Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for August 28 2013

DARK HORSE COMICS

JUN130025 ANGEL & FAITH #25 STEVE MORRIS CVR $2.99
JUN130039 CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT #2 $2.99
APR130077 CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES HC VOL 05 $49.99
JUN130027 ITTY BITTY HELLBOY #1 $2.99
JUN130057 KING CONAN HOUR O/T DRAGON #4 $3.50
JUN138070 LAST OF US AMERICAN DREAMS #1 (3RD PTG) $3.99
JUN130010 MASS EFFECT FOUNDATION #2 $3.99
JUN130047 MASSIVE #15 $3.50
JUN130045 MIND MGMT #14 $3.99
APR130027 NUMBER 13 TP $15.99
APR130065 SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN TP VOL 14 $19.99
JUN130019 STAR WARS LEGACY II #6 $2.99
JUN130035 STATION TO STATION ONE SHOT $2.99

Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for August 28 2013

Digital Comics: Digital new releases available from your local comic book shop are marked below. [DIG] = Digital version available. [DIG/P+] = Print-Plus digital/print combo pack available. For more information, go to www.digitalcomicsreader.com.

IMAGE COMICS

JUN138142 LAZARUS #2 2ND PTG (MR) $2.99
JUN130548 LAZARUS #3 (MR) [DIG] $2.99
MAY130564 MIND THE GAP #13 CVR A ESQUEJO [DIG] $2.99
MAY130565 MIND THE GAP #13 CVR B MCDAID $2.99
JUN130554 MORNING GLORIES #30 (MR) [DIG] $3.50
APR130462 PROGENY TP VOL 01 [DIG] $16.99
JUN130457 SECRET #3 (RES) [DIG] $3.50
JUN130560 SEX #6 (MR) [DIG] $2.99
JUN130461 SKULLKICKERS #24 [DIG] $3.50
APR130472 SPAWN DARK AGES COMPLETE COLL HC $59.99
JUN130488 SPAWN ORIGINS HC VOL 09 $29.99
FEB130469 SUPER DINOSAUR #20 [DIG] $2.99
JUN130567 THINK TANK #9 [DIG] $3.99
MAY130517 WALKING DEAD EZEKIEL HAS A TIGER T/S MENS XL $19.99
MAY130521 WALKING DEAD EZEKIEL HAS A TIGER T/S WOMENS LG $19.99
MAY130520 WALKING DEAD EZEKIEL HAS A TIGER T/S WOMENS MED $19.99
MAY130519 WALKING DEAD EZEKIEL HAS A TIGER T/S WOMENS SM $19.99
MAY130522 WALKING DEAD EZEKIEL HAS A TIGER T/S WOMENS XL $19.99

IMAGE COMICS/MCFARLANE TOYS

JUN131930 TMP MLB BUSTER POSEY AF PI
JUN131931 TMP MLB JOSH HAMILTON AF PI
MAY131860 TMP NFL SMALL PROS MINI FIG SER 1 PI
MAY131841 TMP SPORTS NFL SERIES 32 AF PI
MAY131847 TMP SPORTS NFL SERIES 32 ARIAN FOSTER AF PI
MAY131849 TMP SPORTS NFL SERIES 32 PEYTON MANNING AF PI
MAY131843 TMP SPORTS NFL SERIES 32 RGIII AF PI
MAY131846 TMP SPORTS NFL SERIES 32 VERNON DAVIS AF PI
APR130582 WALKING DEAD COMIC SER 2 GLENN AF PI
APR130581 WALKING DEAD COMIC SER 2 GOVERNOR AF PI
APR130583 WALKING DEAD COMIC SER 2 MICHONNE PET AF PI
APR130584 WALKING DEAD COMIC SER 2 PENNY AF PI
APR130580 WALKING DEAD COMIC SERIES 2 AF PI

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for August 28 2013

Digital Comics: Digital new releases available from your local comic book shop are marked below. [DIG] = Digital version available. [DIG/P+] = Print-Plus digital/print combo pack available. For more information, go to www.digitalcomicsreader.com.

