I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Afterschool Charisma: Attack of the Clones
I read Afterschool Charisma, Vol. 3
I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).
I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).
Monday, June 13, 2011
Leroy Douresseaux on CONAN: ISLAND OF NO RETURN #1
DARK HORSE COMICS
WRITER: Ron Marz
PENCILS: Bart Sears
INKS: Randy Elliot
COLORS: Mark Roberts
LETTERS: Troy Peteri
COVER: Michael Kutsche
32pp, Color, $3.50
I have not read a new Conan comic book since 1994 when I read Conan vs. Rune (Marvel Comics). Since then, I’ve read a few original Conan works by the character’s creator, Robert E. Howard, including Howard’s only full-length Conan novel, The Hour of the Dragon (1935). Now, I’ve just read a comic book that makes me want to return to reading Conan the way I did as I teenager – monthly.
Conan: Island of No Return is a two-issue miniseries from Dark Horse Comics. According to the publisher, it is an interlude to the main series, Conan: Road of Kings.
As Conan: Island of No Return #1 begins, Conan the Cimmerian (Barbarian and Thief) has just been fired as a bodyguard for… dereliction of duty? On the run from a cadre of guards, the half-sisters, Brenna and Venya, who are also thieves aid Conan. They just so happen to be in need of a strong back to help them with an upcoming treasure hunt.
Their destination is a small, jagged island and an abandoned cliff-top castle, where the treasure hoard of the late Prince Mikkinos lies deep in the bowels of the ruins of his palace. In order to help the sisters, not only must Conan scale sheer cliffs, but he must also deal with a haunted island.
While it may be a brief interlude to the main Conan storylines (as well being a break from the main series for the publisher), Conan: Island of No Return is an action-packed short story. It offers what many Conan tales usually have – beautiful women, haunted treasure spots, and Conan on a heist with shifty allies, plus it is a rippin’ read.
The script, written by Ron Marz, is efficient and powerful, with each panel a sharp jab that keeps this fast moving tale… well, moving fast. Bart Sears’ sinewy pencils capture the sharp edges in both plot and character motivation, as well as encapsulating Conan’s brawny physique and cat-like grace. Randy Elliot’s heavy inks have mixed results over Sears’ art and the coloring is merely acceptable, while Michael Kutsche’s cover is quite good. I can’t wait for the conclusion.
A-
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Valiant Entertainment Hires Former Wizard and Marvel Employees
VALIANT EXPANDS MANAGEMENT TEAM; PREVIOUS WIZARD PRESIDENT BECOMES PUBLISHER AND CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FORMER MARVEL EDITOR BECOMES EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Company Taps Highly Accomplished Industry Figures Fred Pierce and Warren Simons
New York, NY, June 9, 2011 – Valiant Entertainment, the character-based entertainment company with more than 1,500 characters in its library, today announced the further expansion of its management team. Former Wizard Entertainment President Fred Pierce has been appointed Publisher and critically acclaimed former Marvel Editor Warren Simons has been appointed Vice President - Executive Editor of Valiant. They join Peter Cuneo, the former Marvel CEO and Vice Chairman, who was recently appointed Chairman of Valiant.
During a distinguished career in the comic book industry, Pierce has served as a senior leader of two major companies guiding them to huge success during his tenure. He was a key member of the management team of the original Valiant as Vice President of Operations and Manufacturing during its period of unprecedented growth. At Valiant, he was actively involved in all aspects of the company and was instrumental in building it into the third largest company in the industry after only Marvel Entertainment and DC Entertainment until its successful sale to video game company Acclaim Entertainment in 1994.
Following Valiant’s sale to Acclaim, Pierce was appointed President and COO of Wizard Entertainment, the leading comic and pop culture magazine and convention company.
While leading Wizard for 14 years in this position, Pierce helped grow the company from a single entertainment magazine to a line of entertainment magazines, each of which was dominant in their respective industries, including Wizard, ToyFare, InQuest and Anime Insider. He was also responsible for starting Wizard World conventions in a number of locations, such as Chicago (the second largest comic and pop culture convention behind the San Diego Comic Con), Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Dallas. Pierce guided the company into profitability in his first two years and then led a decade of unrivaled growth before leaving Wizard in 2008 to join printing company The Ensig Group as President. He now joins Valiant as Publisher.
