Sequential Pulp Comics shared this first look at the cover for the new graphic novel adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic sci-fi adventure, AT THE EARTH’S CORE.
At The Earth’s Core is written by Martin Powell with artwork by Jamie Chase. This project is authorized by ERB, Inc., and published by Sequential Pulp/Dark Horse Comics.
Joss Whedon’s take on the X-Men is the series that keeps on giving. Winner of the Will Eisner Award winner for Best Continuing Series, it first it became a series of motion comics, adapting the 25 issue run, and in a few weeks, it will be turned into a series of prose novel adaptations (by Peter David, due out September 5). Why? Whedon understands character, action, and using larger than life people to work as metaphors for life. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was really about surviving high school and being a mutant in the comics is dealing with prejudice and fear of the unknown. But, unlike so many others, Whedon tends to leaven his work with humor and character traits that amuse and surprise.
Astonishing X-Men was created as a showcase series for Whedon but he was accompanied by acclaimed artist John Cassaday, who brought a photorealistic style to characters that have tended to be drawn with great exaggeration by artists ever since their 1963 debut. Grounding the visuals with Whedon’s writing style made for one of those magical pairings which seems to happen with less and less regularity.
Cassaday’s visuals work wonderfully on the printed page but less so given the limitations of the motion comic format. Serialized for the web, these have been collecting in a series of DVDs from Shout! Factory and Torn is the latest installment, out this week. As noted when we reviewed Dangerous, motion comics is this weird hybrid that is really a modern day version of the cardboard cutout animation first used in Marvel Super-Heroes back in the 1960s.
Wisely, they retained as much of Cassaday’s artwork as was practical and the dialogue has that Whedon ring, although as usual the voice casting leaves something to be desired. Cassaday worked with Atomic Cartoons and Neal Adams to bring some life to his four-color efforts.
Torn adapts issues #13-18 and pits the merry mutants against the less merry Hellfire Club – featuring Xavier’s twin sister Cassandra Nova, Emma Frost, Perfection, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and the deadly Sebastian Shaw. We learn that the enigmatic Emma Frost is conjuring up a psychic project of the villainous alliance because she was being blackmailed by Nova. Whedon also pauses to deepen Scott Summers by letting us learn of a childhood trauma that manifested in his losing control of his optic blasts.
Whedon’s affection for teen characters remains evident as it is Kitty Pryde who winds up saving the day this time. He has some fun with the simmering Kitty/Colossus relationship, displaying some nice character-based humor. Similarly, when Emma plays mind games with the team, it mixes painful memories with humorous situations, giving us some fresh insights into the team.
The six chapters, totaling 81 minutes, are nicely adapted into animated installments and keeps the momentum moving even when the visuals are overly static. If you love this run in all its incarnations, then you want this. Or you could wait a bit and get all the motion comics series on a Blu-ray, coming later this year.
One of the hardest questions for me to answer begins with the phrase “What is your favorite…?”
My Top 10 movie list has over 100 movies on it. My Top 10 television shows list must first be categorized: is it fair to compare Rocky and Bullwinkle to The Prisoner? Well, maybe that’s a bad example, but I think you get my point. If you were to ask me to name my favorite musician, I’d go into a fugue state and you’d get scared and leave.
There is one exception. If you were to ask me who my favorite comics creator is – and you were to ask me this question at any time in the past half-century – I would immediately and firmly respond “Joe Kubert.”
As we reported, Joe died Sunday evening. It was one of those moments when time… simply… stopped. For the past decade I’ve been in amazement that Joe was still giving us a graphic novel and a mini-series or special or something every year. Jeez, if I make it to 85 (and I’m nowhere in as good a shape as Joe was) I’m planning on lying there bitching until somebody changes my Depends. Joe was still at it, producing great stuff.
I was fortunate to know both Joe and his wife Muriel (predeceased by four years); Muriel knew the depths of my affection for her husband’s work, Joe knew it as well and was quite gracious but, as to be expected from an artist of his caliber, I could tell he wasn’t connecting with my praise for something he had finished months ago. He already was on to the next thing. Or maybe the one after that.
