP original novel not featured on the site.

Last year I wrote American F.O.R.C.E., which recently spun out of the end of Long Hot Summer. That will run for the next year or so before branching out in to an even bigger story.

This year, I'm working on my other planned spin-off of Long Hot Summer, the continuing tales of Susan Benjamin under her new heroic identity as Suicide Blonde. I just started the third chapter today and I'm enjoying it more than anything I've written in months. It's also one of my first attempts to really try a first person narrative and so far I think it's going pretty well. MHP readers can expect it to appear much quicker than F.O.R.C.E., probably in January 2011.

I have at least one more update planned for this month at Take the Helm, and I am hoping to have another update with big news about more regular updates from my sphere of writing. Stay tuned for that.

A Few Tweaks....

2010-10-27T06:09:00.000-05:00

I am going to come out of blogular silence for a bit with a few updates.

The Metahuman Press site has been updated with a few new visual tweaks, mostly thanks to updates on both WordPress and the ArrasTheme. It may need a few more before I'm fully appreciative of the new look, but everything should be accessible as of now.

No new Arc this week, folks. I've been a bit under the weather as has the family, so I just didn't have time to layout and edit the Tyler Marsh chapter I had planned. Tyler will be back next week, I promise.

Pulp Empire volume three should be available to purchase near the beginning of the month. Right now the first stories, "An Incident in a Small Town" by Travis Heermann and "The Other Fellow's Shoes" by G. Lloyd Helm have gone up, so you can check them out at the site.

A new partner site, The Dead Walk Again is now accepting story submissions. We are looking to launch it full time beginning next Spring, but we really need to get some content up and running. So if you like zombies, please be sure to check it out, and maybe even submit something!

This blog will remain mostly quiet for the next few weeks as I participate once again in Nanowrimo. Once November has passed, I will be back to blogging (semi-)full time, so stay tuned for more updates. For more regular updates, you can also follow me on Twitter.

Wrestling Wednesday: The Rise of CHIKARA!

2010-09-01T16:15:00.000-05:00

CHRIS HERO

Independent wrestling offers many great things to the common wrestling fan. Accessibility, talent, and often a much higher workrate than you see from top WWE or TNA stars. But it often fails on other levels. Monthly or semi-monthly booking means less storytelling potential. Workers that set their own gimmick as they work a half dozen different promotions (or more) a month often end up rather generic as well. Ninety percent of indy wrestlers have a character best described as “edgy athlete dedicated to beat the best opponents” or “shady weirdo willing to take the win at any expense”. Some wrestlers have excelled at the first (Bryan Danielson, Low-Ki), others have excelled at the second (Jimmy Jacobs, Austin Aries), and a few do both with amazing credibility (Chris Hero, Nigel McGuiness).

It often leads to great wrestling, but it doesn’t offer much in the way of solid storytelling pre- and post-match outside of the “I don’t like you” and “I want my revenge”. Both key features to wrestling storytelling, but not the only features to wrestling storytelling.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to the promotion I want to talk about today: CHIKARA.

MIKE QUACKENBUSH

Founded in 2002 by independent wrestling stand-out Mike Quackenbush (a good example of the “edgy athlete” gimmick back in the day) and the soon-to-step-aside “Reckless Youth” Tom Carter, the promotion slowly built a fan following around the Pennsylvania area. Eight years later it has expanded operations to much of the northeast, from Michigan to New York.

Built around the talents coming out of the CHIKARA Wrestling Factory as well as Quackenbush’s friends, the promotion brought elements of Lucha Libre in to the United States full-time for the first time. With the Mexican element of pro wrestling came a lot of high-flying maneuvers, innovative rules changes, and masks, a lot of them.

And with those masks came characters and comedy. Some of the earliest masked wrestlers were comedy gimmicks at best, but over the years the company proved to be able to make its fans take even silly gimmicks seriously.

THE OSIRIAN PORTAL

Some of the top technicos (faces) in the promotion include the team of the Osirian Portal (the serpentine Ophidian and the dancing “Funky Pharoah ” Amasis), old school baseball player Dasher Hatfield, and the ever-growing ant team of the Colony.

Tag teams and trios also play a major part of CHIKARA wrestling which adds another layer of action to an already solid format.

The levels of storytelling have varied over the promotion’s history but over the last two or so years a lot of effor has went in to forming a coherent ongoing narrative for the program.

The driving force behind this narrative, a new group known as Der Bruderschaft Des Kreuzes. More on them in a future column.

CHIKARA DVDs (over 145 of them) are available from their distributor Smartmark Video, including several best of DVDs. But the fine folks at CHIKARA won’t make you buy a DVD without ever seeing anything about their promotion. Every week they bring an episode of their Podcast-A-Go-Go, a ten minute show focused on what’s happening in CHIKARA today. It is available free through ITunes, on Youtube, or through the CHIKARA Podcast-A-Go-Go website.

If you are a wrestling or comic fan, I highly recommend you check them out.

Super-Powered Comics: Batwoman Elegy

2010-08-31T06:15:00.000-05:00

I wanted to like Batwoman: Elegy. I really did. I loved 52 and thought, conceptually, that the new Kate Kane Batwoman could be a star in her own title. Years later, it finally happened, and I am left feeling less than impressed.

Don’t get me wrong. J.H. Williams III’s art is every bit as spectacular as the hype its given. He received Eisners for both interior and cover work for this book and it’s plain to see why. He pours his heart and soul in to every page, jumping from style to style, page design to page design, all with a fluid ease that never leaves the reader feeling lost. Dave Stewart’s colors ooze off the page and help to bring it all together in a near perfect package.

It’s the story and the characterization of Kate Kane and the people around her that really irk me. Her relationship with her father is fine, her initial arc with the villain Alice successfully sets up the character as her own woman apart from the rest of Bat-continuity. But when we go in to the flashback issues, I feel all believability and credibility of the story is lost.

First, her father is an army colonel, but one whose daughter was kidnapped and never found years before. Yet we are still supposed to believe that the United States Army would trust a military base responsible for holding destructive chemicals to a man whose security clearance could be so easily compromised. The Army is many things, but it isn’t blatantly stupid.

But the insanity of the book’s storytelling gets worse as we move forward to Kate’s time at West Point. He’s name checked both in the issue and the introduction by Rachel Maddow, so the story of Lt. Daniel Choi clearly has a play in this story. His coming out was a calculated move to challenge the wisdom of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Kate’s coming out is either an act of sheer idiocy or self-destructiveness.

Here’s the setup: while studying at West Point, Kate has a liaison with another female student. A report is filed to the school’s commander and she admits to him she’s gay (and apparently gets immediately discharged). It might come off as a powerful piece of story-telling to some, but in reality it makes very little sense. She repeats in the issue more than once that her only dream is to graduate from West Point and serve the country like her father does. It’s her only desire in life (to the point that she becomes reckless and verifiably self-destructive in the aftermath). Now anyone familiar with the military and the terms of joining the service will be very aware of how Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell works. It’s been in place for well over a decade and is explained to any potential recruit multiple times. It’s made quite clear that the military has no problem with you being gay as long as you keep it away from the base and don’t talk about it. How are we supposed to believe that a lesbian woman, daughter of an army colonel, could enlist in the military without knowing straight up that she would have to lie should she ever be brought up on disciplinary action for such behavior? She clearly made that compromise with herself just to be at West Point, so why when confronted with the situation would she do anything but continue the fiction? The only viable explanation in my mind (and a rather preposterous one) is that she didn’t realize she was gay until West Point, despite her homosexuality being hinted at in just the previous chapter.

I know the immediate argument could be, “but how could she live with the lie?” And in response, I will again reiterate that if her repeated professions that being a soldier were her life’s only ambitions, she would have already placed that need to lie in her mind. And a few years later, she certainly doesn’t seem to have a problem lying to friends and family. Or does she just tell anyone that she meets that she’s Batwoman?

I am by no means a perfect writer. I wouldn’t even count myself as anyone near the league of Greg Rucka’s eraser shavings. But how can any writer let such an obvious gap in story logic make it on to the page? How can any editor just ignore the fatal flaw? How can so many readers just ignore it?

As it stands, I think this initial run has inadvertently set up one defining characteristic of the new Batwoman: her own need for self-destruction. Any writer really honest about this character (I’m looking at you, Haden Blackman and J.H.) will embrace that feature in upcoming story arcs. If not, you have successfully created a rather broken character, DC.

Still, for J.H. Williams’ art at its absolute finest, I will give the book a Mildly Recommended. I suggest everyone check it out and share their feelings with me in the comments section.

Super-Powered Pulp Prose: Resurrecting Midnight by Eric Jerome Dickey

2010-08-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

This is the fourth in a series of novels by Dickey featuring his character Gideon, an international assassin whose mind has been utterly messed up by years of killing, sex, and living on the wrong side of the law. I have long considered reviewing the previous books in this series as I read the, but never did. I think its time to remedy that.

Eric Jerome Dickey has been writing fiction for fifteen years now, but perhaps more people in superhero circles would know him as the writer of the 2006 retcon miniseries Storm that established a larger back story between Storm and Black Panther leading up to their soon to be totally perfect marriage. I was by no means a fan of that storyline, though I am unsure how much of the mess that was the Black Panther plot can really be put on Dickey. He did what he could with the project he was given, and did an all right job with it.

I bring up Storm simply as a way of pointing out the clear comic book inspiration that Gideon clearly originates from. Though still human, Gideon has become almost a superman over the four books he has appeared. Though beaten, he always perseveres, does what it takes to survive and win the day. Dickey actually acknowledges his comic book influences in the bakc of Resurrecting Midnight, mention crime and superhero writers like Ed Brubaker, Brian Azzarello, Frank Miller, and Garth Ennis. He also shows it in the casual mentions of characters and locations from many of his other novels. The Gideon novels actually extends out of a previous set of character’s from his novel Thieves Paradise so I guess you can say this brings it altogether.

I could also argue Resurrecting Midnight’s pulp influences. Gideon is clearly a descendant of morally ambiguous characters from Arsene Lupin to The Avenger. He seems to want to do the right thing, even when his profession constantly forces him in to a path of murder and destruction. There essentially lies the conflict deep in Gideon’s soul that Dickey has played out over four novels.

This novel takes the character and his extended supporting cast farther down the path tread by the previous three books, even as Gideon is drawn by his old friend and lover Arizona in to a bloodbath in Argentina. In the process, he meets Medianoche, the resurrected Midnight of the title, and learns that the enemy assassin has far closer ties to him than Gideon could ever believe. Gideon ends up once again embroiled in a world of sex and violence, two things Dickey can write better than many other authors.

My praise heaped on already, I will get at the flaws of the novel. I have to limit the plot synopsis to one paragraph for a very important reason: without reading Sleeping With Strangers, Waking With Enemies, and Dying For Revenge any reader would be utterly lost by Resurrecting Midnight. Any details of the plot are just building on previous established character interactions but for the added new enemies in Medianoche and the Four Horsemen. While Dickey created a great character with Gideon, his continuing adventures are anything but new reader friendly. Much like Sleeping With Strangers (a novel designed as a beginning of a duology), Resurrecting Midnight also ends on a far two open ended note, especially when its been a year without a sequel (and his newest book Tempted By Trouble a new standalone). It would be one thing if we were left with a solid place to stop, but instead the reader is pretty much hanging along with all of Gideon’s life.

Still none of that takes away from how good Eric Jerome Dickey is at what he brings to the page here. Very few modern authors can combine sex, violence, action, and dialogue as beautifully as Dickey puts it on the page. Much like Stephen King, I find a lot to study in just the formation of the words he puts on the page.

In case you don’t know it yet, Resurrecting Midnight (and the three novels that come before it) comes Highly Recommended,. Whether a fan of the pulps or the supers, you will find something to love in these pages.

Buy Pulp Empire Volume Two!

2010-08-27T05:20:00.000-05:00

It’s been available for a few weeks now and I just wanted to throw out a reminder that you can now buy Pulp Empire Volume Two through our Lulu store! We have thirteen all new stories, and you can preview several of them over at the Pulp Empire website! Go read a couple and be sure to pick up your copy!

Thor's Day 7: If I Should Die Before I Wake

2010-08-27T02:33:00.001-05:00

Mighty Thor 343 opens with Fafnir once again attacking the city of New York. He quickly calls out Thor, unaware that the god of thunder is nowhere near the city.

Apparently dragons can talk with their mouth full.

Still with the last viking Eilif, Thor promises the old man that he will help him reach Valhalla. His chariot and Valkyrie’s flying steed come to take the two warriors forward on their quest. In an interesting bit of style change, we follow the mind of Eilif as he follows Thor on their quest.

Some amusement comes when after all these issues the mighty forged blade is finally finished and given a cool name at the time that now carries a bit more baggage:

And look how it sparkles!

The battle Thor leads Eilif in to, is quite conveniently the fight with the dragon Fafnir. The fight is not unlike something that could be found in Marvel’s Godzilla series of the previous decade as the heroes try to fight off the seemingly unstoppable monster.

Eilif uses the last of his strength to pierce Fafnir’s back with his spear, the first wound the great dragon has suffered in the battle. With his hammer, Thor drives the spear deep in to Fafnir’s body. He eliminates the threat of the dragon with a few more mighty blows.

Eilif is dead, and Thor summons the lightning to light the remains left by Fafnir’s rampage. A true viking funeral for the last viking, even as the image of the fully healthy Eilif appears briefly to fly over the battlefield.

As Sigurd Jarlson, Thor contemplates Eilif’s death. But his ponderings are interrupted by a visit by the young woman he saved a few issues before, Melodi. Of course, Melody is secretly Lorelei. Where this new relationship leads will be a question for future issues.

This is easily Walt Simonson’s best issue so far. All his plot points come together perfectly while still setting up future conflicts. This may be his best issue artwise as well. For the first time, we have went from just a good solid comic to something that feels like it could be big and wondrous.

Next: “What Happened to Balder the Brave?”

Wrestling Wednesday: Kaval

2010-08-25T16:47:00.000-05:00

Wrestling Wednesdays is going to be a little brief today as I am still working on some more looks in to the dichotomy of the hero/villain relationship as it pertains to wrestling and super-powered fiction.

Today, I just wanted to briefly mention a member of the current WWE NXT roster, Kaval.

I have been a huge fan of the wrestler formerly known as Low-Ki and Senshi for almost a decade now, ever since I first discovered him working many a Jakked and Metal match in around 2000. I really realized how awesome his in ring prowess could be when I started ordering Ring of Honor tapes in 2002.This guy could go like no one else in the business. he presented an amazing, no nonsense face in a way that I never quite saw in wrestling up until that point. (At the time, I had to yet to discover Taz’s somewhat similar persona as a face in ECW.)

My point is that Kaval is one of the best wrestlers in the world today. While I understand everyone’s love for Bryan Danielson (he’s great, don’t get me wrong), I will always be more of a fan of the awesome martial arts style of Kaval. His talent shines through in every match I have seen.

But what’s most amazing to me is that as a result of a rather terrible segment on last night’s NXT, Kaval is now the face of WWE.com, at least for a day. A decade ago, he was jobbing to Crash Holly on Jakked. Now he’s the face of WWE.com. That, my friends, is pretty cool.

Click for full size

Youtube is filled with highlights and videos featuring him in all three of his personas, so be sure to do a search for him sometime. I am sure his past will come up at some point in future columns.

Until then, go search for some Best of disks and see just how great this man can be.

Super-Powered Comics: More on DC's THUNDER Agents

2010-08-21T06:15:00.000-05:00

I mentioned my excitement about DC’s upcoming THUNDER Agents a few weeks back. I think the creative team of Nick Spencer and CAFU are potentially a very, very good combination. I do fear for an early death for the untested product, but I am hoping that continued coverage can maybe help the title grow a decent fanbase before it hits its debut in November. I am a huge fan of the Agents as a concept and a comic. I believe they have sat for far too long. I can think of few characters from the sixties that could play as well as they could in modern comics.

Despite only being a few weeks away, DC has remained surprisingly quiet about the project, but this week they gave us a first look at CAFU’s full design for the new THUNDER Agents. I personally think they come off great. Take a look (click on them to see larger versions):

The scruffy Dynamo is a little removed from the original clean cut Len Brown version, but with the one last chance premise that accompanies the new version of the characters I think he could work out very well. I think the more modern pants design with the classic top and slightly modified belt really do a great job of updating the classic Wally Wood design.

Lightning and Menthor both get more serious updates in the new version.

Menthor drops a rather generic red and blue costume. Instead he now sports a very simple man in a suit look, but with the addition of a helmet. Though metal instead of cloth, it looks very similar to the original Menthor mask, though it now covers the user’s full head. It actually reminds me more of the Justice Machine member Talisman who ironically met the THUNDER Agents in their first annual. Still I think it is a solid remake of the classic character costume that really seems to fit a telepath character.

Lightning is easily the most radical redesign as he went from a very simple yellow and orange design (heavily influenced if not out-and-out created by the character’s regular artist Steve Ditko) to a more modern running suit look. The orange is gone completely, replaced by black molded elements. I refuse to comment on the fact that the team’s African American member comes from a heavy sports background. I will just say of all the new characters he seems to be the weakest overall and the poorest of the four redesigns. I will withhold judgment for now as we see how Guy Gilbert’s replacement grows over the first several issues. Lightning was the most tragic character of the original team without a shadow of a doubt. The new book seems to expand the whole “my powers are killing me” back story of Lightning, so we will see how much the new Lightning plays to that bit with this new incarnation.

Finally we come to NoMan. DC played his redesign off best of all, by simply not redesigning him. Well, his cloak is a little heavier now as is the soiled clothing. Otherwise his costume and look are almost perfect clones of the original designs. The human scientist living in an android body will apparently continue to struggle with his lost humanity, a fate made worse by the decades past since his original transformation. The original NoMan seemed to be a clear inspiration for Marvel’s Vision, a character I always very much liked. When I learned of the existence of NoMan a few years later, I realized how much cooler Vision could really be. If Spencer and CAFU can play NoMan right, he will come off as the enigmatic, almost ninja-like figure Wally Wood and company originally created.

