SDCC 2014: The Presence of Comics

As I look back at San Diego Comic Con and remember struggling to keep up with all the news that poured out over the four plus days, I was left with a revelation: comic publishers REALLY showed out. I don’t know how true that is compared to last year because I simply don’t remember last year’s show or when I went in 2011. My point isn’t to judge the past but to reflect on how we as comic fans, or perhaps just myself, look at Comic Con.

There’s no denying that Hall H, which I’ve never seen, is the big attraction. It’s all about the movie companies pulling their casts together to represent whatever big blockbuster is coming and the hottest movie trailers. The best news to come out of there this year was that image of Gal Gadot dressed as Wonder Woman for Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

While all of this was happening, comic publishers and creators were representing their brands to the fullest. Tons of new comics were announced for this year and next. This included books from mainstream and independent publishers. Some of the news flew under the radar. This gave me pause to wonder: has it always been this way or is the show returning to its former glory?

I’ll admit I’m one of the people who think Comic Con isn’t as much of a “comic” convention as it once was. That’s debatable. The amount of publicity comic books receive, however, might not. Despite this, as a comic fan, I was excited. Leading up to the show, publishers rolled out numerous announcements such as BOOM! Studios dropping a new story on us every day for 15 consecutive days up to Comic Con. Marvel Comics of course went to other outlets to reveal Falcon will take over as Captain America in All-New Captain America and that a woman would become the new Thor.

Dark Horse Comics held nothing back either when they revealed the titles and creative teams for 12 new series to be released later this year and throughout 2015. One of those, by Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra, will be Colder: The Bad Seed. It’s a sequel to their hit mini-series Colder which I highly recommend. Dynamite Entertainment surely excited fans with the news of a crossover written by Gail Simone which will focus on the women characters in their library. Keep in mind all of this was occurred BEFORE the convention. Comic fans had plenty of reasons to geek out before stepping foot on the show floor.

Once the doors opened, the industry didn’t lose a step. Image Comics kicked off the show with the stunning news of 13 new titles. One of those I’m anticipating is Dustin Nguyen and Jeff Lemire’s Descender. Another big news item from the indie publisher, especially interesting as a long-time Spawn fan, was Todd McFarlane revealing that with December’s Spawn #250, fans will see the return of the original Spawn, Al Simmons. Besides that and being the monumental 250th issue, it’s also notable because the creative reins will change hands to an as yet to be announced team.

Action Lab Entertainment, publishing home of Jamal Igle’s Molly Danger graphic novel, joined in the fun during their panel when they revealed they’d be publishing a comic based on the classic film series Puppet Master. This is a franchise I mentioned on Twitter some time ago as being more than capable of holding its own in comic form. The series will be written by Shawn Gabborin. The names of the artists have yet to be revealed.

I’ve used more examples here than intended due to the excitement of all the awesome prospects. Yet I’m okay with that as it actually serves my point about the perception of comics at Comic Con. Though the comics and their creators might not receive as much attention as they did several years ago, they’re still around. The difference now is people may have to seek it out or pay extra attention to the publishers and creators. Comparisons are often made between mainstream and indie comics, but during the convention, publishers of various sizes made their presence known. Some may have made a bigger splash than others. In the end though, we all win. Publishers and creators get to keep publishing comics and of course making money, while fans can continue to read good comics.

Comic conventions can be what you make of them. The schedule was filled with panels and events held for publishers and creators to discuss current comics and announce new projects. Comic Con’s programming schedule allows you to separate items by filter and I found all the panels referencing comics. You can find the list here. Expand your boundaries when a convention approaches. Dig through the programming to find the appealing panels. Don’t let the lack of publicity deter you from soaking up all the comic book fun.

PREVIEW: Legenderry: A Steampunk Adventure #2

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Bill Willingham
Artist: Sergio Fernandez Davilla
Cover Artist: Joe Benitez
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 12th, 2014

THE EPIC STEAMPUNK CROSSOVER CONTINUES! Magna Spadarossa gets a taste of life in the Big City, but it’s not all she had hoped. Assassins galore are after her, but why? It’s up to Vampirella, the Green Hornet, Kato, and the best Victorian futuristic technology they have to keep Magna safe … but will that be enough?

