Posts by: Dan Morrill
Penguins VS Possums Issue Number 3
Creator, Writer – Sebastian Kadlecik
Writer, Inks – John Bring
Writer Editor – Lindsay Calhoon
Printed by JBSK Comics
Oh my god. Weird does not even begin to describe this comic book; it is bizarrely plausible in some alternative frame of reference beyond the normal things we see every day. But Penguins VS Possums Issue Number 3 is probably one of the weirdest coolest things you will read this year. There is war, a dire everyone gets killed all the time war between Penguins and Possums, complete with Emperors, Kings, psychotic warriors, spies, infiltrators, traitors, and everyone else you would expect to see in a regular drama kind of setting. This story picks up right in the middle of the story line where the Emperor Penguin and the King Possum try to settle their differences to stop the war. Only problem is that this is going to be a really bad choice because all the warriors want to keep the war going to the point of extinction. If you lose a brother, would you not want to avenge their death kind of thinking that pits Kings and Emperors against Advisers and Warriors.
In all the story line is interesting enough to keep you engaged with the process of following this comic all the way through. It slogs at times, but then you see some of the humor in there with some of the things we say to each other like “oh snap” in the background. You really want to pay attention to what is being said amongst all the characters including the snarky commentary in the background of the comic book. The war keeps on going, and despite the best laid plans between Emperor and King, this is going to be one unpopular decision, revenge is needed, revenge is wanted, and there simply is no love between the two of them.
Overall I’ll rate this one 4 of 5 stars, there were some distractions in the comic book that took away from the story line. There were some awesome moments in here too. It is a black and white and grey comic book that probably should have been in color because of the level of violence. I like my blood red, like a fine Chablis, not grey like a foggy morning. Outside of my personal preference for color on this one, it is a riveting read and you will want to go back and reread sections if you find yourself skipping bits. The fighting scenes are well rendered, but just not red enough for me. Worth checking out, you can pick it up for three bucks right over here on the JBSK web site.
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Oh Joy Sex Toy a new comic strip from Erika Moen
Online Comic – 18+ on line right here
Via Erika Moen
So I met Erika in 2010 and have not regretted it for a moment. She is probably one of the coolest people out there that I have ever met, so I have followed what she is doing like Bucko and Dar Volume 1 and DAR Volume 2 since then. Today she announced a new comic strip online called “Oh Joy Sex Toy”, and if it is anything like the pamphlet Girl Fuck – this promises to be an interesting day, and an interesting way of learning about sex toys. And yes, it is a comic strip on line. But a good comic strip, learning is always good, we should never stop learning.
Honestly I don’t know much about sex toys (vanilla life), but with Erika and her husband Matthew this promises to be an interesting approach to learning about sex toys. Heck if we can have comics that show how to use a 50 cal machine gun, we can have a comic that shows how to use a sex toy. Really, it’s about blonds not bombs, brunettes not fighter jets (thank you flight of the concords for that line). As Erika states on her site:
Oh my goodness, here we are! Very first page! I’m SO EXCITED.
First of all a giant thank you to my talented and lovely friend Amy T. Falcone for plucking the title “Oh Joy, Sex Toy” out of her delightful brain for me to use. Thank you to Cory Casoni for all his website advice and Robert Khoo for helping me figure out I needed to make this my next project and thank you for a lot of other stuff too.
And most of all, thank you to Matthew Nolan for building this site, figuring out ads, cheerleading this project, reviewing products that I can’t, and just generally for enabling this entire ordeal to happen. This wouldn’t exist without him. If there are any toys you’d like me to review, feel free to send me one! I’m also looking to develop affiliate and business relationships with sex stores and toy companies; if that sounds like you, please feel free to contact me!
Otherwise, here is a cut of the first panel, go check it out here. It looks like another really awesome way of looking at the world, and maybe you will get your learn on and see something you want to try/use with your significant other.
