Skyblue Shore at the Flea Market

I read Skyblue Shore (Sorairo Kaigan) Volume 2

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

Marvel Comics to Revive CrossGen's "Ruse" with Artist Minck Oosterveer

It's NO "Ruse": Artist Minck Oosterveer Reunites with Writer Mark Waid for Issue of the Top-Selling Series

Steampunk Meets Witty Repartee and a Hint of Magic!

New York, NY-- It's just been announced that award-winning artist Minck Oosterveer, will once again collaborate with writer Mark Waid on a new story-- this one on the Waid created series, "Ruse" published by Marvel Comics.

Originally debuting at CrossGen, "Ruse" quickly became that companies top series, and the property was purchased by Disney when CrossGen was no more. With Marvel now under the Disney umbrella, "Ruse" is having a long awaited revival.

Creator Mark Waid describes the series as "A steampunk Sherlock Holmes with romance, witty repartee, and a hint of magic."

What better artist for this issue of "Ruse" than Minck Oosterveer, known for bringing all of those elements to his own properties and commercial artwork.

In fact, Oosterveer is known world wide for a plethora of comic strips, movie work, and sequential art. Most notably here in the United States for such books as "Zombie Tales" and "The Unknown" also with Waid!

The "Nicky Saxx" co-creator is strongly influenced by Milton Caniff, Alex Raymond, and Will Eisner. After working for a studio on productions like 'Tom & Jerry', 'Sesame Street', 'Paddington', 'Ovide' and 'Spider-Man', Minck Oosterveer moved more in the direction of another stylistic forte, working with Willem Ritstier on the series "Claudia Brücken" for the Franco-Belgian publishing-house 'les editons Lombard' and Tintin-Magazine.

He will bring all of this experience to "Ruse."

"What makes the series so special," according to Oosterveer, "is most of all the interaction between the arrogant detective Simon Archer and his partner Emma Bishop, who he keeps on referring to as 'his assistant'.

"The adventurous stories with a bit of mystery and the supernatural," make it a great project to work on-- it's very interesting."

As far as the approach the readers can expect, Minck is a big fan of the original series from "CrossGen," and wants to be true to that flavor. Something readers from that first run will certainly love.

"With 'Ruse' I will use my more classical style I used when I did the Flash Gordon-like newspaper adventure comic "Zodiak". And although I'll be pencilling and inking, which I'm used to do, hopefully readers will like my approach."

Currently, Oosterveer is scheduled for several European and US shows in 2011, with more to follow.

Look for him at:
De Stripdagen Gorinchem, The Netherlands, March 12-13
Wizard World Philly, June 17-19th
Albuquerque Comic Con, June 24th-26th
FACTS Convention Ghent Belgium, October 22-23rd

Issue #3 of "Ruse" with story by Mark Waid and pencils and inks by Minck Oosterveer is in the works now. Look for Marvel's ordering information on the series and on this particular issue featuring the reunion of these two wonderful creators!

For information on the Oosterveer, his commissions, his schedule and appearances contact Renee at evaink@aol.com

Leroy Douresseaux on BATMAN BEYOND: HUSH BEYOND

BATMAN BEYOND: HUSH BEYOND

DC COMICS

WRITER: Adam Beechen

PENCILS: Ryan Benjamin
INKS: John Stanisci
COLORS: David Baron
LETTERS: Travis Lanham
COVER: Dustin Nguyen
EXTRAS ART: J.H. Williams III
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2988-7; paperback
144 Color, $14.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN

Batman Beyond was an Emmy Award-winning animated series. It began life in January of 1999 on The WB Television Network and ended in May of 2002, after three seasons and 52 episodes. Set in the year 2039, it starred a new, younger Batman, with high school student Terry McGinnis wearing a new Bat-suit. The original Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne, guided Terry from their base of operations, the Batcave.

DC Comics published a Batman Beyond comic book from 1999 to 2001. Batman Beyond returned to comic books last year. Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond is a new trade paperback from DC Comics. It collects Batman Beyond (2010) #1-6, which were written by Adam Beechen, penciled by Ryan Benjamin, and inked by John Stanisci, with covers by Dustin Nguyen.