“Fred is a highly successful publisher who played an important role in Valiant’s history. I’m pleased to have him back at Valiant to give him the special opportunity to rebuild the legacy he helped create,” said Jason Kothari, CEO of Valiant Entertainment.
“Valiant has been quietly putting the key building blocks in place for a major reemergence in the entertainment industry. I’m very excited to be a part of it,” said Fred Pierce. “I’m proud of what we accomplished at the original Valiant and the opportunity to be back allows me to come full circle, making this very important to me.”
One of the most critically acclaimed editors in the industry, Warren Simons is an expert at revitalizing classic characters to large creative and commercial success in today’s market. During his seven years at Marvel, he relaunched or edited some of the industry’s most iconic characters and titles, including The Invincible Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, Daredevil, and The Immortal Iron Fist. Simons’ books were frequently best-sellers and were nominated for 11 Eisner Awards and 10 Harvey Awards.
Simons played a major role in discovering new creative talents and revitalizing some of Marvel’s most prominent characters, including overseeing the relaunch of The Invincible Iron Man, the 2009 Eisner award-winner for Best New Series, and the relaunch of Thor, the 2009 Eisner nominee for Best Ongoing Series. Simons oversaw the comic book redesign of Thor in advance of the hit Marvel Studios movie.
“I’m excited to announce Warren as Valiant’s Executive Editor,” said Jason Kothari. “Warren is an expert at revitalizing classic characters and has a tremendous track record of creating books that are both award-winning and best-selling. He is the creative force that will ensure the new Valiant Universe is a sophisticated superhero universe that will powerfully resonate with today’s extremely intelligent readership, whether they are familiar with Valiant or not.”
“I’m excited to have been chosen for this important position,” said Warren Simons. “The Valiant characters are one of the most beloved universes of characters ever created and have the potential to be icons like Iron Man, Thor and others of that class. I look forward to working alongside some incredibly talented creators and amazing colleagues to help rebuild Valiant into a world-class creative company again.”
Simons and Pierce join a Valiant management team that recently announced investors Peter Cuneo and Gavin Cuneo of private investment company Cuneo & Company, LLC and co-founder Dinesh Shamdasani on the Board of Directors. Gavin Cuneo, Principal of Cuneo & Co., was an investment banker with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and spent over ten years working in investment banking and investment management. He was appointed to Valiant’s Board of Directors.
“We are pleased to have such accomplished industry figures as Fred and Warren on our management team,” said Director Gavin Cuneo. “Their additions further our goal to attract the best business and creative talent for Valiant’s return.”
Chairman Peter Cuneo added, “The nucleus for Valiant is strong and growing. We look forward to updating you as we continue to progress towards our return in 2012.”
About Valiant Entertainment
Valiant Entertainment is a character-based entertainment company that owns and controls some of the most cherished comic characters ever created across all media, including films, television, video games, new media, publishing, and consumer products. Since their creation in 1989, Valiant characters have sold 80 million comic books and have been the basis of a number of successful video game franchises. Valiant’s extensive library includes over 1,500 characters, such as X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, and Ninjak. Visit http://www.valiantentertainment.com/.
Company Taps Highly Accomplished Industry Figures Fred Pierce and Warren Simons
New York, NY, June 9, 2011 – Valiant Entertainment, the character-based entertainment company with more than 1,500 characters in its library, today announced the further expansion of its management team. Former Wizard Entertainment President Fred Pierce has been appointed Publisher and critically acclaimed former Marvel Editor Warren Simons has been appointed Vice President - Executive Editor of Valiant. They join Peter Cuneo, the former Marvel CEO and Vice Chairman, who was recently appointed Chairman of Valiant.
During a distinguished career in the comic book industry, Pierce has served as a senior leader of two major companies guiding them to huge success during his tenure. He was a key member of the management team of the original Valiant as Vice President of Operations and Manufacturing during its period of unprecedented growth. At Valiant, he was actively involved in all aspects of the company and was instrumental in building it into the third largest company in the industry after only Marvel Entertainment and DC Entertainment until its successful sale to video game company Acclaim Entertainment in 1994.
Following Valiant’s sale to Acclaim, Pierce was appointed President and COO of Wizard Entertainment, the leading comic and pop culture magazine and convention company.