When I first started working at DC Comics back in 1976, my office was two doors down from Julius Schwartz. Denny O’Neil had the office next to me. Joe Orlando – Joe Orlando! – was a few doors down from that. And, three days a week, there was Joe Kubert. The best of the best.
I was a 26 year-old fanboy and if I wasn’t breathing I would have thought I had gone to heaven.
Kubert had been my favorite comics creator since the day my mother bought me Brave and the Bold #34, cover-dated February-March 1961. It featured the debut of the silver age Hawkman. We were getting on Chicago’s L, headed towards the Loop for my first visit to the eye doctor. I was anxious to read the comic; it looked really cool. Exciting. Different. And new superheroes were few and far between in those days of buggy whips and gas lamps.
Of course, my eye doctor did what eye doctors do: she put those serious drops in my eyes and everything got all blurry and then she exiled me to the outer office while my pupils dilated to the size of manhole covers. I was told to sit there quietly for an hour. I was ten years old; the concept of “sitting quietly” was well beyond my understanding. Certainly, not with that awesome-looking comic book on my lap.
I tried to read it. My mother started to scream about how I’d permanently ruin my eyes. She was supportive of my reading comics, she just had odd theories about how I’d go blind. Being me, I continued to try to read the Hawkman debut but now more defiantly, with purpose and determination – despite the fact that each panel was more blurry than the previous. I went through that book several times, trying my damnedest to understand it. To see it.
The book was astonishingly great – a tribute to writer Gardner Fox and editor Julie Schwartz as well as to Joe. After I finally read the comic in focus, it was clear to me that it was worth all the effort. That’s probably what made me a Joe Kubert fan.
By 1976 I had learned first-hand that a lot of the public figures I admired weren’t really worthy of such tribute on a personal level; if you were going to meet a lot of celebrities, you had to learn how to divorce yourself from the person and remain married to that person’s work. This is a lot less the case in the comics field, I’m happy to report.
And it most certainly was not the case with Joe Kubert. We could be diametrically opposed on certain political and social issues, and we were, but it didn’t matter one bit. Part of that came from Joe’s upbringing in the Talmudic arts where discussion and debate is encouraged and honored. But most of that came from Joe’s simply being a great, great guy.
That’s what I have to say about Joe Kubert. He was a great, great guy.
MONSTER ISLAND is Available for Pre-Order! Pulp 2.0 Press is pleased to announce their re-release of Graham Nolan’s popular all-ages book, MONSTER ISLAND for audiences worldwide. The graphic novel is now available for pre-order.
MI is the story of two pilots who crash land and become stranded on a lost island that serves as the holding area for an alien consortium that removes problem monsters from other worlds for a fee. Now our two heroes – Mac, a feisty female with two fists that do her talking for her, and Duke, a macho fighter jock with a soft spot for Mac – must learn not only how to survive in this deadly alien zoo, but escape it before Monster Island is drawn back through time and space to another point in the universe!
Monster Island features all of those things you loved about 1950’s classic monster movies – monsters, mysterious islands, aliens, flying saucers, and half-naked alien queens, but in a fresh, new way that piles on the fun with the fantastic! This comic is Graham Nolan’s love letter to 12¢ comic books, Aurora model kits, BUZ SAWYER comic strips, 1950’s monster movies, Ray Harryhausen and FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine. Self-published 15 years ago, Monster Island is one of those books that you can hand anyone of any age and they will immediately “get it.” Those are the kinds of projects we adore here at Pulp 2.0 – and we know you will too!
The original 48 page story The never-before-seen Monster Island comic strip An interview with Graham Nolan on his artistic influences Background and commentary on the creation of Monster Island Character sheets, sketches, layouts A brand new cover by Graham Nolan 80 pages – 30 of which are brand new!
ONLY $9.99 ( US POSTAGE PAID) IF YOU ORDER BY AUGUST 15TH!
To order go to: http://pulp2ohpress.com/monster-island-is-available-for-pre-order/
You can preview the comic strip version by going to our Facebook page.
