Dark Horse from Diamond Distributors for April 8, 2015

DARK HORSE COMICS

FEB150058     ABE SAPIEN #22     $3.50
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FEB150008     REBELS #1     $3.99
FEB150034     X #24 (MR)     $2.99

Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for April 8, 2015

IMAGE COMICS

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IMAGE COMICS/MCFARLANE TOYS

JAN158185     WWE ICON SERIES TRIPLE H RESIN STATUE     PI

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for April 8, 2015

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

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JAN151007     SONIC BOOM #6 REG CVR     $3.99
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MAGAZINES
DEC141916     BACK ISSUE #79     $8.95
OCT141879     COMIC BOOK CREATOR #7     $8.95
FEB151865     COMIC SHOP NEWS #1451     PI
JAN151849     DC BATMAN AUTO FIG MAG #55 DETECTIVE #421 BATCOPTER     $20.00
JAN151851     DC SUPERHERO CHESS FIG COLL MAG #80 JOHNNY QUICK WHITE KNIGH     $16.00
JAN151852     DC SUPERHERO CHESS FIG COLL MAG #81 BATMAN BEYOND WHITE KNIG     $16.00
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BOOKS
NOV141800     ALEX PARDEE DOPPELGANGERS HC     $24.95
FEB151815     AVENGERS BEGINNINGS HC     $12.99
FEB151818     BEFORE TOMORROWLAND HC     $16.99
FEB151827     COMIC BOOK FILM ADAPTATION HC     $60.00
JAN151824     DOCTOR WHO BIG BOOK OF TOP 100 LISTS SC     $21.99
JAN151833     FUNKY BOLLYWOOD SC     $24.95
FEB151793     JUANJO GUARNIDO FREAKY PROJECT MAKING FREAK KITCHEN VIDEO     $50.00
FEB151840     LEGO STAR WARS IN 100 SCENES HC     $18.99
FEB151816     MEET THE MARVEL SUPER HEROES HC 2ND ED     $12.99
FEB151829     NEIL GAIMAN CHUS DAY AT BEACH HC     $17.99
FEB151832     PSYCHEDELIC SEX BOOK SLIPCASE HC (MR)     $69.99
FEB151739     RED GIRLS SC NOVEL     $15.99
FEB151834     SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOL 94 Q & FORMULA FOR CRIME     $14.95
FEB151795     VADEBONCOEUR COLLECTION OF IMAGES #13 GOLDEN GLORY OF ART I     $30.00
FEB151502     WILD STARS BOOK OF CIRCLES SC VOL 02 FORCE MAJEURE NOVEL     $19.95
FEB151839     WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE FORSOOTH PHANTOM MENACE HC     $14.95

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY
JAN150055     FCBD 2015 COMM AMANDA CONNER YOUTH BLK T/S LG     $11.99
JAN150054     FCBD 2015 COMM AMANDA CONNER YOUTH BLK T/S MED     $11.99
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Nisekoi: Last Minute

I read Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 8

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter or at Grumble.

2015 Harvey Award Nominations Ballots Now Available

2015 HARVEY NOMINATION BALLOTS AVAILABLE

NOMINATION BALLOTS DUE MAY 11

BALTIMORE, MD -- The Executive Committees of the Harvey Awards and the Baltimore Comic-Con are proud to present the official Nomination Ballot for this year's Harvey Awards, honoring work published in the 2014 calendar year. Named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, one of the industry's most innovative talents, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding work in comics and sequential art.  The 28th Annual Harvey Awards will be presented Saturday, September 26th, 2015 as part of the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Harvey Awards nomination ballots may now be submitted using an online form.  If you are a comics professional, you can vote online at harveyawards.org/2015-nomination-ballot/.  Ballots are due for submission by Monday, May 11th, 2014.

Nominations for the Harvey Awards are selected exclusively by creators - those who write, draw, ink, letter, color, design, edit, or are otherwise involved in a creative capacity in the comics field. The Harvey Awards are the only industry awards both nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals. 

We look forward to your participation and input in this process, and we look forward to seeing you at the Baltimore Comic-Con and the Harvey Awards.

The Harveys would not be possible without the generous sponsors of the Awards.  Sponsors for the last year's 2014 Harvey Awards included Presenting Sponsors Cards, Comics & Collectibles and the Baltimore Comic-Con; Gold Sponsors BOOM! Studios and Comic WOW!, Silver Sponsors Akuna Entertainment, ComicMix, Geppi's Entertainment Museum, Insight Studios Group; Painted Visions Comics, Top Shelf Productions, and Valiant; and Gift Bag Sponsors Abrams ComicArts, Archie Comic Publications, BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, DC Entertainment, Del Rey Publishing, Dynamite Entertainment, First Second, Popfun Collectibles, and Valiant Entertainment.

