Geof Darrow Brings "Shaolin Cowboy" to Dark Horse Comics

GEOF DARROW’S SHAOLIN COWBOY RETURNS IN AN ALL-NEW THREE ISSUE SERIES FROM DARK HORSE!

Five years after it’s initial run ended, Geof Darrow’s (Hard Boiled, Big Guy and Rusty) returns in 2012!

Originally published by Burlyman Entertainment, Shaolin Cowboy is a loaf of wry in a wonder bread world, a nicotine patch in a ten pack-a-day universe. He wonders as he wanders through a world where yesterday, today and tomorrow exist in a collage of carnage of his own making!

“Geof Darrow's relationship with Dark Horse goes back to the early days of the company. I can't tell you how excited I am to again be publishing his amazing work” said Dark Horse president, Mike Richardson. “Geof's art literally stopped me in my tracks when I first met him more than two decades ago and his work is every bit as stunning today. Geof has influenced a generation of artists and I am proud and excited to have him back partnered with Dark Horse.”

Shaolin Cowboy returns with all-new stories in 2012!

Review: MORIARTY VOLUME 1: The Dark Chamber

MORIARTY VOLUME 1: THE DARK CHAMBER
IMAGE COMICS

WRITER: Daniel Corey
ARTIST: Anthony Diecidue
COLORS: Anthony Diecidue and Perry Freeze (issues 3 and 4)
LETTERS: Dave Lanphear
ISBN: 978-1-60706-450-3; paperback
128pp, Color, $14.99 U.S.

Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is the most famous literary detective. Such an illustrious protagonist needs an illustrious adversary, and Holmes had one in Professor James Moriarty. Although referenced in various Holmes short stories, Moriarty first appeared in “The Final Problem,” an 1893 short story. Moriarty played a direct role in the Holmes novel, The Valley of Fear, but is apparently unseen.

Moriarty is a recently launched comic book series from Image Comics. This mystery thriller focuses on Professor James Moriarty, as its title character and central protagonist. In late September of this year, the first trade collection of Moriarty was published.

Moriarty Volume 1: The Dark Chamber is set at the dawn of World War I. It is also 20 years after the death of Sherlock Holmes at the hand of Moriarty, and the master villain is a lost man, with his once-vaunted criminal empire now just a pitiful shadow of its former self. Still, Moriarty is a formidable man, which is why Section 5 (MI5) is blackmailing him to find Sherlock Holmes’ missing brother, Mycroft Holmes.

What at first appears to be a routine case turns out to involve someone Mycroft was investigating, another person who is now missing, Rupert Thomason. Both men have apparently fallen into the clutches of a dangerous new villain, the mysterious Tartarus. With the help of the Jade Serpent, who also has her own criminal empire, Moriarty doggedly pursues his quarry across England and finally to a showdown that will decide the fate of London and perhaps, the world.

I was not exactly pleased when I received a copy of Moriarty Volume 1: The Dark Chamber for review. I was not interested in another Holmes pastiche. Feeling obligated, I eventually started reading and then couldn’t stop. This is every bit as fun as Guy Ritche’s fantasia, Sherlock Holmes, with a Moriarty every bit as interesting and as fun to follow as Holmes. Sometimes, we have to learn to love a great villain (Iago, Hannibal Lecter), and in writer Daniel Corey’s clever story, I found myself loving Moriarty, even if he is a murderous bastard.

Something else that grew on me is Anthony Diecidue’s art with its woodblock sensibilities and expressionistic inking. You may think of Kevin O’Neill when you see this; I did. If you’ve been waiting for a real Sherlock Holmes comic book, you’ll be delighted by the fact that Moriarty is the one to give it to you.

A-

New Star Wars Comic Book Goes Back to the "Dawn of the Jedi"

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES STAR WARS: DAWN OF THE JEDI

TAKING YOU BACK TO THE BEGINNINGS OF THE JEDI

Direct from New York Comic Con, Dark Horse Comics announces its most exciting Star Wars title for 2012! A brand-new series that establishes the beginnings of the Jedi!

Series creators John Ostrander and Jan Duursema have gone from the future of Star Wars (Legacy) to the beginnings of that galaxy far, far away to reveal the mythic age of the Jedi’s origin. This is the Star Wars era of legend! Launching with a #0 issue, which will serve as the official guide for readers - Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi is the perfect jumping on point for any fan of Star Wars!

Here’s your first look at the Star Wars of 25,000 years ago—before there were lightsabers, when the ties to the Force were new, and before the Jedi spread out into the galaxy. It began with the mysterious pyramid ships—the Tho Yor—scattered to the eight corners of the galaxy, and ended with the establishment of an Order that would change the universe forever.

On the planet Tython, in the center of the galaxy, an order of warrior monks strives to maintain peace and to balance the mysterious power known as the Force. But a stranger is coming—one who will destroy both peace and balance, and open the galaxy to exploration and conquest. This is where it all begins!

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #0 is on sale 1 February 2012

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi—Force Storm #1 is on sale 15 February 2012


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.

Lucasfilm, the Lucasfilm logo, STAR WARS™ and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. TM & © Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners.