PREVIEWS PUBLICATIONS
JUL130004 PREVIEWS #300 SEP 2013 CUSTOMER ORDER FORM PI
JUL130001 PREVIEWS #300 SEPTEMBER 2013 [DIG/P+] $4.50

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
MAR130956 ADVENTURE TIME FIONNA & CAKE #1 EMERALD CITY COMIC CON $9.99
JUN130790 ALL NEW FATHOM #2 ASPEN RESERVED CVR $3.99
JUN130789 ALL NEW FATHOM #2 DIRECT MARKET CVR [DIG] $3.99
JUL131419 ANGEL FALLING GN (MR) $9.99
JUN130722 ARCANE SECRETS #1 $3.99
JUN130780 ASYLUM OF HORRORS #1 (MR) [DIG] $4.95
APR131219 ATOMIC ROBO REAL SCIENCE ADV #10 $2.75
JUN131367 BTOOOM GN VOL 03 (MR) $11.99
JUN131368 BUNNY DROP GN VOL 09 $13.99
APR130796 BUTCHER STREET GN $19.95
JUN131184 CAGE OF EDEN GN VOL 11 $10.99
MAR138285 COMPLETE PEANUTS HC BOX SET 1963-1966 $49.95
JUN131143 COMPLETE PEANUTS HC BOX SET 1963-1966 $49.95
JUL130857 CROSSED ANNUAL 2013 #1 CHEERFUL CVR (MR) $5.99
JUN131056 DAMSELS GIANT KILLER ONE SHOT $4.99
SEP121067 DF ALL NEW X-MEN #1 LEE SGN ED $399.99
JAN131137 DF DEADPOOL KILLUSTRATED #1 BUNN SGN ED $19.91
NOV121158 DF FANTASTIC FOUR #1 FRACTION SGN ED $19.61
DEC121081 DF FF #1 ALLRED SGN ED $19.61
SEP121071 DF IRON MAN #1 MARQUEE LEE SGN ED $399.99
NOV121160 DF VENOM #28 BUNN SGN ED $19.88
APR131098 DF WARLORD OF MARS DEJAH THORIS #28 EXC RISQUE RED CVR $19.99
JUN131215 DISNEY FAIRIES GN VOL 12 LOST TREASURE $7.99
MAY131141 END O/T F$$$ING WORLD GN (MR) $19.99
JUN130706 ENVY ONE SHOT (MR) $2.49
JUN130804 EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ASSASSINS #14 CVR A HANSON [DIG] $3.99
JUN130805 EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT ASSASSINS #14 CVR B TORQUE $3.99
MAY130886 EXTINCTION PARADE #2 (MR) $3.99
MAY130888 EXTINCTION PARADE #2 END OF SPECIES CVR (MR) $3.99
MAY130887 EXTINCTION PARADE #2 WRAP CVR (MR) $3.99
JUN130894 FANBOYS VS ZOMBIES #17 [DIG] $3.99
JUN130879 FUTURAMA COMICS #68 $2.99
JUN131384 GFT 2013 SPECIAL ED (UNLEASHED PT5) A CVR KING $5.99
JUN131385 GFT 2013 SPECIAL ED (UNLEASHED PT5) B CVR LAISO $5.99
JUN131386 GFT 2013 SPECIAL ED (UNLEASHED PT5) C CVR CAFARO $5.99
JUN131387 GFT 2013 SPECIAL ED (UNLEASHED PT5) D CVR KLAUBA $5.99
JUN131397 GFT NO TOMORROW #1 A CVR KROME $2.99
JUN131398 GFT NO TOMORROW #1 B CVR SEJIC $2.99
JUN131399 GFT NO TOMORROW #1 C CVR TOLIBAO $2.99
JUN131400 GFT NO TOMORROW #1 D CVR QUALANO $2.99
