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09.07.05 by Widge @ 4:28 pm  The latest episode of Alien Loves Predator gives you a startling glimpse into what my id looks like. Categorized as: Comics
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08.23.05 by Widge @ 9:53 pm  Absolutely brilliant. Check this out. The Comic Rockstars Toilet Seat Museum: The Comic Rockstars Toilet Seat Museum proudly hangs on the Isotope's walls in San Francisco. That's Isotope Comics in San Fran, BTW. Pictured is the seat created by Teenagers From Mars and Dead West's Rob G and Rick Spears. Other contributors include Jim Lee, Batton Lash, Darick Robertson, Kyle Baker and Warren Ellis. As a total aside, I ran into somebody years ago at San Diego Comic-Con who had a very unique collection of illos by comic book artists. He had asked everybody to draw variations on Winnie the Pooh. These included James O'Barr doing Tigger as The Crow and an Alex Ross parody of the cover of Marvels with Pooh on fire and screaming. It was hilarious. If anybody knows who the hell that was and if that stuff is online somewhere, please contact me. Found via Boing Boing. Categorized as: Comics
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08.11.05 by Widge @ 2:05 am  They're the PMAC: Post Mortem Animation Control. And they're there to take care of--what else--zombies. Oh sure, there's other nasty shit out there, but zombies you don't want to screw around with. Thus, resident badass Officer Frank Hadely and his crew take care of things. But some really wacky stuff is going on...zombies can't talk...can they? Yes, you might remember When Zombies Attack, the short film that introduced the world to the PMAC. Now it hits in comic book form and the good news is that it's quite the tasty treat. Kind of like what would happen if you mixed Mike Mignola's BPRD with the small town atmosphere of the TV series version of In the Heat of the Night. Jim Mahfood's art is rocking, the story is an interesting lead-off, and we're just waiting for issue #2 now. Want one? Snag it here. Scroll down to the bottom for those not in the L.A. area. For more info, concept art and other hoobah, click here. Categorized as: Comics
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08.04.05 by Widge @ 6:06 pm   These two books are brought to you by the fine folks at Lost in the Dark Press. Their first series, Video, concerns itself with what happens after the Second Coming, when the Rapture is about to start up full force. Now, it's all choirs of angels and exultation and relief that the prophecies are coming true, right? Bullshit. Imagine the return of Jesus being handled like an alien invasion. The ultimate disruption to civilization (and possibly its end), with a small group of friends stuck in a huge city trying to figure out, "Well, shit, now what?" If you made Left Behind actually worth reading and then crossed it with a decent bottle of vodka, you'd have this book. The complete series, all five issues, is available at their store now. Check out here for some preview pages. Their followup is Fragile Prophet, a story of two brothers. The older brother, Esau, is trying to the best he can by his younger brother, Jake, complicated by the fact that Jake has Fragile X Syndrome, a form of mental retardation. Further complicating things is the fact that Jake can see the future. As in all of it. And we mean all of it. The first issue's the only one out thus far, but suffice to say it's got us intrigued. You can check out a nine-page preview of the book here and of course, check out their store to snag a copy. Categorized as: Comics
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08.02.05 by Widge @ 4:45 am  The press release quoted Rick Spears as saying, "We took a classic western tale, ripped its guts out and stuffed it full of something dead and horrible." I thought, hmmm. Bold words. But can Spears and Rob G, the creators of Teenagers From Mars, truly bring that noise? I stand here with a shit-eating grin on my face and assure you: the answer is not just yes. But hell yes. Long ago, the white folk took land from a tribe of Native Americans, who were all wiped out save one. Years later this one returns to the town that grew up on that land, Lazarus, to exact some nasty revenge. And I'm pretty sure I'm not spoiling anything by saying that the revenge includes a bunch of people walking around dead and stuff. Once the groundwork is laid, these guys waste no time. They just stomp the pedal to the floor...er, dig their heels into the side of the horse...and don't let up until it's over. Oh, the wanton carnage. It warms my heart. And hey, they manage to give a little nod to Romero along the way. So bonus points. If you're like me, and you dig the hell out of Walking Dead, then you really need to do yourself a favor and buy this. It will smack your ass and call you Susan. No doubt. For some reason Amazon lists this thing as streeting in September, but it hit this past week. So here: snag it from Midtown Comics. Categorized as: Comics
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07.27.05 by Widge @ 12:31 am  Okay, so this isn't news. I've been telling you to read Finder for a while now. Talisman is probably my favorite graphic novel/collection after From Hell. And this isn't a recent issue I'm sporting here. But this is what creator Carla Speed McNeil (I believe it was Carla, she was in a conversation at the time, I've never met her in person and I didn't want to interrupt), put in my hand. But it's just a reminder. Read the book and love the book. Check out her website here for more info. Categorized as: Comics and Headsup