(Melbourne, Florida – August 8, 2012): Dermatologist detective series: The second Skinvestigator novel is now available on Kindle
The second novel in a new Florida noir trilogy, The Skinvestigator: Rash Guard has just become available for download on the Kindle, Amazon.com‘s handy digital reader. The novel follows the adventures of Florida dermatologist turned detective, Dr. Harry Poe, as he tries to help the Miami Police with a new murder investigation involving surfers, syphilis, and the State department.
Author Terry Cronin describes the surf noir story as both “an inside look at the exciting world of South Beach” and “a mystery novel that quickly escalates into a medical/political thriller involving tattoos, sexually-transmitted diseases, illicit cosmetic surgery, and murder”.
Ripped from today’s headlines about “scalpel tourism” where Americans travel to foreign nations to get cheaper cosmetic surgery, Cronin’s books have been described as “razor sharp”and “skincredible”. Reviewers have categorized them as “sunshine noir”, and made “for page-turner mystery fans”. The print version of the first novel is distributed by Atlas Books and is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Tower Books.
While the Kindle version of the first novel, The Skinvestigator: Tramp Stamp, is promotionally priced at 99 cents for a limited time only!
The final book of the Sunshine State Trilogy, The Skinvestigator: Sunburn has been released as a print edition. Cronin, who is known for creating the critically-acclaimed horror-adventure comic series, Students of the Unusual and writing for Indie Comics Magazine, took advance copies of this new novel with him to the San Diego Comic-Con this year. “I’m known as a comic book writer but I found that comic readers and genre fans also enjoy reading hard-boiled detective novels and pulp fiction.” The new novel follows Doctor Poe whose been abducted by Venezuelan thugs from his past and is poorly prepared for their increasing level of violence. Sexy mysterious tattoos, illicit cosmetic surgery, and espionage round out book three of the Sunshine State Trilogy and may just mark the end of the career of the Skinvestigator.
I am a fan of Max Collins’ historical detective series, the Nathan Heller mysteries. From the 1940s through the 60s, each book has taken Heller on an incredible journey connecting him with many of the most celebrated criminal cases of the twentieth century. Now comes this collection of three Heller novellas, each a delicious reading gem and worthy addition to the Heller canon.
What is even more entertaining is Collins’ introductory essay on the matter of the short literary form itself. What is the difference between a novella and novelette? Or are they the same thing and is that best described as a long short story or a short novel? The fun of the essay is his insightful comprehension that the form is the product of the classic pulp tales of the 1930s and 40s. It is evident that short novels were born in the pulp magazines and have sadly morphed in an awkward, literary white elephant in this age of bloated, fat thriller novels. Collins details the history of each of the three pieces in this volume, collected here for the very first time, and how length did factor into the writing of each.
First up is “Dying in the Post-War World,” my personal favorite of the three and by far the most convoluted and gruesome. The story centers on the infamous Lipstick Killer case of 1946 where a young girl was kidnapped from her home, murdered and dismembered. A veteran of the World War Two, Heller is trying to fit into this supposedly brighter new tomorrow with a new business and a pregnant wife. Along comes this brutal case and he’s left wondering what kind of a world it truly is he and his fellow soldiers fought to persevere.
“Kisses of Death,” is an interesting entry in that it gives us Heller’s first meeting with Marilyn Monroe and their burgeoning relationship which is later explored in his recent novel, “Bye Bye Baby.” It also has Heller working in New York City, Mickey Spillane’s old stomping grounds. The tale also peeks in to the life of Chicago journalist turned screenwriter Ben Hecht is another winner.
Finally comes “Strike Zone,” about one of the most bizarre moments in professional baseball which this reviewer, a fan of the game, had never heard before. It caused me to spend a few hours on-line checking out the histories of several of these characters who participated in a madcap publicity stunt concerning the most unusual pinch hitter to ever step up to home plate in a Major League contest.
If like me, you’re a Nathan Heller fan, then you have to pick this up. If you are one of those yet to have encountered Collins’ pragmatic, world-weary hero then we can’t think of a better way to make that introduction. “Triple Play,” is very much a grand slam, no matter what your favorite sport is.
Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? By Brian Fies 208 pages, $14.95, Abrams ComicArts
The future never turns out like people predict. Nostradamus was wrong. Authors, philosophers, painters, and clergy have all been wrong about what the world of tomorrow will turn out to be. Depending upon when you were born and where you were raised, the future is either shockingly surprising or deeply disappointing. Brian Fies’ Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? falls into the latter category.
The 2009 book is now out in softcover and a personal essay on what the world has become since the 1939 World’s Fair, which also parallels the development of geek culture since, after all, that was the first place Superman made a personal appearance as his popularity was just beginning to soar. The sky was the limit, it seemed, and the World’s Fair promised peace and prosperity at a time that war was already being fought in Europe and Asia. The fair seemed to be willing to war to stay away from our shores.
The promise of space adventures, which first appeared monthly in the pulp magazines, took off at this same period thanks to adventure serials in newspapers, radio exploits doled out in fifteen minute installments and then fifteen chapter serials shot on a shoestring but told at a such a breakneck pace you just had to come back next week to learn what happened next. At the same time, war shook America out of the Depression doldrums and forced manufacturing, technology, and science to stay one step ahead of the Axis powers.
Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?, the long-awaited follow-up to Mom’s Cancer, is a unique graphic novel that tells the story of a young boy and his relationship with his father.
Spanning the period from the 1939 New York World’s Fair to the last Apollo space mission in 1975, it is told through the eyes of a boy as he grows up in an era that was optimistic and ambitious, fueled by industry, engines, electricity, rockets, and the atom bomb. An insightful look at relationships and the promise of the future, award-winning author Brian Fies presents his story in a way that only comics and graphic novels can.
Interspersed with the comic book adventures of Commander Cap Crater (created by Fies to mirror the styles of the comics and the time periods he is depicting), and mixing art and historical photographs, this groundbreaking graphic novel is a lively trip through a half century of technological evolution. It is also a perceptive look at the changing moods of our nation-and the enduring promise of the future.
Fies, best known for his award winningMom’s Cancer, followed up with this look back at the promises of the past and the failure of the future to deliver. The story stretches from the World’s Fair to the final Apollo mission in 1975 and is told entirely from the point of view of Pop and Buddy and thanks to the miracle of comic book storytelling, the two age incredibly slowly while the world moves ahead in real time. It’s a conceit, using them as metaphors not actual characters, that doesn’t entirely work despite an Author’s Note up front, but it’s at worst a minor annoyance.
Interestingly, the book also tells the story of American society by showing the mindset as world events changed around us, going from the anything is possible 1940s to the disillusioned 1960s. Also reflective of this evolution are a series of faux comics featuring Commander Cap Crater and the Cosmic Kid. Imitating the styles of the 1940-1970s, these stories also show how comic books have grown ever more sophisticated in reaction to the changing readership. Fies does a terrific job matching the bad color registration and subtly adjusts the paper yellowing to reflect the ages as well as the ever more complex indicias.
The book also nicely integrates actual photography from space or of the fair along with images taken from the great futurist artist Chesley Bonestell. The storytelling, artwork, layout, pacing, and color are terrific and does a nice job taking us era to era even as our main characters oh so slowly grow and age. Dad remains representative of an American society whose time has passed and maintains his conservative stance which ultimately causes conflict with Buddy, who yearns for the future to be here now.
It’s the 1960s when everything changes as the Russians reach space before the Americans and it has become clear that the promises of the 1930s will not be kept. There’s a sense of anger and loss at this realization which also makes the 1970s a sad period when there’s little to believe in.
Still, Fies offers up an optimistic ending, pointing out the current technology boom of the last 10-15 years has once more awakened the endless possibilities offered in the years ahead. We may not be getting jet packs and interplanetary travel any time soon, but we are reminded there is a lot to look forward to.
