Death Knight Gets a Manga

I finished reading Warcraft: Death Knight (World of Warcraft)

I posted a review at Comic Book Bin.

Is DC Comics Rebooting Via Original Graphic Novels? - An I Reads You Juniors Special

From the DC Comics's The Source blog:

Monday, December 7th, 2009
By Alex Segura

That major publishing event we mentioned earlier today? Well, here it is.

Original stories featuring Batman and Superman in graphic novel form from the biggest creators out there. But these aren’t one-offs. We’re talking ongoing series of OGNs in a new continuity, on a new Earth.

Sound appealing?

Starting next year, DC Comics will unveil SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE and BATMAN: EARTH ONE, two graphic novels spotlighting the most powerful heroes of the DC Universe, with their first years and earliest moments retold in a standalone, original graphic novel format, on a new earth with an all-new continuity.

Return to Smallville and experience the journey of Earth’s greatest adopted son, as he grows from boy to Superman in SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE by J. Michael Straczynski and artist Shane Davis.

Watch from the darkest corners of Crime Alley as a young boy is struck by unbelievable tragedy that will forge the greatest crime-fighter to ever stalk the rooftops of Gotham City in BATMAN: EARTH ONE, by writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank.

What does JMS have to say? Well, here’s a snippet from his first interview on the subject: “What I’m trying to do is to dig in to the character and look at him through modern eyes. If you were to create the Superman story today, for the first time, but keep intact all that works, what would it look like?”

“It is monumental for us as comic readers to see Superman birthed for the first time,” Davis said. “It’s a privilege to realize that you’re the artist that gets to draw it, better yet having the luxury to do it in an original graphic novel. This is going to be epic!”

What about Geoff Johns? Well, we happen to have a bit from his first interview as well: “BATMAN: EARTH ONE allows Gary and I to break the restraints of any continuity and focus on two things: character and story.”

Want more? Sure you do. Why not check out the interviews AIN’T IT COOL NEWS just posted with the previously mentioned Johns and Straczynski? [END]

MY TAKE: I wonder if DC Comics is using these original graphic novels (OGNs) as a way of rebooting its universe and/or core characters for readers outside the comic book store market. Are they modernizing these characters or starting from scratch as a way to entice new readers who don't have to be familiar with the comic books sold in comic book stores through the Direct Market?

If DC markets these well, they could sell a lot of books to people who like super heroes and don't buy comics books, but are not resistant to reading a comic book. Do a lot of people like superheroes? Well, superhero movies sure seem to be doing well at the box office...

-------------------------

Sarah Palin Bio Comic Gets a "Going Rouge Edition"

Press release from Bluewater Productions:

PALIN BIO COMIC “GOES ROGUE” WITH UNPRECEDENTED FOURTH PRINTING WITH NEW CONTENT

As Sarah Palin criss-crosses the nation promoting her new tell-all memoir, Bluewater Productions plans to “go rogue” with a fourth-printing of the best selling bio comic featuring the former Alaska governor.

“Female Force: Sarah Palin, Going Rogue Edition” updates her story from the original comic released in February, adds new artwork and features a new cover. This special edition will be available in comic shops and online venues later this month. Featuring a new cover by Vinnie Tartamella.

“People just can’t get enough of Sarah Palin,” said Darren Davis, Bluewater’s president on the need for the unprecedented fourth printing of a single title. “This issue has proven to be one of our all-time best sellers and Palin signed a couple copies of the comics for us.”

Published earlier this year, the original comic ended with her failed bid for the Vice Presidency of the United States. Since then, Palin has remained a high profile personality given her curious resignation as governor of Alaska, her new memoir and her public clash with her former son-in-law.

“She is a polarizing figure, but a compelling one,” Davis remarked as to why he thought the Palin title has sold so well. “Many scoffed when I said last year we’ll still be talking about Palin long after the election. I think she will be a topic of conversation for many years.”

Female Force offers a broad examination of strong and influential women who are shaping modern history and culture. The Palin book will share the comic shelf with a Female Force biography of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling which also comes out this month.

The comic book series, launched earlier this year, has drawn considerable media attention, including features on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, “The View” and “Live with Regis and Kelly.” It has also been featured in such periodicals as People Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today and thousands of blogs and other media outlets.

The suggested retail price (SRP) for the upcoming comic book is $3.99.
Pre-ordering is currently available at several outlets using the Diamond Comic Distributor code OCT098131 F [END]

Moonstone Books Announces Fifth Issue of The Spider

From Moonstone Books:

THE SPIDER #5

Story: Robin Wayne Bailey

Art: Cortney Skinner

Cover: Gary Carbon

32pgs, b/w grayscale, $3.50

Join Sci-Fi/Fantasy novelist Robin Wayne Bailey for the rocking conclusion to “Death Votes Twice!” It’s The Spider vs The Spider is this bloody shoot out! Outnumbered and wounded, he must mow down an army before they can get to the President…and disarm the ticking bombs that will blow the city to smithereens…!

***RETAILER INCENTIVE: If (you order 3 or more copies, then you can order one FREE copy!

Trapped in the Inner Chambers

I finished reading Ôoku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 2 (Ooku the Inner Chambers)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin. This is one of the best single issue or single volume comic books of 2009.

Terminal Press to Publish Rob Dukes' I AM BECOME GOD

Press release from Terminal Press:

The sickest minds in comic books and heavy metal are dishing up a slice of pure evil this January, as Terminal Press and Exodus’ Rob Dukes combine forces on a raw and brutal new comic – I AM BECOME GOD.

Adapted from an unpublished novel by Dukes, the comic takes its title from Hindu scripture – and its content from the underside of Hell. The infamous quote from which the book is named (“I am become death, destroyer of worlds”) is often associated with the testing of the United States’ first atomic bomb. In actuality, it originally comes from the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu text on the ethics of war. With I AM BECOME GOD, these themes of violence, death and morality have been twisted and distilled into the life of a lone man – a nameless serial killer who leads us through his own dark journey from youth to adulthood.

Told in excruciating detail and without regret, I AM BECOME GOD is an autobiographical coming-of-age story for the damned. Structured around the cliché rites of passage for modern youth – first love, school rivalries, higher education – here each event is wrapped in blood and gristle, darkness and rage. Dukes and the creative team behind him have tapped into something primal, exploring a man who lives for nothing but his own thirst for death – a thirst that has no origin, no respite, and no boundaries.

Fans of extreme horror should prepare themselves for one of the most unrelenting visions of a serial killer yet seen in modern fiction, from the mind of one of metal’s most savage frontmen.

I AM BECOME GOD is written by Rob Dukes with scripting by Keith McCleary (Killing Tree Quarterly, Deep Throat, Exodus: Death Begets Death), art by Garrett Adderley (Candy Stripers) and colors by Adam Street (Candy Stripers, Spider-Man, Hulk).

I AM BECOME GOD will be available early 2010 from Terminal Press and on Exodus’ upcoming Tyrants Of Evil tour (http://www.myspace.com/EXODUS) with Arch Enemy. Visit http://www.terminalpress.com for updates and the Terminal Press Facebook Fan Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Terminal-Press/110121042984) for a look at some “I am Become God” concept art.

Moyasimon Debuts

I finished reading Moyasimon 1: Tales of Agriculture

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.