So there you have it, DC’s new THUNDER Agents. For more on these designs, check out the original DC Source blog post. And I hope you will join me in ordering the first issue of THUNDER Agents coming this November!

Super-Powered Prose: Nobody Gets the Girl by James Maxey

2010-08-20T07:00:00.001-05:00

I am wholly unfamiliar with the works of James Maxey. Apparently, he’s the official Dragon Age novelist, but I would never know he existed if it wasn’t for the recommended reading page on Amazon. It’s from there that I discovered his first novel Nobody Gets the Girl. Behind a lackluster cover penciled by famed inker Bob Wiacek, we get a decidedly super-powered novel.

Jim Shooter, strangely called James here for one of the few times I remember, provides a highly unnecessary introduction to talk about Maxey’s work here before we get to the meat of the story.

The alliteratively named Richard Rogers is just a normal guy albeit one with dreams of being a stand up comic. He’s in an unhappy marriage, doesn’t like where his life is going, and seems to be sinking in to a wave of depression.

And that’s before everyone in the world suddenly stops being able to see him.

That basic premise pulls him in to a world altered by a handful of superheroes and supervillains, all with their own plans for making the world a better place. Doctor Knowbokov, super genius, explains the nature of Richard’s new powers. He is superhuman in his own right, as are his two daughters Amelia (Rail Blade) and Sarah (The Thrill). They are on a quest to fufill Knowbokov’s vision of a better future. Their ability to see Richard is enough to quickly draw him in to their super-powered world.

Richard’s own actions bring the mess of violence between Knowbokov and his archrival Rex Monday to a head, and ultimately lead to plenty of death. More than that would drop far too many spoilers along the way.

At points, the author seems far too obsessed with explaining the nature of super powers in his world as if thsi work needs to be taken seriously as a work of hard science fiction. It doesn’t always work, but he does use his own ideas to bring the story full circle. Still the most important part of a novel is basic character interactions and in this Maxey both excels and fails. He does an excellent job of giving us a normal man’s view of a super-powered world. He sets up exactly how uncomfortable it would be for a normal jabroni to suddenly fall in to a world of heroes. He also gets in to the head of the heroes quite well and looks hard at a mixed up world of justice and fame.

When the action comes though, Maxey sometimes falls apart. I can detect that he visualizes action scenes quite well, but often it feels like he is so focused on getting the action on the page that he forgets to lay it out in a way that remains gripping for the reader. His superhero battles come off like sex scenes written by Tom WOlfe. They don’t keep you engaged and just make you feel uncomfortable by scenes end. Okay, they aren’t as bad as Wolfe’s sex scenes, because very little in fiction can be that painful.

Despite its rough patches, Nobody Gets the Girl remains a rather engaging novel though at times just feels like it has been overly trimmed at only 242 pages. Still it shows his love of the superhero genre, if not quite the ability required to translate it perfectly to the printed page. I know from experience it isn’t always an easy translation. Superheroes often scream for a visual medium. Sometimes you can’t express your super-story quite the right way with just words. (My own Mean Streets, which died an early death, comes to mind.) Even with its few flaws, Nobody Gets the Girl remains an entertaining read for any lover of superheroes. And that’s why it comes Recommended.

Thor's Day 6: Mighty Thor 342

2010-08-19T17:10:00.000-05:00

As this title-less issue begins, Odin fears for the future of Asgard, as Thor questions the viking’s voice he heard last month.

The blacksmith finally lays down his last DOOM! and he is ready to lay waste to Asgard.

Thor goes to investigate the strange viking voice. He finds a valley of grass amongst the ice flows of Antarctica. He finds homes and viking graves, but no sign of life. He continues his investigation only to be attacked by flying spears!

Karnilla pays a visit to Balder, but seems only to deepen his depression.

Thor battles a series of traps inside the strange structure. His safety is short lived as he runs in to a massive, heavily armored viking warrior. The battle is quick and Thor is the winner, but when he unmasks his foe he is shocked.

Fafnir rises again in New York, even as Lorelei’s own plans grow.

Thor learns that the warrior actually is an ancient viking. He sought a death in battle and chose Thor to be his killer. The chapter ends with Thor swearing to help the viking achieve his final greatness.

The art takes a different complexion with this issue, as Simonson is joined for the first time by an inker: the legendary Terry Austin. His line work gives the title a cleaner look than Simonson’s sketchier lines. This issue very much comes off as filler, a clear stumble as Simonson worked to build a bigger story over the next several issues. Still with art this amazing it is easy to overlook some of the shortcomings as the tale continues to build to something clearly very big.

Next: “If I Should Die Before I Wake...”

Wrestling Wednesday: The Nexus and Kane: Summer Slam Follow Up

2010-08-18T06:15:00.000-05:00

So, Summer Slam has came and went, RAW has came and went, and WWE still clearly doesn’t quite seem to know what they are doing with the Nexus. The big surprise of the night at Summer Slam came with the return of the (still horribly named) Daniel Bryan. As the seventh member of Team WWE, he finally got to shine on WWE television as a capable wrestler and helped beat multiple members of the Nexus. But the surprise came in the end when the final two members of Nexus (Justin Gabriel and Wade Barrett) fell to John Cena, only moments after Cena’s head was spiked on the concrete. It seems fitting that the regular focus of this blog is on superheroes, as John Cena clearly came off as one last night.

The follow-up made even more of a mess of the storyline as the Nexus’ membership dropped to six. Darren Young left the group after a defeat by John Cena in a match that amused me mostly for the fact that the two men look disturbingly similar (albeit with different skin tones). This did little to revive the Nexus from their loss the night before. It remains to be seen if the story can rise from this debacle in to something solid leading in to the next couple pay-per-views. I still expect this storyline to come to its end in November at Survivor Series and we will continue to monitor it going forward.

Kane’s big storyline comes with the not unexpected return of Undertaker at the pay-per-view. Surprisngly, Kane proved to be the winner out of the storyline so far. Even after his match with Rey Mysterio, he was able to stop his brother with little problem.

While I pretty much knew this entire storyline was a set up for Kane turning heel and feuding with his brother, I hoped that WWE would have waited to pull the trigger on this for awhile. We have all seen Kane vs Undertaker before as detailed in my first post about the superhero style feud between the two. I hoped that WWE would provide us with a few more twists in this plot line before the inevitable confrontation. Instead it seems Kane and Taker are on a one-way collission course sooner, not later.

All in all, despite the great feeling of seeing Daniel Bryan both back and allowed to shine, Summer Slam came off as rather weak to me. I think a lot more could have been done to make both these storylines fresh. Instead it seems WWE wants to shovel more of the same.

That’s okay. We have far more than WWE to check out in this column. We will take a look in that direction next week.

Thor's Day 5: The Past Is a Bucket of Ashes

2010-08-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

We return to Midgard (Earth to mere mortals) as we kick off the second story arc with Mighty Thor 341. He is happy to be back to his second home, but laments the loss of the magic that transforms him in to Donald Blake (now passed on to Beta Ray Bill). Without it, he feels out of place in the modern world of man.

At the same time as Thor’s return, Lorelei has also made her way to New York. She quickly sets up a meeting with the dragon Fafnir.

Thor takes his troubles to Nick Fury, who helps set up the mighty one with a new secret identity, but someone of Thor’s build tends to be a little conspicous:

Thankfully, Nick has the perfect disguise:

And just in case you didn’t get the joke:

Meanwhile, Odin suspects the secrets fo the demon hordes from our previous story, contain a greater threat. He sends his ravens to discover the demon world’s hidden secrets.

The bespectacled Sigurd Jarlson visits a local construction site in search of a day job. His interview is cut short by a woman hanging high over the construction site. He quickly rescues her, only to be threatened by the dread presence of Fafnir, a beast he thought vanquished ages ago.

The DOOM continues, growing ever closer to a reveal of some kind (or so I suspect).

The battle rages between the now costumed Thor and Fafnir. Fafnir beats Thor around a bit before the son of Odin fights his way back.

On Asgard, Balder continues to lament his very existence, while the villianous Karnilla makes plans around the hero once known as The Brave.

In the aftermath of their battle, Fafnir escapes in to the ocean. Thor returns to his identity as Sigurd and rescues the young lady (Lorelei). He comforts her and receives a job offer from the construction foreman. But as the issue closes, he hears a whispered voice from a bygone era, speaking the language of the vikings. What it means, Thor doesn’t know, but he plans to soon find out.

Another good solid done in one story here that continues to build plot structures for future issues on the side. After destroying Thor’s status quo over the last several issues, Walt works hard to put together a new life in this issue and couples it with a few bits of humor. All that and we get an epic battle with a dragon-like beast (whose Kirby-designed origins are very clear in Simonson’s art). The mixture of several great elements in to one cohesive whole is an example of just how much energy Walt Simonson put in to each issue of Thor. This issue stands as a great example of how to do a really good comic with a compelling storyline without driving the reader to the point of depression like so many modern tales.

Next: “The Last Viking”.

Wrestling Wednesdays: A Few Words on Hardcore Justice

2010-08-11T09:29:00.003-05:00

TNA put on “The Last Stand” last Sunday, a pay-per-view designed to be the final ECW-oriented pay-per-view ever. And unlike all the ECW inspired events of a few years back, I personally feel like they succeeded.

Both WWE and Shane Douglas tried their own versions of these events in past years with One Night Stand and Hardcore Homecoming respectively. While both had a step up in location, neither captured the feel of the previous era in the way TNA’s Hardcore Justice did. I attribute the show’s success to two factors the previous shows just could not match: the availability of many of ECW’s biggest names and the booking of former ECW co-booker Tommy Dreamer.

Both of the previous shows seriously suffered from a lack of available talent. Hardcore Homecoming missed out on any talent contracted to WWE (which included tons of stars, but most notably Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam) while One Night Stand missed out on talents signed to TNA, most specifically Raven. An ECW show without Raven misses out on one of the key players that helped really innovate the promotion, while Tommy Dreamer was the heart and soul of the promotion with Rob Van Dam probably being its biggest star ever. The first time in a decade, Hardcore Justice gives us a match between Raven and Tommy Dreamer, a match that is key to any show truly interested in bringing back the old ECW. With almost everyone involved with the original ECW now gone from WWE (only Joey Styles and Joey Mercury are left), the roster pool was far stronger for this show than it was for any previous attempts at recreating the old school feel of ECW. Dreamer clearly knew this, and embraced it wholeheartedly in his booking decisions.

At the same time, booker Tommy Dreamer made every effort to channel old storylines straight through to the pay-per-view over nine years after ECW’s collapse. The opening bout ties in to Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger’s hatred of the FBI for a lost tag shot a decade before. Stevie Richards came in with the goal of proving he could stand on his own away from Raven and did so against PJ “Justin Creible” Polaco. The Sandman made an appearance just to make sure Polaco knew he wasn’t a fan of his gimmick being stolen. Al Snow, Rhino, and Brother Runt were thrown together, but they did it in a traditional ECW elimination three way dance. Team 3D (with classic pitchman Joel Gertner) battled Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney (renamed Kahoneys because of the loss of his name to WWE) in a street fight, followed by an attack by the reteamed Gangstas, all of which celebrated the crazy over-weaponed matches that all three teams were known for. Tommy Dreamer and Raven reignited a classic feud and put on the match of the night in a brutal bloody battle. And even without Jerry Lynn’s presence, Sabu and Rob Van Dam put on an epic encounter in the main event.

The stars were definitely older (and balder, at least in the case of Sabu), and some were definitely worse for wear. Arguably, it seemed only Too Cold Scorpio (who faced C.W. Anderson early on the card) hadn’t lost a step. If anything he seemed faster and more innovative then in his classic days. He really surprised me in his match, reminding me of classic battles with the likes of Chris Jericho and Taz. Just to digress, his performance at Hardcore Justice just made me question his quick hiring and firing from WWE a few years back.

Sure, it wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t classic ECW, and it never could hope to be. Too many classic ECW stars have passed on (way too many some might argue), and a few still alive were noticeably absent, most notably Shane Douglas and Terry Funk. (I know a few people might also include Lance Storm and Mikey Whipwreck in that list, but I do not see them as essential figures the way Douglas and Funk were.) And “The Blue Tilly” and fake “Lupus” were a just plain bad idea. (Thankfully, the fans made sure that TNA knew how bad an idea it reallyw as.) Overall, these proved to be minor problems, as unlike previous attempts, Tommy Dreamer put together a card that was entertaining from top to bottom. It succeeded in one key feature: it made me want more from the likes of the FBI, Richards, Scorpio, Raven, and even PJ Polaco. Now it is a waiting game to see how TNA plays out any continued presence of EV2.0 in upcoming program.

If this truly was “The Last Stand”, then TNA succeeded at giving the world one last great farewell to ECW. And can any ECW fan ask for any more than that?

Next week, we will have an update on my first two wrestling Wednesdays, and look how the events of WWE’s second biggest pay-per-view Summer Slam affect Kane and the Nexus.

Thor's Day 4: Though Hel Should Block the Way

2010-08-07T02:16:00.000-05:00

This is coming on Saturday instead of Thursday and for that you can blame my current writing project Long Hot Summer. I am still working on finishing the saga ASAP, and my other writing is falling by the wayside, such as last week’s edition of this column. I will try to get back on track over the next few weeks.

We open where we left off last issue, with Thor, Bill, and Sif flying through space on Thor’s magic chariot. The demons they seek to stop have already ravaged the fleet. Sif stays to defend the fleet as Bill and Thor move onward to find the demons’ source, only to nearly be sucked in to that portal.

Meanwhile, the DOOM! hammering continues for the fourth month running. That’s a lot of DOOM! Volstagg finishes his tale and leaves the young would-be assassin in the care of Hogun the Grim.

Sif teams with Bill’s semi-sentient ship Skuttlebutt to try to lead the demons away from theh fleet. The two hammer-wielders eventually destroy the portal and banish the demons.

They return to Asgard and a celebration, but Bill is there with a heavy heart. Sif tells Odin about Bill’s secrets. Odin creates a solution to Bill’s loss of his own identity. He leaves the land alongside Lady Sif, ready to continue the search for a new home for his people.

In the end, Thor has leaned a lesson in humility, and has started on a new path he has never traveled before. And the first story-arc of Walter Simonson’s run comes to an end.

But the action has not, as a familiar dragon-like creature rises from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean...

This was probably the weakest of Walt’s run so far with the development limited to a few bits at the end of the story. Sif’s characterization seems the most rushed, as though Walt (still early in his writing career here) didn’t quite know how to get her to the point he wanted her at the end of the story. The art remained solid throughout, even through epic battle scenes. The synergy of his work is growing even here and will surely strengthen as the saga continues.

Next: “The Past is a Bucket of Ashes!”

Wrestling Wednesdays: The Nexus

2010-08-04T20:01:00.000-05:00

Before I digress from WWE television for awhile (something I do quite frequently as the company often fails to hold my attention for long periods of time), I thought I would share a few thoughts on what will almost certainly be the storyline of 2010: the rise of the Nexus.

Made up of seven of the eight original rookies from the WWE show NXT, the Nexus consists of leader Wade Barrett, high-flyer Justin Gabriel, celebrity-turned-wrestler David Otunga, boxing-oriented Michael Tarver, “Cornfed Meathead” Skip Sheffield, party boy Darren Young, and West Virginia-born Heath Slater. An eighth member, Daniel Bryan, made only one appearance with the group, but more on that later.

None of the stars have much in common except for their shared origins on NXT. A few of them seem like natural babyfaces (Gabriel and Young in particular) despite their role as Nexus members. Several still have had little or no time to display much personality at all. The storyline seems to be framed around the advent of Wade Barrett winning the first NXT competition, and where that should force both him and the other characters from the show going forward.

That being said, they debuted in explosive fashion. On the end of a special three hour “Viewer’s Choice” episode of Raw, the group interrupted a match between John Cena and CM Punk. They surrounded the ring and brutally beat down Cena, the face of Raw. In the process, they went from those guys on the third show to being major players in WWE, and in the case of Wade Barrett, a potential main eventer.

The problem is that WWE clearly didn’t really know what direction to take the storyline in. The Nexus reappeared over the next several weeks and brutalized several WWE stars, though John Cena remained their constant focus, even after he dropped the WWE title to Sheamus. The reason for their attacks: well, your guess is as good as anyone’s. The Nexus want to make a name for themselves, but beyond that they seem to possess no reason for their constant attacks.

The attacks have flooded Raw, pay-per-view, and even house shows for weeks. It is a rare main event that isn’t interrupted by an attack by the Nexus. It has reached almost NWO levels of insanity, except for the fact that we knew why the NWO did what they did. Not so much with the Nexus.

Which seems to be the Nexus’ major problem. What could be a major heel group seems mired in pointless attacks and predicatable storytelling. They rarely have wrestled matches so far and they rarely do anything beyound brutalizing John Cena, his allies, and his enemies.

This leads of course to the upcoming Summerslam where the first PPV match to come out of the storyline finally comes after months of build-up. John Cena will lead a 7 on 7 team of WWE superstars against the Nexus in a tag match. The predictions are already well underway. Everyone suspects one of Cena’s team to turn on the WWE stars, with most suspecting it will be Cena himself.

If that’s the case, it shows the narrow vision of WWE storytelling. Why would Cena be the center of all these attacks, even lose the WWE title because of them, if he is the secret mastermind behind the Nexus. It makes no sense, but WWE in recent times has fallen away from common sense quite frequently. No matter what the outcome of the Summerslam story however, it does little to salvage an invasion angle that WWE has let fester past the point of sense.

Strangely the wrestler that might come out looking best from this story is the aforementioned Daniel Bryan. After choking out ring announcer Justin Roberts, Bryan Danielson found his WWE career cut short do to “excessive violence” on television. He has made a massive splash upon his return to the indys even going so far as to mock the reason for his release with a new t-shirt:

He has kept his dignity while escaping a storyline that would do him no good in his career. He is in a good place to return to one of the two big companies with more focus behind his push and more drive than the Nexus would ever give him.