Companies and individuals interested in sponsoring the 2015 Harvey Awards may do so by contacting us at harveys@baltimorecomiccon.com.

This year's Baltimore Comic-Con will be held September 25-27, 2015.  The ceremony and banquet for the Harvey Awards will be held Saturday night, September 26th.  Additional details about the Harvey Awards and the awards ceremony will be released over the next few months.


About The Harvey Awards
The Harvey Awards are one of the comic book industry's oldest and most respected awards. With a history of over 28 years, the last 8 in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con, the Harveys recognize outstanding achievements in 22 categories. They are the only industry awards nominated and selected by the full body of comic book professionals.  For more information, please visit www.harveyawards.org

About The Baltimore Comic-Con
The Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating its 16th year of bringing the comic book industry to the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. With a guest list unequaled in the industry, the Baltimore Comic-Con will be held September 25-27, 2015. For more information, please visit www.baltimorecomiccon.com.

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

Seraph of the End: Brothers

I read Seraph of the End, Vol. 4: Vampire Reign

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter or at Grumble.

Book Review: BLOOD INFERNAL

BLOOD INFERNAL
HARPERCOLLINS/William Morrow – @HarperCollins @WmMorrowBks

AUTHORS: James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell – @jamesrollins
ISBN: 978-0-06-234326-0; hardcover (February 10, 2015)
416pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S., $34.99 CAN

Blood Infernal is a 2015 supernatural adventure novel and suspense thriller by authors James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell.  “James Rollins” is the pen name of the veterinarian-turned-novelist, James Paul Czajkowski.  Rollins is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books and is best known  for the SIGMA Force series, which includes the recent, The 6th Extinction.  Cantrell is a New York Times bestselling author known for the “Hannah Vogel” mystery series, which focuses on a crime reporter in 1930s Berlin.

Blood Infernal is the third and concluding novel in Rollins and Cantrell's Order of the Sanguines series.  The novel focuses on three heroes who seek to unravel a supernatural mystery and apocalyptic prophecy.  They are on a mission to stop the gates of Hell from opening, an act that will signal the end of humanity.

Early in Blood Infernal, an escalating number of grisly murders occur across the globe.  Archaeologist Dr. Erin Granger knows that she must decipher the immortal prophecy found in the tome said to be written by Christ, the Blood Gospel.  The shackles of Lucifer have been loosened, and the world crumbles as the Apocalypse looms.  How can one lone human stand against this?

Erin is not alone.  She is the “Woman of Learning,” one of the prophesied heroes who are supposed to stop Lucifer.  There is U.S. Army Sergeant Jordan Stone, the “Warrior of Man,” and Father Rhun Korza, the “Knight of Christ.”  From North Africa to Italy to Hungary to France, this trio chases clues that have come from across centuries, but some of their prizes may already be lost.  The forces of darkness have a mysterious new leader, a demon named Legion.  He has many faces.  His reach is beyond measure, and yeah, he really is more powerful than the heroes.

I am familiar with James Rollins' name, but before Blood Infernal, I had never read one of his books.  Within the last year, I started regularly receiving review copies of books published by HarperCollins imprint, William Morrow, Rollins' publisher.  [William Morrow is also Neil Gaiman's publisher, but I will save that for another review.]

Having missed The 6th Extinction, I was anxious to read something by Rollins, so I jumped at the chance to read Blood Infernal when it was offered to reviewers.  I must say that I am pleasantly surprised on two fronts.  I genuinely enjoyed reading this book, but I had never read anything like it.

Blood Infernal seems like a story that would be the basis of an epic crossover event from Marvel Comics – with the Avengers and Doctor Strange battling the forces of Hell – or from DC Comics – with every member of the Justice League from across time and space battling Darkseid.  Blood Infernal seems like a supernatural thriller version of a Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible film.  It's The Da Vinci Code married to John Constantine: Hellblazer.  [I could do this all day.]

Blood Infernal is a strange beast, but it is a narrative that grabbed me and dragged me along on a mission filled with occult and supernatural madness.  Much of the novel is a claustrophobic worldwide chase for clues, which focuses on a few characters at a time.  The big battle, with its Industrial Light and Magic/Weta theatrics, is saved for the last act of Blood Infernal.

I will give Blood Infernal the highest praise that I can give it:  at $28, it's worth every penny in pure entertainment value.  I didn't want it to end, but since it had to, I may have to go back and read the first two volumes of this trilogy, which I, of course, missed the first time around.

Fans of James Rollins and of Rebecca Cantrell already know to read this book.  Other readers who are looking for a good pot boiler will want to grab the suspense thriller and apocalyptic throw-down that is the novel, Blood Infernal.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.