I Reads You Review: ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1

"Everybody's talking 'bout the new kid in town"

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #1
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
ARTIST: Sara Pichelli
COLORS: Justin Ponsor
LETTERS: VC’s Cory Petit
COVER: Kaare Andrews (Variant covers by Sara Pichelli and Justin Ponsor)
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

I don’t read many titles from Marvel Comics, and it has been that way for the past seven years, at least. During the last decade, I’ve occasionally read titles from Marvel’s Ultimate line and, for the most part, enjoyed them. However, I had ignored the “Death of Spider-Man” Ultimate storyline which ran through most of this year. Peter Parker was killed, and Miles Morales, a teenager of African-American and Latino descent, is the new Spider-Man (or Ultimate Spider-Man II).

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (AKA Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1) begins 11 months prior to the main story and is set at an Osborn Industries laboratory on Long Island. Norman Osborn is demanding that his latest hire, Doctor Markus, reverse calculate the specifications of a genetically altered spider. What spider? That would be the spider that bit Peter Parker and gave him his special powers; the spider’s genetic alterations were the result of Osborn Industries.

Eleven months later, Miles Morales and his parents are attending a lottery that will decide which Brooklyn, New York students get to attend the charter school, Brooklyn Visions Academy. Miles’ life, however, is about to take an even bigger turn because young Mr. Morales has a date with a special spider.

A few years ago, I started reading back issues of Static, one of the titles published by the comics publishing wing of Milestone Media, a company dedicated to bringing diversity in terms of race and ethnicity to comic book superheroes. Reading those early issues of Static, I was struck by how much they reminded me of the early issues of The Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Now, I’m struck by how much this Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man reads like an early issue of Static. Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis has adapted, updated, and reworked the stories of many of the Spider-Man comic book writers that came before him, notably Lee and Ditko. Now, it seems as if he has taken the fresh style and urban tone of Static writers, the late Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington, III, and fashioned that for Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man. I kid you not; this Spider-Man comic book is an early issue of Static.

I don’t have a problem with that because (1) this is a good opening issue and (2) the story looks, reads, and feels right for a contemporary story of superhero fantasy in which the star is a person of color. This is an auspicious beginning, and I hope Miles Morales welcomes in new readers the way Peter Parker did 50 years ago.

A

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 includes a backup feature that reprints pages from “A Moment of Silence” and “Heroes,” two of Marvel Comics’ 9/11 publications: Bill Jemas (story), Mark Bagley (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Hi-Fi (colors), Sharpefont’s PT (letters); and Joe Quesada and Alex Ross (cover illustration)

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Kamisama Kiss: Summer Festival

I read Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 5

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan Take Conan to the Black Coast

WOODS AND CLOONAN CONQUER THE BLACK COAST!

Oct, 15th, NEW YORK, NY - If you never thought of picking up and reading Conan because it just wasn’t your style, then think again!

Dark Horse Comics is proud to announce a new era of Conan. Conan the Barbarian is a perfect jumping-on point for new readers—a bold, fresh take on the Cimmerian from the visionary creative team of writer Brian Wood (DMZ, Northlanders) and artist Becky Cloonan (Demo, Pixu)!

Wood and Cloonan will have Conan breaking hearts . . . and breaking faces!

In this sweeping adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s “Queen of the Black Coast,” the most-requested Conan adaptation, Conan turns his back on the civilized world and takes to the high seas alongside the pirate queen Bêlit, setting the stage for an epic of romance, terror, and swashbuckling. This is Conan as you’ve never seen him, and with the combination of one of Robert E. Howard’s greatest tales and the most dynamic creative team in comics, there has never been a better time to start reading!

Conan the Barbarian is on sale February 8, 2012.

The New 52 Review: STATIC SHOCK #2

STATIC SHOCK #2
DC COMICS

WRITERS: Scott McDaniel and John Rozum
PENCILS: Scott McDaniel
INKS: Andy Owens
COLORS: Guy Major
LETTERS: Dezi Sienty
COVER: Chris Brunner with Rico Renzi
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Static/Virgil Ovid Hawkins is an African-American teen superhero who first appeared in comic books produced by Milestone Media. With the re-launch of DC Comics’ superhero line, “The New 52,” Static stars in a new comic book series entitled Static Shock.

As Static Shock #2 (“Disarmed”) opens, Static takes on a big-talking bad guy named Virule. The battle leaves Static grievously injured… or so he thinks, and suddenly, Virgil has to pay attention to the development his powers. As he navigates the halls of his new high school, P.S. M101 Dwayne G. McDuffie Center for Science and Mathematics (good name), Static discovers that he can get some clues about his other current adversaries, the Slate Gang. Meanwhile, the conspiracy in which he is a part grows with new players.

For readers to fully enjoy the new DC Comics Static Shock, they will need to be somewhat familiar with the Milestone Comics Static stories, but that is less so with this second issue than it was with the first. I must have missed something, because something screwed up is going on with Virgil’s sister, Sharon.

Anyway, everything about Static Shock has improved from issue 1 to issue 2. The action and fight scenes are brief, but are explosive and also effective for the story. Co-writer/penciller Scott McDaniel and co-writer John Rozum jump around a lot from scenes with just Static or just the villains to scenes at home and at school, but each one is necessary to the story and moves it forward by offering more tantalizing details. These scenes form one big structural backbone. This time, Static Shock is not just another superhero comic book; it is also an engaging mystery and drama.

The art by McDaniel and inker Andy Owens is also better. The composition is solid, even if this isn’t the prettiest art around. The graphic and page design are dynamic and certainly more lively than last time, which makes the storytelling less stiff and formal. Static Shock #2 gives me hope that I can, at least, expect good things from this series. After the first issue, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep reading.

B+