Even TNA has gotten a lot of mileage out of the firing. Multiple chokeholds in TNA have been coupled with Taz commenting: “You can get fired in some companies for that move.&8221;.

Strangely, Bryan Danielson has found his way in to another promotion that has its own invasion storyline going, but more on CHIKARA in a future installment.

Wrestling Wednesdays: Kane

2010-07-28T00:01:00.046-05:00

This is the first in a semi-regular series of columns focusing on great wrestling ideas and storylines, often with a touch of super-powered storytelling in the process. I actually scrapped my original plans for my first post (though it should appear in the next couple weeks) to focus on a character that I have loved for years and has really came out in to his own in the last few weeks: the Big Red Machine known as Kane.

I very willingly admit I am what they call a “smart” mark, a wrestling fan that knows just a little too much about the wrestling world for his own good. It often makes me finicky as a wrestling fan, though never quite at the level of some of the craziest “smarks” I have met on the net. I still appreciate a good gimmick, a good storyline, and good charisma along with a good wrestler. I just wanted to include this preference to clear up any confusion when I talk about the subject for the first week of this column: Kane.

Now Kane was a great gimmick early on, much as Undertaker was, simply because both characters may be the closest thing WWF/WWE ever came to having true superhero crossovers. Wrestling has had a superhuman quality to it since the days of Hulk Hogan, but the two supernatural forces, brothers and enemies, personified why great gimmicks can truly take a wrestler to the next plateau in their career.

After years of going in and out of wrestling with some of the worst gimmicks imaginable: Unabomb, the Dark Knight (an actual knight, not Batman), the New Diesel, and Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS (the evil wrestling dentist...with bad teeth!), Glen Jacobs finally got the wrestlign gimmick that would change his life. Paul Bearer and Undertaker split up several months before after years of working together. Alongside Mankind, Bearer had a long feud with Taker, but never could pick up a win. So he decided to bring in his ace in the hole: Undertaker’s long lost brother.

They teased the coming of Kane for several weeks until October 1997 during the Badd Blood pay-per-view. During the first ever Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and Undertaker, Kane arrived to attack his brother.

It would be months still before the feud finally lit up, despite all the fire in Kane’s entrance. He would feud with his brother for most of the next year. This would lead him to his first WWE title shot in mid-1998. He would quickly beat Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the title. he would hold it for only a day, as he dropped it back to Austin on the very next night.

Over the next several years, Kane would continue to alternately switch from face to heel as he alternately fought and teamed with his brother. The two characters would have their own stories, but it never seemed to be more than a few months before they met again. During the Invasion, they officially became a tag team, the Brothers of Destruction, and dominated for several months against all foes. His costume reversed during this title reign, as his old red and black outfit suddenly turned primarily black with red flames all around it. The new attire proved slightly more sensible (what is a black flame anyway?) while the slightly smaller mask seemed to give Kane a greater ability to both breath and to speak, a trait he picked up only months before (through a brief team with X-Pac.)Their feats at the time bordered on superhuman, as it often seemed that no matter how great the force lined against them, they were unbeatable.

As the invasion ended, the brand extension began. And with it came the first chance for the two brothers to be completely separated. Taker was on show while Kane was on the other (though they both switched shows early on.) Kane returned after injury with his first major revamp in appearance since his debut. With his new look and his first long term run as a hero, Kane’s focus seemed to be on putting together multiple title reigns. He would be the final Intercontinental champion (or at least until the title was brought back nine months later) and hold the tag titles twice, once with Raw’s comedic superhero The Hurricane, the other with the high-flying Rob Van Dam.

After the tag title run with RVD ran its course, he would enter his last big main event push in mid-1994. He would feud briefly with Triple H for the World title, only to lose by interference to Triple H in a mask vs title match. After seven years, Kane would have to unmask.

Without his mask he would become a more human foe, but a man fueled by an unending rage as well as a desperate need not just to beat, but also to torture his foes. He turned on first Rob Van Dam and later on Shane McMahon. He would tear both apart over subsuquent months on his way back to the World title picture. He would eventually fail in his quest to get the title, falling to Triple H and Goldberg, but he did run head long in to an old enemy: Undertaker.

At Vince McMahon’s bidding, he helped beat Undertaker in a buried alive match and the Deadman disappeared for several months. But as Wrestlemania XX, the classic Undertaker would return and defeat Kane once and for all (or for now at least.)

He would end up involved in an extended story for the next year involving Lita, which would take him through a feud with Matt Hardy before he turned face and battled Gene Snitsky and Edge (with Lita turning against him). From here he would flounder in the midcard with only a short lived tag reign with the Big Show. Kane would continue to grow crazier over the next few weeks until he left Raw to return to SmackDown. Kane became a long term midcarder as of 2006, often doing little more than helping midcard stars look better by beating the crazed monster. He would go on to a brief run as the (midcard) ECW champion. This run would quickly end a sell, and he quickly returned to midcard status.

But that ended just a few weeks ago. With his brother Undertaker suddenly attacked and left in a vegetative state, Kane started on a path of destruction. He destroyed every top star on Smackdown over the next several weeks until just a few weeks ago, at Money in the Bank. He would win a Smackdown title shot and almost immediately cash it in to win the World title from Rey Mysterio.

After twelve years, Kane was World champion again.

It’s all a bit crazed, as any long term history of a pro wrestler tends to be. But Kane has proven again and again that he is by far one of the best and most versatile characters in professional wrestling. He is an insane sociopath, whether good or evil, with powers granted him by dark forces.

This is almost certainly Kane’s last hurrah as champion. His dark presence continues to be felt strongly over WWE, but at 43 Glen Jacobs, the man that plays Kane, only has a few more years left in his career. Still it’s great to see such a super-heroic (or super-villainous) presence rise in modern wrestling. The great gimmicks are few and far between in wrestling these days, and to see someone as powerful and entertaining as the Big Red Machine holding the title, does my super-powered heart proud.

DCU Online a.k.a. San Diego Forgetfulness

2010-07-26T10:45:00.000-05:00

One thing I managed to forget was this six minute teaser for the new DC Universe MMO. While nothing really had stood out to me as really epic about this game, things have changed with the debut of this clip. This looks epic.

I’m sure more San Diego news will trickle out in its aftermath. Anything else newsworthy I will throw on here in the next couple days.

Weekend Con Round up!

2010-07-26T09:28:00.000-05:00

It has been made official in today’s Cup O’ Joe panel, Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman of the amazing Atlas will be taking over Hulk. Which means I may just be buying my first Hulk title in over a decade.

The Crossgen Sigil and the year 2011 also made an appearance at the panel, which for long time Crossgen fans like myself is nothing but good news.

Alt-adult site SuicideGirls.com is getting its own comic from IDW with both Steve Niles and Cameron Stewart on board. John Byrne will be the next creator on the Jurassic Park comic. A Bleeding Cool rumor proved true as they announced a new Rocketeer title with an all star lineup of creators. Though apparently slated for the far-away date of December 2011, another personal favorite of mine will be returning at IDW: John Byrne’s Next Man, an all new run by Byrne himself. They finish up with the strangest announcement: a crossover called “Infestation” that ties their licensed books like G.I.Joe, Transformers, Star Trek, CVO, and Ghostbusters together and which may very well be zombie related. Odd.

In the most awesome of awesome video game news (and super-power related at least) is the announcement of new crossover game Street Fighter X Tekken. The awesomenest oozes from the very idea.

The new seventies-style exploitation trailer is extremely red band and makes it clear that Machete is nigh superhuman in his abilities as well. Do to its graphic nature I won’t post a direct link here, but you can check it out at Topless Robot.

The Spider-Man panel also confirmed another major Bleeding Cool rumor, with Amazing Spider-Man going biweekly with Dan Slott as the solo writer under the new banner name “Big Time”. Carnage and Norman Osborn will both get minis as well.

Vertigo announced that most of its former DC characters will be returning to the DCU. What this means for the futures of House of Mystery and Hellblazer is anyone’s guess.

Oh, and Marvel was daring enough to put the Infinity Gauntlet on display for everyone. Thankfully no one stole it and used it to reshape the universe in their image.

Friday Comic Con Round-up!

2010-07-24T02:37:00.000-05:00

Marvel has introduced Generation Hope as its new X-title, a book about new mutants appearing for the first time since Messiah Complex. Kieron Gillen (Phonogram) is writing, but I still can’t bring myself to be that interested.

Axe Cop co-creator Ethan Nicolle mae an appearance at the Dark Horse Comics panel, but it remains unclear whether or not this means a Dark Horse-produced collection of Axe Cop. Doctor Spector and Mighty Samson will both be joining Shooter’s Gold Key revival. Reminders of the upcoming Conan: Road of Kings by Roy Thomas and a return to Dark Horse Presents. Andrew Vachss is also returning to Dark Horse with a new project called Heart Transplant.

One of the most interesting panels was for a movie by writer/director James Gunn called Super about Rainn Wilson as a would-be hero. Ellen Page plays his slighly psychotic sidekick with Kevin Bacon, Nathan Fillion, Liv Tyler, and Michael Rooker rounding out the cast. Check out Newsarama for more on the film.

DC introduced Grant Morrison’s new book Batman Inc. which Morrison claims is inspired by the Batman Brave and the Bold cartoon series. Art is by a favorite of mine, Yanick Paquette.

DC has a preview up of its new Young Justice series. Check it out on Youtube:

Image Comics presented a panel that introduced Mark Guggenheim’s new imprint Collider Entertainment, which will include Utopian, a superhero book set in a (wait for it...) utopia, and The Mission, which has to do with serial killers and the voice of God. Ron Marz is producing a creator-owned samurai-vampire series for Image Central with Shinku drawn by his Dragon Prince co-conspirator Lee Moder. A Top Cow-produced Firebreather Dragon Prince limited was also announced. Otherwise they only previewed already announced books (which isn’t unusual for Image as they rarely have publishing schedules set a year in advance.)

Thursday Con Round-up!

2010-07-22T22:30:00.005-05:00

Overall it has been a quiet convention so far without too many big new announcements. Most of the panels have focused on material already released or coming very soon. But a few announcements did make it out.

The final variant has been announced for the upcoming Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension video game. Joining the already announced 616 Spidey, Spider-Man Noir, and Spider-Man 2099 will be the black-costumed Ultimate Spider-Man. I am thoroughly excited about this one. Hopefully it plays as good as it looks. Video below.

Marvel also announced several new series: Power Man and Iron Fist by Fred Van Lente and Wellington Alves (featuring Iron Fist and the newly debuted Power Man), Ultimate Thor, Mark Waid back on Cap with Captain America: Man Out of Time, DNA producing Rocket Raccoon and Groot (with a cover by classic Rocket artist Mike Mignola), indy creator anthology Strange Tales II, a new ongoing in Captain America: Fighting Avenger treading the same all ages ground as the recent Thor the Mighty Avenger, and Atomic Robo’s Brian Clevinger writing Captain America: Hail Hydra. Does Cap have a movie coming out or something?

Mike Mignola returns to his second greatest work!

Apparently it wasn’t official yet, but it is now. Joss Whedon is the official director of Avengers.

DC has a “hardcore violent” Suicide Squad game in the works as well. A movie is in development as well, so whether or not they are related is still up in the air. In related news, who decided Suicide Squad was this strong of a franchise?

Stan Lee Goes BOOM!

2010-07-22T16:08:00.000-05:00

Not literally, but BOOM! Studios have announced the names, creative teams, and concepts of the three upcoming Stan Lee-created series they will be publishing in the near future.

BOOM! CCO Mark Waid teams with former Warlord artist on Traveler. Traveler is a mysterious vigilante that seems to appear out of nowhere.

Recent DC exclusive (so how he’s writing this I’m not sure) Paul Cornell teams up with former Manhunter artist Javier Pina to create Soldier Zero. Zero is a wheelchair-bound teacher’s aide who is bonded with an alien creature to become a super-powered warrior. This issue offers some interesting dichotomies, as it revives the old Daredevil formula without making out the disability to be something horrible no one can stand to live with. I consider it by far the most interesting of the three concepts.

iZombie writer Chris Roberson creates the third and final title with New Mutants and Adventures of Spawn artist Khary Randolph. Starborn tells the story of a man who thought he was a human from Earth but actually is a major player in an interstellar attack. He gains powers in the process and learns he’s not from Earth at all (’cuz he’s starborn, get it?)

Image from Robot 6/Comic Book Resources

Three pretty decent looking characters overall, though I think Soldier Zero seems far stronger than the others. Over at Comic Book Resources you can find interviews with Mark Waid, Paul Cornell, and Chris Roberson about their respective books. It sounds like these are still a few months away, but it will be interesting to see if Stan and BOOM!’s line of superheroes can survive in the current marketplace.

San Diego is Here... and it begins a little early with the THUNDER Agents!

2010-07-22T08:24:00.001-05:00

While I will remain right here in Iowa, I am making no secret that I love the big news stories that often come out of the event. And that’s why I’m going to add my own commentary on some of the most important (or at least most interesting to me) news at the event.

The first truly exciting (to me) is the announcement of the November debut of DC’s new THUNDER Agents book (first announced at last year’s Comic-Con.

Behind the Frank Quitely cover, DC has put together an amazing team for their new series. Nick Spencer has written two absolutely great series for Image/Shadowline, Forgetless and Shuddertown as well as two Existence limited series that I have yet to read. (The trade is on my buy list for August.) The two aforementioned series are two well written minis with a strong modern crime bent. He has a creator owned book called Morning Glories coming later this summer as well as starting a Jimmy Olsen back-up on Action Comics. But not since Robert Kirkman have I found a writer I enjoy as much as Mr. Spencer.

The artist on the lead feature is CAFU, late of the Captain Atom back-ups in Action. He has a good solid style that is quite exciting and (mostly) anatomically correct. His work reminds me of Guiseppe Camuncoli with a hint of Daniel Acuna’s computer-paint style. I am unaware if he has been on a monthly book before this, but if he can keep up the pace, he should be a great artist for the new Agents.

If the team looks a little different to long time THUNDER Agents fans, its because we have a new team here. Spencer isn’t trampling the original book’s history. Instead he’s treating the original team as the THUNDER of the late sixties and early seventies. The costumes have been past down with only NoMan remaining as a constant on the team.

I love the way Spencer and DC have decided to create something new without trampling on the great classic comics. If this book can garner the support it rightly deserves, it could be a real winner.

So what I’m basically saying is you better freakin’ buy it! And not in trade either. Go out to your local comic shop and ask the owner directly to order a copy for you! I don’t want to see this book be another 12 issue casualty of the fickle comic fan.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more San Diego stories in the hours and days to come.

Thor's Day 3: Something Old, Something New...

2010-07-22T07:35:00.004-05:00

Mighty Thor 339 starts out on a slow note as the returned Beta Ray Bill and Thor both collapse. In the aftermath, we visit several voices of Asgard, including Lorelei, as they discuss the new bearer of Mjolnir.

Odin visits with Bill upon his recovery. Bill does not want Mjolnir and denies his claim to it. But Odin swears that he will aid Bill and his people. Odin visits Eitri, greatest of dwarf blacksmiths. Eitri places Odin with another challenge. He will fulfill Odin’s mysterious request if a female can beat the dwarves’ greatest warrior.

Sif goes to answer the call, even as the convalescing heroes watch her go. Oh, and apparently injured Asgardians wear furry slippers.

Sif quickly finds herself in battle with Throgg the dwarf, who doesn’t seem very small.

As the fight continues, we briefly return to Volstagg, still atop Balder’s would-be attacker. We also return to the DOOM! as the mysetrious smith continues his work. Then we go to Quebec when a lighthouse worker named Rene Baroque runs afoul of a nasty looking demon in search of vengeance.

We return to Sif’s battle with Throgg. Sif proves to make short work of the gigantic dwarf. Eitri agrees to go to the forges and complete Odin’s wishes.

After much work, the project is finished. Bill travels with Odin to the forges. At Eitri’s command he reached in to the molten fire, aided by a protective glove. His hand rises with a hammer of his own in hand... Storm Breaker.

With both Thor and Bill returned to full power, Thor insists on accompanying Bill back in to space, in hopes of aiding his new friend and rival. Thor summons two powerful rams, Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder to drag his chariot in to space. Sif stops the heroes and declares her right to join the journey. The three heroes fly off in to space as this issue ends.

This chapter shows the first true hints that Simonson has something truely epic planned for Thor, despite the fact that Thor barely takes much action personally. Still after three explosive issues, it is clear that the God of Thunder’s adventures are only beginning.

Next: Though Hel Should Bar the Way!

Thor's Day 2: Mighty Thor 338

2010-07-15T03:50:00.000-05:00

We pick up right where we left off last issue with a mortal Donald Blake lacking his hammer. But while Blake laments the loss of his weapon, Beta Ray Thor battles the gods of Asgard. Odin brings a quick stop to the battle and summons the true Thor to Asgard. Odin convinces Beta Ray to calm his aggression and the three go off to discuss Beta Ray’s history and why exactly he can lift Thor’s hammer.

Meanwhile, Lady Sif walks through the high seat only to see Thor kissing last issue’s edition to Asgard, Lorelei. After getting mad at her former love, she stomps off. “Thor” reveals he is actually Loki and laughs at his success with Lorelei, sister of the Enchantress.

Bill gives the history of his people and his current form. Odin declares that he must now face Thor in mortal combat to determine the true holder of mighty Mjolnir. The brutal battle commences on the barren plain of Svartheim.

We go back to the subplots as Balder and Volstagg walk through the city of Valhalla. A young warrior named Agnar stops them and challenges Balder to combat. Balder refuses combat as he now embraces only peace, but Agnar will hear none of it. He attacks, only to be stopped by the girth of Volstagg.

The battle between Bill and Thor continues in epic fashion, as few but Walter Simonson can draw it. The fight finishes and Bill is left standing... barely. But he disobeys Odin’s order, and returns from the barren realm with the still living Thor in his arms. He claims the hammer as the issue comes to an end.