I love to read. I have ever since I was very small. I startled my parents when I started reading the milk cartons and cereal boxes aloud when I was in pre-school. I love it when a book sweeps me up and takes me wherever it is set. The genre doesn’t matter – fiction/nonfiction, history/memoir, sci-fi/fantasy, mystery/western – just tell me a good story and I’m yours. If I don’t have a good book to read somewhere around the house, I get a little hinky.
If the author wastes my time by not telling me a good story, I get a little irate.
Fortunately, John Scalzi tells a very good story with his new novel, Redshirts (Tor books, hardcover). Tells a very funny, engrossing and ultimately thoughtful story in a novel that includes three codas at the end. Tells a story that will strike very close to home for Star Trek fans, especially those of the original series.
SPOILER NOTE: I’ll give some things away about the plot as this review goes forward. Can’t discuss the story without talking about the story but I’ll try to give away as little as I can. This is as much warning as you’ll get.
The story is set in the Universal Union, mostly aboard its flagship, the Intrepid, and Ensign Andrew Dahl is happy to be posted to it – until he notes something odd. There are all these away missions and the command crew, the captain, the chief science officer, and the astrogator are assigned along with some low level member of the crew. Like ensigns. There’s just about always a fatality but not among the command crew although the astrogator can get hurt really bad but recovers within a week. Odd, to say the least.
These moments come and go but, when they come, it’s as if the crewmembers aren’t really in control of their actions. As it turns out, they’re not.
Turns out that, in an alternate universe/timeline, they’re all characters in a cheesy Star Trek knockoff TV show and their lives are being controlled by a bunch of hack writers. Dahl and an intrepid group of fellow Intrepid redshirts have to travel backwards/sideways/whatever in time/space/dimensions/whatever via a means familiar to Star Trek fans to somehow stop these writers (mainly the head writer) from probably killing them for cheesy dramatic reasons, usually just before the commercial break.
The story owes something of its concept to the wonderful movie Stranger Than Fiction (my favorite Will Ferrell movie and maybe my only fave Will Ferrell movie) and acknowledges that but also, to my mind, owes its tone to an equally wonderful movie, Galaxy Quest, which it doesn’t acknowledge. There are flaws: many of the characters are identified only by their last names and are more a collection of characters traits then characters. On the other hand, that may be deliberate since the book satirizes that way of creating support characters on TV and indeed elsewhere. Take a character trait from column A, column B, and column C and provide a name and – bingo! – instant character. To my mind, they also sounded quite a bit alike but what they said was often funny and entertaining. I just had trouble telling them apart sometimes.
The book is clever and light which makes it great for summer reading. It doesn’t get particularly deep until the three codas that follow the end of the story proper. They’re like three short stories using minor characters in the main book. Here Scalzi plays more with the concepts brought up in the main story. I can see why they are separate – the tones wouldn’t work in the primary narrative but they’re very worth reading and add a great deal to the overall book.
Recommended. It also makes me very sure that I never want John Gaunt to find a way to meet me. I’ve done too many nasty things to GrimJack all in the name of compelling narrative and I think he would hurt me bad. So – shhhh! Don’t tell him where I live.
Commander X goes solo in an all new “Commander X Adventures All-Star Special” comic book Up next: Commander X will take to the skies in a cross-over comic with Captain Midnight
Note to Retailers: Order from August Diamond Previews Look for the Diamond Spotlight on page 323 DIAMOND CODE: AUG121224
Note to Reviewers: Review copies available. Contact tami@maine.rr.com
PORTLAND, MAINE (July 31, 2012) Return to the Golden Age of high adventure with Commander X in three tales featuring giant monsters, robots, mystery and action. The stories in this 40 page, full color comic book are told in the spirit of the great adventure yarns of the 1930s and 1940s and take place from Tibet, to the Sargasso Sea, to the Sea of Japan. Written and illustrated by Jay Piscopo, this “Commander X All-Star Special” recaptures the excitement and energy of the Golden Age of comics when superheroes were born; featuring fast paced stories, science fiction gadgets, bright colors and breakneck action.
“In the sea, in the air, and on the land Commander X delivers the kind of ‘all in color for a dime’ entertainment that’s missing in comics,” noted award-winning comic book writer and editor Brian Augustyn.