JUN131407 GFT ROBYN HOOD WANTED #4 A CVR SIQUEIRA $2.99
JUN131408 GFT ROBYN HOOD WANTED #4 B CVR REYES $2.99
JUN130728 GOLD DIGGER GINA VS PENNY ONE SHOT $3.99
JUN131345 HELTER SKELTER FASHION UNFRIENDLY GN $16.95
JUL131197 HENRY AND GLENN FOREVER AND EVER #1 (MR) $5.00
FEB130870 HIGHER EARTH TP VOL 02 $14.99
MAY131144 IN CASE WE DIE HC NOVEL $26.99
MAY131074 JIM BUTCHERS DRESDEN FILES GHOUL GOBLIN #6 $3.99
JUN131369 JUDGE GN VOL 01 $12.99
JUN131378 KINGDOM HEARTS II TP VOL 02 $19.00
MAR130787 LAST ZOMBIE #4 THE END [DIG] $3.99
MAY130780 LAST ZOMBIE TP VOL 04 BEFORE THE AFTER $14.95
MAR138283 LOCAL HC NEW PTG $39.99
JUN131002 MARK WAID GREEN HORNET #5 $3.99
JUN130982 MASKS TP VOL 01 $24.99
APR131167 MEOW MEOW HC $20.95
JUN131015 MISS FURY #5 CVR A TAN $3.99
JUN131016 MISS FURY #5 CVR B BENITEZ $3.99
JUN131017 MISS FURY #5 CVR C WORLEY $3.99
JUN131018 MISS FURY #5 CVR D CHEN $3.99
JUN131878 MR TOAST COMICS #5 SUBTERRA THE WORLD BELOW $3.00
JUN131229 MYSTERIOUS STRANGERS #3 $3.99
MAY130921 OCCUPY COMICS #3 $3.50
JUN130783 OVERTAKEN #1 ASPEN RESERVED CVR $1.00
JUN130782 OVERTAKEN #1 DIRECT MARKET CVR [DIG] $1.00
JUN131370 PANDORA HEARTS GN VOL 17 $11.99
JUN130912 PEANUTS VOL 2 #11 [DIG] $3.99
JUN131371 PUELLA MAGI KAZUMI MAGICA GN VOL 02 INNOCENT MALICE $11.99
JUN138340 QUANTUM & WOODY #1 3RD PTG $3.99
JUN130919 REGULAR SHOW #1 PHOENIX COMIC CON EX CVR $9.99
APR130957 REGULAR SHOW #3 MAIN CVRS [DIG] $3.99
JUN130767 SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH MAGIC WITHIN TP VOL 03 $10.99
MAY131196 SCIENCE A DISCOVERY IN COMICS HC $19.99
JUN131211 SMURFS GN VOL 16 AEROSMURF $5.99
JUN131212 SMURFS HC VOL 16 AEROSMURF $10.99
MAY130949 STEED AND MRS PEEL ONGOING #11 [DIG] $3.99
JUN130904 SUICIDE RISK #1 PHOENIX COMIC CON EX CVR $9.99
APR130980 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE TP VOL 11 PX ED (MR) $34.99
JUN131217 THEA STILTON HC VOL 02 LIZARD CLUB $9.99
MAY131276 TOMORROWLAND #2 $3.99
JUL130851 UBER #0 ENHANCED BREAKDOWN ED (MR) $5.99
JUL130852 UBER #2 WAR CRIMES CVR (MR) $5.99
JUN131373 UMINEKO WHEN THEY CRY GN VOL 04 TURN GOLDEN WITCH PT 2 $20.99
JUN131028 UNCANNY #3 $3.99
JUN130968 VAMPIRELLA #33 NEVES CVR $3.99
JUN130969 VAMPIRELLA #33 PARRILLO CVR $3.99
JUN131230 WASTELAND #47 (MR) $3.99
JUN131291 WESTWARD #5 $3.50
APR131168 YOUNG LOVECRAFT GN VOL 03 (MR) $19.95