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DC Comics Booth (Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
Wait what? Marvel and DC announce the end of all print comics
Got this interesting press release from Robot 7, and quickly followed by similar press at Bleeding Cual about Marvel and DC deciding to say sod it to print runs. The press release follows.
New York, New York – Marvel and DC Combined Press Release 01 April 2013
Marvel and DC have teamed together to announce that they as of 01 October 2013 will no longer print comic books. The margins attributed to online e-books have made a significant impact in how we conduct our business. The print trade is no longer viable, and as such both comic book manufacturers have decided to cease entirely all print runs of weekly and monthly comic books. Print comic books are messy, have you ever tried to get printers ink off your fingers? Seriously that stuff is like super glue, you need a surgeon to get this stuff off your fingers. Have you ever smelled printer’s ink? We swear the whole office was high, did you see the comics in the 1970’s? Man that stuff was good, we keep a couple 55 gallon drums of that stuff around for when we get stuck on a plot line like Batman or Superman dying again, or the Avengers need some new trippy thing to go after.
So that is it, print runs are over with, however, the good side of this is that every single print edition you own once it is done being destroyed by the kids, mold, water, poor handling, or not in bags and boards will be worth something someday. Unless you have a pile of 1990’s comic books, those were the shit, thinking it was going to put your kids through college, ha we fooled the crap out of you didn’t we? The great comic book bubble they called it, and you fell for it much like the great silver bubble and the great housing bubble, and all the other bubbles out there. We are surprised you have not grown tired of this game yet, so we just want to make your decade bubblishous. See what is happening in housing again? Lol you are all idiots, so we need to back away from you people.
Comic book nerds, seriously you need to go home, take a shower, and go see who is out there and maybe get a little toned and some sun. By going totally e-book, we are so going to win. Production costs and 1/10th of a print run, we get to keep more, shareholders are happy; we get to increase the bottom line. You don’t really read print anyways; we keep on dropping print runs and can’t even sell those off, so here we are, all eBooks all the time.
And no don’t think for a minute that we will be allowed to pay the authors more, that’s just funny, seriously did you just think that?
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of over 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing.
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.
The documents provided in this press release contain statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Marvel and DC Comics that may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as “expects,” “looks forward to,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “will,” “project” or words of similar meaning. We may also make forward-looking statements in other reports, in presentations, in material delivered to stockholders and in press releases. In addition, our representatives may from time to time make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of all comic books worldwide that are read by people and machines, and are, therefore, subject to certain risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Marvel and DC Comics control, affect Marvel and DC Comics operations, performance, business strategy and results and could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Marvel and DC Comics to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or anticipated on the basis of historical trends. These factors include in particular, but are not limited to, the matters described in Item 3: Key information – Risk factors of our most recent annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC, in the chapter “Risks” of our most recent annual report prepared in accordance with the United States Commercial Code, and in the chapter “Report on risks and opportunities” of our most recent interim report.
Happy April Fool’s day – from all your friends at ComicsForge.com – so rolled – had to do it, sorry if we offended anyone, usual disclaimers, no marvel and dc don’t know anything about this, heck we don’t even write about marvel and dc comics over here. Go back to sleep it will be ok in the morning.
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English: The top of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington Deutsch: Turmkorb und Spitze der Space Needle, in Seattle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Norwestcon 2013 this weekend in Seattle
If Anime over at Sakuracon is not your bag, we also have Norwestcon 2013 this weekend if science fiction, fantasy, and comic books is more your style. The problem is going to be choosing between them and deciding on which one you want to do, if you don’t find yourself bouncing between both of them over the weekend. It is a long weekend, so there will be plenty of time to see all the sights going on as the winter convention season draws to a close.
Norwestcon 2013 will be down at the Doubletree Inn by SeaTac airport from the 28th through the 31rst.
This years Norwestcon theme is “save the world”. This ought to make for some awesome costuming as people don everything from super hero costumes through the random things that come to mind for people as they think of saving the world. Maybe someone will show up as a super computer? Ok, I’ll stop with the jokes on this one, but it was worthy and I could not pass this up.