“This comic book is an homage that recaptures the magic of the pulps and Golden Age of comics with a modern twist,” said Piscopo. “Our hero, Commander X, is a classic comic strip and movie serial hero with some high tech gizmos and time travel thrown in.”
Retailers can order “Commander X All-Star Special” from Diamond’s August Previews (DIAMOND CODE: AUG121224 — Look for the Diamond Spotlight on page 323). View story pages at http://ow.ly/cCKe3.
“Fans first met Commander X in “Capt’n Eli,” then they got to experience him as a limited edition Mego-style action figure, and now they get to see him in his own one-shot comic book,” continued Piscopo. “Next, fans will get to see him team up with the legendary Captain Midnight.”
This December, Nemo Publishing and Moonstone Books will publish a cross-over one shot comic book featuring Commander X with the renowned Captain Midnight. This 28 page, full-color book will be written by longtime DC Comics writer and editor Brian Augustyn. Artwork and co-plotting will be by Piscopo. View image gallery at this link.
Commander X in part of Piscopo’s Nemoverse of characters and is an integral part of his “Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli” graphic novel series. The tales in “Commander X All-Star Special” provide clues to some of the mysteries about Commander X uncovered in the first two volumes of “Capt’n Eli” and give hints to what’s to come in Volume 3, which will be released this winter
In the story “The Guardian of Tantarus,” the Red Octopus and the Axis powers want super weapons from Atlantis. Can Commander X stop them?
In “Allies,” fans meet Commander X as the Undersea Knight. This version of Commander X is also available as a limited edition Mego-style action figure (http://captneli.shipyardshopping.com/index.html).
“With this collectible figure, we’ve captured the nostalgic feeling of a special toy that could take you into another universe,” continued Piscopo. “Seeing Commander X in his Undersea Knight uniform really sparks the imagination.”
In “Wake of the War Beast,” Commander X and his scarlet-clad ally, the mysterious Circe, Sorceress of the Sea, team up to subdue an ancient sea monster in the Sea of Japan.
Ordering information: “Commander X All-Star Special” Published by Nemo Publishing Written and illustrated by Jay Piscopo 40 pages | Full Color | $3.99 Order from August Diamond Previews Look for the Diamond Spotlight on page 323 DIAMOND CODE: AUG121224
More about Jay Piscopo and Nemo Publishing: Piscopo is the author and illustrator of Nemo Publishing’s “The Undersea Adventures of Capt’n Eli” graphic novel series and “The Sea Ghost #1: The Sea Ghost in the Machine” comic book. He was also the artist for Moonstone’s new “The Spider” and “The Phantom Detective” comics.
Commander X is part of the Nemoverse of characters tied to the Capt’n Eli’s line of hand-crafted sodas from Portland Maine. Capt’n Eli is the namesake of real-life World War II veteran Eli Forsley who was also the inspiration for Capt’n Eli’s soda. Read the story behind the story at this link.
Matt Cahill was an ordinary man leading a simple life until a shocking accident changed everything. Now he can see a nightmarish netherworld that exists within our own… Description.
THE DEAD MAN is an original ebook series of short novels that blends the horror of Stephen King’s THE GUNSLINGER with the action/adventure of Don Pendleton’s THE EXECUTIONER…
Matthew Cahill is an ordinary man leading a simple life…until a shocking accident changes everything. Now he can see a nightmarish netherworld of unspeakable evil and horrific violence that nobody else does…
For Cahill, each day is a journey into a dark world he knows nothing about…a quest for the answers to who he is and what he has become…and a fight to save us, and his soul, from the clutches of pure evil.
Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin brought an episodic TV approach to The Dead Man novels, which made it possible for them to capitalize on the creativity, experience, and unique voices of a dozen successful authors who represent a wide variety of genres. They created the first book and twelve story-lines–then invited writers they admire, love to read, or who they were dying to work with–to help author the novels. Amazon/47 North publishes a new Dead Man book just about every month…and has ordered a total of 24 novels to date, which will carry the series well into 2013. The books are also available in trade paperback and audio editions.