As the story begins, someone has escaped from Cadmus Labs in Neo-Gotham, and its trifling Director Amanda Waller is trying to keep things hush-hush, in spite of protests from research scientist, Nora Elliot Reid. From the beginning, the escapee leaves a trail of bodies behind him, all of them connected to the original Batman.

In his updated, hi-tech Bat-suit (now with invisibility and jet propulsion), Terry McGinnis takes on a foe who knows everything about him, and this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Terry and his mentor/boss, Bruce Wayne, are at odds over Terry’s job performance, and Terry has been running on little or no sleep. As he tries to uncover the secrets of this killer, he seeks help from Batman’s original sidekicks, but one of them holds a grudge. Terry’s investigation also leads him into conflict with a mysterious new Catwoman, who doesn’t like The Bat the way the original did. And the streets say that someone who was supposed to be dead is back with a vengeance – Hush.

I have mixed feelings about the original Batman: Hush, written by Jeph Loeb and drawn by Jim Lee. Half of it was quite good; the other half was cold and robotic. Adam Beechen, the writer of this new Hush storyline, has written an old-fashioned potboiler/cliffhanger serial. This is a flat out, excellent read.

Sometimes, I couldn’t read this thing fast to appease my hunger to know what was on the next page. Some of the ideas here are familiar, done hundreds of times before in other Batman comic books, but here, it is the execution that makes Hush Beyond such a thrill to read. Beechen is at his best in this story when he lets Terry and Bruce get raw with each other about their opinions of each other’s job performance. Plus, there is a big red herring and twist here that will shock and confuse the reader – in a good way.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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

I Reads You Review: SKYBLUE SHORE, VOL. 1

Creator: Nanpei Yamada with Hope Donovan (English adaptation) and Kristy Harmon (translation)

Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 208 pages, $10.99 (US), $13.99 CAN

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-2005-1

Romance/Comedy; Rated “OT” for “Older Teen 16+”

When she was a small child, Tomo Sakurai was a frequent visitor to the beach. One day she made a friend of a young beachcomber who gave her an agate stone. Now a sweet high school girl, Tomo encounters an attractive young stranger whose keychain has the same stone she got from her lost childhood friend.

In Skyblue Shore, Vol. 1, Tomo is about to be the victim of a public transit molester when she is rescued by Riku Tanaka, a tall, dark-haired stranger who protects and befriends her. Tomo learns that Riku is the janitor at the school she attends, Akiya Tateishi High School, and he wears a keychain with a stone that is familiar to Tomo. Later, Tomo meets Tento Tanaka, Riku’s younger brother. The reclusive blond collects agate stones and other things he finds on the beach. Could they have met in the past?

TOKYOPOP describes Skyblue Shore as a romance and comedy, and while this shojo manga (comics for teen girls) has high school romance and teen comedy hijinks, Skyblue Shore is really a character drama. Skyblue Shore reminds me of Miki Aihara’s Honey Hunt, which is a shojo manga with gorgeous art and an emphasis on melodrama and intrigue.

Skyblue Shore creator Nanpei Yamada tells this story through pretty art and attractive characters with soft, child-like faces. Behind the prettiness, Nanpei weaves a complex story of dysfunctional families, in which divorce and parent-child discord add a pungent note to the heightened sweetness typical of shojo romantic comedy. However, I believe that because there is so much sweet shojo being published that shojo series, which mean to stand out, need something different, whether it is a tone or a hook to give it separation from the pack.

Yamada gives Skyblue Shore a different tone. The characters are familiar, but their complicated lives make the carefree teen life a luxury they cannot always afford. That is why this is the kind of shojo manga I want to keep reading.

