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TJ Comics is pleased to announce that the new, weekly and FREE webcomic, Legends of Steel Creek has gone LIVE! Written by Kevin Powers with art by Ger Curti, Legends of Steel Creek will appear exclusively on TJComics.com and is free for all readers.
Set in the late 1860s to early 1870s, following the American Civil War, Legends of Steel Creek takes place in a town in the New Mexico Territory during the period known as “the wild west” or the “old west.”
The story focuses on the wide range of people not only residing inside of the town, but also those who come and go. Steel Creek is a town run by a former Confederate Colonel named William Hanover. While on the outside the Colonel appears to care for the people of Steel Creek by protecting them, he is also a brutal man that will kill anyone who crosses him. He employs criminals, pillages the natives and demands loyalty. With a strong economy, it has become difficult for the people of Steel Creek to want to move elsewhere, even with a despot running the town. But Steel Creek changes when a mysterious bounty hunter comes to town, a man who could be the Colonel’s best friend or worst enemy.
You can check out the first page right now, by clicking Legends of Steel Creek will appear in weekly page installments exclusively on TJComics.com, starting February 15th, 2010. [END]
Series Title: Green Light
ISBN: 156970158X
ISBN13: 9781569701584
Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing
Imprint Name: June
Price USD: $10.95
Writer: Yura Tamaki
Artist: Taishi Zaou
Release Date: January 27, 2010
Size: 4.25” x 6.75”
Format: Trade Paperback
Page Count: 200
Series Volumes: Oneshot
Recommended Age: Young Adult 16+
Genre: Yaoi, Romance, School life
Summary
Academy freshman Shotaro Izumi has a problem. That problem is his childhood best friend, Makoto Natsuki. Natsuki lives the life of a prince. Ever since elementary school, his perfect looks and sweet disposition have won the hearts of everyone around him and attracted a gaggle of fans. But Natsuki's burst into fame has plunged Izumi into hell. Five years ago Izumi's offhanded criticism of his friend earned him the hatred of all the girls (and boys) in school, and it's only gotten worse since. His friendship with Natsuki was destroyed over the incident, and the ostracism has seriously warped his personality. The more Natsuki becomes a star, the more Izumi becomes a bitter social outcast. So when Natsuki asks Izumi one day what he can do to make up for everything, Izumi flippantly says "Go out with me" just to get a rise out of him. But to his shock, Natsuki takes him up on the offer—and seems to take it very seriously...
Other works by creators: Color (DMP: 9781569701126) Living for Tomorrow (DMP: 9781569700846) [END]
At the Hollywood Reporter, the Heat Vision blog offers this excellent piece about comic book artists working on Hollywood productions. The article mentions that Kaare Andrews is currently wrapping up one film and prepping another, this one produced by Gale Anne Hurd.
Creator: Benjamin Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, Full-Color, paperback, 144 pages, $14.99 (US), $18.99 CAN Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1566-8 (ISBN-13)
TOKYOPOP, known for publishing manga and related books, also publishes English language editions of full-color graphic novels. These titles originate, thus far, from French publishing house and are created by an international roster of writers, artists, and cartoonists. A recent release is Remember, which was originally published by Xiao Pan, a French publisher and distributor of full-color manhua (Chinese comic books).
Remember is the work of Benjamin Zhang Bin, better known as Benjamin. In addition to manhua, he also produces poster art for films and video games. Last year, TOKYOPOP also published an edition of his manhua graphic novel, Orange.
Remember has as it themes memory and recollection. Remember is not a graphic novel so much as it is a collection of two similarly themed novellas or short stories. The first one, “No One Can Fly. No One Can Remember,” focuses on an outcast, wannabe comic book artist who inadvertently attracts the attention of a female comic book artist named Yu Xin (which apparently means “rain heart”). The narrator, who may be named Benjamin, wants to be a comic book artist, but doesn’t want to conform to the expectations of the publishing industry nor to Yu’s expectations of him as boyfriend.
The second story, “That Year, That Summer,” is set in a dorm at an art school. The narrator’s primary goal is to soak in the experiences and freedoms school and dorm life will afford him. However, he finds himself placing his new life in juxtaposition with the struggles of a tormented student with whom he feels some level of sympathy.
While Benjamin is certainly capable of composing an engaging linear narrative, which these two stories are, his aim is emotional and psychological storytelling. He has a deft touch at painting and uses his painted comics as a vehicle to tell stories robust with strong emotions. The iridescent, watercolor-like painting in “No One Can Fly” reflects the narrator’s need to reconcile two things: what Yu Xin’s appearance meant to his life and his memory of events of their relationship.
Benjamin tells the other story in art that could be described as mixing impressionist and realist oil painting with Dave McKean graphic style. This visual approach also reflects the inconsistency of memory, but in this story, the narrator is not trying to reconcile memory. Rather, this method of painting is meant to convey the chaos of the narrator’s first year in school. Both stories exemplify Benjamin’s ability to put across in pictures emotions. Readers that only like excitement or good feelings from their comic books may not like Remember, but readers who like engaging pathos will enjoy Remember.
Title: All You Need Is Love Volume 1 (Yaoi novel)
ISBN: 1569706107
ISBN13: 9781569706107
Publisher: Digital Manga Publishing
Imprint Name: Juné
Price USD: $8.95
Writer: Jinko Fuyuno
Artist: Noboru Takatsuki
Release Date: January 27, 2010
Size: 5 “ x 7.5”
Format: Trade paperback
Page Count: 250
Series Volumes: 1 of 2
Series Frequency: 3-6 months
Recommended Age: Mature 18+
Genre: Yaoi, Romance
Summary
Junya Sawa is an ordinary man—a modestly successful bank employee in Tokyo. But that isn't the life he wanted for himself. In the eight years since he graduated from high school, he's been unable to forget the man who could have changed his life—Uzuki Kobayakawa, the heir to a yakuza dynasty in Tokyo. Now, brought together by chance once again, he's forced to face the choices he made in his youth that tore them apart and to decide whether their differences will keep them apart forever.
Other works by creative Teams
All You Need is Love (DMP: 9781569706114) Eat or Be Eaten (DMP: 9781569706176) [END]
The Geek Files has caught a rumor that Chris Pine, the Captain Kirk of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, is the latest to be linked to the lead in Marvel Studios' upcoming The First Avenger: Captain America. Other names linked to the part include Jensen Ackles of Supernatural, Chuck's Ryan McPartlin and One Tree Hill's Chad Michael Murray.
This blog entry also has some choice quotes from comic book creator/legend, Gene Colan.
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