PREVIEW: Codename: Action #5

Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Jonathan Lau
Colorist: Ivan Nunes
Letterer: Marshall Dillon
Cover Artist: Jonathan Lau, Jae Lee
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 5th, 2014

Infiltrating the secret island headquarters of the enemy, Operative 1001 and his allies manage to free the prisoners, and it seems that the day has been won. But when he learns the true identity of Dr. Thorpe, he discovers that the threat is much larger in scope than he had ever imagined, and that the danger is far from over.

Comic Cover of the Week: A Man and his Horse

Happy New Comic Day! There are plenty of highly-anticipated books available today. Obviously that’s nothing new. Well, except for that week after Christmas. But that doesn’t really count.

This week’s top art goes to Francesco Francavilla’s cover for The Lone Ranger #21 from Dynamite Entertainment.

Francavilla’s cover shares some similar elements to last week’s Comic Cover of the Week: There Will Be Blood. The immediately noticeable aspect is the color palette. This goes for the number of choices and, to an extent, the colors themselves. There’s the red on the Lone Ranger’s scarf which demands attention. Beyond that, the character’s face is hidden. Concealing his expression can leave it up to the viewer to interpret the mood of our rider. Somewhat disregarding the content of the book, the image as a whole takes you back to the old west and how life was then as well as how it’s represented in fiction. It may have been a life of solitude at times. Other times, it was just a rider and a horse.

Cover of the Week

Happy New Comic Day! As I said on twitter, it’s a general statement, because the holiday sort of delayed my shop getting books. They may have gotten them late today, but I’ll just head there tomorrow. I have too much xbox action right now with my bestest xbl buddy. We finished up some special ops achievements from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I finally have 1000g on that game; after 2 plus years. There was also some Borderlands and Gears 3 action.

But enough of the gamer talk for now, let’s get to the comics. I’m happy for a shorter week, because I need to catch up on the previous two weeks anyway and it’s lighter on the bank account.

Another lovely day of new comics bring with it another Cover of the Week entry. So ladies and gentlemen of comic fandom, let’s have a round of applause for Bionic Woman #2. And here’s a surprise for you, this is another title I don’t read. If you’re a regular visitor here, I hope your sarcasm detector is functioning properly. It’s funny how many books I don’t read have cool covers. Some of which have enticed me to read up on them.

I’ll be honest, as always so there’s really no need to even say that, I don’t always care for Paul Renaud’s work. It just doesn’t always sit well with me. But Bionic Woman #2 is a different story. I saw this image on Monday while looking through the releases for the week and I was pretty sure I had my Cover of the Week. First, blue is my favorite color. Royal blue specifically. Here’s the Bionic Woman dressed in blue and black riding a blue and black motorcycle. I love it. But beyond the blue, you can’t go wrong with a cool woman riding a motorcycle. The background adds a few elements as well. Nice piece all around.

So that’s it for this my friends. As always, thanks for stopping by. And happy reading to everyone.

Cover of the Week

Happy Comic Book Day! It’s a big week for me. I already have my books in hand and look forward to some good reading. I missed out on Dancer. I’ll have to try getting that later. Oh well.

Let’s move on to another matter. I’m talking Cover of the Week of course. So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you your Cover of the Week winner, Ninjettes #4. Take a look.

Admira Wijaya gives us several characters wielding katana. Why is that noteworthy? Because it’s my favorite weapon. That’s really all I got here. It’s not exactly amazing, but I mean look at it. That’s a lot of swords. Get sliced. I had to say it. And the mask doesn’t hurt either.

What do you think people? Happy reading to all.

Nowhere Man #2 Review

Dynamite Entertainment’s Nowhere Man from Marc Guggenheim and Jeevan J. Kang definitely upped its’ stock with this second issue. While it’s only slated for four issues, this is gearing up to be a nice science fiction mini-series about the future and “big brother” style monitoring.

After the introduction into this futuristic world in the first issue, we meet a few more characters. Orion Lieutenant Alexis Shavra is on the case as the agent who first responded to the murder committed by Mason in issue number one. Her superior is ready to label it a suicide, but she believes otherwise.

Mason meets a man named Desmond who claims to be able to hear others thoughts. As Mason was bred to have his thoughts kept hidden, his identity is questioned. Desmond is a Roven. What exactly a Roven is hasn’t been defined. But in the context used, they don’t always fall on the side of the law.

Agent Shavra has some fun moments as she’s attempting to question the only witness to the crime, Tobin Babst. He’s locked away and isn’t to be approached by anyone. While trying to convince the guards otherwise, she is not pleased at their refusal. Next you see Agent Shavra’s angered face and the Omnimind’s caption readiing “hostile intent registered – threat of bodily harm – two subjects.” Following that, the guards receive a call for a “code 616” which is the assault on a law officer.