We still are clearly very much in build mode right now. The subplots are starting to gain momentum, if slight, as the Beta Ray Bill story continues to move in quite the opposite direction of previous Thor stories. For Thor to be beaten blow by blow was a rarity when this story came out, but Bill proved his power in this one issue by beating Thor fairly.

Next week: Something old, something new...!

Thor's Day 1: Mighty Thor 337

2010-07-08T01:00:00.022-05:00

All right, so here’s the deal. I am going to start back on classic runs of books that I have and haven’t read, and share my thoughts on them issue by issue.

My first choice for this project is none other than Walter Simonson’s Mighty Thor. So every Thursday you will be able to look forward to a new installment of “Thor’s Day”. We start with his first issue, Mighty Thor 337.

Like so many of Simonson’s works, his run on Thor starts with an epic scope with massive panels showing something being forged. What it is is still unclear, though the final anvil strike does come with the sound effect “DOOM!”.

Is that the Dreaded Deadline version or just the regular?

From there we go to Dr. Donald Blake (secret identity of Thor if you didn’t already know) as he walks through Grant Park. Apparently, Don was based in Chicago at the time. His time in peace is quickly interrupted by the arrival of Colonel Nick Fury, head of SHIELD. It seems that a threat from outer space is on the way and it’s up to the Mighty Thor to stop it.

Before we can reach space though we get a brief digression. In Asgard, Sif laments her loss of Thor, but moreso her loss of action.

...as long as Walt is drawing me.

Back to Thor on his way in to space. I love Simonson’s skewed angles when we go in to flight mode, especially in to space. Anyway, Thor goes to confront the offending space-craft. After an attack from the automated defenses, he smashes his way inside, only to be grabbed by a massive hand.

Back in Asgard, we focus on Loki this time. He meets a young woman named Lorelei, clearly a sign of things to come.

Back in space, Thor’s attack reveals himself, and he is a figure clearly recognizable to long time Marvel fans.

This costume is strangely similar to his later Star Masters look.

Beta Ray Bill and Thor do battle. Thor looses his hammer after a particularly mighty blow. After a minute, he reverts to his Donald Blake form and is knocked out by Bill.

Bill goes in search of Thor’s hammer, but it has reverted back in to Blake’s walking stick. Angered, Bill slames it in to a wall. In the process, he is tranformed in to the more common image we know of Beta Ray Thor. He moves to defend his ship, but his battle takes him against Fury and agents of SHIELD.

But the battle is interrupted by a message from Odin. The king of Asgard summons Thor back to his home... only he summons the wrong Thor! And Donald Blake is left powerless among the mortals as the issue comes to an end.

Super-Powered Comics: Diamond Destinations July 2010 (for September)

2010-07-03T05:54:00.000-05:00

p. 48 Billy The Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #1 (of 4): The title may be a bit ridiculous length-wise, but Eric Powell and Kyle Hotz have already created one great series starring Billy and his freakshow gang, and this story which takes Billy in to conflict with Jack the Ripper looks equally impressive.

p. 78 New Teen Titans: Games: The fact that this hardcover is even being published is all around amazing. Unfortunately, DC likes to solicit its graphic novel programs months in advance, so this one won’t be out until November. Once it is... well, 144 more pages of the eighties Titans, even Danny “I’m too lame to live” Chase! All by Wolfman and Perez!

p. 17 Deadpool Pulp #1-2: I would show far more interest in Marvel’s new pulp-inspired story if it wasn’t with the already overexposed Deadpool. However, this follows in the tradition of the Marvel Noir books and takes an Elseworlds kick. Too bad the solicits also make it feel more like James Bond than old school pulp.

p. 78 X-23 #1: I am a fan of Marjorie Liu’s writing both in and out of comics. Sadly, her Black Widow run ends this month, but she starts up a new series starring Wolverine’s lady-clone instead. I’m not sure how I feel about the character getting her own ongoing, but Liu does make it more appealing.

p. 85 Incognito Bad Influences #1: I wonder if Marvel will try to advertise Deadpool Pulp somewhere near Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ pulp hero book. The first Incognito limited was nothing short of amazing, so we will see if this one lives up to the first. Oh, and the pulp essays by Jess Nevins in the back matter totally make the single issues well worth buying.

p. 263 Vampirella Archives Volume 1 Hardcover: Call me less than enthused about Dynamite’s lackluster debut for Vampirella with two reprint volumes. The character deserves better, but at least it gives me an excuse to run this classic Frazetta cover.

p. 286 Valhalla Cindermane #1: I know next to nothing about this throwback to the bad girl era. It sounds fun IMHO. Oh, and the character apparently already has her own Myspace and Twitter.

p. 300 Return of the Originals: Battle For L.A.: Moonstone begins its new pulp initiative with this graphic novel by CJ Henderson and Mark Sparacio. The goal seems to be to quickly bring all the public domain pulp characters back in both prose and comic form and this is where it starts. This is by far the book I am most interested in checking out this month.

p. 305 Guerillas Volume 1: I was quite intrigued by Brahm Revel’s tale of an all primate squad active in a very real Viet Nam when Image published the first half of it a few years back. Now those stories are being collected by Oni Press, hopefully with the second half of the story to follow.

p. 378 Scott Pilgrim t-shirts: Bryan Lee O’Malley’s soon to be movie star finally goes hog wild on a whole series of shirts.

p. 382 Iron Man 2: Arc Reactor Glow Accessory: Am I the only one that thinks thorwing htis in the middle of a shirt would be simple and freaking awesome Halloween costume?

The New Game Plan

2010-06-30T02:08:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so I’m still not updating this blog nearly as much as I like, but I think I have worked out a remedy for that. You see, my erratic Clone Saga posts have made me think that it would be fun to go pick up old runs and start reading them, one issue at a time. I will blog about each series one day a week until I have came to the point where they aren’t so enjoyable anymore. And unlike reading old Clone Saga issues, hopefully I won’t get the urge to cut myself while reading them. So expect the first of those updates a week from tomorrow as we go back and look at the work of Walter Simonson as we start the first installment of what I like to call “Thor’s Day”.

Stay tuned.

(Oh, and I should have my next installment of Diamond Destinations up sometime between now and then.)

Official Handbook to the Quadrant Universe: The Sword

2010-06-21T03:53:00.001-05:00

The second man to take the name of the Sword is Lance Larter, the sidekick to the former hero. He first popped up at the beginning of Living Legends, but he only made his second appearance as we flashback to his story in the last chapter of the same story. As Living Legends goes on hiatus, he moves in to these pages on a new quest to save his friends.

SWORD II

Real Name: Lance Larter

Aliases: The Lance, The Lancer

Identity: Secret

Citizenship: United States of America

Place of Birth: Lakeville, Minnesota

Known Relatives: none

Group Affiliation: former partner of the Sword I

Education: High school graduate

First Appearance: Super Mystery Comics vol.3 #4, (modern) Living Legends: The Return (chapter one)

HISTORY:

In his early teens, Lance Larter discovered that his friend Arthur Lake secretly held the legendary sword Excalibur. Arthur used the blade to battle local criminals as The Sword (see Sword I). When Sword ran in to trouble, Lance was granted the power to become the Lancer, a similar attired sidekick to his friend. With his magic lance, he assisted his friend in battling numerous supernatural threats to Lakeville.

Lance and Arthur would eventually join the Mystery Army (see Mystery Army) to battle the forces of Nazi Germany in Europe. Among the contingent of mystery men on the team, secret identities were a nonissue. His name shortened to Lance among the Mystery Army, a name that stuck upon their return to America.

In 1947, Sword and Lance joined a contingent of mystery men to travel to Brazil and attack a Nazi stronghold. During the attack, the mystery men were transported seventy years in to the future. Upon arrival in the modern day, Sword instantly grew sick. With the aid of a reborn Merlin, Lance took Sword to Avalon (see Avalon) to meet the Lady of the Lake.

He learned that his friend and the one true King Arthur were both poisoned by the magic of long-time foe Faye Morgana (see Morgana, Faye). The Lady of the Lake granted him Excalibur’s sister blade Caliburn and sent him out in to the world to find a cure.

Height: 6’ Weight: 181 lbs.

Eyes: Blue Hair: Blonde

POWERS, ABILITIES, & EQUIPMENT:

Sword possesses the mystical blade Caliburn, sister of King Arthur’s Excalibur. He can summon the blade with just a thought, and upon its appearance he is covered in silver and blue chainmail. Both the blade and armor are nearly impenetrable, though blunt force trauma can still cause the Sword much distress.

Much like Excalibur, Caliburn is reputed to have numerous secret abilities. The Sword has yet to unlock these powers however, and their nature remains to be seen.

Official Handbook to the Quadrant Universe: Libertad

2010-06-20T08:51:00.002-05:00

Libertad is the weakest character art-wise from this upcoming project, as Fabrica De Herois. But she is one of the character’s I am most looking forward to writing. While Annabelle Montalvo was a major player throughout Freedom Patton, this will be the first time I am writing her as a full-fledged superhero. I get to develop the hero / sidekick relationship between her and Freedom as well. It should be fun.

Libertad

LIBERTAD

Real Name: Annabelle Montalvo

Aliases: None

Identity: Secret

Citizenship: United States of America

Place of Birth: Marshalltown, Iowa

Known Relatives: Jeannie Cruz (mother, deceased), Aurelio Montalvo (father)

Group Affiliation: partner of Freedom Patton

Education: High school dropout

First Appearance: Freedom Patton: A Dangerous Place to Live (chapter one)

HISTORY:

Born to a high school dropout and an illegal immigrant, Annabelle Montalvo’s life started out on rocky footing. Her mom developed a drug habit when Annabelle was a small child. After her father left the family to return to Mexico, Annabelle ended up with social services. Her mother would wind up in jail on drug charges just a few months later.

Annabelle grew up in a variety of foster homes across the state of Iowa. By the time she became a teenager, Annabelle’s mother had served her sentence and got clean. But despite her mother’s best efforts, Annabelle remained in foster care in the small town of Tudor.

Her foster parents were good, but uncaring people. She started a relationship with Richie Williams, the town bad-boy. She helped Richie stay straight in school, even though both found themselves on the outs in the insular community.

The two teenagers stumbled upon a meeting of the World’s local faction with the group’s leader, Atlas (see Atlas). Richie showed up late for their liaison and was captured by the twisted super-patriot Liberator (see Liberator). She could only watch from her hiding place as Richie’s father, the town’s mayor, murdered his son in cold blood. She ran away from the city shortly after.

Agents of the World pursued her across southern Iowa. She would eventually be captured by Liberator and subjected to experiments based on his steroid-enhanced blood. Though all previous test subjects died as a result, Annabelle somehow survived. In the process she gained increased strength and endurance to match Liberator’s own.

She would soon be rescued by Freedom Patton and his allies (see Patton, Freedom). She used her new powers to aid them in defeating the World’s plans to take control of the state of Iowa. In the aftermath of the battle, she decided to join Freedom as he continued to travel across the country, in the hopes of learning more about using her new powers for good.

Height: 5’ 4” Weight: 142 lbs.

Eyes: Brown Hair: Black

POWERS, ABILITIES, & EQUIPMENT:

Libertad’s muscle mass is far denser than a normal human. This grants her increased endurance. She suffers only surface burns from most small arms fire. Her strength is also greatly increased. She can bench approximately 1.5 tons though continued exertion will result in muscle fatigue and exhaustion.

She has received limited hand-to-hand combat training from Freedom Patton, though she seems to be a natural brawler.

Official Handbook to the Quadrant Universe: Freedom Patton

2010-06-10T06:49:00.000-05:00

As a preview of the characters starring in the upcoming series Long, Hot Summer I am taking a look at the origins and histories of some of the main players. Thanks to Fabrica De Herois for their designer used to make the illustrations in this and subsequent posts. We start with Freedom Patton, the character that's story originally opened Metahuman Press.

PATTON, FREEDOM

Real Name: Freedom Patton

Aliases: Frank Palahniuk, Mick Foley, Wayne Pilgrim

Identity: Public. The general public is unaware of Patton’s heroic activities.

Citizenship: United States of America

Place of Birth: Denison, Texas

Known Relatives: George S. Patton (alleged grand-uncle), Dwight D. Eisenhower (alleged grand-uncle)

Group Affiliation: partner of Libertad

Education: High school graduate.

First Appearance: Freedom Patton: A Dangerous Place to Live (chapter one)

HISTORY:

Born on the 4^th of July, the young Freedom Patton’s parents were both career military. The family moved from town to town throughout his youth, rarely staying in one place for more than a year or two. Because of the constant moving, Freedom rarely made friends. He quickly learned to close himself off from those around him, while still putting on an air of cool bravado. He quickly developed a bad boy image wherever he went, but despite the image he excelled in his high school education.

Upon graduation, Freedom left his family’s home and moved to Springfield, Illinois. He quickly fell in with a young woman named Leah while working in a fast food restaurant. The relationship was rocky from the start and was further strained by an unplanned pregnancy followed by a miscarriage.

Just a few months after his twenty-first birthday, Freedom was at work during the attack on the World Trade Center. Upon the first explosions, Freedom collapsed on the job. Hundreds of voices suddenly flooded his head. Despite all indications to the contrary, Freedom became the new Spirit of America (see Patriot). After escaping confinement at a local asylum, he set out to answer the calling and went to New York City.

In New York, he quickly fell in to a situation that mirrored his life in Illinois. He met and started a relationship with a psychic social worker named Iniri Granatella (see Granatella, Iniri). With her help, he got a job clearing rubble near ground zero. He soon ran afoul of a foreman with criminal ties named Vincent Santangelo. Accountant Frank Giordano embezzled millions of money belonging to crime boss Michael Santangelo, Vin’s uncle. Frank died when Tower One exploded. Freedom answers Frank’s call at a strip club, when he rescues two young women named Renet Ng and Eriko Tanaka from mob assassins. Renet and Frank had a relationship before his death, and Santangelo targeted her for the money. Freedom confronted the Santangelo crime family and the murderous rampage of Vin. He rescued Iniri and Renet from Vin, but not before he killed Eriko. His life in New York in shambles, he set out across the United States to answer the calls of the dead.

During his travels he ran afoul of federal marshal Joseph Edward Tilby (see Tilby, J.E.). Tilby hunted him across several states before he went too far and lost his badge.

Later Freedom teamed with the military-created metahuman Defcon 4 (see Defcon 4) to battle a crime ring in Denver. The two would become fast friends until Defcon betrayed him to the city’s crime boss. Defcon would disappear from the city. Freedom would survive the trap and eliminate the crime boss despite the criminal’s best efforts to the contrary.

When Defcon joined the Supergeneration (see Supergeneration) in Federation (see Champion City), Freedom followed him. He would quickly become embroiled in a battle with Supergen leader Powerhouse (see Powerhouse) over the Signet Stone (see Signet Stone of Nyarlothep). He would form an allegiance with Backoff and later Legend (see Backoff, Legend) as well as several other local heroes to defeat Powerhouse and expose the criminal empire he secretly controlled. But it came at the cost of Backoff’s life. After a vicious argument with Legend, Freedom left the city.

He would start on foot across Iowa, but would soon find himself in conflict with the domestic terrorist group known as the World (see World, The). He reunited with Iniri to rescue a young woman named Annabelle Montalvo. Along with now-Sheriff Tilby, they exposed the presence of the World in several small towns across the state. During her captivity, Annabelle was exposed to steroid-based drugs derived from the blood of Liberator, the twisted son of the Patriot (see Liberator). After the defeat of the World’s plans and the apparent death of their leader Atlas (see Atlas), Annabelle Montalvo would join him on the road as Libertad (see Libertad).

The pair continued to adventure across the country for the next year, though those adventures remain largely unknown.

Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 182 lbs.

Eyes: Blue Hair: Brown (usually dyed)

POWERS, ABILITIES, & EQUIPMENT:

Possessed by the Spirit of America, Freedom Patton can hear the voices of all American martyrs, no matter the reason for their demise. Most of these martyrs will depart for the other side quite quickly, but occasionally a spirit will hold on and force Freedom in to action. He can resist such compulsions for a limited period of time, but continued resistance will cause sickness, possibly even death.

The spirits also give him a degree of protection, as they will warn him of dangers surrounding him, even if Freedom can’t see or detect it normally. As the carrier of the Spirit of America, he also has enhanced agility and dexterity, as well as strength and endurance at peak human levels.

He carries twin .45s, inspired by the old radio shows he often listens to on the road. In his hand, the guns rarely need to be reloaded do to the Spirit’s protection. However, anyone else using the guns will empty the weapon of ammunition. Once empty, Freedom will have to reload the weapons in order to continue using them.

Freedom’s travels over the last nine years have taught him numerous survival and combat skills. Further training with former mystery man Hit Higgins increased his basic fighting prowess. In addition, he can sometimes call on specific spirits to help him complete tasks which they possess knowledge about.

What's going on with Take the Helm and Metahuman Press

2010-06-04T07:13:00.000-05:00

Many of my regular readers may have noticed my sudden silence last month. I only managed to get three posts up for the month of May, and for any of my regular review readers, I apologize. But I did have good reason for my sudden silence. I have been working on a top secret project that debuts later this month at Metahuman Press! It is the culmination of a project I have been plotting for over a year.

Entitled Long Hot Summer, I will be unveiling more information about it over the next couple weeks. For now, I will just promise that it will take characters from pretty much every story I have produced at the MHP. As to who those characters are... well, that you will just have to wait and see.

This does mean that last month’s Living Legends and this month’s Out For Vengeance will bring each series to a close temporarily. Both will be back some time in the next year: Out For Vengeance sometime in late 2010 and Living Legends early next year. But in the mean time, check out Long Hot Summer and what comes in its wake.