This will be Comicsforge first trip to Norwestcon, so it should prove interesting because we will find ourselves bouncing between Sakuracon and Norwestcon this weekend. That should make for some interesting photography this week, and reports on the floor of the shows will reflect that we are moving between the two shows throughout the weekend.
If anyone has been to Norwestcon before and wants to drop us a note on what it is like, by all means feel free to comment. What did you like, what did you hate, why did you go? Who did you go as? All of that good stuff for people who might be at Sakuracon, but wants to see what the whole idea of Norwestcon is about.
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An anime stylized eye. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is that happy time of year it is Sakuracon Weekend
Sakuracon is happening! In less than 24 hours or so the largest Anime convention in the Seattle area kicks off and we are so going to be there. While the Anime market is troubled in terms of new stuff, good stuff, new movies and other cool stuff to find in the USA, Anime is still huge. Big in Japan means that coming over here gets some awesome attention to the entire industry that is really needed at this point.
If you have time, this is an awesome weekend to show your love of all things Anime, Manga, Cosplay, and everything that falls in between.
It is going to cost you 60 bucks at the door, and expect the lines to be long if you did not get your tickets already. People will start lining up at 6 AM in some cases to score a great place in line.
We will be there in all our glory taking pictures of the show, the awesome cosplayers, and everything else in between. So it should be a fun show. We are hoping for a huge turn out this year, and we plan on checking out the vendors as well. The show floor looks huge and that is going to make for a very fun weekend.
Who are you going as?
As usual tons of cool stuff, so make sure you get there and have as rock and roll a good time as possible.
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The Adventures of Jodelle from Fantagraphics
Author Guy Peellaert and Pierre Bartier
Translated by Kim Thompson
Supervision: Orson Peellaert
Printed by Fantagraphics
Of all the European Comics we have been reviewing for Titan lately it is awesome to see Fantagraphics getting into the parade and issuing the Adventures of Jodelle. If you spent any time in Europe you will see reprints of this ground breaking series from the 1960’s. The cool part is that this whole thing is in its normal lurid coloring schema that I saw on a couple of editions down in Gibralter in the 1990’s. I was wondering if this series would ever come to America, and totally happy that it is going to. Jodelle is an amazing character to follow along with (I speak French so was able to read it in its native language) while we were living in Europe. This just hit my must purchase list for the year.
So Jodelle is a hot sexy heroine that gets into some really awesome follies and adventures. There is a lot of pop art in this one, and you will recognize the textures, colors, and shapes from the 1960’s if you follow any of the Crumb style comic books. This was one of the trend setting 1960’s comics that you will see echoed worldwide during that time and when this style of pop art was raging as the most important thing since sex was invented. It was so fashionable that other artists copied and revisioned the entire pop art movement that made such an impression in 1969 and 1970. Before you are all thinking I am an old fart, hey I was just a baby then, but well-read later on down the road.
And where else on this planet are you going to get colors like this, or even story lines like this anywhere near mainstream comics right now.
This is available for pre-order, and I so need to get on their previews listing so I can read these bad boys early. I have not read this yet, but I am anticipating the arrival of this book. Hey Fantagraphics, your store is just down there in Georgetown, like 20 miles away from my house, can I get a copy? In the meantime check out the Fantagraphics previews and video on this one. It looks like it is going to be a beautiful book, like most of the books that Fantagraphics puts out, you can feel the love.
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The cover of the first volume of the Fruits Basket manga released by Tokyopop on February 10, 2004 in North America. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Chuck Austen speaks about Tokyopop and everything else
Ok, if you have not trotted over to Robot6 to see what Chuck Austen has to say about his experiences with Tokyopop and everything he has encountered in his career, stop reading this, and trot on over there. You can read the rest of my opinion later on.