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07.22.05 by Widge @ 12:01 am  Welcome to 2054. Rather than go online and create an avatar that you can go and do whatever you want with, like out of Neal Stephenson or William Gibson, the thing is to grab yourself a Surrogate. Basically, it's a meatspace avatar that lets you go out into the world without actually, you know, going out into the world. Now instead of being anyone you want over IM or in some kind of MMORPG, you can do it on the streets of your town with no worries. Well, until now. There's somebody out there slagging surrogates with enormous charges of electricity. And when the cops figure out that this is no act of God but a crime, it looks like things are going to get crazier before the thing ends its five issue run. Scribe Robert Venditti creates a world and hits the ground running, making for an excellent opening salvo. And Brett Weldele's art makes for a terrific Sienkiewicz-esque feeling. This Top Shelf release is good, bottom line. Check more info out here. Categorized as: Comics
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07.20.05 by Widge @ 1:15 am  Meet Tork and Tara Darwyn. They are a husband and wife team of cryptozoologists, off tracking down such beasts as the Mothman, giant man-eating plants that put Audrey II to shame, and the Loch Ness Monster. Tork is a bit impetuous and hard-headed and Tara somehow manages to pull their collective fat out of the fire. I like it myself because it's high weirdness played for laughs, and you know how I love high weirdness. I subscribe to both Fortean Times and Skeptical Inquirer, for pity's sake. And as a bonus, there's plenty of bad pun action and monkeys. Everything goes better with monkeys. It's amusing stuff from NBM, so for some samples and other goodness, check out the title's website here. Categorized as: Comics and Headsup
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07.18.05 by Widge @ 10:31 am  You're going to see more This Just In entries than usual this week, as we contend with not only the regular stuff being shunted through our shipping department, but also this stack of cool comics shit that I picked up while making my rounds of the floor. Trust me: these are being published by people who will actually appreciate you reading them, as opposed to DC and Marvel who only want you if you're an aging spandex fanboy with bad taste. So tell the Big Two to fuck off from your pull list at your local comic emporium and get this stuff instead. Categorized as: Comics
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07.18.05 by Dindrane @ 4:44 am  Story: Art/Story: Kiyohiko Azuma It isn't often that something to which the word "heartwarming" applies is also something an adult will actually want to read. Luckily, Yotsuba&! is such a rare treat. From the genius behind the fantastic series Azumanga Diaoh comes this new series, which relates the "adventures" of a girl who has just moved in next to three ordinary sisters. Yotsuba has green hair, but that's not the weirdest thing about her. She is a little weak in the social graces department, doesn't know what air conditioning is, and basically is out of her gourd. But she's also sweet, sincere, and determinedly happy… and just might be an alien. Accompanying her to her new neighborhood is her father, a more normal-seeming man who apparently just found her somewhere and decided to keep her, and Jumbo, a frighteningly tall and broad-shouldered man with a crush on one (or all) of the new neighbors. Here's where you use words like "wacky" and "hijinks," but don't mean anything stupid, cliche, or boring. The book is not arranged strip-style as Azumanga was, but the events of the plot are very serialized. The ongoing moving-in process is the story for most of the book, along with school being out for the summer, but the focus is on Yotsuba's daily struggle to learn about the world, like what swings are and how department stores, doorbells, and escalators work. Her vocabulary also grows to include words like "attractive" and "gorgeous." It could of course be seen as a commentary on the everyday absurdity of modern life and the magic of things we take for granted, but really, it's just funny and darling. The art is much like that of Azuma's previous work. If you enjoyed the look of Azumanga Diaoh, then you'll love the combined realism and cuteness of this title. Yotsuba and the three sisters are adorable. The facial expressions are splendid, such as when Jumbo roars at the youngest sister, and when Yotsuba learns about global warming. Just take my word for it, and wait for the many times when Yotsuba is horrified, astonished, or amazed. You'll laugh out loud. Yotsuba&! is genuinely hysterical. Many of the funniest moments come from the revealed absurdity of everyday life, as Yotsuba tries to come to terms with her world, one error at a time. She's not always the butt of the authorial jokes, however. The neighbors in their stubborn desire to make sense of Yotsuba are good-heartedly willing to join in the lunacy. Jumbo is also one of the funniest characters in the book, especially when he tries to talk to a pretty girl, though his bumbling is blessedly not of the annoying Tenchi variety. Yotsuba's (relatively) normal father is also funny in his turn, but the real star is the clueless little Yotsuba. Her slippers are way too big and she's always confused about something, but somehow she makes it all ok. If you're weary of postmodernist angst or just want something terribly funny, check out Yotsuba&!. You'll get a great bunch of characters who are just so terribly normal, thrown into a situation that is not at all neat or tidy, but promises to reward them all with laughter and joy. No one could be sorry to meet Yotsuba, no matter how much trouble she looks like she might be. Buy it from Amazon...(US)(UK)(CAN) Needcoffee.com Gabfest! Categorized as: Comics and Reviews
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