Super-Powered Comics: Diamond Destinations June 2010 (for August)

2010-06-03T07:19:00.000-05:00

Not the cover to Guardians of the Globe

p. 68: Superman Earth One HC: First announced around New Years, DC finally brings one of its two Earth One books to fruition. This hardcover by the team of J. Michael Straczynski (also the regular Superman writer) and Shane Davis promises to recreate the origins of the Man of Steel for the twenty-first century. I don’t know quite what to expect here. We have had at least three different origins of Superman in the last twenty-five years, and that’s not counting Smallville. But we will see how this “Ultimate” Superman takes off in the long run.

p. 87: Superman: The Last Family of Krypton #1 (of 3): Outside of surprise to see Elseworlds back at DC, I am excited to see more Cary Bates comic writing. The classic Superman scribe and more recent writer of Marvel’s excellent True Believers has shown that he has really stepped up his A-game in recent years. it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

p. 145: Dungeons & Dragons #0: IDW has picked up the D&D license now and I have no idea how good or bad it will be. But I do know one of the two universes they are debuting is a new Dark Sun book (to tie in to the re-release of the setting this year). Dark Sun is easily the most original (and over-powered) D&D setting ever and I am excited to see it in comic form for the very first time.

p. 168: Guardians of the Globe #1 (of 6): Robert Kirkman finally gives Invincible’s super-team a brand spanking new book of their own. With co-writer Benito Cereno and artist Ransom Getty, I trust these characters are in good hands. Now if we can just get an ongoing....

p. 172: Morning Glories #1: Nick Spencer really impressed me with his recent series Forgetless and this series about a private academy with hidden secrets and the six troubled kids that must unlock them looks to be one of the most promising new comics of the year.

p. M34: Avengers & The Infinity Gauntlet #1 (of 4): Normally a retelling of the Infinity Gauntlet as an all ages title would probably not appeal to me. But when written by Brian Cevinger (Atomic Robo) and drawn by The Anchor’s Brian Churilla, my interest rises. And unlike most Marvel limiteds, this one still runs only $3, so I’ll be sure to pick it up.

p. M44: Shadowland: Power Man #1 (of 4): I know nothing about this new Power Man, though his costume reminds me a little too much of Rocket Racer for my taste. Still the creative team of Fred Van Lente and Dynamo 5’s Mahmud Asrar has potential. Unfortunately for my budget, the book runs $4.

p. M71: Namor: The First Mutant #1: I have been a big Namor fan ever since I discovered John Byrne’s book in 1990, followed shortly by back issues of Invaders. Normally, I would be all fired up for a new book starring the character. But his new X-universe book written by Stuart Moore, a solid but as yet unimpressive writer to this reader, and drawn by Ariel Olivetti, an artist whose current style I am less than fond, dampens my mood a little bit. The $4 price tag doesn’t help much either.

p. 252: Dracula: The Company of Monsters #1: Boom continues its attempts to expand its marketshare with this series developed and plotted by Kurt Busiek. The high concept is that it’s Dracula vs an evil corporation. If actually scripted by Busiek, I would almost certainly give this one a try despite the somewhat tired concept. Instead I’ll probably be giving this 4 buck book a once over at the store first.

p. 264: The Last Phantom #1: Dynamite’s take on Lee Falk’s Phantom debuts this month. And outside a lackluster cover by Alex Ross(!), I see very little to sell me on this book. I’m honestly a little disappointed to see the company let this book’s debut go so unheralded.

My costume is blood! I'm so 90's!

p. 298: Airfighters #2: Just when I was afraid we had seen the last of this great anthology book, Moonstone gives me issue two. Let’s hope it is 72 pages of awesome just like issue one.

p. 360: “Multiple Mang” t-shirt: Is this the first time Madrox has had a t-shirt, at least in this design, the same as the characters regular t-shirt. If so, isn’t that really strange?

p. 436: DC Adventures RPG: Hero’s Handbook: DC returns to table-top RPGs and it does so with the Mutants & Masterminds game system. I still am known to play the occassional game of the classic DC Heroes game from Mayfair, so I am more than interested in this combination of my two favorite super-hero RPGs.

p. 437: Smallville RPG Core Rulebook: And the same month the DCU gets a new RPG, the CW series based on the Superman mythos gets its own game as well... from a completely different publisher. Margaret Weis Productions brings this game to the market. They are known for high production values, and it should be interesting to see how they play out the show’s combination of superheroes and normal mortals.

Super-Powered Comics: Ex Machina

2010-05-27T06:45:00.000-05:00

The book will soon come to an end with a final issue shipping this July. So I thought it would be great to take a weekly look back at a truly great series Ex Machina.

Created by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris, the series continues Vaughan’s evil knack for taking great concepts that no one thought of before. Well, except for me, of course. I came up with the idea of a story focused around a super-powered mayor just months before Ex Machina first debuted. Yet another reason to kick myself for not being a voice in comics yet, but I digress.

The first five issues collect in to a trade aptly titled “The First Hundred Days”. We focus on the first hundred days of Mitchell Hundred as he takes on the daunting task of mayor of New York City. The independent minded Hundred is surrounded by a strong supporting cast of staff members and friends. But as I mentioned before, Hundred isn’t just a normal guy. He possesses the ability to talk to and control machines thanks to a mysterious bomb that embedded a strange layer of wires beneath parts of his skin. He used these powers to become a rather inefficient hero named the Great Machine, but quickly realized his superhero career would take him nowhere fast. He decided to run for mayor as an indepedent, a proposition that would have taken him nowhere if it wasn't for September 11, 2001. For in the world of Ex Machina, a man able to talk to machines could arrive on the scene fast enough to stop the plane from crashing in to the second tower. With hundreds saved, Mitchell was a shoe in for the office.

His first few days don’t go as easily as he might like, as a controversial art show and a mysterious murder spree put a crink in to his position, all while a terrible snowstorm occurs outside. Vaughan gives us everything we need to know to understand Mitchell as a man and his history as the Great Machine, while also leaving dozens of questions still open. It is much the same tact, he took with the early issues of Y: The Last Man, but the more focused narrative of Ex Machina makes it feel less blatant.

Tony Harris comes from the school of photo-referenced art, but unlike some of the more modern purveyors of such art, he seems to be clearly still putting pencil to paper. While his poses and his motions always show amazing human grace, they never suffer from the photoshopped filtered look of many recent artists. Much like he did a decade before for Starman, Harris sets out to make this book his own. It shows on every page.

If it hasn’t been made clear, I love this series. Great story, great art, and a clever concept all combine to make one of the most compelling comics of the last few years. Give it a try. Highly Recommended.

Super-Powered Comics: Diamond Destinations May 2010 (for July)

2010-05-06T16:15:00.035-05:00

We are running behind with Diamond Destinations this month as I seek to play catch up on all my writing post-Script Frenzy. So let’s waste no time and go straight in to the Previews.

p. 24: Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1: The classic Gold Key hero returns more than a decade after his Valiant incarnation came to an end. Doctor Solar is a character with great potential, a human with godlike powers and a fragile sense of his own humanity. Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan owes a lot to him, and much like in his Valiant incarnation, writer Jim Shooter knows it. This time his history seems less convoluted than at Valiant. With Dennis Calero’s masterful art, this one came off as a winner in its Free Comic Book Day preview. Let’s hope it stands just as tall when this series debuts.

p. 69: Brightest Day: The Atom Special #1: Ray Palmer gets a new lease on life at DC in this one shot. An interesting creative team is really the selling point here, as celebrated indy writer/artist Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Essex County) teams with former Dynamo 5 penciler Mahmud Asrar to bring the Atom’s further adventures, first here and then in the back-ups in Adventure Comics, also starting this month.

p. 78: Batman: Odyssey #1: I am probably an odd choice to push the merits of Neal Adams’ art. I came to know of the legendary caretor through his old Continuity Comics (pre-Deathwatch 2000, thank you very much). But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to see him return to Batman with this six-issue limited series. And bravo to DC for continuing to know that if they want to charge me $4 for a book they better give me 40 pages.

p. 90: Mighty Crusaders #1: DC dropped the ball with their initial two Red Circle offerings. No one was going to jump on two books made up of completely unknown heroes for $4 each. But this second wave might have a better chance as the combined heroes of the Red Circle are now members of a government super team called the Mighty Crusaders. This is only a six issue limited, so I encourage everyone to give this book a try. I think DC has been hit or miss with the Red Circle characters, but this may very well be their last chance to shine.

p. 110: Welcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave #1: I was a huge fan of this book’s initial 12 issue run. Let’s hope they can do as well the second time around.

p. 142: True Blood #1: I enjoy True Blood as a television series but I must express doubt as to its quality as a comic. That being said, David Tischman and David Messina are both solid talents, so you never know with this one.

p. 163: X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan #1: Chris Sims chose in his look at Previews to focus on the other book on this page, Pureheart the Powerful, another fine choice. But I am thoroughly excited to see X-9 by the great team of Goodwin and Williamson collected. I am more than a little disappointed at the continued price of $50 for many of these collections however. I really hope that IDW will realize some of us are on a budget and give us paperback follow ups to these hardcover editions.

p. 170-171: Invincible #75 and Walking Dead #75: I have made it clear I think that I am an unrepentant Robert Kirkman mark, so these two giant size issues have me excited beyond belief. And not just for the third Science Dog adventure. Kirkman likes to throw in big plot changers in his anniversary issues. Expect these two to be no different.

p. 178: Officer Downe: I know absolutely nothing about artist Chris Burnham, but I know Joe Casey can write some really crazy comics. And Burnham has provided this book with art I can only describe as Bruce Timm meets Geof Darrow. It looks freakin’ amazing.

p. 200: Artifacts #1 (of 13): Top Cow under Ron Marz has been building to this book literally for years. I don’t know how meritous it will prove to be, but I for one am just interested in seeing all of the 13 artifacts we were promised.

p. 220: Boneyard: Resurrected #1: I have read this series before, in black and white from NBM. From the sounds of it, I may have been the only one. Now Richard Moore has brought the book back, in color, through his new publishers Antarctic Press. If you haven’t read it before, I highly recommend you check the book out. Moore is an amazing artist, and his story of Michael Paris and the monsters of Raven’s Hollow is one well worth picking up.

p. 265: CBGB #1: I have no idea what the merits of a CBGB comic are, but this does feature a story by Phonogram’s Kieron Gillen and a cover by the always amazing Jaime Hernandez that was worth sharing IMHO.

p. 276: Pat Lee’s Widow Warriors #1: It is rare that I will single out a comic for this reason, but I highly recommend everyone avoid this comic. Pat Less has prven himself one of the douchiest talents in comics, repeatedly taking the money and running. I am honestly disappointed to see Dynamite pick up this book.

p. 280: Green Hornet: Parallel Lives #1: Since I took time to tell you not to buy one of their books, I thought I would take a second to focus on one of their other new titles. I have enjoyed the relaunch of Green Hornet at Dynamite with Kevin Smith’s story starting rocky and really coming together, while Matt Wagner’s Year One was great from the get go. This one is a prequel to the upcoming movie, so make of that what you will. I will say it is written by a great young talent in Jai Nitz though.

p. 292: Avatar of the Futurians #1: I am not going to lie and say that its title is not based on marketing off a certain record-setting motion picture, but I will say that this book does bring back Dave Cockrum’s classic superteam. I own every other issue of the Futurians (all eight) and always thought they were loaded with potential. I hope the new creative team of DAvid Miller and Greg LaRocque can bring out all the potential these characters were loaded with from the beginning.

p.312: I am Legion: John Cassaday draws some really pretty things, and this is a collection of 144 pages of those pretty things. Don’t ask me what its about. Something with World War II and the supernatural. All I know is it was released in France years ago, and has been partially released in America at two different times. This will be the very first time anyone can get the entire series in one package.

p. 314 & 315: Captain Action Season Two #1 and Honey West #1: Two new series from Moonstone continue their tradition of pulp excellence. The classic sixties toy line and the classic spy series are both getting new leases on life there, and I am thoroughly excited about both. But Honey West in the hands of Trina Robbins and Cynthia Martin really stands out as being potentially amazing.

p. 321: Sixth Gun #2: I loved the Free Comic Book Day first issue of this western book, and highly recommend it for fans of supernatural genre benders like Hellboy and The Goon. If you missed the first issue at your comic shop, they are also re-releasing it on the facing page.

p. 322: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour: It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway. Buy this book.

p. 328-29: Hotwire: Deep Cut #1: In the last couple years, Steve Pugh has developed one of the most gorgeous art styles of anyone anywhere. It is on full display here, as he writes and draws the sequel to the series he co-created with Warren Ellis.

p. 362: Back Issue #42: Regular readers have seen me down this route before, but I cannot recommend this magazine enough. This month’s theme is the Wild West, complete with a Jonah Hex cover.

p. 380: Peeping Spidey: I cannot say for sure what it is, but I really love this Marvel t-shirt. Good stuff.

p. 429: Star Wars Chopsticks: After months of delay, these things are finally coming out. And I declare them awesome.

Pulp Empire: Now Accepting Submissions for Volume Two!

2010-05-06T05:15:00.001-05:00

Pulp Month is over, but the work of Pulp Empire is far from done. We really do want to help continue the pulp fiction revolution through our website and print media, and to do that we need to continue bringing new pulp fiction to the market! So we are out to find stories by you, the pulp fiction and superhero loving fans of America, for the upcoming second volume of our Pulp collections!

You can check out our submissions page for more details!

This is everyone's chance to get in on the ground floor of a great initiative. I hope to see some submissions come our way soon!

Pulp-Powered Comics: Athena Voltaire

2010-04-28T06:36:00.000-05:00

One look at the image below should tell you what to expect from Athena Voltaire. She is a world class aviatrix, a crack shot, and a good right hand in the middle of an adventure.

But unlike so many of my suggestions you don't have to take our word for it. The fine folks at Ape Entertainment hooked you up with this web comic.

More than any others, Athena is a character I don’t want to spoil for anyone. You should check her adventures out. They come HighlY Recommended.

Pulp Month Presents Tarzan Tuesday: The Imitators!

2010-04-27T05:39:00.000-05:00

After Tarzan made his first appearance in the early years of the twentieth century, the popularity of the character took off like a sky-rocket. So it should be no surprise that the world of pulps and comic books wasted little time in converting that success to other forms with other, quite similar characters.

The pulp stand-outs were Ka-Zar (certainly more famous for later being part of the early Marvel Mystery Comics that also introduced Sub-Mariner and Human Torch) and Ki-Gor, Jungle Lord, star of the long running Jungle Stories pulp. A public domain character now, Ki-Gor has appeared in books published by Atlus Press and Wild Cat Books with comic and pulp anthologies from Moonstone Books coming soon.

But comics... comics were filled with Tarzan clones left and right. I am sure if you checked out a comics rack in the first half of the forties you could find half a dozen titles with jungle themes. Characters with names like Ka'anga and Wambi appeared, while early female star Fantomah was an insanely over-powered (and sometimes skull-faced) protector of the jungle.

Things really went up a notch following the debut of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. The Eisner-Iger creation was one of the most popular characters of the thirties and forties, surviving until 1953. She spawned a pulp during that time (a feat rare among comic books). She returned in a short-lived TV series, a movie in the mid-eighties, and a very entertaining comic from Devil’s Due just a couple years ago.

Sheena spawned as many imitators as Tarzan. Characters like Zegra, Tiger Girl, Tegra the Jungle Queen, and Jann of the Jungle quickly appeared in an attempt to capitalize off the character’s popularity. One of these spin-offs, Rulah, Jungle Goddess, recently returned to fiction through Metahuman Press’s Timeline.

After the forties, the Tarzan clones became more sporadic. In France rival comic publishers created Akim and Zembla, both long lasting jungle lords. Marvel debuted a new Ka-Zar while DC dug back in to public domain Victorian fiction for the character of Rima. Parodies like George of the Jungle would also soon crop up. Wherever he appeared, the character of Tarzan seemed ready to appear in any number of variations in any place or time.

I suppose it is the mark of a truly defining character. Whatever the case, it seems Tarzan will live on, in one form or another, for a very long time to come.

Pulp-Powered Comics: The Perhapanauts

2010-04-26T06:25:00.000-05:00

This week I am going to take some time to focus on a few more modern interpretations of the pulp genre. First stop: The Perhapanauts.

More accurately titled Todd and Craig’s The Perhapanauts, the comic first debuted in 2006 as a four issue limited series from Dark Horse Comics. It returned as another limited series a few months later before moving to Image for its current (sporadic) edition.

The book treads a lot of ground with its concept: a secret government agency devoted to unlocking the secrets of cryptids, strange beings that populate the earth in unexplained ways: bigfoot, chupacabra, ghosts, and the like. What makes the Fearless Five-esque unit fun is that they represent those cryptids. Bigfoot (nicknamed Big), the Chupacabra (nicknamed Choopie) and a ghost named Molly are all members of our main team. The mystery guy MG (clever initials there) and team leader Arisa (a psychic) round out the team.

The book tends to take the team’s adventures literally everywhere as they seek to uncover the truth and often haphazardly stumble their way through each adventure. They meet monsters from the Chimaera to the Jersey Demon to Filipino vampire known as the aswang.

In some ways it is similar to the early stories of its fellow modern pulp Hellboy, only The Perhapanauts never gets half as grim as Mike Mignola’s creation. Writer Todd DeZago (Tellos, Sensational Spider-Man) brings a lighter, more exciting prose style to the book. Impulse and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane artist Craig Rousseau’s light pen work and deft character designs turns DeZago’s words in to page after stunning page, all colored perfect by Rico Renzi. The book looks good and can best be compared to the adult cartoonish style of Powers’ Michael Avon Oeming.

After its move to Image, the book failed to bring in enough money for the team to keep it afloat as a monthly title. A few issues have been published sporadically, but Rousseau seems to have moved on to work for Marvel, including the recent debut of Marvel Her-Oes, the worst titled comic since Giant Sized Man-Thing. Trades are still available though, and I highly recommend them to anyone that enjoys a good comic or a good heroic pulp. Highly Recommended.

Note on the links: Though its labeled as volume one, Triangle is actually the third book in the series. First Blood and Second Chances come before it.

Apologies and Notes

2010-04-25T07:57:00.000-05:00

My apologies for the length of time you have went without an update. Rest assured we will be continuing Pulp Month starting tomorrow.