While leading Wizard for 14 years in this position, Pierce helped grow the company from a single entertainment magazine to a line of entertainment magazines, each of which was dominant in their respective industries, including Wizard, ToyFare, InQuest and Anime Insider. He was also responsible for starting Wizard World conventions in a number of locations, such as Chicago (the second largest comic and pop culture convention behind the San Diego Comic Con), Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Dallas. Pierce guided the company into profitability in his first two years and then led a decade of unrivaled growth before leaving Wizard in 2008 to join printing company The Ensig Group as President. He now joins Valiant as Publisher.
“Fred is a highly successful publisher who played an important role in Valiant’s history. I’m pleased to have him back at Valiant to give him the special opportunity to rebuild the legacy he helped create,” said Jason Kothari, CEO of Valiant Entertainment.
“Valiant has been quietly putting the key building blocks in place for a major reemergence in the entertainment industry. I’m very excited to be a part of it,” said Fred Pierce. “I’m proud of what we accomplished at the original Valiant and the opportunity to be back allows me to come full circle, making this very important to me.”
One of the most critically acclaimed editors in the industry, Warren Simons is an expert at revitalizing classic characters to large creative and commercial success in today’s market. During his seven years at Marvel, he relaunched or edited some of the industry’s most iconic characters and titles, including The Invincible Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, Daredevil, and The Immortal Iron Fist. Simons’ books were frequently best-sellers and were nominated for 11 Eisner Awards and 10 Harvey Awards.
Simons played a major role in discovering new creative talents and revitalizing some of Marvel’s most prominent characters, including overseeing the relaunch of The Invincible Iron Man, the 2009 Eisner award-winner for Best New Series, and the relaunch of Thor, the 2009 Eisner nominee for Best Ongoing Series. Simons oversaw the comic book redesign of Thor in advance of the hit Marvel Studios movie.
“I’m excited to announce Warren as Valiant’s Executive Editor,” said Jason Kothari. “Warren is an expert at revitalizing classic characters and has a tremendous track record of creating books that are both award-winning and best-selling. He is the creative force that will ensure the new Valiant Universe is a sophisticated superhero universe that will powerfully resonate with today’s extremely intelligent readership, whether they are familiar with Valiant or not.”
“I’m excited to have been chosen for this important position,” said Warren Simons. “The Valiant characters are one of the most beloved universes of characters ever created and have the potential to be icons like Iron Man, Thor and others of that class. I look forward to working alongside some incredibly talented creators and amazing colleagues to help rebuild Valiant into a world-class creative company again.”
Simons and Pierce join a Valiant management team that recently announced investors Peter Cuneo and Gavin Cuneo of private investment company Cuneo & Company, LLC and co-founder Dinesh Shamdasani on the Board of Directors. Gavin Cuneo, Principal of Cuneo & Co., was an investment banker with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and spent over ten years working in investment banking and investment management. He was appointed to Valiant’s Board of Directors.
“We are pleased to have such accomplished industry figures as Fred and Warren on our management team,” said Director Gavin Cuneo. “Their additions further our goal to attract the best business and creative talent for Valiant’s return.”
Chairman Peter Cuneo added, “The nucleus for Valiant is strong and growing. We look forward to updating you as we continue to progress towards our return in 2012.”
About Valiant Entertainment
Valiant Entertainment is a character-based entertainment company that owns and controls some of the most cherished comic characters ever created across all media, including films, television, video games, new media, publishing, and consumer products. Since their creation in 1989, Valiant characters have sold 80 million comic books and have been the basis of a number of successful video game franchises. Valiant’s extensive library includes over 1,500 characters, such as X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Harbinger, Shadowman, and Ninjak. Visit http://www.valiantentertainment.com/.
Happy Loving Day
Loving Day is an unofficial holiday and annual celebration held on June 12, which is the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia which struck down anti-miscegenation laws. Anti-miscegenation laws criminalized interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of two different "races."
The plaintiffs in Loving vs. Virginia were a black woman, Mildred Delores Jeter Loving, and her husband, Richard Perry Loving, a white man. The defendant was the state of Virginia because of its Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which criminalized marriages between white and non-white persons. It's kind a funny to write about this considering that we have in Barack Obama, a "biracial" child of a white woman and a black (African) man.
So today, let's remember that love doesn't always care about quantities of melanin.
The plaintiffs in Loving vs. Virginia were a black woman, Mildred Delores Jeter Loving, and her husband, Richard Perry Loving, a white man. The defendant was the state of Virginia because of its Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which criminalized marriages between white and non-white persons. It's kind a funny to write about this considering that we have in Barack Obama, a "biracial" child of a white woman and a black (African) man.