Oh good you are back, so here is the deal, I am an Anime/Manga fan from many moons back. So I have been unhappy with how the Anime/Manga markets are going as evidenced by the near impossibility of finding cool Anime stuff to sell, let alone selling it for any price once it hits the market place. But here comes Chuck telling us that he is making money off the industry, which warms my dark flabby heart. Because while I worry about an industry that has contracted 66% over six years, it is good to hear anyone that has survived and thrived post Tokyopop melting down.
The most amazing thing he says is:
Instead use it. Use what you did, what you achieved, and build something for yourself. You’re not just a one-trick pony. You’re an amazing, energetic, imaginative creator who can do something even better. So get over it. Stop complaining and wishing for miracles, and let go. Take the good you got from the experience with the unctuous Stu Levy and make something else, something better, something fan-frickin-tastic for which you retain all rights, rights that Tokyopop, Marvel, DC, and every other corporate sphincter in the world will wish they could take from you, editorially digest into a flavorless pablum for the masses, and poop out to their audience. Source: Robot6
This makes me happy. Because he is dead right.
And that is one of the things I think we consistently miss as we look at the market place. We all learn really cool things along the way. We learn what it is like to crank out a novel, a Manga book, a comic book, or heck even manage and maintain a web site like this. We have the things we learned, and we can apply those to new situations, new places, and in many cases make a couple of coins of it. I have also self-published a couple of technical books, no marketing, and they make about 100 dollars a month. They are not best sellers, but people hunt them down and at 4.99 they seem to do ok. I am sure they would do much better at 99 cents, but there is some pride in there as well, so 4.99 helps cover the costs of developing the darn thing.
You really should listen to what he has to say, it is beautiful, and wonderful, and so full of hope for the future of the industry that you can’t help but pause and stop for a minute. North America and its market is not the only place in the world. You might want to localize it, but you know my books do better in India than they do in America. That is something to think about, and something you might want to check out as an independent artist. It looks like it will be totally worth your time.
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Arch Enemy Number 1
Written and Drawn by Lars Kramhoft
Printed by Octopulp Comics Collective
Supported by the Animation Workshop
What if everything is a lie? What if superheroes actually existed and they were not on the side of good or evil. But part of a super state that essentially kept normal people down. As they state in the flyer for this comic book, The face of a modern day supervillain is the ski-mask clad face of a terrorist. But what if the terrorist had a point? What if you lived in a system based on a lie, with the threat of an all-seeing superhero as the only reason not to rebel? What if the world you lived in felt more like a prison than the home of the free? When Marvin Kazinsky finds himself forced to cross the line between law-abiding citizen and criminal, his life starts spiraling out of control, sending him on a jeopardous journey that will eventually lead him to become society’s… ARCH ENEMY.
Yes, this is a deeply disturbing comic book, but excellent read. I had to read if a couple of times though to make sure I was getting the full picture. The comic book sucks you in and does not let you go until the last page. In this day and age it is plausible, somewhat realistic, and entertaining to read. It goes deep into the concept of the police state, but one where a simple man has a hard time understanding what is going on, let alone how a simple man is supposed to make it in this society. The comic book raises a lot of questions, and that is what a good independent comic book should do, raise a lot of questions. The book asks us the questions of where we are going, where we are, and how do we approach society and the processes and justice systems that are in place.
Overall I am going to rate this one 5 of 5 stars is because it is unrelenting. It grabs you by the short and curlies and does not let you go throughout its pages. The art work is fairly primitive but it works, the lettering is wonderful, and the colors are ok. You are going to buy this for the story line, not necessarily the beauty of the art, or the beauty of the people who are in this comic book. Disturbing, taunt and dark, it is so worth finding. Head on over to Graphicly and take a look at it, then buy it, you will not be disappointed.