Suffice it to say, it’s been a long, long weekend in the Ahlhelm household. But everything is good. Everyone is getting along. Life is moving forward, rather happily actually.

I am left behind on my Script Frenzy project, but after I play catch-up we should be well on our way to healthy, happy side updates!

Thanks for reading, folks, and we will see you tomorrow!

Pulp-Powered Comics: Hellboy Seed of Destruction

2010-04-21T02:00:00.002-05:00

Having read the entire series a few years ago, I recently took the chance to look over the first volume of the ongoing series of miniseries Hellboy: Seed of Destruction again. The character, at least in his early incarnation, was decidedly adventure pulp in origin only coated in a fine layer of Lovecraftian horrors. But until recently I never noticed the striking resemblance between his first adventure and those of Doc Savage.

Basically, Hellboy is Doc Savage.

Artist Mike Mignola and scripter John Byrne have crafted a story about an intrepid agent with uncanny abilities that makes him far and away better than an average man and his allies. His father’s death sets off his first adventure. One his quest, his company of heroes follow him. A clear similarity begins to show itself.

Now clearly, it is by no means a straight pastiche. Hellboy is a demon with filed off horns. Instead of the Fearless Five, his aides are the fish-man Abe Sapien and pyrokinetic Liz Sherman. (His other allies would come later.) His father is killed by evil toads, not a South American assassin.

But I think the similarities are worthy of attention. Over the last sixteen years of stories, Hellboy, his supporting cast, and their ongoing narrative have easily become the most widely known neo-pulp characters in fiction.

I digress. I am here to talk about Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. The series gives us a brief origin of the character that opens up as many questions as it might solve before we leap head-long in to the story. The team quickly find themselves in to an ever growing web of evil crafted by the half-alive mad monk known as Rasputin. Things get complicated and Hellboy finds himself battling to save the world.

Mignola’s skills as a storyteller were still rough around the edges at this point. John Byrne providing the script to Mignola’s plot helps some, though at times the characters seem slightly off in their decisions. Viewed as a standalone though, it is nothing short of epic.

Each book in the series seems to stray farther and father from that initial pulp premise. But Seed of Destruction is definitely a good piece of pulp. Recommended.

Pulp Month Presents Tarzan Tuesday: The Original Novel!

2010-04-20T04:26:00.000-05:00

When I started Pulp Month a couple weeks ago, I knew I had to review Tarzan of the Apes, arguably the original novel that did more to revolutionize the pulp hero than any other. I haven’t read it in over a decade, so I popped on down to my local library and picked up a copy.

The first thing I noticed when reading it was the first thing I noticed when reading it the first time: just how different this story is from every adaptation of it I have ever seen. Movies have never done the original work justice and probably never will.

The novel is actually rather simple in its development, especially compared to the ever increasing level of adventure shown in some of his more fantastical later stories. Instead the story has a simple narrative flow. It starts with Tarzan’s father and mother as they are on a ship off the coast of Africa. After a mutiny, the couple are stranded on shore. His father sets out to build a life for them as they await rescue. But both are left dead by unfortunate circumstance, and baby Tarzan comes in to the hands of an ape named Kala. Kala raises him in the tribe, despite the hatred of the strange baby by her husband Tublat and the rampaging leader of the tribe Kerchak. Tarzan eventually learns to read and write by studying his father’s untouched books., but remains unable to speak the English language. (Hooked on Phonics didn’t exist yet.) Eventually another group of Europeans and Americans are left on a neraby shore. Tarzan investigates and helps them, despite not understanding their words.

And he, of course, meets Jane. But little comes of their relationship in this novel. She is enfianced to Tarzan’s cousin (neither man understands the nature of the other as of yet) and the group leaves before Tarzan meets and befriends Paul D’Arnot of the French Navy. D’Arnot teaches Tarzan French and eventually brings the savage back in to western civilization.

It’s a good story, although it lacks the punch of a true villain or a complete narrative. It almost comes off as the first episode of a television series rather than a true novel. Other novels in the franchise are left open-ended, but never to the degree of this initial work. Despite that, Tarzan is such an iconic figure that this book begs to be read. It’s somewhat dry in places, but Burroughs still writes with a rather action-oriented flow that most readers should enjoy.

All in all, Tarzan gives little for a reader to complain about. And it is easy to read. Even if you don’t want to buy it, you can alway read it online for free. Whatever the case, you should read it at least once. Recommended.

Pulp-Powered Prose: Doc Savage!

2010-04-19T01:55:00.001-05:00

We have spent quite a lot of this month so far discussing Pulp comics and will continue to discuss a few more as we go. Why? Because many of the best pulp-inspired stories come out of modern comics. It’s one of the reasons I consider Pulp Empire so important.

But one place the pulps are still alive is in noted pulp historian Anthony Tollin’s series of Doc Savage reprints. Produced through Nostalgia Ventures, this thirty-five volume (so far) series reprints two classic Doc stories per issue with a combination of classic covers and the more up to date James Bama covers from the sixties and seventies. Inside, you will find a historical essay or two, and more importantly, two great adventures of Doc, Ham, Monk, Johnny, Renny, and Long Tom.

I have picked up a few so far, mostly through my local Half Price Books, but I would recommend everyone start from the beginning of the classic series. That means finding a copy of Doc Savage #14: “The Man of Bronze” & “The Land of Terror”. It features the first two stories of the classic pulp hero; stories that clearly have inspired everything from the A-Team to Superman.

“The Man of Bronze” introduces Doc and his team and sends him out on his first major adventure. He goes to South America to find his father’s killer and in the process finds a secret tribe, a group of tribal assassins, and a greedy business man. And a whole hell of a lot of gold.

“:The Land of Terror” is more gruesome than the usual Doc tale as Doc and company travel to a lost bit of the world where dinosaurs still walk the earth. While not as good as “The Man of Bronze” and far more violent than other Doc tales, it still makes a decent second novel in this collection (if for no other reason than it was the second story).

An autobiography of Doc writer Lester Dent and a history of the character’s origin as written by pulp historian Will Murray close out this volume.

And that leaves thirty-five more volumes to go!

While Doc remains a mostly forgotten hero in a lot of the world’s eyes, a new series at DC and an upcoming movie project seem set to bring the character to explosive life once again. In the mean time, go find a couple copies of these amazing pulp replica editions. I suspect you will find yourself just as engrossed by the epic adventures as I was. Recommended.

Pulp-Powered Comics: The Late, Lamented Hilly Rose

2010-04-18T07:36:00.000-05:00

Hilly Rose was part of the last independent comics boom in the mid-1990’s. In turn, it would also be the victim of the market contraction caused by Heroes World and Capital Comics Distribution collapsing. Before that time, nine issues would be produced, and all were filled with space-pulpy goodness.

The comic was both written and drawn by early Eclipse contributor B.C. Boyer (The Masked Man). But unlike the rough, vaguely Will Eisner-inspired art of that series, Hilly Rose takes Frazetta, mixes in some Dave Stevens, and sprinkles in a little bit of contemporary Jeff Smith. And much like the love interest to Stevens’ Rocketeer, Hilly’s looks owe quite a bit to one Bettie Page.

Hilly Rose is a reporter for a small newspaper out on a distant end of the galaxy. Her father edits the same paper. She has the aid of a little Bone-like alien named Blossom, as well as a recruiter for a larger Earth-based news network named Bach. During the first chapter, the group comes under attack by a simple-minded war machine (with more than a passing resemblance to a Rob Liefeld-creation) named Sidney the Evil Incarnate Guy. But Sidney is only the tip of the iceberg for a conspiracy of villainy hiding in the shadows of the world.

I have only ever acquired the first two issues of Hilly Rose, but the art style, the action, and even the parodic bits, all tend towards keeping a space operatic pulp feel. This book believes in telling a compelling story, yes, but never at expense of sheer, unrepentant fun!

Sadly aside from a pinup in Dark Horse’s Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others in ’98, B.C. Boyer left the comics community after his series came to an end in 1997. Where he is now is anyone’s guess. Anyone that has any idea should get in touch with me in the comments section, and I will update it here.

For now, I highly recommend everyone go trace down a copy of Hilly Rose or the Hilly Rose: Space Reporter trade. It comes Recommended.

Pulp-Powered Comics: Airfighters #1

2010-04-15T03:30:00.003-05:00

After a so-so revival of Airboy early last year, Moonstone finally presented the follow-up, their anthology Airfighters. The book clocks in at sixty-two pages of black and white classic flying action with revivals of eight different flying heroes of the thirties and forties. Well worth the $5.99 cover price in this author’s opinion.

Chuck Dixon continues his return to Airboy in “Iron Rain”.The twelve page story proves to be a rather disappointed done-in-one adventure of the hero fighting Nazis. But the greatest oversight is the lack of Valkyrie in the story despite her appearance on the great cover by Tom Grindberg.

Tom DeFalco’s Flying Fool takes a novel look at the genre, but tales of the Flying Dutchman and Iron Ace prove a little more lackluster.

The Bald Eagle tale’s conclusion clearly takes the character in a direction never used before, but only subsequent stories really will tell us how good the new Bald Eagle might be.

Ver Curtiss provides some stunning art to Martin Powell’s Black Angel, which gives us a slightly more heart warming story of beating back the Nazis.

Sky Wolf takes the biggest departure from the original character, or at least the version of that character I know from Eclipse’s Airboy series. The art by Oscar Celestini is unique, but quite solid. Unfortunately the character and his story seem rather flat in comparison to the exploits of the aforementioned Airboy-backup star.

The book concludes with what is clearly the best tale: Captain Midnight by Christopher Mills (Femme Noir) and Rick Burchett (Batman Adventures). While by no means an Eisner contender, the short takes the classic radio hero and shows just how exciting his swashbuckling adventures can be, even in eight pages. He drops in to the Aztec jungle, stops the Nazi plot, and swings out in the company of a beautiful damsel in distress. The series works on an adventure serial level to absolute perfection while avoiding the typical European setting of far too many Nazi stories.

All in all, I rate Airfighters #1 as a great package. Hopefully we will see another one from Moonstone Books soon. Recommended.

Pulp-Powered Comics: Femme Noir

2010-04-14T05:45:00.003-05:00

Much like Athena Voltaire (a review you will see later this month), Femme Noir started its life as a web comic before transitioning its way to the printed page through the fine folks at Ape Entertainment.

Written by Christopher Mills (Primortals and drawn by the legendary Joe Staton (E-Man and just about every DC hero), “The Dark City Diaries” take us to Port Nocturne, a city dripping with the kind of noir storytelling only found in black and white cinema. But the full color comic somehow catapults that city in to a costumed vigilante’s world with the appearance of the comic’s mysterious namesake and Brother Grim.

One of the key factors in the series is the mystery of Femme Noir herself. No one knows her secret identity, not even the reader. We are given three choices to the character’s real world life, but all or none may be true. It’s certainly not a new concept: it’s been used everywhere from the animated movie Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman to Max Allen Collins’ Wild Dog to the Tangent version of The Joker. But Mills never lets us in on the secret, at least not yet.

Each issue gives a done-in-one that builds on top the mystery of the character even as she fights villains that take the noir elements and push them straight in to pulp, whether it be a jungle woman or an evil robot. All of it seems to fit in place in the slightly strange city of Port Nocturne. It all works incredibly well together, but I don’t want to give away too much of the fun of this book.

Several gorgeous pin-ups ordain the backs of the original issues, though I am unaware if they are included in the collection. As a web comics author, Christopher Mills is easily reachable through his Facebook page or through one of his numerous websites. He even has pages of the web comic version of Femme Noir up at Ape Entertainment’s comic site.

But I digress, this is about an amazing graphic novel, well worth the price of admission. Check it out. Highly Recommended.

Pulp Month Presents Tarzan Tuesday: The Movies!

2010-04-13T01:45:00.013-05:00

Tarzan has been part of cinema almost as long as cinema has existed. In 1918, the first two Tarzan silent films were released, Tarzan of the Apes and The Romance of Tarzan, both starring Elmo Lincoln. But it wasn’t until the talkies and a man named Johnny Weismuller that Tarzan became a household name in film as well as in print.

From 1932 to 1960, Weismuller, Lex Barker, and Gordon Scott made a sum total of 23 Tarzan films with 5 more independent films being produced in the same time period. Six more smaller films from RKO and other studios kept the hero alive for most of the sixties. But in the seventies, Tarzan disappeared from the silver screen. The disco decade gave us only one glimpse of Tarzan, the Filmation cartoon series on Saturday mornings.

That changed in 1981 as a new era of very different Tarzan movies began with Tarzan, the Ape Man. The film took a decidedly different direction as it focused more on James Parker and his daughter Jane, played by Bo Derek. Tarzan (Miles O’Keeffe) almost becomes a supporting character in his own film. (Even the movie poster featured only Jane.) Derek as Jane is clearly center stage, not surprising when her husband John Derek is directing. But the film seems more ready to focus on showing Jane topless for as long as times as possible rather than constructing a good story. If you like skin, you will surely enjoy this film, but if you are looking for solid Tarzan action you are best advised to go elsewhere. Not Recommended.

Three years later, Hollywood would try again with Greystoke — The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. The movie finally does away with many of the tropes of previous films, from the rather idiotic Tarzan of the Weismuller era, while going back to the original material for more of its story ideas. Still it takes massive liberties with the relationship of Tarzan and Jane. While Christopher Lambert (Highlander) and Andie MacDowell bring solid performances to their roles, they often fall flat against a script buried in eighties cinema seriousness. Nowhere will you find the excitement and the fun spirit of Burroughs’ Tarzan. Ralph Richardson does perform admirably as Tarzan’s aging grandfather, but it is not enough to save the film from its own sagging spirit. Mildly Recommended.

It would be another fourteen year gap before Tarzan returned to the screen with Tarzan and the Lost City. The film takes the complete opposite concept from Greystoke. This is a rollicking action adventure with shades of the Indiana Jones franchise thrown in. The Lost City in the title is none other than the city of Opar, though it does not resemble the city of Burroughs’s original works. Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers) portrays Tarzan, while model Jane March brings a certain almost foreign mystique to her role as Jane. The movie isn’t particularly well acted, but it is a fun adventure romp. Mildly Recommended.

Tarzan’s cinema life may have come to an end with the release of Disney’s animated Tarzan in 1999. The film traces the life of a young Tarzan in his tribe as he grows to adulthood and makes friends of the animals around him. As an adult he meets Jane, her father, an eccentric professor, and their guide Clayton (a far cry from the Clayton of the novel). But the film does a good job of capturing the spirit of Burroughs’s character while still taking the usual movie liberties with the story. The move does an artful job of weaving its disparate elements together. Yes, the music by Phil Collins can often be off-putting, but the film works as a whole. Though not as powerful as many of Disney’s animated films in the nineties, Tarzan is clearly one of the best screen adaptations of Tarzan ever. Recommended.

Though Tarzan has returned in a cartoon series based on the Disney film and a short-lived WB series, he has yet to return to film. But it seems like only a matter of time before John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, finds his way back to film. Hopefully with a film that makes all his previous forays on to the silver screen pale in comparison.

Pulp-Powered Comics: Batman/Doc Savage Special

2010-04-12T05:48:00.000-05:00

This book seemed to have a simple goal: introduce the readers to the First Wave version of Batman a few months before the first issue of First Wave hits the stands. If it happened to reintroduce Doc Savage to the masses more the better.

With words by Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) and art by Phil Noto (Jonah Hex), the series definitely has a quality pedigree. But despite Noto’s lovely art, Azzarello’s story goes from feeling a little slow early on to rushed by its conclusion.

The two heroes find themselves at cross purposes, but quickly form a working relationship of sorts, not all that far removed from that of mainline DC’s Bruce Wayne and another guy named Clark. What it fails to do is give a solid lead in to the upcoming First Wave series.

Thankfully, the preview art I presented on this site a few months ago follows the initial story as a teaser. First Wave only started last month, but expect a review of the first two issues later this month. Meanwhile, Batman / Doc Savage Special is Mildly Recommended.

Pulp-Powered Comics: Howard Chaykin's The Shadow: Blood & Judgment

2010-04-07T00:04:00.007-05:00

The character of the Shadow was one of my first links to the world of pulp fiction. I became a huge fan of the character when central Iowa radio station WHO started playing the old radio serials irregularly between 9 and 10 p.m. Already a superhero fan, I quickly took to the Shadow even though, thanks to Ron Fortier’s comic at Now, I was more familiar with the characters in the Green Hornet episodes they also played. The movie would soon come out and continue my fandom. But the Shadow’s days in comic were pretty much past already (not counting one or two Dark Horse issues).

It wasn’t until the last couple months that I finally stumbled across a copy of Howard Chaykin’s 1986 Shadow miniseries. Published at the height of DC’s move to edgier material (the same year as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen), it strived to do something few would ever dare to do. It brought the Shadow in to the eighties.

In the process, Chaykin finally gave the Shadow a detailed origin. Though it feels more than a little clipped from the Green Lama’s background, the origin works perfectly to explain both where Kent Allard received his powers and why he assumed the name of Lamont Cranston.

We meet the older versions of his classic forties sidekicks, some of which quickly die. Harry Vincent and Margo Lane would still play prominent roles as would Harry’s daughter, a thoroughly modern woman proved a little more old-fashioned than she thinks by the Shadow.

The “Suggested for Mature Readers” title charged the Shadow with more sex and violence than even his old pulps allowed while still crafting an entertaining tale of the classic character reborn.

Sadly, the follow up series would quickly derail the character’s modern day take. The character fell in to the trap of being violent for violence’s sake while not giving enough Shadow to really please the classic fans. Not even art from the likes of Bill Sienkiewicz and Kyle Baker could save it. The Shadow would disappear for a while from DC comics before being relaunched in a new forties-era series called The Shadow Strikes.

Nonetheless, Chaykin’s “Blood & Judgment” is worth a read. Give it a looksy if you can find it in a used book store or comic shop. Recommended.