MAGAZINES
MAY131418 ALTER EGO #120 $8.95
MAY131419 BACK ISSUE #67 $8.95
JUN131437 COMIC SHOP NEWS #1367 PI
APR131385 DC BATMAN AUTOMOBILIA FIG COLL MAG #12 DETECTIVE #27 $20.00
MAY131428 DC BATMAN AUTOMOBILIA FIG COLL MAG #14 BRAVE BOLD ANIMATED B $20.00
JUN131169 HEAVY METAL #264 (MR) $7.95
MAR131484 MEGAMI JUN 2013 $16.60
MAR131485 NEWTYPE JUN 2013 $16.00
FEB131299 VIDEO WATCHDOG #174 (MR) $8.95

BOOKS
JUN131420 ANIME ANGELS ORIGINAL CHARACTER ARTBOOK HC $60.00
JUN131471 DC SUPER HEROES WONDER WOMAN YR TP TRIAL OF THE AMAZONS $4.95
JUN131453 DC SUPER PETS CHARACTER ENCYCLOPEDIA YR TP $7.95
MAY131432 DEVIL IS IN DETAILS EXAMINING MATT MURDOCK & DAREDEVIL SC $15.99
JUL131484 HALLOWEEN MAGIC MYSTERY & THE MACABRE SC $15.95
JUN131483 HARRY POTTER & CHAMBER OF SECRETS KIBUISHI CVR ED $12.99
JUN131488 HARRY POTTER & DEATHLY HALLOWS KIBUISHI CVR ED $16.99
JUN131485 HARRY POTTER & GOBLET OF FIRE KIBUISHI CVR ED $14.99
JUN131487 HARRY POTTER & HALF BLOOD PRINCE KIBUISHI CVR ED $14.99
JUN131486 HARRY POTTER & ORDER O/T PHOENIX KIBUISHI CVR ED $14.99
JUN131484 HARRY POTTER & PRISONER OF AZKABAN KIBUISHI CVR ED $12.99
JUN131489 HARRY POTTER BOX SET KIBUISHI CVR ED $100.00
MAR131313 HATSUNE MIKU GRAPHICS CHAR COLL SC VOL 01 $29.99
APR131267 HATSUNE MIKU GRAPHICS CHAR COLL SC VOL 02 $34.99
JUL131500 MARVEL HEROES & VILLAINS POSTER COLLECTION SC $24.99
JUN131309 MM25 MEGA MAN & MM X OFF COMP WORKS SC $59.99
APR131132 NUDNIK REVEALED HC $29.99
JUL131474 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES SC $12.95
JUL131475 RESURRECTIONIST LOST WORK OF DR SPENCER BLACK HC $24.95
JUN131372 SPICE AND WOLF NOVEL VOL 09 (MR) $11.99

A Devil and Her Love Song: Birth of a Devil

I read A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 10

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin (which has free smart phone apps and comics).

I Reads You Review: L.A. Banks' MINION

MINION (Book 1 of The Vampire Huntress Legend Series)
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS – @StMartinsPress

AUTHOR: L.A. Banks
ISBN: 978-0-312-98701-5; mass market paperback (May 4, 2004)
320pp, B&W, $7.99 U.S., $9.99 CAN

Minion is a 2003 dark fantasy and vampire novel from the late author, L.A. Banks (the penname of Leslie Esdaile Banks).  A paperback original, Minion was first published in a trade paperback edition (2003) and later, in a mass market edition (2004).

Minion is the first book in Banks’ series, The Vampire Huntress Legend Series (VHL).  This twelve-book series centers on a young woman born to fight in a never-ending struggle between good and evil, the most constant and dangerous evil being vampires.

Twenty-year-old Damali Richards is a spoken word artist and the top act for Warriors of Light Records, but there is more to both Damali and her record company.  Damali hunts vampires and demons, and Marlene Stone, the owner of Warrior of Light Records, is Damali’s mother-seer, protector, and part of Damali’s Guardian team.

At night, Damali and the Guardians do their best work, but lately, times have been difficult.  A new group of apparently rogue vampires have been killing Guardians and artists associated with Warriors of Light, and Damali and her team know that these killings are out of the ordinary.  Instead of neat puncture marks on the neck to show where blood was drained from the body, these bodies have been mutilated, with the throats ripped out.

