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Monday, December 12, 2022
IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for December 14, 2022
Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 14, 2022
Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 14, 2022
Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for December 14, 2022
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DC Comics from Lunar Distributors for December 13, 2022
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Friday, December 9, 2022
#IReadsYou Review: AMERICAN JESUS, Volume 1: Chosen
AMERICAN JESUS, VOL. 1
IMAGE COMICS
STORY: Mark Millar
ART: Peter Gross
COLORS: Jeanne McGee
LETTERS: Cory Petit
EDITOR: Rachel Fulton
ISBN: 978-1-5343-0871-8; paperback (May 26, 2020)
96pp, Color, $9.99 U.S.
Rated M / Mature
American Jesus created by Mark Millar and Peter Gross
American Jesus is a comic book series created by writer Mark Millar and Peter Gross that is being published as a series of comic book miniseries. American Jesus began life as Chosen, a three-issue miniseries by Millar and Gross and published by Dark Horse Comics in 2004. In 2009, Image Comics collected Chosen in the trade paperback, American Jesus, Vol. 1: Chosen.
Chosen introduces an ordinary twelve-year-old boy. Well, Jodie Christianson isn't really normal. He is the Son of God. After surviving the freak accident of having an 18-wheel vehicle fall on him, Jodie awakens to discover that he is Jesus Christ. Well, that explains his parents, Martha and Jonah Christianson's weird and apparently sexless marriage.
Like the original Jesus, Jodie can turn water into wine, cure the blind (or near-sighted), and resurrect pets. Well, he is not quite like the original. How much is Jodie different from Christ? Well, that's the rub, but the newly faithful of Peoria, Illinois are learning to love their boy Christ. So how will Jodie deal with his destiny, which has been thousands of years in the making?...
THE LOWDOWN: Netflix/Millarworld sent me a PDF review copy of American Jesus, Vol. 1, and this is the first time I have read the story. I vaguely remember when the original Chosen miniseries was released, but I seem to remember having a difficult time finding any copies.
Chosen is a quiet comic book, as artist Peter Gross depicts even the most shocking moments in a measured way. Nothing blows up in your face, but Gross has a way of blowing your mind with disquiet. With this sense of unease, Gross draws you inside this troubling story. Gross may be one of the only (if not only) comic book artists to convey via his illustrations and graphical storytelling that a Christ figure is not only supernatural, but also unnatural. Jeanne McGee's coloring haunts every frame of this story, turning up the sense that something here is wrong.
Mark Millar, being both relentlessly prolific and unrelentingly inventive, is the twenty-first century version of those comic book creators of yesteryear who unwittingly created what would be million-dollar and billion dollar franchises – one after another. Millar, however, is doing this for himself and his collaborators, and in Chosen, he gets one thing perfectly right. Saviors and messiahs don't build a following on faith, but on what they can do for their followers. Nowhere would that be more true than in America. Every time, Jodie Christianson does something miraculous, the size of his flock multiplies. Millar's script is almost matter of fact in this, and letterer Cory Petit paces out the wrongness of this scenario, helping to build the sense of trouble.
Thoughtfully conceived and confidently executed, American Jesus Vol. 1 is another example of how determined Mark Millar is to entertain, enthrall, and thrill his readers. In Peter Gross, he has an equally skilled and determined storyteller.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar's comic books will want to read American Jesus.
[This volume includes an introduction by actor and filmmaker Simon Pegg; an “Afterword” by Brother Richard Hendrick; “The Gospel According to Millar and Gross: Occult Symbols and Hidden Meanings,” a conversation between Millar and Gross; and “From Script to Art with Peter Gross.”]
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar
https://twitter.com/netflix
https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/
http://www.millarworld.tv/
www.imagecomics.com
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Wednesday, December 7, 2022
#IReadsYou Review: NOCTERRA Blacktop Bill Special
NOCTERRA BLACKTOP BILL SPECIAL
IMAGE COMICS/Best Jacket Press
STORY: Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel
PENCILS: Denys Cowan
INKS: Kent Williams
COLORS: Chris Sotomayor
LETTERS: Andworld Design
EDITOR: Will Dennis
COVER: Tony S. Daniel with Marcelo Maiolo
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Denys Cowan
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (January 2022)
Rated “M/ Mature”
“Blacktop Bill Origins” Part One: “Hall of Mirrors”
Nocterra is a horror and science fiction comic book series from writer Scott Snyder and artist Tony S. Daniel. Published by Image Comics, Nocterra is set on an Earth that has been experiencing an everlasting night, the “Big PM,” since the sky went dark and the world was plunged into an everlasting night over a decade ago.
Nocterra's most terrifying creature is “Blacktop Bill,” whose body is bonded with a matrix of carbon nanotubes. His origin story is the subject of a new special one-shot comic book, Nocterra Blacktop Bill Special. It is written by Snyder and Daniel; drawn by Denys Cowan (pencils) and Kent Williams (inks); colored by Chris Sotomayor; and lettered by Andworld Design.
Nocterra Blacktop Bill Special opens somewhere in Florida. That is where we meet “Blacktop Bill,” the so-called “hitman of hitmen,” But when it comes to killing, for Bill, there is work and then, there are “passion kills.” Was Nocterra's most terrifying creature a monster before the “Big PM?”
THE LOWDOWN: In Nocterra #4, on page 13 of the story, Mother Hubbard (at the “Hub Cap”) and Bea Bellweather (in Luxville, Colorado) are having a conversation over a private channel. Bellweather wants to know the history of Blacktop Bill, and Mother starts telling what he has heard...
Nocterra Blacktop Bill Special is that story, the origin of Blacktop Bill. I am a fan of Nocterra, one of the best new comic books of 2021, and I am a longtime fan of Denys Cowan, the artist for this special. Writer Scott Snyder offers what seems like a folk tale side-story to Nocterra, and Cowan's art has a surreal, freestyle quality.
Honestly, I enjoyed it only a little, but I expected more. Maybe, that's the problem. Considering that I like Nocterra and that I am a fan of Cowan, I expected something bigger … or perhaps, better... However, I also see it as the first of something more to come – maybe, something bigger.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Scott Snyder and Tony S. Daniel's Nocterra will want Nocterra Blacktop Bill Special.
[This comic book contains a seven-page preview of the comic book series, “Monkey Meat,” by Juni Ba.]
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://twitter.com/Ssnyder1835
https://tonydaniel.bigcartel.com/
https://twitter.com/andworlddesign
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
----------------
Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).