Pulp Month Presents Tarzan Tuesday: Super-Crossovers!

2010-04-06T02:15:00.012-05:00

When Dark Horse picked up the Tarzan license in the mid-nineties, they immediately set out to make him a franchise player with the company. They met with limited success. But one thing they did manage to do was create some great crossovers.

Tarzan’s first Dark Horse comic apparance actually came in a crossover: Tarzan versus Predator At the Earth’s Core. Written by Walter Simonson and drawn by Lee Weeks, the story serves as a sequel to the thirteenth novel, Tarzan at the Earth’s Core. This means the plot can be somewhat dense with characters not know to the casual observer, but I still found it a great deal of fun when I read it as a teenager (having never read a Tarzan novel). It holds up quite well even today, though I would say it’s one weakness actually falls in to the crossover territory. The Predators play a minimal role in the overall story, although this probably works for the best to let the true villains of the tale shine. Mildly Recommended.

Batman / Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman is one of my personal favorite comics. Ron Marz and Igor Kordey teamed up to produce a great book with some amazing twists. Basically we get an Elseworlds version of Batman sometime in the early twentieth century as he meets the traditional Tarzan. They come together after an expedition sponsored by Bruce Wayne is exposed as a looting. The person who exposes it is a cat-garbed thief, but this Catwoman is nothing like Selina Kyle. The adventure quickly leads Batman, Tarzan, and Catwoman in to the jungles where they face the looter Finnegan Dent as he tries to return for the rest of his fortune. The Elseworlds twists play out perfectly over the course of the series, and Kordey may be the ideal Tarzan artist. All in all Batman / Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman is great comics. Strongly Recommended.

The last of these stories releaed in real time is Superman/Tarzan: Sons of the Jungle by Chuck Dixon and the late Carlos Meglia. Unlike Batman/Tarzan, they produce an Elseworlds for both characters. John Greystoke never gets lost in the jungle. Instead a baby Kal-El is raised by apes. The tale focuses far more on Kal-El as he goes through the experiences shown in early Tarzan stories while John finds himself out of place in polite society. By the time the three issues end, both men are in Africa and fighting to save Jane Porter and Lois Lane from a certain evil empress. It’s failure is in not being as good as previous Superman as Tarzan tales. Sadly, Not Recommended.

The final collection we will cover today was actually nominated for a Harvey Award the year it arrived in stores. Originally printed as six issues of the ongoing Tarzan series from Dark Horse, Tarzan: Le Monstre would use Tarzan in a way quite similar to the later League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Through three two-part stories, Tarzan faces off with the Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein’s Monster, and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Writer Lovern Kindzierski clearly knows how to tie these stories together and makes this level of meta-fiction look easy. The art team of Stan Manoukian and Vince Roucher bring the intricate style they used previously on Dark Horse’s Shadow comics to the architecture of Paris. This comic is a joy to behold and an even better read. Strongly Recommended.

Sadly, while Dark Horse still holds the Tarzan license, they have done little with the character in the past few years outside classic comics reprints. Hopefully, this will change in the near future, as comic fans may be more responsive to the classic character than in past years. We will just have to wait and see.

Super-Powered Comics: Diamond Destinations April 2010 (for June comics)

2010-04-05T04:29:00.000-05:00

p. 35: King Conan Volume One: The five over-sized issues of King Conan in this book are my favorite Conan comic of all time. From a person that once ran a Conan comic website, that is strong praise. Everyone should read it.

p. 79: Batman Beyond #1: Terry McGinnis returns in comic form. I have no idea how good this book will be, but the return of the future Batman is definitely reason to celebrate.

p. 87: The Spirit #3 and Doc Savage #3: It’s Pulp Month here, so I think its would be best to cover these two new pulp-oriented ongoings. The first issues hit in the next couple weeks so be sure to check them out.

p. 107: Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom #1: It is without original co-creator Alan Moore, but Chris Sprouse’s always gorgeous art returns to Tom Strong. Peter Hogan wrote the amazing Terra Obscura for the ABC line, so I think this book has tons of potential to be a really great sleeper hit, Alan Moore or not.

p. 140: Jurassic Park #1: IDW moves to the front of the catalog and this book leads it off. I am not sure how big a deal a new Jurassic Park comic really is, but this will certainly be an interesting read. The concept takes the movie through real time and makes Tim and Lex Murphy the now adult leads. Should be interesting to see how this one plays out. And the Frank Miller dinosaur cover doesn’t hurt either (though I am pretty sure it comes from an old JP card set and isn’t original to this book.)

p. 173: Hack/Slash: My First Maniac #1: Hack/Slash has definitely had its ups and downs as a series, but with a move to Image, this book should be sitting in a lot more solid place for many months to come. If you enjoy slasher movies, you should definitely be reading this book, as it gives an interesting new and heroic twist to the genre.

p. 174: Dynamo 5: Sins of the Father #1: I am a huge fan of Jay Faerber’s little corner of the Image universe. While his artists are now working over at DC, he has teamed with Julio Brilha to bring back Dynamo 5 in limited series form. And to up the fun, he has brought in Invincible’s Omni-Man and Rob Liefeld’s Supreme to up the ante! This one should be a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.

p. 180: Brigade #1: Speaking of Rob Liefeld, here he has the return of Brigade! I always liked the team even through the pains of their original limited series, only to see them all slaughtered in the ongoing book. Here, Liefeld teams with the original artist Marat Mychaels to reboot the concept. Say what you will about Liefeld, but I am on-board for this one.

p. 181: Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark: Let’s just let the cover do the talking for this one.

p. 189: God Complex #7: I don’t think I have mentioned this well-written new book by Daniel Berman, John Broglia, and Mike Oeming yet. The basic concept is simple: Apollo decides to stop being a god and live as a mortal. Zeus and the rest of the family become less than happy about it. And the adventure begins! A great fun book that never takes itself too seriously. Anyone who enjoys fun comics should give this one a try.

p. M19: Deadpool: Wade Wilson’s War #1 & 2: Normally I am not much of a fan of Marvel’s current Deadpool titles. But you get Jason Pearson on art and my opinion can quickly change. This book is sure to be beautiful, even though the solicitations don’t really clear up what it is about. I think it is supposed to be his origin story, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

p. M27: Spider-Ham 25th Anniversary Special #1: I do not know what is more amazing. Is it the return of Peter Porker, Spider-Ham? Or is it the Joe Jusko cover it is wrapped in?

p. M31: Avengers Academy #1: I have no idea how this book differs from the original concept of Avengers: The Initiative, but I am happy to see it has new characters and excellent art by Mike McKone. Could be a winner.

p. M51: Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1: I am more of an indy comics buyer, but Marvel has guaranteed I will regularly be buying at least two of their regular titles with this book. Atlas was already a guaranteed sell, and I am nothing if not an unrepentant Hawkeye fanboy. Jim McCann wrote a pretty decent limited for these two last year and this one has the potential to be a great book as well. And it has Crossfire and Phantom Rider!

p. 218: The Royal Historian of Oz #1: While I don’t know the names Tommy Kovac or Andy Hirsch, I can’t argue with a new Oz comic for only a buck. Amaze Ink has me for at least one issue with this one.

p. 218: Shadoweyes: Also from Amaze Ink this month is a new graphic novel featuring the beautiful art of Ross Campbell. Campbell has previously drawn the gorgeous Wet Moon and The Abandoned, so I am guessing this future superhero tale will almost certainly be gorgeous.

p. 250: Pale Horse #1: One of my biggest complaints about Boom as a publisher is their lack of previews. While I am curious to learn more about this Western tale of an ex-slave, previews are nowhere to be found. Michael Alan Nelson has been more miss than hit for me as a writer, so I am going to pass it up. Hopefully I am not missing out on a good book do to bad marketing.

p. 252: Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns #1: On the other hand, Boom’s other new book pretty much sells itself. Darkwing Duck has a definite cult following and should make a big splash at Boom. Now if they can just get the continuance of Greg Weisman’s Gargoyles....

p. 290: Ghostopolis: Doug TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim, has produced some great comics over the last few years like Earthboy Jacobus and Iron West. He has left Image for his latest OGN, a kids book called Ghostopolis. It looks like an interesting dark fantasy, which isn’t typical kiddy fare, but neither was Harry Potter a little over a decade ago.

p. 292: Unfabulous Five: The Greasers From the Black Lagoon #1: Humanoids is back to self-publishing in America and part of the deal is the return of this great series (formerly part of Image’s Lucha Libre anthology) to print. Hilarious pseudo-super hero tales of washed-up luchadores. What more can you ask for?

p. 300: Super Pro K.O.! volume 1: It is an unwritten rule that wrestling comics fail. They fail hard. But this cartoony, over the top series by Oni Press might actually manage to make wrestling comics cool.

p. 324: Battle Smash vs. Saucer Men From Venus: And wrestling may be a them of this month’s previews with this lucha superhero series from Viper Comics.

p. 337: Alter Ego #94 and Back Issue #41: Two new issues of Twomorrow’s great comic history magazines. And they both now feature sixteen color pages, which ups their greatness that much more. Back Issue is a guaranteed buy from me ever six weeks, while this issue of Alter Ego looks good as it continues the magazine’s look at DC’s Earth Two.

p. 369: Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose Minimates boxed set: This may be the officially oddest Minimate set ever.

p. 388: Tonner Tomb Raider: Amanda Evert Doll: I haven’t played a Lara Croft game in years, but when did she get an evil goth enemy? And now that figure has a Barbie-style doll!

That’s it for this month. We will leave you with one last terrifying look at the Tarot minimates.

Pulp-Powered Prose: Tales of the Shadowmen volume one

2010-04-04T07:38:00.000-05:00

Created by J.-M. & Randy Lofficier to revive classic French pulp heroes, Tales of the Shadowmen Volume 1: The Modern Babylon is an English language pulp anthology. Strange it seems at first, until you realize it is meant as a tie in to their two books Shadowmen, which give the history of these characters in details. But I digress, this is about Tales, so let’s focus on it.

The first thing you see is an excellent cover by Mike Manley featuring Judex, something of a French version of the Shadow (though he appeared years before the American character), and Frankenstein's Monster. The illustration clearly comes from Matthew Baugh’s opening tale “Mask of the Monster”. The story gets the anthology off to an exciting, action-packed start while introducing me (and I am sure many others) to some new classic characters.

Bill Cunningham continues the excitement with his story of an obscure pulp figure of France, Fascinax, in “Cadavres Exquis”. The story is another Shadow-esque riff, but it takes the character and puts him through hell as he faces his arch-foe Numa Pergyll.

The next high light is Wold Newton grandmaster Win Scott Eckert’s “The Vanishing Devil”. It takes French pulp character Francis Ardan and makes his similarities to Doc Savage more than just similarities. He is clearly Clark Savage, although Win always slides just a step away from saying it out right (probably do to copyright issues). He goes on a rip-roaring French adventure that puts him up against Yellow Peril villian Doctor Natas, a character Eckert makes clear is actually Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu. And this still isn’t the craziest bit of crossover storytelling this book has!

The editors write “Journey to the Center of Chaos”, a story combining H.P. Lovecraft created characters with an entire band of obscure characters, including the rather strange Sar Dubnotal. And of course a Cthulhu Mythos horror manages to pop up its evil head.

Two tales of Edgar Allen Poe’s original detective (and Frenchman) C. Augustine Dupin follow. Samuel T. Payne’s “Lacunal Visions” is somewhat disappointing. John Peel’s “The Kind-Hearted Torturer” is a much more entertaining and well written affair as the detective teams up with none other than the Count of Monte Cristo.

Chris Roberson does give us the story even stranger than Eckert’s with “Penumbra”. Framed around a French silent film from 1915 called Les Vampires, it stars the same director’s Judex. As he seeks to uncover the origins of the vampires, he encounters one Kent Allard, later the similarly attired Shadow. He also meets a young couple named the Waynes, Thomas and Martha. In the process you get a secret of a certain caped crusader’s origin that is only possible in a Wold Newton book such as this.

The book closes with Brian Stableford’s “The Titan Unwrecked”, a story starring Allan Quatermain, Ayesha, Dracula, and numerous literary and business figures of the turn of the century. Bad things start happening and things get almost as crazy as “Penumbra”.

A few more lesser stories round out the book, but even these so-so tales at least feature some truly unique figures. The writers really do cover the spectrum of pulp figures from obscure to quite common.

All in all, this book is a fun and exciting bit of pulp fiction. Though it’s a little pricy for a trade paperback at $22.95, I would say it was definitely worth it. Strongly Recommended.

Pulp-Powered Comics: Spider-Man Noir

2010-04-01T04:46:00.002-05:00

While X-Men Noir told a crime tale featuring various unpowered X-characters filling in the roles, Spider-Man Noir clearly shows that Marvel doesn’t know what the word Noir means. Despite the cool black and white cover, this isn’t Noir. It is pure unadulterated pulp.

Peter Parker is a kid with a union rabble rousing aunt and a dead uncle. He lives in a crime ridden New York, where everything and everyone is controlled by the crime boss Norman Osborn, a.k.a. The Goblin. When Pete meets Ben Urich, the reporter takes him under his wing, and the tale really gets going.

Because when Peter learns that the corruption the city faces pervades the police, the newspapers, and even city hall, he begins to understand that only a rogue can stop the Goblin and his freak show minions. Granted a new agility and the ability to cast webs by some kind of spider deity, Peter becomes the black-clad vigilante known as the Spider-Man.

While bad things often happen to good people over the course of our tale, Spider-Man remains a beacon of hope for the city, even as he questions whether to become a killer or not. He quickly puts a damper on the Goblin’s criminal enterprises... which quickly leads to a battle between Spider-Man, the Goblin, and the Goblin’s henchmen like Kraven and the Vulture.

The book is a lot of fun while remaining a great tale. I am unfamiliar with co-writer Fabrice Sapolsky, but David Hine has made a name for himself as a quality down-to-earth style writer. He really shines here, especially with the art of the terrific but hard to spell Carmine Di Giandomenico who previous did some great work on both X-Men: Magneto Testament and the Amazing Fantasy story arc “Vegas”.

The book concludes with some really amazing concept art. I honestly only have one complaint about this collection. Marvel decided to collect this in a smaller cut format, slightly larger than the low price Marvel Adventures cut. But this book is still priced a little high at $14.99. It is still cheaper than the original $4 price for each of the original four issues, especially when discounted by your favorite online bookseller. Still I loved this book and would give it a Highly Recommended.

Oh, and talk about timely, it was just announced that the Noir version will appear in the new Spider-Man game.

April is Pulp Month!

2010-03-30T06:35:00.001-05:00

Starting Thursday we begin a month long celebration of pulp fiction in honor of the newest site in the Metahuman Press family: Pulp Empire!

So stay tuned as we bring you reviews of everyone from the Avenger to Tarzan and beyond!

Super-Powered Comics: X-Men Misfits

2010-03-24T05:15:00.000-05:00

A couple years ago, Marvel teamed up with Del Rey Manga to bring its X-Men franchise to manga. The results were the abysmal Wolverine: Prodigal Son, a dismal attempt to tell a Wolverine story without all the concepts and ideas that make him Wolverine. I don’t care how much you like Wolverine, do not read it. It is an act of utter terribleness.

On the other hand, X-Men: Misfits is a much cleaner, more focused product. The concept is simple, young student Kitty Pryde learns she is a mutant. It causes her life to become miserable in her ordinary school, until the staff of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters invites her to come to their special academy. The kicker, though, is she doesn’t realize until she arrives that she is the school’s only female student.

She quickly ends up as an object of desire for both the super cool Hellfire Club and the more stable forces of the X-Men, but she faces the terrors of pre-pressure in the process.

What makes Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman’s story work so much better than Wolverine: Prodigal Son is that they understand that they need to alter the X-men story without losing the themes of the book. Much like the animated series X-Men: Evolution, their focus on a high school setting helps fit the idea perfectly, even as we redesign the characters in a shojo-style.

That’s the Beast. And yes, I am pretty sure he is supposed to bear an uncanny resemblance to Totoro. But he is still Hank McCoy with all the personality traits of the character we know. It makes it easy for us to continue in to the story while chuckling at the redesign of the character.

It’s fun and it carries some of the silliness of true manga, but it never loses sight of its story and the X-Men. It does pull a regular manga move and ends on a cliffhanger, but the plot is just thick enough to carry the reader through. It is by no means perfect. Artist Raizu sometimes makes the art just too damn busy. But it still features just enough fun to keep things interesting.

Need more?

Storm has a mohawk again.

I rest my case. Recommended.

Super-Powered Comics: Avengers the Initiative: Secret Invasion

2010-03-23T04:02:00.000-05:00

I have meant for a couple of years to share my opinions about the Marvel crossover Secret Invasion. It is the only one of the big two comic publishers’ crossovers I have bought in the last decade. I never got around to it for a variety of reasons, though it is still floating around my stacks of comics I want to review.

But my local library did have the trade of the Avengers: The Initiative issues that tied in to Secret Invasion. So after reading it, I decided it was worth a review. Maybe it will get me off my butt to review the actual core limited. That being said, I think this work may actually be much better done.

One of Marvel crossovers events’ weaknesses are their need to try to cover the over-arcing storyline only. Character pieces are left by the wayside as they become plot driven pieces of boredom. Avengers: The Initiative: Secret Invasion provves to be the exact opposite. It tells the complete tale of the invasion, while putting its focus on three leads, all regulars in the series.

The 3-D Man (the former Triathlon) is the true star of these six issues as he gets the goggles of the original 3-D man. With them, he learns about the skrull forces just before the invasion begins. The skruls have infiltrated the teams of the Fifty States Initiative, a project designed by Iron Man and Yellowjacket (secretly a Skrull himself) to put super-teams in every state. 3-D Man sets out to stop them all.

Meanwhile at the Initiative’s home, Camp Hammond, two Robert Kirkman creations, the Crusader and the “Irredeemable” Ant-Man, both become embroiled in the invasion as well. Crusader is a Skrull himself, but with no link to the invasion and a love of Earth. When he realizes that Yellowjacket is a Skrull, he is left to question what action to take. He loses his choice when the invasion begins. He travels to New York with the base’s other heroes to join in the massive battle between Earth’s heroes and the Skrulls.