April 2011 Shonen Jump is 100th Issue

VIZ MEDIA’S CELEBRATES THE 100th ISSUE OF SHONEN JUMP MAGAZINE WITH SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

North America’s Most Popular Manga Monthly Delivers Heroes Of Manga Retrospective, DRAGON BALL X ONE PIECE Crossover Story And A Free YU-GI-OH! Trading Card

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, celebrates the 100th issue of SHONEN JUMP magazine, which hits newsstands nationwide today. Cover price will be $4.99.

The commemorative April 2011 issue features special content including a pictorial retrospective of all the manga heroes that have graced the magazine’s pages since the very first issue. This includes original SHONEN JUMP heroes such as Goku from DRAGON BALL, Yugi from YU-GI-OH! and popular mainstays like Naruto, Ichigo from BLEACH, as well as more recent additions to the SHONEN JUMP Super Team including Ageha from the new manga series PSYREN, and Yusei from YU-GI-OH! 5D. The issue also contains the DRAGON BALL X ONE PIECE CROSS EPOCH, a one-shot manga where characters from both popular series meet, and includes a free YU-GI-OH! trading card, Dark Magician.

SHONEN JUMP’s redesign for 2011, which launched in January, welcomed the new decade with a fresh, contemporary look and expanded print and web content. SHONEN JUMP continues to be the best-selling manga anthology in North America and now features 2 brand new series - the science fiction thriller PSYREN, and fan favorite YU-GI-OH! 5D’S – that join other current monthly favorites such as BLEACH, NARUTO and ONE PIECE.

The magazines team has also taken an aggressive approach to integrating the SHONEN JUMP web site (http://www.shonenjump.com/) with the print magazine with subscriber-only content available exclusively online, including the brand new manga series, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN (rated ‘T’ for Teens) and new exclusive feature and news items every month.

“The celebration of SHONEN JUMP in the U.S. that we started in January with the magazine’s redesign and revamped web site continues with our 100th issue spectacular,” says SHONEN JUMP Senior Editor Joel Enos. “We’re committed to giving fans what they’ve asked for and we will continue to do so with even more direct communication with our readers! This issue’s Heroes of Manga gives fans a fun trip down memory lane and also lets them meet some new heroes for the first time. Plus, we are showcasing the DRAGON BALL X ONE PIECE CROSS EPOCH, a unique manga mash-up never before seen in the U.S. that features Goku and Luffy, as well as many of their supporting cast, together for the first time in a story written and drawn by both creators Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda. This is definitely an issue not to be missed!”

For more information on SHONEN JUMP Magazine and other Shonen Jump titles, please visit http://www.shonenjump.com/.

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for March 9 2011

DC COMICS

JAN110404 ALL NEW BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #5 $2.99

JAN110280 BATGIRL #19 $2.99

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JAN110300 DOC SAVAGE #12 $2.99

JAN110302 DOOM PATROL #20 $2.99

NOV100227 GOTHAM CENTRAL HC VOL 04 CORRIGAN $29.99

DEC100248 GOTHAM CENTRAL TP BOOK 01 IN THE LINE OF DUTY $19.99

JUN100297 HEROES OF THE DCU BLACKEST NIGHT HAL JORDAN BUST $70.00

JAN110409 INFAMOUS #1 (OF 6) $2.99

JAN110427 IZOMBIE #11 (MR) $2.99

JAN110307 JSA ALL STARS #16 $2.99

JAN110247 JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST #21 (BRIGHTEST DAY) $2.99

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JAN110313 TITANS #33 $2.99

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Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for March 9 2011

MARVEL COMICS
 
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JAN110849 DEADPOOL TP VOL 05 WHAT HAPPENED IN VEGAS $15.99

JAN110855 GIRL COMICS TP $15.99

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JAN110698 NEW AVENGERS #10 $3.99

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JAN110759 ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED #2 (OF 4) $3.99

JAN110869 POWER PACK CLASSIC TP VOL 03 $29.99

JAN110806 PUNISHERMAX #11 (RES) (MR) $3.99

JAN110837 SHADOWLAND PREM HC MOON KNIGHT $19.99

JAN110675 SIGIL #1 (OF 4) $2.99

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