So today, let's remember that love doesn't always care about quantities of melanin.
I Reads You Review: BLADE #12
MARVEL COMICS
WRITER: Marc Guggenheim
ARTIST: Howard Chaykin with Gene Colan
COLORIST: Edgar Delgado
LETTERS: VC’s Rus Wooton
COVER: Marko Djurdjevic
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S., $3.75 CAN
“A Stake Through the Heart”
Back in 2006, Marvel Comics launched a new comic book series starring Blade, their vampire hunter who first appeared in the 1970s horror comic book series, The Tomb of Dracula (#10, July 1973). The character would go on to be the star in a trio of films, beginning with Blade (1998) and starring Wesley Snipes as Blade.
This Blade comic book series, which ran for 12 issues, was written by screenwriter and television writer-producer, Marc Guggenheim. It was drawn by Howard Chaykin, an industry legend and veteran writer/artist best known for the highly influential 1980s comic book, American Flagg! Guggenheim’s take on Blade was closer to the character in the comic books than the one in the movies, and much of this series focused on the early years of Blade’s mission as a vampire hunter extraordinaire.
Blade #12 finds Blade at Castle Dracula in a face off with his biological father, Lucas Cross, a vampire. Lucas, the head of the mysterious Order of Tyrana, intends to force Blade to fulfill a prophecy that would restore the souls of all living vampires. Blade knows, however, that not having a soul is the only weakness that vampires have. Blade’s colleague and friend, vampire detective Hannibal King, is desperate to have his soul back and has sided with Lucas. Everything is against Blade, and it gets worse. His greatest adversary has returned. Also, the story goes back in time to the most crucial mission of Blade’s young career, the one that made him the vamp-killing man he is today.
This Blade series ended by seemingly giving Blade a new future. Since its publication, Blade would go on to be a supporting character and team member in the short-lived Captain Britain and MI: 13 (a series that I absolutely did not like). He’s even a black sheep-like character in the recently launched Ultimate Avengers.
I do miss this series, primarily because I am a huge fan of the character. I also liked the fact that each issue offered a self-contained story, except for the final two issues, which are apparently connected in order to close out the series. As much I liked this series, however, I think that it barely scratched the surface of Blade’s potential. Comic book publishers are currently quite impressed with the idea of hiring television scribes to write comic books, and have been for most of this past decade – especially those who have worked on serial dramas or on genre series (particularly crime or weird/fantasy series).
There are probably advantages to hiring screenwriters (mastery of story structure? reputation? name recognition?), but I wonder if imagination is one of those advantages. Do Hollywood types bring the kind of creativity and unique vision to comics that dedicated comic book writers do? Once again, as much as I enjoyed this Blade series, Guggenheim’s work was not nearly as imaginative and as fun to read as the work Chris Claremont and Marv Wolfman did on this series four decades ago.
It is too bad that Claremont and Wolfman are not now writing a Blade comic book. Speaking of classic Blade creators: Blade #12 has art by Blade’s co-creator, artist Gene Colan.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Dark Horse Comics News: Baltimore Collection Sells Out
June 8, MILWAUKIE, OR: In another amazing show of demand for Dark Horse Comics, Baltimore: The Plague Ships has completely sold out of its entire first printing!
A second printing is fast on its way! This phenomenal hardcover collects issues #1-#5 of the miniseries and features an extensive sketchbook section.
Written by masters of macabre Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden, this is a book not to be missed!
About The Plague Ships:
After a devastating plague ends World War I, Europe is suddenly flooded with vampires. Lord Henry Baltimore, a soldier determined to wipe out the monsters, fights his way through bloody battlefields, ruined plague ships, exploding zeppelins, and submarine graveyards, on the hunt for the creature who’s become his obsession.
Hurry now to your local comics retailer and grab a 1st edition before they’re gone for good! Also, Baltimore: The Curse Bells #1 will be released August 10th, keep a look out!
About Dark Horse Comics
Since 1986, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent like Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Gerard Way, and comics legend Will Eisner, Dark Horse has developed such successful characters as the Mask, Timecop, and SpyBoy. Additionally, its highly successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Emily the Strange, Tim Burton, Trigun, Serenity, and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic-book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of licensed comics material.
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