All Hail the King... of RPGs

I read King of RPGs 1

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.  This is an OEL manga from Del Rey Manga.

Pat Robertson Theatre Presents the Voodoo Curse of Haiti

The ceremony allegedly involved the sacrifice of a pig and use of pig blood and a sermon that invoked the good God of African religion to give the slaves liberty and condemned the evil God of the white slave-owners.

The above quote comes from a Juan Cole blog entry, and a very good one, about Pat Robertson's recent comments on "cursed Haiti."

VIZ Media Releases ULTIMO Volume 1

Press release from VIZ Media:

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED RELEASE OF STAN LEE AND HIROYUKI TAKEI’S ULTIMO


Historic Collaboration Comes To Life In New Manga Release

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry's most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, in conjunction with Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment (PK:POWN) has announced the highly anticipated release of the new manga ULTIMO on February 2nd. ULTIMO is the result of a historic collaboration between comics legend Stan Lee, co-creator of many iconic superheroes including Spider-Man™, the Fantastic Four™, and the X-Men™, and Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of the popular SHAMAN KING manga series. ULTIMO, rated ‘T’ for teens will carry a MSRP of $9.99 US/$12.99 CAN.

With girl and money troubles, life is hard enough for high school student Yamato, but then he stumbles upon Ultimo, a peculiar-looking puppet. Things only get stranger when Ultimo awakens and his archenemy, Vice shows up. Ultimo and Vice are Karakuri Dôji, the mechanical embodiment of pure good and pure evil, devoid of human emotions that can cloud one’s judgment. Their purpose: to battle to the death to prove once and for all whether good or evil is the most powerful force in the universe.

For over half a century, Stan Lee has been synonymous with superhero comics. In addition to creating countless memorable series and characters, including Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and Daredevil, he served as the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. Lee remains a hugely respected and dynamic figure in the entertainment industry and continues to develop a variety of film, television and video game properties.

“I am indescribably thrilled to have the honor of working with the famous and extremely talented Hiroyuki Takei on our exciting creation ULTIMO. I feel that ULTIMO combines the very best of Western mythology with the very best of Japanese manga,” says Stan Lee. “It gives me the greatest pleasure to be associated with VIZ Media on such and exciting and ground-breaking project.”

Unconventional author/artist, Hiroyuki Takei began his career by winning the 1994 Tezuka Award. After working as an assistant to famed artist Nobuhiro Watsuki (RUROUNI KENSHIN), Takei debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 with Butsu Zone, an action series based on Buddhist mythology. His multicultural adventure manga SHAMAN KING debuted in Japan in 1998 and has been adapted into a popular animated television series. The SHAMAN KING manga series is also published in North America by VIZ Media; for many years it was serialized in English in SHONEN JUMP magazine.

”While it’s epic in scope and rich in mythology, the ULTIMO storyline is grounded in modern teen angst which is what fans will gravitate to. It’s manga, but it’s got that ‘Stan Lee’ feel of the teenager who suddenly has all this power and can’t believe how crazy that is.” Says Joel Enos, Senior Editor for Shonen Jump Manga, VIZ Media. “This story has found a common ground between Western comics and Eastern manga. Here you have two amazing creators, all this action, robots, and the universal theme of pure good vs. pure evil, all the while staying in high school youth culture and the drama and depth of everyday kids.”

For more information on ULTIMO, please visit www.shonenjump/ultimo. [END]

One Piece as Easy as 1 2 3

I finally finished reading One Piece: East Blue 1-2-3

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.  This is a mini-omnibus, thick paperback that collects the first three volumes of One Piece.

Moonstone Books Announces Thirteenth Issue of "The Phantom: Generations"

From Moonstone Books:

The Phantom Generations #13

Story: Robert Weinberg
Art: Andy Bennett
Cover: Eugenio Mattozzi
32pgs, color, $3.99

Left Hand of the Devil…

Join author Robert Weinberg for a tale of the 13th Phantom and his wife as they travel to the US and take a "vacation" on a riverboat, but are soon embroiled in a crooked gambling plot. Along the way, they cross paths with Phantom's old friend, Jim Bowie....

*RETAILER INCENTIVE: order 4 or more, & receive one free copy. [END]

Celebrity Zombie Killers Arrives in March

Press release from Invisible Hand/APE Entertainment:

CELEBRITY ZOMBIE KILLERS (CZK) – March 31st 2010 (DCD Item # JAN100715)

The clueless young celebrities that rule Hollywood have a new adversary in town—ravenous cannibal zombies!!! Can our self-absorbed, dumbass celebutants dig down deep enough to emerge as heroes or will the zombies win out?!?! Acclaimed Film & TV writer Rick Copp (TV’s TEEN TITANS and THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE) has created a twisted and hilarious mash-up of genres that will have readers scared and laughing at the same time. This is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for today’s young adults.

A mysterious virus has turned everyone in Los Angeles into ravenous zombies, except one group of young celebrities who barely stop partying long enough to notice. Baby Love, a washed-up pop princess and Julio, a disgruntled bodyguard to nefarious playboy Leather Bear, must join together to lead a motley group of celebutants to safety. Not only will this hot twosome battle the undead, but they’ll also battle their feelings for each other.

You might think celebutants are brainless, but the brain loving zombies in Celebrity Zombie Killers don’t! Rounding out the team are reality show frenemies Petite and Paprika, twin phenoms Merlot and Chablis, R & B crooner, Jivin’ and tween mega star Gavin. Can our glamorous rich and famous crew get it together or will the zombies win out? Everyone knows Hollywood’s a dog-eat-dog town, but this ridiculous.

Fanboy fave, artist Sanford Green (WONDER GIRL, MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDERMAN), brings these hip contemporary characters to life with his fluid style. [END]

Fumi Yoshinaga Does Mothers and Daughters

I finished reading All My Darling Daughters

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.  This is manga is a collection of interconnected short stories from Fumi Yoshinaga.