Blood Music, a rival organization, has also seen some of its artists killed.  Blood Music’s owner, Carlos Rivera, a rising young crime lord, comes to believe that the attacks are personal when some of the people closest to him are found savagely murdered.  Damali decides that she must infiltrate Blood Music in order to get more answers about the attack, but her mission is complicated by the fact that she and Carlos were once engaged in a serious romantic relationship.  The force behind these attacks, however, is a seductive vampire with a connection to Damali’s past.

I was walking around a local Dollar General store when I saw a spinner rack of paperback books.  Dollar General and other discount stores sell “remaindered books,” which are books steeply marked down from their original cover price by the publisher, distributor, and bookstore as a way of liquidating them.  I was shocked to see a mass market edition of Minion.  I had first learned of L.A. Banks several years ago in an article about African-American authors of fantasy (or fantasy authors of color), and since then, I wanted to read something by her.

Well, a dollar store bargain gave me my chance, and I’m glad I read Minion, although I was sad to learn that Banks had died since the time I had first heard of her.  Minion is more than simply an imaginative story.  Banks practically creates a new mythology of the vampire, connecting that monster of our nightmares to a larger evil called The Dark Realms.  Considering the well-worn sub-genre that is vampire fiction, Minion comes across as fresh and new.  It is probably one of the most inspired vampire novels since Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire was first published in 1976.

However, Minion is not a self-contained novel, so much as it is a primer into the world of Damali Richards (who is “The Neteru,” a human who is born every thousand years to fight the Dark Realms).  In a way, Minion is the first chapter in a dark fantasy serial.  There are many fantasy book series, such as the Harry Potter books, but each Potter novel is a self-contained story with a beginning, middle, and end, while also being part of a larger narrative.  Minion is the novel as an out-sized first chapter in a serial that happens to be comprised of books rather than episodes.

That makes Minion kind of strange.  It has a beginning, but after that, the story just moves along, with Banks introducing all these crazy, but interesting ideas.  After awhile, I got the idea that Minion was entirely about the beginning, and no middle, let alone ending was in sight.

But I’m ready to read more.  Banks’ colorful prose, peppered with “urban” idioms and sparkling African-American sass and vernacular, is a candied treat.  Her inventiveness, however, takes Minion beyond being a “Black thing.”  Banks seems to have taken New Line’s Blade movies, the Buffy the Vampire television series, and Anne Rice’s gothic fiction and blended them into a new thing.  This new thing takes place on the streets, in the back alleys, and in clubs and other venues of live music (like raves).  Minion opens a new place for lovers of vampire fiction to play, and I want to be there.

A-

http://www.vampire-huntress.com/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #1

ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

WRITER: Frank Miller
PENCILS: Jim Lee
INKS: Scott Williams
COLORS: Alex Sinclair
LETTERS: Jared K. Fletcher
36pp, Color, $2.99 U.S., $4.00 CAN (September 2005)

I only read a few issues of All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder, but I have been thinking about it, on and off, for the last year or so.  Why?  It’s best not to dig too deep.

Thanks to Mile High Comics’ constant stream of deep-discount sales, I was able to get another copy of All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #1.  [I don’t know what happened to the first copy I had.].  I can’t remember how much or if I liked it the first time I read it back in 2005.  I do remember not liking issue #2.  This time, however, I really enjoyed reading #1.

As you may remember, All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder, written by Frank Miller and drawn by Jim Lee, was the first series to be launched in 2005 under DC Comics’ then new “All Star” imprint.  This imprint was to feature comic book miniseries produced by writers and artists who were renowned in the American comic book industry.  Each series would feature stories that take place outside DC Universe continuity and would also retell the history (in part) of a prominent DC Universe character, while being set in its own continuity and in a separate universe  [Yes, I know; this is all fan jargon].