Ant-Man cowardly avoids going in to battle, only to be at Camp Hammond when the Skrull armada arrives to take control of the base. He helps his allies in the Shadow Initiative fight the base’s invaders. They fail, but Ant-Man escapes to give 3-D Man’s forces information on a Skrull secret weapon based in the Fifty States Initiative’s bases. My only real gripe comes with the writer’s scripting of Ant-Man’s personality. While his actions mirror his behavior in his own series, his dialogue often proves way more crass. But Robert Kirkman and Phil Hester created a unique character with their Ant-Man. His voice is almost certainly hard to nail.

The story spans dozens of characters (even reintroducing the Skrull Kill Krew), but never loses focuses of a narrative driven by its main three heroes. It works wonderfully at continuing the story’s forward momentum.

What doesn’t work as well is the art. Marvel has become much like the later years of the otherwise solid Ultraverse of late, with each issue seemingly by a different art team. “Regular series artist” Stefano Caselli provides art only for the first and third issue in the trade. Harvey Tolibao (whose art does resemble Secret Invasion artist Leinil Yu’s work) does the second and fourth. The fifth is by Steve Kurth and the sixth is by both Tolibao and Bong Dazo. So no two issues look the same. It is truly a credit to writers Dan Slott and Christos Gage that the art doesn’t completely derail the rest of the project.

Despite its flaws, Avengers: The Initiative: Secret Invasion shines past what a usual crossover tie-in would give us. It is truly a story in its own right while still dovetailing perfectly with the book it spins off from. Even without reading Secret Invasion, I think readers could find a lot to love with this book. Recommended.

Ninja Week the Conclusion: Comic book ninja!

2010-03-19T18:03:00.000-05:00

This site being mostly about super-heroes, I think it would be best to close out Ninja Week with a look at ninjas in one of our most popular topics, comic books. Ninjas have been a major part of comic culture since the ninja craze of the eighties.

The first major character to get related to ninjutsu was none other than the X-Men’s Wolverine. His connections to a ninja clan in the Marvel Universe came in to play in the mid-eighties. It would only be a few more years before Kitty Pryde would become involved, and his evil master Ogun would appear. The Hand would become major villains around the same time in Daredevil, as we also learn that DD went through ninja training. Several other ninja would appear over the years including the revamped Psylocke, Hawkeye as Ronin, Elektra, the Shadowmasters, etc. They would also give the world an alternate reality featuring World War III

Meanwhile, Marvel’s G.I.Joe title would quickly start overflowing with ninja. Snake-Eyes started the ball running, but he would be followed by Storm Shadow, Jinx, Firefly, Slice, Dice and an entire team of ninja known as Ninja Force. Newer comics would give Snake-Eyes an apprentice in Kamakura as well. Often the military action of the series would fall completely to the wayside as the ninja took complete control of the book.

DC on the other hand would remain relatively ninja free. With the exception of the ninja-like Shadowdragon, DC has avoided ninja in just about all forms. Certain characters, like Lady Shiva and Cassandra Cain (Batgirl III) seem quite ninja like without ever being mentioned as such. And of course, Batman Begins gives us Bruce as a ninja.

Independent comics in the eighties and nineties gave us dozens of ninjas, such as C. J. Henderson’s Ninja, the fantasy comic Adventurers tie-in Ninja Elite, Valiant’s secret agent Ninjak, independent magazine Tales of the Ninja Warriors, and Zen the Intergalactic Ninja. Later we would get the ninja of Kabuki and the often quite ninja-like Sohei of Shi. Ben Dunn would rise to success with his parody of manga in all its forms, including ninja, with Ninja High School, a book currently on hiatus (with a planned come back some time this year) but with 175 issues under its belt. And of course, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

TMNT actually started out as a parody of the aformenetioned Uncanny X-Men and Daredevil with the turtles and the evil ninja Foot Clan (a clear play on the Hand). But over the next twenty years of being a multi-media empire, they would become ninja royalty. The Archie published spin-off Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Adventures would even introduce a fifth ninja for the team in the form of the fox-woman Ninjara. I highly doubt more famous ninja exist in the world today.

In recent times, ninja have often become more of a joke, popularized by the internet meme pirates vs. ninja. Antarctic Press, publishers of Ninja High School even created a series about that fight, called... Pirates vs. Ninjas. Adam Warren’s Ninjette is slightly (ok, very slightly) more serious than most, but otherwise funny ninja are often all you can find. Humor web comics like White Ninja, No Need For Bushido, and the ninja doctor named Dr. McNinja. While all fun, this reviewer would appreciate some more serious ninja fare outside of new issues of G.I. Joe.

So, I will leave it open to the audience. Any more ninja I should mention here?

Now Available: The Collected Metahuman Press Volume One

2010-03-18T00:58:00.000-05:00

It's been long in the works, but now it is finally here! The Collected Metahuman Press Volume One is now available through Lulu! This beautiful trade paperback is nearly 250 pages for the low, low price of only $13.95!

I want to encourage all our blog readers, all our site’s supporters, and all lovers of good fiction to pick up a copy!

Ninja Week Movie: Ninja Assassin

2010-03-17T05:09:00.000-05:00

It depresses me quite a bit when I read reviews for films like Ninja Assassin. It of course comes out with some overly terrible reviews (26% on Rotten Tomatoes and 34% on Metacritic). Mostly because critics don’t get flicks like Ninja Assassin. No one going in to making this movie wanted to make the next Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Speed. They wanted to make the next American Ninja.

And they did a pretty good job.

I was unsure going in if a film starring Korean pop star Rain (Speed Racer) could be that good. But he does a superb job of playing Raizo, the super-cool good guy with the dark past. Naomie Harris (28 Days Later, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3) plays the agent that stumbles upon the true nature of ninjas in the modern world. This draws the attention of a secret society of killing machines. Ninja come to eliminate her, but a former member of their clan comes to her rescue.

Raizo must do his best to protect her while continuing his one man war against the clan that gave him the abilities he uses to destroy them. These include shadow-walking, super-speed movement, mystic healing, and of course, some real B.A. fighting moves.

The plot isn’t overly substantial, but it does a good job of setting up the movement from one fight scene to another. The flashbacks that fill much of the film’s first act also tend towards tedium, but once the film moves past them the action heats up.

And the action is amazing. Though they often scar it with an obsessive need to throw in CGI blood everywhere, the film still gives you some of the best weapon-based fighting I’ve seen in awhile. And the heavy use of the manriki-gusari brings back fond memories of my days playing TMNT & Other Strangeness as a youngster. It is just an awesome weapon and used to perfection in this film.

So here’s my final take on Ninja Assassin.If you like action, you will like this film. If you like ninjas, you will love this film. If you like either, give it a chance. Recommended.

Ninja Week Video Games: Shinobi & Ninja Gaiden

2010-03-16T06:15:00.033-05:00

I don’t normally review video games on this site, but when it comes to ninjas I think that they are a little hard to ignore.

When in comes to video games, ninja are about as old as the games themselves. I have no clue where they first made their appearance (although Moby Games tells me it’s Ninja Warrior for the TRS-80), but it was in the late eighties that the two longest standing ninja franchises were born.

SEGA got to the arcades first with the release of Shinobi in 1987. Joe Musashi uses his shuriken throwing, sword swinging, and ninja magic-wielding as he tries to fight the criminal syndicate Neo Zeed. The game is a classic of the side-scrolling arcade genre and was regularly known for its more intelligent enemy motions. The game would quickly be ported to every system available at the time, even SEGA rivals Nintendo.

The very next year, Shinobi met its greatest competitor in the form of Ninja Gaiden. The original arcade Ninja Gaiden was a side-scrolling beat-’em-up in the tradition of Double Dragon with only a hanging kick and an occassional ninja sword to differentiate it from the rest of the genre. It was also well known for its product placement, as Coca-Cola signs appeared everywhere. But it was probably best known for its continue screen, where your character faces a descending saw blade that slices the character in half should you not continue. It would have been utterly forgettable, if not for an NES port a year later.

The NES version of Ninja Gaiden revolutionized action games in a way still being built on after two decades.
It may not quite have been the first game to do it, but Ninja Gaiden brought cut scenes to the masses as it unfolds the growing plot of Ryu Hayabusa’s quest level after level. It also borrowed very heavily from Shinobi as it moves to a 2D side-scrolling perspective and ninja magic becomes an integral part of the franchise.

Both games would spawn sequels over the next several years. Ninja Gaiden gained two more games to complete the franchise as a trilogy with Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom. Each game got increasingly hard. (While I beat the much maligned difficulty of the first Ninja Gaiden, I could only get to the second to last level in Ninja Gaiden II and not even to the halfway point of the third game.) A prequel game, Ninja Gaiden Shadow, came out for the Game Boy, but was ignored by most players. In a strange turn, several parts of the world got adaptations of the first game made for various SEGA systems as well, by SEGA themselves.

Meanwhile, Shinobi became the hallmark of the Genesis with the sequels Revenge of Shinobi and Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi. Each game brought the graphics level up another notch. Shinobi became one of the prettiest side-scrollers available in its era. Three more (mostly original) games appeared for the Game Gear. The franchise moved forward on to Sega Saturn with the release of the final original side scroller in the franchise, the absolutely gorgeous Shinobi Legions. I still have fond memories of playing this one in a store Japan months before the Saturn’s US release. It wasn’t as mind-blowing an experience as the PlayStation floor at Sony headquarters, but I digress. With this game, Joe was gone, replaced by Sho, and many of the franchises fans went with it.

Both games remained mostly dormant for two generations of video game systems until Shinobi returned much transformed for the PlayStation 2. Ninja Gaiden would follow, becoming one of the first major Japanese-developed releases for the XBox, in 2004. Call me old fashioned, but I didn’t think either franchise captured the spirit of the originals, but that didn’t stop anyone from buying either franchise. Two more Ninja Gaiden games followed with Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for Nintendo DS and Ninja Gaiden II for XBox 360. Less fortunate was Shinobi. The female-centric follow-up proved less than satisfying for fans. 2004’s Nightshade would be the last game in the franchise.

Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden have now shaped two generations of gamers experience with ninjas. Perhaps more so than any other stories I review this week, they have had a major influence on the modern view of the ninja. While I cannot recommend the newer games to anyone other than very experienced gamers, the classic side-scrollers for both franchises come Recommended.

Both Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi are available at Amazon by clicking their names here.

Ninja Week Movie: American Ninja

2010-03-15T00:15:00.007-05:00

In much the same way Lustbader innovated The Ninja as an American icon, the 1985 action film American Ninja made the ninja every kid’s personal favorite. I still remember the ninja costumes I wore every Halloween through so many of those years.

The story revolves around action movie tough guy Michael Dudikoff as Private Joe Armstrong. His first mission on base goes terribly wrong when the Black Star Ninja Army (yes, that is seriously their name) attacks his convoy. His four fellow soldiers die, but Armstrong uses his own skills to save the colonel’s daughter (who was allowed to tag along for no particular reason) and escape back to the base.

He gets stuck on cleaning duties in the aftermath, but befriends a karate buff named Curtis Jackson after he easily beats Jackson in a sparring match. We learn that Joe is an amnesiac. His only memories are his utter mastery of the martial arts.

Joe uses his martial arts skills not only to uncover the secrets of the Black Star Ninja Army, but also his own origins. With only the aid of Jackson, he eventually takes on the entire Black Star Ninja Army (yes, I am going to try and type that name every time I can) and their leader, a traitorous local merchant.

I’ll be honest the story is nothing to write home about and the acting is flimsy at best. But that isn’t really the point. The point was to make a B-grade chop socky flick with a distictively American protagonist. The movie accomplishes this goal perfectly. It ain’t find art, but it is a fun film that gets increasingly cheesy as time goes on. Mildly Recommended.

Ninja Week Prose: The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader

2010-03-14T06:43:00.002-05:00

One of the first major pieces of ninja fiction I am aware of is a novel by suspense novelist Eric Van Lustbader, simply titled The Ninja. Published in 1980 it combines martial arts intrigue with a ton of international intrigue.

Nicholas Linnear is born in Japan during the days after World War II to an American general and his Chinese wife. He grows up in Japanese schools and quickly becomes adept in a variety of martial skills: aikido, kenjutsu, and eventually “white” ninjutsu. He comes in to conflict with a cousin, Saigo, who despises him in every way. He also falls in love with a young woman named Yukio (very possibly the inspiration for the later X-Men character of the same name). Saigo will do anything for vengeance on his cousin and begins the study of black ninjutsu.

But things end terribly in the past for Linnear. He eventually flees Japan, alone, soiled and virtually destroyed by Saigo.

In the modern day, he is living comfortably and living a peaceful life in America. That life ends as a businessman dies, apparently at the hands of a ninja. A detective named Lew Croaker latches on to Nicholas Linnear as an aide in the investigation. It doesn’t take long for Linnear to realize the culprit is his old foe. He must overcome his own memories of the horrors Saigo put him and Yukio through before he can hope to stop the merciless killer.

A vein of international intrigue runs through The Ninja. That vein would burst in to the plots for five more books in the series, all sadly drifting farther away from Linnear’s ninja roots. A warning to readers: The Ninja graphically depicts its sex scenes, including a brutal rape, although later books in the franchise go much, much farther. Still this novel represents its genre well, digging deep in to Buddhism and Shintoism to present as realistic a portrayal of Japan and the ninja as could ever be possible upon its release. Recommended.

It's Ninja Week at Take the Helm!

2010-03-14T03:01:00.003-05:00

To celebrate the upcoming release of Ninja Assassin on DVD this Tuesday, I am officially declaring the next week NINJA WEEK! We will have reviews of some of the finest ninjas in cinema, television, and comics come through this site as we count down the days to the release of the latest greatest ninja movie on the market today!

So stay tuned and enjoy as Take the Helm goes to the ninjas!

Super-Powered Prose: Iron Man Femmes Fatales

2010-03-11T04:02:00.002-06:00

When Iron Man heated up the box office two years ago, I expected a flood of mass market tie-ins over the next year or so. I got... a little. Lots of t-shirts, a few strange collectibles, and all the collections Marvel could figure out to produce.

It wasn’t until a few months ago that we finally got the first original Iron Man novel in over a decade. The author, Robert Greenberger, is probably familiar to long time comic fans as an editor at DC, most notably on their line of Star Trek comics. Since those days he has wrote several Star Trek novels, and that apparently made Del Rey and Marvel pick him as the best bet to write Iron Man: Femmes Fatales.

The first thing I want to say is I don’t really no the plural to femme fatale, but even if it is femmes fatales, that seems rather awkward. I would choose Femme Fatales and let those who know better nitpick while the rest of us don’t have to look at what seems like a very strange title.

That aside, Iron Man: Femmes Fatales, takes an interesting ploy to its production. It is cleary an attempt to tell an “untold tale” of the Marvel Comics Iron Man from very early in his career. He is helping SHIELD through its formation and armament which includes meeting the likes of Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, and Gabe Jones for the first time. This fits in to silver age continuity, albeit a bit awkwardly, as when SHIELD first appeared, Tony Stark was their weapons provider. But if feels very strange to establish Iron Man and the Avengers in a world where SHIELD hasn’t yet formed. Perhaps it’s the movie or Ultimates continuity twisting things around, but it seems like SHIELD should come first, but I digress.

Tony’s involvement with SHIELD brings Stark Industries under attack by two separate threats, both lead by a beautiful young woman in disguise. One is the woman known as Madame Hydra, a.k.a. the future Viper. She has taken control of a faction of Hydra in Strucker’s absence and is bent on bringing it as much power as she can muster. Meanwhile, Madame Masque uses her mastery of disguise to sneak in to Stark Industries and steal technological secrets for her father Count Nefaria and his Maggia.

These two incidents cause repeated problems for both Tony Stark and his alter ego of Iron Man, but one of this novel’s biggest flaws is that the threats never seem big enough. Iron Man has been established as immensely powerful, but he rarely fights anything past skilled soldiers and terrorists in this book, A more powerful or technological threat would have done wonders.

The other flaw is the huge continuity hole Greenberger acknowledges in his afterword. Despite being a clear attempt at insertion in to regular Marvel Comic, Greenberger decided to drop Tony’s secret identity, much like the film did at its completion. In the comics, Tony would not reveal his identity for several more years (or decades in real world time). It comes off as very disconcerting for any long time comic reader.

Iron Man: Femmes Fatales is a mixed bag. The storytelling is good and Greenberger can write spy intrigue quite well. But the meat of the plot and character progression feels hollow at best. The story’s tendency to wander between characters at random occasionally causes problems as well.

All in all, Femmes Fatales isn’t a bad novel, but it never really strives to achieve any level of greatness. If you’re a true blue, dyed red and gold, Iron Man fan I would say go get this one. Otherwise go pick up one of the new Wild Cards novels instead. Not Recommended (unless you’re an Iron Man fan).

A Metahuman Press family update

2010-03-08T03:32:00.004-06:00

So the last couple weeks have been rough for Metahuman Press and its sister sites. From a terrible, unresponsive host company we moved to a new host. That took nearly a week, but things were up and running well. Then the ol’ internet vanished from existence for a few days. And a few other family issues and computer problems have made content additions a little hard to come by.

That will change next week as we introduce a new schedule that will see publications Monday through Friday on we bring new contact from across the MHP family of sites. Check out our new schedule below:

Monday: Tales of the Living Legends (new page)
Tuesday: Arc (new page, starting with exclusive content that bridges issue 1 & 2)
Wednesday: Metahuman Press (at least one new story every week!)
Thursday: Pulp Empire (new updates including preview content & classic pulp stories until the site goes fully live on April 1, 2010!)
Friday: Tales of the Living Legends (new page)

Plus we will continue to update here with semi-regular reviews, opinion pieces, and the like, some of which will be cross-posted to the other sites. So stay tuned for March 15, as things explode for MHP and its family!