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JFH Justice for Hire Number Zero the Rise of Retribution
Authored by Jan Lucanus and Jan Childress
Cover by Chadwick Coleman
Art by Antonio Rojo
Inks by Puste
Colors by Mohan Sivakami
Printed by Creative Impulse Entertainment
I would have sword I covered this previously but could not find it at all on the site, so I get to do it again. I know I read the story, if I forgot to post this one I really should not have. It is a pretty good kick butt kind of comic book, with a lot of death, violence, and retribution. What happens when the common person can purchase retribution in the form of Justice? They are going to make a lot of money. If someone raped your sister, you would want justice if they walked out of the court system. That is where Justice for Hire walks into the game. It is not just for things like rape or murder, it can also be used for corporate greed, so if you have enough money, or can get enough people to give you money for this one, you could literally bring a gruesome end to a ton of capitalists, bankers, or other ruffians. This would set the secret service on edge and totally ruin any last pretense of a participatory democracy if this group existed for real. It is a good thing they don’t, and it is a good thing this is just a comic book. The book covers the origins of the Justice for Hire group, so you get to see their first initial things that they get retribution on.
From a serial killer to a pedophile, to said capitalist/banker in the previous paragraph, rapists, and gang members you get a pretty darn good look at how this whole team is put together. The cool part is that technically the rapist would be a lot harder to kill than the way they show it in the comic book. Beyond the super violence in this one, it is at least an interesting viewpoint into how to kill a ton of people in short order in a comic book. Sometimes retribution can be an interesting process, and this comic book dives right on into that.
I am going to rate this one a 4 of 5 stars, good story line, plausible need for justice and retribution, some classic flaws in how people are killed, because it cannot work that way physically. Good coloring, good drawing, and easy to read lettering this comic is pretty awesome, pretty bloody and fairly cool to work your way through. The biggest part of this comic book is thank god these kinds of groups don’t exist at this point, otherwise this would be a lot bloodier planet. Worth getting, and it is online everywhere.
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Nenetl of the Forgotten Spirits
Written By Vera Greentea
Art by Laura Muller
Printed by Green Tea Publishing
Website vera.greenteapublishing.com
This is a really interesting comic book that showed up in my e-mail, so feel free to keep on submitting interesting cool stuff for us to review over here at Comics Forge. The story line from Green Tea Publishing states that the comic is about:
Nenetl of the Forgotten Spirits is a spirited horror story about a ghost searching for her family during the festival of the Day of the Dead, while dodging ambitious exorcist apprentices. Vera Greentea (Recipes for the Dead, To Stop Dreaming of Goddesses) and talented artist Laura Müller (Mega Man Tribute, Subway to Sally Storybook) collaborate to create an autumn-friendly tale of skulls and hope. The first issue introduces the vivacious but forgotten ghost girl, Nena, as she explores the labyrinthine streets of Mexico during its most eerily evocative celebration and Bastian, the first of the exorcists speeding after her – completely for the wrong reason.
This is really a worthy read, and the story line sucks you in. The art is unusual, more solid state color/watercolor with some heavy toning going on in it. The lettering is beautiful and easy to read. The flow of the comic is natural and surprisingly well put together. The story line is really cool, I don’t know how much readers follow any mythology outside of America, but we are seeing more and more wonderfully derived stories using mythology from other cultures.
Nenetl of the Forgotten Spirits fits right in with independents like Yi Soon Shin, the works coming out of India that focus on the Hindu Gods, and some of the more interesting comic books coming out of Denmark and Finland. There is a large tradition to uphold here, and Nenetl of the Forgotten Spirits does so brilliantly. Well worth the six dollars on the Green Tea publishing site. These are the kinds of independents we love to review. Good story line, and a way to open up North American readers to the wealth of history, culture, and myths from other places on this earth. This is a nice addition to the collection we have been building over here at Comics Forge.
Overall I’ll give this really high marks, a 5 of 5 stars, enjoyable, you want the story to go on, and can hardly wait to see the rest of the story line play out. The comic book is compelling and interesting, a nice chance from spandex, and a wonderful addition to the independent comic book market.
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