All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #1 opens with a splash page of young Dick Grayson of the circus acrobatic team, The Flying Graysons.  Then, the story moves to the swanky Gotham City apartment of intrepid, sex-pot reporter, Vicki Vale.  Alfred Pennyworth calls to inform her that she has a date with millionaire Bruce Wayne.  Wayne takes Vale to the circus, and she wonders why Wayne admits to keeping an “eye’ on young Dick.  It culminates in a double homicide and an extended action scene involving a car chase and The Batman.

Frank Miller has apparently described All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder as being set in the same universe as his Bat-magnum opus, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.  Actually, Miller’s dialogue reads like something he wrote for Sin City – tongue-in-cheek and sharp-edged.  I see characters in this series as dark, arrogant and/or supremely confident – depending on how I interpret a scene.  Once again, this is more Sin City than Batman.

The joy of All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #1 is Jim Lee’s pencil art.  With Scott Williams’s dexterous yet precise inks and Alex Sinclair’s gleaming, neon-like colors, Lee is doing his version of Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley’s art for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

Lee began cleaning up his compositions of inconsequential crosshatching and other extraneous line work beginning with his twelve-issue run on Batman (entitled “Hush”) back in 2002.  He began to focus more on page design and the graphic design within each panel.  The result was better looking art.

Here, Lee captures the stylish sensibilities of early Batman comic books, a mixture of newspaper comic strip art and pulp fiction illustration, with art deco flourishes.  Lee seems to be having fun with All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #1, and I’m having fun reading it.  I look forward to reading #2, again.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: SKYWARD #1

SKYWARD #1
ACTION LAB ENTERTAINMENT – @ActionLab

CARTOONIST: Jeremy Dale
COLORS: Steve Downer
LETTERS: Thom Zahler
COVER: Jeremy Dale with Laura Martin
EDITOR: Kelly Dale
32pp, Color, $3.99 (July 2013)

Action Lab Entertainment recently began publishing a fantasy comic book series, entitled Skyward.  It is created, written, and drawn by Jeremy Dale, who apparently first began self-publishing Skyward a few years ago.

Skyward #1 (“The Genesis of Exodus”) introduces a boy named Quinn.  He lives in the kind of medieval-like age which is the setting for many epic fantasy and high-fantasy stories.  As Skyward begins, Quinn is fishing with his dog, Jack, and his father, Corin, a massive muscular man with a Conan the Cimmerian body type.

On the way home, Quinn and Corin are involved in an incident, which they don’t realize portends doom.  Father and son return to their pastoral home and hearth, where Taryn, Quinn’s mother and Corin’s wife, awaits them.  But Corin’s past is not far behind.

In a recent piece for the Comic Book Bin, columnist Philip Schweier offered an article entitled, “Comics for 45-Year-olds.”  In part, Schweier examines the term “all ages” and what it means when used to describe a target audience, in particularly readers of comic books.  “Comics for 45-Year-olds” is one of those “must-read” articles, and it is also an “evergreen,” meaning that it will be relevant to comic book readers, the marketplace, and the industry for some time to come.

One particular paragraph stood out for me, as it encapsulates the last four decades of comic book publishing in the United States.  The following line from that paragraph is relevant to my review of Skyward #1:  There was a time when comic books were truly all ages, read and enjoyed by 10-year-olds, 15-year-olds, 20-year-olds and older.

[Read the article here]

Skyward #1 is the kind of comic book that can be read and enjoyed by anyone from 10-years-old to 110-years-old.  There are many things to like about this comic book, for instance, a noisy dog named Jack as a character that fully participates in the narrative.  I also like that when it comes to Corin and Quinn, Dale offers a twist on the idea of the call to the quest.

Dale’s art with Steve Downer’s color gives the story the graphic or visual impression of watching an animated film.  In fact, reading Skyward #1 reminded me of those happy feelings I had as a child watching Ralph Bakshi’s animated feature film, The Hobbit (an adaptation of Tolkien’s novel, of course).

This early in the series, Dale is still finding his way as a storyteller and is working out a few kinks.  Still, it is clear that Skyward is heading in the right direction.  Readers looking for a stand-out fantasy that everyone can read will want to try Skyward.

A-

www.actionlab.com
www.jeremy-dale.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.