As she beings the interrogation, she discovers there was another person involved and that he wanted explosives. Meanwhile, Mason encounters Roven who believe him to be an Orion agent sent in to spy on them. Some fighting occurs and the men bring Mason back to Desmond. After some conversation, our protagonist opens up about his mission to destroy the Omnimind. The situation heats up as Orion now knows of his existence even though he doesn’t register.

Kang’s work here involves some shadow play giving the book a darker tone. It’s also fitting as most of the book takes place at night. The action is limited to only a few panels. But the artist does show a range of emotion on our characters. One visual note that is quite odd is how the background disappears in some panels; most of which feature Mason. One panel will have buildings or walls; the next has a character or characters out in the open in purple and white space.

Another questionable aspect of this book is the use of the phrase “I’ve gone a little of the reservation.” I’ve always found the phrase to be quite offensive to Native Americans. But as stated, the quality of this title has increased with this outing. With the first issue, the creative team had to introduce readers to the world, yet entice them to come back. Sometimes the balance can be difficult to achieve. When it works, as it did here, you get this product. It’s a good read. If you’re not reading, you may be able to order it or perhaps wait for the collected edition that is likely to follow. Thanks for looking friends.

Cover of the Week for 2-29-12

Happy New Comic Day! We also have Leap Day. And you know what that means, right? That means my friends is that you all should do something you don’t normally do. Here’s my suggestion, you can try this to, if you’re so inclinded. But I suggest you go to that wonderful place where dreams come true. Your local comic shop. And what do you do when you get there? Buy some bloody comics of course. Sound good? Good. But wait, before you head out, you should definitely keep reading. A Game of Thrones #6 variant takes home the prize for cover of the week. Take a peek at this fiery piece.

I have heard all of the buzz surrounding Game of Thrones, but I will admit, I have no interest in looking into the franchise. But this cover rocks. Mike Miller’s flaming dragon and lady surrounded by flaming dragon and more flames won me over. I like dragons. I like fire. You put them both together and you have something quite amazing as seen here. She is doing the most lovely fire dance ever.

Does this cover ignite your emotions? Or perhaps you want to release your fiery rage upon me? Well that second surely would be bad for us all. Thanks for looking.

Cover of the Week for 2-8-12

Funny book lovers, welcome back for another glorious New Comic Day. The winner for this week comes attached to the debut issue in a new series from Dynamite Entertainment entitled Ninjettes. I’ve seen the solicitation in Previews, but didn’t feel intrigued enough to pre-order it. But I still like this cover. Check out the image below and follow for discussion.

Credit for this lovely woman clutching the katana goes to Admira Wijaya. What’s not to love here? Before I touch that, I don’t know anything about the series this title spun-off of, so I’m going to call her the mysterious lady.

Ok, so we have a mysterious lady in all black, including the sunglasses. She’s got a smoking gun in one hand and a katana (my favorite weapon) in the other. Duel-wielding, ok, I can digg it. But that’s not all. Behind, and on the side of her are three very dead women. One of whom may be feeling separation anxiety from her dome. Well, you know, if she weren’t dead. And who doesn’t enjoy a nice decapitation every once in a while?

I don’t really know why she’s unzipped partially and her bra is exposed, but that’s comics for ya I guess. Well I know why, I just see the need for it is what I should say. But anyway, I still like the cover.

Love it? I’m sure you do. Let me know. Thanks for looking.

Cover of the Week for 1-4-12

Happy New Year comic lovers. This new year will bring plenty of comic goodness to us all. Along with that, I will be hitting the internet hard to bring you even more comic awesomeness. It’s fitting that for the first Cover of the Week for this new year that I present a choice which is a new series. Funny book lovers, take a look at the cover for Nowhere Man #1.

This cover is from the first issue in a new mini-series from Dynamite Entertainment. Credit for this nice piece goes to Jeevan Kang. I came across the solicitation for this series in an issue of Previews a few months back. It sounded good, so I added it to my list of pre-orders. I hadn’t heard anything about it and thought it was delayed or cancelled when it wasn’t amongst my other orders. That was until this week when I found in the releases. So hopefully, it will be sitting in my box waiting to be read.

Like it? Hate it? Let me know. Thanks for looking.